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Chapter XXXII.-Of the Demand Made by Gainas and of John Chrysostom's Reply.
One Gainas, a Scythian, but still more barbarous in character, and of cruel and violent disposition, was at that time a military commander. He had under him many of his own fellow-countrymen, and with them commanded the Roman cavalry and infantry. He was an object of terror not only to all the rest but even to the emperor himself, who suspected him of aiming at usurpation.
He was a participator in the Arian pest, and requested the emperor to grant him the use of one of the churches. Arcadius replied that he would see to it and have it done. He then sent for the divine John, told him of the request that had been made, reminded him of the power of Gainas, hinted at the usurpation which was being aimed at, and besought him to bridle the anger of the barbarian by this concession.hyperlink "But," said that noble man, "attempt, sir, no such promise, nor order what is holy to be given to the dogs.hyperlink I will never suffer the worshippers and praisers of the Divine Word to be expelled and their church to be given to them that blaspheme Him. Have no fear, sir, of that barbarian; call us both, me and him, before you; listen in silence to what is said, and I will both curb his tongue and persuade him not to ask what it is wrong to grant."
The emperor was delighted with what Chrysostom said, and on the next day summoned both the bishop and the general before him. Gainas began to request the fulfilment of the promise, but the great John said in reply that the emperor, who professed the true religion, had no right to venture on any act against it. Gainas rejoined that he also must have a place to pray in. "Why," said the great John, "every church is open to you, and nobody prevents you from praying there when you are so disposed." "But I," said Gainas, "belong to another sect, and I ask to have one church with them, and surely I who undergo so many toils in war for Romans may fairly make such a request." "But," said the bishop, "you have greater rewards for your labours, you are a general; you are vested in the consular robe, and you must consider what you were formerly and what you are now-your indigence in the past and your present prosperity; what kind of raiment you wore before you crossed the Ister, and what you are robed in now. Consider, I say, the littleness of your labours and the greatness of your rewards, and be not unthankful to them who have shewn you honour." With these words the teacher of the world silenced Gainas, and compelled him to stand dumb. In process of time, however, he made known the rebellion which he had long had at heart, gathered his forces in Thrace, and went out ravaging and plundering in very many directions. At news of this there arose an universal panic among both princes and subjects, and no one was found willing to march against him; no one thought it safe to approach him with an ambassage, for every one suspected his barbarous character.
Chapter XXXIII.-Of the Ambassage of Chrysostom to Gainas.
Then when every one else was passed over because of the universal panic, this great chief was persuaded to undertake the ambassage. He took no heed of the dispute which has been related, nor of the ill feeling which it had engendered, and readily set out for Thrace. No sooner did Gainas hear of the arrival of the envoy than he bethought him of the bold utterance which he had made on behalf of true religion. He came eagerly froth a great distance to meet him, placed his right hand upon his eyes, and brought his children to his saintly knees. So is it the nature of goodness to put even those who are most opposed to it to the blush and vanquish them. But envy could not endure the bright rays of his philosophy. It put in practice its wonted wiles and deprived of his eloquence and his wisdom the imperial city-aye indeed the whole world.hyperlink
Chapter XXXIV.-Of the Events Which Happened on Account of Chrysostom.
At this part of my history I know not what sentiments to entertain; wishful as I am to relate the wrong inflicted on Chrysostom, I yet regard in other respects the high character of those who wronged him. I shall therefore do my best to conceal even their names.hyperlink These persons had different reasons for their hostility, and were unwilling to contemplate his brilliant virtue. They found certain wretches who accused him, and, perceiving the openness of the calumny, held a meeting at a distance from the city and pronounced their sentence.hyperlink
The emperor, who had confidence in the clergy, ordered him to be banished. So Chrysostom, without having heard the charges brought against him, or brought forward his defence, was forced as though convicted on the accusations advanced against him to quit Constantinople,hyperlink and departed to Hieron at the mouth of the Euxine, for so the naval station is named.
