Damasus is ranked by Jerom[[1205]] among the Ecclesiastical Writers, on account of the many small Pieces he writ, chiefly in Verse; for he had a particular Genius for Poetry, and was no despicable Poet, if some Compositions ascribed to him were truly his. He writ several Books, both in Prose and Verse, in Commendation of Virginity; but neither that, nor any of his other Works, has reached our Times, besides some Letters, and a few Epitaphs, Inscriptions, and Epigrams, which have been carefully collected by Baronius[[1206]], though it may be justly questioned whether the several Pieces ascribed to him by that Writer were written by him. A short History of the first Popes, styled, The Pontifical of Damasus, and published together with the Councils, has long passed for the Work of Damasus; but now even Baronius owns it not to be his; and most Critics are of Opinion, that it was written after the Time of Gregory the Great; nay, some ascribe it to Anastasius Bibliothecarius, who flourished in the Ninth Century[[1207]]. As for his Letters, those to Aurelius of Carthage, to Stephen, styled, Archbishop of the Council of Mauritania, to Prosper Primate of Numidia, to the Bishops of Italy, are all spurious, as well as the Letters to which some of them are Answers, and supposed to have been forged by that notorious Impostor Isidorus Mercator[[1208]]. His genuine Letters are the Two, that are to be found among the Works of Jerom, to whom they were written; Two to Acholius Bishop of Thessalonica, published by Holstenius in his Collection of the antient Monuments of the Church of Rome[[1209]]; a Letter of great Length to Paulinus of Antioch, whereof the chief Heads are set down by Theodoret in his History, as are likewise those of his Letter to the Orientals concerning Timotheus, the favourite Disciple of Apollinaris. Several Letters from the Councils, that were held in Rome in his Time, and at which he presided, are still extant, and may well be ascribed to him. The Two Letters to Jerom are well worth perusing, being written in a pure, easy, and elegant Style, and with a great deal of Spirit, Vivacity, and even Gaiety, though Damasus was then much advanced in Years, and overburdened with Cares and Business[[1210]]. In one of them he declares, that his only Delight was to read the Scriptures; and that all other Books, however well written, gave him rather Disgust than Pleasure. Jerom returned to Rome from the East in 382. with Epiphanius Bishop of Salamis, and Paulinus of Antioch, to assist at the Council held there. |Jerom kept at Rome,
and employed by him.| The other Two returned to their Sees; but Jerom continued at Rome, being kept there by Damasus, who employed him in answering the Letters he received from the Councils of several Churches applying to him for his Advice[[1211]]. Damasus, taken with his Learning and Erudition, and chiefly with the Knowlege he had of the Scripture, had long before lived in great Intimacy with him, and upon his leaving Rome writ frequent Letters to him, not thinking it beneath the Rank he held in the Church to consult him as his Master about the true Meaning of some difficult Passages in holy Writ[[1212]]. Thus in one of his Letters he desires him to explain the Parable of the Prodigal Son[[1213]], and in another to interpret the Word Hosanna, which he says was differently interpreted by different Writers, who seemed to contradict each other[[1214]]. In Compliance with this Request, Jerom writ the Piece on that Subject, which is still extant. It was likewise at the Desire of Damasus that he corrected the Latin Version of the New Testament, and revised at Rome the Latin Version of the Psalms, comparing it with the Greek Text of the Septuagint. But as to the Letter, with which Damasus is supposed to have encouraged him to undertake that Work, it is evidently supposititious, and altogether unworthy of him.
Psalmody falsly as-
cribed to him.
