View source for Libellus

{{Short description|Government documents of the Roman Empire}}
{{For|the taxonomic synonym of a genus of fungi|Hymenogloea}}
[[File:Libellus scroll.jpg|thumb|250px|[[Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 3929]], a libellus from the [[Decian persecution]], found in Oxyrhynchus in Egypt.]]
A '''''libellus''''' (plural ''libelli'') in the [[Roman Empire]] was any brief document written on individual pages (as opposed to scrolls or tablets), particularly official documents issued by governmental authorities.

The term ''libellus'' has particular historical significance for the libelli that were issued during the reign of Emperor [[Decius]] to citizens to certify performance of required [[Roman religion|pagan]] [[sacrifice]]s in order to demonstrate [[loyalty]] to the authorities of the [[Roman Empire]]. During later periods libelli were issued as certificates of indulgence, in which the confessors or martyrs interceded for apostate Christians.<ref>{{CathEncy|wstitle=Libellatici, Libelli}}</ref>

==Etymology==
The word ''libellus'' is a [[Latin]] diminutive form of the ordinary word ''liber'' (meaning "[[book]]"), from which we get the English word ''[[library]]''. Literally, it means "little book". Sometimes the word was used to describe what we would call: [[essay]]s, [[Tract (literature)|tracts]], [[pamphlet]]s, or [[petition]]s.

==History==
===During the Decian persecution===
In the year 250, in an attempt to promote traditional Roman ''[[pietas]]'' and unify the Empire, the Emperor Decian decreed that everyone, (excepting the Jews), must sacrifice and burn incense to the gods in the presence of a magistrate, and obtain a signed document witnessed by the officials attesting to this. The ''libellus'' was the statement of the individual of his/her loyalty to the Empire, the fact that they had rendered the required sacrifice, plus  a request for the officials to countersign as witnesses.<ref>[https://www.jstor.org/stable/1507673 Knipfing, John R. "The Libelli of the Decian Persecution." ''The Harvard Theological Review'', vol. 16, no. 4, 1923, pp. 345–390. JSTOR]{{PD-notice}}</ref>

"Forty-six such certificates have been published, all dating from this same year [250 AD]."<ref>[http://www.csad.ox.ac.uk/POxy/VExhibition/d6.htm 'Certificate of pagan sacrifice: June - July, AD 250'], {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100618220207/http://www.csad.ox.ac.uk/POxy/VExhibition/d6.htm |date=2010-06-18 }} ''Oxyrhynchus Papyri Project'', [[Oxford University]].</ref> This coincides with the [[Decian persecution]]. Four ''libelli'' were found among the thousands of [[papyrus|papyri]] at the [[Archaeology|archaeological]] site near [[Oxyrhynchus]] in [[Egypt]] ([[Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 658|P. Oxy. 658]], [[Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 1464|P. Oxy. 1464]], [[Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 2990|P. Oxy. 2990]] and [[Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 3929|P. Oxy. 3929]]). A number of these certificates still exist and one discovered in Egypt reads:

