De Viris Illustribus Liber

Saint Isidore, Bishop of Seville, On Illustrious Men. Book. Preface. Although many of the most learned writers among the ancient commentators, both Greek and Latin, are noted above, I nevertheless think it right to make mention also of a few whose reading I recall having touched upon. I. Xystus, Roman Pope. II. Macrobius, Deacon. III. Philastrius, Bishop of Brescia. IV. Theodore, Bishop of Mopsuestia. V. Hosius, Bishop of Corduba. VI. Toranius Rufinus, Presbyter of Aquileia. VII. Verecundus, African Bishop. VIII. Victorinus, Bishop. IX. Itacius, Bishop of Gallaecia. X. Eusebius, Bishop of Dorylaeum. XI. Cerealis, Bishop of Castellum in Africa. XII. Ferrandus, Deacon of Carthage. XIII. Peter, Bishop of Huesca. XIV. Marcellinus, Presbyter. XV. Itacius Clarus, Spanish Bishop. XVI. Siricius, Roman Pontiff. XVII. Paulinus, Presbyter of Milan, later Bishop.

Nolanus. XVIII. Proba, wife of Adelphius. XIX. John Chrysostom, bishop of Constantinople. XX. Sedulius, presbyter. XXI. Possidius, African bishop. XXII. Primasius, African bishop. XXIII. Proterius, bishop of Alexandria. XXIV. Paschasinus, bishop of Sicily. XXV. Julianus Pomerius. XXVI. Eugippius, abbot of Lucullanum. XXVII. Fulgentius, bishop of Ruspe in Africa. XXVIII. Eucherius, bishop of Lyons in Gaul. XXIX. Hilarius, bishop of Arles. XXX. Apringius, bishop of Pax Julia in Spain. XXXI. Justinian, emperor. XXXII. Facundus, bishop of Hermiane. XXXIII. Justinianus, bishop of Valencia. XXXIV. Justus, bishop of Urgel. XXXV. Martin, bishop of Braga. XXXVI. Avitus, bishop of Vienne. XXXVII. Dracontius. XXXVIII. Victor, bishop of Tonnena. XXXIX. John, bishop of Constantinople. XL. Gregory, pope of Rome. XLI. Leander, bishop of Seville. XLII. Lucinianus, bishop of Carthage.

XLIII. Severus, bishop of Málaga. XLIV. John, bishop of Gerona. XLV. Eutropius, bishop of Valencia. XLVI. Maximus, bishop of Zaragoza. Thus far Isidore. From here, Braulio, bishop of Zaragoza. XLVII. Isidore, bishop of Seville. CHAPTER ONE. Xystus, bishop of the city of Rome and martyr, composed a book of Proverbs in the manner of Solomon, with such concise expression that in each individual verse a single sentence is set forth. To this little work, heretics inserted certain things contrary to ecclesiastical faith, so that, under the name of such a great martyr, the assertion of perverse doctrines might more easily be received. But he who remembers himself to be Catholic should read with discernment and accept only those things which are not contrary to the truth. Some, however, think that this same book was composed by heretics, not by Xystus. The most blessed Augustine refutes this opinion, who in one of his works declares that this work was composed by that same martyr.

CHAPTER II. Macrobius the deacon, following the zeal and talent of Saint Cyprian, compiled suitable chapters from both Testaments against the wiles of heretics, namely concerning the majesty of God the Father, and the coming of the Son of God, his incarnation, or passion, resurrection, and ascension into heaven, and likewise concerning the election of the Gentiles and the reprobation of the Jews. Then he also added the rest pertaining to the utility of life and the discipline of religion, all of which he set forth in one hundred distinct chapters. CHAPTER III. Philastrius, bishop of Brescia. He, long before the most blessed Augustine, published a book on Heresies, demonstrating each and every one, both those which raged among the Jewish people before the incarnation of Christ, of which he enumerates twenty-eight, and those which arose after the coming of the Lord and Savior, against the Catholic faith, which he describes as one hundred and twenty-eight, as the same man of great glory, Augustine, and most learned, mentions concerning him.

