CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: DONATISTS

Donatists

The Donatist schism in Africa began in 311 and flourished just one  hundred years,
until the conference at Carthage in 411, after which its  importance waned.

CAUSES OF THE SCHISM

In order to trace the origin of the division we have to  go back to the persecution under
Diocletian. The first edict of that emperor  against Christians (24 Feb., 303) commanded
their churches to be destroyed,  their Sacred Books to be delivered up and burnt, while
they themselves were  outlawed. Severer measures followed in 304, when the fourth
edict ordered all to offer incense to the idols under pain of death. After the abdication
of Maximian in 305, the persecution seems to have abated in Africa. Until then it was
terrible. In Numidia the governor, Florus, was infamous for his cruelty, and,  though
many officials may have been, like the proconsul Anulinus, unwilling to  go further
than they were obliged, yet St. Optatus is able to say of the  Christians of the whole
country that some were confessors, some were martyrs,  some fell, only those who were
hidden escaped. The exaggerations of the highly  strung African character showed
themselves. A hundred years earlier Tertullian  had taught that flight from persecution
was not permissible. Some now went  beyond this, and voluntarily gave themselves up
to martyrdom as Christians.  Their motives were, however, not always above suspicion.
Mensurius, the Bishop  of Carthage, in a letter to Secundus, Bishop of Tigisi, then the
senior bishop  (primate) of Numidia, declares that he had forbidden any to be
honoured as  martyrs who had given themselves up of their own accord, or who had
boasted that they possessed copies of the Scriptures which they would not relinquish;
some of these, he says, were criminals and debtors to the State, who thought they might
by this means rid themselves of a burdensome life, or else wipe away the
remembrance of their misdeeds, or at least gain money and enjoy in prison the  luxuries
supplied by the kindness of Christians. The later excesses of the  Circumcellions show
that Mensurius had some ground for the severe line he took.  He explains that he had
himself taken the Sacred Books of the Church to his own  house, and had substituted a
number of heretical writings, which the prosecutors had seized without asking for
more; the proconsul, when informed of the  deception refused to search the bishop's
private house. Secundus, in his reply,  without blaming Mensurius, somewhat
pointedly praised the martyrs who in his own province had been tortured and put to
death for refusing to deliver up the  Scriptures; he himself had replied to the officials
who came to search: "I am a  Christian and a bishop, not a <traditor>." This word
<traditor> became a technical expression to designate those who had given up the
Sacred Books, and also those who had committed the worse crimes of delivering up the
sacred  vessels and even their own brethren.

It is certain that relations were strained between the confessors in prison at  Carthage
and their bishop. If we may credit the Donatist Acts of the forty-nine  martyrs of
Abitene, they broke off communion with Mensurius. We are informed in  these Acts
that Mensurius was a traditor by his own confession, and that his  deacon, Caecilian,
raged more furiously against the martyrs than did the  persecutors themselves; he set
armed men with whips before the door of the  prison to prevent their receiving any
succor; the food brought by the piety of  the Christians was thrown to the dogs by these
ruffians, and the drink provided  was spilled in the street, so that the martyrs, whose
condemnation the mild  proconsul had deferred, died in prison of hunger and thirst.
The story is  recognized by Duchesne and others as exaggerated. It would be better to
say that the main point is incredible; the prisoners would not have been allowed by the
Roman officials to starve; the details - that Mensurius confessed himself a  traditor, that
he prevented the succoring of the imprisoned confessors - are  simply founded on the
letter of Mensurius to Secundus. Thus we may safely reject all the latter part of the Acts
as fictitious. The earlier part is authentic: it relates how certain of the faithful of Abitene
met and celebrated their usual  Sunday service, in defiance of the emperor's edict,
under the leadership of the  priest Saturninus, for their bishop was a traditor and they
disowned him; they  were sent to Carthage, made bold replies when interrogated, and
were imprisoned  by Anulinus, who might have condemned them to death forthwith.
The whole account is characteristic of the fervid African temperament. We can well
imagine how the prudent Mensurius and his lieutenant, the deacon Caecilian, were
disliked by  some of the more excitable among their flock.

We know in detail how the inquiries for sacred books were carried out, for the  official
minutes of an investigation at Cirta (afterwards Constantine) in  Numidia are
preserved. The bishop and his clergy showed themselves ready to give up all they had,
but drew the line at betraying their brethren; even here their  generosity was not
remarkable, for they added that the names and addresses were  well known to the
officials. The examination was conducted by Munatius Felix,  perpetual flamen, curator
of the colony of Cirta. Having arrived with his  satellites at the bishop's house - in
Numidia the searching was more severe than in Proconsular Africa - the bishop was
found with four priests, three deacons,  four subdeacons, and several <fossores>
(diggers). These declared that the  Scriptures were not there, but in the hands of the
lectors; an in fact the  bookcase was found to be empty. The clergy present refused to
give the names of  the lectors, saying they were known to the notaries; but, with the
exception of  the books, they gave in an inventory of all possessions of the church: two
golden chalices, six of silver, six silver cruets, a silver bowl, seven silver  lamps, two
candlesticks, seven short bronze lamp-stands with lamps, eleven  bronze lamps with
chains, eighty-two women's tunics, twenty-eight veils, sixteen men's tunics, thirteen
pairs of men's boots, forty-seven pairs of women's boots, nineteen countrymen's
smocks. Presently the subdeacon Silvanus brought forth a  silver box and another silver
lamp, which he had found behind a jug. In the  dining-room were four casks and seven
jugs. A subdeacon produced a thick book.  Then the houses of the lectors were visited:
Eugenius gave up four volumes,  Felix, the mosaic worker gave up five, Victorinus
eight, Projectus five large  volumes and two small ones, the grammarian Victor two
codices and five quinions, or gatherings of five leaves; Euticius of Caesarea declared
that he had no  books; the wife of Coddeo produced six volumes, and said that she had
no more;  and a search was made without further result. It is interesting to note that the
books were all codices (in book form), not rolls, which had gone out of fashion  in the
course of the preceding century.

It is to be hoped that such disgraceful scenes were infrequent. A contrasting  instance
of heroism is found in the story of Felix, Bishop of Tibiuca, who was  hauled before the
magistrate on the very day, 5 June 303, when the decree was  posted up in that city. He
refused to give up any books, and was sent to  Carthage. The proconsul Anulinus,
unable by close confinement to weaken his  determination, sent him on to Rome to
Maximian Hercules.

