The First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians

Clemens Romanus (Clement of Rome)

Clement of Rome. The Apostolic Fathers, Volume 1. Lake, Kirsopp, editor. London: William Heinemann Ltd.; New York: The Macmillan Company, 1912.

Let us then serve in our army, brethren, with[*](The necessity for subordination) all earnestness, following his faultless commands.

Let us consider those who serve our generals, with

what good order, habitual readiness, and submissiveness they perform their commands.

Not all are prefects, nor tribunes, nor centurions, nor in charge of fifty men, or the like, but each carries out in his own rank the commands of the emperor and of the generals.

The great cannot exist without the small, nor the small without the great; there is a certain mixture among all, and herein lies the advantage.

Let us take our body; the head is nothing without the feet, likewise the feet are nothing withr out the head; the smallest members of our body are necessary and valuable to the whole body, but all work together and are united in a common subjection to preserve the whole body.