EPITOME

OF THE

London: Henry G. Bohn, York Street, Covent Garden.
MDCCCLV.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE OF PHILOSTORGIUS

BY THE TRANSLATOR.

ALL that is known with certainty of Philostorgius is that he was a native of Cappadocia, and was born of humble parentage about the year A. D. 364. It would seem came to Constantinople in his youth to complete his studies; but it is uncertain whether he was educated for the legal or for the ecclesiastical profession. In later life he composed a History of the Church, comprised in twelve books from the beginning of the Arian schism down to the year AD. 425.

The work itself is no longer extant; but we have an Epitome of it compiled by Photius, who was appointed to the Patriarchal see of Constantinople, A. D. 853, and under whom the schism between the Eastern and Western churches was formally consummated. We have also a short notice of this work in the Bibliotheca of the same learned writer (Myriobiblion, Cod. 40). It is to be observed that Photius, although he was the author of the expulsion of the term "Filioque" from the Nicene Creed, inveighs throughout his Epitome against Philostorgius as a heretic and impious person, and as a friend and apologist of Arius, Eusebius of Nicomedia, Apollinaris, and other heretics of the fourth and fifth centuries.

Philostorgius would seem to have been a person possessed |^p428 of a considerable amount of general information, and he has inserted in his narrative many curious geographical and other details about remote and unknown countries, and more especially about the interior of Asia and Africa. He was rather inclined to credulity, in regard to portents, monsters, prodigies, and other wonderful things, of which he gives accounts at considerable length; and Photius himself vehemently censures him for his absurdity in attributing miracles to those whom the patriarch himself regarded as heretics. He is quoted by Gibbon in the 18th, 19th, and 20th chapters of his “Decline and Fall,” not however without a caution against his Arian predilections and his partiality to the cause of Gallus.

The Epitome was translated into Latin, with comments by J. Gothofredus, and published in 4to at Geneva in 1642; as also by H. de Valois, under tile title of  " Compendium Historiae Ecclesiasticae Philostorgii, quod dictavit Photius Patriarcha," Paris, 1673, with notes. It has also been translated into French, and published at Paris in 1676, under the title Abregé de l'Histoire de l'Eglise de Philostorge. It appears now for the first time in an English translation.

ADDITIONAL NOTE TO THE ELECTRONIC EDITION (A.D. 2002)

The following notice and short bibliography is taken from J. Quasten Patrology, vol. 3, pp.532-4:

Philostorgius was born about 368 at Borissus in Cappadocia Secunda but went at the age of twenty to Constantinople where he spent most of his life. Though a layman he became a follower and warm admirer of Eunomius (cf. above, p. 306).

While at Constantinople he published between 425 and 433 a Church History in twelve books covering the period 300-425 ostensibly a continuation of Eusebius but in reality a late apology for the extreme Arianism of Eunomius. Photius describes (Bibl. cod. 40) its size, content, style and tendency as follows:

Read the so-called Ecclesiastical History by Philostorgius the Arian, the spirit of which is different from that of nearly all other ecclesiastical historians. He extols all Arians, but abuses and insults all the orthodox, so that this work is not so much a history as a panegyric of the heretics, and nothing but a barefaced attack upon the orthodox. His style is elegant, his diction often poetical, though not to such an extent as to be tedious or disagreeable. His figurative use of words is very expressive and makes the work both pleasant and agreeable to read; sometimes, however, these figures are overbold and far-fetched, and create an impression of being frigid and ill-timed. The language is variously embellished even to excess, so that the reader imperceptibly finds himself involved in a disagreeable obscurity. In many instances the author introduces appropriate moral reflections of his own. He starts from the devotion of Arius to the heresy and its first beginnings, and ends with the recall of the impious Aetius. This Aetius was removed from his office by his brother heretics, since he outdid them in wickedness, as Philostorgius himself unwillingly confesses. He was recalled and welcomed by the impious Julian. The history, in one volume and six books, goes down to this period. The author is a liar and the narrative often fictitious. He chiefly extols Aetius and Eunomius for their learning, as having alone cleansed the doctrines of faith overlaid by time, therein showing himself a monstrous liar. He also praises Eusebius of Nicomedia (whom he calls the Great), Theophilus the Indian, and several others, for their lives and wonderful works. He severely attacks Acacius, bishop of Caesarea in Palestine, for his extreme severity and invincible craftiness, in which, he declares, Acacius surpassed all his fellow-heretics, however filled they were with hatred of one another, as well as those who held different religious opinions. This was the extent of our reading. Soon afterwards six other books were found in another volume, so that the whole appears to have filled twelve books. The initial letters of each book are so arranged that they form the name of the author. The work goes down to the time of Theodosius the Younger, when, after the death of Honorius, Theodosius handed over the throne of the West to his cousin Valentinian the Younger, the son of Constantius and Placidia. Notwithstanding his rage against the orthodox, Philostorgius does not venture to attack Gregory the Theologian [i.e. of Nazianzus], but unwillingly accepts his doctrines. His attempt to slander Basil the Great only had the effect of increasing his reputation. He was forced to admit the vigour and beauty of his sermons from actual knowledge, although he timidly calls Basil overbold and inexperienced in controversy, because he ventured to attack the writings of Eunomius (SPCK) .

Apart from this interesting report Photius published separately an Epitome, a series of excerpts culled from the twelve books. Since Philostorgius' work has perished, this Epitome serves as a skeleton for its reconstruction. It survives in a number of manuscripts whose archetype is Cod. Barocc. 142 s. XIV. Scattered fragments are also extant in the Passio Artemii composed by John of Rhodos in the ninth century, in Suidas and in a Vita Constantini found in Cod. Angelicus 22 and edited by Opitz; still others in the Thesaurus orthodoxae fidei by Nicetas Acominatus, and in two epigrams of the Anthologia Palatina. These remains show that Philostorgius used excellent sources no longer extant, especially documents of Arian origin, which furnish very valuable information for the history of this controversy and its chief personalities. For this reason the loss of the complete text is deplorable despite its bias and inaccuracy.

One of the fragments reveals that Philostorgius wrote earlier a Refutation of Porphyry and an Encomium on Eunomius of which we know nothing.

Editions: MG 65, 459-624. -- Crit. ed.: J. BIDEZ, Philostorgius Kirchengeschichte: GCS 21 (1913) 1-150; Anfang der Artemii Passio mit Philostorgius Angaben über Artemius, ibid. 151-157. -- H. G. OPITZ, Die Vita Constantini des Cod. Ang. Gr. 22: Byz 9 (1934) 535-593 (contains the complete text of the Vita with the fragments of Philostorgius). -- New fragments: P. HESELER, Neues zur 'Vita Constantini' des Codex Angelicus 22: Byz 10 (1935) 399-402. --J. BIDEZ, Fragments nouveaux de Philostorge sur la vie de Constantin: Byz 10 (1935) 403-442.

Translation: English: E. WALFORD, The Ecclesiastical History of Sozomen... also the Ecclesiastical History of Philostorgius as Epitomized by Photius. London, 1855.

Studies: P. BATIFFOL, Fragmente der Kirchengeschichte des Philostorgius: RQ. 3 (1889) 252-289; idem, Die Textüberlieferung der Kirchengeschichte des Philostorgius: RQ 4 (1890) 134-143; idem, Quaestiones Philostorgianae (thesis). Paris, 1891; idem, Un historiographe anonyme arien du IV^e siecle: RQ9 (1895) 57-97 (a source of Philostorgius). -- L. JEEP, Zur Überlieferung des Philostorgius (TU 17, 3b, 2). Leipzig, 1899. --J. R. ASMUS, Ein Beitrag zur Rekonstruktion der Kirchengeschichte des Philo-storgios: BZ 4 (1895) 30-44. -- J. BIDEZ, GCS 21 (1913) IX-CLXIII (important introductions on manuscripts, sources, life, education and purpose of Philostorgius). J. MARQUART, Die schwarzen Syrer des Philostorgios: ThLZ 38 (1913) 705-709. --G. FRITZ, DTC 12 (1935) 1495-1498.

I believe a new translation of Philostorgius into English is planned, which will include fragments discovered since 1855.

This page contains Walford's text, omitting the indexes to the book since these contain both Sozomen and Philostorgius.  Greek text is rendered using the freeware SpIonic font.  The footnotes have been moved to a separate page, and renumbered.  However the original numbers have been preserved in the footnotes.  The page numbers of Walford are indicated in the text.

Roger Pearse
Ipswich, 2002.

|429

The History composed by this author was comprised in twelve books, and the initial letters of each book being put together composed the author’s name. Philostorgius commenced his History from the outbreak of the contest between Arius and Alexander, which he regarded as the first cause of the outbreak of the Arian heresy: and he continued it down to the date of the proclamation as emperor of Valentinian the younger, the son of Constantius and Placidia, and the violent  death of John the Tyrant. The History itself was written as an encomium on the heretical party, and an attack and assault upon the orthodox, rather than a history.

EPITOME OF BOOK I.

CHAP. 1.--Philostorgius says that he cannot tell who was the author of the two books which are commonly called those of the Maccabees. But he is especially loud in the praise of their unknown author, inasmuch as the events which he narrates in them are found to correspond exactly with the prophecies of Daniel: ¹ and also because of the skill which he |430 shows in explaining how the evil deeds of men reduced the condition of the Jewish people to the lowest depths, just as afterwards it was the valour of other men that retrieved it again; when the Jews resuscitated the spirit in which they had met their enemies of old, and had seen their temple purged of foreign superstitions. The Second Book of Maccabees, however, according to Philostorgius, would seem to be the work of a different writer from the First; and is a mere compendium of what Jason of Cyrene related at length in five books. It gives an account of the war carried on by Judas Maccabeus against Antiochus Epiphanes, and his son named Eupator. But as to the Third Book of the Maccabees, Philostorgius utterly rejects it as monstrous, and as bearing no resemblance to the two former ones. The Fourth Book he asserts to have been the work of Joseph, and to be regarded rather as an encomium upon Eleazar and his seven sons, the Maccabeans, than as a regular history of events.

CHAP. 2.--Though Philostorgius praises Eusebius Pamphilus as well on other grounds as on account of his Ecclesiastical History, yet he accuses him of erroneous opinions in matters relating to religion.² The accusation which he brings against him is to the effect that Eusebius considered the Deity as unintelligible and incomprehensible, and that he was implicated in a variety of other strange opinions. He also bears |431 witness that Eusebius brought down his history to the period when Constantine the Great was succeeded in the empire by his sons.³

CHAP. 3.--The impious Philostorgius says that when the votes of the people were inclining to his own side in the election of an archbishop of Alexandria, Arius preferred Alexander to himself, and so contrived to give him a majority.