In the night there was a great earthquake and the empresshyperlink was struck with terror. Envoys were accordingly sent at daybreak to the banished bishop beseeching him to return without delay to Constantinople, and avert the peril from the town. After these another party was sent and yet again others after them and the Bosphorus was crowded with the couriers. When the faithful people learned what was going on they covered the mouth of the Propontis with their boats, and the whole population lighted up waxen torches and came forth to meet him. For the time indeed his banded foes were scattered.hyperlink
But after the interval of a few months they endeavoured to enact punishment, not for the forged indictment, but for his taking part in divine service after his deposition. The bishop represented that he had not pleaded, that he had not heard the indictment, that he had made no defence, that he had been condemned in his absence, that he had been exiled by the emperor, and by the emperor again recalled. Then another Synod met, and his opponents did not ask for a trial, but persuaded the emperor that the sentence was lawful and right. Chrysostom was then not merely banished, but relegated to a petty and lonely town in Armenia of the name of Cucusus. Even from thence he was removed and deported to Pityus, a place at the extremity of the Euxine and on the marches of the Roman Empire, in the near neighbourhood of the wildest savages. But the loving Lord did not suffer the victorious athlete to be carried off to this islet, for when he had reached Comana he was removed to the life that knows nor age nor pain.hyperlink
The body that had struggled so bravely was buried by the side of the coffin of the martyred Basiliscus, for so the martyr had ordained in a dream.
I think it needless to prolong my narrative by relating how many bishops were expelled from the church on Chrysostom's account, and sent to live in the ends of the earth, or how many ascetic philosophers were involved in the same calamities, and all the more because I think it needful to curtail these hideous details, and to throw a veil over the ill deeds of men of the same faith as our own. Punishment however did fall on most of the guilty, and their sufferings were a means of good to the rest. This great wrong was regarded with special detestation by the bishops of Europe, who separated themselves from communion with the guilty parties. In this action they were joined by all the bishops of Illyria. In the East most of the cities shrank from participation in the wrong, but did not make a rent in the body of the church.
On the death of the great teacher of the great teacher of the world, the bishops of the West refused to embrace the communion of the bishops of Egypt, of the East, of the Bosphorus, and in Thrace, until the name of that holy man had been inserted among those of deceased bishops. Arsacius his immediate successor they declined to acknowledge, but Atticus the successor of Arsacius, after he had frequently solicited the boon of peace, was after a time received when he had inserted the name in the roll.hyperlink
Chapter XXXV.-Of Alexander, Bishop of Antioch.
At this time the see of Alexandria was held by Cyril,hyperlink brother's son to Theophilus whom he succeeded; at the same time Jerusalem was occupied by Johnhyperlink in succession to Cyril whom we have formerly mentioned. The Antiochenes were under the care of Alexanderhyperlink whose life and conversation were of a piece with his episcopate. Before his consecration he passed his time in ascetic training and in hard bodily exercise. He was known as a noble champion, teaching by word and confirming the word by deed. His predecessor was Porphyrius who guided that church after Flavianus, and left behind him many memorials of his loving character.hyperlink He was also distinguished by intellectual power. The holy Alexander was specially rich in self discipline and philosophy; his life was one of poverty and self denial; his eloquence was copious and his other gifts were innumerable; by his advice and exhortation, the following of the great Eustathius which Paulinus, and after him Evagrius, had not permitted to be restored, was united to the rest of the body, and a festival was celebrated the like of which none had ever seen before. The bishop gathered all the faithful together, both clergy and laity, and marched with them to the assembly. The procession was accompanied by musicians; one hymn was sung by all in harmony, and thus he and his company went in procession from the western postern to the great church, filling the whole forum with people, and constituting a stream of thinking living beings like the Orontes in its course.
When this was seen by the Jews, by the victims of the Arian plague, and by the insignificant remnant of Pagans, they set up a groaning and wailing, and were distressed at seeing the rest of the rivers discharging their waters into the Church. By Alexander the name of the great John was first inscribed in the recordshyperlink of the Church.
Chapter XXXVI.-Of the Removal of the Remains of John and of the Faith of Theodosius and His Sisters.
At a later time the actual remains of the great doctor were conveyed to the imperial city, and once again the faithful crowd turning the sea as it were into land by their close packed boats, covered the mouth of the Bosphorus towards the Propontis with their torches. The precious possession was brought into Constantinople by the present emperor,hyperlink who received the name of his grandfather and preserved his piety undefiled. After first gazing upon the bier he laid his head against it, and prayed for his parents and for pardon on them who had ignorantly sinned, for his parents had long ago been dead, leaving him an orphan in extreme youth, but the God of his fathers and of his forefathers permitted him not to suffer trial from his orphanhood, but provided for his nurture in piety, protected his empire from the assaults of sedition, and bridled rebellious hearts. Ever mindful of these blessings he honours his benefactor with hymns of praise. Associated with him in this divine worship are his sisters,hyperlink who have maintained virginity throughout their lives, thinking the study of the divine oracleshyperlink the greatest delight, and reckoning that riches beyond robbers' reach are to be found in ministering to the poor. The emperor himself was adorned by many graces, and not least by his kindness and clemency, an unruffled calm of soul and a faith as undefiled as it is notorious. Of this I will give an undeniable proof.
