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

Continents” from visiting the homes of “widows and female wards.” 50 By using the
term ecclesiasticus, the law extended the prohibition to the widest possible extent by
potentially including all persons attached to the Church rather than just to clerici. 51
Ecclesiastics who violated this law were to be tried by the “public judges”, 52 that is to
say in the civil courts. As bishops were also ecclesiastics, this law would appear to be a
partial repeal of Constantius’ CTh 16.2.12 of October 355 which gave Bishops the
right of being tried only in courts consisting of fellow Bishops. This law of
Valentinian had been comprehensively thought out and aimed to prohibit any means
through which clerics could acquire any benefit from such women either during their
lifetimes or after in their wills, and even through the agency of a third party.
Furthermore, if such women did give or bequeath anything to the ecclesiastics, then it
would be confiscated to the treasury. Only ecclesiastics who were relatives of the
women would be able to inherit anything from them.
Although it may seem curious that a piece of legislation which was directed
against the interests of the Church and its members was addressed to the Bishop of
Rome, in this instance the force of the law was almost certainly being directed against
Damasus personally. He had acquired a reputation for frequenting the homes of older
elite women and was ridiculed as “the matrons’ ear tickler.” 53 This law may also be
indicative of a distaste which Valentinian felt for the urban clergy and the conflict in
366/7 between Damasus and Ursinus over the Roman pontificate which left 137 dead
in one day. Therefore this law may have been an attempt to prevent the accumulation
of wealth by the Church which was thought to inspire this sort of violence.
Valentinian would not have been alone in this criticism of the Roman bishop;
Praetextatus apparently joked with Damasus that he would become a Christian
49
Q. Clodius Hermogenianus Olybrius 3 PLRE 1.640-642
50
Ecclesiastici aut ex ecclesiasticis v el qui continentium se v olunt nom ine nuncupari, v iduarum ac pupillarum
dom os non adeant. Pharr translates continentium as “Continents” but perhaps it is more accurate, but
clumsy, to translate continentium as ‘those who wish to be chaste.’
51
As CTh 12.1.59 did nine years earlier
52
publicis…iudiciis
53
CSEL 35.1.10 m atronarum auriscalpius; Kahlos (1997) 35-54
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