LETTER XVIII. [A.D.384.]

THIS is S. Ambrose's answer to the Memorial of Symmachus which precedes it. In it he replies in detail to the arguments which Symmachus had advanced, and meets him on his own ground. It is to be remembered in forming an estimate of it, that it is simply a state paper, adopting both the style and method natural to such a document. That it is over rhetorical for our taste may at once be allowed, for that is the character of the literature of the time generally; that it is not so perfect a specimen of the style, regarded merely as a piece of argument, as the document to which it replies, may be granted without disparagement to S. Ambrose, for Symmachus "stood foremost among his contemporaries as a scholar, a statesman, and an orator." (Dict. of Biog. sub voc.) But he fairly meets and refutes Symmachus' arguments, and his retort of his adversary's personification of Rome is happy and telling. The earlier portion is more vigorous than the latter, which is overwrought, especially in the argument against maintaining things as they were. The abundance of allusions to, and quotations of, Virgil are characteristic of the age, and evidences of S. Ambrose's early training in the education of a Roman of high birth and rank.

BISHOP AMBROSE TO THE MOST BLESSED PRINCE AND GRACIOUS EMPEROR, HIS MAJESTY VALENTINIAN.

THE honourable  02-62  62. a This is an official title of honour. There were three ranks among those who held office under the Emperors, 1 Illustres. 2 Spectabiles, 3 Clarissimi, which is the one here applied to Symmachus. The latter was applied to all senators: the other two were reserved for the higher offices of state. See Gibbon, ch. xvii. Symmachus, Prefect of the city, having memorialised your Majesty that the altar, which had been removed from the Senate-house at Rome, ought to be restored to its place, and your Majesty, whose years of nonage and inexperience are yet unfulfilled, though a veteran in the power of faith, not having sanctioned the prayer of the heathen, I also as soon as I heard of it presented a petition, in which, though it embraced all that seemed necessary to be said, I requested that a copy of the Memorial might be furnished to me.

2. Now therefore, not as doubting your faith, but as providing for the future, and assured of a righteous judgement, I will reply to the allegations of the Memorial, making this one request, that you will not look for elegance of phrases but force of facts. For as Holy Scripture teaches us, the tongue of learned and wise men is golden, and endowed with highly-decked words, and glittering with splendid elegance as with the brightness of some rich colour, and so captivates and dazzles the eyes of the mind with a shew of beauty. But this gold, if closely handled, may pass current outwardly, but within is base metal. Consider well, I beseech you, and sift the sect of the Heathens; their professions are grand and lofty, but what they espouse is degenerate and effete, they talk of God but worship idols.

3. The propositions of the honourable Prefect of the city, to which he attaches weight, are these, that Rome (as he asserts) seeks the restoration of her ancient rites, and that stipends are to be assigned to her priests and Vestal virgins, and that it was owing to these being withheld that a general famine has ensued.

4. According to his first proposition, Rome utters a mournful complaint, wanting back (as he asserts) her ancient ceremonies. These sacred rites, he says, repelled Hannibal from the walls, the Gauls from the Capitol. But even here, in blazoning the efficacy of these rites, he betrays their weakness. According to this, Hannibal long insulted the Roman religion, and pushed his conquest to the very walls of the city, though the gods fought against him. Why did they for whom their gods fought, allow themselves to be besieged?

5. For why speak of the Gauls, whom the remnant of the Romans could not have prevented from entering the sanctuary of the Capitol, if the timid cackling of a goose had not betrayed them. These are the guardians of the Roman temples! Where was Jupiter then? Did he speak in a goose?

6. But why should I deny that their sacred rites fought for the Romans? Yet Hannibal also worshipped the same gods. Let them choose therefore which they will. If these rites conquered in the Romans, they were vanquished in the Carthaginians, but if they were thus overcome in the case of the Carthaginians, neither did they profit the Romans.

7. Away then with this invidious complaint of the Roman people; Rome never dictated it. It is with other words that she addresses them: 'Why do you daily deluge me with the useless gore of the innocent flocks? The trophies of victory depend not on the limbs of cattle, but on the strength of warriors. It was by other powers that I subdued the world. Camillus was my soldier, who recovered the standards which had been taken from the Capitol, and slew those who had captured the Tarpeian rock; valour overthrew those against whom religion had not prevailed. Why should I name Regulus, who gave me even the services of his death? Africanus gained his triumph not among the altars of the Capitol, but among Hannibal's ranks. Why do you produce to me the rites of our ancestors? I abhor the rites of the Neros. What shall I say of the two-month Emperors  02-63  63. b He is referring apparently to Galba, Otho, and Vitellius, but somewhat exaggerates the brevity of their reigns. Galba reigned nearly seven months, Otho three months, Vitellius nearly eight months. , and the ends of princes knit on to their accession? Or is it a thing unheard of, that the barbarians should cross their frontiers? Were those men Christians, in whose miserable and unprecedented fate, in the one case a captive Emperor, in the other a captive world  02-64  64. c The captive Emperor is Valerian, who, A.D. 260, was taken prisoner by Sapor king of Persia, and treated with the utmost indignity. The other is his son Gallienus, and S. Ambrose's expression with regard to him may be explained by a sentence of Gibbon, (ch. xi. init.) 'Under the deplorable reigns of Valerian and Gallienus, the empire was oppressed and almost destroyed by the soldiers, the tyrants, and the barbarians.' proved the falsehood of the rites which promised victory? Was there then no altar of Victory? I am ashamed of my downfall, the pale cheeks of age gather redness from that disgraceful bloodshed. I do not blush to be converted in my old age along with the whole world. It is surely true that no age is too late to learn. Let that old age blush which cannot improve itself. It is not the hoary head of years but of virtue which is venerable.  02-65  65. Wisd. iv. 9. It is no disgrace to pass to better things. This alone had I in common with the barbarians that of old I knew not God. Your sacrifice is a rite of sprinkling yourselves with the blood of beasts. Why do you look for the voice of God in dead beasts? Come and learn here on earth a heavenly warfare; we live here, but our warfare is above. Let God Himself, the Creator, teach me the mystery of heaven, not man who knew not himself. Whom should I believe about God, sooner than God Himself? How can I believe you, who confess that you know not what you worship?'

