Letter 212: Venerable father, I commend to you in the love of Christ these honourable servants of God and precious members of Christ, Galla, a widow (who has taken on herself sacred vows), and her daughter Simplicia, a consecrated virgin, who is subject to her mother by reason of her age, but above her by reason of her holiness. We have nourished them as fa...
Augustine of Hippo→Quintilianus|c. 421 AD|Augustine of Hippo|Human translated
property economicswomen
Persecution or exile; Military conflict; Miracles & relics
To my distinguished and deservedly honored lord, my dear son Firmus — Augustine, greetings in the Lord.
1. The books of the City of God, which you so eagerly requested from me, I have now reread as I promised and am sending to you. I would like this accomplished by the copyists rather than by one individual, since the work is not small. If you wish to have them in two volumes, the division should be as follows: ten books in one volume and twelve in the other. The first ten refute the enemies of the Christian faith; the remaining twelve establish and defend the two cities — the earthly and the heavenly — as they are interwoven in this present age and will be separated in the judgment to come.
2. But if you prefer more volumes rather than two very large ones, you should make five volumes. The first would contain the first five books, in which I argue against those who think the worship of the many gods — the so-called pagan deities — is necessary for the prosperity of human affairs. The second volume would contain the next five, directed against those who hold that such worship should be maintained for the sake of the life to come. The next four books of the third volume show the origin of the two cities. The next four in the fourth volume show their course and progress. The final four books in the fifth volume show their appointed ends.
3. If the love of Christ, which I know abounds in you, moves you to share these books with others, let them be copied rather than merely lent — so that both you and they may have them.
May the Lord keep you, dearest son, in his grace.
Letter 212 (A.D. 423)
To Quintilianus, My Lord Most Blessed and Brother and Fellow Bishop Deservedly Venerable, Augustine Sends Greeting.
Venerable father, I commend to you in the love of Christ these honourable servants of God and precious members of Christ, Galla, a widow (who has taken on herself sacred vows), and her daughter Simplicia, a consecrated virgin, who is subject to her mother by reason of her age, but above her by reason of her holiness. We have nourished them as far as we have been able with the word of God; and by this epistle, as if it were with my own hand, I commit them to you, to be comforted and aided in every way which their interest or necessity requires. This duty your Holiness would doubtless have undertaken without any recommendation from me; for if it is our duty on account of the Jerusalem above, of which we are all citizens, and in which they desire to have a place of distinguished holiness, to cherish towards them not only the affection due to fellow citizens, but even brotherly love, how much stronger is their claim on you, who reside in the same country in this earth in which these ladies, for the love of Christ, renounced the distinctions of this world! I also ask you to condescend to receive with the same love with which I have offered it my official salutation, and to remember me in your prayers. These ladies carry with them relics of the most blessed and glorious martyr Stephen: your Holiness knows how to give due honour to these, as we have done.
EPISTOLA 212/A
Scripta a. 426.
Aug. Firmo ei transmittens libros De civitate Dei cum breviculo totius operis simul docens quomodo dividendi sint quibusque ad describendos dari oporteat.
DOMINO EXIMIO MERITOQUE HONORABILI AC SUSCIPIENDO FILIO FIRMO AUGUSTINUS IN DOMINO SALUTEM
1. Libros De civitate Dei quos a me studiosissime flagitasti etiam mihi relectos sicut promiseram misi, quod ut fieret, adiuvante quidem Deo, filius meus germanus tuus Cyprianus vere sic institit quemadmodum mihi ut instaretur volebam. Quaterniones sunt XXII quos in unum corpus redigere multum est. Et si duos vis codices fieri, ita dividendi sunt ut decem libros habeat unus, alius duodecim. Decem quippe illis vanitates refutatae sunt impiorum, reliquis autem demonstrata atque defensa est nostra religio, quamvis et in illis hoc factum sit ubi opportunius fuit, et in istis illud. Si autem corpora malueris esse plura quam duo, iam quinque oportet codices facias, quorum primus contineat quinque libros propres quibus adversus eos est disputatum qui felicitati vitae huius non plane deorum sed daemoniorum cultum prodesse contendunt, secundus sequentes alios quinque, qui vel tales vel qualescumque plurimos deos propter vitam quae post mortem futura est per sacra et sacrificia colendos putant. Iam tres alii codices qui sequuntur quaternos libros habere debebunt. Sic enim a nobis pars eadem distributa est ut quattuor ostenderent exortum illius civitatis totidemque procursum sive dicere maluimus excursum, quattuor vero ultimi debitos fines. Si ut fuisti diligens ab habendos hos libros ita fueris ad legendos, quantum adiuvent experimento potius tuo quam mea promissione cognosces. Quos tamen nostri fratres ibi apud Carthaginem ad hoc opus pertinentes quod est De civitate Dei nondum habent, rogo ut petentibus ad describendum dignanter libenterque concedas. Non enim multis dabis sed vix uni vel duobus et ipsi iam ceteris dabunt. Amicis vero tuis sive in populo Christiano se desiderent instrui sive qualibet superstitione teneantur unde videbuntur posse per hunc nostrum laborem Dei gratia liberari, quomodo impertias ipse videris. Ego scriptis meis, si Dominus voluerit, crebro curabo requirere quantum accesseris in legendo. Non te autem latet ut eruditum virum quantum adiuvet ad cognoscendum quod legitur repetitio lectionis. Aut enim nulla aut certe minima est intellegendi difficultas ubi est legendi facilitas, quae tanto maior fit quanto magis iteratur, ut assiduitate [maturescat quod indiligentia] fuerat immaturum. Domine eximie meritoque honorabilis ac suscipiende fili Firme, ad eos sane libros quod De Academicis recenti nostra conversione conscripsi, quoniam eximietati tuae prioribus ad me litteris innotuisse monstrasti, quomodo perveneris quaeso rescribas. Quantum autem collegerit viginti duorum librorum conscriptio missus breviculus indicabit.
