Part I, Chapter 8, 1

Of the power of the eleventh horn of Daniel's fourth Beast, to change times and laws.

In the reign of the Greek Emperor Justinian, and again in the reign of Phocas, the Bishop of Rome obtained some dominion over the Greek Churches, but it did not last long. His standing dominion was only over the nations of the Western Empire, represented by Daniel's fourth Beast. And this jurisdiction was set up by the following Edict of the Emperors Gratian and Valentinian.—¹ We wish that whoever has been condemned by the judgment of Damasus, which he has given with a council of five or seven bishops, or by the judgment or council of those who are Catholic, if he shall justly wish to defend himself in the Church, as one who has not gone to priestly judgment out of contempt: that he be remitted, by the authority of the illustrious men the Praetorian Prefects of Gallia and Italy, to episcopal judgment, whether through the Consulars or the Vicars, so that he may come to the City of Rome under official escort. Or if such ferocity should arise in more distant parts, the whole statement of his case shall be brought to the examination of the Metropolitan Bishop of the same Province. Or if he is himself the Metropolitan, he must necessarily go to Rome, or to those whom the Roman Bishop has appointed as judges, without delay.—But if the iniquity of a Metropolitan Bishop or of any priest is suspected, or his favoritism, it shall be lawful to appeal to the Roman Bishop, or to a council of fifteen neighboring bishops summoned; provided that after the hearing has been held, what has been decided shall not be reopened. This Edict, wanting the name of both Valens and Theodosius in the title, was made in the time between their reigns, that is, at the end of the year 378 or the beginning of 379. It was directed to the Praetorian Prefects of Italy and Gallia, and therefore was general. For the Praetorian Prefect of Italy governed Italy, Illyricum occidentale and Africa; and the Praetorian Prefect of Gallia governed Gallia, Spain, and Britain.

The granting of this jurisdiction to the Pope gave several bishops occasion to write to him for his resolutions upon doubtful cases, after which he answered by decretal Epistles; and from then on he gave laws to the Western Churches by such Epistles. Himerius, Bishop of Tarraco, the head city of a province in Spain, writing to Pope Damasus for his direction about certain ecclesiastical matters, and the letter not arriving at Rome till after the death of Damasus, A.C. 384; his successor Siricius answered the same with legislative authority, telling him of one thing: that this must not be done, for general decrees sent to the Provinces by my predecessor of venerable memory, Liberius, forbid it. Of another: let them know that, by the authority of the Apostolic See, they have been cast down from every ecclesiastical honor which they have unworthily used. Of another: the highest prelates of all Provinces shall hereafter know that, if any such person is to be advanced to sacred orders of his own accord, a fitting sentence must be pronounced by the Apostolic See both upon his own state and upon the state of those whom they have advanced contrary to the Canons and our interdicts. And the Epistle he concludes thus: We have set forth, as I think, dearest brother, all the matters that were laid out as complaints; and to each of the cases on which you referred to the Roman Church, as to the head of your body, we have given answers sufficient, as I believe. Now we urge the mind of your fraternity more and more to keep the canons and hold the decretal constitutions; besides this, cause what we have written in answer to your inquiries to be conveyed to the knowledge of all our fellow bishops; and not only to those who are settled in your diocese, but also to all in Carthage and Boetica, in Lusitania and² Gallia, and to those whose Provinces border upon yours on either side, so that these things which we have wisely ordained may be sent under the cover of your letters. And although no priest of the Lord ought to be free to ignore the statutes of the Apostolic See or the venerable definitions of the Canons: yet it will be more useful, and, in view of the antiquity of your office, may be greatly glorious for your love, if what has been written generally to you under a special name is carried, by the care of your unity, to the knowledge of all our brothers; so that what we have wisely ordained, not without thought but providently, with great caution and deliberation, may remain untouched, and every excuse for the future be shut, which can no longer be open to anyone among us. Given on the third day before the Ides of February, in the consulship of Arcadius and Bauto, most illustrious men, A.C. 385. Pope Liberius, in the reign of Jovian or Valentinian I., sent general decrees to the Provinces, ordering that the Arians should not be rebaptized; and this he did in favor of the Council of Alexandria, that nothing more should be required of them than to renounce their opinions. Pope Damasus is said to have decreed in a Roman Council that tithes and tenths should be paid upon pain of an anathema; and that Glory be to the Father, etc. should be said or sung at the end of the Psalms. But the first decretal Epistle now extant is this of Siricius to Himerius; by which the Pope made Himerius his Vicar over all Spain for publishing his decrees and seeing them observed. The Bishop of Sevill was also the Pope's Vicar sometimes; for Simplicius wrote thus to Zeno Bishop of that place: therefore, since you glory in such marks, we have thought it fitting that you be supported with the authority of a vicar of our See; strengthened by whose power, you shall not permit the decrees of Apostolic institution, or the boundaries of the holy Fathers, to be transgressed in any way. And Pope Hormisda³ made the Bishop of Sevill his Vicar over Boetica and Lusitania, and the Bishop of Tarraco his Vicar over all the rest of Spain, as appears by his Epistles to them.

