Chapter XIII: Concerning the Same.412 (1)

The Emperor Constantine yielded his crown, and all his royal prerogatives in the city of Rome, and in Italy, and in western parts to the Apostolic [See]. For in the Acts of the Blessed Sylvester (which the Blessed Pope Gelasius in the Council of the Seventy Bishops recounts as read by the catholic, and in accordance with ancient usage many churches he says follow this example) occurs the following:]

[PALEA.

C. XIV. CONCERNING THE SAME.

The Emperor Constantine the fourth day after his baptism conferred this privilege on the Pontiff of the Roman church, that in the whole Roman world priests should regard him as their head, as judges do the king. In this privilege among other things is this: “We—together with all our satraps, and the whole senate and my nobles, and also all the people subject to the government of glorious Rome—considered it advisable, that as the Blessed Peter is seen to have been constituted vicar of the Son of God on the earth, so the Pontiffs who are the representatives of that same chief of the apostles, should obtain from us and our empire the power of a supremacy greater than the clemency of our earthly imperial serenity is seen to have conceded to it, choosing that same chief of the apostles and his vicars to be our constant intercessors with God. And to the extent of our earthly imperial power, we have decreed that his holy Roman church shall be honored with veneration, and that more than our empire and earthly throne the most sacred seat of the Blessed Peter shall be gloriously exalted, we giving to it power, and dignity of glory, and vigor, and honor imperial. And we ordain and decree that he shall have the supremacy as well over the four principal seats, Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, and Constantinople, as also over all the churches of God in the whole earth. And the Pontiff, who at the time shall be at the head of the holy Roman church itself, shall be more exalted than, and chief over, all the priests of the whole world, and according to his judgment everything which is provided for the service of God and for the stability of the faith of Christians is to be administered. _And below_: §. 1. On the churches of the blessed apostles Peter and Paul, for the providing of the lights, we have conferred landed estates of possessions, and have enriched them with different objects, and through our sacred imperial mandate we have granted him of our property in the east as well as in the west, and even in the northern and the southern quarter; namely, in Judea, Greece, Asia, Thrace, Africa, and Italy and the various islands; under this condition indeed, that all shall be administered by the hand of our most blessed father the supreme Pontiff, Sylvester, and his successors. _And below_: §. 2. And to our Father, the Blessed Sylvester, supreme Pontiff and Pope universal, of the city of Rome, and to all the Pontiffs, his successors, who shall sit in the seat of the Blessed Peter even unto the end of the world, we by this present do give our imperial Lateran palace, then the diadem, that is, the crown of our head, and at the same time the tiara and also the shoulder-band,—that is, the strap that usually surrounds our imperial neck; and also the purple mantle and scarlet tunic, and all the imperial raiment; and also the same rank as those presiding over the imperial cavalry, conferring also even the imperial scepters, and at the same time all the standards, and banners, and the different ornaments, and all the pomp of our imperial eminence, and the glory of our power. §. 3. We decree moreover, as to the most reverend men, the clergy of different orders who serve that same holy Roman church, that they have that same eminence, distinction, power and excellence, by the glory of which it seems proper for our most illustrious senate to be adorned; that is, that they be made patricians and consuls, and also we have proclaimed that they be decorated with the other imperial dignities. And even as the imperial militia is adorned, so also we decree that the clergy of the holy Roman church be adorned. And even as the imperial power is adorned with different offices, of chamberlains, indeed, and door-keepers, and all the guards, so we wish the holy Roman church also to be decorated. And in order that the pontifical glory may shine forth most fully, we decree this also; that the horses of the clergy of this same holy Roman church be decorated with saddle-cloths and linens, that is, of the whitest color, and that they are to so ride. And even as our senate uses shoes with felt socks, that is, distinguished by white linen, so the clergy also should use them, so that, even as the celestial orders, so also the terrestrial may be adorned to the glory of God. §. 4. Above all things, moreover, we give permission to that same most holy one our Father Sylvester and to his successors, from our edict, that he may make priest whomever he wishes, according to his own pleasure and counsel, and enroll him in the number of the religious clergy [i.e., regular, or monastic, clergy; or, perhaps, the cardinals], let no one whomsoever presume to act in a domineering way in this. §. 5. We also therefore decreed this, that he himself and his successors might use and bear upon their heads—to the praise of God for the honor of the Blessed Peter—the diadem, that is, the crown which we have granted him from our own head, of purest gold and precious gems. But since he himself, the most blessed Pope, did not at all allow that crown of gold to be used over the clerical crown which he wears to the glory of the Blessed Peter, we placed upon his most holy head, with our own hands, a glittering tiara of dazzling white representing the Lord’s resurrection, and holding the bridle of his horse, out of reverence for the Blessed Peter, we performed for him the duty of groom, decreeing that all his successors, and they alone, use this same tiara in processions in imitation of our power. §. 6. Wherefore, in order that the supreme pontificate may not deteriorate, but may rather be adorned with glory and power even more than is the dignity of an earthly rule; behold, we give over and relinquish to the aforesaid our most blessed Pontiff, Sylvester, the universal Pope, as well our palace, as has been said, as also the city of Rome, and all the provinces, places and cities of Italy and the western regions, and we decree by this our godlike and pragmatic sanction that they are to be controlled by him and by his successors, and we grant that they shall remain under the law of the holy Roman church. §. 7. Wherefore we have perceived it to be fitting that our empire and the power of our kingdom should be transferred in the regions of the East, and that in the province of Byzantia, in the most fitting place, a city should be built in our name, and that our empire should there be established, for where the supremacy of priests and the head of the Christian religion has been established by the heavenly Emperor, it is not right that there an earthly emperor should have jurisdiction. §. 8. We decree, moreover, that all these things, which through this our sacred imperial [charter] and through other godlike decrees we have established and confirmed, remain inviolate and unshaken unto the end of the world. Wherefore, before the living God who commanded us to reign, and in the face of his terrible judgment, we entreat, through this our imperial sanction, all the emperors our successors, and all the nobles, the satraps also, the most glorious senate, and all the people in the whole world, now and in all times still[413] to come subject to our rule, that no one of them in any way be allowed either to break these [decrees], or in any way overthrow them. If any one, moreover,—which we do not believe—prove a scorner or despiser in this matter, he shall be subject and bound over to eternal damnation, and shall feel the holy ones of God, the chief of the apostles, Peter and Paul, opposed to him in the present and in the future life, and he shall be burned in the lower hell and shall perish with the devil and all the impious. The page, moreover, of this our imperial decree, we, confirming it with our own hands, did place above the venerable body of the Blessed Peter, chief of the apostles. Given at Rome on the third day before the Kalends of April, our master the august Flavius Constantine, for the fourth time, and Gallicanus, most illustrious men, being consuls.”]