CHAP. 4.--He also says that a certain presbyter of Alexandria, who was called Baucalis,⁴ on account of a lump of superfluous flesh which had grown upon his back to the size of an earthen vessel, such as the Alexandrians call “Baucala” in their provincial dialect, having obtained the post of honour among the presbyters next to Arius himself, brought about the beginning of contention between Alexander and Arius, and that it was from this circumstance that the preaching of the Homoöusian⁵ doctrine was devised.⁶

CHAP. 5.--Constantius, the father of Constantine the Great, according to Philostorgius, was proclaimed emperor⁷ of Upper Galatia and the district lying around the Alps; regions which were very remote and difficult of access. This Upper Galatia |432 is now called Gallia or Gaul by the Romans. The death of Constantius occurred in Britain,⁸ which is also called the island of Albion. Constantine succeeded in avoiding the treachery of Diocletian, and finding his father on his deathbed upon his arrival in Britain, he soon after committed his body to the tomb, and was shortly proclaimed his successor in the empire.

CHAP. 6.--As to the cause of the conversion⁹ of Constantine from heathen superstitions to the Christian faith, Philostorgius, in conformity with all other writers, ascribes it to his victory over Maxentius, in a battle in which the sign of the cross was seen in tile East, vast in extent and lit up with glorious light, and surrounded on each side by stars like a rainbow, symbolizing tile form of letters. The letters too were in the Latin tongue and formed these words, “In hoc signo vinces.”¹⁰ |433  

CHAP. 7.--Philostorgius says that before the synod at Nicaea, Alexander, bishop of Alexandria, came to Nicomedia, and after a convention with Hosius¹¹ of Cordova and the other bishops who were with him, prevailed upon the synod to declare the Son consubstantial with the Father, and to expel Arius from the communion of the church.

CHAP. 8.--Not long after this, the synod of Nicaea was held; at this synod, over and above the other high priests of God, Basileus,¹² bishop of Amasea, and Meletius,¹³ bishop of Sebastopolis, were present. 

CHAP. 9.--Philostorgius also confesses that all the bishops consented to the exposition of the faith made at Nicaea, with the exception of Secundus,¹⁴ bishop of Ptolemais, and Theon, bishop of Marmarica. But the rest of the band of Arian bishops, such as Eusebius of Nicomedia, (whom Philostorgius
calls the Great,) Theognis of Nicaea, end Tharis of Chalcedon, and all the others, embraced the sentence of the council, though with a fraudulent and treacherous purpose, (as Philostorgius admits,) for under the term o9moou&sioj they secretly introduced that of o9moiou&sioj.¹⁵ But still they did not refuse
submission to the decrees of the synod, though Constantina, the emperor's sister, suggested this counsel to them.

CHAP. 10.--Philostorgius adds that Secundus, on going into exile, said to Eusebius, "You subscribed, Eusebius, in order to escape being sent into banishment: but I place my confidence in a revelation made to me by God, that within a year you will be sent into exile too." In point of fact, within three months after the conclusion of the synod, Eusebius was ^|434 sent into exile according to the prediction of Secundus, upon returning to his own original and manifest impiety.

EPITOME OF BOOK II.

CHAP. I.--PHILOSTORGIUS falsely relates, that after the general council and the recantation of the Eusebians, and their open return to the orthodox faith, the emperor Constantine punished them, because, while they subscribed to the Homoousian faith, they entertained sentiments at variance with it,¹⁶ and on the other band, that he recalled Secundus and his associates from banishment, and sent letters in every direction, exploding the term "Homoousios," and confirming the doctrine of a diversity of substance. He adds that Alexander, bishop of Alexandria, subscribed these letters, and that on this account Arius communicated with him. But when all fear on account of the emperor was at an end, Alexander returned to his original sentiments, while Arius and those who joined with him in his opinions seceded from communion with Alexander and the church.

CHAP. 2.--He says that Arius, after his secession from the church, composed several songs to be sung by sailors, and by millers,¹⁷ and by travellers along the high road, and others of the same kind, which he adapted to certain tunes, as he thought suitable in each separate case, and thus by degrees seduced the minds of the unlearned by the attractiveness of his songs to the adoption of his own impiety.

  CHAP. 3.--Though Philostorgius extols Arius to the skies for impugning the Divinity of the Son, yet he asserts that the latter is involved in the most absurd errors, because he everywhere affirms that God cannot be known, or comprehended, or conceived by the human mind; and not only by men, (which perhaps were an evil more easy to endure,) but also not even by His own only-begotten Son. And lie asserts that not only Arius, but also a large body of his followers, were carried ^|435 away into this absurd error at the same time. For with the exception of Secundus and Theonas, and the disciples of the martyr Lucian, namely Leontius, Antonius, and Eusebius of Nicomedia, the rest of the impious band of heretics adopted this opinion.

CHAP. 4.--Philostorgius asserts that Constantine was induced by the fraudulent artifices of his step-mother to put his son Crispus to death; ¹⁸ and afterwards, upon detecting her in the act of adultery with one of his Cursores, ordered the former to be suffocated in a hot bath. He adds, that long afterwards Constantine was poisoned by his brothers during his stay at Nicomedia, by way of atonement for the violent death of Crispus. 

CHAP. 5.--He also says that Urphilas¹⁹ brought over as settlers to the Roman territory a large body of persons who had been driven out of their ancient abodes for the sake of their religion. These came from among the Scythians, north of the Ister, and were formerly called Getae, though now they are better known as Goths. And he asserts that this race of men were brought over to the faith of Christ in the following manner. While Valerian and Gallienus were administering the empire, a large multitude of Scythians, who lived north of the Ister, made an incursion into the Roman territory, and laid waste a great part of. Europe by their predatory excursions and afterwards having crossed over into Asia, invaded Cappadocia and Galatia. Here they took a large quantity of prisoners, among whom were not a few ecclesiastics; and they returned to their own country laden with spoils and booty. These pious captives, by their intercourse with the barbarians, brought over a great number of the latter to the true faith, and persuaded them to embrace the Christian religion in the place of heathen superstitions. Of the number of these ^|436 captives were the ancestors of Urphilas himself, who were of Cappadocian descent, deriving their origin from a village called Sadagolthina, near time city of Parnassus. This Urphilas, then, was the header of this pious band which came out from among the Goths, and became eventually their first bishop. The following was the method of his appointment. Being sent by the then king of the Goths on an embassy to the court of the emperor Constantine, (for the barbarous tribes in those parts were subject to the emperor,) he was ordained bishop of the Christians among time Goths, by Eusebius and the other prelates that were with him. Accordingly he took the greatest care of them in many ways, and amongst others, he reduced their language to a written form, and translated into their vulgar tongue all the books of holy Scripture, with the exception of the Books of Kings, which he omitted, because they are a mere narrative of military exploits, and the Gothic tribes were especially fond of war, and were in more need of restraints to check their military passions than of spurs to urge them on to deeds of war. But those books have the greatest influence in exciting the minds of readers, inasmuch as they are regarded with great veneration, and are adapted to lead the hearts of believers to the worship of God. This multitude of converts were located by the emperor in the different parts of Moesia, as he thought best, and he held Urphilas himself in such high honour, that he would often speak of him in conversation as the Moses of his day. Philostorgius is loud in his praises of this Urphilas ; ²⁰ and asserts that both he ^|437 and the Goths who were under his spiritual rule, were followers of his own heretical opinions.

CHAP. 6.--The impious Philostorgius relates that the Christians in Central India,²¹ who were converted to the faith of Christ by the preaching of St. Bartholomew, believe that the Son is not of the same substance with the Father. He adds that Theophilus the Indian,²² who had embraced this opinion,²³ came to them, and delivered it to them as a doctrine; and also that these Indians are now called Homeritae,²⁴ instead of their old name of Sabaeans, which they received from the city of Saba, the chief city of the whole nation.

CHAP. 7.--Philostorgius says, that Eusebius,²⁵ Maris, and Theognis, after a period of three years spent in banishment, were recalled by command of the emperor, and immediately put forth an heretical form of faith, and sent it in every direction, in order to counteract the Nicene Creed. He adds, that Alexander, the bishop of Alexandria, was deposed ²⁶ and excommunicated by the same parties, because he afterwards returned to the Homoousian faith; but that Eustathius,²⁷ bishop of Antioch, was deposed by them on different grounds, namely, on a charge of having attempted the chastity of a certain woman, and seduced her; upon this the emperor condemned him to banishment, and sent him into the western parts of the empire. As to the rest, he writes, that in this illegitimate council there were no less than two hundred and fifty bishops, and that Nicomedia was the workshop where they contrived all their evil deeds.  ^|438 

CHAP. 8.--Concerning Agapetus,²⁸ a follower of his own peculiar heretical sect., who was originally a soldier, then a priest of his sect, and eventually became bishop of Synada, he tells many wonderful stories ; he says, for example, that many dead men were raised by him to life again, and that he expelled and healed many maladies of various kinds. He adds that many other wonderful things were done by him, and that by his exertions many of the Gentiles were converted to the Christian religion.

CHAP. 9.--He says that, in the twenty-eighth year²⁹ of his reign, Constantine turned Byzantium into the city of Constantinople; and that, when he went to mark out the circuit of the city,³⁰ he walked round it with a spear in his hand; and that when his attendants thought that he was measuring out too large a space, one of them came up to him and asked him, How far, O prince?” and that the emperor answered, “Until he who goes before me conies to a stop ;” by this answer clearly manifesting that some heavenly power was heading him on, and teaching him what he ought to do. Philostorgius adds, that Constantine, after building the city, called it “Alma Roma.,” which means in the Latin tongue, “Glorious.” He also states, that the emperor established there a senate, and distributed among the citizens a copious allowance of corn, and adorned the city in other particulars with such sumptuous magnificence, that it became a rival to ancient Rome in splen dour.

CHAP. 10.--He states, that on the decease of Alexander, the bishop of this city, Eusebius,³¹ bishop of Nicomedia, was translated to the episcopal chair of the newly erected metropolis.