In 305, the persecution had relaxed, and it was possible to unite fourteen or  more
bishops at Cirta in order to give a successor to Paul. Secundus presided as primate, and
in his zeal he attempted to examine the conduct of his colleagues.  They met in a private
house, for the Church had not yet been restored to the  Christians.
"We must first try ourselves", said the primate, "before we can  venture to ordain a
bishop". To Donatus of Mascula he said: "You are said to  have been a traditor." "You
know", replied the bishop, "how Florus searched for  me that I might offer incense, but
God did not deliver me into his hands,  brother. As God forgave me, do you reserve me
to His judgment." "What then",  said Secundus, "shall we say of the martyrs? It is
because they did not give up  anything that they were crowned." "Send me to God,"
said Donatus, "to Him will I give an account." (In fact, a bishop was not amenable to
penance and was  properly "reserved to God" in this sense.) "Stand on one side", said
the  president, and to Marinus of Aquae Tibilitanae he said: "You also are said to be a
traditor." Marinus said: "I gave papers to Pollux; my books are safe." This  was not
satisfactory, and Secundus said: "Go over to that side"; then to Donatus of Calama: "You
are said to be a traditor." "I gave up books on medicine."  Secundus seems to have been
incredulous, or at least he thought a trial was  needed, for again he said: "Stand on one
side." After a gap in the Acts, we read that Secundus turned to Victor, Bishop of
Russicade: "You are said to have given up the Four Gospels." Victor replied: "It was the
curator, Valentinus; he forced me to throw them into the fire. Forgive me this fault, and
God will also forgive it." Secundus said: "Stand on one side." Secundus (after another
gap) said to  Purpurius of Limata: "You are said to have killed the two sons of your
sister at Mileum" (Milevis). Purpurius answered with vehemence: "Do you think I am
frightened by you as the others are? What did you do yourself when the curator  and
his officials tried to make you give up the Scriptures? How did you manage  to get off
scot-free, unless you gave them something, or ordered something to be given? They
certainly did not let you go for nothing! As for me I have killed  and I kill those who
are against me; do not provoke me to say anymore. You know  that I do not interfere
where I have no business." At this outburst, a nephew of Secundus said to the primate:
"You hear what they say of you? He is ready to  withdraw and make a schism; and the
same is true of all those whom you accuse;  and I know they are capable of turning you
out and condemning you, and you alone will then be the heretic. What is it to you what
they have done? Each must give  his account to God." Secundus (as St. Augustine
points out) had apparently no  reply against the accusation of Purpurius, so he turned
to the two or three  bishops who remained unaccused: "What do you think?" These
answered: "They have  God to whom they must give an account." Secundus said: "You
know and God knows.  Sit down." And all replied: <Deo gratis>.

These minutes have been preserved for us by St. Augustine. The later Donatists
declared them forged, but not only could St. Optatus refer to the age of the  parchment
on which they were written, but they are made easily credible by the  testimonies given
before Zenophilus in 320. Seeck, as well as Duchesne (see  below), upholds their
genuineness. We hear from St. Optatus of another fallen  Numidian bishop, who
refused to come to the council on the pretext of bad eyes,  but in reality for fear his
fellow-citizens should prove that he had offered  incense, a crime of which the other
bishops were not guilty. The bishops  proceeded to ordain a bishop, and they chose
Silvanus, who, as a subdeacon,  assisted in the search for sacred vessels. The people of
Cirta rose up against  him, crying that he was a traditor, and demanded the
appointment of a certain  Donatus. But country people and gladiators were engaged to
set him in the  episcopal chair, to which he was carried on the back of a man named
Mutus.

CAECILIAN AND MAJORINUS

A certain Donatus of Casae Nigrae is said to have  caused a schism in Carthage during
the lifetime of Mensurius. In 311 Maxentius  obtained dominion over Africa, and a
deacon of Carthage, Felix, was accused of  writing a defamatory letter against the
tyrant. Mensurius was said to have  concealed his deacon in his house and was
summoned to Rome. He was acquitted,  but died on his return journey. Before his
departure from Africa, he had given  the gold and silver ornaments of the church to the
care of certain old men, and  had also consigned an inventory of these effects to an aged
woman, who was to  deliver it to the next bishop. Maxentius gave liberty to the
Christians, so that it was possible for an election to be held at Carthage. The bishop of
Carthage,  like the pope, was commonly consecrated by a neighbouring bishop,
assisted by a  number of others form the vicinity. He was primate not only of the
proconsular  province, but of the other provinces of North Africa, including Numidian,
Byzacene, Tripolitana, and the two Mauretanias, which were all governed by the  vicar
of prefects. In each of these provinces the local primacy was attached to  no town, but
was held by the senior bishop, until St. Gregory the Great made the office elective. St.
Optatus implies that the bishops of Numidia, many of whom  were at no great distance
from Carthage, had expected that they would have a  voice in the election; but two
priests, Botrus and Caelestius, who each expected to be elected, had managed that only
a small number of bishops should be  present. Caecilian, the deacon who had been so
obnoxious to the martyrs, was  duly chosen by the whole people, placed in the chair of
Mensurius, and  consecrated by Felix, Bishop of Aptonga or Abtughi. The old men who
had charge  of the treasure of the church were obliged to give it up; they joined with
Botrus and Caelestius in refusing to acknowledge the new bishop. They were  assisted
by a rich lady named Lucilla, who had a grudge against Caecilian  because he had
rebuked her habit of kissing the bone of an uncanonized (<non  vindicatus>) martyr
immediately before receiving Holy Communion. Probably we  have here again a
martyr whose death was due to his own ill-regulated fervour.

Secundus, as the nearest primate, came with his suffragans to Carthage to judge  the
affair, and in a great council of seventy bishops declared the ordination of Caecilian to
be invalid, as having been performed by a traditor. A new bishop  was consecrated.
Majorinus, who belonged to the household of Lucilla and had  been a lector in the
deaconry of Caecilian. That lady provided the sum of 400  <folles> (more than 11,000
dollars), nominally for the poor; but all of it  went into the pockets of the bishops, one-
quarter of the sum being seized by  Purpurius of Limata. Caecilian had possession of
the basilica and the cathedra  of Cyprian, and the people were with him, so that he
refused to appear before  the council. "If I am not properly consecrated", he said
ironically, "let them  treat me as a deacon, and lay hands on me afresh, and not on
another." On this  reply being brought, Purpurius cried: "Let him come here, and
instead of laying  on him, we will break his head in penance." No wonder that the
action of this  council, which sent letters throughout Africa, had a great influence. But
at  Carthage it was well known that Caecilian was the choice of the people, and it  was
not believed that Felix of Aptonga had given up the Sacred Books. Rome and  Italy had
given Caecilian their communion. The Church of the moderate Mensurius  did not hold
that consecration by a traditor was invalid, or even that it was  illicit, if the traditor was
still in lawful possession of his see. The council  of Secundus, on the contrary, declared
that a traditor could not act as a  bishop, and that any who were in communion with
traditors were cut off from the  Church. They called themselves the Church of the
martyrs, and declared that all  who were in communion with public sinners like
Caecilian and Felix were  necessarily excommunicate.