THE DISCOURSE OF LORENZO VALLA ON THE FORGERY OF THE ALLEGED DONATION OF CONSTANTINE

I have published many books, a great many, in almost every branch of learning. Inasmuch as there are those who are shocked that in these I disagree with certain great writers already approved by long usage, and charge me with rashness and sacrilege, what must we suppose some of them will do now! How they will rage against me, and if opportunity is afforded how eagerly and how quickly they will drag me to punishment! For I am writing against not only the dead, but the living also, not this man or that, but a host, not merely private individuals, but the authorities. And what authorities! Even the supreme pontiff, armed not only with the temporal sword as are kings and princes, but with the spiritual also, so that even under the very shield, so to speak, of any prince, you cannot protect yourself from him; from being struck down by excommunication, anathema, curse. So if he was thought to have both spoken and acted prudently who said, “I will not write against those who can write ‘Proscribed,’” how much more would it seem that I ought to follow the same course toward him who goes far beyond proscription, who would pursue me with the invisible darts of his authority, so that I could rightly say, “Whither shall I go from thy spirit, or whither shall I flee from thy presence?”[414] Unless perhaps we think the supreme pontiff would bear these attacks more patiently than would others. Far from it; for Ananias, the high priest, in the presence of the tribune who sat as judge, ordered Paul when he said he lived in good conscience to be smitten on the mouth; and Pashur, holding the same rank, threw Jeremiah into prison for the boldness of his speech. The tribune and the governor, indeed, were able and willing to protect the former, and the king the latter, from priestly violence. But what tribune, what governor, what king, even if he wanted to, could snatch me from the hands of the chief priest if he should seize me?

But there is no reason why this awful, twofold peril should trouble me and turn me from my purpose; for the supreme pontiff may not bind nor loose any one contrary to law and justice. And to give one’s life in defense of truth and justice is the path of the highest virtue, the highest honor, the highest reward. Have not many undergone the hazard of death for the defense of their terrestrial fatherland? In the attainment of the celestial fatherland (they attain it who please God, not men), shall I be deterred by the hazard of death? Away then with trepidation, let fears far remove, let doubts pass away. With a brave soul, with utter fidelity, with good hope, the cause of truth must be defended, the cause of justice, the cause of God.

Nor is he to be esteemed a true orator who knows how to speak well, unless he also has the courage to speak. So let us have the courage to accuse him, whoever he is, that commits crimes calling for accusation. And let him who sins against all be called to account by the voice of one speaking for all. Yet perhaps I ought not to reprove my brother in public, but by himself. Rather, “Them that sin” and do not accept private admonition “rebuke before all, that others also may fear.”[415] Or did not Paul, whose words I have just used, reprove Peter to his face in the presence of the church because he needed reproof? And he left this written for our instruction. But perhaps I am not a Paul that I should reprove a Peter. Yea, I am a Paul because I imitate Paul. Just as, and this is far greater, I become one in spirit with God when I diligently observe his commandments. Nor is any one made immune from chiding by an eminence which did not make Peter immune, and many others possessed of the same rank; for instance, Marcellus,[416] who offered a libation to the gods, and Celestine [I] who entertained the Nestorian heresy, and certain even within our own memory whom we know were reproved, to say nothing of those condemned, by their inferiors, for who is not inferior to the Pope?[417]