Pope Innocent the First, in his decretal Epistle to Victricius Bishop of Rouen in France, A.C. 404, in pursuance of the Edict of Gratian, made this Decree: if disputes or quarrels should arise among clergy, whether of the higher or of the lower order, let the quarrel be settled, according to the Council of Nicaea, when the bishops of the same Province are gathered; and let no one be allowed,⁴ forsaking the priests who by Divine guidance govern the Church of God in the same Province, to run off to other Provinces, that is, to the Roman Church, whose reverence must be observed in all cases. But if anyone should perhaps presume so, let him be removed from the office of the clergy and judged liable for injuries. If, however, greater causes have come up, let them be referred to the Apostolic See after episcopal judgment, as the Council has ordained and blessed custom requires. By these Letters it seems to me that Gallia was now subject to the Pope, and had been so for some time, and that the Bishop of Rouen was then his Vicar or one of them; for the Pope directs him to refer the greater causes to the See of Rome, according to custom. But the Bishop of Arles soon after became the Pope's Vicar over all Gallia; for Pope Zosimus, A.C. 417, ordaining that none should have access to him without the credentials of his Vicars, conferred upon Patroclus the Bishop of Arles this authority over all Gallia, by the following Decree.

Zosimus to all the Bishops established throughout Gallia and the Seven Provinces.

It has pleased the Apostolic See that, if anyone from any part of Gallia, under any ecclesiastical rank, strives to come to us at Rome, or plans to go elsewhere, he must not set out unless he has received the Letters of Recommendation of the Metropolitan Bishop, by which, attested by his signature, he proves his priesthood or the ecclesiastical place he holds; which we have ordained out of grace, because many, whether bishops or priests or men pretending to be ecclesiastical, since no document of Letters of Recommendation exists by which they can be confuted, creep in under the name of reverence and obtain an unworthy respect. Therefore, whoever, dearest brothers, comes to us without the aforementioned Recommendation, whether he be bishop, priest, or deacon, or of any lower rank, let him know that he can in no way be received. It is clear that we have sent this authority everywhere, so that all regions may know what we have ordained to be wholly observed. If anyone, however, should try to violate these wholesome provisions of his own accord, let him know that he is cut off from our communion. And this privilege of Recommendations we have granted to the holy Patroclus, our brother and fellow bishop, in special consideration of his merits. And that the Bishop of Arles was sometimes the Pope's Vicar over all France, is affirmed also by all the Bishops of the Diocese of Arles in their Letter to Pope Leo I. There was also conferred upon him, say they, this honor and dignity: that he should govern not only these Provinces by his own power, but also hold all Gallia, entrusted to him in the place of the Apostolic See, under every ecclesiastical rule. And Pope Pelagius I., A.C. 556, in his Epistle to Sapaudus Bishop of Arles: wishing, through the mercy of God, to follow in the footsteps of our predecessors, and in all things to imitate their acts by divine judgment, we impose upon your charity, throughout all Gallia, the charge of the holy Apostolic See which by divine grace we preside over.