THE CONDEMNATION BY POPE MELCHIADES

Very soon there were many cities having  two bishops, the one in communion with
Caecilian, the other with Majorinus.  Constantine, after defeating Maxentius (28
October, 312) and becoming master of  Rome, showed himself a Christian in his acts.
He wrote to Anulinus, proconsul of Africa (was he same as the mild proconsul of 303?),
restoring the churches to  Catholics, and exempting clerics of the "Catholic Church of
which Caecilian is  president" from civil functions (Eusebius, Hist. Eccl. X, v 15, and vii,
2). he  also wrote to Caecilian (ibid., X, vi, 1) sending him an order for 3000  <folles> to
be distributed in Africa, Numidia, and Mauretania; if more was  needed, the bishop
must apply for more. He added that he had heard of turbulent  persons who sought to
corrupt the Church; he had ordered the proconsul Anulinus, and the vicar of prefects to
restrain them, and Caecilian was to appeal to these officials if necessary. The opposing
party lost no time. A few days after the  publication of these letters, their delegates,
accompanied by a mob, brought to  Anulinus two bundles of documents, containing
the complaints of their party  against Caecilian, to be forwarded to the emperor. St.
Optatus has preserved a  few words from their petition, in which Constantine is begged
to grant judges  from Gaul, where under his father's rule there had been no persecution,
and  therefore no traditors. Constantine knew the Church's constitution too well to
comply and thereby make Gallic bishops judges of the primates of Africa. He at  once
referred the matter to the pope, expressing his intention, laudable, if too sanguine, of
allowing no schisms in the Catholic Church. That the African  schismatics might have
no ground of complaint, he ordered three of the chief  bishops of Gaul, Reticius of
Autun, Maternus of Cologne, and Marinus of Arles,  to repair to Rome, to assist at the
trial. He ordered Caecilian to come thither  with ten bishops of his accusers and ten of
his own communion. The memorials  against Caecilian he sent to the pope, who would
know, he says, what procedure  to employ in order to conclude the whole matter with
justice. (Eusebius, Hist.  Eccl., X, v, 18). Pope Melchiades summoned fifteen Italian
bishops to sit with  him. From this time forward we find that in all important matters
the popes  issue their decretal letters from a small council of bishops, and there are
traces of this custom even before this. The ten Donatist bishops (for we may now give
the party its eventual name) were headed by a Bishop Donatus of Casae  Nigrae. It was
assumed by Optatus, Augustine, and the other Catholic apologists  that this was
"Donatus the Great", the successor of Majorinus as schismatic  Bishop of Carthage. But
the Donatists of St. Augustine's time were anxious to  deny this, as they did not wish to
admit that their protagonist had been  condemned, and the Catholics at the conference
of 411 granted them the existence of a Donatus, Bishop of Casae Nigrae, who had
distinguished himself by active  hostility to Caecilian. Modern authorities agree in
accepting this view. But it  seems inconceivable that, if Majorinus was still alive, he
should not have been  obliged to go to Rome. It would be very strange, further, that a
Donatus of  Casae Nigrae should appear as the leader of the party, without any
explanation,  unless Casae Nigrae was simply the birthplace of Donatus the Great. If we
assume that Majorinus had died and had been succeeded by Donatus the Great just
before  the trial at Rome, we shall understand why Majorinus is never again
mentioned.  The accusations against Caecilian in the memorial were disregarded, as
being  anonymous and unproved. The witnesses brought from Africa acknowledged
that they had nothing against him. Donatus, on the other hand, was convicted by his
own  confession of having rebaptized and of having laid his hands in penance on
bishops - this was forbidden by ecclesiastical law. On the third day the  unanimous
sentence was pronounced by Melchiades: Caecilian was to be maintained  in
ecclestiastical communion. If Donatist bishops returned to the Church, in a  place where
there were two rival bishops, the junior was to retire and be  provided with another
see. The Donatists were furious. A hundred years later  their successor declared that
Pope Melchiades was himself a traditor, and that  on this account they had not accepted
his decision; though there is no trace of  this having been alleged at the time. But the
nineteen bishops at Rome were  contrasted with the seventy bishops of the Cathaginian
Council, and a fresh  judgment was demanded.

THE COUNCIL OF ARLES

Constantine was angry, but he saw that the party was  powerful in Africa, and he
summoned a council of the whole West (that is, of the whole of his actual dominions) to
meet at Arles on 1 August, 314. Melchiades was dead, and his successor, St. Sylvester,
thought it unbecoming to leave Rome,  thus setting an example which he repeated in
the case of Nicaea, and which his  successors followed in the cases of Sardica, Rimini,
and the Eastern oecumenical councils. Between forty and fifty sees were represented at
the council by  bishops or proxies; the Bishops of London, York, and Lincoln were
there. St.  Sylvester sent legates. The council condemned the Donatists and drew up a
number of canons; it reported its proceedings in a letter to the pope, which is extant;
but, as in the case of Nicaea, no detailed Acts remain, nor are any such  mentioned by
the ancients. The Fathers in their letter salute Sylvester, saying  that he had rightly
decided not to quit the spot "where the Apostles daily sit  in judgment"; had he been
with them, they might perhaps have dealt more severely with the heretics. Among the
canons, one forbids rebaptism (which was still  practised in Africa), another declares
that those who falsely accuse their  brethren shall have communion only at the hour of
death. On the other hand,  traditors are to be refused communion, but only when their
fault has been proved by public official acts; those whom they have ordained are to
retain their  positions. The council produced some effect in Africa, but the main body of
the  Donatists was immovable. They appealed from the council to the emperor.
Constantine was horrified: "O insolent madness!" he wrote, "they appeal from  heaven
to earth, from Jesus Christ to a man."

THE POLICY OF CONSTANTINE

The emperor retained the Donatist envoys in Gaul,  after at first dismissing them. He
seems to have thought of sending for  Caecilian, then of granting a full examination in
Africa. The case of Felix of  Aptonga was in fact examined by his order at Carthage in
February, 315 (St.  Augustine is probably wrong in giving 314). The minutes of the
proceedings have  come down to us in a mutilated state; they are referred to by St.
Optatus, who  appended them to his book with other documents, and they are
frequently cited by St. Augustine. It was shown that the letter which the Donatists put
forward as  proving the crime of Felix, had been interpolated by a certain Ingentius;
this  was established by the confession of Ingentius, as well as by the witness of  Alfius,
the writer of the letter. It was proved that Felix was actually absent  at the time the
search for Sacred Books was made at Aptonga. Constantine  eventually summoned
Caecilian and his opponents to Rome; but Caecilian, for some unknown reason, did not
appear. Caecilian and Donatus the Great (who was now, at all events, bishop) were
called to Milan, where Constantine heard both sides  with great care. He declared that
Caecilian was innocent and an excellent bishop (Augustine, Contra Cresconium, III
lxxi). He retained both in Italy, however,  while he sent two bishops, Eunomius and
Olympius, to Africa, with an idea of  putting Donatus and Caecilian aside, and
substituting a new bishop, to be agreed upon by all parties. It is to be presumed that
Caecilian and Donatus had  assented to this course; but the violence of the sectaries
made it impossible to carry it out. Eunomius and Olympius declared at Carthage that
the Catholic  Church was that which is diffused throughout the world and that the
sentence  pronounced against the Donatists could not be annulled. They communicated
with  the clergy of Caecilian and returned to Italy. Donatus went back to Carthage,  and
Caecilian, seeing this, felt himself free to do the same. Finally  Constantine ordered that
the churches which the Donatists had taken should be  given to the Catholics. Their
other meeting-places were confiscated. Those who  were convicted (of calumny?) lost
their goods. Evictions were carried out by the military. An ancient sermon on the
passion of the Donatist "martyrs", Donatus  and Advocatus, describes such scenes. In
one of them a regular massacre  occurred, and a bishop was among the slain, if we may
trust this curious  document. The Donatists were proud of this "persecution of
Caecilian", which  "the Pure" suffered at the hands of the "Church of the Traditors". The
<Comes> Leontius and the <Dux> Ursacius were the special objects of  their
indignation.

