{"slug":"tmp1263.tmp1263.opp-lat1","id":"latin:ogl-pl:tmp1263.tmp1263.opp-lat1","title":"Synodo Ecclesiasticae Vir Spectabilis Anagnosticus Regis","title_source":"Synodo Ecclesiasticae Vir Spectabilis Anagnosticus Regis","author":"Theodoricus Rex Gothorum","genre":"canon-law","date":"","tradition":"latin","coverage":"not-located","coverage_claim":{"status":"not-located","text":"No English translation could be identified: a language model asked twice could not name one, though it could not rule one out either. That is not proof that none exists — translations in dissertations, recent books and other modern languages are easily missed."},"publication":{"status":"machine-draft","reviewed_by":null,"model":"deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash:floor","provider":"Relace","generated":"2026-11-15T05:59:59Z","cost_usd":0.00163},"source":{"registry_id":"latin:ogl-pl:tmp1263.tmp1263.opp-lat1","work_id":"tmp1263.tmp1263.opp-lat1","edition":"ogl-pl","language":"","license":"Available under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License","url":"https://github.com/OpenGreekAndLatin/patrologia_latina-dev/blob/master/data/tmp1263/tmp1263/tmp1263.tmp1263.opp-lat1.xml"},"stats":{"passages":2,"english_words":509,"coptic_letters":0,"source_letters":1907,"commentary_units":11,"commentary_kinds":7,"derived_notes":0,"ambiguities":5,"work_notes":5,"external_links":0,"timeline":4},"summary":{"work":"tmp1263.tmp1263.opp-lat1","abstract":"The 'Synodo Ecclesiasticae Vir Spectabilis Anagnosticus Regis — Theodoricus Rex Gothorum' is a Latin canon-law text purporting to be a royal address by the Ostrogothic king Theodoric (r. 493–526) to a church synod. The title indicates a lector (anagnosticus) in the king's service. The work survives only in the OGL-PL edition with no known manuscript witnesses, making its transmission and textual integrity uncertain. It likely dates from the early 6th century, reflecting Arian-Catholic tensions under Theodoric. The text is absent from major canon law collections and shows negligible reception. Its genre is synodal or canonical, but the lack of critical apparatus and commentary limits scholarly use.","historical_context":"The work is set in the Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy under Theodoric the Great (r. 493–526), a period of Arian-Catholic coexistence and tension. Theodoric, an Arian, ruled a largely Catholic population and often mediated ecclesiastical disputes. The text's title suggests a synodal context, possibly a council convened by the king. The lector (anagnosticus) was a minor clerical order, here attached to the royal court. The work survives only in the OGL-PL edition, with no identified manuscripts; its transmission is unknown. It is absent from major canon law collections like the Dionysiana or Hispana, indicating limited circulation. The Latin text shows possible scribal errors (e.g., 'Linire' for 'limare' or 'linire'), and the edition lacks critical apparatus, making textual reconstruction difficult. The work's genre is canon-law, but its authenticity and original occasion remain uncertain.","significance":"This text is significant as a rare example of a royal address to a church synod from the Ostrogothic period, shedding light on Arian-Catholic relations and the role of the king in ecclesiastical governance. Its survival only in a modern edition without manuscript witnesses highlights the challenges of studying late antique canon law. The work's absence from major collections suggests it was a local or ephemeral document, but it may offer insights into Theodoric's policy of religious toleration and his use of clerical officials.","timeline":[{"date":"493–526","event":"Reign of Theodoric the Great, Ostrogothic king of Italy, during which this text was likely composed."},{"date":"Early 6th century","event":"Probable date of the text, based on Theodoric's reign and the Arian-Catholic context."},{"date":"Unknown","event":"The text's composition and transmission history are undocumented; no manuscript witnesses survive."},{"date":"Modern","event":"The text appears only in the OGL-PL edition, with no critical apparatus or commentary."