CHAPTER IV. Theodore, bishop of the city of Mopsuestia, is reported to have shone with such clear and abundant learning in doctrine that he is said (if it is permissible to relate it) to have written a total of a thousand volumes in Greek against the errors of all heretics. The bishops of the Acephali, under the compulsion of the emperor Justinian, decreed that he should be condemned after death, together with Ibas and Theodore, bishops, to the prejudice of the Council of Chalcedon. Although it is established that he was a teacher of the most illustrious Church, by the testimonies of praiseworthy men. He lived until the reign of Leo the Elder. CHAPTER V. Hosius, bishop of the church of the city of Corduba in the Spains, was exercised in the powers of eloquence. He wrote to his sister a letter on the praise of virginity, adorned with beautiful and polished eloquence; and he also composed another work on the interpretation of the priestly vestments which are in the Old Testament, elaborated with outstanding sense and ingenuity. In the Council of Sardica as well, he himself issued very many opinions.

But after a long old age, that is, after his one hundred and first year, on the very threshold of life, collapsing from the boundaries of the faith, he fell by the serpent's dart. For, summoned by the emperor Constantius and terrified by threats, fearing that as an old and wealthy man he might suffer loss of property or exile, he immediately consented to Arian impiety and condemned the term *homoousion*, which together with the other holy Fathers he had handed down to be followed by the Churches, seized by the fury of impiety. Indeed, a cruel end, as he deserved, swiftly finished his life. CHAPTER VI. Toranius Rufinus wrote to a certain Paulinus, a presbyter, a book on the Blessings of the Patriarchs with a threefold understanding, rather concise and composed with clear brevity. But in this work, according to the mystical sense, he interprets what is written about Dan, the son of Jacob, not correctly concerning our Lord, whereas the assertion of the holy Fathers proves without doubt that these things pertain to the Antichrist.

CHAPTER VII. Verecundus, an African bishop, eloquent in the studies of liberal letters, published two modest and brief little books in dactylic verse, the first of which he wrote concerning the Resurrection and the Judgment, and the other concerning Penitence, in which he laments his own faults in a mournful poem. CHAPTER VIII. Victorinus, a bishop, also composed two very brief little works in verse: one against the Manichaeans, who reject the God of the Old Testament and contradict the true incarnation of Christ; the other against the Marcionists, who imagine two principles, that is, two gods: one evil, the just creator of creatures and rewarder of deeds; the other good, the receiver of souls and grantor of forgiveness for crimes. CHAPTER IX. Hydatius, bishop of the province of Gallaecia, following the chronicle of Eusebius, bishop of Caesarea, or of the presbyter Jerome, which is set forth as published up to the present day in the reign of the Emperor Valens. Thence, from the first year of the Emperor Theodosius up to the eighth year of the reign of Leo, a subsequent history is attached, in which he narrates more the cruel wars of the barbarian peoples that were pressing upon Spain. He died under the prince Leo, in an already nearly final old age, as is also shown by the indication of his own preface.

CHAPTER X. Eusebius, bishop of the city of Dorolane. In the assembly of the Council of Chalcedon, he presented a book against Dioscorus, the heretical bishop of the city of Alexandria, and recited before the present synod all the errors and blasphemies of Dioscorus. For this same Dioscorus had deposed him and the holy Flavian, bishop of Constantinople, by a sentence of excommunication in the second Ephesian synod, because they resisted heresy in defense of the orthodox faith. Hence, later, in the Council of Chalcedon, the same Eusebius, exposing the crimes or blasphemies of his countless evils, invoked upon him a sentence of condemnation from the holy council, namely, that what he had justly inflicted upon others should be justly turned back upon him. CHAPTER XI. Cerealis, bishop of the Church of Castellana. When he had come to the city of Carthage in the province of Africa, he disputed with Maximian, bishop of the Ammonites, concerning the faith of the Holy Trinity, responding to his propositions not with arguments of eloquence, but with testimonies from the Holy Scriptures. This very work of his exists, marked with nineteen chapters of responses.

CHAPTER XII. Ferrandus, deacon of the Church of Carthage, is said to have flourished greatly in the sacred Scriptures, and to have held many disputations with the blessed Fulgentius in alternate letters. To Pelagius and Anatolius, Roman deacons, who consulted him on whether it is lawful to condemn anyone after death, he issued a rescript, wherein he spoke among other things as follows: "What does it profit to disturb the Church for the sake of the sleeping? If someone, accused and condemned while still in the body of this death, was snatched from the Church before he could merit absolution, he cannot be absolved by human judgment. If someone, accused and absolved, passed to God in the peace of the Catholic Church, he cannot thereafter be condemned by human judgment. If someone, accused before the day of sacred examination, was overtaken by a sudden summons, while established within the bosom of Mother Church, he is to be understood as reserved for divine judgment, and concerning this no man can pronounce a clear sentence; if God has granted him indulgence, our severity does him no harm; but if He has prepared punishment, our benignity does him no good.

