35 Against Heretics, God-Fearers, and Pagans Honorius (with Arcadius, Theodosius II)

25 November 407

This law, given by Honorius in his name and in the names of Arcadius and Theodosius II at Rome on 25 November 407, was addressed to Curtius, Praefectus Praetorio of Italy.

While the Constitutio Sirmondiana No. 12 and the two frag­ments received into Codex Theodosianus transmit an essentially identical monthly date and the same consulate, it is still doubtful whether the consulate referred to in Constitutio Sirmondiana No. 12 determined the year in which this law was given at Rome, or the year of its promulgation at Carthage. Theodosius’ editors adopted the first alternative, and referred the consulate to the date on which the law was first given. The evidence of Codex Theodo­sianus is in principle, however, of lesser authority when contra­dicted by the evidence of a Constitutio Sirmondiana. Our dating, which relies mainly on the studies of Seeck and Demougeot, is based on the following considerations:

(A) Honorius stayed at Rome from autumn 407 until mid-May 408.

(B)  Curtius served as Praefectus Praetorio of Italy from 7 April 407 until 3 February 408.

(C)  The inscription of CTh 16:10:19 gives the names of Arca­dius, Honorius, and Theodosius II, while its subscription dates it to 408. It is to be concluded, therefore, that the inscription of CTh 16:10:19 was composed before 1 May 408, the date of Arcadius’ death. Constitutio Sirmondiana No. 12 was promulgated at Carth­age on 5 June (408), after Arcadius’ death, and its inscription was revised, accordingly, to give the names of Honorius and Theodo­sius II only. This revised inscription appears also in CTh 16:5:43. The fact that only one of the two Theodosian fragments of this law presented the revised inscription raises the possibility that Theodo­sius’ editors received the two fragments from two different sources, one of whom was probably Constitutio Sirmondiana No. 12, which served as source to CTh 16:5:43, or another copy of the same African text.

It is to be concluded, therefore, that this law was given on 15 or 25 November 407, and that it was promulgated at Carthage in 408. The date of 15 or 25 November 408 is a composite one, combining the monthly date of the giving of the law with the consulate of the year it was promulgated at Carthage.

Another difference between Sirm. 12 and the two fragments in Codex Theodosianus consists in that Sirm. 12 dated the giving of the law to 25 November, while the two fragments dated it to 15 November. This difference can be explained as a result of a scribal error; the unintentional omission of the digit X from the date “XVII kal. Decemb.” replaced 15 by 25 November. It is quite possible, finally, that the right date was transmitted by the two fragments, while that of Sirm. 12 is wrong. On 15 November 407, in effect, Honorius issued at Rome another law (CTh 16:2:38 and CTh 16:5:41), which dealt with the struggle between the Orthodox and their enemies in Africa, and it was personally addressed to Porphyrins, the Proconsul of Africa.

The differences in content between Sirm. 12 and the two frag­ments are insignificant, and most of them are certainly due to the editor’s wish to clarify the legislator’s intentions. This was proba­bly the reason why the word ‘revellantur’ was replaced by ‘evellan- tur’, and why the editors specified, in the last paragraph, that the fine of twenty gold pounds should be imposed on the ‘indices’, where the original text left the identity of those to be punished somewhat vague.

Nearly six months passed between the first issue of this law and its promulgation at Carthage, quite a long time even when allow­ance is made for the difficult conditions of transport and communi­cation which restricted the effectiveness of the Imperial adminis­tration. It could have been the effect of resistance shown by the local authorities against unpopular—or unwelcome—anti-Donatist law, with its implementation being sabotaged by underhand dila­tory tactics. Demougeot believes that the text published in 408 was harsher than the one issued in 407, but we are in no position to estimate what changes were introduced into the original text drafted in 407. This law represents an important turning-point in Stilicho’s religious policy. Fully aware of the deterioration of his position in the court since the end of 406, he tried to switch alli­ances, from the senatorial order and the pagan circles to the Or­thodox Christian circles based in Milan. His order to burn the Sybilline Books should be seen, alongside our law, as yet another indication of his appeasement policy in regard to the Orthodox Christians.

This law was directed against the heretics, which include, in this case, the Donatists (and the Montenses), the Manichaeans, and the Priscillianists, as well as the pagans.

The complete law was divided by Theodosius’ editors into two fragments. The first fragment {CTh 16:5:43) consisted of the mea­sures decreed against heretics and Heaven-Fearers, while the sec­ond {CTh 16:10:19) preserved the regulations against the pagans and the penal and executive clauses that referred, originally, to the entire law.