CHAP. 11.--The impious contriver of lies asserts, that after the death of Alexander, bishop of Alexandria, the votes of the prelates were not unanimous, and that when there was a diversity |439 of sentiment, and a considerable amount of time had been spent in altercation, the divine Athanasius suddenly appeared one evening in the church called after Dionysius, and finding there two Egyptian bishops, firmly closed the doors with the assistance of some of his followers, and so was ordained by them,³² though strongly against the will of the the ordainers. For a power from above fell upon them, and so constrained their will and powers that what Athanasius wished ; was at once done. Philostorgius adds, that the remainder of the bishops then present anathematized Athanasius on account of this transaction ; and that the latter, having first thoroughly strengthened his cause, addressed to the emperor certain letters relating to his ordination, in the name of the entire state; and that the emperor, thinking that the letters in question were written by the assembly of the Alexandrians, ratified the election with his own approval. Afterwards, however, upon being informed of the details of the transaction, he sent Athanasius to Tyre, a city of Phoenicia, to give account of the matter before a synod which was assembled there. And Philostorgius writes, that Athanasius gave way before the threats of the emperor. At length, however, upon arriving at Tyre, he was unwilling to submit to a legal inquiry, but fraudulently suborned a certain harlot, whose belly proclaimed her shame, and laid his plots against Eusebius, who was regarded as the head and chief of the assembly,³³ thinking doubtless that he would escape from trial, and avoid the sentence of the synod, in the midst of the tumult and commotion which he thought in all probability would be raised. But our author, so partial to liars, writes that the fraud was openly detected in the very same manner, as the orthodox party say the harlot was detected who had been suborned by the heretics to give evidence against the great Athanasius. For he says that Eusebius asked the harlot if she knew the person who had defiled her; and that upon her answering that she knew him well, Eusebius again asked her whether the party in question was present |440 among the episcopal assembly. She answered, “Spare evil words, my lord; I should be mad, if I were to accuse such holy men of such foul lust” From this the truth was elucidated, and so the whole of the fraudulent conspiracy was brought to light. Thus, says Philostorgius, Eusebius showed himself superior to every calumny that was brought forward, but Athanasius, who hind hoped to escape trial altogether, went away after having been convicted of a double crime, not merely an illegal ordination, but also a foul calumny; and so, by the common consent of all, a sentence of deposition was passed against him. Athanasius, however, went on unblushingly, and ventured to assert that time sentence of deposition and time calumnious stories thrown in his teeth were equally untrue, being mere fabrications of time hatred and ill-will of the bishops assembled in the synod, because lie refused to receive ordination at their hands. On this account the emperor, he adds, charged a second synod of bishops to examine into the cause of Athanasius; and the latter added some fresh charges to the original calumnies. For they said. that Callinicus the confessor, and bishop of Pelusium, had been loaded by him with iron chains and sent into confinement, and that Athanasius did not cease to treat him with contumely, until he had fairly removed him out of his way. Then also the hand of Armenius was brought into court, and Mareotes and Ischyras came forward, and the sacred cup and other stories of a like kind were devised. For these reasons, he says, Athanasius was excommunicated by the synod, and Gregory the Cappadocian substituted in his place.³⁴ Such are the stories of this lover of untruth against the holy Athanasius.

CHAP. 12.--He says that Helen, the mother of the emperor, built the city which was called Helenopolis,³⁵ at the entrance of the. Gulf of Nicomedia: and that the reason of her great predilection for the spot, was because the body of the martyr Lucian was carried thither by a dolphin after his death by martyrdom. |441

CHAP. 13.--He says that when this martyr Lucian was about to die, and was debarred from the church and the altar by the hand of tyranny, and when chains and stripes forbade him even to move, he lay upon his back and offered the venerable sacrifice upon his own breast, and so partook himself, and gave his companions the opportunity of receiving likewise of the unspotted sacrifice. This act of sacrifice was performed in the prison, and the holy band of Christians who stood as it were around his dying bed, at the same time represented the church, and afforded a screen to prevent the heathen from seeing what was being done.

CHAP. 14.--Philostorgius recounts many other disciples of this martyr Lucian, and especially Eusebius, bishop of Nicomedia, Maris, bishop of Chalcedon, and Theognis, bishop of Nicaea; and also Leontius, who afterwards became bishop of Antioch, and Antonius of Tarsus in Cilicia; likewise Menophantus, Numenius, and Eudoxius, together with Alexander and Asterius the Cappadocian; of whom he says that they yielded to the violence of tyrants so far as to offer sacrifice to the gods of the heathen; but afterwards made amends for their lapse, their master himself assisting to bring them to repentance.

CHAP. 15.--Out of the above-mentioned individuals he specifies Antonius and Leontius as having preserved their piety pure and unsullied; but as for Eusebius, Maris, and Theognis, they were brought into collision with the Nicene symbol, but afterwards returned to their original opinions. But Maris, after returning to the orthodox belief, fell afterwards into another grievous error. In like manner, too, Theognis, who held that God was the Father even before he had begotten the Son, inasmuch as he had the power of begetting him. Of Asterius he says that he interpolated the doctrine of Lucian, affirming in his writings and orations that the Son is the image of the Father’s substance, and in no way differing from him.³⁶

CHAP. 16.--He says that Constantine, having entered |442 upon the thirty-second year of his reign, was poisoned by his brothers at Nicomedia. And that when his end drew near, and the plot was discovered, he drew up a testament enjoining that the authors of his death should be punished, and ordering that whichever of his sons should first arrive, should proceed to take measures against them, lest his children too should be destroyed by a like conspiracy. He further adds, that the document itself which contained these instructions, was intrusted to Eusebius, bishop of Nicomedia; but that the latter, being alarmed lest the emperor’s brothers should make search for it, and wish to know what was written in it, placed the tablet in the hands of the deceased emperor, and concealed it beneath his clothes. Accordingly when they had come, as Eusebius expected they would, to search for the tablet which contained the will, Eusebius answered that he had. indeed received it, but that he had immediately returned it into the hands of the emperor. Afterwards, however, this same Eusebius, having again taken away the tablet, deposited it in the hands of Constantius the son of Constantine, who was the first of the brothers to arrive; and who not long afterwards put into execution the instructions contained in his father’s will.

CHAP. 17.--This impious enemy of God also accuses the Christians of offering sacrifices ³⁷ to an image of Constantine placed upon a column of porphyry, and of honouring it with lighted lamps and incense, and of offering vows to it as to God, and making supplications to it to ward off calamities.

CHAP. 18.--He writes also, that after the death of Constantine the Great, when all who were in exile in various parts had obtained permission to return, Athanasius, too, returned ³⁸ from Gaul to Alexandria, and hearing of the death of Gregory, landed and went straight from the ship, just as he was, to the church, and took his episcopal seat, without showing any regard to those who had deposed him. |443 

EPITOME OF BOOK III.

CHAP. l.--Philostorgius says that Constans,³⁹ the eldest of the sons of Constantine, plotted against the life of his brother Constantine the younger, and that the latter, together with his generals, was defeated and put to death, and his portion of the empire added to that of Constans.

CHAP. 2.--Philostorgius is loud in his praise of Constantius, and says that he built at Constantinople the church which is deservedly called “the Great.” He also writes that he translated the remains of St. Andrew the apostle from Achaia to the church which he had erected, and which was called that of “the Holy Apostles ;” ⁴⁰ as also that he erected near it a tomb in honour of his father. And lastly, he adds, that the body of the apostle Timothy was translated from Ephesus in Ionia to the same renowned and venerable church by the command of the same Constantius.

CHAP. 3.--Philostorgius says that Constantius, having learned that Athanasius had again taken possession of the see of Alexandria, expelled him from that city, and issued a mandate ordering that George the Cappadocian should be elected in his room. Accordingly, he adds that Athanasius, in fear of the emperor’s threats and the snares of his enemies, betook himself again to the emperor of the West. 

CHAP. 4.--He says that Constantius sent ambassadors⁴¹ to those who were formerly called Sabaeans, but are now known as Homeritae,⁴² a tribe which is descended from Abraham by Keturah. As to the territory which they inhabit, he says that it is called by the Greeks “Arabia Magna” and “Arabia Felix,” and that it extends into the most distant part of the ocean. Its metropolis, lie says, is Saba, the city from which |444 the queen of Sheba went forth to see Solomon. This tribe is part of the Israelitish family, and practises circumcision on the eighth day; but they also offer sacrifices to the sun and moon, and to the native gods of the country. Constantius accordingly sent an embassage to them, in order to induce them to come over to the true religion. The king determined, in pursuance of his plan, to conciliate the king of that people by magnificent presents and words of gentle persuasion, and thence to take an opportunity forthwith of sowing the seeds of religion. He also asked for licence to build churches on behalf of the Romans who came thither by sea, and the inhabitants of the country who wished to embrace time Christian faith. At the head of this embassy was placed Theophilus the Indian, who had been sent when very young as a hostage from the Divaeans to the Romans when Constantine was at the head of the empire. The island called Divus,⁴³ is a portion of their territory, and the inhabitants of it are called Indians. Further, he relates that this Theophilus, having passed a long life among the Romans, formed his character upon a pattern of the most strict amid perfect virtue, and embraced the true faith concerning God; but, he adds, that he chose the monastic life, and was promoted to the diaconate at the hands of Eusebius. Thus much as to his early life. But afterwards, having undertaken this embassy, he was invested, by the men of his own party, with the episcopal⁴⁴ dignity. But Constantius, wishing to array the embassy with peculiar splendour, put on board of their ships two hundred well-bred horses from Cappadocia, and sent with them many other gifts, with the double view of making an imposing show and of conciliating the feelings of the people. Accordingly, Theophilus, on his arrival among the Sabaeans, endeavoured to persuade the ruler of the tribe |445 to become a Christian, and to give over the deceits of heathenism. Hereupon, the customary fraud and malice of tire Jews was compelled to shrink into deep silence, as soon as ever Theophilus had once or twice proved by his wonderful miracles the truth of the Christian faith. The embassy turned out successfully; for the prince of the nation, by sincere conviction, came over to the true religion, and built three churches in the district, not, however, with the money which the emperor’s ambassadors had brought with them, but out of sums which he voluntarily supplied out of his private resources, with a laudable strife to show that his own zeal was a match for the wonders performed by Theophilus. One of these churches he erected in a place called Tapharum, the metropolis of tire nation: another in the place where the mart of Roman commerce stood, lying towards the outer sea. This place is called Adane; and it is the spot where everybody is in the habit of landing on coming out of the Roman territories.  The third church he built in another part of the district, where the mart of Persian commerce stands, hard by the mouth of the Persian Sea, which lies along those parts.

CHAP. 5.--Theophilus, having arranged everything among the Homeritae according to his ability and circumstances, and having dedicated the churches, and adorned them with such decorations as he could, crossed over to the island of Divus, which, as we above showed, was his native country.  Thence he made his way to the other districts of India, and corrected many disorders among their inhabitants. For they listened to the reading of the Gospel in a sitting posture,⁴⁵ and used other customs repugnant to the Divine law. But Theophilus, having corrected everything among them according to a religious rule, confirmed the doctrine of the church. For, with regard to the worship of the Divine Being, as that impious writer asserts, they needed no correction, inasmuch as from the earliest antiquity they constantly professed to believe the Son to be of a different substance from the Father. |446 

CHAP. 7.--Philostorgius says, that among other large rivers, the Tigris falls into the inner part of the Persian Sea, |447 which is here connected with the ocean. The shores of this sea are surrounded by many nations ; and the river itself runs in a south-easterly direction, below the Hyrcanian Sea, and appears to take its rise among the Cordiaeans. Thence it flows along the side of Syria,⁴⁸ and upon reaching the district of Susis, it joins the waters of the Euphrates with its own, and thence flowing on with a deep and rapid stream, it rushes on with a violent roar of its eddies, from which circumstance they say it derives its name of Tigris.⁴⁹ Before, however, it reaches the sea, it divides its waters into two large channels ; and thence it flows into the Persian Sea, the extreme points of its mouths being so far distant from each other, that the two mouths embrace between them a large extent of country. This is an island ; it is washed both by the rivers and the sea, and it is inhabited by a tribe called Messenians.