It is not my aim to inveigh against any one and write so-called Philippics against him—be that villainy far from me—but to root out error from men’s minds, to free them from vices and crimes by either admonition or reproof. I would not dare to say [that my aim is] that others, taught by me, should prune with steel the papal see, which is Christ’s vineyard, rank with overabundant shoots, and compel it to bear rich grapes instead of meager wildings. When I do that, is there any one who will want to close either my mouth or his own ears, much less propose punishment and death? If one should do so, even if it were the Pope, what should I call him, a good shepherd, or a deaf viper which would not choose to heed the voice of the charmer, but to strike his limbs with its poisonous bite?

I know that for a long time now men’s ears are waiting to hear the offense with which I charge the Roman pontiffs. It is, indeed, an enormous one, due either to supine ignorance, or to gross avarice which is the slave of idols, or to pride of empire of which cruelty is ever the companion. For during some centuries now, either they have not known that the Donation of Constantine is spurious and forged, or else they themselves forged it, and their successors walking in the same way of deceit as their elders have defended as true what they knew to be false, dishonoring the majesty of the pontificate, dishonoring the memory of ancient pontiffs, dishonoring the Christian religion, confounding everything with murders, disasters and crimes. They say the city of Rome is theirs, theirs the kingdom of Sicily and of Naples,[418] the whole of Italy, the Gauls, the Spains, the Germans, the Britons, indeed the whole West; for all these are contained in the instrument of the Donation itself.[419] So all these are yours, supreme pontiff? And it is your purpose to recover them all? To despoil all kings and princes of the West of their cities or compel them to pay you a yearly tribute, is that your plan?

I, on the contrary, think it fairer to let the princes despoil you of all the empire you hold. For, as I shall show, that Donation whence the supreme pontiffs will have their right derived was unknown equally to Sylvester and to Constantine.

But before I come to the refutation of the instrument of the Donation, which is their one defense, not only false but even stupid, the right order demands that I go further back. And first, I shall show that Constantine and Sylvester were not such men that the former would choose to give, would have the legal right to give, or would have it in his power to give those lands to another, or that the latter would be willing to accept them or could legally have done so. In the second place, if this were not so, though it is absolutely true and obvious, [I shall show that in fact] the latter did not receive nor the former give possession of what is said to have been granted, but that it always remained under the sway and empire of the Caesars. In the third place, [I shall show that] nothing was given to Sylvester by Constantine, but to an earlier Pope (and Constantine had received baptism even before that pontificate), and that the grants were inconsiderable, for the mere subsistence of the Pope. Fourth, that it is not true either that a copy of the Donation is found in the Decretum [of Gratian], or that it was taken from the History of Sylvester; for it is not found in it or in any history, and it is comprised of contradictions, impossibilities, stupidities, barbarisms and absurdities. Further, I shall speak of the pretended or mock donation of certain other Caesars. Then by way of redundance I shall add that even had Sylvester taken possession, nevertheless, he or some other pontiff having been dispossessed, possession could not be resumed after such a long interval under either divine or human law. Last [I shall show] that the possessions which are now held by the supreme pontiff could not, in any length of time, be validated by prescription.

And so to take up the first point, let us speak first of Constantine, then of Sylvester.

* * * * *

It would not do to argue a public and quasi imperial case without more dignity of utterance than is usual in private cases. And so speaking as in an assembly of kings and princes, as I assuredly do, for this oration of mine will come into their hands, I choose to address an audience, as it were, face to face. I call upon you, kings and princes, for it is difficult for a private person to form a picture of a royal mind; I seek your thought, I search your heart, I ask your testimony. Is there any one of you who, had he been in Constantine’s place, would have thought that he must set about giving to another out of pure generosity the city of Rome, his fatherland, the head of the world, the queen of states, the most powerful, the noblest and the most opulent of peoples, the victor of the nations, whose very form is sacred, and betaking himself thence to an humble little town, Byzantium; giving with Rome Italy, not a province but the mistress of provinces; giving the three Gauls; giving the two Spains; the Germans; the Britons; the whole West; depriving himself of one of the two eyes of his empire? That any one in possession of his senses would do this, I cannot be brought to believe.

