Church History (epitome by Photius) 0.1–3.8

Greek text: PG 65 (OCR text layer from the Bavarian State Library, cleaned for this site).English: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), public domain (CC0). Compare: The Ecclesiastical History of Sozomen, and the Ecclesiastical History of Philostorgius, trans. Edward Walford (London: Bohn, 1855).

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0.1

0.1PG 65:459

Ὅτι ἐν δώδεκα λόγοις αὐτοῦ ἡ ἱστορία περαίνεται, ἀπαρτιζόντων αὐτοῦ τοὔνομα τῶν ἑκάστου λόγου ἀρχομένων γραμμάτων ἐν τάξει συντιθεμένων. "Αρχεται μὲν ἀπὸ τῆς ᾿Αρείου πρὸς ᾿Αλέξανδρον, ὡς οὗτος ᾿λέγει, ἔριδος· ἣν καὶ τῆς αἱρέσεως αἰτίαν ἀναγράφει· κάτεισι δὲ μέχρι τῆς Οὐαλεντινιανοῦ, ὃς ἦν παῖς Πλακιδίας καὶ Κωνσταντίου, εἰς βασιλέα ἀναῤῥήσεως, καὶ τῆς Ἰωάννου τοῦ τυράννου ἀναιρέσεως. Ἡ δὲ ἱστορία τῶν αἱρετιζόντων ἐστὶν ἐγκώμιον αὐτῷ ὥσπερ καὶ τῶν ὀρθοδόξων διαβολὴ καὶ ψόγος μᾶλλον ἢ ἱστορία.

Hoti en dōdeka logois autou hē historia perainetai, apartizontōn autou tounoma tōn hekastou logou archomenōn grammatōn en taxei syntithemenōn. "Archetai men apo tēs ᾿Areiou pros ᾿Alexandron, hōs houtos ᾿legei, eridos; hēn kai tēs haireseōs aitian anagraphei; kateisi de mechri tēs Oualentinianou, hos ēn pais Plakidias kai Kōnstantiou, eis basilea anarrhēseōs, kai tēs Iōannou tou tyrannou anaireseōs. Hē de historia tōn hairetizontōn estin enkōmion autǭ hōsper kai tōn orthodoxōn diabolē kai psogos mallon ē historia.

That his history is completed in twelve books, and the initial letters of the books, put together in order, make up his name. It begins with the quarrel of Arius with Alexander, as this man puts it, which he also records as the cause of the heresy; and it comes down to the proclamation as emperor of Valentinian, the son of Placidia and Constantius, and to the killing of John the usurper. His history is a eulogy of the heretics, just as it is a slander and censure of the orthodox, rather than a history.

Notes and citation

Summary: Photius describes Philostorgius's history: twelve books whose initials spell his name, running from Arius's quarrel with Alexander to Valentinian III, and partisan for the heretics.

  • This is Photius's introduction to his epitome; throughout, “he” is Philostorgius and the judgments (“impious”, “heretics”) are Photius's. Philostorgius was an Anomoean (Eunomian), and Photius writes as his opponent.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR lost the first letters of ἀρχομένων; OCR slip): λόγου χομένων → λόγου ἀρχομένων; μᾶλλων → μᾶλλον.

Topics: Heresy

Cite (SBL): Philostorgius, Hist. eccl. 0.1 (PG 65:459; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/philostorgius-historia/0-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Valesius's text of Photius's epitome as printed in PG 65; every section compared afterwards with Walford's English (Bohn, 1855).