By the influence of the same imperial Edict, not only Spain and Gallia, but also Illyricum became subject to the Pope. Damasus made Ascholius, or Acholius, Bishop of Thessalonica the Metropolis of Oriental Illyricum, his Vicar for the hearing of causes; and in the year 382, Acholius being summoned by Pope Damasus, came to a Council at Rome. Pope Siricius, the successor of Damasus, decreed that no Bishop should be ordained in Illyricum without the consent of Anysius the successor of Acholius. And the following Popes gave Rufus, the successor of Anysius, power to call Provincial Councils; for in the Collections of Holstenius there is an account of a Council of Rome convened under Pope Boniface II., in which were produced Letters of Damasus, Syricius, Innocent I., Boniface I., and Cefor fear thatine, Bishops of Rome, to Ascholius, Anysius, and Rufus, Bishops of Thessalonica; in which Letters they commend to them the hearing of causes in Illyricum, granted by the Lord and the holy Canons to the Apostolic See throughout that Province. And Pope Siricius says in his Epistle to Anysius: long ago, dearest brother, through Bishop Candidianus, who has preceded us to the Lord, we had given such letters, that there should be no permission to presume to ordain Bishops in Illyricum without your consent; whether they reached you I have not been able to know. For many things have been done in contention by the Bishops in making ordinations, which your charity knows better. And a little after: for to repress every such boldness your diligence ought to watch, the Holy Spirit burning within you; so that either you yourself, if you can, or those you judge to be fit Bishops, you may direct with letters, giving consent who can, in place of him who has died or been deposed, to ordain a Catholic Bishop proved in life and manners, according to the statutes of the Council of Nicaea or of the Roman Church, a cleric worthy of the clergy. And Pope Innocent I. says in his Epistle to Anysius: to whom [Anysius] also former bishops, such great and such men, my predecessors, that is, Damasus of holy memory, Siricius, and the man mentioned above, have so yielded, that everything that is done in all those parts should be handed over to your Holiness, which is full of justice, to be known. And in his Epistle to Rufus, the successor of Anysius: let the churches separated from me by such long intervals learn to be cared for; so that, Christ the Lord granting, I may consider the care and the causes, if any arise, among the churches of Achaia, Thessaly, old Epirus, new Epirus, and Crete, Dacia mediterranea, Dacia ripensis, Moesia, Dardania, and Prævalis, to be committed to your prudence and gravity. For truly, by his most sacred admonitions, we impose this care upon the foresight and virtue of your most excellent sincerity: not decreeing these things first of all, but imitating our Apostolic Predecessors, who wished these things to be imposed upon the most blessed Acholius and Anysius according to their merits. And Boniface I. in his decretal Epistle to Rufus and the rest of the Bishops in Illyricum: let no one, as I have often said, presume to perform any ordination without the knowledge of him [the Bishop of Thessalonica], to whom, as has been said above, we commit everything in our place. And Pope Cefor fear thatine, in his decretal Epistle to the Bishops throughout Illyricum, says: know that our place has been committed to [Rufus] throughout your Province, so that, dearest brothers, whatever is argued in cases may be referred to him. Without his counsel let no one be ordained. Let no one usurp the Province committed to him while he is unaware of it; let no bishop presume to convene without his permission. And in the cause of Perigenes, in the title of his Epistle, he thus enumerates the Provinces under this Bishop: to Rufus and the other Bishops established throughout Macedonia, Achaia, Thessaly, old Epirus, new Epirus, Prævalis, and Dacia. And Pope Xistus in a decretal Epistle to the same Bishops: all the Illyrian Churches, as we have received from our predecessors and we too have done, now pertain to the care of the Bishop of Thessalonica, so that by his care he may distinguish and decide whatever disputes arise among the brothers, as is customary; and whatever is done by individual priests may be referred to him. Let there be a Council whenever there are cases, and whenever he shall decree it according to the need of what arises. And Pope Leo I. in his decretal Epistle to Anastasius Bishop of Thessalonica: and as this power is committed to each Metropolitan, so that they have the right of ordaining in their own Provinces, so we wish those Metropolitans to be ordained by you; yet with mature and well-considered judgment.

