Section 11

Martin puts a stop to worship at a rural altar, supposedly a martyr shrine, and has the altar demolished.

sed ut . . . adgrediar: 'But to come to' (introducing a new topic). The subjunctive is a kind of purpose clause used parenthetically, like the common ut ita dicam, 'so to speak'.

virtutes: 'miracles'

erat...locus: 'there was a place'.

consepelio, (no perf.), consepultus: 'bury with' (later Latin only)

superioribus episcopis: 'previous bishops'.

non temere: 'not lightly, not easily'.

nihil certi constans sibi: 'nothing certain and consistent', lit. 'nothing of certain (partitive genitive), consistent with itself'.

ut quis esset . . . ostenderet: 'that he reveal who was buried there or of what worth he was'. Celebrations at the tombs of the honored dead were a major part of popular religious worship in the fourth and fifth century. People ate, drank, danced, and stayed up late in ceremonies that had strong ties to earlier pagan observances, but were now taken as part of the cult of the Christian martyrs. Bishops disapproved strenuously, alternately accommodating and seeking to suppress informal martyr-cults, particularly in north Africa (See MacMullen, The Second Church, 51-67.) Martin's actions here in putting a stop to what he saw as an illegitimate martyr-cult are typical of bishops of the period.

cuius meriti: 'of what worth' (gen. of characteristic). meritum = 'good action, benefit, service'; the sense 'worth, value' is poetic and post-classical (Cp. Ambrose, De paenitentia 1.9: non quicumque de vulgo, nec plebeiae vilitatis aliquis, sed vitae egregiae singularisque meriti). The use just below, meritum loqueretur, combines both senses.

celebratum: 'honored with ceremonies, crowds, etc.'

retineret: 'was keeping' (in place or in memory).

qui aderant audiebant: 'those who were present heard'.