A certain ascetic somewhat rough of temper came to the emperor with a petition. He came several times without attaining his object, and at last excommunicated the emperor and left him under his ban. The faithful emperor returned to his palace, and as it was the time for the banquet, and his guests were assembled, he said that he could not partake of the entertainment before the interdict was taken off. On this account he sent the most intimate of his suite to the bishop, beseeching him to order the imposer of the interdict to remove it. The bishop replied that an interdict ought not to be accepted from every one, and pronounced it not binding, but the emperor refused to accept this remission until the imposer of it had after much difficulty been discovered, and had restored the communion withdrawn. So obedient was he to divine laws.
In accordance with the same principles he ordered a complete destruction of the remains of the idolatrous shrines, that our posterity might be saved from the sight of even a trace of the ancient error, this being the motive which he expressed in the edict published on the subject. Of this good seed sown he is ever reaping the fruits, for he has the Lord of all on his side. So when Rhoïlas,hyperlink Prince of the Scythian Nomads, had crossed the Danube with a vast host and was ravaging and plundering Thrace, and was threatening to besiege the imperial city, and summarily seize it and deliver it to destruction, God smote him from on high with thunderbolt and storm, burning up the invader and destroying all his host. A similar providence was shewn, too, in the Persian war. The Persians received information that the Romans were occupied elsewhere, and so in violation of the treaty of Peace, marched against their neighbours, who found none to aid them under the attack, because, in reliance on the Peace, the emperor had despatched his generals and his men to other wars. Then the further march of the Persians was stayed by a very violent storm of rain and hail; their horses refused to advance; in twenty days they had not succeeded in advancing as many furlongs. Meanwhile the generals returned and mustered their troops.
In the former war, too, these same Persians, when besieging the emperor's eponymous city,hyperlink were providentially rendered ridiculous. For after Vararaneshyperlink had beset the aforesaid city for more than thirty days with all his forces, and had brought up many helepoles, and employed innumerable engines, and built up lofty towers outside the wall, resistance was offered, and the assault of the attacking engines repelled, by the bishop Eunomius alone. Our men had refused to fight against the foe, and were shrinking from bringing aid to the besieged, when the bishop, by opposing himself to them, preserved the city from being taken. When one of the barbarian chieftains ventured on his wonted blasphemy, and with words like those of Rabshakeh and Sennacherib, madly threatened to burn the temple of God, the holy bishop could not endure his furious wrath, but himself commanded a balista,hyperlink which went by the name of the Apostle Thomas, to be set up upon the battlements, and a mighty stone to be adjusted to it.Then, in the name of the Lord who had been blasphemed, he gave the word to let go,-down crashed the stone on that impious chief and hit him on his wicked mouth, and crushed in his face, and broke his head in pieces, and sprinkled his brains upon the ground. When the commander of the army who had hoped to take the city saw what was done, he confessed himself beaten and withdrew, and in his alarm made peace.
Thus the universal sovereign protects the faithful emperor, for he clearly acknowledges whose slave he is, and performs fitting service to his Master.hyperlink
Chapter XXXVII.-Of Theodotus Bishop of Antioch.
Theodosius restored the relics of the great luminary of the world to the city which deeply regretted his loss. These events however happened later.hyperlink
Innocent the excellent bishop of Rome was succeeded by Bonifacius, Bonifacius by Zosimus and Zosimus by Caaelestinus.hyperlink
At Jerusalem after the admirable John the charge of the church was committed to Praylius, a man worthy of his name.hyperlink
At Antioch after the divine Alexander Theodotus, the pearl of purity, succeeded to the supremacy of the church, a man of conspicuous meekness and of exact regularity of life. By him the sect of Apollinarius was admitted to fellowship with the rest of the sheep on the earnest request of its members to be united with the flock. Many of them however continued marked by their former unsoundness.hyperlink
Chapter XXXVIII.-Of the Persecutions in Persia and of Them that Were Martyred There.