Occidental Illyricum comprehended Pannonia prima and secunda, Savia, Dalmatia, Noricum mediterraneum, and Noricum ripense; and its Metropolis was Sirmium, till Attila destroyed this city. Afterwards Laureacum became the Metropolis of Noricum and both Pannonias, and Salona the Metropolis of Dalmatia. Now⁵ the Bishops of Laureacum and Salona received the Pallium from the Pope; and Zosimus, in his decretal Epistle to Hesychius Bishop of Salona, directed him to denounce the Apostolic decrees as well to the Bishops of his own as to those of the neighboring Provinces. The subjection of these Provinces to the See of Rome seems to have begun with Anemius, who was ordained Bishop of Sirmium by Ambrose Bishop of Millain, and who in the Council of Aquileia under Pope Damasus, A.C. 381, declared his sentence in these words: the head of Illyricum is none other than the city of Sirmium; therefore I am the Bishop of that city. Him who does not confess the Son of God eternal, and coeternal with the Father, who is everlasting, I pronounce anathema. The next year Anemius and Ambrose, with Valerian Bishop of Aquileia, Acholias Bishop of Thessalonica, and many others, went to the Council of Rome, which met for overruling the Greek Church by majority of votes, and exalting the authority of the Apostolic See, as was attempted before in the Council of Sardica.

Aquileia was the second city of the Western Empire, and by some called the second Rome. It was the Metropolis of Istria, Forum Julium, and Venetia; and its subjection to the See of Rome is manifest by the decretal Epistle of Leo I. directed to Nicetas Bishop of this city; for the Pope begins his Epistle thus: my son Adeodatus, Deacon of our See, has reported that your love has asked to receive from us the authority of the Apostolic See upon these matters, which indeed seem to bring great difficulty of judgment. Then he sets down an answer to the questions proposed by Nicetas, and concludes thus: you shall cause this Epistle of ours, which we have sent in answer to your fraternity's consultation, to reach all your brother and fellow-provincial bishops, so that all, in their observance, may acknowledge the authority given. Given on the 1st–2nd day before the Kalends of April, in the consulship of Majorian Augustus, A.C. 458. Gregory the Great, A.C. 591,⁶ cited Severus Bishop of Aquileia to appear before him in judgment in a Council at Rome.

Of the power of the eleventh horn of Daniel's fourth Beast, to change times and laws.

In the reign of the Greek Emperor Justinian, and again in the reign of Phocas, the Bishop of Rome gained some power over the Greek Churches, but it did not last long. His lasting dominion was only over the nations of the Western Empire, represented by Daniel's fourth Beast. This jurisdiction was set up by the following Edict of the Emperors Gratian and Valentinian.—¹ Volumus ut quicunque judicio Damasi, quod ille cum Concilio quinque vel septem habuerit Episcoporum, vel eorum qui Catholici sunt judicio vel Concilio condemnatus fuerit, si juste voluerit Ecclesiam retentare, ut qui ad sacerdotale judicium per contumeliam non ivisset: ut ab illustribus viris Præfectis Prætorio Galliæ atque Italiæ, authoritate adhibitâ, ad Episcopale judicium remittatur, sive à Consularibus vel Vicariis, ut ad Urbem Romam sub prosecutione perveniat. Aut si in longinquioribus partibus alicujus ferocitas talis emerserit, omnis ejus causæ edictio ad Metropolitæ in eadem Provincia Episcopi deduceretur examen. Vel si ipse Metropolitanus est, Romam necessariò, vel ad eos quos Romanus Episcopus judices dederit, sine delatione contendat.----Quod si vel Metropolitani Episcopi vel cujuscunque sacerdotis iniquitas est suspecta, aut gratia; ad Romanum Episcopum, vel ad Concilium quindecim finitimorum Episcoporum accersitum liceat provocare; modo ne post examen habitum, quod definitum fuerit, integretur. This Edict, which lacks the names of both Valens and Theodosius in its title, was made in the time between their reigns; that is, at the end of the year 378 or the beginning of 379. It was addressed to the Præfecti Prætorio Italiæ & Galliæ, and therefore was general. For the Præfectus Prætorio Italiæ governed Italy, Illyricum occidentale and Africa; and the Præfectus Prætorio Galliæ governed Gallia, Spain, and Britain.

