E06380: A letter of Pope Gregory the Great (Register 8.22) of 598, to the noblewoman Rusticiana in Constantinople, refers to the protection *Peter (the Apostle, S00036) gives to the city of Rome. Written in Latin in Rome.

Pope Gregory the Great, Register of Letters 8.22


Extracts from a letter in which Gregory urges Rusticiana, then living in Constantinople, to return to Rome:

Iam dudum uestrae excellentiae me scripsisse et saepius imminuisse reminiscor ut beati Petri apostolorum principis limina reuidere festinet.
[...]
Sin uero gladios Italiae ac bella formidatis, sollicite debetis aspicere quanta beati Petri apostolorum principis in hac urbe protectio est, in qua sine magnitudine populi et sine adiutoriis militum tot annis inter gladios illaesi deo auctore seruamur.


‘‘I remember having written to your Excellency some time ago, and I repeatedly encouraged you to revisit soon the threshold of Saint Peter, the prince of the apostles.
[...]
But if, in fact, you are afraid of the swords and wars of Italy, you should observe most carefully what great protection is given to this city by Saint Peter, prince of the apostles. For we have been preserved for so many years, unharmed amid swords, with God’s support, without a large population of people, and without the support of soldiers.’


Text: Norberg 1982, vol. 2, 541-2. Translation: Martyn 2004, vol. 2, 517-18.