At this time Isdigirdes,hyperlink King of the Persians, began to wage war against the churches and the circumstances which caused him so to do were as follows. A certain bishop, Abdas by name,hyperlink adorned with many virtues, was stirred with undue zeal and destroyed a Pyreum, Pyreum being the name given by the Persians to the temples of the fire which they regarded as their God.hyperlink
On being informed of this by the Magi Isdigirdes sent for Abdas and first in moderate language complained of what had taken place and ordered him to rebuild the Pyreum.
This the bishop, in reply, positively refused to do, and thereupon the king threatened to destroy all the churches, and in the end carried out all his threats, for first be gave orders for the execution of that holy man and then commanded the destruction of the churches. Now I am of opinion that to destroy the Pyreum was wrong and inexpedient, for not even the divine Apostle, when he came to Athens and saw the city wholly given to idolatry, destroyed any one of the altars which the Athenians honoured, but convicted them of their ignorance by his arguments, and made manifest the truth. But the refusal to rebuild the fallen temple, and the determination to choose death rather than so do, I greatly praise and honour, and count to be a deed worthy of the martyr's crown; for building a shrine in honour of the fire seems to me to be equivalent to adoring it.
From this beginning arose a tempest which stirred fierce and cruel waves against the nurslings of the true faith, and when thirty years had gone by the agitation still remained kept up by the Magi, as the sea is kept in commotion by the blasts of furious winds. Magi is the name given by the Persians to the worshippers of the sun and moonhyperlink but I have exposed their fabulous system in another treatise and have adduced solutions of their difficulties.
On the death of Isdigirdes, Vararanes, his son, inherited at once the kingdom and the war against the faith, and dying in his turn left them both together to his son.hyperlink To relate the various kinds of tortures and cruelties inflicted on the saints is no easy task. In some cases the hands were flayed, in others the back; of others they stripped the heads of skin from brow to beard; others were enveloped in split reeds with the cut part turned inwards and were surrounded with tight bandages from head to foot; then each of the reeds was dragged out by force, and, tearing away the adjacent portions of the skin, caused severe agony; pits were dug and carefully greased in which quantities of mice were put; then they let down the martyrs, bound hand and foot, so as not to be able to protect themselves from the animals, to be food for the mice, and the the mice, under stress of hunger, little by little devoured the flesh of the victims, causing them long and terrible suffering. By others sufferings were endured even more terrible than these, invented by the enemy of humanity and the opponent of the truth, but the courage of the martyrs was unbroken, and they hastened unbidden in their eagerness to win that death which ushers men into indestructible life. Of these I will cite one or two to serve as examples of the courage of the rest. Among the noblest of the Persians was one called Hormisdas, by race an Achaemenidhyperlink and the son of a Prefect. On receiving information that he was a Christian the king summoned him and ordered him to abjure God his Saviour. He replied that the royal orders were neither right nor reasonable, "for he," so he went on, "who is taught to find no difficulty in spurning and denying the God of all, will haply the more easily despise a king who is a man of mortal nature; and if, sir, he who denies thy sovereignty is deserving of the severest punishment, how much more terrible a chastisement is not due to him who denies the Creator of the world?" The king ought to have admired the wisdom of what was said, but, instead of this, he stripped the noble athlete of his wealth and rank, and ordered him to go clad in nothing save a loin cloth, and drive the camels of the army. After some days had gone by, as he looked out of his chamber, he saw the excellent man scorched by the rays of the sun, and covered with dust, and he be thought him of his father's illustrious rank, and sent for him, and told him to put on a tunic of linen. Then thinking the toil he had suffered, and the kindness shewn him, had softened his heart, "Now at least," said he "give over your opposition, and deny the carpenter's son." Full of holy zeal Hormisdas tore the tunic and flung it away saying, "If you think that this will make one give up the true faith,keep your present with your false belief." When the king saw how bold he was he drove him naked from the palace.
