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Praeceptio Tertia

Theodoricus Rex Gothorum · ogl-pl

BothSourceEnglish
JSON Dossier
machine-draft · no human review 2 passages · 395 words

Work dossier · summary and historical context

Summary

The Praeceptio Tertia is a brief moral or administrative precept attributed to Theodoric the Great, Ostrogothic king of Italy (r. 493–526). Written in Latin, it prescribes conduct in a sententious, prescriptive register typical of late antique royal instruction. The text survives in a single manuscript, likely from a northern Italian or Gallic monastic scriptorium, and its attribution to Theodoric is unverified. It may be a Carolingian or early medieval compilation. The work was not widely cited in medieval canon law or moral theology and is known only through modern editions of Ostrogothic administrative texts. Its brevity and lack of contemporary parallels hinder assessment of its original context and purpose.

The Praeceptio Tertia is significant as a rare example of a prescriptive text attributed to an Ostrogothic king, reflecting the fusion of Roman administrative forms with Gothic rule. It relates to late antique royal instruction and the broader corpus of Theodoric's edicts and letters, though its authenticity is uncertain. Its survival in a single manuscript highlights the fragility of such texts and the challenges of studying post-Roman governance.

Historical context

The Praeceptio Tertia is attributed to Theodoric the Great (r. 493–526), the Ostrogothic king who ruled Italy from Ravenna, maintaining Roman administrative structures and convening church councils to resolve disputes. The text's register suggests a chancery origin, but no external evidence confirms composition during his reign. It survives in a single manuscript tradition, likely from a monastic or cathedral scriptorium in northern Italy or Gaul, indicating limited circulation. The work may be a later Carolingian or early medieval compilation, as its brevity and lack of contemporary parallels make dating and provenance uncertain. The text was not widely cited in medieval canon law or moral theology, and its reception is confined to modern scholarly editions of Ostrogothic administrative texts. The attribution to Theodoric cannot be verified, and the original context or purpose remains unclear.

Apparatus · what the pipeline recorded

Annotation and terms

10 commentary units 2 background2 term2 structure2 reception1 caution1 sense 0 derived notes 4 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: other 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
tmp1262.tmp1262.opp-lat1:1 · narrativemedium
Source
THEODORICI, GOTHORUM REGIS, PRÆCEPTIO TERTIA. Flavius Theudericus rex, universis episcopis ad I synodum convocatis. Decuerat quidem beatitudinem vestram divinae considerationis reverentia exortum tam finisse negotium, ut vobis ordioantibus submoveri potuisset de tanta civitate confusio: maxime cum praetentis affectibus jusserimus, quemadmodum vestrum visum fuisset arbitrium, memoratam vos terminare debere certamen; dummodo sub justa ordinatione finitum, dissentientes unitati et concordie redderentur. Quam miramur denuo fuisse consultum: cum si nos de præsenti ante voluissemus judicare negotio, habito eum proceribus nostris de inquirenda veritate traciatu, Deo auspice, potuissemus inven re justitiam, quæ nec praesenti sæculo, nec futurae forsitan displicere potuisset aetati? Sed quia non nostrum judicavimus de ecclesiasticis aliquid censere negotiis: ideo vos die diversis provinciis fecimus evocare; ut sub divini timore judicii, totius certaminis vobis disponentibus causa transiret, urbique nostrae, Deo favente, optata per vos concordia redderetur. Nec vero eadem quæ dudum praesentibus intimamus utculis, nos coram Deo et hominibus absolventes, causam Dei, quam vestrae congregationis amplissiunt senatui, et pacem clericis sperautes, commissimus, quemadmodum visum vobis fuerit, ordinetis; nec a nobis vestri exspectelurforma judicii, sed vos qualiter vultis ordinate.
English
The Third Precept — Theodoric, King of the Goths. Flavius Theodoric, king, to all the bishops summoned to the first synod. It would indeed have been fitting that the reverence of divine consideration, having arisen in your blessedness, should have so finished the matter that the confusion could have been removed from so great a city by your arranging it; especially since, with our former affection, we ordered that you should end the aforementioned dispute as your judgment might have seen fit, provided that, finished under a just arrangement, those who disagreed might be restored to unity and concord. How we wonder that it was again consulted: since if we had wished to judge the present matter beforehand, having held a discussion with our nobles about seeking the truth, with God’s favor, we could have found a justice that might perhaps displease neither the present age nor a future one? But because we did not judge it our place to decide anything concerning ecclesiastical affairs, we therefore had you summoned from diverse provinces, so that, under the fear of divine judgment, the cause of the whole contest might pass with you arranging it, and to our city, with God’s favor, the desired concord might be restored through you. Nor indeed do we, by the same words we now convey to your eyes, absolving ourselves before God and men, commit the cause of God, which we hope for the most ample senate of your assembly and peace for the clergy, to be arranged as it may seem fit to you; nor is the form of your judgment to be awaited from us, but you arrange it as you wish.
tmp1262.tmp1262.opp-lat1:2 · narrativehigh
Source
Sive discussa, sive indiscussa causa, proferre sententiam, de qua estis rationem divina judicio reddituri; dummodo, sicuti saepe diximus, hoc deliberatio vestra provideat, ut pax senatui populoque Romano, submota omni confusione reddatur, ne qua, quod absit, post judicium turba, aut aliqua remaneat in civitate discordia. Sin autem secundos mandata nostra concordia sacratissimæ urbis a vobis fuerit restituta, tunc universitas agnoscere potuerit justum sacri ordinis vestri exstitisse judiciom. Ora pro nobis, domini sancti ac venerabiles Patres. Datum sub die Kalendarum Octobris.
English
Whether the case has been examined or not, you are to render a verdict for which you will give account before the divine judgment; provided that, as we have often said, your deliberation ensures that peace is restored to the Senate and the Roman people, with all confusion removed, so that no disturbance, which heaven forbid, remains after the judgment, nor any discord in the city. But if, in accordance with our commands, harmony is restored to the most sacred city by you, then the whole community will be able to recognize that the judgment of your sacred order was just. Pray for us, holy and venerable fathers. Given on the day before the Kalends of October.
Citation. Tergwame, “Praeceptio Tertia”, tmp1262.tmp1262.opp-lat1:1, machine-draft, 2026. https://naxiai.com/christian/works/tmp1262.tmp1262.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: $0.0014 · generated 2026-11-15.