CHAP. 8.--The Euphrates, however, to all appearance, takes its rise among the Armenians ; in this region stands the Mount of Ararat, so called even to the present day by the Armenians,--the same mount on which the Holy Scripture says that the ark rested. Many fragments of the wood and nails of which the ark was composed are said to be still preserved in those localities. This is the place where the Euphrates takes its rise. At first it is but a small stream, but gradually increases in size, and absorbing into itself many other tributary rivers which flow into it, it passes through Upper and Lower Armenia in its onward course. First of all it cuts Syria Euphratensis, so called after the river. Afterwards, however, it cuts its way through the rest of Syria, winding along with many varied folds in every region which it passes through, until it reaches Arabia, where it takes a circular course, when nearly opposite to the Red Sea; and embracing in its windings a large tract of country, finally turns its course towards the wind called Caecias, or Northeast, and falls into the Tigris. Here its waters do not entirely mingle with those of the Tigris ; but though partly absorbed in it, it flows parallel to the Tigris with the largest |448 portion of its waters, and finally mixes with the Tigris near about Susa ; and thenceforward, the Euphrates having lost its independent name, the two rivers flow, conjointly into the Persian Gulf. The district which lies between these two rivers, the Euphrates, namely, and the Tigris, is called Mesopotamia.

CHAP. 9.--The sources of the Euphrates and the Tigris, so far as we have been able to ascertain, are such as we have related. But our sacred books, when they say that these rivers flow out of Paradise, speak most truly. For it is from this place that they derive their first supplies of water ; inasmuch as after having traversed some distance in all probability above-ground, they afterwards pass into a large sandy desert, where they sink deep into the sand, and do not cease from this downward course, until they reach the firm rocky soil, of which that region consists : the base of this region affords a check on their downward course, and so they each gather their waters together and rush onwards, making their course all the more straight on account of the force and magnitude of their accumulating waters. But these rivers flowing beneath the ground, being partially absorbed by the sand of the intermediate district, burst forth again with a considerably diminished supply of water. It is not, however, after all so incredible a thing, that these rivers should flow so long a distance underground. For there are found everywhere the largest and most rapid streams and rivers whose course is under-ground, as is clear from the fact that their sound is heard as they rush on with loud murmurs and roarings. Moreover, some persons in their attempts to sink wells in the ground above these rivers, when they had gradually dug down to the rocky soil which resisted their efforts, beneath which the roaring waves endeavoured to force an egress upwards, were with difficulty rescued by those who stood above at the brink of the well, for the water burst forth in a torrent, which was intercepted by no subsequent drought, on account of the perpetual supply of water. For the secret wisdom of God has rendered the very courses of rivers, some occult and others open to the view, like veins supplying the necessary blood in the body. Whence also the prophet David sings, "He hath founded it upon the seas, and hath prepared it upon the floods,"⁵⁰ enclosing the seas |449 like treasures in the embraces of the largest tracts of land, and supplying them with a firm bottom for supporting the vast mass and multitude of waters which are collected in them. But to rivers, by a wise arrangement, he has ever given a free course : affording a passage to the onward current of their waters by the depression of certain localities, and by declivities from the higher to the lower parts.

CHAP. 10.--Philostorgius, going entirely upon conjecture, writes, that the situation of Paradise was towards the east ;⁵¹ and he so conjectures, firstly, because in the first place the parts to the south of it are all inhabited as far as the outer sea, which the sun scorches with his perpendicular rays ; (this is what is called the Middle, or Torrid, Zone ;) and, secondly, because the river now called the Hyphasis, and which is called Pison in the Holy Scriptures, itself taking its rise out of Paradise, seems to flow from the northern parts of the east down towards the south, and to pour its waters into the ocean there, opposite to the island of Taprobana. On the banks of this river is found the fruit, or flower, which is known under the name of Karyophyllum. The inhabitants of those parts believe that it formerly grew in Paradise ; and, moreover, all the district above them is especially desert and barren. But as the river produces that fruit, it would seem clear that the river runs entirely above-ground, and that it nowhere has a subterranean channel, for else it could not produce the plant which grows there. And further still, this river shows another sign of its connexion above-ground with Paradise ; for they say, that if a man bathe in its waters when he is suffering under the most burning fever, he immediately recovers. On the other hand, the Tigris and Euphrates, as flowing under-ground and then emerging again, can bring down their streams no production of those parts, as the Hyphasis does. No, nor even the Nile ; and yet the Nile also flows out of Paradise, according to the oracles of Moses, in which it is called Ghion, though the Greeks named it Aegyptius. This river then, if one may conjecture, takes its rise in Paradise, and before reaching any inhabited region, its waters are absorbed by the sand, whence it makes its way secretly into the Indian Sea, and there takes a sort of circular course,--for what man knows anything accurately concerning this matter, |450 --and then passing under all the intervening continent, makes its hidden passage into the Red Sea, on the other side of which it eventually appears again beneath the mountain which is called after the Moon. There it is said to form two great fountains, situated at no great distance from each other, and throwing their waters up to a great height from below. The river then falls down a steep ridge of cliffs and passes through Aethiopia into Egypt.

CHAP. 11.--He says that the whole district which lies to the east and the south, though parched up with the excessive heat, brings forth by far the finest and best productions, both by land and sea. For the sea teems with whales of incredible size, which are often seen as they rise out of the sea by those who sail around the coasts. The land also produces elephants of prodigious and gigantic size, and those which are called bull-elephants. As to this kind of beast, it is an ox of huge magnitude, and has a hide in colour and thickness closely resembling that of the elephant. This animal I saw with my own eyes, when it was brought to Rome ; and I simply describe what I beheld. There are also among them serpents whose bodies are as thick as beams, and extending in length as much as fifteen fathoms;⁵² for I have seen their skins brought to Rome. There is also an animal called a unicorn which is found in these parts. It has a head like a serpent, with the exception of a single crooked horn of no great size which grows upon it ; and its whole chin is covered with a beard. Its neck is lengthy and reaches high aloft, and especially resembles the folds of a serpent : but the rest of its body more nearly approaches that of a stag, with the exception of its feet, which are those of a lion. A picture of this animal is to be seen at Constantinople. Moreover, the cameleopard is a production of this region : this beast is in most respects like a very large stag, but in its height it approximates the form of the camel. Its neck, which it carries high aloft, is long beyond proportion to the rest of its body; and the whole of its skin from head to foot is dappled with spots like a leopard. Its fore legs are much taller than its hind ones. In these parts too there is a kind of ape, called the aesopithecus ; for the ape tribe comprises a variety of kinds. There is, for |451 instance, the arctopithecus and the leontopithecus, and the dog-headed ape ; for the ape form is found conjoined with a variety of other animals, as is evident from the various specimens of the ape tribe which are brought to us. Of this kind is the deity called Pan, who resembles a goat in his head, face, and horns, and from his middle downwards ; while in his breast, his belly, and his hands he is almost a perfect ape. One of these animals was sent by the king of the Indians as a present to the emperor Constantine ; it lived a little while and was carried about as a sight, enclosed in a cage on account of its ferocity. After its death, those who had the care of it embalmed its body in salt for the purpose of turning the strange sight to account, and they took it safe and entire to Constantinople. It seems to me that the Greeks must once upon a time have seen this monster, and, amazed at the strangeness of its appearance, adopted it as a god, in accordance with their ordinary practice of making a god out of everything strange and wonderful. This they clearly did in the case of the satyr, which is of the ape tribe, with a red face, and restless motion, and furnished with a tail. The sphinx, too, is a kind of ape, as I myself can testify from what I have seen. The rest of the body of the sphinx is covered with hair, just as all other apes, but from its head to its breast it is free from hair, and has the breasts of a woman. Where its body is bare, it has a raised portion of red, like millet, running round it, which elegantly harmonizes with the fleshy colour in the middle, and improves it. Its face is tolerably round, and inclining to the form of a woman. Its voice is very like the human voice, though not articulate; it most nearly approximates that of a woman uttering her words in a hurried and indistinct manner under the influence of anger and grief, and it is rather flat than sharp ; the beast moreover is very savage and cunning, and cannot be tamed without difficulty. This beast, I imagine, was formerly carried to Thebes in Boeotia, and having flown at several of the spectators who came together to view it, and having torn their faces, Oedipus slew the monster, because he was indignant at seeing his fellow-citizens thus mangled ; and so, as it seems to me, he gained his high renown. But in order to exaggerate the praises of Oedipus, the story makes out that the animal was winged, because it flew violently at the spectators; it adds the breast of a woman and the body |452 of a lion, because the former was bare and closely approximated to the female figure, and as to the latter, because it was fierce and generally went upon all four feet. The story also represented it as endued with reason, because its voice approached so nearly to that of man; and attributed to it enigmas, because it uttered indistinct sounds and inarticulate words. And the whole of this matter is not to be wondered at, considering that the Greeks are accustomed to distort many other stories also into a fabulous form.⁵³ This region produces also wild asses of lofty stature, and with skins wonderfully variegated with a mixture of black and white. For they have certain coloured streaks running down from their backs to their sides and belly, and then separating, which mutually connecting form a strange intermixture and variety. The phoenix too, a bird so celebrated in story, is found among them. I have also seen a parrot brought from those parts; this bird is the most loquacious of all, and its voice approache? very nearly to that of man. I have seen also some painted and spotted birds which are commonly called Garamantides, (by a name borrowed from the African tribe,) very many of which are brought over to us. Many other animals besides of a remarkable character come from the same districts, but I shrink from recounting them in my present narrative. Above all, the purest gold is obtained there, with golden fibre?, as it were, springing out of the ground, layers of which are piled upon layers, and show the clearest proofs of the production of gold. Their fruits too are very large and fine ; among these the most remarkable are the nuts. And in a word, the whole region of the Homeritae, even to the Red Sea itself, brings forth its produce twice every year, from which circumstance it is called Arabia Felix. But speaking generally, nil that district which lies toward the east is far superior to the remaining regions in every respect. But Paradise, as being the most pure and excellent spot of all the East, and endued with the brightest and fairest climate, and irrigated by the most limpid of streams, is beyond a doubt incomparably superior to all other portions of the habitable globe, lying |453 as it does towards the east, and washed by the waves of the sea.

