Letter to the Emperor Anastasius (Duo sunt)
A letter of Pope Gelasius I to the emperor at Constantinople, known from its opening words as Duo sunt. It says that the world is ruled by two powers, the authority of priests and the power of kings, and that in divine things the emperor is subject to the priests.
Gelasius wrote to Anastasius I in 494. The passage translated by Robinson is the part that later ages quoted. It distinguishes the “sacred authority of the priests” from the “royal power”, says that the priests carry the heavier burden because they must answer to God for kings as well, and asks the emperor to obey in religion those whose laws he expects the clergy to obey in public affairs. It ends by claiming a special obedience for the bishop of the see set above all others.
The letter is Gelasius’s own statement and gives one side of an argument with the Eastern court. It was much quoted in later debates about the powers of popes and emperors.
Cited in
- AD 476, firm date
- AD 482 to AD 519, firm date