Giving this jurisdiction to the Pope led several Bishops to write to him for his decisions on doubtful cases, and he answered them by decretal Epistles; from then on he gave laws to the Western Churches by such Epistles. Himerius, Bishop of Tarraco, the chief city of a province in Spain, wrote to Pope Damasus for direction about certain Church matters, and the Letter did not reach Rome until after the death of Damasus, A.C. 384; his successor Siricius answered the same questions with legislative authority, telling him on one point: Cum hoc fieri--missa ad Provincias à venerandæ memoriæ prædecessore meo Liberio generalia decreta, prohibeant. On another: Noverint se ab omni ecclesiastico honore, quo indignè usi sunt, Apostolicæ Sedis auctoritate, dejectos. On another: Scituri posthac omnium Provinciarum summi Antistites, quod si ultrò ad sacros ordines quenquam de talibus esse assumendum, & de suo & de aliorum statu, quos contra Canones & interdicta nostra provexerint, congruam ab Apostolica Sede promendam esse sententiam. And he closes the Epistle thus: Explicuimus, ut arbitror, frater charissime, universa quæ digesta sunt in querelam; & ad singulas causas, de quibus ad Romanam Ecclesiam, utpote ad caput tui corporis, retulisti; sufficientia, quantum opinor, responsa reddidimus. Nunc fraternitatis tuæ animum ad servandos canones, & tenenda decretalia constituta, magis ac magis incitamus: ad hæc quæ ad tua consulta rescripsimus in omnium Coepiscoporum perferri facias notionem; & non solum corum, qui in tua sunt dioecesi constituti, sed etiam ad universos Carthaginenses ac Boeticos, Lusitanos atque² Gallicos, vel eos qui vicinis tibi collimitant hinc inde Provinciis, hæc quæ a nobis sunt salubri ordinatione disposita, sub literarum tuarum prosecutione mittantur. Et quanquam statuta sedis Apostolicæ vel Canonum venerabilia definita, nulli Sacerdotum Domini ignorare sit liberum: utilius tamen, atque pro antiquitate sacerdotii tui, dilectioni tuæ esse admodùm poterit gloriosum, si ea quæ ad te speciali nomine generaliter scripta sunt, per unanimitatis tuæ sollicitudinem in universorum fratrum nostrorum notitiam perferantur; quatenus & quæ à nobis non inconsultè sed providè sub nimia cautela & deliberatione sunt salubriter constituta, intemerata permaneant, & omnibus in posterum excusationibus aditus, qui jam nulli apud nos patere poterit, obstruatur. Dat. 3 Id. Febr. Arcadio & Bautone viris clarissimis Consulibus, A.C. 385. Pope Liberius, in the reign of Jovian or Valentinian I., sent general Decrees to the Provinces, ordering that the Arians should not be rebaptized; and he did this in favor of the Council of Alexandria, so that nothing more should be required of them than to renounce their opinions. Pope Damasus is said to have decreed in a Roman Council that Tithes and Tenths should be paid under pain of an Anathema; and that Glory be to the Father, etc. should be said or sung at the end of the Psalms. But the first decretal Epistle still in existence is this one of Siricius to Himerius; by which the Pope made Himerius his Vicar over all Spain, to publish his Decrees and see them observed. The Bishop of Sevill was also at times the Pope's Vicar; for Simplicius wrote as follows to Zeno, Bishop of that place: Talibus idcirco gloriantes indiciis, congruum duximus vicariâ Sedis nostræ te auctoritate fulciri: cujus vigore munitus, Apostolicæ institutionis Decreta, vel sanctorum terminos Patrum, nullatenus transcendi permittas. And Pope Hormisda³ made the Bishop of Sevill his Vicar over Boetica and Lusitania, and the Bishop of Tarraco his Vicar over all the rest of Spain, as his Epistles to them show.