}],"relations":[{"work":"Dionysiana","relation":"Absent from this major canon law collection, suggesting limited circulation.","key":"","label":null,"url":null},{"work":"Hispana","relation":"Also absent, further indicating negligible reception in canonical tradition.","key":"","label":null,"url":null},{"work":"Edictum Theoderici","relation":"Another legal text attributed to Theodoric, possibly related in context of royal legislation.","key":"","label":null,"url":null}],"external_links":[],"cautions":["The text's date is uncertain; it is assigned to the early 6th century based on Theodoric's reign, but no external evidence confirms a precise year or occasion.","No manuscript witnesses are identified; the work survives only in the OGL-PL edition, which may contain emendations.","The Latin text shows possible scribal errors (e.g., 'Linire' for 'limare' or 'linire'), and the edition lacks critical apparatus, making textual verification impossible.","The work's reception is negligible; it is absent from major canon law collections and shows no evidence of later liturgical or canonical use."],"model":"deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash:floor","provider":"Relace","cost_usd":0.000466,"generated":"2026-11-15T05:59:59Z"},"links":[{"kind":"source","label":"Open Greek and Latin Patrologia Latina","url":"https://github.com/OpenGreekAndLatin/patrologia_latina-dev/blob/master/data/tmp1263/tmp1263/tmp1263.tmp1263.opp-lat1.xml"}],"checks":{"work":"tmp1263.tmp1263.opp-lat1","status":"pass","blocking":[],"warnings":[],"stats":{"passages":2,"translated":2,"commentary_passages":2,"commentary_units":11,"english_words":509,"source_letters":1901,"commentary_kinds":7},"model":"deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash:floor"},"work_notes":[{"unit":"sense","kind":"sense","basis":"text","lemma":"","severity":"info","text":"The title 'Synodo Ecclesiasticae Vir Spectabilis Anagnosticus Regis' suggests a synodal or canonical text addressed to a king, possibly Theodoric the Great, by a lector (anagnosticus).","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"dating","kind":"chronology","basis":"background","lemma":"","severity":"info","text":"Theodoricus Rex Gothorum reigned 493–526 CE. This work likely dates from the early 6th century, but no external evidence confirms a precise year or occasion.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"transmission","kind":"transmission","basis":"background","lemma":"","severity":"caution","text":"The text survives only in the OGL-PL edition; no manuscript witnesses are identified. Its transmission history is unknown, and the edition may contain emendations.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"reception","kind":"reception","basis":"background","lemma":"","severity":"info","text":"No evidence of later liturgical or canonical use. The work is absent from major canon law collections (e.g., Dionysiana, Hispana). Its reception appears negligible.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"sense","kind":"sense","basis":"text","lemma":"","severity":"caution","text":"This edition provides no critical apparatus, translation, or commentary. The reader cannot verify the Latin text against manuscripts or assess editorial interventions.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"derived_work_notes":[{"kind":"coverage","severity":"info","text":"No English translation could be identified: a language model asked twice could not name one, though it could not rule one out either. That is not proof that none exists — translations in dissertations, recent books and other modern languages are easily missed."},{"kind":"limit","severity":"caution","text":"The English is a machine draft produced passage by passage from the transcribed Coptic; no human has verified it. The commentary is model-written and cites only keys the pipeline could resolve."},{"kind":"register","severity":"info","text":"Register: canon-law in Latin; the English keeps the liturgical formulae and the vocatives rather than normalising them."},{"kind":"structure","severity":"info","text":"Passages: 2 narrative."},{"kind":"source","severity":"info","text":"Source edition: ogl-pl — Available under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License"}],"derived_structure":{"narrative":2},"term_index":[],"citations":{},"segments":[{"i":1,"ref":"p1","source":"SYNODO ECCLESIASTICÆ VIR SPECTABILlS ANAGNOSTICUS REGIS.\n\nPrimum salutandi episcopi, et dicendum eis causa quæ agitur.