In 320 came revelations unpleasant to the "Pure". Nundinarius, a deacon of  Cirta, had
a quarrel with his bishop, Silvanus, who caused him to be stoned - so he said in his
complaint to certain Numidian bishops, in  which he threatened  that if they did not
use their influence in his behalf with Silvanus, he would  tell what he knew of them. As
he got no satisfaction he brought the matter  before Zenophilus, the consular of
Numidia. The minutes have come to us in a  fragmentary form in the appendix of
Optatus, under the title of "Gesta apud  Zenophilum". Nundinarius produced letters
from Purpurius and other bishops to  Silvanus and to the people of Cirta, trying to have
peace made with the  inconvenient deacon. The minutes of the search at Cirta, which
we have already  cited, were read and witnesses were called to establish their accuracy,
including two of the <fossores> then present and a lector, Victor the  grammarian. It
was shown no only that Silvanus was a traditor, but that he had  assisted Purpurius,
together with two priests and a deacon, in the theft of  certain casks of vinegar
belonging to the treasury, which were in the temple of  Serapis. Silvanus had ordained
a priest for the sum of 20 <folles>  (500 to 600 dollars). It was established that none of
the money given by Lucilla had  reached the poor for whom it was ostensibly given.
Thus Silvanus, one of the  mainstays of the "Pure" Church, which declared that to
communicate with any  traditor was to be outside the Church, was himself proved to be
a traditor. He  was exiled by the consular for robbing the treasury, for obtaining money
under  false pretences, and for getting himself made bishop by violence. The Donatists
later preferred to say that he was banished for refusing to communicate with the
"Caecilianists", and Cresconius even spoke of "the persecution of Zenophilus".  But it
should have been clear to all that the consecrators of Majorinus had  called their
opponents traditors in order to cover their own delinquencies.

The Donatist party owed its success in great part to the ability of its leader  Donatus,
the successor of Majorinus. He appears to have really merited the title of "the Great" by
his eloquence and force of character. His writings are lost.  His influence with his party
was extraordinary. St. Augustine frequently  declaims against his arrogance and the
impiety with which he was almost  worshipped by his followers. In his lifetime he is
said to have greatly enjoyed  the adulation he received, and after death he was counted
as a martyr and  miracles were ascribed to him.

In 321 Constantine relaxed his vigorous measures, having found that they did not
produce the peace he had hoped for, and he weakly begged the Catholics to suffer the
Donatists with patience. This was not easy, for the schismatics broke out  into violence.
At Cirta, Silvanus having returned, they seized the basilica  which the emperor had
built for the Catholics. They would not give it up, and  Constantine found no better
expedient that to build another. Throughout Africa,  but above all in Numidia, they
were numerous. They taught that in all the rest  of the world the Catholic Church had
perished, through having communicated with  the traditor Caecilian; their sect alone
was the true Church. If a Catholic came into their churches, they drove him out, and
washed  with salt the pavement  where he had stood. Any Catholic who joined them
was forced to be rebaptized.  They asserted that their own bishops and ministers were
without fault, else  their ministrations would be invalid. But in fact they were convicted
of  drunkenness and other sins. St. Augustine tells us on the authority of Tichonius that
the Donatists held a council of two hundred and seventy bishops in which  they
discussed for seventy-five days the question of rebaptism; they finally  decided that in
cases where traditors refused to be rebaptized they should be  communicated with in
spite of this; and the Donatist bishops of Mauretania did  not rebaptize traditors until
the time of Macarius. Outside Africa the Donatists had a bishop residing on the
property of an adherent in Spain, and at an early  period of the schism they made a
bishop for their small congregation in Rome,  which met, it seems, on a hill outside the
city, and had the name of  "Montenses". This antipapal "succession with a beginning"
was frequently  ridiculed by Catholic writers. The series included Felix, Boniface,
Encolpius,  Macrobius (c. 370), Lucian, Claudian (c. 378), and again Felix in 411.

THE CICUMCELLIONS

The date of the first appearance of the Circumcellions is  uncertain, but probably they
began before the death of Constantine. They were  mostly rustic enthusiasts, who knew
no Latin, but spoke Punic; it has been  suggested that they may have been of Berber
blood. They joined the ranks of the  Donatists, and were called by them <agnostici>
and "soldiers of Christ",  but in fact were brigands. Troops of them were to be met in all
parts of Africa. They had no regular occupation, but ran about armed, like madmen.
They used no  swords, on the ground that St. Peter had been told to put his sword into
its  sheath; but they did continual acts of violence with clubs, which they called
"Israelites". They bruised their victims without killing them, and left them to  die. In St.
Augustine's time, however, they took to swords and all sorts of  weapons; they rushed
about accompanied by unmarried women, played, and drank.  They battle-cry was
<Deo laudes>, and no bandits were more terrible to  meet. They frequently sought
death, counting suicide as martyrdom. They were  especially fond of flinging
themselves from precipices; more rarely they sprang  into the water or fire. Even
women caught the infection, and those who had  sinned would cast themselves from
the cliffs, to atone for their fault.  Sometimes the Circumcellions sought death at the
hands of others, either by  paying men to kill them, by threatening to kill a passer-by if
he would not kill them, or by their violence inducing magistrates to have them
executed. While  paganism still flourished, they would come in vast crowds to any
great  sacrifice, not to destroy the idols, but to be martyred. Theodoret says a
Circumcellion was accustomed to announce his intention of becoming a martyr long
before the time, in order to be well treated and fed like a beast for slaughter. He relates
an amusing story (Haer. Fab., IV, vi) to which St. Augustine also  refers. A number of
these fanatics, fattened like pheasants, met a young man and offered him a drawn
sword to smite them with, threatening to murder him if he  refused. He pretended to
fear that when he had killed a few, the rest might  change their minds and avenge the
deaths of their fellows; and he insisted that  they must all be bound. They agreed to
this; when they were defenceless, the  young man gave each of them a beating and
went his way.