8. By a single path, he says, we cannot arrive at so great a secret. What you are ignorant of, that we have learnt by the voice of God; what you seek after by faint surmises, that we are assured of by the very Wisdom and Truth of God. Our customs therefore and yours do not agree. You ask the Emperors to grant peace to your gods, we pray for peace for the Emperors themselves from Christ. You worship the works of your own hands, we think it sacrilege that any thing which can be made should be called God. God wills not to be worshipped under the form of stones. Nay, your very philosophers have ridiculed this.

9. But if you are led to deny that Christ is God, because you cannot believe that He died, (for you are ignorant how that this was the death not of His Godhead but of His flesh, whereby it comes to pass that none of the faithful shall die,) how inconsistent are you, who insult by way of worship, and disparage by way of honour. You consider your god to be a block of wood; what an insulting kind of reverence! You believe not that Christ could die; what a respectful kind of unbelief!

10. But, he says, the ancient altars and images ought to be restored, and the temples adorned as of old. This request ought to be made to one who shares the superstition; a Christian Emperor has learned to honour the altar of Christ alone. Why do they compel pious hands and faithful lips to minister to their sacrilege? Let the voice of our Emperor speak of Christ alone, let him declare Him only Whom in heart he believes, for  the king's heart is in the Hand of God.   02-66  66. Prov. xxi. 1. Did ever heathen Emperor raise an altar to God? In demanding a restoration of ancient things they remind us what reverence Christian Emperors ought to pay to the Religion which they profess, since heathen ones paid the utmost to their own superstitions.

11. Long since was our beginning, and now they follow us whom they shut out.  We glory in shedding our blood, a trifling expense disturbs  them. We consider such things a victory, they esteem them an injury. Never did they confer a greater favour on us than when they commanded Christians to be scourged, and proscribed and slain. Religion made into a reward what unbelief intended for a punishment. Behold their magnanimity!  We have grown by wrongs, by want, by punishment;  they find that without money their ceremonies cannot be maintained.

12. Let the Vestal virgins, he says, enjoy their privileges. It is for those to say this, who cannot believe in gratuitous virginity, it is for them to allure by profit who distrust virtue. But how many virgins have their promised rewards obtained them? They have barely seven Vestals. Such is the whole number whom the veiled and filleted head, the dye of the purple vest, the pompous litter surrounded by attendants, high privileges, great gains, and a prescribed period of virginity, have collected.

13. Let them turn their mental and bodily eye to us, let them behold a people of chastity, an undefiled multitude, a virgin assembly. No fillets to adorn their heads, but a veil of common use though dignified by chastity; the blandishments of beauty not curiously sought out, but cast aside; no purple trappings, no luxurious delicacies, but frequent fastings; no privileges, no gains; all things in short so ordered as to repress any affection in the very exercise of their functions. But in fact by this very exercise their affection to it is conciliated. Chastity is perfected by its own sacrifices. That is not virginity which is bought for money, not preserved for love of holiness; that is not integrity which is bid for at an auction by a pecuniary equivalent, to last but for a time. The first triumph of chastity is to overcome the desire of wealth, for this desire is a temptation to modesty. But let us suppose that virginity ought to be supported by pecuniary bounty. In this case, what an abundance of gifts will overflow upon the Christians; what treasury will contain riches so great? Or do they consider that it ought to be bestowed exclusively on the Vestal virgins? Do not they, who claimed the whole under heathen Emperors, feel some shame in denying that under Christian Princes we ought to participate in the bounty?

11. They complain also that public support is not given to their priests and ministers. What a storm of words is here! To us on the other hand the privileges of inheriting private property  02-67  67. d S. Ambrose refers here to a law of Valentinian's, forbidding the Clergy from receiving bequests from widows and unmarried females. It was addressed to Damasus, Bishop of Rome. S. Ambrose's caution in de Off. Min. 1, 20, 87, shews that control was needed. S. Jerome, speaking of this law says, 'I do not complain of the law, but grieve that we have deserved it.' is denied by recent laws, and no one complains; we do not feel it to be an injury, for we grieve not at the loss. If a priest would claim the privilege of being exempt from the municipal  02-68  68. e In the provincial towns the political power in the times of the Emperors had passed into the hands of the curia or provincial Senate; and, with the power, many burdensome and extensive duties, were laid upon the curiales or decurions, as they were called. (See § 15.) Exemption from these had been granted first by Constantine; afterwards, as it was found that persons sought Holy Orders in order to evade civil duties, the privilege was restrained: and various changes were introduced by different Emperors. A full outline of the various laws is given in a learned note in Newman's Fleury, vol. i. p. 162. where the text is speaking of S. Ambrose's Letter to Theodosius, (infr. Lett, xl.) where he again complains of the same hardship. The subject is also more fully dealt with by Bingham Antiq. B.V. ch. iii. § 14-16. burthens, he must relinquish his paternal estate and all other property. How would the heathens press this ground of complaint, if they had it, that a priest must purchase the liberty of performing his functions by the loss of his whole patrimony, and at the expense of all his private advantages must buy the right of ministering to the public, and while he claims to hold vigils for the public safety must console himself with the wages of domestic poverty; for he does not sell service but purchase a favour.

15. Compare  02-69  69. f 'Conferte' is here adopted as a manifest emendation of 'conferet.' The transfer of two letters is a common mistake of copyists. the two cases. You wish to exempt a Decurio, when the Church may not exempt a priest. Wills are made in favour of ministers of temples; not even profane persons, even of the lowest rank, nor of abandoned character, are excepted; the clergy alone are excluded from the common privilege, by whom alone the general prayer for all men is offered, and the common office performed; no legacy, even of grave widows, no donation is allowed. When no blame can attach to character, a fine is imposed on the office. The legacy which a Christian widow bequeaths to the minister of a temple is valid, that which she bequeaths to the ministers of God is invalid. This I have stated not by way of complaint, but that they may know how much I abstain from complaining of, for I would rather we were losers in money than in grace.

16. But they report that gifts or legacies to the Church have not been taken away. Let them state who has snatched gifts from the temples, a loss which Christians have  02-70  70. g This was the case in Julian's reign, as may be seen in Theod. iii. 12. suffered. Had this been done to the Gentiles, it would rather have been the requital than the infliction of a wrong. Is it now only that they make a plea of justice, put in a claim for equity? Where was this sentiment, when, having despoiled all Christians of their goods, they grudged them the very breath of life, and debarred them from that last burial-rite which was never before denied to any of, the dead? Those whom the heathen flung into it, the sea restored. This is a victory of faith, that they themselves impugn the acts of their ancestors, in that they condemn their proceedings. But what consistency is there in condemning the acts of those whose gifts they solicit?