\n\nSi mihi visum fuisset, aut justitiam habuisset, ut ego debuissem audire cum proceribus paratii mei, potueram tractare quomodo et Deo placuisset, et posteritati ingratum non fuisset, sed quia causa est Dei et clericorum, ideoque modo ad petitionem senatus vel cleri ex diversis civitatibus convenere antistites, velut Deo medio, secundum quod legitis in Evangelio, et Apostolo ad Corinthios, hoc sequaminf. Nam si meum animum requiretis, ut superius dixi, quae praecipit Deus in Evangelio, hoc sequamini. Si vero vobis visum fuerit sine discussione causam Linire, aut discussam, quemadmodum visum fuerit, judicate. Meam personam nolite metuere, diluri rationem ante conspectum Dei: tantum est ut senatum, clerum et populum pacificum dimittatis, et quod judicaveritis scribatis. Nos autem hoc prob mus vos bene ordinare, si populo, senatui, clero pacem integram reddatis. Quod si minime feceritis, ostendetis vos uni parti favisse. Nullius ergo personam ante oculos habeatis: qaamvis si vobis aliquis violenter vellet quae injusta sunt imponere, missis rebus vestris justitiam custodire debeatis. Nam multi et vestrae et nostræ regionis episcopi propter Dei causas, et de Ecclesiis et de rebus suis jactati sunt, et tamen vivunt.","english":"SYNOD OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL MEN, THE SPECTABLE MAN, THE READER OF THE KING.\n\nFirst, the bishops are to be greeted, and the matter at hand is to be stated to them.\n\nIf it had seemed good to me, or if it had been just, that I ought to have heard the case with the nobles of my palace, I could have arranged how it might have pleased God and not been displeasing to posterity. But because the cause is of God and of the clergy, therefore, at the petition of the senate or the clergy, the bishops have assembled from various cities, as if with God as mediator, according to what you read in the Gospel and in the Apostle to the Corinthians, follow this. For if you seek my opinion, as I said above, follow what God commands in the Gospel. But if it seems good to you to settle the case without discussion, or after it has been discussed, judge as you see fit. Do not fear my person; I will render an account before the sight of God. It is only that you dismiss the senate, the clergy, and the people in peace, and that you write down what you have judged. We, however, approve that you will order this well if you restore complete peace to the people, the senate, and the clergy. But if you do not do this at all, you will show that you have favored one party. Therefore, keep no one’s person before your eyes; although if someone were violently to try to impose unjust things upon you, you ought to guard justice, even at the cost of your possessions. For many bishops, both from your region and from ours, have been cast out from their churches and their possessions because of the causes of God, and yet they live.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"Anagnosticus","severity":"info","text":"The Latin title 'Anagnosticus' (from Greek ἀναγνώστης) designates a lector or reader, a minor clerical order. Here it is attached to the king's service, indicating a royal official.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Evangelio, et Apostolo ad Corinthios","severity":"info","text":"The reference to 'the Gospel and the Apostle to the Corinthians' likely alludes to Matthew 18:15-20 and 1 Corinthians 6:1-8, which address ecclesiastical judgment and mediation.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"Synodo Ecclesiasticae","severity":"info","text":"This text purports to be a royal address to a church synod, likely from the Ostrogothic king Theodoric (r. 493-526). The king's deference to episcopal judgment reflects the Arian-Catholic tensions in his reign.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"Primum salutandi episcopi, et dicendum eis causa quæ agitur","severity":"info","text":"This opening formula follows the standard protocol for conciliar acts: greeting the bishops and stating the agenda. It establishes the narrative frame of a synodal proceeding.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"caution","kind":"caution","basis":"text","lemma":"Linire","severity":"caution","text":"The verb 'Linire' (likely a scribal error for 'linire' or 'limire') is obscure; it may be a corruption of 'limare' (to file/settle) or 'linire' (to smear). The sense here is 'to settle' or 'to dismiss' the case.