37 Prohibition of Harassment of the Catholic Cult by Donatists, Heretics, and Jews

Honorius (with Theodosius II)

24 November 408

This law, given by Honorius in his name and in the name of Theodosius II on 24 November 408 at Ravenna, was addressed to Donatus, Proconsul of Africa.

The legislator’s demands for a swift and effective action against Donatists and Jews harassing Catholic ceremonies should be seen in the wider context of the campaign against African Donatists and Jews, which was initiated immediately after Gildo’s defeat in 398. Gildo treated the Donatists, perhaps also the Jews, with leniency; Stilicho’s arrest and subsequent execution, on 23 August 408, were seen therefore in Africa as the end to the persecution of the non­Catholic elements. Widespread riots and violent assaults on the Catholic clergy broke out during the next two months. A particu­larly active role in these events was performed by the Circumcel­liones, whose religious fanaticism betrayed a strong Biblical influ­ence, derived either directly from the Scriptures or through mediat­ing ties with the local Jewish communities. They were chiefly re­sponsible for the violent attacks on the Catholic cult and clergy. The African Catholic clergy appealed for protection to the court in Ra­venna, and the response was immediate. Two laws, given on 24 November, indicated to both Jews and Donatists that Stilicho’s fall did not alter the government’s religious policy in Africa.

Our law refers to a cooperation between Jews and Donatists in Africa in anti-Catholic activities, but this claim is not sufficiently corroborated by other sources. It is true that Augustine had a similar claim, in a text which stigmatizes the anti-Catholic coalition combining Jews, pagans, and Donatists, but it owes perhaps more to his rhetorical style than to his powers of observation.¹ Neverthe­less, African Jews had every reason to prefer the more tolerant Donatist Church to the Orthodox Court of Ravenna, and the pos­sible links between them and the Berber population, from whose ranks the Circumcelliones were mobilized, could have strength­ened this preference and turned it into an active support.²

Codex Theodosianus, 16:5:44, ed.

IDEM AA.· HAVE,· DONATE,· KARISSIME NOBIS.

Donatistarum haereticorum* ludaeorum nova adque inusitata detexit audacia, quod catholicae fidei velint sacramenta turbare. Quae pestis cave contagione latius emanet ac profluat In eos igitur, qui aliquid, 5 quod sit catholicae sectae* contrarium adversumque, temptaverint, sup­plicium iustae animadversionis* expromi praecipimus.

DAT. VIII KAL. DEC. R(A)V(ENNAE) BASSO ET PHILIPPO CONSS.*

THE SAME TWO AUGUSTI? AVE,⁴ DONATUS,⁵ DEAREST TO US.

The audacity of the Donatists, the heretics⁶ and the Jews disclosed new and unusual deeds, for they want to throw the sacraments of the Catholic faith into disorder. Beware lest this plague proceed and spread widely and contagiously. We order, therefore, that a just and retributive chastisement⁷ be inflicted upon those who shall attempt to do anything that is contrary and adverse to the Catholic sect.⁸ GIVEN ON THE EIGHTH DAY BEFORE THE CALENDS OF DECEMBER AT RAVENNA, IN THE CONSULATE OF BASSUS AND PHILIPPUS.⁹

NOTES

1.      Sermon 62, ed. J. Blampin, P. Coustant, et al., PL, XXXVIII, Cols. 422-423.

2.Roman">      On this matter consult M. Rachmuth, “Die Juden in Nordafrika bis zur Invasion der Araber,” MGWJ, L (1906), p. 43. Rachmuth is largely followed by M. Simon, “Le Judaisme berbdre dans 1’Afrique ancienne,” Revue d’histoire et de phi­losophic religieuses, 1946, pp.

3.       Augusti: Honorius and Theodosius II.

4.      Ave: Theodosius’ editors preserved the salutation formula which opened the original law, as issued by the Imperial chancellery, instead of rewriting it in the usual style of the Code's inscriptions.

5.      Donatus was Proconsul of Africa in 408. See Haehling, pp. 444-445; PLRE, II, s.v.; O. Seeck, PW, 1:10, 1905, s.v., Col. 1545. He was of African origin, and owned estates near Hippo. His marked aggressiveness toward the Do- natists was due, probably, to the presence of Donatists in his own family. See Frend, p. 271.

6.      Heretics: the Latin text allows also a different translation, taking ‘haere­tici’ as an adjective of ‘Donatistae’ rather than as a separate noun. The law would then refer to two groups, instead of three, persecuting the Catholic Church: the Donatist heretics and the Jews. The Donatists had been officially and legally re­cognized as heretics since 399, and more distinctly since 405, and this legal status was scrupulously insisted upon by the Court at Ravenna.

7.      Chastisement: Donatus understood this phrase to mean capital punish­ment, but was convinced by Augustine to inflict milder punishments. See Epistulae, 100:2, ed A. Goldbacher, CSEL, XXXIV:2, 1898, pp. 535-538.

8.      Catholic sect: an unusual employment of the term ‘secta’, generally re­served, by that time, to other religions and to the heretical Churches.

9.       Given... Philippus: 24 November 408.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Godefroy, VI: 1, pp. 182-184; Seeck, Regesten, pp. 3, 314; Seaver, pp. 59­60; W. H. C. Frend, The Donatist Church, Oxford 1952, pp. 271-272; PCBE,lang=EN-US style='font-size:8.5pt;font-style:normal'> s.v. Donatus.