What ordinarily befalls you that is more looked forward to, more pleasing, more grateful, than for you to increase your empires and kingdoms, and to extend your authority as far and wide as possible? In this, as it seems to me, all your care, all your thought, all your labor, night and day is expended. From this comes your chief hope of glory, for this you renounce pleasures; for this you subject yourselves to a thousand dangers; for this your dearest pledges, for this your own flesh you sacrifice with serenity. Indeed, I have neither heard nor read of any of you having been deterred from an attempt to extend his empire by loss of an eye, a hand, a leg, or any other member. Nay, this very ardor and this thirst for wide dominion is such that whoever is most powerful, him it thus torments and stirs the most. Alexander, not content to have traversed on foot the deserts of Libya, to have conquered the Orient to the farthest ocean, to have mastered the North, amid so much bloodshed, so many perils, his soldiers already mutinous and crying out against such long, such hard campaigns, seemed to himself to have accomplished nothing unless either by force or by the power of his name he should have made the West also, and all nations, tributary to him. I put it too mildly; he had already determined to cross the ocean, and if there was any other world, to explore it and subject it to his will. He would have tried, I think, last of all to ascend the heavens. Some such wish all kings have, even though not all are so bold. I pass over the thought how many crimes, how many horrors have been committed to attain and extend power, for brothers do not restrain their wicked hands from the stain of brothers’ blood, nor sons from the blood of parents, nor parents from the blood of sons. Indeed, nowhere is man’s recklessness apt to run riot further nor more viciously. And to your astonishment, you see the minds of old men no less eager in this than the minds of young men, childless men no less eager than parents, kings than usurpers.

But if domination is usually sought with such great resolution, how much greater must be the resolution to preserve it! For it is by no means so discreditable not to increase an empire as to impair it, nor is it so shameful not to annex another’s kingdom to your own as for your own to be annexed to another’s. And when we read of men being put in charge of a kingdom or of cities by some king or by the people, this is not done in the case of the chief or the greatest portion of the empire, but in the case of the last and least, as it were, and that with the understanding that the recipient should always recognize the donor as his sovereign and himself as an agent.

Now I ask, do they not seem of a base and most ignoble mind who suppose that Constantine gave away the better part of his empire? I say nothing of Rome, Italy, and the rest, but the Gauls where he had waged war in person, where for a long time he had been sole master, where he had laid the foundations of his glory and his empire! A man who through thirst for dominion had waged war against nations, and attacking friends and relatives in civil strife had taken the government from them, who had to deal with remnants of an opposing faction not yet completely mastered and overthrown; who waged war with many nations not only by inclination and in the hope of fame and empire but by very necessity, for he was harassed every day by the barbarians; who had many sons, relatives and associates; who knew that the Senate and the Roman people would oppose this act; who had experienced the instability of conquered nations and their rebellions at nearly every change of ruler at Rome; who remembered that after the manner of other Caesars he had come into power, not by the choice of the Senate and the consent of the populace, but by armed warfare; what incentive could there be so strong and urgent that he would ignore all this and choose to display such prodigality?

They say, it was because he had become a Christian. Would he therefore renounce the best part of his empire? I suppose it was a crime, an outrage, a felony, to reign after that, and that a kingdom was incompatible with the Christian religion! Those who live in adultery, those who have grown rich by usury, those who possess goods which belong to another, they after baptism are wont to restore the stolen wife, the stolen money, the stolen goods. If this be your idea, Constantine, you must restore your cities to liberty, not change their master. But that did not enter into the case; you were led to do as you did solely for the glory of your religion. As though it were more religious to lay down a kingdom than to administer it for the maintenance of religion! For so far as it concerns the recipients, that Donation will be neither honorable nor useful to them. But if you want to show yourself a Christian, to display your piety, to further the cause, I do not say of the Roman church, but of the Church of God, now of all times act the prince, so that you may fight for those who cannot and ought not to fight, so that by your authority you may safeguard those who are exposed to plots and injuries. To Nebuchadnezzar, to Cyrus, to Ahasuerus, and to many other princes, by the will of God, the mystery of the truth was revealed; but of none of them did God demand that he should resign his government, that he should give away part of his kingdom, but only that he should give the Hebrews their liberty and protect them from their aggressive neighbors. This was enough for the Jews; it will be enough for the Christians also. You have become a Christian, Constantine? Then it is most unseemly for you now as a Christian emperor to have less sovereignty than you had as an infidel. For sovereignty is an especial gift of God, to which even the gentile sovereigns are supposed to be chosen by God.

But he was cured of leprosy! Probably, therefore, he would have wished to show his gratitude and give back a larger measure than he had received. Indeed! Naaman the Syrian, cured by Elisha, wished merely to present gifts, not the half of his goods, and would Constantine have presented the half of his empire? I regret to reply to this shameless story as though it were undoubted and historical, for it is a reflection of the story of Naaman and Elisha; just as that other story about the dragon is a reflection of the fabulous dragon of Bel.[420] But yielding this point, is there in this story any mention made of a “donation”? Not at all. But of this, more later.