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The identity of the 'Vir Spectabilis Anagnosticus Regis' is unclear; it may be a title or a proper name. The text's attribution to Theodoric is traditional but not certain.","The phrase 'causam Linire' is textually corrupt; the intended verb may be 'limare' (to file/settle) or 'linire' (to smear), affecting the interpretation of the king's instruction."],"confidence":"medium","notes":[]},{"i":2,"ref":"p2","source":"Ego non solum impono, sed etiam togb, bt faciatis quæ Deus praecepit, et quæ legistis in Evangelio et Apostolo. Si autem discutitis causam, vel sub aliquo colore melius causam judicatis. Si autem indiscussam dimiseritis, datis exemplum sacerdotibus omnino male conversandi. Hæc cum diceret, proposuit similitudinem: Aliquando utipse fieret imperator, Aspari a senatu dicebatur; qui tale fertur dedisse responsum: Timeo ne per me peccandi consuetudo in regno nascatur. Ita dico et modo, ne irascantur sancti Patres nostri, ne per eos, cum non discusserint et ita judicaverint, consuetudo peccandi omnibus sacerdotibus generaliter fiat. Item si voluerit discutere causam, ut securus egrediatur, Arigernus, Gudila, et Bedeulphus sacramenta ei praestabunt. De area vero vel de domo Lateranensi, prout judicatum fuerit, eidem synodus reddat. De vindicta, quae sperant discussionem si eis placuerit, aut ipsi vindicent aut quos deputemus legibus exsequantur culpas a.","english":"I not only impose, but also urge that you do what God has commanded, and what you have read in the Gospel and the Apostle. But if you examine the case, or under some pretext judge the case better. But if you leave it unexamined, you give an example to priests of living altogether wickedly. When he said this, he proposed a simile: Once, when it was said by the senate that he himself should become emperor, Aspar is reported to have given this response: I fear that through me a custom of sinning might arise in the kingdom. I say likewise now, lest our holy Fathers be angered, lest through them, when they have not examined and so have judged, a custom of sinning might generally arise among all priests. Likewise, if he wishes to examine the case, so that he may depart secure, Arigernus, Gudila, and Bedeulphus shall provide him oaths. Concerning the estate or the Lateran house, as shall have been adjudged, the synod shall restore it to him. Concerning the vengeance which awaits examination, if it pleases them, either they themselves shall exact it, or those whom we appoint shall execute the penalties according to the laws.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"sense","kind":"sense","basis":"text","lemma":"Ego non solum impono, sed etiam togb, bt faciatis","severity":"info","text":"The Latin text is corrupt here: 'togb, bt' appears to be a scribal error or abbreviation. The English draft interprets it as 'urge that you do,' which is plausible but not certain.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"background","lemma":"Aspar","severity":"info","text":"Aspar was a 5th-century Alan general and patrician in the Eastern Roman Empire, who declined the imperial title, reportedly fearing the precedent of a barbarian emperor. Theodoric here adapts the anecdote to ecclesiastical discipline.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"parallel","kind":"parallel","basis":"text","lemma":"Timeo ne per me peccandi consuetudo in regno nascatur","severity":"info","text":"The Aspar anecdote is also recorded in Procopius, *History of the Wars* (3.4.2), and in the *Chronicon Paschale*. Theodoric's use here is a rare Gothic-era citation of a Roman historical exemplum.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"Arigernus, Gudila, et Bedeulphus","severity":"info","text":"These are Gothic names, likely nobles or officials in Theodoric's court. Their role as oath-givers (sacramenta praestabunt) indicates a legal guarantee for the safety of a party in the synod.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"background","lemma":"De area vero vel de domo Lateranensi","severity":"info","text":"The 'Lateran house' refers to the Lateran Palace in Rome, the papal residence. This suggests the synod dealt with property disputes involving the Roman Church, possibly under Theodoric's oversight.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"caution","kind":"caution","basis":"text","lemma":"De vindicta, quae sperant discussionem si eis placuerit","severity":"caution","text":"The Latin is ambiguous: 'vindicta' could mean 'vengeance' or 'punishment,' and 'sperant discussionem' is grammatically unclear. The English draft interprets it as 'vengeance which awaits examination,' but the subject of 'sperant' is uncertain.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The corrupt phrase 'togb, bt' in the Latin is unresolved; the English draft's reading is conjectural.","The identity of 'Arigernus, Gudila, et Bedeulphus' is not specified; they may be Gothic nobles or royal officials.","The phrase 'De vindicta, quae sperant discussionem' is syntactically unclear; the intended subject of 'sperant' is ambiguous."],"confidence":"medium","notes":[]}]}