CHAPTER XIII. Peter, bishop of the church of the Spains at Huesca, produced prayers and masses suitable for various solemnities, with elegant sense and clear language. CHAPTER XIV. Marcellinus, a priest of Italy, wrote to the emperors Theodosius the Younger and Arcadius one small work, in which he recounted the acts of the bishops who gathered at Ariminum to destroy the homoousion; and who so disturbed the whole world with the perfidy of their impious dogma that scarcely a few bishops remained who persevered in the inviolable cultivation of the faith. He also relates concerning Arius, as he was proceeding to the synod to dispute with Alexander, how, having turned aside on the road for a necessary cause, his entrails were scattered. Also concerning the end of Hosius, bishop of the city of Corduba, who, through fear of the emperor, having prevaricated the faith, had become an assertor of perfidy and a follower of impiety, he sets forth such things as these. For after the impious prevarication of Hosius, he says, when the holy Gregory, bishop of Elvira, had been brought to the city of Corduba in accordance with the imperial decree, and was unwilling to communicate there, Hosius, moved, said to Clementinus, the vicar prefect of Constantius, that he should send him into exile. But he said: I do not dare to send a bishop into exile unless you have first deposed him from the episcopate.

But when the holy Gregory saw that Hosius wished to pronounce sentence, he called upon Christ with all the depths of his faith, crying out thus: “Christ God, who are to come to judge the living and the dead, do not allow a human sentence to be pronounced today against me, your least servant, who for the sake of the faith of your name have been made a spectacle, standing as a defendant; but you yourself, I beseech you, judge today in your own cause, deign to pronounce sentence yourself through vengeance. Not that I, as if fearing exile, wish to flee, since for your name no punishment is grievous to me, but so that many may be freed from the error of transgression when they see vengeance present.” When he had said these things, suddenly Hosius, sitting with the pride of royal authority, as he tried to pronounce sentence, twisted his mouth, distorting his neck as well, and was dashed from his seat to the ground, and immediately expired. Then, while all were marveling, even that pagan Clementinus was terrified, and although he was a judge, yet fearing that God would judge him with a similar punishment, he prostrated himself at the feet of the holy man, begging that he spare him, who had sinned against him through ignorance of the divine law, and not so much by his own will as by the command of the one giving orders. Hence it is that Gregory alone, from among those vindicating the whole faith, neither turned his fillet nor suffered exile, for each one thereafter feared to judge him.

CHAPTER XV. Itacius, bishop of the Spains, renowned for his surname and eloquence, wrote a certain book in the form of an Apologetic, in which he demonstrates the detestable dogmas of Priscillian, and his arts of sorcery, and the shameful acts of his lusts, showing that a certain Marcus of Memphis, most skilled in the art of magic, was a disciple of Manes and the teacher of Priscillian. This man, however, together with Bishop Ursacius, on account of ten of the same Priscillian, whose accusers they had been, was deprived of communion with the Church, condemned to exile, and there met his last day, during the reigns of Theodosius the Elder and Valentinian. CHAPTER XVI. Siricius, a most distinguished pontiff and bishop of the Roman see, wrote a small decreal work directed to Eumerius, bishop of Tarragona. In it, among other ecclesiastical disciplines, he established that the baptism of heretics is by no means to be rescinded by the Church. We also find another letter of his sent to various bishops, in which he condemns the heretic Jovinian, and Auxentius, and the rest of their followers. He presided at Rome for fourteen years. He died during the reigns of Theodosius and Valentinian.