In its extant version this law dealt with African affairs, but its general phraseology indicates a more general scope. It is true that the Donatists, dealt with in this law, were essentially an African phenomenon, but the legislator emphasized that they are also known as ‘Montenses’, and this term designated specifically the Donatist community of Rome. The presence of Manichaeans and God-Fearers outside Africa is of course sufficiently documented. The Priscillianist heresy spread in Spain and Aquitaine after the execution of Priscillian in 386, and Spanish Galicia became its main center in the early fifth century. The second law issued in the same fortnight, which was addressed to Porphyrins, Proconsul of Africa, dealt with the conflict between the Orthodox and the Do­natists, and provided yet another example of the commitment of the court to the Orthodox cause in Africa (see above).

An interesting testimony about the implementation of these laws can be found in Augustine’s letter to Olympius, Stilicho’s successor, from the winter of 408, in which he asked that these laws be maintained, even though they were issued by Stilicho.¹

Constitutio Sirmondiana, 12, ed.

IMPP. HONORIUS ET THEODOSIUS AUGG. CURTIO* PRAEFECTO PRAETORII

Profanos haereticorum spiritus superstitionemque gentilium* vel sola quidem religiosorum virorum sacerdotum dei in observandis sollicitudo 5 criminibus, sedulitas in monendo, auctoritas in docendo emendare debuerat. Nec nostrarum tamen legum scita cessarunt, quae in dei om­nipotentis cultum poenae etiam terrore proposito reducerent deviantes, ignaros quoque in ministeria divina formarent. Sed nimirum ipsa vis mali humana pariter ac divina permiscens deceptos plerosque per- io suasionibus pravis tam in praesens quam in futurum inpellit exitium et deo simul ac nobis perdit infelicium vitas, quas et hic legibus dedit et illic cogit ferre iudicium. Conpulsi igitur Donatistarum pertinacia, furore gentilium, quae quidem mala desidia iudicum, coniventia officiorum, or­dinum contemptus accendit, necessarium putamus iterare quae ius-

15 simus. Quapropter omnia, quae in Donatistas, qui et Montenses vocan­tur,* Manichaeos sive Priscillianistas* vel in gentiles a nobis generalium legum auctoritate decreta sunt, non solum manere decernimus, verum in exsecutionem plenissimam effectumque deduci, ita ut aedificia quoque vel horum vel Caelicolarum etiam, qui nescio cuius dogmatis novi 20 conventus habent, ecclesiis vindicentur. Poena vero lege proposita velut convictos tenere debebit eos, qui Donatistas se confessi fuerint vel catholicorum sacerdotum scaevae religionis obtentu communionem refugerint, quamvis Christianos esse se simulent. lam vero templorum detrahantur annonae et rem annonariam* iuvent expensis devotis- 25 simorum militum profuturae. Simulacra, si qua etiamnunc in templis fanisque* consistunt et quae aliquem ritum vel acceperunt vel accipiunt paganorum, suis sedibus revellantur, cum hoc repetita sciamus saepius sanctione decretum.* Aedificia ipsa templorum, quae in civitatibus vel oppidis* vel extra oppida sunt, ad usum publicum vindicentur.

DATA VII KAL. DECEMB. ROMAE, PROPOSITA CARTHAGINE IN FORO SUB PROGRAMMATE PORPHYRII PROCONSULIS NONIS IUNIIS BASSO ET FILIPPO VV. CC. CONSS.·

