423:1
Gregorius Anthemio subdiacono nostro Neapolitano. Quantus dolor, quantaque sit nostro cordi afflictio lie his quæ in partibus Campaniae contigerunt, dicere non possumus, sed ex calamitatis magnitudine potes ipse colligere.Ea de re pro remedio captivonum qui tenti sunt solidos experientiæ tuae per horum portitorem Stephanum virum magnificum transmisimus, admonentes ut omnino debeas esse sollicitus, ac strenue peragas, et liberos homines quos ad redemptionem suam sufficere non posse cognoscis, tu eos festines redimere. Qui vero servi fuerint, et dominos eorum ita pauperes esse compereris, ut eos redimere non assurgant, et hos quoque eomparare non desinas.
額我略致我們那不勒斯的副執事安特米烏斯。發生在坎帕尼亞地區的那些事，使我們心中懷有何等的悲痛與愁苦，我們無法言說；但你自己可以從這災難的重大而推知。因此，為了救贖那些被擄之人，我們藉這封信的傳遞者、尊貴之士司提反，將若干金幣交託給閣下，勸誡你務必要殷勤留意、奮力執行：凡你認出無力自贖的自由人，你要趕緊贖回他們；至於那些為奴之人，你若查明他們的主人窮困到無法起身贖回他們，這些人你也不要停止設法贖出。
Gregory to Anthemius, our subdeacon of Naples. How great is the grief, and how great the affliction of our heart, over the things that have happened in the regions of Campania, we cannot say; but from the magnitude of the calamity you can yourself gauge it. On this account, for the relief of the captives who are held, we have sent by the bearer of these letters, Stephen, a man of magnificence, some solidi to your experience, admonishing you that you ought to be altogether solicitous, and to carry it out strenuously: those who are free men, whom you recognize to be unable to suffice for their own redemption, hasten to redeem. But whoever have been slaves, and whose masters you find to be so poor that they cannot rise up to redeem them, do not cease to procure these also.
423:2
Pariter etiam et servos Ecclesiæ qui tua negligentia perierunt curabis redimereo Quoscunque autem redemeris, subtiliter a notitiam, quae nomina eorum, vel quis ubi maneat, sive quid agat, seu unde sit, b contineat, facere modis omnibus studebis, quam tecum possis afferrecum veneris. Ita autem in hac re te studiose exhibere festina, ut ii qui redimendi sunt nullum, te negligeme, periculum possint incurrere, et tu apud noa postea vehementer incipias esse culpabilis. Sed ct hoc quam maxime age, ut,si fieri potest, captivus ipsos c minori possis pretio comparare. d Subsiantiam vero sub omni puritate atque subtilitate describet et ipsam nobis descriptionem cum celeritate transmitte.
同樣，你也要設法贖回那些因你的疏忽而喪失的教會奴僕。凡你贖回的人，你要竭盡一切方法，仔細記錄一份名冊，載明他們的姓名、各人現居何處、從事何業、來自何方，好使你來時可以隨身帶來。你在此事上要如此殷勤表現，使那些待贖之人不致因你的疏忽而遭遇任何危險，也使你日後不致在我們面前大受責備。但你尤其要做這事：若可行，設法以較低的價錢贖出那些被擄者本人。至於款項，你要以全然的清楚與精確加以記載，並迅速將此記錄寄來我們這裡。
Likewise also you shall take care to redeem the servants of the Church who have perished through your negligence. Whomsoever, moreover, you shall have redeemed, you shall strive by every means to make, in a careful record, a list that contains their names, and where each one is staying, or what he does, or whence he is, so that you may bring it with you when you come. And so hasten to show yourself diligent in this matter, that those who are to be redeemed may incur no peril through your negligence, and that you may not afterwards begin to be gravely blameworthy in our sight. But do this above all: that, if it can be done, you may procure the captives themselves at a lesser price. And describe the sum of money with all purity and exactness, and send us that description with speed.
423:3
e Mense Maio, indictione 14.
時值五月，第十四個小紀年。
In the month of May, in the fourteenth indiction.