17. Yet no man has forbidden gifts to the temples, or legacies to the soothsayers; their lands alone are taken away, because they did not use that religiously which they claimed on the plea of religion. If they avail themselves of our example why did they not copy our practice? The Church possesses nothing but her faith. There are her rents, her revenues. The wealth of the Church is the support of the poor. Let them count up how many prisoners the temples have ransomed, what support they have afforded to the poor, to how many exiles they have ministered the means of life. Hence it is that they have been deprived of their lands, but not of their rights.

18. This is what has been done, and a public famine, as they assert, has avenged this grave impiety, that the private emoluments of the priests have been converted to the public service. For this cause they say it was that men stripped branches of their bark, and moistened their fainting life with this wretched juice. For this cause they were obliged to substitute for corn the Chaonian acorn, and thrust back again to this wretched fare, the food of beasts, they shook the oaks and thus appeased their sore hunger in the woods. As if forsooth these were new prodigies on earth, which never occurred so long as heathen superstition prevailed over the world! But in truth how often before this were the hopes of the greedy husbandmen frustrated by empty oat-stalks, while the blade of corn sought for in the furrows disappointed the race of peasants.

19. Why did the Greeks attribute oracles to their oaks, but that they fancied their sylvan fare was the gift of their heavenly religion? Such are the gifts which they suppose to come from their gods. Who but heathen ever worshipped the trees of Dodona, bestowing honour on the sorry sustenance of the sacred grove  02-71  71. h The reading of all the other Edd. 'sacri nemoris' for 'agri nemorum' is here adopted, as yielding a clearer sense. ? It is not probable that their gods in their anger gave them for a punishment what they were wont when appeased to confer as a gift.

20. But what equity were it, that because they are annoyed at the refusal of sustenance to a few priests they should themselves refuse it to every one? in that case their vengeance is more severe than was the fault. But in truth the cause they assign is not adequate to produce so great infirmity of a failing world, as that, when the crops were green, the full grown hopes of the season should all at once perish.

21. Certain it is that many years ago the rights of the temples were abolished throughout the world, is it only now that it has occurred to the gods of the Gentiles to avenge their injuries? Can it be said that the Nile failed to overflow his banks as usual, to avenge the losses of the priests of the City, when he did not do so to avenge his own priests?

22. But supposing that in the past year it was the wrongs of their gods that were avenged, why are the same wrongs neglected in the present year? Now the country people do not pluck up and eat the roots of herbs, nor seek solace from the sylvan berry, nor gather their food from thorns; but rejoicing in their successful labours they wonder at their own harvest, and their hopes fulfilled compensate for their fast, the earth having yielded us her produce with interest.

23. Who then is so inexperienced on human affairs as to be amazed at the vicissitudes of the seasons? And yet even last year we know that most provinces had an abundant harvest. What shall I say of Gaul which was more fertile than usual? The Pannonias  02-72  72. i Pannonia was at this time divided into three provinces, viz. Pannonia Prima and Secunda, and Valeria Ripensis. sold corn which they had not sown, and the second  02-73  73. k Rhaetia Secunda was the name given to Vindelicia when separated again from Rhaetia proper, shortly before the time of Constantine: it had been united to it about the end of the first century. Rhaetia learnt the danger of her own fertility, for being used to security from her sterility, she drew down an enemy on herself by her abundance. Liguria and Venice are replenished by the fruits of autumn. So then the former year was not withered by sacrilege, while the present has overflowed with the fruits of faith. Nor can they deny that the vineyards produced an overflowing crop. Thus our harvest yielded its produce with interest, and we enjoyed the benefits of a more abundant vintage.

24. The last and most weighty topic remains; as to whether your Majesties should restore those aids which have been profitable to yourselves, for he says, 'Let them defend you, and be worshipped by us.' This, most faithful Princes, we cannot endure; that they should make it a taunt to us that they supplicate their gods in your name, and without your command commit an atrocious sacrilege, taking your connivance as consent. Let them keep their guardians to themselves, let these guardians, if they can, protect their own. But if they cannot protect those who worship them, how can they protect you who worship them not?

25. Our ancestral rites, he says, should be preserved. But what if all things have become better? The world itself, which at first was compacted by the gathering together of the elemental seeds through the vast void, an unconsolidated sphere, or was obscured by the thick darkness of the yet unordered work, was it not afterwards endowed with the forms of things which constitute its beauty, and were not the heaven sea and earth distinguished from each other? The earth rescued from dripping darkness was amazed at its new sun. In the beginning too the day shines not, but as time goes on it is bright and warm with the increase of light and heat.

26. The moon herself, which in the prophetic oracles represents the Church, when first she rises again, and repairs her monthly wanings, is hidden from us by darkness, but gradually she fills her horns, or completes them as she comes opposite to the sun, and gleams with a bright and glorious splendour.

27. In former days, the earth knew not how to be wrought into fruitfulness; but afterwards when the careful husbandman began to till the fields, and to clothe the bare soil with vineyards, it was softened by this domestic culture, and put off its rugged nature.

28. So too the first season of the year itself, which has imparted a like habit to ourselves, is bare of produce, then, as time goes on, it blossoms out in flowers soon to fade, and in the end finds its maturity in fruits  02-74  74. l The Reading 'nuda gignentium' is adopted from Ed. Rom. The phrase occurs in Sallust Jug. 79, 6. 'Gignentia' is used for plants, trees &c. The clause 'quae nos' &c. is strange, but probably refers to the torpidity of winter, which is felt by man as well as by the lower creation. .

29. So we, while young in age, experience an infancy of understanding, but as we grow in years lay aside the rudeness of our faculties.

30. Let them say then that all things ought to have continued as at first; that the world once covered with darkness is now displeasing because it shines with the beams of the sun. And how much better is it to have dispelled the darkness of the mind than that of the body, and that the beam of faith has shone forth than that of the sun. So then the early stages of the world as of all else have been unsettled, that the venerable age of hoary faith might follow. Let those who are affected by this find fault with the harvest too, because it ripens late; or with the vintage, because it is in the fall of the year; or with the olive, because it is the latest of fruits.

31. So then our harvest too is the faith of the soul; the grace of the Church is the vintage of good works, which from the beginning of the world flourished in the saints, but in these last days is spread over the people; to the intent that all might perceive that it is not into rude minds that the faith of Christ has insinuated itself, but these opinions which before prevailed being shaken off (for without a contest there is no crown of victory) the truth was preferred according as is just.