Anastasius ascribes to Damasus the Custom of Singing, instead of Reading, the Psalms at Divine Service[[1215]]. But it is manifest from Austin, that this Practice was brought from the East, and first complied with by the Church of Milan[[1216]], in the Year 386. that is, Two Years after the Death of Damasus. So long as Damasus lived, Jerom continued at Rome; but as, by his Learning and exemplary Life, he was an Eye-sore to the lewd, ignorant, and haughty Clergy of Rome, or as he styles them, the Senate of Pharisees[[1217]], he thought it adviseable to abandon the City upon the Death of his great Friend and Protector, and retire to Jerusalem, hoping to find there that Quiet and Tranquillity which he despaired of being able to enjoy while he dwelt with the Scarlet Whore[[1218]], that is, while he lived at Rome. |His Character.| As for the Character of Damasus; Jerom styles him, a Virgin Doctor of the Virgin Church; and, in his Letter to Eustochium, a Man of great Excellence. Theodoret commends him as a Man of a holy Life, as one who declined no Fatigue or Labour to support and maintain the Doctrine of the Apostles, and who struck the Arians with Terror, though he attacked them at a Distance[[1219]]. Elsewhere he calls him the famous Damasus[[1220]], and places him at the Head of the most celebrated Teachers of Truth, who, till his Time, had appeared in the West[[1221]]. That Greek Writer could not be biassed in his Favour, though Jerom perhaps was. The Orientals declared, in 431. that they followed the Example of Damasus, and other Persons eminent for Learning[[1222]]; and the Council of Chalcedon, speaking of his Letter to Paulinus of Antioch, styles him the Honour and Glory of Rome for Piety and Justice[[1223]]. The Church of Rome honours him as a Saint, and his Festival is kept in some Places on the 10th, in others on the 11th of December. But, after all, that he got the Pontificate by the most horrible Violence and Bloodshed; that he lived in great State; that he had frequent and grand Entertainments; that he kept a Table, which, in Sumptuousness, vied with the Tables of the Emperors themselves; and all this at the Expence of the Roman Ladies, whose generous Contributions might have been applied to better Uses; is affirmed by contemporary and unexceptionable Writers. It is likewise manifest from the Letters of Jerom, that in his Time the Discipline of the Church was greatly relaxed; that the Observance of the primitive Canons was almost utterly neglected; and that Luxury, Ignorance, and Debauchery, universally prevailed among the Ecclesiastics at Rome. And this Charge against his Clergy in some degree recoils upon him, since he appears to have carried the Papal Authority farther than any of his Predecessors, and therefore might have restrained and corrected them. Whether his Sanctity may not from all this be justly questioned, notwithstanding the favourable Testimony of some antient Writers, I leave the Reader to judge.
| Valentinian, Theodosius, | SYRICIUS, Thirty-seventh BISHOP of Rome. | Arcadius, Honorius. |
Year of Christ 384.
Syricius, the Successor of Damasus, according to the Pontificals, and some antient Monuments quoted and received by Baronius[[1224]], was a Native of Rome, the Son of one Tiburtius, had been first Reader, and afterwards Deacon, under Liberius, and, upon his Death, had zealously espoused the Cause of Damasus against Ursinus and his Party. Damasus being dead, he was chosen in his room by the unanimous Acclamations of the whole Roman People, being at that time Presbyter of the Church known by the Title of the Pastor, perhaps the most antient Church in Rome[[1225]]. Ursinus, who was still alive, did not fail, upon the Vacancy of the See, to revive his former Claim; but he was rejected with Scorn and Indignation. Valentinian the younger, who then reigned in Italy under the Direction of his Mother Justina, received the News of this Election with great Joy; and, concluding from the Unanimity of the Electors, the Worth and Merit of the Person elected, confirmed Syricius in his new Dignity, by a Rescript dated the 23d of February, and directed to Piaianus, at that Time either Prefect or Vicar of Rome[[1226]][[N20]].
[N20]. Damasus died on the 10th or 11th of December 384. as I have related above; and Syricius was chosen the same Year, as we read in the Chronicle of Prosper. Anastasius therefore, and the Author of the Pontifical published by Bollandus, as well as Baronius, were certainly mistaken in affirming, upon what Grounds I know not, that, upon the Death of Damasus, the See remained vacant for the Space of 31 or 36 Days[[1]].
[1]. Anast. p. 21. Boll. Apr. t. 1. p. 32. Bar. ib. n. 5.