He was cured of leprosy? He took on therefore a Christian spirit; he was imbued with the fear of God, with the love of God; he wished to honor him. Nevertheless I cannot be persuaded that he wished to give away so much; for, so far as I see, no one, either pagan, in honor of the gods, or believer, in honor of the living God, has resigned his empire and given it to priests. In sooth, of the kings of Israel none could be brought to permit his people to go, according to the former custom, to sacrifice at the temple in Jerusalem; for fear lest, moved by that solemn religious ceremony and by the majesty of the temple, they should return to the king of Judah from whom they had revolted. And how much more is Constantine represented to have done! And that you may not flatter yourself with the cure of leprosy, [let me say that] Jeroboam was the first one chosen by God to be king of Israel and indeed from a very low estate, which to my mind is more than being healed of leprosy; nevertheless he did not presume to entrust his kingdom to God. And will you have Constantine give to God a kingdom which he had not received from him, and that, too, when he would offend his sons (which was not the case with Jeroboam), humiliate his friends, ignore his relatives, injure his country, plunge everybody into grief, and forget his own interests!

But if, having been such a man as he was, he had been transformed as it were into another man, there would certainly not have been lacking those who would warn him, most of all his sons, his relatives, and his friends. Who does not think that they would have gone at once to the emperor? Picture them to yourself, when the purpose of Constantine had become known, trembling, hastening to fall with groans and tears at the feet of the prince, and saying:

“Is it thus that you, a father hitherto most affectionate
toward your sons, despoil your sons, disinherit them, disown
them? We do not complain of the fact that you choose to divest
yourself of the best and largest part of the empire so much
as we wonder at it. But we do complain that you give it to
others to our loss and shame. Why do you defraud your children
of their expected succession to the empire, you who yourself
reigned in partnership with your father? What have we done to
you? By what disloyalty to you, to our country, to the Roman
name or the majesty of the empire, are we deemed to deserve to
be deprived of the chiefest and best part of our principality;
that we should be banished from our paternal home, from the
sight of our native land, from the air we are used to, from our
ancient ties! Shall we leave our household gods, our shrines,
our tombs, exiles, to live we know not where, nor in what part
of the earth?

“And we, your kindred, your friends, who have stood so often
with you in line of battle, who have seen brothers, fathers,
sons, pierced and writhing under hostile sword, and have not
been dismayed at the death of others, but were ourselves ready
to seek death for your sake, why are we now deserted one and
all by you! We who hold the public offices of Rome, who govern
or are destined to govern the cities of Italy, the Gauls, the
Spains, and the other provinces, are all of us to be deposed?
Are all of us to be ordered into private life? Or will you
compensate us elsewhere for this loss? And how can you, when
such a large part of the world has been given to another? Will
your majesty put the man who had charge of a hundred peoples
over one? How could you have conceived such a plan? How is
it that you have suddenly become oblivious of your subjects,
so that you have no consideration for your friends, nor your
kindred, nor your sons? Would that it had been our lot, your
Majesty, while your honor and your victory were unimpaired, to
fall in battle, rather than to see this!

“You have the power, indeed, to do with your empire what you
will, and even with us, one thing however excepted, which we
will resist to the death; we will not give up the worship of
the immortal gods,—just for the sake of a conspicuous example
to others, that you may know how much that bounty of yours will
be worth to the Christian religion. For if you do not give your
empire to Sylvester, we are willing to be Christians with you,
and many will imitate us. But if you do give it, not only will
we not endure to become Christians, but you will make the name
hateful, detestable, execrable to us, and you will put us in
such a position that at last you will pity our life and our
death, nor will you accuse us, but only yourself, of obstinacy.”

Would not Constantine, unless we would have him totally devoid of humanity, if he were not moved of his own accord, have been moved by this speech? But if he had not been willing to listen to these men, would there not have been those who would oppose this act with both word and deed? Or would the Senate and the Roman people have thought that they had no obligation to do anything in a matter of such importance? Would it not have put forward some orator “distinguished in character and service,” as Virgil says, who would hold forth to Constantine as follows:

“Your Majesty, if you are heedless of your subjects and of
yourself, nor care to give your sons an inheritance, nor your
kindred riches, nor your friends honors, nor to keep your
empire intact, the Senate and the Roman people at least cannot
be heedless of its rights and its dignity. How come you to take
such liberties with the Roman Empire, which has been built
up, not from your blood, but from ours! Will you cut one body
into two parts, and out of one kingdom make two kingdoms, two
heads, two wills, and, as it were, reach out to two brothers
swords with which to fight over their inheritance! We give to
states which have deserved well of this city the rights of
citizenship, so that they may be Roman citizens; you take away
from us the half of the empire, so that they will not know this
city as their mother. In beehives, if two kings are born, we
kill the weaker one; but in the hive of the Roman Empire, where
there is one prince, and that the best, you think that another
must be introduced, and that the weakest one, not a bee, but a
drone.[421]