Chapter 1

1.1PG 65:461

Ὅτι τῶν Μακκαβαϊκῶν φησι τὸν συγγραφέα ὅστις ποτέ ἐστιν ἀγνοεῖν. Πλὴν τὸ μὲν πρῶτον βιβλίον ἀποδοχῆς ἀξιοῖ, συνάδοντα διηγούμενον ταῖς τοῦ Δανιὴλ προφητείαις ὅτι λίαν προμηθῶς διέξεισιν, ὅπως τε ἀνδρῶν μοχθηρία τὰ Ἰουδαίων ἤλασεν ἐσχάτων κακῶν, ὅπως τε πάλιν ἀνδρῶν ήνεγκεν ἀρετή. Καὶ τότε κατὰ τῶν πολεμίων ἐπανείλοντο κράτος, καὶ ὁ νεὼς τῶν Ἑλληνικῶν ἀνεκαθάρθη μολυσμάτων. Τὸ δεύτερον δὲ μὴ τὸν αὐτὸν μέν φησιν ἐνδείκνυσθαι συγγραφέα· σύνοψιν δὲ εἶναι τῶν ὑπὸ Ἰάσονος τοῦ Κυρηναίου ἐν πέντε λόγοις ἀναγεγραμμένων, ἢ τὸν πόλεμον ἀπαγγέλλει ὃν Ἰούδας ὁ Μακκαβαίος πρὸς ᾿Αντίοχόν τε τὸν Ἐπιφανῆ, καὶ τὸν αὐτοῦ παῖδα τὸν ἐπίκλην Εὐπάτορα, διεπολέμησε. Τὸ δὲ τρίτον ἀποδοκιμάζει, τερατῶδες καλῶν, καὶ οὐδὲν ὅμοιον τῷ πρώτῳ διεξερχόμενον. Τὸ μέντοι γε τέταρτον ὑπὸ Ἰωσήπου γεγράφθαι καὶ αὐτὸς συνομολογῶν, οὐχ ἱστορίαν μᾶλλον ἢ ἐγκώμιον εἶναί φησι, τὸ περὶ τὸν Ἐλεάζαρον καὶ τοὺς ἑπτὰ παῖδας τοὺς Μακκαβαίους διηγούμενον.

Hoti tōn Makkabaïkōn phēsi ton syngraphea hostis pote estin agnoein. Plēn to men prōton biblion apodochēs axioi, synadonta diēgoumenon tais tou Daniēl prophēteiais hoti lian promēthōs diexeisin, hopōs te andrōn mochthēria ta Ioudaiōn ēlasen eschatōn kakōn, hopōs te palin andrōn ēnenken aretē. Kai tote kata tōn polemiōn epaneilonto kratos, kai ho neōs tōn Hellēnikōn anekatharthē molysmatōn. To deuteron de mē ton auton men phēsin endeiknysthai syngraphea; synopsin de einai tōn hypo Iasonos tou Kyrēnaiou en pente logois anagegrammenōn, ē ton polemon apangellei hon Ioudas ho Makkabaios pros ᾿Antiochon te ton Epiphanē, kai ton autou paida ton epiklēn Eupatora, diepolemēse. To de triton apodokimazei, teratōdes kalōn, kai ouden homoion tǭ prōtǭ diexerchomenon. To mentoi ge tetarton hypo Iōsēpou gegraphthai kai autos synomologōn, ouch historian mallon ē enkōmion einai phēsi, to peri ton Eleazaron kai tous hepta paidas tous Makkabaious diēgoumenon.

That he says he does not know who wrote the books of Maccabees. He approves the first book, however, as agreeing with the prophecies of Daniel, because it relates with great care both how the wickedness of men drove the affairs of the Jews to the extremest evils and how, again, the virtue of men restored them; and then they gained the mastery over their enemies, and the temple was cleansed of the pollutions of the Greeks. The second, he says, does not show the same author, but is an epitome of what Jason of Cyrene wrote in five books, which relates the war that Judas Maccabaeus fought against Antiochus Epiphanes and against his son, surnamed Eupator. The third he rejects, calling it a tale of marvels and saying it narrates nothing like the first. The fourth, however, he too agrees was written by Josephus, but says it is not so much a history as a eulogy, as it narrates the story of Eleazar and the seven Maccabean sons.

Dan 11:21–35 (echo, low confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Philostorgius's judgment on the four books of Maccabees: the first trustworthy, the second an epitome of Jason of Cyrene, the third fanciful, the fourth a eulogy by Josephus.

  • “restored them”: the scan reads ήνεγκεν with letters lost (probably ἀνήνεγκεν); translated by sense.
  • The agreement with Daniel refers to Daniel's visions of the Seleucid persecution (Dan 8; 11). On Jason of Cyrene see 2 Macc 2:23.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR lost two letters): βλίον → βιβλίον.

Extrabiblical texts: 1 Macc (1 Maccabees [in RC, EO canons]; allusion); 2 Macc 2:23 (2 Maccabees [in RC, EO canons]; allusion); 3 Macc (3 Maccabees [in the EO canon]; allusion); 4 Macc (4 Maccabees; allusion)

Topics: Scripture and canon

Cite (SBL): Philostorgius, Hist. eccl. 1.1 (PG 65:461; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/philostorgius-historia/1-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Valesius's text of Photius's epitome as printed in PG 65; every section compared afterwards with Walford's English (Bohn, 1855).