THE TWO EMPERORS AND AUGUSTI HONORIUS AND THEODOSIUS TO CURTIUS,² PRAEFECTUS PRAETORIO

The impious spirits of the heretics and the superstition of the Gentiles³ should have been corrected only through the care of God’s religious priests in watching for crimes, their assiduity in warning and authority in instructing. Even then were not abolished the de­crees of our laws, which shall redirect the erring to the cult of the Almighty through the terror of punishment, as well as educate the ignorant to the divine service. Assuredly, however, that force of evil, which mingles together the human with the divine, deceives very many people with evil persuasion, and impels them to their ruin, in the present life and in the future; it destroys the life of these miserable people, equally through us and through God, for it de­livered them to our laws here and forced them to bear their judg­ment there. Compelled, therefore, by the pertinacity of the Dona- tists and the frenzy of the Gentiles, evils kindled by the idleness of the governors, the connivance of the administrative staffs and the contempt of the curias, we consider it necessary to reiterate what we had already ordered. We decree, therefore, that all that was de­creed by us with the authority of general laws against the Donatists, who are also called Montenses,⁴ the Manichaeans, the Priscillian- ists,⁵ and the Gentiles, not only shall remain in force, but also brought into the fullest execution and effectuation, so that the edi­fices as well, which belong to them and also to the Heaven-fearers, who have meetings of a new doctrine unknown to me, shall be vindicated to the churches. The punishment imposed by law, in­deed, must be administered to those who have confessed to being Donatists or who fled back from communion with the Catholic priests under the cover of a perverse religion, even though they pretend to be Christians, as if they were convicted. The corn of the temples shall be taken away immediately, support the corn provi­sion⁶ and contribute to the payments of our most devoted soldiers. Statues, if any are standing even now in temples and sanctuaries,⁷ and received some worship of the pagans or receive it now, shall be pulled out from their foundations, for we know that this was de­creed in a frequently reiterated law.⁸ The very edifices of the temples, which are situated in cities,⁹ towns or outside the towns, shall be vindicated for public use. Altars everywhere shall be de­stroyed, and all the temples in our possession shall be converted to appropriate uses; owners of temples shall be forced to destroy them. It shall be absolutely forbidden to hold feasts or carry out any cult in honour of a sacrilegious rite in abominable places. Furthermore, we grant the local bishops the competence to prohibit all these through the ecclesiastical authority. We also concede the performance of the Executive Agents Maximus, lulian, and Eutyches, in order to imple­ment what was decreed in general laws against Donatists, Manichae­ans, heretics of this sort or Gentiles. Let them know, therefore, that the rule of the laws must be observed in all things, so that what is seen to be done contrary to the prohibition should be reported immediately to the governors to be punished according to the vigour of the laws. They are indeed constrained by the previously estab­lished fine of twenty gold pounds, and an identical fine is imposed on the administrative staffs and the curias, if what we have here decreed shall be neglected through their dissimulation, O Curtius, our dearest and most loving father. Your Sublime Magnificence shall see to it that what has been provided for the confirmation of religion and the people’s mores shall be made known to the gover­nors of the provinces, and that it shall order all to observe it with vigour.

GIVEN ON THE SEVENTH DAY BEFORE THE CALENDS OF DECEMBER AT ROME, PROMULGATED AT CARTHAGE, IN THE FORUM, UNDERNEATH THE DECLARATION OF THE PROCONSUL PORPHRIUS, ON THE NONES OF JUNE, IN THE CONSULATE OF THE RENOWNED BASSUS AND FILIPPUS.¹⁰

Codex Theodosianus, 16:5:43, ed. Mommsen, p. 869

IDEM AA. CURTIO P(RAEFECTO) P(RAETORI)O

Omnia, quae in Donatistas, qui et Montenses vocantur, Manichaeos sive Priscillianistas vel in gentiles a nobis generalium legum auctoritate decreta sunt, non solum manere decernimus, verum in executionem 5 plenissimam effectumque deduci, ita ut aedificia quoque vel horum vel Caelicolarum etiam, qui nescio cuius dogmatis novi conventus habent, ecclesiis vindicentur. Poena vero lege proposita veluti convictos tenere debebit eos, qui Donatistas se confessi fuerint vel catholicorum com­munionem refugerint scaevae religionis obtentu, quamvis Christianos io esse se simulent. Et cetera.

DAT. XVII KAL. DEC. ROM(AE) BASSO ET PHILIPPO CONSS.·

THE SAME TWO AUGUSTI TO CURTIUS, PRAEFECTUS PRAETORIO

All that was decreed by us with the authority of general laws against the Donatists, who are also called Montenses, the Manichaeans, the Priscillianists and the Gentiles, not only shall remain in force, but also brought into the fullest execution and effectuation, so that the edifices as well, which belong to them and also to the Heaven-Fear­ers, who have meetings of a new doctrine unknown to me, shall be vindicated to the churches. The punishment imposed by law, in­deed, must be administered to those who have confessed to being Donatists or who fled back from communion with the Catholics under the cover of a perverse religion, even though they pretend to be Christians, as if they were convicted.

And other matters.