“We see a sore lack of prudence on your part, your Majesty.
For what will happen, if either during your life or after your
death, war should be waged by barbarian tribes against the part
of the empire which you are alienating, or against the other,
which you leave for yourself? With what military force, with
what resources can we go to meet them? Even now with the troops
of the whole empire we have scarcely enough power; shall we
have enough then? Or will this part be forever at peace with
that? In my opinion it cannot be, for Rome will want to rule
and the other part will not want to be subject. Nay, even in
your lifetime, shortly, when the old officials are removed and
new ones put in their places, when you withdraw to your kingdom
and fare far forth and another is ruling here, will not all
interests be different, that is, diverse and contrary? Usually
when a kingdom is divided between two brothers, at once the
hearts of the people also are divided, and war arises from
within sooner than from foreign enemies. That that will happen
in this empire, who does not see it? Or do you not know that it
was chiefly on this ground that the patricians once said that
they would rather die before the eyes of the Roman people than
allow the motion to be carried that part of the Senate and part
of the plebeians should be sent to live at Veii and that the
Roman people should have two cities in common; for if in one
city there were so many dissensions, how would it be in two
cities? So in our time, if there are so many disorders in one
empire, your own knowledge and your labors are a witness, how
will it be in two empires!

“Come now, do you think that when you are engaged in wars,
there will be men here willing or able to bear you aid? Those
who will be in command of our soldiers and cities will always
shrink from arms and warfare, as will he who appoints them.
Indeed, will not either the Roman legions or the provinces
themselves try to despoil this man, so inexperienced in ruling
and so inviting to violence, hoping that he will neither fight
back nor seek revenge? By Hercules! I believe they will not
remain in allegiance a single month, but immediately, at the
first news of your departure they will rebel. What will you do?
What plan will you follow when you are pressed with a twofold
and even a manifold war? The nations which we have conquered we
can scarcely hold; how can we withstand them if in addition we
have war with free peoples?

“As for your interests, your Majesty, that is for you to see
to. But this ought to concern us no less than you. You are
mortal; the Empire of the Roman people ought to be immortal,
and so far as in us lies, it will be, and not the Empire alone
but respect for it as well. Shall we, forsooth, accept the
government of those whose religion we despise; shall we, rulers
of the world, serve this altogether contemptible being! When
the city was captured by the Gauls the aged Romans did not
suffer their beards to be stroked by the victors. Will all
these men of senatorial, praetorian, tribunician, consular and
triumphal rank now suffer those to rule them, upon whom as
upon guilty slaves they themselves have heaped every kind of
contumely and punishment! Will those men create magistrates,
govern provinces, wage war, pass sentences of death upon
us? Will the Roman nobility take wages under them, hope for
honors and receive rewards at their hands? What greater, what
deeper wound can we receive? Do not think, your Majesty, that
the Roman blood has so degenerated as to endure this with
equanimity and not deem it a thing to be avoided by fair means
or foul. By my faith, not even our women would suffer it, but
they would rather burn themselves with their dear children and
their household gods, for Carthaginian women should not be
braver than Roman.

“To be sure, your Majesty, if we had chosen you king, you
would have a great measure of control over the Roman Empire
indeed, yet not such that you could in the least diminish
its greatness, for then we who should have made you king, by
that same token would order you to abdicate your kingdom. How
much less then could you divide the kingdom, alienate so many
provinces, and deliver even the capital of the kingdom over to
a man who is a stranger and altogether base. We put a watch-dog
over the sheepfold, but if he tries rather to act like a wolf,
we either drive him out or kill him. Now will you, who have
long been the watch-dog of the Roman fold and defended it, at
the last in unprecedented manner turn into a wolf?

“But you must know, since you compel us to speak harshly in
defense of our rights, that you have no right over the Empire
of the Roman people, for Caesar seized the supreme power by
force; Augustus was the heir of his wrongdoing and made himself
master by the ruin of the opposing factions; Tiberius, Gaius,
Claudius, Nero, Galba, Otho, Vitellius, Vespasian, and the
rest, in the same way or nearly so, made spoil of our liberty;
and you also became ruler by expelling or killing others. I say
nothing of your being born out of wedlock.

“Wherefore, to speak our mind, your Majesty; if you do not care
to keep the government of Rome, you have sons, and by the law
of nature, with our permission, also, and on our motion, you
may substitute one of them in your place. If not, it is our
purpose to defend the public honor and our personal dignity.
For this is no less an act of violence against the Quirites
than was once the rape of Lucretia, nor will there fail us a
Brutus to offer himself to this people as a leader against
Tarquinius for the recovery of liberty. We will draw our swords
first upon those whom you are putting over us, and then upon
you, as we have done against many emperors, and for lighter
reasons.”

This would surely have prevailed on Constantine, unless we deem him made of stone or wood. And if the people would not have said this, it could be believed that they spoke among themselves and vented their rage in about these words. Let me go on a step and say that Constantine wished to benefit Sylvester, the one whom he would subject to the hatred and the swords of so many men that he, Sylvester, would scarcely have survived, I think, a single day. For it seemed that when he and a few others had been removed all trace of such a cruel outrage and insult would have been obliterated from the breasts of the Romans.