{|
|1
|{{lang|grc|[τοῖς] ἐπὶ τῶν θυσιῶν αἱρεθεῖσι τῆς}}
|For those who partook of the sacrifices from the
|-
|2
|{{lang|grc|[Ὀ]ξυρυγχε̣ιτῶν πόλεως}}
|city of Oxyrhynchus
|-
|3
|{{lang|grc|∥ὰ Αὐρηλίου Γαιῶνος Ἀμμωνίου}}
|These are Aurelius Gaionus Ammonius
|-
|4
|{{lang|grc|[μη]τρὸς Ταεῦτος. ἀεὶ μὲν θύειν καὶ}}
|[and the] mother of Taeutus. Indeed always making sacrifice and
|-
|5
|{{lang|grc|[σπέ]νδειν καὶ σέ̣β̣ειν θεοῖς εἰθισμένος}}
|libation and worship to the gods being accustomed
|-
|6
|{{lang|grc|[κατ]ὰ τὰ κελευσθέντα ὑπὸ τῆς θείας κρίσεως}}
|according to those justly urged by the aunt
|-
|7
|{{lang|grc|[καὶ] νῦν ἐνώπιον ὑμῶν θύων καὶ σπέν-}}
|and now in front of you all making sacrifice and libation
|-
|8
|{{lang|grc|[δω]ν καὶ γευ[σ]άμενος τῶν ἱερείων ἅμα}}
|and having tasted the holy meat portions at the same time
|-
|9
|{{lang|grc|[Τ̣α̣]ῶτ̣ι̣ γυναικὶ [κ]αὶ Ἀμμωνίῳ καὶ Ἀμμω-}}
|for a woman and for Ammonius and Ammoeanus
|-
|10
|{{lang|grc|∍α̣ν̣ῷ̣ υἱοῖς καὶ Θ̣έκ̣λ̣ᾳ θυγατρὶ δι' ἐμοῦ κ̣[α]ὶ}} 
|son and Thekla daughter by me and
|-
|11
|{{lang|grc|[ἀξι]ῶ ὑποσημειώσασθαί μοι. (ἔτους) 1}}
|I think are worthy to be recorded by me. During the first year of
|-
|12
|{{lang|grc|[Αὐ]τοκράτορος Κ[α]ί̣[σαρο]ς Γαίου Μεσσίου}}
|Autokrator Caesar Gaius Messius
|-
|13
|{{lang|grc|[Κυί]ντου Τ[ρ]αιανοῦ Δεκίου Εὐσεβοῦς}}
|Quintus Traianus Decius Eusebius
|-
|14
|{{lang|grc|[Εὐ]τυχοῦς Σεβαστοῦ Ἐπεὶφ 3. Αὐρή[λιος]}}
|Eutychus Sebastian, Epeiph 3. Aurelius
|-
|15
|{{lang|grc|[Γαι]ὼν ἐπιδέδωκα. Αὐρήλ(ιος) Σαραπίων}}
|Gaionus I have vouched for. Aurelius Sarapion,
|-
|16
|{{lang|grc|[ὁ κ(αὶ)] Χαιρήμων ἔγρ[αψα] ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ μ̣ὴ̣ [εἰδό]-}}
|he and Chairemon, I wrote above him, my letters
|-
|17
|{{lang|grc|[τος] γράμματα.}}
|being known.
|-
|colspan=3|v
|-
|colspan=3|10 lines
|-
|??
|{{lang|grc|Βησᾶς, Ψεναμοῦνις}}<ref>
''P.Oxy.'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.05.0181&layout=&loc=1464 12.1464], [[Perseus Project]]</ref>
|Besas, Psenamounis
|-
|}

Participating in pagan sacrifices was a [[sin]] for Christians and punished by [[excommunication]], because the [[New Testament]] forbade Christians to participate in "[[Idolatry|idol]] feasts". However, ''not'' participating made one liable to arrest by the Roman authorities. A [[Warrant (law)|warrant]] to arrest a Christian ([[Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 3035|P. Oxy. 3035]]) was also found at Oxyrhynchus, this too has been dated precisely—to the year 256. The grounds for this arrest are not documented, however, and it predates the persecution under the emperor [[Valerian (emperor)|Valerian]] by about a year.

===''Libella pacis''===
The [[Lapsi (Christianity)|lapsi]] of Carthage persuaded certain [[Confessor of the Faith|Confessors of the Faith]] who had remained faithful in the face of torture and imprisonment to send letters of recommendation in the name of the dead martyrs (libella pacis/"letters of peace") to the bishop endorsing the position that those who had lapsed be restored to communion with the Church.<ref>[https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09001b.htm Kirsch, Johann Peter. "Lapsi." The Catholic Encyclopedia] Vol. 9. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 13 March 2021 {{PD-notice}}</ref> Bishop [[Cyprian]] debated whether the threat of the death penalty mitigated the sin of having communion with idols, leaving room for forgiveness and restoration to the Christian community.

==See also==
{{Commons category}}
*[[Lapsi (Christian)]]
*[[Libellus de Medicinalibus Indorum Herbis]]
*[[Novatianism]]
*[[Oxyrhynchus papyri]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Christian genres]]
[[Category:3rd-century Christianity]]
[[Category:Christian martyrs| ]]