CHAPTER XVII. 21. Paulinus, a presbyter, composed a book on the Blessings of the Patriarchs, employing a threefold mode of understanding, a work put together with quite concise brevity. The same man also, at the request of Augustine, wrote a life of Ambrose, flourishing with signs, and not unequal to the apostles in teachings and merits. Moreover, Constantius, a bishop, wove together the life of Germanus, and Oranius published the death of Paulinus. CHAPTER XVIII. Proba, the wife of Adelphius the proconsul, a woman, placed among ecclesiastical men for this reason alone, that she engaged in praise of Christ, composing a cento on Christ, fitted together from Virgilian verses. We do not marvel at her diligence, but we praise her talent. This little work, however, is inserted among the apocryphal Scriptures. CHAPTER XIX. John, the most holy bishop of the see of Constantinople, surnamed Chrysostom; his speech bestows both great compunction of heart and great sweetness of eloquence; he composed many and distinguished little works in the Greek tongue. Among these, Latinity uses two of his little books on the lapsed, written to a certain Theodore, full of laments and exhortations, as one cast down from a good way of life. And because he had practiced the monastic life with him in one and the same monastery, he therefore reminded him in those books of the life led there, calling him back to his purpose, and showing that no sinner or impious person, if he returns to penance, should despair.

We have read another book of his, the title of which is "No One Can Be Harmed by Another Except by Himself." Also, addressed to a certain most noble matron, Gregoria, there is found a notable work of his on the conduct of life and the establishment of morals, or on the conflict of virtues and vices. There is also another book of his among the Latins on compunction of the heart. Another, moreover, was written to a certain Eutropius, when, driven from the palace, he had taken refuge at the altar. He also composed many and various treatises, which it would be too long to enumerate. Indeed, of his study, although not all, yet very many streams of his eloquence have been translated from Greek into the Latin tongue. This man, however, in the thirteenth year of his episcopate, was oppressed by the discord of Theophilus, bishop of Alexandria. Our bishops, favoring the emperor Arcadius, condemned him though innocent, and, cast down from the episcopate, thrust him into exile in Pontus. In the thirty-fifth year, on the day of his death, he was recalled from exile to Constantinople, and was even buried in the Church of the Apostles.

CHAPTER 20. Sedulius, a presbyter, published three books composed in dactylic heroic meter, the first of which most powerfully resounds the signs and powers of the Old Testament, while the remaining ones thunder forth the sacraments or miracles of Christ's deeds. CHAPTER 21. Possidius, bishop of the African province. He pursued in his style the life of Saint Augustine, to which work he also appended an index of his writings, enumerating how much that same most blessed doctor wrote, where more than four hundred volumes of books are counted. But the number of his homilies, letters, and questions is infinite, so that scarcely anyone could write so much in his own lifetime on alien subjects as that man composed by his own labor. CHAPTER 22. Primasius, an African bishop, composed in scholastic style three books on Heresies, directed to Bishop Fortunatus, explaining in them what the most blessed Augustine had once left unfinished in his book on Heresies, death intervening: for in the first he shows what makes a heretic, in the second and third he sets forth what demonstrates a heretic.

CHAPTER 23. Proterius, bishop of the Church of Alexandria, wrote letters to Leo, bishop of the Roman see, concerning the paschal feast. This man, however, in the times of the Augustus Leo, the successors of the heretic Dioscorus, with Timothy as their instigator, having stirred up a sedition, most cruelly slew him, and set up that same Timothy for themselves as bishop of Alexandria. CHAPTER 24. Paschasinus, bishop of Sicily, published one paschal letter, addressed to the aforementioned Pope Leo, in which he relates the miracle of the paschal mystery in these words: There is, he says, an estate which is called Meltinas, situated in steep mountains and very dense forests; there is a church built there, very small and of poor workmanship, in whose baptistery on the most holy paschal night, at the hour for baptizing, although there is no channel or pipe, nor any water nearby at all, the font fills itself; and after the few who are there have been consecrated, although there is no drain, the water departs of its own accord, just as it came. He flourished under the younger Theodosius, son of the emperor Arcadius.

CHAPTER 25. A certain Julian, a Gaul, surnamed Pomerius. He wrote eight books on the nature of the soul in dialogue form. The first of these contains what the soul is, or how it is believed to be made in the image of God. In the second, he discusses whether the soul is corporeal or incorporeal. In the third, he argues from what the soul of the first man was made. In the fourth, whether a new soul is made without sin, or whether it draws the sin of the first man, propagated from him, by way of original transmission. In the fifth, he describes what the faculty of the soul is. In the sixth, he explains whence comes that discord by which the spirit opposes the flesh, or the flesh opposes the spirit. In the seventh, moreover, he writes about the difference between lives and deaths, or the resurrection of the flesh and the soul, as well as about the death of the flesh and its resurrection. In the eighth, he speaks about those things which will come to pass at the end of the world, or about the questions which are customarily raised concerning the resurrection, as well as about the ends of the good and the evil.

