One of the few known events from his early life, when Pacificus was a deacon in Verona. The earliest account of this event comes from Panvinius' Antiquates Veronenses. In 798 Charlemagne decided to rebuild the city walls to protect the city against the threat of the Avar Khaganate. The cost of rebuilding the walls led to disputes between the clerical and civic authorities of the city over the burden of payment. The citizens demanded that the clergy pay one third of the cost, while the clergy insisted that they only need pay one quarter, as was customary. Without proof to support either side, it was decided to subject a representative of both sides to an ordeal by cross, and Pacificus was chosen to represent the clergy. Both parties stood against a cross holding their arms out while the Passion according to Matthew was read aloud. Pacificus held his arms upright through the entire reading while his opponent lowered his, leading the judge to rule that God favored Pacificus' side. Pacificus' victory was considered proof of an established custom afterwards, such as when Lothair planned to restore the city walls, and the clergy of Verona only had to pay one quarter of the costs of restorations of the walls.Onuphrius Panvinius, Antiquitates Veronenses, (Patavii: 1648), cited in Cristina La Rocca, "A man for all seasons: Pacificus of Verona and the creation of a local Carolingian past," chap. 11 in The Uses of the Past in the Early Middle Ages, ed. Yitzhak Hen and Matthew Innes (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000)Maureen C Miller, The Formation of a Medieval Church: Ecclesiastical Change in Verona, 950-1150, (New York: Cornell University Press, 1993), 17.Cristina La Rocca, "A man for all seasons: Pacificus of Verona and the creation of a local Carolingian past," chap. 11 in The Uses of the Past in the Early Middle Ages, ed. Yitzhak Hen and Matthew Innes (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000), 262-264.
