Virgil and the Tome of St Leo...

This post is for Zephyrinus, following on from my previous post. I have decided to translate; Non equidem invideo, miror magis: undique totis usque adeo turbatur agris, as I begrudge not for my part, rather do I marvel: all the while the whole countryside is disturbed so much on all sides. It was easier, as my parish priest and I agreed, to translate agris as countryside instead of fields, as it could be a poetic device of some sort, and a plural noun cannot agree with a singular verb in any case. Phew! I am still on the first page, but I only have another page and a half to go before I finish the first Eclogue. I shall be glad of it when I finish, as three Classicists have told me that Virgil is especially hard! I think I shall post my completed translation of the first Eclogue when I am eventually done with it.

When I got bored doing it yesterday, I went to do some fun and easier stuff instead. And I was reading St Leo's famous Tomus ad Flavianum (in which he calls the heretic Eutyches an idiot!) which is some of the most beautiful Latin and christology I have ever read. The Tome was read out by the Pope's Legates at the Council of Chalcedon in 451, the Fourth Ecumenical Council of the Church, after which the Council Fathers (all of them) stood up and shouted: ''This is the faith of the Fathers, this is the faith of the Apostles. So we all believe, thus the orthodox believe. Anathema to him who does not thus believe. Peter has spoken thus through Leo. So taught the Apostles. Piously and truly did Leo teach, so taught Cyril [of Alexandria, the so-called ''yardstick of orthodoxy'' at the Council].'' Here is some of the Latin with my translation:

Nativitas carnis manifestatio est humanae naturae; partus Virginis divinae est virtutis indicium. Infantia parvuli ostenditur humilitate cunarum: magnitudo Altissimi declaratur vocibus Angelorum. Similis est rudimentis hominum, quem Herodes impie molitur occidere; sed Dominus est omnium quem Magi gaudent suppliciter adorare.

Which says:

The birth of the flesh is the manifestation of the human nature; the bringing forth of the Virgin is the indication of the Divine power. The little infant is shown in the humility of the cradle: the magnitude of the Most High is declared by the voices of the Angels. He is like the beginning [as in, innocence] of Men whom Herod strives impiously to kill; but He is the Lord of all whom the Magi rejoice humbly to adore.

Isn't it melodious? It would make a great Christmas present if I could get a copy of this letter in the original Latin - I have only seen an old edition of The Acts of the Council of Chalcedon in the Library, and in the office of my tutor before today (I have an English edition of these Acts, but as Reginald Foster once said ''you get a translation, you get nothing!'') and this Latin edition I found online. But alas, I must get on now with tedious academic stuff...

Sic Ecclesia Hobbitur ad astra!

The above image is of St Leo going to meet Attila the Hun outside Rome. He single-handedly dissuaded Attila from sacking Rome. When I told a friend of mine that story, she said (cynically) that he was paid off! Of course such an attitude won't do. It was a special power given him by God that did the job.