32. If the old rites pleased, why did Rome adopt alien ones? I pass over the covering of the ground with costly buildings, and shepherds' huts glittering with the gold of a degenerate age  02-75  75. m This passage seems suggested by reminiscences of Virgil, the phrase 'absconditam pretio humum' possibly from Aen. iv, 211. urbem Exiguam pretio posuit, while in the latter part S. Ambrose perhaps had in his mind the description of Evander's town in Aen. viii. Sec especially ll. 347-366. . Why, to speak of the very subject of their complaint, have they admitted in their rivalry the images of captured cities, and of conquered gods, and the foreign rites of an alien superstition? Whence do they derive their precedent for Cybele washing her chariot in a stream to counterfeit the Almo  02-76  76. n The story of Cybele being brought to Rome, and landing outside; the city, where the little stream of tbe Almo joins the Tiber, is told at length by Ovid, Fast. iv. 250-348. In commemoration of tbe washing of the Statue and sacred implements at the landing, an annual ceremony was maintained, which seems to have been popular, from the numerous allusions to it in later writers. See Lucan 1. 600, Martial iii. 47. 2, Stat. Silv. v. 1. 222, Sil. Ital. viii. 305, all quoted in Dict. of Geogr. When the rites were performed away from Rome, the nearest river was conventionally made the Almo for the time. It is remarkable that Ammianus Marcellinus xxiii, 3,7. mentions as one of the Emperor Julian's last acts, his keeping the day of this rite, when on his last campaign against the Persians, and performing all the ceremonies at Callinicum or Nicephorium on the Euphrates. ? Whence came the Phrygian seers, and the deities of faithless Carthage ever hateful to Rome, her for instance, whom the Africans worship as Caelestis  02-77  77. o Venus Caelestis is a Latin equivalent of ’Αφροδίτη οὐρανία, and this name was transferred, according to Herodotus (Bk. i. ch. 105.) to the Phoenician goddess Astarte, or Ashtaroth. The same author also (B. i. ch. 131.) identifies Aphrodite with the Persian goddess Mitra, which however is shewn by Prof. Rawlinson, ad loc., to be an error, as Mithras is the sun-god of the Persians. The Temple of Venus Caelestis, or Astarte, at Carthage was very shortly after this time converted into a Christian Church, as recorded by Gibbon on the authority of Prosper. Aquitan. (ch. xxviii). , and the Persians as Mitra, the greater part of the world as Venus, the same deity under different names. So also they have believed Victory to be a goddess, which is in truth a gift not a power, is bestowed and does not rule, comes by the aid of legions not by the power of religion. Great forsooth is the goddess whom the number of soldiers claims, or the issue of the battle confers!

33. And her altar they now ask to have set up in the Senate-house at Rome, that is to say, where a majority  02-78  78. p S. Ambrose's repeated assertions, that the Christians formed a majority in the Senate, are characterised by writers unfavourable to Christianity as unfounded, but they produce no proof. Gibbon (ch. xxviii. note 12.) simply says that it is an assertion 'in contradiction to common sense.' But as a large majority of the Senate voted for the abolition of the worship of Jupiter about the same time, as Gibbon himself records, common sense would seem rather to agree with S. Ambrose. of Christians assemble. There are altars in all temples, an altar also in the temple of victories. Being pleased with numbers, they celebrate their sacrifices every where. But to insist on a sacrifice on this one altar, what is it but to insult over the Faith? Is it to be borne that while a Gentile sacrifices Christians must attend? Let their eyes, he says, drink in the smoke whether they will or no; their ears the music; their mouth the ashes; their nostrils the incense; and though they loathe it, let the embers of our hearths besprinkle their faces. Is it not enough for him that the baths, the colonnades, the streets are filled with images? Even in that general assembly, are we not to meet upon equal terms? The believing portion of the Senate will be bound by the voices of them that call the gods to witness, by the oaths of them that swear by them. If they refuse, they will seem to prove their falsehood, if they acquiesce, to acquiesce in a sacrilege.

34. Where, he asks, shall we swear allegiance to your Majesties' laws and commands? Your minds then, of which your laws are the outward expression, gather support and secure fidelity by heathen rites. Moreover your Majesties' faith is assailed not only when you are present, but also, which is more, when you are absent, for you constrain when you command. Constantius, of illustrious memory, though not yet initiated into the sacred Mysteries, thought himself polluted by the sight of that altar; he commanded it to be removed, he did not command it to be replaced. His order bears all the authority of an Act, his silence does not bear the authority of a precept.

35. And let no one rest satisfied because he is absent. He is more to be considered present who unites himself to the minds of others than he who gives the testimony of his visible presence. It is a greater matter to be united in mind than to be joined in body. The Senate regards you as its presidents who summon its meetings; at your bidding it assembles; to you, not to the gods of the heathen, does she resign her conscience; you she prefers to her children though not to her faith. This is the affection worth seeking, an affection more powerful than dominion, if faith, which preserves dominion, be secured.

36. But perhaps some one may be influenced by the thought that if so, a most orthodox Emperor  02-79  79. q Referring to the unhappy end of Gratian whom the previous year(A.D. 383.) had been overpowered by Maximus, who revolted in Britain, and attacked him in Gaul. His troops deserted him and he was put to death by Maximus' orders. has been left without his reward; as if the reward of good actions was to be estimated by the frail tenure of things present. And what wise man is there who knows not that human affairs move in a certain cycle and order, and meet not always with the same success, but their state is subject to vicissitudes?

37. Who more fortunate than Cneius Pompeius was ever sent forth by the temples of Rome? But he, after compassing the circuit of the globe in three triumphs, vanquished in battle, and driven into exile beyond the bounds of the empire he had saved, perished by the hand of an Eunuch  02-80  80. r Pompeius was murdered, as he landed in Egypt, after escaping from Pharsalia, by Achillas an Eunuch and one of the guardians of king Ptolemy. of Canopus.

38. What nobler king than Cyrus king of the Persians has the whole Eastern world produced? He too, after he had conquered the most powerful princes in battle, and detained them as his prisoners, was worsted and slain by the arms of a woman  02-81  81. s Tomyris queen of the Massagetae. See the story in Herod. i. 214. . That king who had conferred on the vanquished the honour of sitting at meat with him, had his head cut off and enclosed in a vessel full of blood, and so was bid to satiate himself, exposed to the mockery of a woman. So in the course of his life like is not matched with like, but things most unlike.

