Letters (1-53)

Letters to St. Ambrose of Milan are one of the most important sources of information about him and his activities, as well as about the political and religious situation of that era. A total of 91 letters have survived (Letter 23 is considered inauthentic). Most of the messages are related to the church and administrative activities of the saint. His letters are a valuable source of knowledge for a Christian. The problems of the letters are different: questions of church structure, explanations of certain holidays, sometimes just a description of one’s day or one or another event. In addition to the interpretation of Holy Scripture, a Christian understanding of philosophical texts is important for the saint. The most discussed author is Philo of Alexandria, whose works the saint examines in letters: to Justus (1), Simplician (2, 3), Irenaeus (4). The letters discuss issues of pastoral practice (6, 17, 35), legal incidents (24), give recommendations (42, 49), exhortations and consolations (8). Epistolary heritage of St. Ambrose of Milan has 78 letters, joined by 15 letters from the Extra collectionem and two letters from the Acts of the Council of Aquileia. The manuscript tradition has preserved the division of letters into ten books, of which the third book has not survived. 1 The compiler of these books is considered to be St. himself. Ambrose (about his collection of letters the saint writes to Sabinus: “This is the preface you and I have. And I will include it in the collections of our letters” - 32.7); letters not included in the collection (Extra collectionem) may have been collected by the secretary and biographer of St. Ambrose by Peacock after the death of the saint. The first printed edition of letters to St. Ambrose was issued at Milan in I490 by George Cribsll, who rearranged the order of the letters as he pleased. It was immediately followed by a Basel edition by Johann Amerbachius (1492) and another Milanese (1491) by Stephen Dulcinius. In 1527, an edition of Erasmus of Rotterdam was published, based on Amerbach's edition. The next editions were Basel (1555) and Paris (1569). All of these editions were missing letter 77 and most of the Extra collectionem. These, as well as the Acts of the Council of Aquilsis, appeared in the 1579–1585 Roman edition issued by Cardinal Felix de Monte Alto (who later became Pope Sixtus V). This edition, the so-called editio Romana, was the most authoritative until the appearance of the Paris edition 2 1686–1690, prepared by the monks of the congregation of St. Mavra J. du Frisch and D.-N. le Nourry, who also changed the order of the letters: the letters were divided into two categories (classis) - the first included those letters that the publishers were able to date, and they were presented in chronological order, the second - the remaining letters, distributed according to the logic of the topics presented in them. This Moorish edition was reproduced in the 16th volume of the Ming Patrology 3 (1845). Otto Faller, in his 4th edition, restored the order of the letters, following the manuscripts; after his death, the publication of letters to St. Ambrose in the Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum series was completed by M. Zeltser. 5 This edition returned the epistolographic corpus to its literary form. Preparing letters for publication by St. Ambrose became involved in the 90s of the 4th century. 6 The division of the letters into ten books was probably done by him following the literary model on which he was guided: the letters 7 of Pliny the Younger (61–113). Unlike the letters of another famous author, Marcus Tullius Cicero, 8 the letters of Pliny the Younger are “a literary work designed for the reader,” 9 designed to please, set an example, and convince; The subjects of letters, their rhetorical decoration, and epistolary topoi serve this purpose. For Pliny, who survived the years of despotic rule of Domitian, letters became a way of expressing political views, an opportunity to declare traditional Roman values, subject his enemies to harsh criticism, find the support of respected people, explain his position, and help his friends in their political careers. The order of Pliny's letters is quite simple: the first nine books of letters consist of private letters addressed to friends, and the last, tenth, are official notes addressed to Emperor Trajan, mainly sent from Bithynia, where Pliny was the imperial legate 10; the same division into ten books is reflected in the collection of letters of a contemporary of St. Ambrose - Quintus Aurelius Symmachus. 