1.2PG 65:461

Ὅτι τά τε ἄλλα, καὶ ὅσα πρὸς Ιστορίας ἥκει λόγον, ὁ Φιλοστόργιος τὸν Παμφίλου Εὐσέβιον ἐπαινέσας περὶ τὴν εὐσέβειαν διαμαρτάνειν φησί. Καὶ τὸ ἁμάρτημα ὁ δυσσεβής διηγούμενος, διότι ἄγνωστον τὸ Θεῖον καὶ ἀκατάληπτον ἡγοῖτο. Ἀλλὰ καὶ ἄλλα τοιαῦτά φησιν αὐτὸν πλημμελεῖν· καταπαῦσαι δὲ τὸν τὰς οἰκείας τῆς Ἱστορίας μνήμας, μέχρι τῆς τῶν παίδων διαδοχῆς τοῦ Μεγάλου Κωνσταντίνου συνεπιμαρτύρεται.

Hoti ta te alla, kai hosa pros Istorias hēkei logon, ho Philostorgios ton Pamphilou Eusebion epainesas peri tēn eusebeian diamartanein phēsi. Kai to hamartēma ho dyssebēs diēgoumenos, dioti agnōston to Theion kai akatalēpton hēgoito. Alla kai alla toiauta phēsin auton plēmmelein; katapausai de ton tas oikeias tēs Historias mnēmas, mechri tēs tōn paidōn diadochēs tou Megalou Kōnstantinou synepimartyretai.

That, while praising Eusebius Pamphili for other things and for whatever concerns the writing of history, Philostorgius says that he goes astray in matters of piety; and the impious man describes the error: that he held the Divine to be unknowable and incomprehensible. He says that Eusebius goes wrong in other such things as well, and he attests that Eusebius ended the records of his History at the succession of the sons of Constantine the Great.

Notes and citation

Summary: Philostorgius praises Eusebius as a historian but faults his belief that God is unknowable.

  • For Philostorgius, an Anomoean, God's essence could be known; Eusebius's view that God is incomprehensible is therefore an error to him. “The impious man” is Photius's description of Philostorgius.

Topics: Heresy

Cite (SBL): Philostorgius, Hist. eccl. 1.2 (PG 65:461; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/philostorgius-historia/1-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Valesius's text of Photius's epitome as printed in PG 65; every section compared afterwards with Walford's English (Bohn, 1855).

1.3PG 65:461

Ὅτι οὗτος ὁ δυσσεβής φησι τὰς ψήφους τῆς ἱερωσύνης "Αρειον φερομένας, αὐτὸν μᾶλλον ᾿Αλέξανδρον προτιμήσαντα ἑαυτοῦ, περιελθεῖν αὐτῷ ταύτας κατεπράξατο

Hoti houtos ho dyssebēs phēsi tas psēphous tēs hierōsynēs "Areion pheromenas, auton mallon ᾿Alexandron protimēsanta heautou, perielthein autǭ tautas katepraxato

That this impious man says that when the votes for the priesthood were going to Arius, Arius himself preferred Alexander to himself and saw to it that they passed to him.

Notes and citation

Summary: Philostorgius claims Arius declined the bishopric of Alexandria in favour of Alexander.

  • “Priesthood” here is the bishopric of Alexandria.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR slip (stray χ)): τῆς χιερωσύνης → τῆς ἱερωσύνης.

Topics: Church office

Cite (SBL): Philostorgius, Hist. eccl. 1.3 (PG 65:461; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/philostorgius-historia/1-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Valesius's text of Photius's epitome as printed in PG 65; every section compared afterwards with Walford's English (Bohn, 1855).

1.4PG 65:461

Ὅτι ᾿Αλέξανδρόν τινα πρεσβύτερον Βαύκαλιν ἐπονομαζόμενον, διὰ τὸν σαρκὸς ὑπερτραφοῦς ὄγκον ὑπὸ τῶν μεταφρένων αὐτοῦ σεσωρευμένον ἄγγους ὀστρακίνου ἐκμιμῆσθαι σχῆμα, ἅπερ οὖν Βαυκάλας ἐπιχωρίως ᾿Αλεξανδρεῖς εἰώθασιν ὀνομάζειν. Τοῦτόν φησι τὴν δευτέραν τάξιν μετ' "Αρειον ἔχοντα, ἄρξαι τῆς αἰτίας, ἐξ ἧς ἡ διαφορὰ ᾿Αλεξάν δρῳ τῷ ἐπισκόπῳ καὶ Ἀρείῳ συνεῤῥάγη, καὶ τὴν τοῦ ὁμοουσίου ἀνακήρυξιν ἐκεῖθεν ἐπιτεχνασθῆναι.