Pope Innocent the first, in his decretal Epistle to Victricius, Bishop of Rouen in France, A.C. 404, in keeping with the Edict of Gratian, made this Decree: Si quæ autem causæ vel contentiones inter Clericos tam superioris ordinis quam etiam inferioris fuerint exortæ; ut secundum Synodum Nicenam congregatis ejusdem Provinciæ Episcopis jurgium terminetur: nec alicui liceat,⁴ Romanæ Ecclesiæ, cujus in omnibus causis debet reverentia custodiri, relictis his sacerdotibus, qui in eadem Provincia Dei Ecclesiam nutu Divino gubernant, ad alias convolare Provincias. Quod siquis fortè præsumpserit; & ab officio Clericatûs summotus, & injuriarum reus judicetur. Si autem majores causæ in medium fuerint devolutæ, ad Sedem Apostolicam sicut Synodus statuit, & beata consuetudo exigit, post judicium Episcopale referantur. From these Letters it seems to me that Gallia was now subject to the Pope, and had been for some time, and that the Bishop of Rouen was then his Vicar or one of them; for the Pope directs him to refer the greater cases to the See of Rome, according to custom. But soon after, the Bishop of Arles became the Pope's Vicar over all Gallia; for Pope Zosimus, A.C. 417, ruling that no one should have access to him without the credentials of his Vicars, gave Patroclus, the Bishop of Arles, this authority over all Gallia, by the following Decree:

Zosimus universis Episcopis per Gallias & septem Provincias constitutis.

Placuit Apostolicæ Sedi, ut siquis ex qualibet Galliarum parte sub quolibet ecclesiastico gradu ad nos Romæ venire contendit, vel aliò terrarum ire disponit, non aliter proficiscatur nisi Metropolitani Episcopi Formatas acceperit, quibus sacerdotium suum vel locum ecclesiasticum quem habet, scriptorum ejus adstipulatione perdoceat: quod ex gratia statuimus quia plures episcopi sive presbyteri sive ecclesiastici simulantes, quia nullum documentum Formatarum extat per quod valeant confutari, in nomen venerationis irrepunt, & indebitam reverentiam promerentur. Quisquis igitur, fratres charissimi, prætermissà supradicti Formatâ sive episcopus, sive presbyter, sive diaconus, aut deinceps inferiori gradu sit, ad nos venerit: sciat se omnino suscipi non posse. Quam auctoritatem ubique nos misisse manifestum est, ut cunctis regionibus innotescat id quod statuimus omnimodis esse servandum. Siquis autem hæc salubriter constituta temerare tentaverit sponte suâ, se a nostra noverit communione discretum. Hoc autem privilegium Formatarum sancto Patroclo fratri & coepiscopo nostro, meritorum ejus speciali contemplatione, concessimus. That the Bishop of Arles was at times the Pope's Vicar over all France is also stated by all the Bishops of the Diocese of Arles in their Letter to Pope Leo I.: Cui id etiam honoris dignitatisque collatum est, say they, ut non tantum has Provincias potestate propriâ gubernaret; verum etiam omnes Gallias sibi Apostolicæ Sedis vice mandatas, sub omni ecclesiastica regula contineret. And Pope Pelagius I., A.C. 556, in his Epistle to Sapaudus, Bishop of Arles: Majorum nostrorum, operante Dei misericordiâ, cupientes inhærere vestigiis & eorum actus divino examine in omnibus imitari: Charitati tuæ per universam Galliam, sanctæ Sedis Apostolicæ, cui divinâ gratiâ præsidemus, vices injungimus.

