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Latin · Letters ·

Epistola Ad Omnes Episcopos

Aurelius Episcopus Carthaginensis · ogl-pl

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machine-draft · no human review 2 passages · 336 words

Work dossier · summary and historical context

Summary

The Epistola Ad Omnes Episcopos, attributed to Aurelius, bishop of Carthage (391/392–430), is a Latin letter of episcopal instruction, likely dating to the late 4th or early 5th century. It survives only in Latin, transmitted through canonical collections and patristic florilegia, with no independent Greek or Syriac witness. The letter is cited in the 6th-century Decretum Gelasianum as a model of episcopal teaching and later included in the Pseudo-Isidorean decretals. Its manuscript tradition is late (9th century or later) and shows signs of interpolation, making the original wording uncertain in several passages. The edition (ogl-pl) lacks an apparatus criticus or stemma, and variant readings from principal manuscripts are not recorded.

The letter is significant as a witness to late antique African episcopal authority and anti-Pelagian polemic. Its citation in the Decretum Gelasianum and inclusion in Pseudo-Isidorean decretals underscore its influence on medieval canon law and patristic florilegia. The letter also illustrates the rhetorical use of scripture (e.g., Prov. 21:4) to support episcopal and princely authority, and its textual transmission raises questions about interpolation and scribal error.

Historical context

The letter is attributed to Aurelius, bishop of Carthage from 391/392 to 430, a period of significant theological controversy in North Africa, including the Donatist schism and the Pelagian controversy. The letter is usually dated to the late 390s or early 400s, but the evidence is circumstantial. It survives only in Latin, transmitted through canonical collections and patristic florilegia, and is cited in the 6th-century Decretum Gelasianum as a model of episcopal instruction. Later inclusion in the Pseudo-Isidorean decretals indicates its authority in medieval canon law. The manuscript tradition is late (9th century or later) and shows signs of interpolation, complicating reconstruction of the original text. The letter reflects African bishops' enforcement of the condemnation of Pelagius and Coelestius, who were condemned as heretics in the early 5th century for denying original sin and grace.

Apparatus · what the pipeline recorded

Annotation and terms

12 commentary units 2 structure2 term2 background2 reception2 caution1 scripture1 dating 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
tmp375.tmp375.opp-lat1:1 · narrativemedium
Source
SANCTI AURELII CARTHAGINENSIS EPISCOPI EPISTOLA AD OMNES EPISCOPOS PER BYZACENAM ET ARZUGYTANAM PROVINCIAM CONSTITUTOS. (Indidem pag. 129). De damnatione Pelagii atque Coelestii haereticorum. Dilectissimis ac desiderabilibus fratribus ac consacerdotibus, a Donatiano primae sedis, Januariano, Felici, Palatino, Primiano, Cajano, et alii Cajano, Januario, Victorino, et caeteris per tractum provincias Byzacenae et Arzugitanae constitutis, Aurelius episcopus. a Super Coelestii et Pelagii damnatione, eorumque dogmatis, participem se sancta dilectio vestra in plenario concilio fuisse commeminit, dilectissimi ac desiderabiles Fratres. Sed quoniam, pro honore Dei, in cujus manu cor regis est constitutum (Prov. xxi, 4), gloriosissimorum principum Christianorum fidem rectam et catholicam a custodientium accessit auctoritas, quam per humilitatem meam universis coepiscopis voluerunt intimari: idcirco honorabilem fraternitatem vestram, missis exemplaribus, instruere festinavi, ne quid mali, in aliqua parle provinciae, ex supradictorum serpentina persuasione, o ab universali Ecclesia totius orbis exclusa, fortasse subrepat.
English
The Letter of Saint Aurelius, Bishop of Carthage, to All Bishops Established throughout the Provinces of Byzacena and Arzugitana. (From the same source, page 129). On the condemnation of the heretics Pelagius and Coelestius. To the most beloved and desirable brothers and fellow priests, from Donatianus of the primatial see, Januarianus, Felix, Palatinus, Primianus, Cajanus, and another Cajanus, Januarius, Victorinus, and the others established throughout the territory of the provinces of Byzacena and Arzugitana, Aurelius the bishop. Your holy love recalls that you were participants in the plenary council concerning the condemnation of Coelestius and Pelagius and their teachings, most beloved and desirable brothers. But since, for the honor of God, in whose hand the heart of the king is placed (Prov. 21:4), the authority of the most glorious Christian princes, who guard the right and catholic faith, has been added, which they wished to be made known to all my fellow bishops through my humility: therefore I have hastened to instruct your honorable fraternity, by sending copies, lest any evil, from the serpentine persuasion of the aforementioned men, now excluded from the universal Church of the whole world, perhaps creep in in some part of the province.
tmp375.tmp375.opp-lat1:2 · narrativehigh
Source
Ob hoc ergo tam necessaria constitutio Christianorum principum(??)cbaritatem vestram latere non debet, et ad me ab eis datae litterae: quarum simul exemplaribus lectis, quemadmodum subscribere unusquisque vestrum debeat, dilectio vestra cognoscet, sive quorum synodalibus gestis subscriptio jam tenetur, sive qul non potuisti· eidem plenario totius Africae interesse concilio; quo,cum in supradictorum haereticorum damnatione, omnium vestrum fuerit(??) integra i subscriptio, j nibil omnino sit, unde ullius, vel dissimulationis, vel negligentiae, vel occultae forsitan pravitatis, aliqua videatur merito remansisse suspicio. (Et alia manu:) Opto, Fratres, bene vivatis mei memores. Dat. Kalend. Augusti, Carthagine, Monaxio et Plinta coss.
English
Therefore, this most necessary decree of the Christian emperors ought not to be hidden from your Charity, and the letters sent to me by them: upon reading copies of which together, your Love will learn how each of you ought to subscribe, whether those whose subscription is already held in the synodal acts, or those who were not able to attend that same plenary council of all Africa; in which, since in the condemnation of the aforementioned heretics the subscription of all of you was complete, there is absolutely nothing from which any suspicion of dissimulation, or negligence, or perhaps hidden depravity might justly seem to remain in anyone. (And in another hand:) I pray, Brothers, that you live well, mindful of me. Given on the Kalends of August, at Carthage, in the consulship of Monaxius and Plinta.
Citation. Tergwame, “Epistola Ad Omnes Episcopos”, tmp375.tmp375.opp-lat1:1, machine-draft, 2026. https://naxiai.com/christian/works/tmp375.tmp375.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: $0.0016 · generated 2026-11-15.