39. Again who was more assiduous in sacrificing than Hamilcar  02-82  82. t This is the first of the famous Hamilcars, the one who led the great invasion of Sicily in B. C. 480, and was totally defeated by Gelon. Herodotus, 15 vii. ch. 167, tolls the story to which S. Ambrose alludes as the account given by the Carthaginians of his end. general of the Carthaginians? During the whole time of the battle he took his station between the ranks of the combatants, and there offered sacrifice: then, when he found himself vanquished, he threw himself upon the fire on which he was burning his victims, that he might extinguish even with his own body those flames which he had learnt availed him nothing.

40. And what shall I say of Julian? who blindly believing the answers of the diviners, deprived himself of the means of retreat  02-83  83. u S. Ambrose is alluding to the famous story of Julian burning his fleet, after crossing the Tigris to attack Sapor, king of Persia, in his own dominions. This was regarded afterwards by the Christians as an act of judicial blindness. See Augustine de Civ. Dei iv. 29, v. 21. Ammianus, xxiv. 7. asserts that he repented of the order as soon as it was issued, but was too late to stop the flames. Gibbon endeavours to justify the act, and says, 'had he been victorious we should now admire his conduct.' See his narrative in ch. xxiv. The author of his life in the Dict. of Ant. styles it 'the best thing he could have done, if his march into the interior of Persia, had been dictated by absolute necessity.' Setting these hypotheses aside, and looking only at the actual result, we may fairly think that the Christian interpretation of the facts, even if over-strongly expressed, is the truer. . Thus even when the circumstances are common there is not a common cause of offence, for our promises have deluded no one.

41. I have replied to those who harass me as though I had not been harassed: for my object has been to refute their Memorial, not to expose their superstitions. But let this very Memorial make your Majesty more cautious. For by pointing out that of a series of former Emperors, those who reigned first followed the rites of their ancestors, and their successors did not remove them, and by observing upon this, that if the religion of older ones was not an example, the connivance of the more recent ones was, they have plainly shewn that you owe it to the faith which you profess not to follow the precedent of heathen rites, and to brotherly love not to violate your brothers' ordinances. For if they for the sake of their own cause have praised the connivance of those Emperors, who being Christians, have not abrogated heathen decrees, how much more are you bound to shew deference to brotherly affection, and, whereas you would be bound to wink at what perhaps you did not approve, for fear of detracting from your brothers' decrees, now to maintain what you judge to be in accordance both with your own faith and the tie of brotherhood.

833 EPISTOLA XVIII.

 Relationi Symmachi respondet AMBROSIUS,  et post conciliatam sibi VALENTINIANI  benevolentiam, tria in eadem relatione praecipua capita aggreditur. Nam  0972A  prosopopoeiae qua Roma priscos suos ritus poscere  fingebatur, alia ejusdem Romae contraria efflagitantis opponitur, cum Vestalibus et sacrificulis virgines sacrae et Christi sacerdotes comparantur, ac tandem quod sublatas illas ceremonias famem ultam fuisse dictitabatur, id vanum esse invictissimis argumentis demonstratur. 

AMBROSIUS episcopus beatissimo principi, et clementissimo imperatori VALENTINIANO augusto.

1. Cum vir clarissimus praefectus urbis Symmachus ad clementiam tuam retulisset, ut ara quae de urbis Romae curia sublata fuerat, redderetur loco; et tu, imperator, licet adhuc in minoris aevi tirocinio florentibus novus annis, fidei tamen virtute veteranus obsecrata gentilium non probares; eodem,  0972B quo comperi, puncto libellum obtuli: quo licet comprehenderim, quae suggestioni necessaria viderentur; poposci tamen exemplum mihi relationis dari.

2. Itaque non fidei tuae ambiguus, sed providus cautionis, et pii certus examinis, hoc sermone relationis assertioni respondeo, hoc unum petens, ut non verborum elegantiam, sed vim rerum exspectandam putes. Aurea enim, sicut Scriptura divina docet (Eccl. VI, 11), est lingua sapientium litteratorum, quae phaleratis dotata sermonibus, et quodam splendentis eloquii velut coloris pretiosi corusco resultans, capit animorum oculos specie formosi, visuque perstringit. Sed aurum hoc, si diligentius manu tractes, foris pretium, intus metallum  0972C est. Volve, quaeso, atque excute sectam gentilium: pretiosa et grandia sonant, veri effeta defendunt: Deum loquuntur, simulacrum adorant.

3. Tria igitur in relatione sua vir clarissimus praefectus urbis proposuit, quae valida putavit: quod Roma veteres, ut ait, suos cultus requirat, et quod sacerdotibus suis virginibusque Vestalibus emolumenta tribuenda sint, et quod emolumentis sacerdotum negatis, fames secuta publica sit.

4. In prima propositione, flebili Roma quaestu sermonis illacrymat, veteres, ut ait, cultus ceremoniarum 834 requirens. Haec sacra, inquit, Annibalem  0973A a moenibus, a Capitolio Senonas repulerunt. Itaque dum sacrorum potentia praedicatur, infirmitas proditur. Ergo Annibal diu sacris insultavit Romanis, et diis contra se dimicantibus, usque ad muros urbis vincendo pervenit. Cur se obsideri passi sunt, pro quibus deorum suorum arma pugnabant?

5. Nam de Senonibus quid loquar, quos Capitolii secreta penetrantes Romanae reliquiae non tulissent, nisi eos pavido anser strepitu prodidisset? En quales templa Romana praesules habent. Ubi tunc erat Jupiter? An in ansere loquebatur?

6. Verum quid negem sacrorum ritus militasse Romanis? Sed etiam Annibal eosdem Deos colebat. Utrum volunt igitur, eligant. Si in Romanis vicerunt sacra, in Carthaginensibus ergo superata sunt: si in  0973B Carthaginensibus triumphata, nec Romanis utique profuerunt.