Through the influence of the same imperial Edict, not only Spain and Gallia but also Illyricum became subject to the Pope. Damasus made Ascholius, or Acholius, Bishop of Thessalonica, the chief city of Oriental Illyricum, his Vicar for hearing cases; and in the year 382, Acholius, having been summoned by Pope Damasus, came to a Council at Rome. Pope Siricius, the successor of Damasus, decreed that no Bishop should be ordained in Illyricum without the consent of Anysius, the successor of Acholius. And the Popes that followed gave Rufus, the successor of Anysius, the power to call Provincial Councils; for in the Collections of Holstenius there is an account of a Council of Rome convened under Pope Boniface II., at which were produced Letters of Damasus, Syricius, Innocent I., Boniface I., and Cæfor fear thatine, Bishops of Rome, to Ascholius, Anysius, and Rufus, Bishops of Thessalonica; in which Letters they commend to them the hearing of cases in Illyricum, which the Lord and the holy Canons granted to the Apostolic See throughout that Province. And Pope Siricius says in his Epistle to Anysius: Etiam dudum, frater charissime, per Candidianum Episcopum, qui nos præcessit ad Dominum, hujusmodi literas dederamus, ut nulla licentia esset, sine consensu tuo in Illyrico Episcopos ordinare præsumere, quæ utrum ad te pervenerint scire non potui. Multa enim gesta sunt per contentionem ab Episcopis in ordinationibus faciendis, quod tua melius caritas novit. And a little after: Ad omnem enim hujusmodi audaciam comprimendam vigilare debet instantia tua, Spiritu in te Sancto fervente: ut vel ipse, si potes, vel quos judicaveris Episcopos idoneos, cum literis dirigas, dato consensu qui possit, in ejus locum qui defunctus vel depositus fuerit, Catholicum Episcopum vitâ & moribus probatum, secundum Nicænæ Synodi statuta vel Ecclesiæ Romanæ, Clericum de Clero meritum ordinare. And Pope Innocent I. says in his Epistle to Anysius: Cui [Anysio] etiam anteriores tanti ac tales viri prædecessores mei Episcopi, id est, sanctæ memoriæ Damasus, Siricius, atque supra memoratus vir ita detulerunt; ut omnia quæ in omnibus illis partibus gererentur, Sanctitati tuæ, quæ plena justitiæ est, traderent cognoscenda. And in his Epistle to Rufus, the successor of Anysius: Ita longis intervallis disterminatis à me ecclesiis discat consulendum; ut prudentiæ gravitatique tuæ committendam curam causasque, siquæ exoriantur, per Achaiæ, Thessaliæ, Epiri veteris, Epiri novæ, & Cretæ, Daciæ mediterraneæ, Daciæ ripensis, Moesiæ, Dardaniæ, & Prævali ecclesias, Christo Domino annuente, censeam. Verè enim ejus sacratissimis monitis lectissimæ sinceritatis tuæ providentiæ & virtuti hanc injungimus sollicitudinem: non primitùs hæc statuentes, sed Præcessores nostros Apostolicos imitati, qui beatissimis Acholio & Anysio injungi pro meritis ista voluerunt. And Boniface I., in his decretal Epistle to Rufus and the rest of the Bishops in Illyricum: Nullus, ut frequenter dixi, alicujus ordinationem citra ejus [Episcopi Thessalonicensis] conscientiam celebrare præsumat: cui, ut supra dictum est, vice nostrâ cuncta committimus. And Pope Cæfor fear thatine, in his decretal Epistle to the Bishops throughout Illyricum, says: Vicem nostram per vestram Provinciam noveritis [Rufo] esse commissam, ita ut ad eum, fratres carissimi, quicquid de causis agitur, referatur. Sine ejus consilio nullus ordinetur. Nullus usurpet, eodem inconscio, commissam illi Provinciam; colligere nisi cum ejus voluntate Episcopus non præsumat. And in the case of Perigenes, in the title of his Epistle, he lists the Provinces under this Bishop as follows: Rufo & cæteris Episcopis per Macedoniam, Achaiam, Thessaliam, Epirum veterem, Epirum novam, Prævalin, & Daciam constitutis. And Pope Xistus, in a decretal Epistle to the same Bishops: Illyricanæ omnes Ecclesiæ, ut à decessoribus nostris recepimus, & nos quoque fecimus, ad curam nunc pertinent Thessalonicensis Antistitis, ut suâ sollicitudine, siquæ inter fratres nascantur, ut assolent, actiones distinguat atque definiat; & ad eum, quicquid à singulis sacerdotibus agitur, referatur. Sit Concilium, quotiens causæ fuerint, quotiens ille pro necessitatum emergentium ratione decreverit. And Pope Leo I., in his decretal Epistle to Anastasius, Bishop of Thessalonica: Singulis autem Metropolitanis sicut potestas ista committitur, ut in suis Provinciis jus habeant ordinandi; ita eos Metropolitanos à te volumus ordinari; maturo tamen & decocto judicio.