Let us suppose, however, if possible, that neither prayers, nor threats, nor any argument availed aught, and that still Constantine persisted and was not willing to yield through persuasion the position he had taken. Who would not acknowledge himself moved by the speech of Sylvester, that is, if the event had ever actually occurred? It would doubtless have been something like this:

“Most worthy prince and son, Caesar, though I cannot but like
and embrace your piety, so abject and effusive, nevertheless
you have fallen somewhat into error in offering gifts to God
and immolating victims, and I am not at all surprised at it,
for you are still a novice in the Christian service. As once
it was not right for the priest to sacrifice every sort of
beast and animal and fowl, so now he is not to accept every
sort of gift. I am a priest and pontiff, and I ought to look
carefully at what I permit to be offered on the altar, lest
perchance there be offered, I do not say an unclean animal,
but a viper or a serpent. And this is what you would do. But
if it were your right to give a part of the Empire including
Rome, queen of the world, to another than your sons, a thing I
do not at all approve; if this people, if Italy, if the other
nations, should suffer themselves to be willing to submit to
the government of those whom they hate and whose religion,
snared by the enticements of this world, they have hitherto
spit upon,—an impossible supposition; if you nevertheless think
I am to be given anything, my most loving son, I could not by
any argument be brought to give you my assent, unless I were to
be false to myself, to forget my station, and well-nigh deny
my Lord Jesus. For your gifts, or if you wish, your payments,
would tarnish and utterly ruin my honor and purity and holiness
and that of all my successors, and would close the way to those
who are about to come to the knowledge of the truth.

“Elisha was not willing, was he, to accept a reward when Naaman
the Syrian was cured of the leprosy? Should I accept one when
you are cured? He rejected presents; should I allow kingdoms
to be given to me? He was unwilling to obscure the prophetic
office; could I obscure the office of Christ, which I bear in
me? But why did he think that the prophetic office would be
obscured by his receiving gifts? Doubtless because he might
seem to sell sacred things, to put the gift of God out at
usury, to want the patronage of men, to lower and lessen the
worth of his benefaction. He preferred, therefore, to make
princes and kings his beneficiaries rather than to be himself
their beneficiary, or even to allow mutual benefactions.
For, as says the Lord, ‘It is more blessed to give than to
receive.’[422] I am in the same case, only more so, whom the
Lord taught, saying, ‘Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise
the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely
give.’[423] Shall I commit such a disgrace, your Majesty, as
not to follow the precepts of God; as to tarnish my glory?
‘It were better,’ says Paul, ‘for me to die than that any man
should make my glorying void.’[424] Our glory is to honor our
ministry in the sight of God, as Paul also said; ‘I speak to
you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I
magnify mine office.’[425]

“Your Majesty, should even I be both an example and a cause
for the apostasy of others, I, a Christian, a priest of God,
pontiff of Rome, vicar of Christ? For how, indeed, will
the blamelessness of priests remain untouched amid riches,
magistracies, and the management of secular business? Do we
renounce earthly possessions in order to attain them more
richly, and have we given up our own property in order to
possess another’s and the public’s? Shall we have cities,
tributes, tolls? How then can you call us ‘clergy’ if we
do this? Our portion, or our lot, which in Greek is called
_kleros_, is not earthly, but celestial. The Levites, also
clergy, were not allotted a portion with their brethren, and do
you command us to take even our brothers’ portion!

“What are riches and dominions to me who am commanded by the
voice of the Lord not to be anxious for the morrow, and to
whom he said; ‘Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth,
possess not gold nor silver nor money in your purses,’[426]
and ‘It is harder for a rich man to enter into the kingdom
of heaven, than for a camel to go through the eye of a
needle.’[427] Therefore he chose poor men as his ministers,
and those who left all to follow him, and was himself an
example of poverty. Even so is the handling of riches and of
money, not merely their possession and ownership, the enemy of
uprightness. Judas alone, he that had the purses and carried
the alms, was a liar, and for the love of money, to which he
had become accustomed, chided and betrayed his Master, his
Lord, his God. So I fear, your Majesty, lest you change me from
a Peter into a Judas.

“Hear also what Paul says: ‘We brought nothing into this world,
and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and
raiment, let us be therewith content. But they that will be
rich fall into temptation and a snare of the devil, and into
many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction
and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil,
which while some coveted after, they erred from the faith,
and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. But thou, O
man of God, flee these things.’[428] And you command me, your
Majesty, to accept what I ought to shun as poison!