Hoti ᾿Alexandron tina presbyteron Baukalin eponomazomenon, dia ton sarkos hypertraphous onkon hypo tōn metaphrenōn autou sesōreumenon angous ostrakinou ekmimēsthai schēma, haper oun Baukalas epichōriōs ᾿Alexandreis eiōthasin onomazein. Touton phēsi tēn deuteran taxin met' "Areion echonta, arxai tēs aitias, ex hēs hē diaphora ᾿Alexan drǭ tǭ episkopǭ kai Areiǭ synerrhagē, kai tēn tou homoousiou anakēryxin ekeithen epitechnasthēnai.

That there was a certain Alexander, a presbyter, nicknamed Baucalis, because the mass of overfed flesh heaped up on his back made him resemble the shape of an earthenware jar, which the Alexandrians in their local speech call baucalae. This man, he says, who held the second rank after Arius, started the cause from which the dispute between Alexander the bishop and Arius broke out, and from there the proclamation of the homoousion was contrived.

Notes and citation

Summary: Philostorgius blames a presbyter nicknamed Baucalis for starting the dispute between Bishop Alexander and Arius.

  • The homoousion is the Nicene term “of the same substance” (with the Father).

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR slip): ἐνομάζειν → ὀνομάζειν.

Topics: Trinity, Heresy

Cite (SBL): Philostorgius, Hist. eccl. 1.4 (PG 65:461; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/philostorgius-historia/1-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Valesius's text of Photius's epitome as printed in PG 65; every section compared afterwards with Walford's English (Bohn, 1855).

1.5PG 65:463

Ὅτι, φησὶ, Κωνστάντιος ὁ τοῦ μεγάλου Κωνσταντίνου πατήρ κατ' ἀνδραγαθίαν τῶν ἄνω Γαλατιῶν, ἐν αἷς καὶ αἱ καλούμεναι ῎Αλπεις, βασιλεὺς ἀπεδείχθη. Δυσέμβολα δὲ τὰ χωρία ταῦτα καὶ δυσπρόσοδα· τὰς δὲ Γαλατίας οἱ νῦν Γαλλίας ἐπονομάζουσιν. Ἡ δὲ τελευτή Κωνσταντίου κατὰ Βρετανίαν γέγονε, τὴν ᾿Αλουΐωνος καλουμένην. Ἐν ᾗ καὶ σοῦντα καταλαβὼν αὐτὸν Κωνσταντῖνος ὁ παῖς, γὼν παραδόξως τὴν ἐπιβουλὴν Διοκλητιανοῦ, τελευτῶντα ἐκήδευσε, καὶ τῆς βασιλείας κατέστη διάδοχος.

Hoti, phēsi, Kōnstantios ho tou megalou Kōnstantinou patēr kat' andragathian tōn anō Galatiōn, en hais kai hai kaloumenai ᾿Alpeis, basileus apedeichthē. Dysembola de ta chōria tauta kai dysprosoda; tas de Galatias hoi nyn Gallias eponomazousin. Hē de teleutē Kōnstantiou kata Bretanian gegone, tēn ᾿Alouïōnos kaloumenēn. En hę̄ kai sounta katalabōn auton Kōnstantinos ho pais, gōn paradoxōs tēn epiboulēn Dioklētianou, teleutōnta ekēdeuse, kai tēs basileias katestē diadochos.

That, he says, Constantius, the father of Constantine the Great, was declared emperor of upper Galatia, in which the so-called Alps also lie, on account of his valour. These regions are hard to enter and hard to approach; the Galatias are what people now call the Gauls. Constantius died in Britain, the part called Albion. There Constantine his son, who had escaped Diocletian's plot in a remarkable way, found him dying, buried him, and became his successor in the empire.

Notes and citation

Summary: Philostorgius on Constantius I's rule in Gaul and his death in Britain, where Constantine succeeded him.

