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

CTh 16.2.21 of May 371 was addressed to Publius Ampelius. In this law, the
western government decided for the first time to prescribe a time period after which
clergy were liable for recall to the councils. 58 The law reinforced the existing ruling
that clergy were exempt from service on the councils, but only if they had “devoted
themselves to the cult of our law before the beginning of our reign”, i.e. before 364. 59
The “others”, who had become members of the clergy after such time were to be
recalled to the councils. This somewhat flowery language appears to simply mean that
those who had obeyed the existing law under Valentinian’s predecessors and had only
joined the clergy when they were unable to serve in the councils may continue to
remain in the clergy; but those who had done so since the beginning of Valentinian’s
reign were liable for recall. As such, the law was a little harsh and took no account of
clergy who may have been unable to fulfil the responsibilities of office, unlike previous
legislation on this subject. 60 As such the law does not appear to have been particularly
well drafted. It also used the term ecclesiasticus rather than clericus to include the
widest possible Church membership in its scope.
The comprehensiveness of CTh. 16.2.20 (through its use of ecclesiasticus) and
that it was intended to include all members of the Church hierarchy and not just
Damasus, is evidenced by CTh 16.2.22 of 1 December 372 addressed to Paulinus,
Governor of New Epirus. 61 In this law the emperor specified that the “general rule of
the foregoing decree [i.e. CTh 16.2.20] shall be valid and shall extend also to the
persons of bishops and virgins as well as to the other persons who are included in the
foregoing statute.” 62 Presumably Paulinus had been unsure whether the earlier law
related to all churchmen; an uncertainty which was perhaps based on CTh 16.2.12.
These two laws indicate a close collaboration between the separate administrations of
58
Publius Ampelius 3 PLRE 1.56-57
59
si tam en eos ante ortum im perii n ostri ad cultum se legis nostrae contulisse constiterit: ceteri rev ocentur, qui
se post id tem pus ecclesiasticis congregarunt
60
Eg: CTh 16.2.3, 16.2.6
61
Paulinus 6 PLRE Vol 1 676
62
form a praecedentis consulti etiam circa episcoporum v irginum que personas et circa alias, quarum statuto
praecedenti facta conplexio est, v aleat ac porrigatur
109