Letter 74
Rufus, the treasurer of the pontifical college, is bringing you the college's formal petition. He's been specifically entrusted with the matter of retaining the Vaganensis estate [a piece of land belonging to the priestly college].
I beg you: make it seem as though your help in this matter were divinely provided. And remember that you hold authority in both orders of priesthood [i.e., civic and religious positions]. Whatever public authority or private initiative demands, please carry it out at our request. The public interest will go a long way toward winning you favor. There you have the summary of our petition. The details will be laid out either in the written memorandum or by Rufus himself — to whom I ask you to give a prompt response.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.
Related Letters
Chapter 1. Memory may be exercised independently of such images as are presented by the imagination. 1.
At the request of Theophilus Anastasius, bishop of Rome, writes to Simplicianus, bishop of Milan, to inform him that he, like Theophilus, has condemned Origen whose blasphemies have been brought under his notice by Eusebius of Cremona. This latter had shown him a copy of the version by Rufinus of the treatise On First Principles. The date of the...