Letter 10010: Gregory to Romanus, our guardian in Sicily. It has been reported to us that our most reverend brother the bishop Basilius is occupied in legal suits as though he were one of the last of the people, and unprofitably attends the courts. Now, since this thing both renders the man himself vile and does away with the reverence due to priests, let you...

Pope Gregory the GreatRomanus, Patrician, and Exarch of Italy|c. 600 AD|Pope Gregory the Great|Human translated
barbarian invasionimperial politicspapal authority
Imperial politics

Gregory to Romanus, our defender in Sicily.

It has been reported to us that our most reverend brother Bishop Basilius is entangling himself in lawsuits as if he were a common layman, wasting his time attending the civil courts. Since this conduct both demeans the man himself and undermines the reverence owed to priests, your Experience is to act immediately on receiving this order. Compel him by strict enforcement to return to his proper duties, and through your insistence allow him no delay of more than five days under any excuse whatsoever. If you permit him any such delay, you yourself will share his culpability before us.

Given in the month of December, Indiction 3.

Human translation - New Advent (NPNF / ANF series)

Latin / Greek Original

Gregorius Romano deſensori nostro Sicili.

Perlatum ad nos est (Grat. dis!. s8, c. 4) reve-
rendissimum ſfratrem .nostrum Basilium episcopum
velut * unum JOetS de uliimis in causis occupari,
et Þ pretoriis inutiliter observare. Quz res quoniam
et ipsum. vilem reddit, et reverentiam sacerdotalem
annihilat, sStatim ut experientia tua hc praecepium
susceperit, eum ita ad revertendum districta exse-

EPISTOLARUM LIB. X. — INDICT. HI. — EPIST. XI.

* 4074

A Nam commotionis tempore justum putat ira qu

eutione compellat, quatenus ei illic te insislente-

quinque diebus ssub qualibet excusatione immorari
non liceat-; ne si quolibet modo cum ibidem moram
hahere permiseris, cum ips0 apud nos graviter
incipias esse culpabilis. © Datum mense Decem-
bris, indict. 3, (Cf. Joan. Diac. |. 1m, c. 36, Vide
ep. 9.) |

Revision history

  1. 2026-05-27v2.2.34-import

    Initial corpus import from New Advent / NPNF.

    Fields: letter text, metadata, source links. Source: https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/360210010.htm

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