[455] December 31. [456] A reference to the story of the three young men in the bodyguard of Darius; cf. I Esdras iii and iv. [457] In the following section my translation of the phrases of the Donation is harmonized so far as possible with the translation in E. F. Henderson, Select Historical Documents of the Middle Ages. [458] Cf. Coleman, Constantine the Great and Christianity, p. 224, ll. 8 _et seq._ [459] Virgil, Aeneid, ii, 77-78. Dryden’s translation. [460] The text of the Donation which Valla used, though apparently in a copy of Gratian’s Decretum extant in his time, differs here and in a number of other places, from the texts which we have, whether in Gratian’s Decretum, or in the Pseudo-Isidorian Decretals. [461] The word _satrap_ was in fact applied to higher officials at Rome only in the middle of the eighth century. Scheffer-Boichorst, Mitteilungen des Instituts f. österreichische Geschichtsforschung, x (1889), p. 315. [462] Tertullian tells this apocryphal story in his Apology, chaps. 5 and 21. For a translation of letters alleged to have been written to Tiberius by Pilate, see Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, ed. Philip Schaff (New York, 1890-1897), vol. VIII, pp. 459-463. [463] Valla’s argument in this paragraph is partly based on the defective text of the Donation which he used, cf. _supra_, p. 85, note 2. Zeumer’s text would be translated, “all the Roman people who are subject to the glory of our rule,” and Friedberg’s, “all the people subject to the glorious rule of Rome.” [464] Virgil, Aeneid, vi, 852. [465] The conjunction “seu” in classical Latin meant, as Valla insists, “or”; in the eighth century it was often used with the meaning “and.” The forger of the Donation used it in the latter sense. Valla did not see the significance of this usage for dating the forgery. [466] Cf. _supra_, p. 85, note 2. [467] “firmos patronos,”—this use of “firmus” characterizes the style of Pope Paul I (757-767). See Scheffer-Boichorst, _op. cit._, p. 311. [468] Rev. v, 12; with variations. [469] Part of this criticism rests upon the peculiarities of the text of the Donation which Valla used. [470] Cf. Coleman, Constantine the Great and Christianity, pp. 148-151, 161-164. [471] Ps. lxxxi, 12. [472] Rom. i, 28, with the person of the verb changed. [473] Matt. xxvii, 28; John xix, 2. [474] Here, as was common in medieval Latin, “seu” is the equivalent of “et,” and means “and.” Valla’s criticism is correct, but might go further in fixing the time of the forgery. Cf. _supra_, p. 91, note 1. [475] Lucan, Pharsalia, i, 7. [476] In our best texts of the Donation this word is “banda,” used in the eighth century for “colors” or “flags.” [477] Horace, Ars Poetica, l. 97. [478] Julius Valerius, Res Gestae Alexandri, i, 37. [479] At Rome in the eighth century, the time of the forgery, “militia” indicated a civil rank, rather than soldiers.