St. Augustine
doctrinam liberalium litterarum, quas forte ipse aut non didicit aut minus didicit, quid hoc pertinet ad eam quaestionem quae vel de sanctis scripturis vel documentis ecclesiasticis aut publicis discutienda est, in quibus ille per tot annos versatur, unde in eis deberet esse peritior? Postremo est hic frater et collega meus Samsucius, episcopus Turrensis ecclesiae, qui nullas tales didicit quales iste dicitur formidare; ipse adsit, agat cum illo; rogabo eum et, ut confido in nomine Christi, facile mihi concedet ut suscipiat in hac re vicem meam, et eum dominus pro veritate certantem, quamvis sermone inpolitum. tamen vera fide eruditum, sicut confidimus, adiuvabit. Nulla ergo causa est cur ad alios nescio quos differat, ne inter nos quod ad nos pertinet per-agamus. Nec tamen, ut dixi, etiam illos defugio, si eorum ipse poscit auxilium.
lPlenas bonorum gaudiorum litteras, quod sis
Letters of St. Augustine
with me. If it is my learning in liberal studies,a in which he perhaps is uninstructed or less instructed than I am, what has this to do with an inquiry which is to be conducted about Holy Scripture and ecclesiastical or public records? In these he has so many years of experience, which should make him all the better equipped. In the last resort, my brother and colleague, Samsucius, bishop of the Church of Turres,b is here, and he has acquired no such learning as your man is said to be afraid of; let him come and conduct it with him. I shall ask him, and I trust in the name of Christ he will readily agree to undertake to be my substitute in this. Though he is without any grace of eloquence, yet he is learned in the true faith, and the Lord will help him, I feel sure, in his contest for the truth. There is then no reason why he should refer me to any others, instead of settling between ourselves a matter which concerns ourselves. But still, as I said before, I do not decline to meet those others, if he himself demands their aid.
Your letter has reached me, containing the good1
- aBefore his conversion in 386, Augustine had been a grammaticus at Tagaste (Confess. iv. 7), and a teacher of rhetoric at Carthage (ib. iv. 12; C. Acad. ii. 2, 3) and Milan (Confess. v. 23).
- bThe exact site of Turres is not known, but it was probably near Hippo. Samsucius is mentioned again in No. 21 infra.
- cSimplicianus succeeded St. Ambrose in the see of Milan in 397. He was instrumental in converting Victorinus and was a close and honoured friend of Ambrose’s. Augustine met him at Milan in 386, and was much influenced by his account of Victorinus’s conversion (Confess. viii. 5). To him Augustine dedicated his work De Diversis Quaestionibus, alluded to below, and he mentions him with great respect in several of his other works (De Praedest. 8; De Dono Persev. 52; Civ. Dei, x. 29). Simplicianus died in 400 and is honoured on August 16.