When in controversy with Catholics, the Donatist bishops were not proud of their
supporters. They declared that self-precipitation from a cliff had been  forbidden in the
councils. Yet the bodies of these suicides were sacrilegiously  honoured, and crowds
celebrated their anniversaries. Their bishops could not but conform, and they were
often glad enough of the strong arms of the  Circumcellions. Theodoret, soon after St.
Augustine's death, knew of no other  Donatists than the Circumcellions; and these were
the typical Donatists in the  eyes of all outside Africa. They were especially dangerous
to the Catholic  clergy, whose houses they attacked and pillaged. They beat and
wounded them, put lime and vinegar on their eyes, and even forced them to be
rebaptized. Under  Axidus and Fasir, "the leaders of the Saints" in Numidia, property
and roads  were unsafe, debtors were protected, slaves were set in their masters'
carriages, and the masters made to run before them. At length, the Donatist  bishops
invited a general named Taurinus to repress these extravagances. He met  with
resistance in a place named Octava, and the altars and tablets to be seen  there in St.
Optatus's time testified to the veneration given to the  Circumcellions who were slain;
but their bishops denied them the honour due to  martyrs. It seems that in 336-7 the
<proefectus proetorio> of Italy,  Gregory took some measures against the Donatists, for
St. Optatus tells us that  Donatus wrote him a letter beginning: "Gregory, stain on the
senate and disgrace to the prefects".

THE "PERSECUTION" OF MACARIUS

When Constantine became master of the East by  defeating Licinius in 323, he was
prevented by the rise of Arianism in the East  from sending, as he had hoped, Eastern
bishops to Africa, to adjust the  differences between the Donatists and the Catholics.
Caecilian of Carthage was  present at the Council of Nicea in 325, and his successor,
Gratus, was at that  of Sardica in 342. The <conciliabulum> of the Easterns on that
occasion  wrote a letter to Donatus, as though he were the true Bishop of Carthage; but
the Arians failed to gain the support of the Donatists, who looked upon the  whole East
as cut off from the Church, which survived in Africa alone. The  Emperor Constans was
an anxious as his father to give peace to Africa. In 347 he sent thither two
commissioners, Paulus and Macarius, with large sums of money  for distribution.
Donatus naturally saw in this an attempt to win over his  adherents to the Church by
bribery; he received the envoys with insolence: "What has the emperor to do with the
Church?" said he, and he forbade his people to  accept any largess from Constans. In
most parts, however, the friendly mission  seems to have been not unfavourably
received. But at Bagai in Numidia the  bishop, Donatus, assembled the Circumcellions
of the neighbourhood, who had  already been excited by their bishops. Macarius was
obliged to ask for the  protection of the military. The Circumcellions attacked them, and
killed two or  three soldiers; the troops then became uncontrollable, and slew some of
the  Donatists. This unfortunate incident was thereafter continually thrown in the  teeth
of the Catholics, and they were nicknamed Macarians by the Donatists, who  declared
that Donatus of Bagai had been precipitated from a rock, and that  another bishop,
Marculus, had been thrown into a well. The existing Acts of two  other Donatist
martyrs of 347, Maximian and Isaac, are preserved; they  apparently belong to
Carthage, and are attributed by Harnack to the Antipope  Macrobius. It seems that after
violence had begun, the envoys ordered the  Donatists to unite with the Church
whether they willed or no. Many of the  bishops took flight with their partisans; a few
joined the Catholics; the rest  were banished. Donatus the Great died in exile. A
Donatist named Vitellius  composed a book to show that the servants of God are hated
by the world.

A solemn Mass was celebrated in each place where the union was completed, and  the
Donatists set about a rumour that images (obviously of the emperor) were to  be placed
in the altar and worshipped. As nothing of the sort was found to be  done, and as the
envoys merely made a speech in favour of unity, it seems that  the reunion was effected
with less violence than might have been expected. The  Catholics and their bishops
praised God for the peace that ensued, though they  declared that they had no
responsibility for the action of Paulus and Macarius.  In the following year Gratus, the
Catholic Bishop of Carthage, held a council,  in which the reiteration of baptism was
forbidden, while, to please the rallied  Donatists, traditors were condemned anew. It
was forbidden to honour suicides as martyrs.

THE RESTORATION OF DONATISM BY JULIAN

The peace was happy for Africa, and the forcible means by which it was obtained were
justified by the violence of the  sectaries. But the accession of Julian the Apostate in 361
changed the face of  affairs. Delighted to throw Christianity into confusion, Julian
allowed the  Catholic bishops who had been exiled by Constantius to return to the sees
which  the Arians were occupying. The Donatists, who had been banished by Constans,
were similarly allowed to return at their own petition, and received back their
basilicas. Scenes of violence were the result of this policy both in the East  and the West.
"Your fury", wrote St. Optatus, "returned to Africa at the same  moment that the devil
was set free", for the same emperor restored supremacy to  paganism and the Donatists
to Africa. The decree of Julian was considered so  discreditable to them, that the
Emperor Honorius in 405 had it posted up  throughout Africa for their shame. St.
Optatus gives a vehement catalogue of the excesses committed by the Donatists on their
return. They invaded the basilicas  with arms; they committed so many murders that a
report of them was sent to the  emperor. Under the orders of two bishops, a party
attacked the basilica of  Lemellef; they stripped off the roof, pelted with tiles the
deacons who were  round the altar, and killed two of them. In Maruetania riots
signalized the  return of the Donatists. In Numidia two bishops availed themselves of
the  complaisance of the magistrates to throw a peaceful population into confusion,
expelling the faithful, wounding the men, and not sparing the women and  children.
Since they did not admit the validity of the sacraments administered  by traditors,
when they seized the churches they cast the Holy Eucharist to the  dogs; but the dogs,
inflamed with madness, attacked their own masters. An  ampulla of chrism thrown out
of a window was found unbroken on the rocks. Two  bishops were guilty of rape; one
of these seized the aged Catholic bishop and  condemned him to public penance. All
Catholics whom they could force to join  their party were made penitents, even clerics
of every rank, and children,  contrary to the law of the Church. some for a year, some
for a month, some but  for a day. In taking possession of a basilica, they destroyed the
altar, or  removed it, or at least scraped the surface. They sometimes broke up the
chalices, and sold the materials. They washed pavements, walls, and columns. Not
content with recovering their churches, they employed pagan functionaries to  obtain
for them possession of the sacred vessels, furniture, altar-linen, and  especially the
books (how did they purify the book? asks St. Optatus), sometimes leaving the Catholic
congregation with no books at all. The cemeteries were  closed to the Catholic dead.