GIVEN ON THE SEVENTEENTH DAY BEFORE THE CALENDS OF DECEMBER AT ROME, IN THE CONSULATE OF BASSUS AND PHILIPPUS.¹¹

Codex Theodosianus, 16:10:19, ed. Mommsen, pp. 902-903

IMPPP. ARCADIUS, HONORIUS ET THEOD(OSIUS) AAA. CURTIO P(RAEFECTO) P(RAETORI)O

Post alia: Templorum detrahantur annonae et rem annonariam iuvent expensis devotissimorum militum profuturae. Simulacra, si qua etiam- s nunc in templis fanisque consistunt et quae alicubi ritum vel acceperunt vel accipiunt paganorum, suis sedibus evellantur, cum hoc repetita sciamus saepius sanctione decretum. Aedificia ipsa templorum, quae in civitatibus vel oppidis vel extra oppida sunt, ad usum publicum vin­dicentur. Arae locis omnibus destruantur omniaque templa in posses- io sionibus nostris ad usus adcommodos transferantur; domini destruere cogantur. Non liceat omnino in honorem sacrilegi ritus funestioribus locis exercere convivia vel quicquam sollemnitatis agitare. Episcopis quoque locorum haec ipsa prohibendi ecclesiasticae manus tribuimus facultatem; indices autem viginti librarum auri poena constringimus et 15 pari forma officia eorum, si haec eorum fuerint dissimulatione neglecta.

DAT. XVII KAL. DEC. ROMAE BASSO ET PHILIPPO CONSS

New Roman">THE THREE EMPERORS AND AUGUSTI ARCADIUS, HONORIUS AND THEODO­SIUS TO CURTIUS, PRAEFECTUS PRAETORIO

After other matters: The corn of the temples shall be taken away immediately, support the corn provision and contribute to the pay­ments of our most devoted soldiers. Statues, if any are standing even now in temples and sanctuaries, and received anywhere wor­ship of the Pagans or receive it now, shall be pulled out from their foundations, for we know that this was decreed in a frequently reiterated law. The very edifices of the temples, which are situated in cities, towns or outside the towns, shall be vindicated for public use. Altars everywhere shall be destroyed, and all the temples in our possession shall be converted to appropriate uses; owners of temples shall be forced to destroy them. It shall be absolutely for­bidden to hold feasts or carry out any cult in honour of a sacrile­gious rite in abominable places. Furthermore, we grant the local bishops the competence to prohibit all these through the ecclesiasti­cal authority; we constrain the governors, however, by a fine of twenty pounds of gold, and in identical form their administrative staffs, if these shall be neglected through their dissimulation.

GIVEN ON THE SEVENTEENTH DAY BEFORE THE CALENDS OF DECEMBER AT ROME, IN THE CONSULATE OF BASSUS AND PHILIPPUS.

Codex Justinianus, 1:9:12, ed. Kruger, p. 61

IDEM AA. IOVIO PP.

Caelicolarum nomen inauditum quodammodo novum crimen super­stitionis vindicavit. Ii, nisi ad dei cultum venerationemque Christianam conversi fuerint, his legibus, quibus praecipimus haereticos adstringi, se 5 quoque noverint attinendos. Aedificia autem eorum, quae nescio cuius dogmatis novi conventus habent, ecclesiis vindicentur. Certum est enim, quidquid a fide Christianorum discrepat, legi Christianae esse con­trarium.

D. K. APRIL. RAVENNA HONORIO VIII ET THEODOSIO III AA. CONSS.

THE SAME TWO AUGUSTI TO IOVIUS, PRAEFECTUS PRAETORIO

A new crime of superstition claimed somehow the unheard name of Heaven-Fearers. Let them know, that unless they return to God’s cult and the Christian veneration, they too shall be attained by those laws with which we ordered that the heretics shall be constrained. Their edifices however, which serve meetings of a new dogma which is unknown to me, shall be vindicated to the churches. For it is indubitable, that anything that differs from the faith of the Chris­tians is contrary to the Christian law.

GIVEN ON THE CALENDS OF APRIL AT RAVENNA, IN THE CONSULATE OF THE TWO AUGUSTI, HONORIUS FOR THE EIGHTH TIME AND THEODOSIUS FOR THE THIRD TIME.

