Tag: Collectio Avellana

Still more on the collectio avellana

Posted on by Roger Pearse

I have just become aware via this site that quite a number of the letters in the Collectio Avellana, a mass of 243 papal and imperial letters of the 5-6th centuries, may exist in English.  There is a three volume collection by P. R. Coleman-Norton, Roman State and Christian Church, 3 volumes (London: SPCK, 1966), which lists a good many of the first 50 as translated (in the rightmost column of the table).

Of course the question is whether letter 100, on the Lupercalia, is one of them!  If it is, I may need to get some of these Latin translation people at work on something else.  Maybe some letters of St. Jerome or something.

I was intending to go to Oxford tomorrow, but perhaps a trip to Cambridge and some library time might be a better option.

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The abolition of the Lupercalia – letter 100 of the Collectio Avellana

Posted on by Roger Pearse

I thought that I had blogged about this, but it seems I did not, or at least, can’t find it if I did.

The ancient festival of the Lupercalia was only abolished late in the 5th century.  Pope Gelasius wrote a letter to the senator Andromachus, justifying the move.  It’s found in the Collectio Avellana, which was published as CSEL 35.1 and 35.2 a century ago, as letter 100.  The letter is on p.453-464 of vol. 1, which is p.566-577 of the PDF. 

I think that would be an interesting letter to have online.  I’ve put out an enquiry in StudentGems to see if I can find someone to translate it.

UPDATE: I did.

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