Nevertheless, in the second book of that same work, agreeing with the errors of Tertullian, he said that the soul is corporeal, striving to establish this with certain fallacious arguments. He also published one little book on the training of virgins, and three others on the contemplation of the future life or on active conduct, as well as on vices and virtues. CHAPTER 26. Eugippius, abbot of the town of Lucullanum, near Naples in Campania. He composed in a brief style a little book on the life of the holy monk Severinus, sent to a certain deacon Paschasius. He also wrote a rule for the monks living in the monastery of Saint Severinus, which he left to them as if by testamentary right when dying. He flourished after the consulship of Importunus the Younger, during the reign of the Emperor Anastasius. CHAPTER 27. Fulgentius, an African, bishop of the church of Ruspe, illustrious in the confession of the faith, most abundantly learned in the divine Scriptures, also sweet in speaking, subtle in teaching and disputing, wrote many works. Among these we read seven books of Responses on the grace of God and free will, in which, replying to Faustus, bishop of the city of Reii in Gaul, who agreed with the Pelagian depravity, we strive to destroy his profound craftiness.

We have read a book of his on the Holy Trinity, addressed to Felix the notary; also a book of the Rule of the True Faith, and another on the Sacrament of the Incarnation of Our Lord Jesus Christ. There also exist two books of his on the Truth of Predestination, sent to the bishops, in which it is shown that the grace of God in good men precedes the human will, and that God, by the gift of his predestination, pre-elects some, justifying them, while he abandons others in their reprobate morals by some hidden judgment. There is also a book of his disputation, in which the same blessed Fulgentius debated concerning the faith with King Thrasamund. To Ferrandus, also, a deacon of the church of Carthage, he wrote a little book on one of the Questions asked. Among these things, he composed many treatises, which priests might use in the churches. Many monuments of his genius are also reported. We have plucked only these from the precious flowers of his teaching. A better lot is for him to whom the Lord has granted the delights of all his books. He flourished under Thrasamund, king of the Vandals, during the reign of the Emperor Anastasius.

CHAPTER XXVIII. Eucherius, bishop of Francia, elegant in thought, ornate in words, published for Hilarius of Arles, who was seeking the solitude of the desert, one little work on the Praise of that same desert, most brilliant and composed in sweet discourse, in which work we praise the teacher, and though he says few things, yet they are beautiful. Brevity, as someone has said, is sometimes a virtue in some part of speaking, but in universal eloquence it has no praise. CHAPTER XXIX. Hilarius, bishop of Arles, wrote the Life of his parent and predecessor, the most holy and venerable bishop Honoratus, set forth in sweet and distinguished eloquence. CHAPTER XXX. Apringius, bishop of the church of Pax Julia in the Spains, eloquent in tongue and learned in knowledge, interpreted the Apocalypse of the apostle John with subtle sense and illustrious discourse, appearing to have expounded it better than almost all the ancient ecclesiastical writers. He also wrote several works, which, however, have not at all come to the notice of our reading. He flourished in the time of Theudis, prince of the Goths.

CHAPTER XXXI. Justinian the emperor published certain books on the Incarnation of the Lord, which he also sent throughout various provinces. He also composed a rescript against the Illyrican synod, and against the African bishops, as a perverse defender of the Council of Chalcedon: in which he strove to condemn three chapters, that is, the sayings of Theodorus, bishop of Mopsuestia, or the writings of Theodoretus, and the letter which is said to be of Ibas, bishop of Edessa. CHAPTER XXXII. Facundus, an African, bishop of the church of Hermiana, wrote twelve books in defense of the three chapters, in whose style it was evident that the aforesaid three chapters had been condemned in the prescription of the apostolic faith and in the impugning of the Council of Chalcedon, that is, the letter of Ibas, bishop of Edessa, directed to Maris the Persian, and Theodorus, bishop of Mopsuestia, and the sayings of Theodoretus, bishop of Cyrus. He flourished after the consulship of Basilius, in the tenth year of the reign of the emperor Justinian.