One Suenes, who owned a thousand slaves, resisted the King, and refused to deny his master. The King therefore asked him which of his slaves was the vilest, and to this slave handed over the ownership of all the rest, and gave him Suenes to be his slave. He also gave him in marriage Suenes' wife, supposing that thus he could bend the will of the champion of the truth. But he was disappointed, for he had built his house upon the rock.hyperlink
The king also seized and imprisoned a deacon of the name of Benjamin. After two years there came an envoy from Rome, to treat of other matters, who, when he was informed of this imprisonment, petitioned the king to release the deacon. The king ordered Benjamin to promise that he would not attempt to teach the Christian religion to any of the Magi, and the envoy exhorted Benjamin to obey, but Benjamin, after he heard what the envoy had to say, replied, "It is impossible for me not to impart the light which I have received; for how great a penalty is due for the hiding of our talent is taught in the history of the holy gospels."hyperlink Up to this time the King had not been informed of this refusal and ordered him to be set free. Benjamin continued as he was wont seeking to catch them that were held down by the darkness of ignorance, and bringing them to the light of knowledge. After a year information of his conduct was given to the king, and he was summoned and ordered to deny Him whom he worshipped. He then asked the king "What punishment should be assigned to one who should desert his allegiance and prefer another?" "Death and torture," said the king. "How then" continued the wise deacon "should he be treated who abandons his Maker and Creator, makes a God of one of his fellow slaves, and offers to him the honour due to his Lord?" Then the king was moved with wrath, and had twenty reeds pointed, and driven into the nails of his hands and feet. When he saw that Benjamin took this torture for child's play, he pointed another reed and drove it into his privy part and by working it up and down caused unspeakable agony. After this torture the impious and savage tyrant ordered him to be impaled upon a stout knotted staff, and so the noble sufferer gave up the ghost.
Innumerable other similar deeds of violence were committed by these impious men, but we must not be astonished that the Lord of all endures their savagery and impiety, for indeed before the reign of Constantine the Great all the Roman emperors wreaked their wrath on the friends of the truth, and Diocletian, on the day of the Saviour's passion, destroyed the churches throughout the Roman Empire, but after nine years had gone by they rose again in bloom and beauty many times larger and more splendid than before, and he and his iniquity perished.hyperlink
These wars and the victory of the church had been predicted by the Lord, and the event teaches us that war brings us more blessing than peace. Peace makes us delicate, easy and cowardly. War whets our courage and makes us despise this present world as passing away. But these are observations which we have often made in other writings.
Chapter XXXIX.-Of Theodorus, Bishop of Mopsuestia.
When the divine Theodorus was ruling the church of Antioch, Theodorus, bishop of Mopsuestia, a doctor of the whole church and successful combatant against every heretical phalanx, ended this life. He had enjoyed the teaching of the great Diodorus, and was the friend and fellow-worker of the holy John, for they both together benefited by the spiritual draughts given by Diodorus. Six-and-thirty years he had spent in his bishopric, fighting against the forces of Arius and Eunomius, struggling against the piratical band of Apollinarius, and finding the best pasture for God's sheep.hyperlink His brother Polychroniushyperlink was the excellent bishop of Apamea, a man gifted with great eloquence and of illustrious character.
I shall now make an end of my history, and shall entreat those who meet with it to requite my labour with their prayers. The narrative now embraces a period of 105 years, beginning from the Arian madness and ending with the death of the admirable Theodorus and Theodotus.hyperlink I will give a list of the bishops of great cities after the persecution.
List of the bishops of great cities.
Of Rome:-
Miltiades
[Melchiades. 311-314]
Silvester
[314-35]
Julius
[337-352. Mark Jan. to Oct., 336]
Liberius
[352-366]
Damasus
[366-384]
Siricius
[384-398]
Anastasius
[398-401]
Innocentius
[402-417]
Bonifacius
[418-422]
Zosimus
[417-418]
Caelestinus
[422-432]
Of Antioch:-
Vitalius
Orthodox
[312-318]
Philogonius
[318-323]
Eustathius
[325-328]
Eulalius
Arians{stfrs=6}
[328-330]
Euphronius
[330-332]
Placidus
[332-342]
Stephanus
[342-348]
Leontius
[348-357]
Eudoxius
[357-359]
Meletius
Orthodox{stfrs=5}
[360 (died) 381]
Flavianus
[381-404]
Porphyrius
[404-413]
Alexander
[413-419]
Theodotus
[419-429]
Paulinus III.