11 We find the same detail, concern for composition, choice of words, observance of rhetorical rules (chiastic arrangement, alliteration, assonance), construction of argumentation, and various stylistic registers in the letters of St. Ambrose of Milan 12. The saint was preparing his letters for publication - as we would now call this ancient and late antique practice of copying literary texts for reading by the general public. 13 But his work was not completed, as indicated by the absence of a third book of letters in the corpus, despite the fact that about a hundred manuscripts have reached us: obviously, this book was missing from the beginning, i.e. St. Ambrose did not have time to include her in his meeting. Researchers also suggest that some of the letters of the second and fourth books have not been preserved, since it is known about the letters of St. Blessed Ambrose Augustine, 14 other historical figures, 15 replies to letters to St. Ambrose St. Basil the Great (epist. 197 16), Symmachus. In the IV-V centuries. letters, and especially letters from bishops, were a popular means of addressing the general public (see the letters of St. Athanasius of Alexandria, St. Basil the Great, St. Gregory the Theologian, Bishop Sidonius Apollinaris, Blessed Jerome of Stridon, etc.): exposition of faith, interpretation of Holy Scripture, struggle with ideological opponents - everything was set out in letters that became public phenomenon. Literary writing - a text originally created with a view to a wide audience (cf. the letters of St. Jerome) - was distinguished by its characteristics: 17 brevity (St. Ambrose often violated this requirement of the genre, see his epist. 14 extra p., consisting of 100 paragraphs!), discussion of one topic, rhetorical merits (pleasantness). Letters to St. Ambrose is mainly devoted to the interpretation of biblical texts: the spiritual interpretation of the “mysterious passages of the Old Testament.” 18 For him, the Christian understanding of philosophical texts is also important, and here the most discussed author is Philo of Alexandria, whose works the saint examines in letters: to Justus (1; 55), Simplician (2; 3), Irenaeus (4; 54). 19 The letters discuss issues of pastoral practice (6; 17; 35), legal incidents (24; 56; 57, etc.). In those cases when St. Ambrose acts as a judge, the letters are a means of establishing legal precedent: its consideration and its decision. The collection includes letters with the usual epistolary topics, for example, in epist. 43 the theme of sending gifts is played out: “you sent me truffles” (43) (cf. Pliny: “I received magnificent dates” -1.7; “I received the most beautiful blackbirds” - 5.2); theme of broken promise and ironic threats using legal terminology: “I stated the case, made the accusation. All that remains is to pass a strict sentence” (cf. Pliny: “You promise to be at dinner and don’t come! To the court - pay the costs before the ass” - 1. 15). According to Cicero's classification, these letters can be classified as genus iocosum; 20 episi. 42 and 49 can be classified as letters of recommendation (cf. Pliny 3.2; 7.16; 7.22, etc.). Letter form to St. Ambrose uses not only for exegesis, exhortation, consolation (epist. 8; 77), but also for polemical or political speech (epist. 75a). Language and style of letters to St. Ambrose is always sublime, although one can find jokes and sayings in them; as in the letters of his predecessors Cicero and Pliny, in St. Ambrose has many Greek quotations or individual Greek words. Our edition reproduces the CSEL text. 21 When compiling the notes, the edition of Biblioteca Ambrosiana (1988) was also used, in which the volumes of letters were prepared by G. Banterle 22. In this edition, the letters occupy two volumes, the first part includes books I-VII, 23 the second part will include books VIII-X, the Extra collectionem collection, as well as the Acts of the Council of Aquileia. The complete collection of letters (with the lacuna) has come to us in two manuscripts: Codex Vaticanus Lat. 286 (IX