The revolt of Firmus, a Mauretanian chieftain who defied the Roman power and
eventually assumed the style of emperor (366-72), was undoubtedly supported by
many Donatists. The imperial laws against them were strengthened by Valentinian  in
373 and by Gratian, who wrote in 377 to the vicar of prefects, Flavian  (himself a
Donatist), ordering all the basilicas of the schismatics to be given  up to the Catholics.
St. Augustine shows that even the churches which the  Donatists themselves had built
were included. The same emperor required  Claudian, the Donatist bishop at Rome, to
return to Africa; as he refused to  obey, a Roman council had him driven a hundred
miles from the city. It is  probable that the Catholic Bishop of Carthage, Genethlius,
caused the laws to be mildly administered in Africa.

ST. OPTATUS

The Catholic champion, St. Optatus, Bishop of Milevis, published  his great work "De
schismate Donatistarum" in answer to that of the Donatist  Bishop of Carthage,
Parmenianus, under Valentinian and Valens, 364-375 (so St.  Jerome). Optatus himself
tells us that he was writing after the death of Julian  (363) and more than sixty years
after the beginning of the schism (he means the  persecution of 303). The form which
we possess is a second edition, brought up  to date by the author after the accession of
Pope Siricius (Dec., 384), with a  seventh book added to the original six. In the first
book he describes the  origin and growth of the schism; in the second he shows the
notes of the true  Church; in the third he defends the Catholics from the charge of
persecuting,  with especial reference to the days of Macarius. In the fourth book he
refutes  Parmenianus's proofs from Scripture that the sacrifice of a sinner is polluted.  In
the fifth book he shows the validity of baptism even when conferred by  sinners, for it
is conferred by Christ, the minister being the instrument only.  This is the first
important statement of the doctrine that the grace of the  sacraments is derived from the
<opus operatum> of Christ independently of  the worthiness of the minister. In the
sixth book he describes the violence of  the Donatists and the sacrilegious way in which
they had treated Catholic  altars. In the seventh book he treats chiefly of unity and of
reunion, and  returns to the subject of Macarius.

He calls Parmenianus "brother", and wishes to treat the Donatists as brethren,  since
they were not heretics. Like some other Fathers, he holds that only pagans and heretics
go to hell; schismatics and all Catholics will eventually be saved  after a necessary
purgatory. This is the more curious, because before him and  after him in Africa
Cyprian and Augustine both taught that schism is as bad as  heresy, if not worse. St.
Optatus was much venerated by St. Augustine and later  by St. Fulgentius. He writes
with vehemence, sometimes with violence, in spite  of his protestations of friendliness;
but he is carried away by his indignation. His style is forcible and effective, often
concise and epigrammatic. To this  work he appended a collection of documents
containing the evidence for the  history he had related. This <dossier> had certainly
been formed much  earlier, at all events before the peace of 347, and not long after the
latest  document it contains, which is dated Feb., 330; the rest are not later than 321, and
may possibly have been put together as early as that year. Unfortunately  these
important historical testimonies have come down to us only in a single  mutilated
manuscript, the archetype of which was also incomplete. The collection was  freely
used at the conference of 411 and is often quoted at some length by St.  Augustine, who
has preserved many interesting portions which would otherwise be  unknown to us.

THE MAXIMIANISTS

Before Augustine took up the mantle of Optatus together with a double portion of his
spirit, the Catholics had gained new and victorious  arguments from the divisions
among the Donatists themselves. Like so many other  schisms, this schism bred schisms
within itself. In Mauretania and Numidia these separated sects were so numerous that
the Donatists themselves could not name  them all. We hear of Urbanists; of
Claudianists, who were reconciled to the main body by Primianus of Carthage; of
Rogatists, a Mauretanian sect, of mild  character, because no Circumcellion belonged to
it; the Rogatists were severely  punished whenever the Donatists could induce the
magistrates to do so, and were  also persecuted by Optatus of Timgad. But the most
famous sectaries were the  Maximianists, for the story of their separation from the
Donatists reproduces  with strange exactitude that of the withdrawal of the Donatists
themselves from  the communion of the Church; and the conduct of the Donatists
towards them was  so inconsistent with their avowed principles, that it became in the
skilled  hands of Augustine the most effective weapon of all his controversial armoury.

Primianus, Donatist Bishop of Carthage, excommunicated the deacon Maximianus.
The latter (who was, like Majorinus, supported by a lady) got together a council of
forty-three bishops, who summoned Primianus to appear before them. The  primate
refused, insulted their envoys, tried to have them prevented from  celebrating the
Sacred Mysteries, and had stones thrown at them in the street.  The council summoned
him before a greater council, which met to the number of a  hundred bishops at
Cebarsussum in June, 393. Primianus was deposed; all clerics  were to leave his
communion within eight days; if they should delay till after  Christmas, they would not
be permitted to return to the Church even after  penance; the laity were allowed until
the following Easter, under the same  penalty. A new bishop of Carthage was
appointed in the person of Maximian  himself, and was consecrated by twelve bishops.
The partisans of Primianus were  rebaptized, if they had been baptized after the
permitted delay. Primianus stood out, and demanded to be judged by a Numidian
council; three hundred and ten  bishops met at Bagai in April, 394; the primate did not
take the place of an  accused person, but himself presided. He was of course acquitted,
and the  Maximianists were condemned without a hearing. All but the twelve
consecrators  and their abettors among the clergy of Carthage were given till Christmas
to  return; after this period they would be obliged to do penance. This decree,
composed in eloquent style by Emeritus of Caesarea, and adopted by acclamation,
made the Donatists hence-forward ridiculous through their having readmitted
schismatics without penance. Maximian's church was razed to the ground, and  after
the term of grace had elapsed, the Donatists persecuted the unfortunate  Maximianists,
representing themselves as Catholics, and demanding that the  magistrates should
enforce against the new sectaries the very laws which  Catholics emperors had drawn
up against Donatism. Their influence enabled them  to do this, for they were still far
more numerous than the Catholics, and the  magistrates must often have been of their
party. In the reception of those who  returned from the party of Maximian they were
yet more fatally inconsequent. The rule was theoretically adhered to that all who had
been baptized in the schism  must be rebaptized; but if a bishop returned, he and his
whole flock were  admitted without rebaptism. This was allowed even in the case of
two of the  consecrators of Maximian, Praetextatus of Assur and  Felixianus of Musti,
after  the proconsul had vainly tried to expel them from their sees, and although a
Donatist bishop, Rogatus, had already been appointed at Assur. In another case  the
party of Primianus was more consistent. Salvius, the Maximianist Bishop of  Membresa,
was another of the consecrators. He was twice summoned by the  proconsul to retire in
favour of the Primianist Restitutus. As he was much  respected by the people of
Membresa, a mob was brought over from the  neighbouring town of Abitene to expel
him; the aged bishop was beaten, and made  to dance with dead dogs tied around his
neck. But his people built him a new  church, and three bishops coexisted in this small
town, a Maximianist, a  Primianist, and a Catholic.

