The Presbyters Project

Letter 10*

Reparatum quoque fratrem et coepiscopum nostrum executio deputata conveniet, ut ad iudicium vestrum Genitorem presbiterum suum sine ulla excusatione transmittat, ut ab eo Septimo servo qui repetitur presentato, si nichil fuerit, quod de eius ingenuitate relidatur, aut eum cleruerit obnoxietati petendum modis omnibus illigatum, cum peculio, sicut postulant legum cauta, reddatur.

(ed. Löwenfeld 1885: 6)

Letter 10*

It is suitable for our brother and fellow-bishop Reparatus to send across his presbyter Genitor to your judicial process without any excuse, so that when the slave Septimus, who is to be returned, is presented by him, if there was nothing that was to be rejected regarding his free birth or that manifested he was seeking to be under obligation and in every respect encumbered, he should be returned with his property, as the provisions of the laws demand.

(trans. Neil - Allen 2014: 194, slightly modified)

Discussion:

The letter is addressed to bishops form Southern Italy: Herculentius (of Potenza), and Stephanus (possibly of Venosa) (see PCBE Italie 1: Genitor). Gelasius I ordered them to make Bishop Reparatus (of unknown place) to submit his presbyter Genitor to their judgement, and to return the slave Septimus to his owner, unless he can prove that he had been free before. B. Neil and P. Allen think that the fragment is a part of the Letter 21 of Gelasius, also dealing with slaves (Neil-Allen 2014: 194).

Place of event:

Region

Italy south of Rome and Sicily

About the source:

Author: Gelasius I
Title: Epistulae, Letters
Origin: Rome (Rome)
Denomination: Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian

Gelasius I was the bishop of Rome between AD 492 and 496.

Edition:

S. Löwenfeld ed., Epistolae pontificum romanorum ineditae, Leipzig 1885, 1-12.

Translation:

B. Neil, P. Allen edd., The Letters of Gelasius I (492-496): Pastor and Micro-Manager of the Church of Rome, Turnhout 2014.

Bibliography:

B. Neil, P. Allen edd., The Letters of Gelasius I (492-496): Pastor and Micro-Manager of the Church of Rome, Turnhout 2014.

Categories:

Described by a title - Presbyter/πρεσβύτερος

PR913.

Economic status and activity - Indication of wealth

PR913.

Economic status and activity - Slave ownership

PR913.

Conflict

PR913.

Relation with - Bishop/Monastic superior

PR913.

Legal transactions

PR913.

Private law - Ecclesiastical

PR913.

Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: S. Adamiak, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER2005, https://presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=2005