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Augustine, Saint: Epistulae

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Augustine’s letters span his whole Christian life, from the first notes written at Cassiciacum in 386 to the last years of his episcopate before his death in 430. The collection, edited by Alois Goldbacher for the CSEL, contains more than two hundred and seventy items, including a number of letters written to Augustine by his correspondents. Some are brief notes of friendship or business; others are full theological treatises on grace, the soul, the Trinity, biblical interpretation, and the Donatist and Pelagian controversies. Correspondents include Jerome, Paulinus of Nola, fellow bishops, imperial officials, and pagan intellectuals.

The letters are among the richest sources for the life of the late Roman Church. They show Augustine as pastor, administrator, controversialist, and friend, and they illuminate law, slavery, education, and relations between Christians and pagans in Roman Africa. His exchange with Jerome on the translation of Scripture and on Galatians is famous, and many letters were read through the Middle Ages as independent works of doctrine and spiritual counsel.

About this edition. The Latin text comes from the Open Greek and Latin digital edition of the Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum (edition: Alois Goldbacher, CSEL 34.1-2, 44, 57, 1895-1911), licensed CC BY-SA. Every word has been analyzed with LatinCy, a neural language model for Latin — click or tap any word for its dictionary form, part of speech, and complete morphology, together with the full entry from Lewis & Short’s A Latin Dictionary.

Latin · Early Christian Writings
Epistulae
Augustine, Saint · Letter 246 · every word parsed
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De quaestione fati ac fortunae, qua tuum animum non leuiter moueri et, cum praesens essem, aduerti et nunc tuis litteris gratius certiusque cognoui, rescriptum tibi non parui uoluminis debeo, quod dominus praestabit ut ita explicem, quem ad modum nouit tibi congruere ac saluti fidei tuae. non enim paruum malum est peruersis opinionibus non solum ad committendum blandimento uoluptatis adduci sed etiam ad defendendum peccatum a medicamento confessionis auerti.
Illud sane quanto citius ac breuiter noueris, omnes leges atque instituta omnia disciplinae, laudes, uituperationes, exhortationes, terrores, praemia. supplicia ceteraque omnia, quibus humanum genus administratur et regitur, penitus labefactari atque subuerti nihilque in eis omnino iustitiae remanere. nisi uoluntas sit causa peccandi. quanto ergo licentius et aequius mathematicorum inprobamus errores, quam diuinas leges uel etiam domorum nostrarum curam damnare atque abicere cogimur, quod nec ipsi mathematici faciunt! nam cum aliquis eorum hominibus nummatis fatua fata uendiderit. mox, ut oculum a tabellis eburneis ad domus suae moderamen ac sollicitudinem reuocauerit, non solum uocibus sed etiam plagis emendat uxorem, non dico si petulantius iocantem sed si inmoderatius per -fenestram aspicientem animaduerterit. quae tamen si ei dicat: <Quid me caedis? Uenerem caede, si potes, a qua cogor hoc facere\', tunc uero ille non curat, quam uana uerba componat fallendis extraneis, sed quam iusta uerbera inponat corrigendis suis.
Quando ergo quisque, cum reprehendi coeperit, causam conuertit in fatum et ideo se culpari non uult. quia fato se dicit coactum fecisse id. quod arguitur, redeat ad se ipsum. seruet hoc in suis, non castiget seruum furem, non de contumelioso filio conqueratur, uicino inprobo non minetur. quid enim horum faciens iuste facit, si omnes, a quibus iniurias patitur, non culpa sua sed fato inpelluntur, ut faciant? si autem iure proprio et patris familias diligentia. quoscumque homines pro tempore in potestate habet, hortatur ad bonum, deterret a malo, imperat, suae uoluntati ut obtemperent, honorat eos, qui sibi ad nutum oboediunt. uindicat in eos, qui se contemnunt, rependit gratiam beneficis, odit ingratos, egone expectabo, ut contra fatum disputet, cum tanta eum non uerbis sed factis eloqui deprehendam, ut prope manibus suis omnes mathematicorum lapillos supra capita eorum frangere uideatur? his itaque paucis si auiditas tua contenta non est et librum aliquem de hac re, quem diutius legas, desideras. patienter tibi sunt expectandae uacationes nostrae et rogandus deus, qui et otium et facultatem satiando de hac re animo tuo tribuere dignetur. ero tamen alacrior, si et saepe commemorare me litteris tuam non piguerit caritatem et, quid de hac epistula sentias, rescribendo edocueris.
Click or tap any word for its parse and dictionary entry.
Text: Perseus Digital Library, licensed CC BY-SA. Dictionary: Lewis & Short (Perseus, CC BY-SA). Morphology: LatinCy — machine parsing, corrected against the AGDT & PROIEL treebanks and Morpheus.
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