The leader of the Donatists at this time was Optatus, Bishop of Thamugadi  (Timgad),
called Gildonianus, from his friendship with Gildo, the Count of  Africa (386-397). For
ten years Optatus, supported by Gildo, was the tyrant of  Africa. He persecuted the
Rogatists and Maximianists, and he used troops against the Catholics. St. Augustine
tells us that his vices and cruelties were beyond  description; but they had at least the
effect of disgracing the cause of the  Donatists, for though he was hated throughout
Africa for his wickedness and his  evil deeds, yet the Puritan faction remained always
in full communion with this  bishop, who was a robber, a ravisher, an oppressor, a
traitor, and a monster of  cruelty. When Gildo fell in 397, after having made himself
master of Africa for  a few months, Optatus was thrown into a prison, in which he died.

SAINT AUGUSTINE

St. Augustine began his victorious campaign against Donatism  soon after he was
ordained priest in 391. His popular psalm or "Abecedarium"  against the Donatists was
intended to make known to the people the arguments set forth by St. Optatus, with the
same conciliatory end in view. It shows that the  sect was founded by traditors,
condemned by pope and council, separated from the whole world, a cause of division,
violence, and bloodshed; the true Church is  the one Vine, whose branches are over all
the earth. After St. Augustine had  become bishop in 395, he obtained conferences with
some of the Donatist leaders, though not with his rival at Hippo. In 400 he wrote three
books against the  letter of Parmenianus, refuting his calumnies and his arguments
from Scripture.  More important were his seven books on baptism, in which, after
developing the  principle already laid down by St. Optatus, that the effect of the
sacrament is  independent of the holiness of the minister, he shows in great detail that
the  authority of St. Cyprian is more awkward than convenient for the Donatists. The
principal Donatist controversialist of the day was Petilianus, Bishop of  Constantine, a
successor of the traditor Silvanus. St. Augustine wrote two books in reply to a letter of
his against the Church, adding a third book to answer  another letter in which he was
himself attacked by Petilianus. Before this last  book he published his "De Unitate
ecclesiae" about 403. To these works must be  added some sermons and some letters
which are real treatises.

The arguments used by St. Augustine against Donatism fall under three heads.  First
we have the historical proofs of the regularity of Caecilian's  consecration, of the
innocence of Felix of Aptonga, of the guilt of the founders of the "Pure" Church, also
the judgment  given by pope, council, and emperor,  the true history of Macarius, the
barbarous behaviour of the Donatists under  Julian, the violence of the Circumcellions,
and so forth. Second, there are the  doctrinal arguments: the proofs from the Old and
New Testaments that the Church  is Catholic, diffused throughout the world, and
necessarily one and united;  appeal is made to the See of Rome, where the succession of
bishops is  uninterrupted from St. Peter himself; St. Augustine borrows his list of popes
from St. Optatus (Ep. li), and in his psalm crystallizes the argument into the  famous
phrase: "That is the rock against which the proud gates of hell do not  prevail." A
further appeal is to the Eastern Church, and especially to the  Apostolic Churches to
which St. Peter, St. Paul, and St. John addressed epistles - they were not in communion
with the Donatists. The validity of baptism  conferred by heretics, the impiety of
rebaptizing, are important points. All  these arguments were found in St. Optatus.
Peculiar to St. Augustine is the  necessity of defending St. Cyprian, and the third
category is wholly his own.  The third division comprises the <argumentum ad
hominem> drawn from the  inconsistency of the Donatists themselves: Secundus had
pardoned the traditors;  full fellowship was accorded to malefactors like Optatus
Gildonianus and the  Circumcellions; Tichonius turned against his own party;
Maximian had divided  from Primatus just as Majorinus from Caecilian; the
Maximianists had been  readmitted without rebaptism.

This last method of argument was found to be of great practical value, and many
conversions were now taking place, largely on account of the false position in  which
the Donatists had placed themselves. This point had been especially  emphasized by
the Council of Carthage of Sept., 401, which had ordered  information as to the
treatment of the Maximianists to be gathered from  magistrates. The same synod
restored the earlier rule, long since abolished,  that Donatist bishops and clergy should
retain their rank if they returned to  the Church. Pope Anastasius I wrote to the council
urging the importance of the  Donatist question. Another council in 403 organized
public disputations with the Donatists. This energetic action roused the Circumcellions
to new violence. The  life of St. Augustine was endangered. His future biographer, St.
Possidius of  Calama, was insulted and ill-treated by a party led by a Donatist priest,
Crispinus. The latter's bishop, also named Crispinus, was tried at Carthage and  fined
ten pounds of gold as a heretic, though the fine was remitted by  Possidius. This is the
first case known to us in which a Donatist is declared a  heretic, but henceforth it is the
common style for them. The cruel and  disgusting treatment of Maximianus, Bishop of
Bagai, is also related by St.  Augustine in detail. The Emperor Honorius was induced
by the Catholics to renew  the old laws against the Donatists at the beginning of 405.
Some good resulted,  but the Circumcellions of Hippo were excited to new violence.
The letter of  Petilianus was defended by a grammarian named Cresconius, against
whom St.  Augustine published a reply in four books. The third and fourth books are
especially important, as in these he argues from the Donatists' treatment of the
Maximianists, quotes the Acts of the Council of Cirta held by Secundus, and  cites other
important documents. The saint also replied to a pamphlet by  Petilianus, "De unico
baptismate".

THE "COLLATIO" OF 411

St. Augustine had once hoped to conciliate the  Donatists by reason only. The violence
of the Circumcellions, the cruelties of  Optatus of Thamugadi, the more recent attacks
on Catholic bishops had all given  proof that repression by the secular arm was
absolutely unavoidable. It was not  necessarily a case of persecution for religious
opinions, but simply one of the  protection of life and property and the ensuring of
freedom and safety for  Catholics. Nevertheless the laws went much further than this.
Those of Honorius  were promulgated anew in 408 and 410. In 411 the method of
disputation was  organized on a grand scale by order of the emperor himself at the
request of the Catholic bishops. Their case was now complete and unanswerable. But
this was to  be brought home to the people of Africa, and public opinion was to be
forced to  recognize the facts, by a public exposure of the weakness of the separatist
position. The emperor sent an official named Marcellinus, an excellent  Christian, to
preside as <cognitor> at the conference. He issued a  proclamation declaring that he
would exercise absolute impartiality in his  conduct of the proceedings and in his final
judgment. The Donatist bishops who  should come to the conference were to receive
back for the present the basilicas which had been taken from them. The number of
those who arrived at Carthage was  very large, though somewhat less that the two
hundred and seventy-nine whose  signatures were appended to a letter to the
president. The Catholic bishops  numbered two hundred and eighty-six. Marcellinus
decided that each party should  elect seven disputants, who alone should speak, seven
advisers whom they might  consult, and four secretaries to keep the records. Thus only
thirty-six bishops  would be present in all. The Donatists pretended that this was a
device to  prevent their great numbers being known; but the Catholics did not object to
all of them being present, provided no disturbance was caused.

