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

confined to the east, ordered sacrifices, but not universal sacrifices. 7 A number of
clerics succumbed to imperial pressures and collaborated with the authorities
surrendering copies of the scriptures, vestments and church plate and even, in one case,
murdering his own nephews. 8 Those who had co-operated became known as
traditores, and were, in practice, regarded as apostates; because it was thought that they
had assisted the Devil, working through the Roman authorities, in his assault on the
Church.
The African Church had developed a mechanism for dealing with traditores as a
result of Decius’ and then Valerian’s persecutions of 250-258. In 254, Cyprian, bishop
of Carthage, was approached by the Spanish congregations of Emerita and Legio for
guidance as to whether a cleric who was not in a state of grace was able to dispense
sacraments, and whether such sacraments would be valid. In contrast to Bishop
Stephen of Rome who urged the Spanish to accept and obey their reinstalled Bishop,
and drawing upon the decisions endorsed by the council of Easter 251, Cyprian replied
firmly that a congregation had no option but to disassociate itself from a sinful bishop
whose administration of the sacraments was thereby invalid and to elect a replacement.
Indeed to remain in communion and to receive sacraments from such a bishop would
endanger the salvation of the congregation. The logical corollary to this, for Cyprian,
was that rebaptism was necessary for bishops who had strayed from the faith;
otherwise their administration of the sacraments would be invalid. Laymen would
also have to be rebaptised since otherwise they would be outside the Church and
therefore unable to receive any of its blessings. Cyprian called a Council of eighty-
seven bishops which met on 1 September 256 in Carthage and unanimously endorsed
his opinions. 9 The doctrine upon which the Donatist Church was to be founded fifty
years later had been established.
7 Corcoran (2000) 179-182 In the case of in particular the second and the fourth edicts, Corcoran
indicates that there is no evidence of enforcement in the west. Cf Schwarte (1994) who believes there
was only one persecution edict.
8 Optatus 1.13 gives some of the names of collaborators, including the murderer.
9 Frend (1952) 135-9
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