Religious Intolerance in the Later Roman Empire - Bad request ...

following this policy and for not involving themselves in any quarrel with the
Donatists: “Your Eminences have acted most rightly and wisely, and according to the
sacred precept of faith by abstaining from their perverse quarrels and pardoning them
[for seizing the basilica],” 148 despite the fact that they were “impious and depraved,
sacrilegious and profane, treacherous and impious and ungrateful to God and enemies
of the Church.” 149 Constantine believed that the Catholics had the fullest and deepest
knowledge of God and this was evidenced in the fact that the Catholics knew that “a
greater vengeance is provoked against the opponents of the Church when they are
spared in the temporal sphere.” 150 Constantine thus expanded upon the ideological
principle that he had articulated in his 321 letter which gave a moral superiority to the
Catholics and also gave a good reason why there would be no further persecutions of
the Donatists. God’s vengeance in the life to come would be greater than anything
which earthly authorities could do.
The only vaguely conciliatory move from Constantine was his hope that the
heretics and schismatics would take action to provide their own salvation. They
should “secede from the devil and flee to God.” 151 Constantine hoped that if only they
“would submit to our bidding, they would be freed from every evil.” 152 The emperor
stopped short of saying that if only the Donatists obeyed him then they would be
saved, but the clear implication is that their failure to obey the emperor renders them
under the control of evil; that is the devil. As Constantine had said earlier in the letter,
147 Opt. App. 10; Ziwsa 214; Edwards 198: qui a deo sancto, v ero, iusto, sum m o atque om nium dom ino
receden s
148 Opt. App. 10; Ziwsa 214; Edwards 199: adprobentur adhaerere, rectissim e et sapienter grav itas v estra
fecit et secndum sanctum fidei praeceptum ab eorum perv ersis contentionibus tem perando et hisdem
rem ittendo
149 Opt. App. 10; Ziwsa 215; Edwards 200: im piis et sceleratis, sacrilegis et profanis, perfidis et inrelegiosis et
deo ingratis et ecclesiae inim icis
150 Opt. App. 10; Ziwsa 215; Edwards 200: quod m aior v indicta in contrarios ecclesiaae porv ocetur, cum
hisdem in saeculo parcitur
151 Opt. App. 10; Ziwsa 216; Edwards 201: et a diabolo secederent et ad deum …confugerent
152 Opt. App. 10; Ziwsa 216; Edwards 201: si enim iussionibus n ostris obtem perare v oluissent, ab om n i m alo
liberarentur
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