CHAP. 12.--Philostorgius says that Athanasius reached the emperor of the West, and having used presents in order to propitiate the nobles of his palace, and especially Eustathius, chamberlain of his privy purse, who had very great weight with the emperor, produced letters from Constans to Constantius⁵⁴ to the following purport. "Athanasius comes to us and shows by manifest proofs that the bishopric of Alexandria belongs to him, wherefore allow him to obtain possession of it, or certainly he shall recover it by the assistance of my arms." He adds that, on receipt of this letter, Constantius convened the bishops in order to deliberate with them as to what should be done; and that they advised Constantius that it was better to leave Alexandria smarting under the severe yoke of Athanasius, than to undertake a war against his brother. Constantius therefore, he adds, allowed Athanasius to recover his see, and sent a letter to George, summoning him to his presence. George returned into his native country, Cappadocia, and there busied himself with the administration of his own private affairs. But Athanasius henceforth passed through the cities with greater confidence, and by his discourse brought over all the separate bishops with whom he had any intercourse to the Homoousian faith. He writes, however, that certain other bishops did not pay deference to the words of Athanasius,⁵⁵ and that Aetius,⁵⁶ a bishop of Palestine, who had been accused of fornication, endeavoured to avoid the charge by coming over to the communion of Athanasius, and so ranged himself upon his side ; but that he soon paid the penalty of his sin, for that a disease seized upon his genitals, and producing worms, in the end deprived him of |454 life. He writes also that Maximus,⁵⁷ bishop of Jerusalem, inclined to the side of Athanasius, although in the persecution under Maximian he had become illustrious as a confessor, and had had one eye put out. He adds that Athanasius by degrees brought several others also over to his doctrine.

CHAP. 13.--He says that Flavian of Antioch was the first who collected together a large band of monks, and uttered aloud the doxology, "Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost."⁵⁸ For among those who had gone before him, some had been accustomed to say, "Glory be to the Father through the Son in the Holy Ghost," and that this latter form of doxology was the one more customarily received. He says that others again used a different form, saying, "Glory be to the Father, in the Son, and in the Holy Ghost,"

CHAP. 14.--He says that the Arians, though they differed in their doctrinal statements from those who preached the Catholic faith, were nevertheless accustomed to communicate with them in prayers, hymns, and deliberations, and in everything except the mystic sacrifice. As soon, however, as Aetius came and began the contention on these points, he persuaded the multitude of his followers⁵⁹ to break the bands of amity and friendship which had formerly bound them to the Homoousians, and to range themselves as a faction in entire opposition to them.

CHAP. 15.--He says that Aetius⁶⁰ came from Coele-Syria. |455 His father, who had held a post in the victualling department of the army, failed in his business ; and upon his dying insolvent, the governor of the province to which he belonged paid the proceeds of his effects into the imperial treasury. Thus it happened that Aetius was left at a very early age, together with his mother, in a state of extreme destitution ; on this account he was obliged to follow the trade of gilding to provide a maintenance for his mother and himself. He had followed this art for a considerable time, when, on account of his superior intelligence, he began to turn his attention to the study of philosophy. In the first instance he became the disciple of Paulinus,⁶¹ who had been translated to the see of Antioch from that of Tyre. Afterwards, however, upon the death of his mother, on whose account more especially he followed his trade as a gilder, Aetius began to apply himself entirely to the study of logic ; nor was it long before he began to show himself superior to his fellows in disputation, which was the cause of more than ordinary ill-will being roused against him. As long as Paulinus lived, this envious feeling was kept in check; but upon his death, after having held the bishopric for the short space of six months, Eulalius ⁶² was appointed to the see in his room, and the old grudge against Aetius broke out afresh with such violence that Eulalius was induced to banish him from Antioch. Accordingly Aetius went to Anagarbus, a city of Cilicia, and again resorted to the practice of his craft in order to maintain himself ; at the same time, however, he did not wholly abstain from disputations with such as desired to enter upon them with him. At this conjuncture, a certain grammarian was so struck with admiration at his |456 ability that he offered to teach him the rudiments of his art, and Aetius became an inmate of his home, and performed for him the menial duties of the house. He willingly instructed Aetius in the first principles of grammar ; but when at length Aetius had publicly confuted his master, showing that he gave a wrong interpretation to the Divine oracles, and had covered him with shame on account of his want of skill in expounding, he was rewarded for his pains by being expelled from the house that owed him so much. After this expulsion, he lived for some time with Athanasius, a disciple of the martyr Lucian. who at that time was bishop of Anagarbus. Under him he read the writings of the evangelists, and made himself perfect master of their contents ; this done, he found his way to Tarsus, in order to see Anthony, who had himself been one of the disciples of Lucian. From him he learned the interpretation of St. Paul's Epistles, and lived with him for some space of time, while he as yet held the rank of a mere presbyter. But upon his elevation to the episcopate, Anthony found that he had no time to devote to the instruction of Aetius ; so the latter returned to Antioch, in order to become the disciple of Leontius, who was at that time a presbyter at Antioch, and had been one of the pupils of Lucian. He expounded to Aetius the books of "the Prophets," and especially Ezekiel. But again ill-will, as Philostorgius dreams, or rather, as one might say with greater truth, his own unbridled tongue, and the impious nature of his doctrines, drove him from the city. Thence accordingly Aetius took his departure into Cilicia, where one of the heretical sect of the Borboriani entirely overcame and confounded him in a disputation in defence of his doctrines. On this account he began to be cast down in spirit, and to feel that life was no longer worth living for, seeing that he found falsehood to be more powerful than truth. While Aetius was in this state of mind, as Philostorgius declares, a vision appeared to him, which raised him up again, and confirmed his mind; for it showed him by certain external signs the indomitable strength of the wisdom which should hereafter be imparted to him. From that time forward Aetius had a special gift from God, which saved him from defeat in his disputations. Not long afterwards a certain man named Aphthonius, a leader of the mad heresy of the Manichaeans, and who had gained great renown for his wisdom as well as |457 for his eloquence, met him in the city of Alexandria, for the curiosity of Aetius was so much excited by his fame that he had actually gone thither from Antioch to see him. But upon coming to a regular discussion, Aetius very shortly dumbfounded Aphthonius, and reduced hirn to deep shame from the pinnacle of glory. Aphthonius was so grievously afflicted by the suddenness of his defeat that he fell into a dangerous sickness, on which death shortly ensued, his bodily strength not being able to bear up against it for more than seven days. But Aetius went on everywhere overcoming his adversaries, and gaining the most illustrious victories. At the same time, he gave himself up to the study of medicine,⁶³ that he might be able to cure diseases not of the soul only, but also of the body. He had also, as a master in this line, Sopolis, a man inferior to none of his day in his art. But if at any time he chanced to be in want of necessaries, he would go by night to some artisan of his former trade, that he might not be hindered from attending to more important business during the day, and quickly finished anything of gold that needed a skilful hand, and so getting his pay from the goldsmith, he supported life. But this all happened in the reign of Constantius, at the same time when Theophilus was staying at Antioch, after his return from India.

CHAP. 16.--He says that Aetius, in a discussion upon consubstantiality, which he maintained against Basil, bishop of Ancyra, and Eusthathius of Sebastia, proved them to be the most foolish of all men ; and on this account, according to his fabulous narrative, he incurred their implacable hatred.

CHAP. 17.--He says that this Leontius, of whom we have already made mention as a presbyter, and as the instructor of Aetius, upon his promotion to the bishopric of Antioch, raised his former disciple to the diaconate, and gave him permission publicly to teach in the church the ecclesiastical doctrines. Aetius ⁶⁴ shrunk from the humble function of a deacon, but willingly embraced the office of a teacher ; and having remained as long as he judged sufficient in order to teach the sacred doctrines which were intrusted to him, he went again back to Alexandria, where Athanasius was already in high |458 repute, and was so manfully defending the doctrine of consubstantiality, that it was necessary to find some one to oppose him.

CHAP. 18.--Philostorgius says that Flavian and Paulinas, who afterwards divided between them the diocese of Antioch, were deposed by the same Leontius, as holding opinions at variance with his own. These followed Eustathius when he was driven into banishment; and Leontius permitted none of his cares ⁶⁵ at Antioch, or rather the interests of religion in general, to suffer by the many vicissitudes of the time.

CHAP. 19.--Philostorgius says that Aetius refused his consent to Secundus and Serras,⁶⁶ when they wished to put him forward as a candidate for the episcopal office ; for he said that they did not celebrate the Divine mysteries purely or holily, seeing they were in communion⁶⁷ with the professors of consubstantiality.

CHAP. 20.--Upon hearing the report of Aetius's wisdom, Eunomius came from Cappadocia to Antioch, and held a conference with Secundus. He recommended Eunomius to Aetius, who at this time was living at Alexandria. Accordingly they lived together; Aetius being engaged in teaching, and Eunomius in attending upon his course of sacred instruction.⁶⁸

CHAP. 21.--The impious Philostorgius says that he wrote an encomium in praise of Eunomius, and he does not blush to avow the deed.

CHAP. 22.--He says that Constans was put to death by the tyrant Magnentius, on account of his zeal for Athanasius. After his death, Constantius stayed for some time at Edessa in Mesopotamia, his presence being required there on account of the Persian war. During this time their elder sister Constantia,⁶⁹ the widow of Hanniballian, in fear lest the tyrant Magnentius should reduce the whole empire under his power, proclaimed as Caesar Veteranis, one of the masters of the |459 cavalry. She seemed to do this in her own right, because their father, while alive, had placed the imperial crown upon her head, and had named her Augusta. As soon as he received intelligence of these matters, Constantius sent the crown forthwith to Veteranis, confirming to him by this act his title of king ; afterwards, however, he set out with an army into the West against Magnentius, under the pretext of a desire to enter into a friendly conversation with Veteranis ; and because the latter had afforded him some ground for suspecting a revolt, he apprehended him, and deprived him of his imperial robe. But he punished him with no other disability, and even admitted him to his table ; and eventually he banished him to Prusa in Bithynia, and assigned him an ample and magnificent estate, thus securing him against all possibility of being in want of those comforts which constitute the happiness of private life.

CHAP. 23.--Philostorgius says that Sapor, king of Persia, waged war against the Romans, and laid siege to the city of Nisibis; but that, contrary to the general expectation, he was obliged to withdraw his forces and to return covered with shame, because James,⁷⁰ bishop of that city, had shown the citizens what to do on their own behalf, and had fought wonderfully with a firm hope and confidence in God on behalf of the safety of the city.

CHAP. 24.--The Sucian Alps, as Philostorgius says, as well as those which are called the Julian Alps, are a succession of narrow passes, with large mountains meeting closely together, so as to afford mutual strength to the position. These passes, he observes, by the way, are somewhat like the narrow pass of Thermopylae. The Julian Alps⁷¹ divide Gaul from Italy, but the Sucian Alps are the frontier between Dacia and Thrace. Veteranius seized upon these narrow passes, and so afforded to Constantius grounds for suspecting him of meditating a revolt.

CHAP. 25.--While Constantius was preparing his expedition against the tyrant Magnentius, intelligence was brought to him that the Persians had already set their forces in motion against the provinces of the East. On this account he deemed it necessary to nominate Gallus as Caesar, and to send |460 him into the East against the Persians. Now Gallus was his own cousin ; for Constantius, the father of Gallus, was brother to Constantine the Great, who was the father of Constantius and his brothers.