The chief Catholic speaker, besides the amiable and venerable Bishop of  Carthage,
Aurelius, was of course Augustine, whose fame had already spread  through the whole
Church. His friend, Alypius of Tagaste, and his disciple and  biographer, Possidius,
were also among the seven. The principal Donatist  speakers were Emeritus of Caesarea
in Mauretania (Cherchel) and Petilianus of  Constantine (Cirta); the latter spoke or
interrupted about a hundred and fifty  times, until on the third day he was so hoarse
that he had to desist. The  Catholics made a generous proposal that any Donatist bishop
who should join the  Church, should preside alternately with the Catholic bishop in the
episcopal  chair, unless the people should object, in which case both must resign and a
new election be made. The conference was held on the 1, 3, and 8 June. The policy of
the Donatists was to raise technical objections, to cause delay, and by all  manner of
means to prevent the Catholic disputants from stating their case. The  Catholic case
was, however, clearly enunciated on the first day in letters which were read, addressed
by the Catholic bishops to Marcellinus and to their  deputies to instruct them in the
procedure. A discussion of important points was arrived at only on the third day, amid
many interruptions. It was then evident  that the unwillingness of the Donatists to have
a real discussion was due to the fact that they could not reply to the arguments and
documents brought forward by the Catholics. The insincerity as well as the
inconsequence and clumsiness of  the sectaries did them great harm. The main
doctrinal points and historical  proofs of the Catholics were made perfectly plain. The
<cognitor> summed up in favor of the Catholic bishops. The churches which had been
provisionally  restored to the Donatists were to be given up; their assemblies were
forbidden  under grave penalties. The lands of those who permitted Circumcellions on
their  property were to be confiscated. The minutes of this great conference were
submitted to all the speakers for their approval, and the report of each speech  (mostly
only a single sentence) was signed by the speaker as a guarantee of its  accuracy. We
possess these manuscripts in full only as far as the middle of the  third day; for the rest
only the headings of each little speech are preserved.  These headings were composed
by order of Marcellinus in order to facilitate  reference. On account of the dullness and
a length of the full report, St.  Augustine composed a popular resume of the discussions
in his "Breviculus  Collationis", and went with more detail into a few points in a final
pamphlet,  "Ad Donatistas post Collationem".

On 30 Jan., 412, Honorius issued a final law against the Donatists, renewing old
legislation and adding a scale of fines for Donatist clergy, and for the laity  and their
wives: the <illustres> were to pay fifty pounds of gold, the  <spectabiles> forty, the
<senatores> and <sacerdotales> thirty,  the <clarissimi> and <principales> twenty, the
<decuriones>,  <negotiatores>, and <plebeii> five, which Circumcellions were to pay
ten pounds of silver. Slaves were to be reproved by their masters, <coloni> were to be
constrained by repeated beatings. All bishops and clerics were exiled from Africa. In
414 the fines were increased for those of high rank: a  proconsul, vicar, or count was
fined two hundred pounds of gold, and a senator a hundred. A further law was
published in 428. The good Marcellinus, who had  become the friend of St. Augustine,
fell a victim (it is supposed) to the  rancour of the Donatists; for he was put to death in
413, as though an  accomplice in the revolt of Heraclius, Count of Africa, in spite of the
orders  of the emperor, who did not believe him guilty. Donatism was now discredited
by  the conference and proscribed by the persecuting laws of Honorius. The
Circumcellions made some dying efforts, and a priest was killed by them at  Hippo. It
does not seem that the decrees were rigidly carried out, for the  Donatist clergy was still
found in Africa. The ingenious Emeritus was at  Caesarea in 418, and at the wish of
Pope Zosimus St. Augustine had a conference  with him, without result. But on the
whole Donatism was dead. Even before the  conference the Catholic Bishops in Africa
were considerably more numerous than  the Donatists, except in Numidia. From the
time of the invasion of the Vandals  in 430 little is heard of them until the days of St.
Gregory the Great, when  they seem to have revived somewhat, for the pope
complained to the Emperor  Maurice that the laws were not strictly enforced. They
finally disappeared with  the irruptions of the Saracens.

DONATIST WRITERS

There seems to have been no lack of literary activity among  the Donatists of the fourth
century, though little remains to us. The works of  Donatus the Great were known to St.
Jerome, but have not been preserved. His  book on the Holy Spirit is said by that Father
to have been Arian in doctrine.  It is possible that the Pseudo-Cyprianic "De
singularitate clericorum" is by  Macrobius; and the "Adversus aleatores" is by an
antipope, either Donatist or  Novatianist. The arguments of Parmenianus and
Cresconius are known to us, though their works are lost; but Monceaux has been able
to restore from St. Augustine's citations short works by Petilianus of Constantine and
Gaudentius of Thamugadi,  and also a <libellus> by a certain Fulgentius, from the
citations in the  Pseudo-Augustinian "Contra Fulgentium Donatistam". Of Tichonius, or
Tyconius, we still possess the treatise "De Septem regulis" (P.L., XVIII; new ed. by
Professor Burkitt, in Cambridge "Texts and Studies", III, 1, 1894) on the  interpretation
of Holy Scripture. His commentary on the Apocalypse is lost; it  was used by Jerome,
Primasius, and Beatus in their commentaries on the same  book. Tichonius is chiefly
celebrated for his views on the Church, which were  quite inconsistent with Donatism,
and which Parmenianus tried to refute. In the  famous words of St. Augustine (who
often refers to his illogical position and to the force with which her argued against the
cardinal tenets of his own sect):  "Tichonius assailed on all sides by the voices of the
holy pages, awoke and saw  the Church of God diffused throughout the world, as had
been foreseen and  foretold of her so long before by the hearts and mouths of the saints.
And  seeing this, he undertook to demonstrate and assert against his own party that  no
sin of man, however villainous and monstrous, can interfere with the promises of God,
nor can any impiety of any persons within the Church cause the word of  God to be
made void as to the existence and diffusion of the Church to the ends  of the earth,
which was promised to the Fathers and now is manifest" (Contra Ep. Parmen., I, i).

JOHN CHAPMAN

Transcribed by Anthony A. Killeen

<Aeterna non caduca>

Taken from the New Advent Web Page (www.knight.org/advent).

This article is part of the Catholic Encyclopedia Project, an effort aimed at placing the
entire Catholic Encyclopedia on the World Wide Web. The coordinator is Kevin Knight,
editor of the New Advent Catholic Website. If you would like to contribute to this
worthwhile project, you can contact him by e-mail at ([email protected]). For
more information please download the file cathen.txt/.zip.

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