“And consider besides, for prudence’ sake, your Majesty, what
chance would there be in all this for divine service? To
certain who complained that their destitute were neglected
in the daily distribution, the apostles answered that it was
not reason that they should leave the word of God, and serve
tables.[429] Yet to feed widows, how different is that from
exacting tolls, running the treasury, hiring soldiers, and
engaging in a thousand other cares of this sort! ‘No man that
warreth for God entangleth himself with the affairs of this
life,’[430] says Paul. Did Aaron and others of the tribe of
Levi take care of anything except the tabernacle of the Lord?
And his sons, because they had put strange fire in their
censers, were consumed by fire from heaven. And you order us to
put the fire of worldly riches, forbidden and profane, in our
sacred censers, that is, our priestly duties! Did Eleazar, did
Phinehas, did the other priests and ministers, either of the
tabernacle or of the temple, administer anything except what
pertained to the divine service? I say did they administer,
nay, could they have administered anything, if they wished to
fulfil their own duty? And if they did not wish to, they would
hear the curse of the Lord, saying, ‘Cursed be they that do the
work of the Lord deceitfully.’[431] And this curse, though it
impends over all, yet most of all it impends over the pontiffs.

“Oh what a responsibility is the pontifical office! What
a responsibility it is to be head of the church! What a
responsibility to be appointed over such a great flock as a
shepherd at whose hand is required the blood of every single
lamb and sheep lost; to whom it is said, ‘If thou lovest me
more than these, as thou sayest, feed my lambs.’ Again, ‘If
thou lovest me, as thou sayest, feed my sheep.’ And a third
time, ‘If thou lovest me, as thou sayest, feed my sheep.’[432]
And you order me, your Majesty, to shepherd also goats and
swine, which cannot be herded by the same shepherd!

“What! you want to make me king, or rather Caesar, that is
ruler of kings! When the Lord Jesus Christ, God and man, king
and priest, affirmed himself king, hear of what kingdom he
spoke: ‘My kingdom,’ he said, ‘is not of this world; if my
kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight.’[433]
And what was his first utterance and the oft-repeated burden
of his preaching, but this: ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven
is at hand.’[434] ‘The kingdom of God is at hand for him for
whom the kingdom of heaven is prepared.’ When he said this,
did he not make clear that he had nothing to do with secular
sovereignty? And not only did he not seek a kingdom of this
sort, but when it was offered him, he would not accept it. For
once when he learned that the people planned to take him and
make him king, he fled to the solitude of the mountains. He
not only gave this to us who occupy his place as an example to
be imitated, but he taught us by precept: ‘The princes of the
Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great
exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among
you; but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your
minister; and whosoever will be chief among you, let him be
your servant; even as the Son of man came not to be ministered
unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for
many.’[435]

“Know this, your Majesty; God formerly established judges over
Israel, not kings; and he hated the people for demanding a
king for themselves. And he gave them a king on account of the
hardness of their hearts, but only because he permitted their
rejection, which he revoked in the new law. And should I accept
a kingdom, who am scarcely permitted to be a judge? ‘Or do ye
not know,’ says Paul, ‘that the saints shall judge the world?
and if the world shall be judged by you, you are not the ones
to judge the smallest matters. Know ye not that we shall judge
angels? How much more things that pertain to this life! If
then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set
them to judge who are least in the church.’[436] But judges
merely gave judgment concerning matters in controversy, they
did not levy tribute also. Should I do it, with the knowledge
that when Peter was asked by the Lord, ‘Of whom do the kings of
the earth take custom or tribute? of their own children or of
strangers?’ and answered ‘Of strangers,’ the Lord said, ‘Then
are the children free.’[437] But if all men are my children,
your Majesty, as they certainly are, then will all be free;
nobody will pay anything. Therefore your Donation will be no
good to me, and I shall get nothing out of it but labor which I
am least able to do, as also I am least justified in doing it.

“Nay more, I should have to use my authority to shed blood in
punishing offenders, in waging wars, in sacking cities, in
devastating countries with fire and sword. Otherwise I could
not possibly keep what you have given me. And if I do this am
I a priest, a pontiff, a vicar of Christ? Rather I should hear
him thunder out against me, saying, ‘My house shall be called
of all nations the house of prayer, but ye have made it a den
of thieves.’[438] ‘I am not come into the world,’ said the
Lord, ‘to judge the world, but to save it.’[439] And shall I
who have succeeded him be the cause of men’s death, I to whom
in the person of Peter it was said, ‘Put up again thy sword
into his place, for all they that take the sword shall perish
with the sword’?[440] It is not permitted us even to defend
ourselves with the sword, for Peter wished only to defend his
Lord, when he cut off the servant’s ear. And do you command
us to use the sword for the sake of either getting or keeping
riches?

“Our authority is the authority of the keys, as the Lord said,
‘I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and
whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven:
and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in
heaven.’[441] ‘And the gates of hell shall not prevail against
it.’[442] Nothing can be added to this authority, nor to
this dignity, nor to this kingdom. He who is not contented
therewith, seeks something more from the devil, who dared even
to say to the Lord, ‘I will give thee all the kingdoms of the
world, if thou wilt fall to the earth and worship me.’[443]
Wherefore, your Majesty, by your leave let me say it, do not
play the part of the devil to me by ordering Christ, that is,
me, to accept the kingdoms of the world at your hand. For I
prefer rather to scorn than to possess them.