7. Facessat igitur invidiosa illa populi Romani querela: non hanc Roma mandavit. Aliis illa eos interpellat vocibus: Quid me casso quotidie gregis innoxii sanguine cruentatis? Non in fibris pecudum, sed in viribus bellatorum tropaea victoriae sunt. Aliis ego disciplinis orbem subegi. Militabat Camillus, qui sublata Capitolio signa, caesis Tarpeiae rupis triumphatoribus, reportavit: stravit virtus, quos religio non removit. Quid de Attilio loquar, qui militiam etiam mortis impendit? Africanus non inter Capitolii aras, sed inter Annibalis acies triumphum invenit. Quid mihi veterum exempla profertis? Odi ritus Neronum. Quid dicam bimestres imperatores,  0973C et terminos regum cum exordiis copulatos? Aut forte illud est novum, barbaros suis excessisse finibus? Numquid etiam illi christiani fuerunt, quorum miserabili novoque exemplo alter captivus imperator, sub altero captivus orbis, fefellisse quae victoriam promittebant, suas ceremonias prodiderunt? Numquid et tunc non erat ara victoriae? Poenitet lapsus: vetusta canities pudendi sanguinis traxit ruborem. Non erubesco cum toto orbe longaeva converti. Verum certe est quia nulla aetas ad perdiscendum sera est. Erubescat senectus, quae emendare se  0974A non potest. Non annorum canities est laudata, sed morum (Sap. IV, IX). Nullus pudor est ad meliora transire. Hoc solum habebam commune cum 835 barbaris, quia Deum antea nesciebam. Sacrificium vestrum ritus est bestiarum cruore respergi. Quid in mortuis pecudibus quaeritis Dei voces? Venite, et discite in terris coelestem militiam: hic vivimus, et illic militamus. Coeli mysterium doceat me Deus ipse, qui condidit: non homo, qui se ipsum ignoravit. Cui magis de Deo, quam Deo credam? Quomodo possum vobis credere, qui fatemini vos ignorare quod colitis?

8. Uno, inquit, itinere non potest perveniri ad tam grande secretum. Quod vos ignoratis, id nos Dei voce cognovimus. Et quod vos suspicionibus  0974B quaeritis, nos ex ipsa sapientia Dei et veritate compertum habemus. Non congruunt igitur vestra nobiscum. Vos pacem diis vestris ab imperatoribus obsecratis, nos ipsis imperatoribus a Christo pacem rogamus. Vos manuum vestrarum adoratis opera, nos injuriam ducimus omne quod fieri potest, Deum putari. Non vult se Deus in lapidibus coli. Denique etiam ipsi philosophi vestri ista riserunt.

9. Quod si vos ideo Christum Deum negatis; quia illum mortuum esse non creditis (nescitis enim quod mors illa carnis fuerit, non divinitatis, quae fecit ut credentium jam nemo moriatur) quid vobis imprudentius, qui contumeliose colitis, et honorifice derogatis; vestrum enim Deum lignum putatis. O contumeliosa reverentia! Christum mori potuisse  0974C non creditis. O honorifica pervicacia!

10. Sed vetera, inquit, reddenda sunt altaria simulacris, ornamenta delubris. Reposcantur haec a consorte superstitionis: christianus imperator aram solius Christi didicit honorare. Quid manus pias et ora fidelia ministerium suis cogunt sacrilegis exhibere? Vox imperatoris nostri Christum resultet, et illum solum, quem sentit, loquatur;  quia cor regis in manu Dei (Prov. XXI, 1). Numquid imperator gentilis aram Christo levavit? Dum ea quae fuerunt, reposcunt, exemplo suo admonent quantum christiani  0975A imperatores religioni, quam sequuntur, debeant deferre reverentiae; quando gentiles superstitionibus suis omnia detulerunt.

11. Dudum coepimus, et jam sequuntur exclusos. Nos sanguine gloriamur, illos dispendium movet. Nos haec victoriae loco ducimus, illi injuriam putant. Numquam nobis amplius contulerunt, quam cum verberari christianos atque proscribi ac necari juberent. Praemium fecit religio, quod perfidia putabat esse supplicium. Videte magnanimos. Per injurias, per inopiam, per supplicium nos crevimus: illi ceremonias suas sine quaestu manere posse non credunt.

836 11. Habeant, inquit, Vestales virgines immunitatem suam. Dicant hoc, qui nesciunt credere, quod possit esse gratuita virginitas: provocent lucris,  0975B qui diffidunt virtutibus. Quantas tamen illis virgines praemia promissa fecerunt? Vix septem Vestales capiuntur puellae. En totus numerus quem infulae vittati capitis, purpuratarum vestium murices, pompa lecticae ministrorum circumfusa comitatu, privilegia maxima, lucra ingentia, praescripta denique pudicitiae tempora coegerunt.

12. Attollant mentis et corporis oculos, videant plebem pudoris, populum integritatis, concilium virginitatis. Non vittae capiti decus, sed ignobile velamen usui, nobile castitati: non exquisita, sed abdicata lenocinia pulchritudinis: non illa purpurarum insignia, non luxus deliciarum, sed usus jejuniorum: non privilegia, non lucra: omnia postremo talia, ut revocari a studio putes, dum exercentur  0975C officia. Sed dum exercetur officium, studium provocatur. Suis castitas cumulatur dispendiis. Non est virginitas, quae pretio emitur, non virtutis studio possidetur: non est integritas quaecumque in auctione nummario ad tempus licitatur compendio. Prima castitatis victoria est facultatum cupiditates vincere; quia lucri studium tentamentum pudoris est. Ponamus tamen subsidia largitatum conferenda virginibus. Quae christianis munera redundabunt? quod tantas opes sufficiet aerarium? Aut si arbitrantur solis Vestalibus conferendum, non pudet, ut qui totum sibi sub imperatoribus gentilibus vindicarunt, iidem sub principibus christianis non putent nobis sortem debere esse communem.

 0976A 13. Sacerdotibus quoque suis et ministris queruntur alimenta publica non deberi. Quantus hinc verborum tumultus increpuit? At contra, nobis etiam privatae successionis emolumenta recentibus legibus denegantur, et nemo conqueritur; non enim putamus injuriam, quia dispendium non dolemus. Si privilegium quaerat sacerdos, ut onus curiale declinet, patria atque avita et omnium facultatum possessione cedendum est. Quomodo hanc gentiles, si haberent, ingravarent querelam, quod sacerdos ferias ministerii sui emat totius patrimonii sui damno, et privati universae commoditatis dispendio usum publici mercetur obsequii: praetendens communis salutis excubias, domesticae inopiae se mercede soletur; quia ministerium non vendidit, sed  0976B gratiam comparavit.