CHAP. 26.--Constantius gained a victory over the tyrant: upon this occasion also the sign of the cross appeared to him: its appearance was of immense size, and in the brightness of its rays it wonderfully surpassed even the brightness of day. It appeared at Jerusalem⁷² about the third hour of the day which is called the day of Pentecost. This sign, which was portrayed by no human hand, was seen to stretch from the Mount of Calvary even to the Mount of Olives, and was accompanied by a large iris, like a crown, which surrounded it on all sides. The iris, indeed, signified the mercy of Jesus Christ crucified and taken up into heaven, and the crown denoted the victory of the emperor. Moreover, that splendid and venerable sign did not escape the notice even of the soldiers. But though it was clearly seen by both armies, it frightened above all measure Magnentius and his partisans, who were addicted to superstitious practices ; while, on the other hand, it inspired Constantius and his army with invincible bravery. Magnentius, however, having suffered this defeat from Constantius, afterwards recovered his strength by degrees, and, engaging with him in a second battle, was entirely defeated, and fled away to Lyons with the loss of nearly all his army. And first, indeed, under the assumed appearance of good-will he killed his brother in order to rescue him from injury at the hands of the enemy. Finally, he fell upon the sword which he had placed to his breast, and so died by his own hand, having exercised his usurped power for about four years.

CHAP. 27.--Philostorgius says, that Basil and Eustathius, having fallen into enmity with Aetius, devised some absurd calumnies, and incited Gallus against him, so that Gallus, in reliance upon his bishops and burning with rage, ordered Aetius to be sought out and to be put to death by having his legs broken. But when Leontius, bishop of Antioch, had given the Caesar information which directly contradicted what had been alleged against Aetius, the sentence of condemnation was revoked, and Aetius soon afterwards went to the court of |461 Gallus and was reckoned among his friends. He was also repeatedly sent to Julian, especially at the time when Gallus had taught his brother to lean rather to the side of heathenism. He was sent, however, with the design of recalling Julian from his impiety. Gallus, moreover, appointed Aetius his superintendent of religious instruction.

CHAP. 28.--Gallus having shown considerable valour in the war against the Persians, certain calumniators endeavoured to stir up against him the hostility of Constantius. The latter, accordingly, as soon as the war was settled by the valour and bravery of Gallus, sent Domitian the prefect of the Praetorium with secret instructions to keep Gallus from quitting the city of Antioch. For by this means he thought to diminish the glory which Gallus was reaping from his bravery and care of the state. But Domitian, who was so far from acting within the tenor of instructions, that he even exceeded them by his boldness both of thought and of deed, as soon as he reached Antioch, where Gallus was staying, would not endure even to appear in his presence. On account of this insult, and other matters besides, Gallus determined to inflict capital punishment on the prefect for his haughtiness and contumacious conduct, and took Montius⁷³ as his assessor in this determination. The latter, using unbounded confidence, addressed Gallus in these terms: " You are not empowered to create even a curator⁷⁴ of the city; how then can you venture to kill the prefect of the Praetorium?" Constantia,⁷⁵ the wife of Gallus, was so exasperated by these words, because Gallus was both Caesar and the husband of Augusta-- (for this latter dignity she had herself received from her father)--that she dragged down Montius from the judgment-seat with her own hands, and gave him over into the hands of the attendants, who immediately seized him and carried him to Domitian; they then seized him also, dragged him. down from his throne, and tying ropes round the feet of both, |462 they put them to death with every mark of insult. This was done in great haste, and with the consent of Gallus.

EPITOME OF BOOK IV.

CHAP. 1.--CONSTANTIUS was much enraged when he heard what had happened to Montius and Domitian, and summoned to his presence Gallus, who immediately obeyed the command, because, although he suspected no good from his sudden summons, yet he feared the chance of a civil war following in the event of his refusal. Constantia, however, went on before him, and endeavoured to obtain an interview with her brother before her husband, and to implore mercy on his behalf. But upon her arrival at Bithynia, her journey and her life were at once broken off by a sudden attack which ended fatally. By this mischance the fears of Gallus were considerably increased, but still he did not depart from his previous resolution, so he went on his way accompanied by Theophilus the Indian. Moreover, upon the arrival of Gallus in Noricum, Barbation is sent from Milan, where Constantius then happened to be, to strip him of his purple robes, and to banish him to an island⁷⁶ in Dalmatia. But Theophilus, who chanced to be at hand, would by no means allow the matter to be brought to so ready a decision: for at the time when Gallus was created Caesar, he was himself the mediator of the treaty made between Gallus and Constantius, by which they mutually pledged themselves to friendship, and promised that they would not lay plots against each other; and it was he who all along had kept them at peace. Accordingly, on being informed of this middle position thus held by Theophilus, Constantius ordered him to be sent away into exile, and Gallus to be stripped of his purple and carried in the dress of a private citizen into a certain island, where a military guard was set over him. Moreover, the eunuch Eusebius, who had been elevated to the dignity |463 of a Praepositus, was supported by a party in his attempts to excite the mind of Constantius more and more against Gallus; for they feared that Constantius, either in remembrance of his oath, or moved by the tie of consanguinity, would recall the Caesar from banishment, and that Gallus, as soon as he had escaped that danger, would miserably destroy them all. Accordingly, they fraudulently and treacherously plotted together and sent persons to put Gallus to death. But, before the deed of blood was accomplished, Constantine relented, and sent another party to prevent the bloodshed. But Eusebius persuaded them not to approach the island, and not to show any one the rescript of the emperor forbidding the execution of Gallus before he was actually put to the sword. The matter was carried out in accordance with their designs: and hence it was that Julian, when he afterwards succeeded to the purple, put to death Eusebius and his comrades on account of the iniquitous execution of Gallus.

CHAP. 2.--Constantius, moreover, weighing well the weight of the imperial power, and his own inability to support it single-handed, summoned Julian, the brothpr of Gallus, out of Ionia, and appointed him Caesar, at the same time giving him his sister Helen in marriage; and sent him forthwith into Gaul as governor; for matters were in a very troubled state in those parts.

CHAP. 3.--He went however himself to Sirmium, where he settled for some time. At this period he recalled from exile and restored to his citizens Liberius the bishop of Rome, for whose recall the Romans were very clamorous. Philostorgius then goes on to say that this same Liberius, and with him Hosius the bishop [of Cordova], wrote openly against the term "consubstantial,"⁷⁷ and against Athanasius himself, when a synod had been convened there, and had brought over the aforementioned prelates to its own opinion. But as soon as they had subscribed, adds Philostorgius, Hosius returned to his see of Cordova in Spain and governed the church in that place, while Liberius⁷⁸ administered the church of Rome. Felix, who had been consecrated as bishop during the absence of Liberius, voluntarily retired, retaining |464 the dignity of a bishop, though he presided over no local church.

CHAP. 4.--Upon the death of Leontius, bishop of Antioch, the friends and partisans of Eudoxius,⁷⁹ as Philostorgius relates, translated him from his see of Germanicea, and placed him in the chair of Antioch.⁸⁰ This Eudoxius followed the opinions of the Arians, except only in as far as he was led by the writings of Asterius to profess the opinion of those who held that the Son was like in substance to the Father. But the Arians led him to abandon this opinion, and brought him over to believe the persons to be unlike in substance. But Philostorgius says that Eudoxius was gentle and modest in his character, and endued with no small degree of dexterity and cunning, but he vehemently censures him for want of courage. He says also that his father's name was Caesarius, and that he derived his origin from Arabissus, a town of Armenia Minor ; adding at the same time, that though he yielded to the blandishments of women, yet he ended his life by martyrdom, thus blotting out the spots upon his character, and gaining moreover a heavenly crown.

CHAP. 5.--Eudoxius, according to Philostorgius, promoted Eunomius to the diaconate. But Eunomius refused to undertake the office of a deacon before he had arrived at an accurate knowledge of the doctrines of that party.

CHAP. 6.--When the administration of the church at Antioch was put into the hands of Eudoxius, Philostorgius relates that Basil of Ancyra bore the disappointment with great impatience. For he had himself cast an ambitions eye towards that see, and carried it about fixed in his breast as the one desire of his heart.

CHAP. 7.--Constantius, when his wife Eusebia,⁸¹ whom he dearly loved, was afflicted with a disease of the womb, found it necessary to recall Theophilus from exile, for the latter was |465 celebrated for his divine skill in healing diseases. Accordingly Constantius implored his pardon for all the injuries which he had inflicted upon him, and earnestly entreated him to cure his wife. And his request, as Philostorgius testifies, was not made in vain, for as soon as Theophilus had laid his healing hands upon the empress, she was set free from her malady.

CHAP. 8.--He says that Basil, having taken with him Eustathius, bishop of Sebaste, and other leaders of the churches, brought charges before the emperor against Aetius and Eudoxius, alleging against them] among other matters, that they had been privy to the conspiracy of Gallus, and actual participators in it. Theophilus too was implicated in the same series of charges. The emperor believed the story of Basil,⁸² which was supported by the women, whom Basil had already brought over to his side, and accordingly sentenced Theophilus to exile, and banished him to Heraclea on the Pontus, while he ordered Eudoxius to quit Antioch, and to keep himself within his own house. Afterwards he gave up Aetius and the rest of his party into the power of his calumniators. But Basil had held a disputation concerning the faith in the presence of the emperor. In this disputation he maintained that the Son was like to the Father in all things,⁸³ but he made no mention of the question of substance, and totally avoided the term. They also endeavoured to get this opinion confirmed by the sentence and signature of the senate. And not long afterwards, as soon as the news of what Basil had done reached Antioch, Eunomius undertakes the ordination of a deacon, and being sent as an ambassador to Constantius to get the decrees rescinded, he was taken prisoner on his road by the followers of Basil, and was banished to Midasus in Phrygia. Aetius, however, fell into the hands of Basil and his party, and was sent into banishment at Pepuza, a small village of the same country: at the same time Eudoxius retired into Armenia, his native country. Other individuals also, to the |466 number of seventy, were condemned by the voice of Basil and his party, and were sent into exile.

CHAP. 9.--The victorious party, upon accomplishing the above-mentioned matters, traversed the country in every direction, confirming men everywhere in the Homoiousian belief, that is, in the likeness of substance between the Father and the Son ; and when many flocked over to their opinion, they drew over to their side Macedonius,⁸⁴ the bishop of Constantinople, although he had previously been more inclined to the sentiments of Eunomius. Many other bishops also they induced to join their party, being drawn over partly by their speeches and partly by the force which they added to their persuasions.