CHAPTER XXXIII. Justinian, from Spain, bishop of the church of Valencia, one of four brothers who were bishops, born of the same mother, wrote a book of Responses to a certain Rusticus concerning Questions that were asked: of which the first response is concerning the Holy Spirit; the second is against the Bonosians, who say that Christ is an adoptive Son, and not a proper one; the third response is concerning the baptism of Christ, which it is not lawful to repeat; the fourth response is concerning the distinction between the baptism of John and that of Christ; the fifth response is that the Son, like the Father, is invisible. He flourished in the Spains in the time of Theudis, prince of the Goths. CHAPTER XXXIV. Justus, bishop of the church of Urgell in the Spains, and brother of the aforementioned Justinian, published a little book of exposition on the Song of Songs, discussing the meaning throughout very briefly and clearly by way of allegory. His brothers also, Nebridius and Elpidius, are said to have written certain works, which, because they are unknown to us, we confess we rather pass over.

CHAPTER XXXV. Marlinus, the most holy bishop of the monastery of Dumium, sailing from the regions of the East, came to Gallaecia, and there, after the conversion of the Suevian peoples from Arian impiety to the Catholic faith, he established the rule of faith and holy religion, confirmed churches, founded monasteries, and composed copious precepts of pious instruction. I myself indeed have read his book On the Differences of the Four Virtues, and another volume of Letters in which he exhorts to the amendment of life and the practice of faith, the persistence of prayer and the distribution of alms, and above all the cultivation of all virtues and piety. He flourished during the reign of King Theodemir of the Suevi, in those times when Justinian held the empire in the Republic and Athanagildus in the Spains. CHAPTER XXXVI. Aditus, bishop of Vienne, most learned in the knowledge of secular letters, published five booklets composed in heroic meter, of which the first is On the Origin of the World, the second On Original Sin, the third On the Essence of God, the fourth On the Flood of the World, the fifth On the Crossing of the Red Sea. He also wrote to his sister Fuscina a book On the Praise of Virginity, composed in a most beautiful poem and fitted with elegant epigrams.

CHAPTER XXXVII. Dracontius composed the Hexameron of the creation of the world in heroic verses; and he composed and wrote it luculently indeed. CHAPTER XXXVIII. Victor, an African bishop of the church of Tunna. He, from the beginning of the world up to the first year of the reign of Justin the Younger, published a brief history through annual consuls of the most noble military and ecclesiastical affairs, illustrious in praise and annotation, and most worthy of memory. He, for the defense of the three chapters, was driven from his church by the Augustus Justinian, and transported into exile in Egypt. From there, summoned again to Constantinople, while he resisted the Emperor Justinian and Eutychius, bishop of the city of Constantinople, the detractors of those same three chapters, he is sent again to be guarded in a monastery of that same city, and persisting in that same condemnation (as they say), he dies. CHAPTER XXXIX. John, of holy memory, bishop of Constantinople, a Cappadocian by nation, to whom the blessed Gregory wrote the book of the Pastoral Rule, a man of inestimable abstinence, and so exceedingly generous in alms that the Emperor Maurice, moved by zeal of avarice against him, decreed that the poor should be driven from the city.

He published in Greek a treatise on the sacrament of baptism, addressed to our lord of blessed memory and predecessor, Bishop Leander, in which he sets forth nothing of his own, but merely repeats the opinions of the ancient Fathers concerning triple immersion. He flourished in the time of the Emperor Maurice, and died in the month of August while the same emperor was reigning. CHAPTER XL. Gregory, pope and prelate of the apostolic see of Rome, full of the compunction of the fear of God and of the highest humanity, and so greatly endowed with the grace of the Holy Spirit’s knowledge that not only in present times was there any teacher equal to him, but not even in past times was there ever one his equal. At the beginning of his episcopate he published the book of the Pastoral Rule, addressed to John, bishop of the see of Constantinople. In it he teaches what sort of person each one should be who comes to the office of governance, and how, once he has come, he should strive to live and to teach those subject to him.

He also, at the urging of Bishop Leander, expounded the book of the blessed Job in a mystical and moral sense, and unfolded its entire prophetic history in thirty-five volumes from a rich fountain of eloquence. In these works, indeed, how many mysteries of the sacraments are revealed, how many precepts for the love of eternal life there are, or how many ornaments of words shine forth, no wise person could explain, even if all his limbs were turned into tongues. He also wrote certain letters to the aforementioned Leander, one of which is attached as a preface to those same books on Job; another speaks concerning the immersion of baptism, in which, among other things, it is written thus: "It is," he says, "in no way reprehensible to immerse an infant in baptism, either once or three times, since in the three immersions the Trinity of persons, and in one the singularity of the Godhead, is signified." It is reported, however, that this same most holy man also wrote other moral books, and expounded the entire text of the four Gospels by preaching to the people—a work unknown to us, indeed. Yet blessed, and exceedingly blessed, is he who could come to know all of his labors. He flourished under the Emperor Maurice Augustus. He died at the very beginning of the reign of the Roman Emperor Phocas.

