Letter 28
Cyprian to the presbyters and deacons in Rome, his brothers, greetings.
Both our shared affection and the matter itself demand, beloved brothers, that I keep nothing from you — so that we may work from a common plan for the good administration of the Church.
After my earlier letter, which I sent by Saturus the reader and Optatus the subdeacon, the combined arrogance of certain lapsed individuals — who refuse to repent and make amends to God — boiled over. They wrote to me not asking that peace might be given to them, but claiming it as already given, because they say that Paulus has granted peace to everyone. You will find their letter enclosed, along with my brief reply.
And so that you may also know the kind of letter I subsequently wrote to the clergy here, I have enclosed a copy of that as well.
If, after all of this, their arrogance still cannot be checked — by my letters or by yours — and they refuse to yield to wise counsel, then I will take whatever measures the Lord, according to his Gospel, has instructed us to take.
Farewell, beloved brothers.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.
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