CHAP. 10.--He says that Patrophilus, bishop of Scythopolis, and Narcissus, of Irenopolis, together with some others, came to Singidunum, a city of Maesia, and brought back to Constantius news of what had been fraudulently done by Basil. Constantius was amazed and confounded with grief, and recalled the condemned from exile, ordering at the same time two synods to be convened, one at Rimini, for the bishops of the West, and the other at Nicomedia, to assemble together the bishops of the East, and Libya, and Thrace, in order that the arguments alleged by either side might be diligently weighed and sifted. But the impious Philostorgius asserts that an earthquake put a stop to the holding of the synod at Nicomedia, because the greater part of the bishops there were favourably inclined to the Homoousian creed ; this earthquake, he says, killed Cecropius, bishop of Nicomedia, and fifteen other bishops, who had arrived before the rest, shattering the church in which they were assembled. But the synod of Rimini, at which three hundred bishops were present, entirely rejected the use of the term "substance," but declaring the Son to be like to the Father according to the Scriptures, it confirmed that belief with the signatures of the bishops present.

CHAP. 11.--Nicomedia being thus overthrown, as Philostorgius says, by the earthquake and a consequent conflagration and inundation of the sea, a synod was at length convened at Seleucia, Basil⁸⁵ and his party having refused to meet at Nicaea, and Eudoxius and Aetius to adopt Tarsus. But the |467 party of Basil, having contrived by their artifices to divide the synod into two factions, and having met together apart from the rest, declared the Son to be like to the Father in substance; they also proceeded to depose such as entertained the opposite opinion, condemned the doctrine which asserts the Persons to be unlike, and finally by themselves ordained Annianus bishop of Antioch. But Eudoxius and Aetius, having subscribed their names to the doctrine of unlikeness, sent their letters about in every direction.

CHAP. 12.--But the emperor, on being informed of these matters, ordered the whole of the bishops to assemble at Constantinople. Accordingly they meet together, nearly all the episcopate, as well from the West as from the East and from Libya, Basil and Eustathius⁸⁶ being the leaders of those who professed to hold that the Son was like to the Father in substance. These these had a great number of supporters present, and among them a second Basil, who even at that time was only of the order of deacon; he was superior to many in his powers of speech, though from natural timidity⁸⁷ and shyness he shrunk from public discussions. But of those who professed their belief in the unlikeness of the Persons, Aetius and Eunomius were the leaders, so far as concerned power and influence, each of them being only of the rank of a deacon. Next to these came the bishops Maris and Eudoxius, who at that time was bishop of Antioch, but was afterwards promoted to the see of Constantinople, as likewise Acacius, bishop of Caesarea in Palestine, who pretended that he was of their party in order to cause pain to Basil, because the latter treated with marked respect Cyril, bishop of Jerusalem, whom he had deposed. Acacius, moreover, was bold in discussion, most acute in discerning the point in matters of business, and very eloquent in enforcing his opinion. Hence also the acts of this synod, which are not few in number⁸⁶, were digested and arranged by him. Accordingly, as soon as both parties had come into conflict concerning their respective dogmas, Basil was the patron of those who professed to believe that the Son was like in substance to the Father. But those who asserted |468 the dissimilarity of substance, put forward Aetius and Eunomius as the champions of their cause. Moreover, Basil and his partisans, when they saw Aetius pitted against him as his adversary, in fear of his eloquence, avowed that it was indecorous for bishops to contend with a deacon concerning the doctrines of the faith. But when the leaders of the opposite cause shrunk back from the contest, saying that the matter at stake was not their dignity, but the question of the truth. Basil⁸⁸ came forward to the contest, though unwillingly; and, as he writes, he was entirely overcome by his eloquence. So that he not only confessed that the substance of the begotten Son differed from that of the Father who begot him, and was like him in no respect; but also, as Aetius demanded, he confirmed his profession by the subscription of his signature. When the emperor learned these tidings, and still bore in his mind all fresh the calumny of Basil against Aetius, he took advantage of that event to gratify his anger. Accordingly, he ordered both of them to appear in his presence, and asked Basil what were the charges which he brought against Aetius. Basil answered, that he asserted the Son to be unlike the Father in substance. Upon this Aetius said, "I am so far from thinking or asserting that the Son is unlike the Father, that I confess him to be like without any difference." But Constantine, laying hold of that word, "without any difference," and not even enduring to learn in what sense Aetius used that term, gave orders that he should be expelled from the palace. But afterwards, with the assistance of Acacius, he brought about the judicial deposition of Aetius from the episcopate; and it was not only the orthodox who subscribed his degradation, but also those who were of his own opinion; of whom some had changed their former opinion, while others defended, under the name of economy,⁸⁹ what they had been unwillingly compelled to do. Further, Constantius, bringing into the midst of the synod the epistle of the Western bishops, ordered it to be confirmed by the subscription of the bishops who were present. Now, in the letter were contained the following words, " That the Son is like to the Father according |469 to the Scriptures." Then also, by the artifice of this same Acacius, who always had one thing hidden in his bosom and another ready upon his tongue, both all the bishops who were present, and also those who hitherto had professed to believe the Persons to be unlike in substance, added their subscriptions.

EPITOME OF BOOK V.

CHAP. 1.--UPON this Acacius, having drawn over the emperor to his own sentiments, assailed Basil, Eustathius, and many other bishops with various accusations, and deposed them from their sees. He also stripped of his sacerdotal dignity Macedonius, bishop of Constantinople; and after his degradation it was with the consent of the emperor that Eudoxius was translated from the see of Antioch and chosen in his room.⁹⁰ Those who were deposed were also sent into banishment : Basil went into Illyria, and the rest were dispersed in various places. When they were led into exile, they revoked the subscriptions with which they ratified the faith of the council of Rimini: and the latter party preached the doctrine of consubstantiality, while the others renewed the opinion of a similarity of substance in the Persons. Aetius, however, being deposed for the introduction of his term "without any difference," which was manifestly at variance with the rest of his public teaching, is banished to Mopsuestia in Cilicia, though most of his followers and partisans had not only set their signatures to the condemnation of himself, but also of his doctrine; some casting entirely away the opinion which they had previously embraced ; others, again, playing the part of mere time-servers, and reverencing the will of the emperor as paramount to the truth. Moreover, Acacius, having got Basil deposed and banished from motives of private hostility, and Aetius on account of his difference of opinion, returns to Caesarea and appoints professors of the Homoousian faith, as bishops of the sees of those churches which were deprived of their pastors. Thus, at Nicomedia., he consecrated Onesimus in the place of Cecropius, and substituted Athanasius⁹¹ in the |470 room of Basil at Ancyra, while he set another Acacius over the church at Tarsus in the room of Silvanus. But at Antioch, all the clergy who had formerly agreed with Basil in the line which he pursued against Aetius and Eudoxius, were driven into banishment without an opportunity of defending themselves. Meletius, too, was summoned from Sebastia, a city of Armenia, and placed in the see of Antioch by the same Acacius in the place of Eudoxius, who had ascended the throne of Constantinople. But Meletius, though previously he had professed his belief in the unlikeness of substance between the Father and the Son, suited his views according to the will of the emperor, and subscribed the epistle of the Eastern bishops. But after his elevation to the see of Antioch, he came forward as a most valiant defender of consubstantiality. The same Acacius also consecrated Pelagius bishop of Laodicea. And, to speak briefly, wherever force and influence seconded his design, he used all, possible zeal in placing those who most strenuously professed the consubstantial creed in the place of those who were expelled.

CHAP. 2.--The emperor, having learned from Acacius that Aetius was treated by Auxentius, bishop of Mopsuestia, with all possible care and kindness, ordered him to be removed to Ambdala,⁹² that he might there bring his life to a miserable close on account of the fierce and savage character of its inhabitants. And when, on account of the heat, that place was infected with a very terrible pestilence, this impious forger of lies declares that Aetius appeased the Divinity and warded off these calamities, and was treated in consequence by the barbarians with the greatest kindness and respect.

CHAP. 3.--After the deposition of Eustathius, Eusebius, and Eleusius, Maris and Eudoxius consecrated Eunomius bishop of Cyzicus,⁹³ with the full consent of Constantius. Eunomius, however, refused to submit to their consecration until he had received from them a pledge that Aetius should be set |471 free from his sentence of banishment and deposition. A period of three months was specified for the performance of this stipulation.

CHAP. 4. -- Constantius had previously been in the habit of gaining victories over his enemies ; but after he had stained his hands with the blood of those who were near of kin to him,⁹⁴ and had been driven on by the calumnies of Basil to punish Aetius, Theophilus, and Serras with banishment, he was forced to retreat in disgrace from a battle which he fought with the Persians.

CHAP. 5. -- The impious Philostorgius declares that Meletitos, bishop of Antioch, was banished by Constantius, who happened at that time to be staying at that city, to Meletina, his native country, as though he had been convicted of perjury, because while he was most ardent in preaching the doctrine of consubstantiality, he pretended to embrace the doctrine of "an unlikeness of Persons.⁹⁵ After this, Constantius summoned from Alexandria Euzoius, the partner of the heresy of Arius, and, ordering the bishops to lay their hands on him, appointed him to the see of Antioch.

EPITOME OF BOOK VI.

CHAP. 1.--SOME individuals of the clergy of the city of Cyzicus accused Eunomius before Eudoxius as though he asserted the Son to be unlike the Father, because he denied that he was like him in substance, from which they drew the inference that he held the Son to be really unlike the Father. Moreover, they accused him of changing the established rites, and of casting out those who would not join with him in his impious designs. On this account a tumult was raised in the church of Constantinople, which was strenuously agitated by a certain presbyter of that church named Hesychius. Eudoxius forthwith summoned Eunomius to his presence.⁹⁶ Upon |472 his arrival he accused Eudoxius of sloth and carelessness in the performance of his promises. Eudoxius answered ihat he had by no means neglected to perform them, but that first the tumult ought to be quieted which had been roused on his account. Accordingly, Eunomius began to plead his defence before the clergy of Constantinople, and so conciliated the minds of those who were previously excited against him, that he was induced not only to come over to his own opinions, but also to offer a ready testimony to the piety of Eunomius. For not only was he never detected in asserting the Son to be unlike the Father in those sermons which he delivered,⁹⁷ but he also freely professed to teach that he was like him according to the Scriptures. That he was like in substance was a position which he by no means admitted ;⁹⁸ for he said that it was equally impious to declare the Son to be like in substance to the Father, and not to confess that he was entirely like, according to the relation existing between the only-begotten Son and the Father, who had begotten him without passions. And he infected with these views not merely the great body of the clergy, but also the entire congregation of the church ; for the style of his discussions on these points struck them with admiration, not only of his wisdom, but also of his piety. On this account Eudoxius was rejoiced above measure, and exclaimed, "Mine answer to them that do examine me is this."⁹⁹ And the people applauded Eudoxius, because he had quoted the words of Holy Scripture so effectively and opportunely.

CHAP. 2. -- The impious Philostorgius declares that the hateful Eunomius delivered to the people, at the command of Eudoxius, on the feast of the Epiphany, a sermon in which the abominable and detestable doctrine of that school was openly taught. For those detestable individuals ventured to assert, that after the ineffable birth of her Son, Joseph had conjugal intercourse with the Virgin Mary; and what is still more audacious, they did not hesitate to declare that the Son was but the minister of the Father, and the Spirit of the Son. |473 Moreover, the very style which they used at that time was far removed from that of graceful panegyric, being turgid, with obscure and superfluous expressions, and the employment of words of impurity, tending to a speech at once distasteful, ridiculous, and confused ; declaring that God had openly visited them with the punishment of a mind darkened and confounded.

CHAP. 3.--After heaping many praises on Eunomius, Eudoxius not only brought himself to perform no part of his promises to him, but also endeavoured to persuade him to subscribe to the deposition of Arius, and to the exposition of the creed adopted at Rimini, excusing to them, under the pretext of "economy,"¹⁰⁰ his unlawful and involuntary crime. By these doings Eunomius was grievously enraged, and would not perform either of them ; but he leaves them¹⁰¹ in possession of Cyzicus, first in promise, and afterwards confirming the grant by letter, and retired into his native country of Cappadocia.

CHAP. 4.-- Acacius, being grievously indignant against Eunomius because he had been appointed bishop of Cyzicus, accused him and Eudoxius of having consecrated as bishop, without the common consent, the disciple of Aetius, a person who vied with and even surpassed his master in the fervency of his zeal for heresy. And by his calumnies he managed to make so much way that Constantius lent him his ear, and recalled Eunomius to Antioch. On his arrival thither, Constantius ordered him to be examined, and to plead his cause in the judicial assembly. But when the assembly demanded a prosecutor, no one appeared against him; for Acacius was struck dumb with fear, and persevered in keeping a most profound silence, for he thought that his adversary would be entirely overwhelmed by the mere force of calumny with the emperor. As soon as Constantius learned this, he regarded Acacius with suspicion, as one who had instituted the charges |474 against Eudoxius rather out of spiteful motives than from any real uprightness of character. Accordingly he bade him return at once to his church, and reserved for a larger assembly all further inquiry into the present business.

CHAP. 5.--While Constantius was pondering in his mind over these matters, news was brought to him of the rebellion of Julian.¹⁰² Accordingly he seized at once upon Constantinople, and convened by proclamation a synod at the city of Nicaea for the purpose of examining into the doctrine which declared the Son to be of a different substance from the Father. But upon his arrival at a place called Mopsi Crene, he was struck with a fatal disorder, and being there baptized by Euzoius, he died, leaving behind him his royalty and the synods to be held for the purpose of confirming a heresy.

CHAP. 6.--When the body of Constantius was being carried out to burial, Julian entered Constantinople, and walked before the bier without his crown, thus paying honour to the corpse of one whose life he had so shortly before endeavoured to take away.

CHAP. 7.--Julian, having thus seized upon the empire, recalled Aetius as one who had been sent into banishment on account of Gallus ; and restored to their sees not only him, but also all the other prelates who had been banished on account of the contested doctrines of the church.

EPITOME OF BOOK VII.

CHAP. 1.--JULIAN having thus seized upon the imperial purple, and issued edicts permitting all possible licence to the heathen, and allowing them to practise all that they had learnt, involved the Christians in the most grievous and inexplicable persecutions, by allowing the heathen everywhere to inflict upon them every kind of death, accompanied with every sort of tortures and torments, unheard of until then.

CHAP. 2.--When George, bishop of Alexandria, presided over the council,¹⁰³ and compelled those who were of the sentiments |475 of Aetius to subscribe the epistle ¹⁰⁴ against Aetius, the heathen suddenly attacked him and seized him : and after inflicting many indignities upon his body, at last they committed it to the flames. Further, this impious writer asserts that they were incited to this act by the counsel of Athanasius.¹⁰⁵ For the latter recovered his see upon the death of George, and the people of Alexandria received him back with open arms.

CHAP. 3. -- Concerning an image¹⁰⁶ of our Saviour erected by the faith of a pious woman in grateful remembrance of her cure from a bloody flux, Philostorgius writes, that it was placed near the fountain in the city among other statues, and presented a pleasant and agreeable sight to the passers-by. And when a certain herb, which grew up at the foot of this statue, was found to be a most effectual remedy against all diseases, and especially against consumption, men naturally began to inquire into the cause of this matter ; for by lapse of time all memory of the fact had been lost, and it was even forgotten whose statue it was, and on what account it had been erected. Inasmuch as the figure of our Saviour had long stood exposed in the open air, and a great part of it was covered over by the earth which was perpetually carried down against the pediment, especially during seasons of heavy rain, the notice contained in the inscription upon it was well nigh obliterated. A diligent inquiry was consequently made, and the part of the statue which had been covered up being brought to light, the inscription was discovered which explained the entire circumstances of the fact ; and the plant thenceforth was never again seen either there or in any other place. The statue itself they placed in the part of the church which was allotted to the deacons,¹⁰⁷ paying to it due honour and respect, yet by no means adoring or worshipping it; and they showed their love for its great archetype by erecting it in that place |476 with circumstances of honour, and by flocking thither in eager crowds to behold it. During the reign of Julian, however, the heathen ¹⁰⁸ who inhabited Paneas were excited by an impious frenzy to pull down this statue from its pediment, and to drag it through the midst of the streets with ropes fastened round its feet; afterwards they broke in pieces the rest of the body, while some persons, indignant at the whole proceeding, secretly obtained possession of the head, which had become, detached from the neck as it was dragged along, and they preserved it as far as was possible. This transaction Philostorgius declared that he witnessed with his own eyes. But the district of Paneas was formerly called Dan, from Dan the son of Jacob, who was the head of one of the twelve tribes, which was situated in those parts. But in the course of time it came to be called Caesarea Philippi,¹⁰⁹ and later still, when the heathen erected in it a statue of the god Pan, its name was changed to Paneas.¹¹⁰

CHAP. 4.--The heathens perpetrated everywhere many atrocities against the Christians, and more particularly the following disgraceful deed they committed in Palestine. The bones of the prophet Eliseus and of John the Baptist¹¹¹ were dug up out of their sepulchres where they were buried, and being mingled with the bones of beasts, they were thrown into the flames, reduced to ashes, and scattered to the winds. In some places, too, they seized upon the Christians and placed them as victims on the heathen altars ; and many other fearful atrocities did they commit, impelled, as it would seem, by some supernatural frenzy. When Julian learned these tidings, ho not only felt no indignation against their authors, but even rejoiced at their doings; as though the infamy belonging to such deeds attached itself to others, while his own wishes were in concert with their acts. But as soon as he perceived |477 that none of his desires were realized by all these atrocities, inasmuch as the spirit of the Christians, whom he specially persecuted, did but gather fresh strength daily, he contrived to bring into open collision¹¹² the bishops who had been banished for various reasons and those who had been substituted in their room. Accordingly he gave to both parties full licence of doing whatever they could to obtain their restoration and to defend their possessions respectively. And on this account they were so brought into open contest with each other as to cause our religion great disgrace and opprobrium,--a point which the Apostate had especially at heart. He added also another insult to this malignant contrivance, for he pressed those who were already enrolled among the clerical body to undertake the public functions of the Decurios, and assigned the revenues of the churches to the ministers of the heathen deities. In fine, he did not cease to employ every effort and contrivance to cause the superstitions of the heathens to flourish in every quarter, and, as he hoped, entirely to extinguish our religion.

CHAP. 5.--While matters were in this state, Eudoxius, recalling to mind the oath and pledges in which he had bound himself before Eunomius in favour of Aetius, wrote letters to Euzoius, bishop of Antioch, commanding him to convene a synod, in order to absolve Aetius from the sentence of condemnation which had formerly been passed upon him. But Euzoius took no account of this request, but was especially loud in his censures of Eudoxius for not having sooner set himself to do what he now enjoined others to execute. But when Eudoxius persevered in his command, Euzoius at length promised to comply.

CHAP. 6.--While Aetius and Eunomius were staying at Constantinople, they were joined by Leontius, bishop of Tripolis, and Theodulus of Chaeretapa, as also by Serras. Theophilus and Heliodorus from either Libya,¹¹³ and all who embraced the like opinion, and who had not ventured to subscribe |478 either the condemnation of Aetius or the letter of the Western¹¹⁴ bishops. These therefore assembled together and consecrated Aetius as bishop,¹¹⁵ and Aetius and Eunomius were all in all with them. They also consecrated other bishops, Eudoxius not only not being indignant on the occasion, but also giving his vote in favour of those who were to be ordained even more readily than the partisans of Aetius. During the same period Euzoius too, having collected a synod of nine bishops, reversed the measures which had been originally adopted against Aetius.¹¹⁶ He also reversed the six months of licence at the expiration of which Serras had been condemned to deposition from his priesthood, as a punishment in case of his refusing to subscribe the deposition of Aetius and the letter of the Western bishops. Accordingly, when the two measures which I have mentioned above had turned out thus, Euzoius contemplated sending letters to Eudoxius, but it so happened that the persecution of the Christians, which at that time was past all endurance, checked his attempt.

CHAP. 7.--When the apostate Julian found himself after many ineffectual attempts unable to detach from the faith. Valentinian, the commander of a regiment in the army, he stripped him of his dignity and banished him to Thebes in Egypt.¹¹⁷ He was Comes of the band called "Cornuti," and while Constantius was emperor one of the school of the Silentiarii is said to have seen him with flames issuing out of his mouth about mid-day, just at the time when we take our meal, and to have reported the sight to Constantius. Being sent by him to summon Valentinian to his presence on some business or other, he happened to witness the event; and as soon as he learned the tidings of it, Constantius was seized with suspicion and alarm, though he did nothing to Valentinian by way of punishment. But to calm his fears, he sent |479 him to the fortresses of Mesopotamia, with instructions to keep garrison there and to check the incursions of the Persians.

CHAP. 8.--Philostorgius does not differ much from other writers in his narration concerning the martyr Babylas,¹¹⁸ the number and greatness of the indignities with which Julian treated his body, what the devils were compelled to speak, how the shrine together with the image of Apollo¹¹⁹ was burnt down by lightning, and as to all the other wondrous events which happened, both natural and supernatural. He says moreover that the holy Babylas¹²⁰ was put to death together with three boys of a very tender age, and that his martyrdom arose from the following cause. Babylas was bishop of Antioch; by inspiration of the devil, Numerian the Roman emperor, or as others say, Decius, was led to desire to enter the church of the Christians at the time when a very large concourse of people had assembled together. But the priest of God stood at the entrance porch and forbade his entry, declaring that, so far as in him lay, he would not suffer a wolf to climb into the fold. But the emperor immediately desisted from his effort, either because he feared a popular outbreak, or because he changed his mind on some other account. But as to the bishop, he first accused him of insolence, and afterwards