CHAPTER 41. 57. Leander, born of father Severianus, of the province of Carthage, a monk by profession, and from monk constituted bishop of the Church of Hispalis in the province of Baetica, a man suave in speech, most outstanding in talent, and also most renowned in life and doctrine, so that by his faith and industry the people of the Gothic nation returned from Arian madness to the Catholic faith. He, during the pilgrimage of his exile, composed two books against the dogmas of the heretics, very rich in the erudition of the Sacred Scriptures, in which with a vehement style he pierced and exposed the depravity of Arian impiety, showing, namely, what the Catholic Church holds against them, and how much it differs from them in religion and in the sacraments of the faith. There also exists another laudable little work of his against the institutes of the Arians, in which, having set forth their sayings, he opposes his own responses. Moreover, he published one little book to his sister Florentina on the Institution of Virgins and Contempt of the World, marked with distinctions of titles. Indeed, he also labored with no small zeal in the Ecclesiastical Offices; for he composed prayers in a double edition throughout the entire Psalter; also in the sacrifice, in the praises and psalms, he composed many things with sweet sound.

He wrote also many letters: one to Pope Gregory concerning baptism, another to his brother, in which he warns that death is not to be feared by anyone. He also published very many familiar letters to other bishops, and if not sufficiently splendid in words, yet they are sharp in their sentiments. He flourished under Recared, a religious man and a glorious prince, in whose time he also ended the term of his life with a remarkable death. CHAPTER 42. Lucian, bishop of Carthago Spartaria, learned in the Scriptures: we have indeed read many of his letters, one concerning the sacrament of baptism, and very many to Abbot Eutropius, who afterwards was bishop of Valencia. The remaining works of his industry and labor have not come to our knowledge at all. He was renowned in the times of the Emperor Maurice. He died at Constantinople, poisoned (as they say) by rivals, but, as it is written: "A just man, by whatever death he may be overtaken, his soul will be in a place of refreshment.

CHAPTER 43 Severus, bishop of the see of Málaga, colleague and companion of Bishop Lucinianus, published one little book against Vincentius, bishop of the city of Caesaraugusta, who had fallen from Catholicism into Arian depravity. There is also another little book of his on Virginity, addressed to his sister, which is called the ring: of this we confess we have known the title, but do not know the eloquence. He flourished in the times of the aforementioned emperor, and also ended his life during that emperor’s reign. CHAPTER 44 John, bishop of the church of Gerona, a Goth by birth, born in Scalabis of the province of Lusitania. This man, when he was a youth, went to Constantinople, and there, enriched by Greek and Latin learning, after seventeen years returned to the Spains, at the same time when, with King Leovigild inciting it, Arian madness was raging. This aforementioned king, when he compelled him to the cruelty of the nefarious heresy, and he altogether resisted, was thrust into exile and banished to Barcelona, and for ten years endured many plots and persecutions from the Arians.

He afterwards founded the monastery which is called by the name of Biclaro, where, having gathered a community of monks, he wrote a rule beneficial to that same monastery, and also quite necessary for all who fear God. He added to the book of Chronicles, from the first year of the reign of Justin the Younger up to the eighth year of the reign of Maurice, emperor of the Romans, and the fourth year of King Reccared, a very useful History, composed in a historical and well-constructed style; and he is said to have written another work, which has not come to our notice. CHAPTER 45. Eutropius, bishop of the church of Valencia, while he was still living in the Servitan monastery and was father of the monks, wrote a very useful letter to Pope Lucinianus, whom we mentioned above, in which he asks of him why, after baptized infants are anointed with chrism, this unction is afterwards given. He also wrote to Peter, bishop of Ircavum, a letter composed in a wholesome style concerning the discipline of monks, and very necessary for monks.

CHAPTER XLVI. Maximus, bishop of the city of Caesaraugusta, is said to have composed many works in verse and prose. He also wrote a brief historical account of those things which were done in the times of the Goths in Spain, in a historical and composed style, and he is said to have written many other things which I have not yet read.