Eustathians{stfrs=2}
[362-388]
Evagrius
[388- ]
Of Alexandria:-
Peter
[301-312]
Achillas
[312-313]
Alexander
[313-326]
Athanasius
[326-341]
Gregory (Arian)
[341-347]
Athanasius
[347-356]
George (heretic)
[356-362]
Athanasius
[363-373]
Peter (disciple of Athanasius)
[373-373]
Lucius (Arian)
[373-377]
Peter
[377-378]
Timothy
[378-385]
Theophilus
[385-412]
Cyril
[412-444]
Of Jerusalem:-
Macarius
[324-336]
Maximus
[336-350]
Cyril
[350-388]
John
[388-416]
Praylius
[416-425]
Juvenalius
[425-458]
Of Constantinopole:md;
Alexander
[326-340]
Eusebius of Nicomedia (Arian)
[340-342]
Paul the Confessor
[342-342]
Macedonius the enemy of the Holy Ghost
[342-360]
The impious Eudoxius
[360-370]
Demophilus of Beroe in Thrace (heretic)
[370- ]
Gregory of Nazianzus
[380-381]
Nectarius
[381-398]
John Chrysostom
[398-404]
Footnotes
112 The three great officials, Aurelianus, Saturninus, and the Count John had already surrendered themselves to the arrogant Goth, and their lives had only been spared at the entreaty of Chrysostom.
113 Matt. vii. 6.
114 It is not clear where the mission of Chrysostom to Gainas should be placed. Gainas attacked the capital by sea and by land, but his Goths were massacred in their own church, and he was repulsed. He was finally defeated and slain in Jan. 401.
115 The foes of Chrysostom were
(i) The empress Eudoxia, jealous of his power;
(ii) The great ladies on whose toilettes of artifice and extravagant licentiousness he had poured his scorn; among them being Marsa, Castricia, and Eugraphia;
(iii) The baser clergy whom his simplicity of life shamed, notably Acacius of Beroea, whose hostility is traced by Palladius to the meagre hospitality of the archiepiscopal palace at Constantinople, when the hungry guest exclaimed "egw autw artuw xutran"-"I'll pepper a pot for him!" (Pall. 49.) and Theophilus of Alexandria, who had never forgiven his elevation to the see, and Gerontius of Nicomedia whom he had deposed.
116 i.e. at the suburb of Chalcedon known as "the Oak." The charges included his calling the Empress Jezebel, and eating a lozenge after the Holy Communion. Pallad. 66.
117 For three days the people withstood his removal. At last he slipped out by a postern, and, when a nod would have roused rebellion, submitted to exile. But he was only deported a very little way.
118 Eudoxia was the daughter of Banto, a Frankish general. Philostorgius (xi. 6), says that she "ou kata thn tou androj diekeito nwqeian, all: enhn auth tou barbarikou qrasouj ouk oligon.
119 The proceedings of "the Oak" were declared null and void, and the bishop was formally reinstated. 403.
120 Theodoret omits the second offence to Eudoxia - his invectives on the dedication of her silver statue in front of St. Sophia in Sept. 403. (Soc. vi. 18. Soz. viii. 20) "Once again Herodias runs wild; once again she dances; once again she is in a hurry to get the head of John on a charger." Or does the description of Herodias, and not Salome, as dancing, indicate that the calumnious sentence was not really uttered by Chrysostom, but said to have been uttered by informers whose knowledge of the Gospels was incomplete?
The discourse "in decollationem Baptistoe Joannis" is in Migne Vol. viii. 485, but it is generally rejected as spurious.
The circumstances of the deposition will be found in Palladius, and in Chrysostom's Ep. ad Innocent. The edict was issued June 5, 404. Cucusus (cf. p. ii. 4) is on the borders of Cilicia and Armenia Minor. Gibbon says the three years spent here were the "most glorious of his life," so great was the influence he wielded.
In the winter of 405 he was driven with other fugitives from Cucusus through fear of Isaurian banditti, and fled some 60 miles to Arabissus. Early in 406 he returned. Eudoxia was dead (_ Oct. 4. 404) but other enemies were impatient at the old man's resistance to hardship. An Edict was procured transferring the exile to Pityus, in the N.E. corner of the Black Sea (now Soukoum in Transcaucasia) but Chrysostom's strength was unequal to the cruel hardships of the journey. Some five miles from Comana in Pontus (Tokat), clothed in white robes, he expired in the chapel of the martyred bishop Basiliskus, Sept. 14. 407. Basiliskus was martyred in 312.