century) and Codex Berolinensis bibl. Nat. Lat. fol. 908. A number of manuscripts contain separate books of letters and individual letters. For more information about the manuscript tradition, see: Z elzer M. Prolegomena // Saneti Ambrosii Opera. Pars X. Epistulae et Acta. T. 2: Epistularum VII-IX / Recens. M. Zelzer. Vindobonae, 1990. P. XL-LXI. (Hereinafter – Zelzer. Prolegomena.) For more details see: Zelzer. Prolegomena. P. LXI-LXVII. Sancti Ambrosii Opera. Pars X. Epistulae et Acta. T 1: Epistularum I-VI / Recens. O. Faller. Vindobonae, 1968. (CSEL; 82.1). (Hereinafter referred to as Faller.) Sancti Ambrosii Opera. Pars X. Epistulae et Acta. T. 2: Epistularum VII-IX / Rccens. M. Zelzer. Vindobonae, 1990. (CSEL, 82.2); Sancti Ambrosii Opera. Pars X. Epistulae et Acta. T. 3: Epistularum Liber decimus, Epistulae extra collectionem, Gesta Concili Aquileiensis / Recens. M. Zelzer. Vindobonae, 1982. (CSEL; 82.3); Sancti Ambrosii Opera. Pars X. Epistulae et Acta. T. 4: Indices et Addenda/Adiuu. L, Krestan, comp. M. Zelzer. Vindobonae, 1996. (CSEL; 82 4). Cm.: Zelzer M. Quelques remarques sur la tradition des o_euvres d’Ambroise et sur leurs titres originaux // Lire et éditer aujourd’hui Ambroise de Milan. Bern: Peter Lang, 2007. P. 23. (Recherches en littérature et spiritualité; 13). Russian translation see: Pliny the Younger. Letters. Books I-X / Trans. M. E. Sergeenko, A. I. Dovatura. 2nd ed., revised. M.: Nauka, 1983. 386 letters of Pliny the Younger have been preserved. More than 800 letters from Cicero have survived, addressed to different recipients and varying in form and style. Sergeenko M. E. About Pliny the Younger // Pliny the Younger. Letters. Books I-X. P. 278. Symmaque Q. A. Lettres / Texte établi, trad, et commenté par J.-P. Callu. T. 1–4. P., 1972–2009. Perhaps due to the rhetorical treatment of the letters of St. Ambrose M. Zelzer considers most of the letters to be inauthentic, calling them epistulares fabulae (see: Zelzer. Prolegomena. P. XXXV). See the chapter “Writing in Roman Literature” in the book: Albrecht M. von. History of Roman Literature: From Andronicus to Boethius, and its influence on later eras / Trans. with him. A. I. Lyubzhina. T. 1. M.: GLK, 2003. pp. 561–567. See: Zelzer M. Prolegomena // Sancti Ambrosii Opera. Cpistulae et Acta. T. 2 Vindobonae, 1982. (CSEL; 82 2). P XVI Next - Zelzer. St. Basil. The Letters / With an English transi, by R J Deferran Vol. 3 L.; Cambridge (Mass.) Harvard Umv Press, 1950. See: Albpexm M. background. History of Roman Literature: From Andronicus to Boenius, and its influence on later eras. P. 565. See: Aurelius Augustine. Confession of Blessed Augustine, Bishop of Hippo / [Translated from Lat. M. E. Sergeenko]. M, 1991 C 148. According to Mazières (see: Mazjèivs J. P. Un principe d`organization pour le recueil des Lettres d’Ambroise de Milan // Ambroise de Milan. XVIe centenaire de son élection épiscopale. P., 1974. P. 210), the basis of the entire corpus consists of large blocks of letters of spiritual content (six letters each). Their addressees are Irenaeus, Simplician, Orontian, Sabinus and the emperors. The Latin text in this edition is published with the kind permission of the publishers CSEL. It is necessary to note the difference in Latin spelling between the volumes prepared by O. Faller and M. Zeltser, which we did not dare to unify. Sancti Ambrosii episcopi Mediolanensis. Epistulae (I-XXXV) / Introd., trad, not. e indici G. Banterle//Sant’Ambrogio. Discorsie Lettere II/Ï Letteie (1–35). Milanö Biblioteca Ambrosiana; Romä Città Nuova, 1988. (Sancti Ambrosii Episcopi Mediolanensis opera; 19); Sancti Ambrosii episcopi Mediolanensis. Epistulae (XXXVI-LX1X) / Introd., trad., not. e indici G. Banterle // Sant’Ambrogio. Discorsi e Lettere U/H: Lettere (36–69). Milano Biblioteca Ambrosiana; Romä Città Nuova, 1988. (Sancti Ambrosii Episcopi Mediolanensis opera; 20), Sancti Ambrosii episcopi Mediolanensis. Epistulae (LXX-LXXVII) / Introd., trad., not. e indici G. Banterle //Sant`Ambrogio. Discorsi e Lettere I I/IIÏ Lettere (70–77). Milanö Biblioteca Ambrosiana; Romä Città Nuova, 1988. (Sancti Ambrosii Episcopi Mediolanensis opera; 21). (Hereinafter referred to as Banterle.) Letters translated: 1–16, 20–40 – T. L. Alexandrova. 17–19 – E. V. Materova. 41–53 – N. A. Kulkova. You might be interested in: