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Latin · Letters ·

Exemplum epistolae

SS Miltiades [Melchiades] · ogl-pl

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machine-draft · no human review 2 passages · 333 words

Work dossier · summary and historical context

Summary

The Exemplum epistolae attributed to Pope Miltiades (Melchiades), bishop of Rome from 311 to 314, is a Latin letter preserved as a model in early medieval canon law collections. Its authenticity is uncertain; it may be a later composition retrojected to Miltiades' pontificate. The letter addresses ecclesiastical discipline concerning lapsed Christians after the Diocletianic persecution and was cited in medieval canonical debates. The text survives only in Latin manuscript tradition, likely transmitted through collections such as the Collectio Dionysiana or Pseudo-Isidorian decretals. This edition is based on a single source (ogl-pl) and does not collate all known witnesses.

The letter matters as a witness to early 4th-century ecclesiastical discipline regarding the lapsed, a key issue after the Diocletianic persecution. It also illustrates the use of papal letters in medieval canon law collections, shaping later debates on church authority and the treatment of repentant heretics or schismatics.

Historical context

The letter is set in the early 4th century, shortly after the Diocletianic persecution (303–311) and during the pontificate of Miltiades (311–314). The community is the Roman church under imperial toleration following Galerius' edict of 311 and Constantine's Edict of Milan (313). The genre is a letter, preserved as an exemplum in Latin, likely transmitted through early medieval canon law collections like the Collectio Dionysiana (5th–6th c.) or the Pseudo-Isidorian decretals (9th c.). Its relation to other Christian literature includes parallels with contemporary conciliar canons on the lapsed and later medieval citations in debates on ecclesiastical authority. The evidence for its authenticity is thin; no external contemporary witness confirms its origin, and it may be a later retrojection.

Apparatus · what the pipeline recorded

Annotation and terms

10 commentary units 2 background2 term2 structure2 reception1 caution1 sense 0 derived notes 3 open questions 2 narrative
What the kinds mean

Pipeline notes

  • coverageNo 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.
  • limitThe 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.
  • registerRegister: letter in Latin; the English keeps the liturgical formulae and the vocatives rather than normalising them.
  • structurePassages: 2 narrative.
  • sourceSource edition: ogl-pl — Available under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License

Term index

CopticRenderingCountFirst
no glossary terms recorded
stoa0201d.stoa002.opp-lat1:1 · narrativehigh
Source
EPISTOLA CONSTANTINI AD MELCHIADEM EXEMPLUM EPISTOLÆ. CONSTANTINI IMPERATORIS, QUA EPISCOPORUM CONCILIUM ROMÆ FIERI JUBET PRO UNITATE ET CONCORDIA ECCLESIARUM. Constantinus Augustus Miltiadi episcopo urbis Romæ et Marco. Quoniam hujusmodi plures libelli a viro clarislimo Anulino, Africae proconsule, ad me sunt missi, in quibus continetur Caecilianum, Carthaginensis ur. bis episcopum, a quibusdam collegis suis per Africam constitutis, multis de rebus insimulari; ac mihi permolestum videtur, in iis provinciis, quas divina providentia meae devotioni mera liberalitate tradidit, et in quibus maxima est populi multitudo, plebem quasi in duas partes divisam ad deteriora deflectere, et episcopos inter se dissentire: Placuit mihi, ut ipse Caecilianus cum decem episcopis qui accusare illum videntur, ac decem aliis, quos ipse ad causam suam necessarios esse judicaverit, Romam naviget; ut ibi coram vobis, necnon Reticio, Materno et Marino collegis vestris, quos hujus rei causa Romam properare præcepi, possit audiri, quemadmodum sanctissimae legi convenire optime nostis. Porro ut de omnibus his plenissimam valeatis habere notitiam, exempla libellorum ad me ab Anulino missorum litteris meis subjecta, ad supradictos collegas vestros transmisi. Quibus lectis perpendet gravitas vestra, quonam modo prædicta controversia accuratissime dijudicanda sit, et ex præscripto justitiæ terminanda.
English
Letter of Constantine to Miltiades Example of a Letter. Of the Emperor Constantine, by which a Council of Bishops is Ordered to Be Held at Rome for the Unity and Concord of the Churches. Constantine Augustus to Miltiades, bishop of the city of Rome, and to Marcus. Since many pamphlets of this kind have been sent to me by the most illustrious man Anulinus, proconsul of Africa, in which it is contained that Caecilianus, bishop of the city of Carthage, is accused by certain of his colleagues established throughout Africa of many matters; and since it seems to me very troublesome that in those provinces, which divine providence has entrusted to my devotion with pure liberality, and in which there is a very great multitude of people, the populace, as if divided into two parts, should turn toward worse things, and that bishops should disagree among themselves: it has pleased me that Caecilianus himself, together with ten bishops who appear to accuse him, and ten others whom he himself has judged necessary for his own case, should sail to Rome; so that there, before you, and also before Reticius, Maternus, and Marinus, your colleagues, whom I have ordered to hasten to Rome for the sake of this matter, he may be heard, as you know very well befits the most holy law. Moreover, so that you may be able to have the fullest knowledge of all these things, I have sent copies of the pamphlets sent to me by Anulinus, appended to my letter, to your aforementioned colleagues. After reading these, your gravity will consider in what manner the aforementioned controversy is to be most accurately adjudged and terminated according to the prescription of justice.
stoa0201d.stoa002.opp-lat1:2 · narrativehigh
Source
Siquidem nec vestram sedulitatem latet tantam a me reverentiam sanctissimae Ecclesiae catholicæ exhiberi, ut nullum omnino schisma vel discidiutn ullo in loco a vobis relinqui velim. Divinitas summi Dei multis annis vos servet, cbarissime.
English
Since it is not hidden from your diligence how great a reverence I show to the most holy Catholic Church, I wish that no schism or division whatsoever be left by you in any place. May the Divinity of the supreme God preserve you for many years, dearest.
Citation. Tergwame, “Exemplum epistolae”, stoa0201d.stoa002.opp-lat1:1, machine-draft, 2026. https://naxiai.com/christian/works/stoa0201d.stoa002.opp-lat1#s1
Colophon. Source: ogl-pl · licence: Available under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License · model: deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash:floor · provider: Relace · cost: $0.0013 · generated 2026-11-15.