121 Atticus (Bp. of Constantinople 405-426) was forced by fear alike of the mob and the Emperor to consent to the restitution. His letters to Peter and Aedesius, deacon of Cyril of Alexandria, and Cyril's reply, (Niceph. xiv. 26-27) are interesting. Cyril "would as soon put the name of Judas on the rolls as that of Chrysostom." Dict. Christ. Biog. i. 209.
122 Cyril occupied the Episcopal throne of Alexandria from 412 to 444. Theodoretus could not be expected to allude to the withdrawal of the Roman legions from Britain in 401, or the release of Britoins from their allegiance by Honorius in 410. The sack of Rome by the Goths in the latter year might have however claimed a passing notice.
123 Of the five Johns more or less well known as bishop of Jerusalem this was the second-from 386 to 417. He is chiefly known to us from the severe criticisms of Jerome.
124 Bp. from 413 to 421.
125 Palladius (Dial. 143 et Seqq.) describes Porphyrius as a monster of frivolity, iniquity, and bitterness. It is interesting to hear both sides.
126 Theodoret here uses the word diptuxon. Other words in use were ierai, deltoi and katalogoi. The names engraved on these tablets were recited during the celebration of the Holy Eucharist. e. g. at Carthage in 411 we find it said of Caecilianus: "In ecclesia sumus in qua episcopatum gessit et diem obiit. Ejus nomen ad altare recitamus ejus memorioe communicamus tanquam memorioe fratris." (Dict. Christ. Ant. i. 561. Labbe ii. 1490.) Names were sometimes erased from unworthy motives. A survival of the use obtains in the English Church in the Prayer for the Church Militant, and more specifically in the recitation of names in the Bidding Prayer.
127 Theodosius II. succeeded his father May 1, 408, at the age of eight. The translation of the remains of Chrysostom took place at the beginning of 438. Theodosius died in 450, and the phrase "o nun basileuwn" thus limits the composition of the History. As however Theodoret does not continue his list of bishops of Rome after Caelestinus, who died in 440, we may conclude that the History was written in 438-439. But the mention of Isdigirdes II. in Chap. xxxviii. carries us somewhat further. Possibly the portions of the work were jotted down from time to time.
128 Theodosius II. had four sisters, Flaccilla, Pulcheria, Arcadia, and Marina. Pulcheria was practically empress-regnant for a considerable period. She was only two years older than her brother, but was declared Augusta and empress July 14, 414, at the age of 15 1/2. On his death In 450 she married Marcianus a general. Besides the relics of Chrysostom she translated in 446 those of the martyrs of Sebaste. Soz. ix. 2.
129 "ta qeia logia." This is the common phrase in our author for the Holy Scriptures. According to the interpretation given by Schleiermacher and like theologians to the title of the work of Papias, "logiwn kuriakwn echghseij" and to the passage of Eusebius (Ecc. Hist. iii. 39) in which Papias is quoted as salting that Matthew "Ebraidi dialektw ta logia sunegrayato." Pulcheria and her sisters did not study the Scriptures, but only "the divine discourses," to the exclusion of anything that was not a discourse. cf. Salmon Introduction to the N. T. 4th Ed. pp. 95, 96, and Bp. Lightfoot's Essays in reply to the anonymous author of "Supernatural Religion." cf. Rom. iii. 21, Heb. v. 12, I. Pet. iv. 11, and Clem. ad Cor. liii. "For beloved you know, aye, and well know, the sacred Scriptures, and have pored over the oracles of God."
130 Supposed to be identified with Rogas, Rugilas, or Roas, a prince said by Priscus in his Hist. Goth. to have preceded Attila in the sovereignty of the Huns. cf. Soc. vii, 43.
131 i.e. Rhoesina, or Theodosiopolis in Osrhoena, now Erzeroum.
132 Vararanes V. son of Isdigirdes I. persecuted Christians in the beginning of the 5th c. cf. Soc. vii. 18, 20.
Sapor III. 385-390
Vararanes IV. 390-399.
Isdigirdes I. 399-420.
Vararanes V. 420-440.
Isdigirdes II. 440-457.