NOTES

1.        Epistulae³, 97:2, ed. A Goldbacher, CSEL, XXXIV, 1898, pp. 517-518; LVHI, 1923, p. 29.

2.      Curtius: this praefectus praetorio is known only from laws dated to the years 407-408. See Haehling, p. 313; Jones,

3.        Here, and later, “Gentiles” means “Pagans.” The legislator still uses here the latin words ‘gentiles’, ‘gentes’, as equivalent to the Greek word έθνη to designate the pagans. The latin word ‘pagani’ was more widespread, however, and its negative connotation more pronounced; it shall become the preferred term in legislative texts (see below, Nos. 38, 48, 49, 54, 60). Consult C. Mohrmann, “En­core une fois: Paganus,” Vigiliae Christianae, VI (1952), pp. 114-115; I. Opelt, “Griechische und lateinische Bezeichnungen der Nichtchristen; ein terminolo­gischer Versuch,” ibid., XIX (1965), pp. 14-18.

4.        Montenses: an explicit reference to the Roman Donatist community, designated by this name. Its etymology is obscure. According to Jerome and Opta­tus it originated in the fact that the first church owned by the Roman Donatists was situated on a mountain outside the city, but this interpretation is doubtful, for Augustine gave a different explanation, linking this term with the term ‘Cotopitae’. The term was possibly indicative of the social and geographic origin of the African Donatists, like the terms ‘agrestes’, ‘campenses’, etc. See Jülicher, PW, 1:6, 1899, s.v. Campenses, Col. 1443; R. Lorenz, “Circumcelliones—cotopitae—cutzupitani,” Zeitschrift fur Kirchengeschichte, LXXII (1971), pp. 54-59.

5.        On the expansion of the Priscillianists in Spain and their condemnation in the Council of Toledo (440) see G. Bardy, DTC, XIII, 1937, s.v. Priscillien, Cols. 391-400.

6.        Corn provision: for this meaning of the term ‘res annonaria’ compare Symmachus’ letter from 384/385, in which he urged the Emperors to speed up the African corn transport to Rome ‘ne res annonaria in graves cogatur angustias’, “to prevent that the corn provision be impelled into grave difficulties;” see Epistulae, X:18:2, ed. O. Seeck, Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Auctores Antiquissimi, VI, p. 293. Compare also an inscription commemorating the construction of a granary in upper Pannonia in 349, approximately, which emphasized that that granary was to assure ‘in securitatem perpetem rei annonariae’, “the eternal security of the corn provision.” See CIL, III, No. 4180.

7.        Sanctuaries: the legislator employed two classical terms to designate the pagan temples. Although both were originally employed in Christian contexts as well, designating concepts such as the Church and Christ’s body, ‘templum’ was gradually reserved to the Christian sphere, with ‘fanum’ left to indicate pagan temples. This distinction is emphasized in Jerome’s words, ‘non templa Dei viventis sed fana et idola mortuorum’, “not the ‘templa’ of the Living God, but the ‘fana’ and the idols of the dead”; see Adversus lovinianum, 1:10, ed. D. Vallarsi, PL, XXIII, Col. 224.

8.        Laws: see the laws included in CTh 16:10 = CJ 1:11.

9.        Cities: Oppidum’ and ‘civitas’ appear here as synonyms. While ‘oppi­dum’ as a designation of town life in contrast to rural life is earlier and more exact, ‘civitas’ generally meant a distinct type of communal organization, whether rural or urban. The distinction between the two terms became progressively blurred, and the use of the term ‘civitas’ more widespread, since the second century a.d. The Orcistus inscription combined the two terms: ‘incolae Orcisti iam nu[n]c oppidi et civitatis’; see CIL, III, No. 7000. Such a combination is known from other sources civitatis’; see CIL, III, No. 7000. Such a combination is known from other sources as well. See E. Kornemann, PW, Supp. I, 1903, s.v. Civitas, Cols. 300-304; idem, PW, XVIII: 1, 1939, s.v. Oppidum, Cols. 708-725.

face="Times New Roman">10.      Given... Filippus: Given on 25 November, promulgated on 5 June 408.

11.      Given... Philippus: 15 November 408.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Godefroy, VI: 1, pp. 182-184, 321-323; Seeck, Regesten, p. 312; Stein, I, p. 251; E. Demougeot, “Sur les lois du 15 novembre 407,” RHDFE, Series 4, XXVIII (1950), pp. 403-412; Jones, “Collegiate Prefectures,” p. 87; Langenfeld, p. 88; Haehling, pp. 466-469; G. Fowden, “Bishops and Temples in the Eastern Roman Empire a.d. 320-435,” JThS, NS, XXIX (1978), pp. 53-54; PCBE, s.v. Curtius.