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To my distinguished and deservedly honored lord, my dear son Firmus — Augustine, greetings in the Lord.
1. The books of the City of God, which you so eagerly requested from me, I have now reread as I promised and am sending to you. I would like this accomplished by the copyists rather than by one individual, since the work is not small. If you wish to have them in two volumes, the division should be as follows: ten books in one volume and twelve in the other. The first ten refute the enemies of the Christian faith; the remaining twelve establish and defend the two cities — the earthly and the heavenly — as they are interwoven in this present age and will be separated in the judgment to come.
2. But if you prefer more volumes rather than two very large ones, you should make five volumes. The first would contain the first five books, in which I argue against those who think the worship of the many gods — the so-called pagan deities — is necessary for the prosperity of human affairs. The second volume would contain the next five, directed against those who hold that such worship should be maintained for the sake of the life to come. The next four books of the third volume show the origin of the two cities. The next four in the fourth volume show their course and progress. The final four books in the fifth volume show their appointed ends.
3. If the love of Christ, which I know abounds in you, moves you to share these books with others, let them be copied rather than merely lent — so that both you and they may have them.
May the Lord keep you, dearest son, in his grace.
Human translation — New Advent (NPNF / ANF series)
Latin / Greek Original
EPISTOLA 212/A
Scripta a. 426.
Aug. Firmo ei transmittens libros De civitate Dei cum breviculo totius operis simul docens quomodo dividendi sint quibusque ad describendos dari oporteat.
DOMINO EXIMIO MERITOQUE HONORABILI AC SUSCIPIENDO FILIO FIRMO AUGUSTINUS IN DOMINO SALUTEM
1. Libros De civitate Dei quos a me studiosissime flagitasti etiam mihi relectos sicut promiseram misi, quod ut fieret, adiuvante quidem Deo, filius meus germanus tuus Cyprianus vere sic institit quemadmodum mihi ut instaretur volebam. Quaterniones sunt XXII quos in unum corpus redigere multum est. Et si duos vis codices fieri, ita dividendi sunt ut decem libros habeat unus, alius duodecim. Decem quippe illis vanitates refutatae sunt impiorum, reliquis autem demonstrata atque defensa est nostra religio, quamvis et in illis hoc factum sit ubi opportunius fuit, et in istis illud. Si autem corpora malueris esse plura quam duo, iam quinque oportet codices facias, quorum primus contineat quinque libros propres quibus adversus eos est disputatum qui felicitati vitae huius non plane deorum sed daemoniorum cultum prodesse contendunt, secundus sequentes alios quinque, qui vel tales vel qualescumque plurimos deos propter vitam quae post mortem futura est per sacra et sacrificia colendos putant. Iam tres alii codices qui sequuntur quaternos libros habere debebunt. Sic enim a nobis pars eadem distributa est ut quattuor ostenderent exortum illius civitatis totidemque procursum sive dicere maluimus excursum, quattuor vero ultimi debitos fines. Si ut fuisti diligens ab habendos hos libros ita fueris ad legendos, quantum adiuvent experimento potius tuo quam mea promissione cognosces. Quos tamen nostri fratres ibi apud Carthaginem ad hoc opus pertinentes quod est De civitate Dei nondum habent, rogo ut petentibus ad describendum dignanter libenterque concedas. Non enim multis dabis sed vix uni vel duobus et ipsi iam ceteris dabunt. Amicis vero tuis sive in populo Christiano se desiderent instrui sive qualibet superstitione teneantur unde videbuntur posse per hunc nostrum laborem Dei gratia liberari, quomodo impertias ipse videris. Ego scriptis meis, si Dominus voluerit, crebro curabo requirere quantum accesseris in legendo. Non te autem latet ut eruditum virum quantum adiuvet ad cognoscendum quod legitur repetitio lectionis. Aut enim nulla aut certe minima est intellegendi difficultas ubi est legendi facilitas, quae tanto maior fit quanto magis iteratur, ut assiduitate [maturescat quod indiligentia] fuerat immaturum. Domine eximie meritoque honorabilis ac suscipiende fili Firme, ad eos sane libros quod De Academicis recenti nostra conversione conscripsi, quoniam eximietati tuae prioribus ad me litteris innotuisse monstrasti, quomodo perveneris quaeso rescribas. Quantum autem collegerit viginti duorum librorum conscriptio missus breviculus indicabit.