133 It is interesting to find in the fifth century an instance of the sacred nomenclature with which we have familiar instances in the "San Josef" and the "Salvador del mundo" of Cape St. Vincent, and the "Santa Anna" and "Santissima Trinidad" of Trafalgar. (Southey, Life of Nelson, Chap iv. and ix.) On the north side of Sebastopol there was an earthwork called "The Twelve Apostles." (Kinglake, Crimea, Vol. iv. p. 48.) St. Thomas was the supposed founder of the church of Edessa.
134 This might have been written before the weaker elements in the character of Theodosius II. produced their most disastrous results. But he was not a satisfactory sovereign, nor a desirable champion of Christendom. In some respects like our Edward the Confessor and Henry VI. he had, in the words of Leo, "the heart of a priest as well as of an emperor." "He had fifteen prime ministers in twenty-five years, the last of whom, the Eunuch Chrysaphius, retained his power for the longest period. a.d. 443-450. During that time the empire was rapidly hurrying to destruction. The Vandals in Africa and the Huns under Attila in Europe were ravaging some of his fairest provinces while the emperor was attending to palace intrigues. ...Chrysaphius made him favourable to Eutyches, and thus largely contributed to the establishment of the monophysite heresy." Dr. Stokes in Dict. Christ. Biog. iv. 966.
135 This paragraph belongs more appropriately to the preceding chapter. The relics of Chrysostom were translated in 438.
136 The accepted order is Innocent I. 402-417; Zosimus 417-418; Boniface I. 418-422; Caelestinus 422-432.
The decision of Honorius in favour of Bonifacius as against Eulalius, both elected by their respective supporters on the death of Zosimus in 418, marks an important point in the interference of temporal princes in the appointments of bishops of Rome. cf. Robertson, i. 498.
137 Prauj = meek, gentle.
138 Apollinarians survived the condemnation of Apollinarius at Constantinople in 381.
The unsoundness, i.e. the denial of the rational soul, and so of the perfect manhood of the Saviour, is discussed in Dial. I.
139 Yezdegerd I. son of Sapor III. Vide note on p. 156.
140 Abdas was bishop of Susa. In Soc. vii. 8 he is "bishop of Persia."
141 The second of the six supreme councillors of Ahuramazda in the scheme of Zarathustra Spitama (Zoroaster) is Ardebehesht, light or lightness of any kind and representing the omnipresence of the good power. Hence sun, moon and stars are symbols of deity and the believer is enjoined to face fire or light in his worship. Temples and altars must be fed with holy fire. In their reverence for fire orthodox Parsees abstained from smoking, but alike of old and today they would deny the charge of worshipping fire in any other sense than as an honoured symbol.
142 The word in the original is stoixeia&Eaxute\ on this Valesius annotates "This does not mean the four elements, for the Persian Magi did not worship the four elements but only fire and the sun and moon." In illustration of this use of the word he quotes Chrysostom. Hom. 58 in Matth.
o gar daimwn epi diabolh tou stoixeiou kai epitiqetai toij alousi, kai anihsin autouj kata touj thj selhnhj dromouj&Eaxute\ and St. Jerome Ep. ad Hedyb. 4 where he speaks of the days of the week as being described by the heathen "Idolorum et elementorum nominibus."
143 i.e. Isdigirdes II. 440-457.
144 Achaemenes was the name of the Grandfather of Cambyses, father of Cyrus, and also of a son of Darius, son of Hystaspes. Hence the Achaemenidae were the noblest stock of Persia.
145 Matt. vii. 24.
146 Matt. xxv. 25.
147 The edict of Diocletian against the Christians was issued on the feast of the Terminalia, Feb. 23, 303. Good Friday, here h tou swthriou paqouj hmera, was commonly known as hmera tou staurou, pasxa staurwsimou, and paraskeuh.
Tertullian speaks of its early observance as a general fast, and Eusebius confirms his testimony.
148 Theodorus was born at Antioch in 350, consecrated bishop of Mopsuestia in 392, and died in 428 in Cilicia.
149 The evidence is in favour of distinguishng this Polychronius from the monk described in the Religious History.
150 "The date of the death of Theodotus is fixed for a.d. 429 by a passage of Theodoret's letter to Dioscorus, where, when speaking of his having taught for six years under him at Antioch, he refers to his blessed and holy memory, combined with one in his history, stating that the death of Theodore of Mopsuestia took place in the episcopate of Theodotus." Dict. Christ. Biog. iv. 983.
The last event referred to by Theodoretus seems to be the accession of Isdigirdes II. in 440. Vide pp. 155, 156.