14. Conferet causas. Vos excusare vultis decurionem, cum Ecclesiae excusare non liceat sacerdotem. Scribuntur testamenta templorum ministris, nullus excipitur profanus, nullus 837 ultimae conditionis, nullus prodigus verecundiae: soli ex omnibus clerico commune jus clauditur, a quo solo pro omnibus votum commune suscipitur, officium commune defertur: nulla legata vel gravium viduarum, nulla donatio. Et ubi in moribus culpa non deprehenditur; tamen officio mulcta praescribitur. Quod sacerdotibus fani legaverit christiana vidua, valet: quod ministris Dei, non valet. Quod ego non ut querar, sed ut sciant quid non querar, comprehendi; malo enim nos pecunia minores esse, quam gratia.

 0976C 15. Sed referunt, ea quae vel donata vel relicta sunt Ecclesiae, non esse temerata. Dicant et ipsi quis templis dona detraxerit quod factum est christianis. Quae si facta essent gentilibus, redderetur potius quam inferretur injuria. Nunccine demum justitia praetenditur, aequitas postulatur? Ubi tunc erat ista sententia; cum direptis christianorum omnium facultatibus, ipsos vitales anhelitus in viderent, et nullis usquam negata defunctis inhiberent supremae commercia sepulturae? Quos gentiles praecipitarunt, maria reddiderunt. Fidei ista victoria est, quod et ipsi jam facta majorum carpunt, quorum gesta condemnant. Sed quae, malum! ratio, ut eorum munera petant, quorum gesta condemnant?

 0977A 16. Nemo tamen donaria delubris, et legata haruspicibus denegavit: sola sublata sunt praedia; quia non religiose utebantur iis, quae religionis jure defenderent. Qui nostro utuntur exemplo, cur non utebantur officio? Nihil Ecclesia sibi, nisi fidem possidet. Hos redditus praebet, hos fructus. Possessio Ecclesiae sumptus est egenorum. Numerent quos redemerint templa captivos, quae contulerint alimenta pauperibus, quibus exsulibus vivendi subsidia ministraverint. Praedia igitur intercepta, non jura sunt.

17. En quod factum, quae triste piaret nefas, fames, ut aiunt, publica vindicavit; quia usui omnium proficere coepit, quod proficiebat commodis sacerdotum. Propterea ergo detractis, ut aiunt, arbusta  0977B exuta corticibus, succo miserabili deficientium ora lambebant. Propterea Chaonia frugem glande mutantes, rursus in pecudum pastus, et ad infelicis victus alimenta revocati, concussa quercu, famem in silvis 838 miseram solabantur. Nova videlicet prodigia terrarum, quae numquam ante acciderant; cum superstitio gentilis toto orbe ferveret! Re vera quando ante vacuis avenis seges avari vota lusit agricolae, et spem rusticae plebis quaesita sulcis frugis herba destituit?

18. Et unde Graecis oracula habita suae quercus, nisi quia remedium silvestris alimoniae coelestis religionis donum putarunt? Talia enim suorum munera credunt deorum. Quis dodonaeas arbores, nisi gentium populus adoravit; cum pabulum triste agri  0977C nemorum honore donaret? Non est verisimile quod indignantes eorum dii id pro poena intulerint, quod solebant placati conferre pro munere.

Quae autem aequitas, ut paucis sacerdotibus dolentes victum negatum, ipsi omnibus denegarent; cum inclementior esset vindicta, quam culpa? Non est igitur idonea, quae tantam aegritudinem mundi fallentis  0978A causa constrinxerit; ut virentibus segetibus subito spes anni adulta moreretur.

19. Et certe ante plurimos annos templorum jura toto orbe sublata sunt: modone demum diis gentilium venit in mentem suas injurias ultum ire? Propterea nec assueto cursu Nilus intumuit, ut Urbicorum sacerdotum dispendia vindicaret, qui non vindicavit suorum?

20. Esto tamen si superiore anno deorum suorum injurias vindicatas putant, cur praesenti anno contemptui fuere? Jam enim nec herbarum vulsis radicibus rusticana plebs pascitur, nec baccae silvestris explorat solatia; nec cibum de sentibus rapit: sed operum laeta felicium, dum messes suas et ipsa miratatur, explevit voti satietate jejunium: usurarios  0978B nobis reddidit terra proventus.

21. Quis ergo tam novus humanis usibus vices stupeat annorum? Et tamen etiam superiore anno plerasque novimus provincias redundasse fructibus. De Galliis quid loquar solito ditioribus? Frumentum Pannoniae, quod non severant, vendiderunt: et secunda Rhetia fertilitatis suae novit invidiam; nam quae solebat tutior esse jejunio, fecunditate hostem in se excitavit: Liguriam Venetiasque autumni frumenta paverunt. Ergo nec ille sacrilegio annus exaruit, et iste fidei fructibus annus effloruit. Negent etiam quod largo fetu vineae redundaverint. 839 Itaque et messem feneratam recepimus, et liberalioris vindemiae beneficia possidemus.

22. Postremus superest et maximus locus, utrum  0978C ea quae vobis profuerint, imperatores, restituere subsidia debeatis; ait enim: Vos defendant, a nobis colantur. Hoc est, fidelissimi Principes, quod ferre non possumus; quia exprobrant nobis vestro se nomine diis suis supplicare, et vobis non mandantibus, sacrilegium immane committunt, dissimulationem pro consensu interpretantes. Sibi habeant praesidia  0979A sua: suos si possunt, illa defendant. Nam si iis a quibus coluntur, auxilio esse non possunt; quomodo possunt vos defendere, a quibus non coluntur?

23. Sed majorum, inquit, servandus est ritus. Quid quod omnia postea in melius profecerunt? Mundus ipse, qui vel primum coactis elementorum per inane seminibus, tenero orbe, concreverat, vel confuso adhuc indigesti operis caligabat horrore; nonne postea distincto coeli, maris, terrarumque discrimine, rerum formas quibus speciosus videtur, accepit? Exutae humentibus tenebris novum terrae stupuere solem. Dies in exordio non refulget, sed in processu temporis incremento luminis micat, et caloris exaestuat.

 0979B 24. Luna ipsa, qua propheticis oraculis species Ecclesiae figuratur, cum primum resurgens in menstruas reparatur aetates , tenebris nobis absconditur: paulatimque cornua sua complens, vel e regione solis absolvens, clari splendore fulgoris irrutilat.

25. Exerceri in fructus terrae ante nesciebant: post ubi imperare arvis sollicitus coepit agricola, et informe solum vestire vinetis, silvestres animos domesticis mollitae cultibus exuerunt.

26. Anni ipsius aetas prima, quae nos usu parili coloravit nutu gignentium: sed in processu lapsuris floribus vernat, postremis adolescit fructibus.