Western Illyricum included Pannonia prima and secunda, Savia, Dalmatia, Noricum mediterraneum, and Noricum ripense; and its chief city was Sirmium, until Attila destroyed this city. Afterwards Laureacum became the chief city of Noricum and both Pannonias, and Salona the chief city of Dalmatia. Now⁵ the Bishops of Laureacum and Salona received the Pallium from the Pope; and Zosimus, in his decretal Epistle to Hesychius, Bishop of Salona, directed him to proclaim the Apostolic decrees both to the Bishops of his own Province and to those of the neighboring Provinces. These Provinces seem to have come under the See of Rome first with Anemius, who was ordained Bishop of Sirmium by Ambrose, Bishop of Millain, and who in the Council of Aquileia under Pope Damasus, A.C. 381, stated his ruling in these words: Caput Illyrici non nisi civitas Sirmiensis: Ego igitur illius civitatis Episcopus sum. Eum qui non confitetur filium Dei æternum, & coeternum patri, qui est sempiternus, anathema dico. The next year Anemius and Ambrose, with Valerian, Bishop of Aquileia, Acholias, Bishop of Thessalonica, and many others, went to the Council of Rome, which met to overrule the Greek Church by majority of votes, and to exalt the authority of the Apostolic See, as had been attempted before in the Council of Sardica.

Aquileia was the second city of the Western Empire, and some called it the second Rome. It was the chief city of Istria, Forum Julium, and Venetia; and its subjection to the See of Rome is clear from the decretal Epistle of Leo I. directed to Nicetas, Bishop of this city; for the Pope begins his Epistle thus: Regressus ad nos filius meus Adeodatus Diaconus Sedis nostræ, dilectionem tuam poposcisse memorat, ut de his à nobis authoritatem Apostolicæ Sedis acciperes, quæ quidem magnam difficultatem dijudicationis videntur afferre. Then he gives an answer to the questions Nicetas proposed, and concludes thus: Hanc autem Epistolam nostram, quam ad consultationem tuæ fraternitatis emisimus, ad omnes fratres & comprovinciales tuos Episcopos facies pervenire, ut in omnium observantia, data profit authoritas. Data 1–2 Kal. Apr. Majorano Aug. Cos. A.C. 458. Gregory the great, A.C. 591,⁶ cited Severus, Bishop of Aquileia, to appear before him for judgment in a Council at Rome.