Note 727 — Chapter XIX · THE SABBATH AND FIRST-DAY DURING THE FIRST FIVE CENTURIES.
Reading edition
This edict is the original fountain of first-day authority, and in many respects answers to the festival of Sunday, what the fourth commandment is to the Sabbath of the Lord. The original of this edict may be seen in the library of Harvard College, and is as follows:—
IMP. CONSTANT. A. ELPIDIO.
Omnes Judices, urbanæque plebes, et cunctarum artium officia venerabili die solis quiescant. Ruri tamen positi agrorum culturæ libere licenterque inserviant: quoniam frequenter evenit, ut non aptius alio die frumenta sulcis, aut vineæ scrobibus mandentur, ne occasione momenti pereat commoditas coelesti provisione concessa. Dat. Nonis Mart. Crispo. 2 & Constantino 2. Coss. 321. Corpus Juris Civilis Codicis lib. iii tit. 12. 3.