27. Nos quoque aevi rudes, sensus habemus infantiam: sed mutati in annos ingenii rudimenta  0979C deponimus.

Dicant igitur in suis omnia manere debuisse principiis; mundum tenebris obductum, quia splendore solis illuxerit, displicere. Et quanto gratius est animi tenebras depulisse, quam corporis, fideique jubar emicuisse, quam solis? Ergo 840 et mundi sicut omnium rerum primaeva nutarunt, ut venerabilis canae fidei sequeretur senectus. Quos hoc movet, reprehendant messem; quia sera fecunditas est: reprehendant vindemiam; quia in occasu anni  0980A est: reprehendant olivam; quia postremus est fructus.

28. Ergo et messis nostra fides animorum est; Ecclesiae gratia meritorum vindemia est, quae ab ortu mundi virebat in sanctis, sed postrema aetate se diffudit in populos, ut adverterent omnes non rudibus animis irrepsisse fidem Christi (nulla enim sine adversario corona victoriae) sed explosa opinione, quae ante convaluit , quod erat verum, fit jure praelatum.

30. Si ritus veteres delectabant, cur in alienos ritus eadem Roma successit? Omitto absconditam pretio humum, et pastorales casas auro degeneri renitentes. Quid, ut de ipso respondeam quod queruntur, captarum simulacra urbium, victosque deos,  0980B et peregrinos ritus sacrorum alienae superstitionis aemuli receperunt? Unde igitur exemplum, quod currus suos simulato Almonis in flumine lavat Cybele? Unde Phrygii vates, et semper invisa Romanis non aequae Carthaginis numina? Quam Coelestem Afri, Mithram Persae, plerique Venerem colunt, pro diversitate nominis, non pro numinis varietate. Sic deam esse et victoriam crediderunt, quae utique munus est, non potestas: donatur, non dominatur, legionum gratia, non religionum potentia. Magna igitur dea, quam militum multitudo sibi vindicat, vel praeliorum donat eventus?

31. Hujus aram strui in urbis Romae curia petunt, hoc est, quo plures conveniunt christiani. Omnibus in templis arae, ara etiam in templo victoriarum.  0980C Quoniam numero delectantur, sacrificia sua ubique concelebrant. Quid est nisi insultare fidei, unius arae sacrificium vindicare? Ferendumne istud, ut gentilis sacrificet, et christianus intersit? Hauriant, inquit, hauriant vel inviti fumum oculis, symphoniam auribus, cinerem faucibus, thus naribus, et aversantium licet ora excitata focis nostris favilla respergat. Non illi satis sunt lavacra, non porticus, non plateae occupatae simulacris? Etiamne in communi illo concilio non erit communis conditio? Obstringetur pia  0981A senatus portio obtestantium vocibus, adjurantium sacramentis. Si refutet, videbitur mendacium prodere: 841 si acquiescat, sacrilegium confiteri.

32. Ubi, inquit, in leges vestras et verba jurabimus? Ergo mens vestra, quae legibus tenetur inclusa, ceremoniis gentium suffragium colligit, fidem stringit? Jam non solum praesentium, sed absentium etiam, et quod est amplius, imperatores, fides vestra pulsatur; vos enim cogitis, si jubetis. Constantius augustae memoriae nondum sacris initiatus mysteriis, contaminari se putavit, si aram illam videret. Jussit auferri, non jussit reponi. Illud auctoritatem facti habet, hoc praecepti non habet.

33. Nemo sibi de absentia blandiatur. Praesentior est, qui se animis inserit, quam qui oculis protestatur.  0981B Plus enim est mente connecti, quam corpore copulari. Vos senatus cogendi concilii praesules habet, vobis coit: vobis conscientiam suam, non diis gentium praestat: vos liberis suis, non tamen fidei suae praefert. Haec est charitas expetenda, haec est charitas major imperio, si fides tuta sit, quae servat imperium.

34. Sed fortasse aliquem moveat ita fidelissimum principem destitutum: proinde quasi meritorum pretium caducis aestimetur praesentium. Quis enim sapiens non in orbe quodam atque circuitu locata humanarum rerum novit negotia; quia non eosdem semper successus habent: sed variant status, et mutant vices?

35. Quem beatiorem Cneio Pompeio Romana templa  0981C miserunt? At is cum tribus triumphis terrarum cinxisset orbem, pulsus acie, bello profugus, et sui terminis exsul imperii, Canopei manu spadonis occubuit.

36. Quem nobiliorem Cyro Persarum totius Orientis terrae regem dederunt? Is quoque cum principes potentissimos adversantes vicisset, victos reservasset, muliebribus armis fusus interiit. Et ille rex qui superatos etiam consessus honore donaverat, exsecto capite et intra utrem plenum cruoris, satiari jussus, incluso, femineis imperiis ludibrio fuit. Adeo in istius vitae curriculo non paria paribus, sed longe diversa referuntur!

 0982A 37. Quem etiam magis sacrificiis deditum, quam Carthaginensium ducem Hamilcarem reperimus? Qui cum toto praelii tempore inter acies positus dimicantes, sacrificium faceret; ubi partem suorum victam esse cognovit, in ipsos quos adolebat, se praecipitavit ignes: ut eos vel corpore suo restingueret, quos sibi nihil profuisse cognoverat.

842 38. Nam de Juliano quid loquar? qui cum responsis haruspicum male credulus esset, ademit sibi subsidia revertendi. Ergo in communi casu non est communis offensa; neminem etenim promissa nostra luserunt.

39. Respondi lacessentibus tamquam non lacessitus; refellendae etenim Relationis, non exponendae superstitionis mihi studium fuit. Te tamen, imperator,  0982B ipsa eorum relatio faciat cautiorem. Nam cum de superioribus principibus texuisset, quia prior eorum numerus ceremonias patrum coluit, recentior non removit; addidisset etiam: si exemplum religio veterum non facit, faciat dissimulatio proximorum; evidenter docuit quid et fidei tuae debeas, ut gentilitii ritus non sequaris exemplum: et pietati, ut fratris statuta non violes. Si enim pro suis dumtaxat partibus eorum dissimulationem principum praedicarunt, qui cum essent christiani, decreta tamen gentilium minime removerunt: quanto magis amori debes deferre fraterno, ut qui dissimulare deberes, etiamsi quid forsitan non probares, ne fraternis derogares statutis, et nunc teneas quod et fidei tuae, et germanitatis necessitudini judicas convenire.