  • The scan has lost letters in two words (σοῦντα, γὼν): the sense “dying” and “having escaped” is clear from the context and is translated so.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (word split by OCR): διάδο χος → διάδοχος; ἐπονομά ζουσιν → ἐπονομάζουσιν.

Cite (SBL): Philostorgius, Hist. eccl. 1.5 (PG 65:463; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/philostorgius-historia/1-5). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Valesius's text of Photius's epitome as printed in PG 65; every section compared afterwards with Walford's English (Bohn, 1855).

1.6PG 65:463

Ὅτι τὴν τοῦ μεγάλου Κωνσταντίνου μεταβολὴν ἐκ τῆς Ἑλληνίδος θρησκείας εἰς τὸν Χριστιανισμὸν καὶ οὗτος τοῖς ἄλλοις φθεγγόμενος, αἰτίαν γενέσθαι ἀναγράφει τὴν κατὰ Μαξεντίου νίκην. Καθ' ἣν καὶ τὸ τοῦ σταυροῦ σημεῖον κατὰ ἀνατολὰς ἐπὶ μήκιστον ὤφθη διῆκον, αἴγλης αὐτὸν καταπληττούσης διατυπουμένης καὶ ἀστέρων αὐτὸν κύκλῳ περιθεόντων, ἵριδος τρόπῳ, καὶ πρὸς γραμμάτων χαρακτῆρα ῥυθμιζομένων· τὰ δὲ ἄρα Ῥωμαίων ἔλεγε φωνῇ Ἐν τούτῳ νίκα.

Hoti tēn tou megalou Kōnstantinou metabolēn ek tēs Hellēnidos thrēskeias eis ton Christianismon kai houtos tois allois phthengomenos, aitian genesthai anagraphei tēn kata Maxentiou nikēn. Kath' hēn kai to tou staurou sēmeion kata anatolas epi mēkiston ōphthē diēkon, aiglēs auton kataplēttousēs diatypoumenēs kai asterōn auton kyklǭ peritheontōn, hiridos tropǭ, kai pros grammatōn charaktēra rhythmizomenōn; ta de ara Rhōmaiōn elege phōnę̄ En toutǭ nika.

That he too, agreeing with the others, records that the cause of Constantine the Great's change from the Greek religion to Christianity was his victory over Maxentius. At that time, he says, the sign of the cross was seen in the east, stretching a very great distance, formed of a radiance that astonished him, with stars running round it in a circle like a rainbow and arranged in the shape of letters; and the letters said in the Roman tongue, “In this conquer.”

Notes and citation

Summary: Philostorgius's account of the sign of the cross that Constantine saw before his victory over Maxentius.

  • The words are given in Greek translation; “in the Roman tongue” means Latin (in hoc vince).

Cite (SBL): Philostorgius, Hist. eccl. 1.6 (PG 65:463; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/philostorgius-historia/1-6). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Valesius's text of Photius's epitome as printed in PG 65; every section compared afterwards with Walford's English (Bohn, 1855).

1.7PG 65:463

Ὅτι καὶ πρὸ τῆς ἐν Νικαίᾳ συνόδου, οὗτος τὸν ᾿Αλεξανδρείας φησὶν ᾿Αλέξανδρον καταλαβόντα τὴν Νικομήδειαν, καὶ Ὁσίῳ τε τῷ Κουδρούβης ἐντυχόντα καὶ τοῖς σὺν αὐτῷ ἐπισκόποις, συνοδικαῖς ψήφοις ἀνομολογῆσαι παρασκευάσαι όμοούσιον τῷ Πατρὶ τὸν Υίων, καὶ τὸν Ἄρειον ἀποκηρύξασθαι.

Hoti kai pro tēs en Nikaią synodou, houtos ton ᾿Alexandreias phēsin ᾿Alexandron katalabonta tēn Nikomēdeian, kai Hosiǭ te tǭ Koudroubēs entychonta kai tois syn autǭ episkopois, synodikais psēphois anomologēsai paraskeuasai omoousion tǭ Patri ton Uiōn, kai ton Areion apokēryxasthai.

That even before the Council of Nicaea, he says, Alexander of Alexandria came to Nicomedia, met Hosius of Cordova and the bishops with him, and arranged that by synodal votes they should confess the Son consubstantial with the Father and should cast out Arius.

Notes and citation

Summary: Philostorgius claims Alexander of Alexandria and Hosius agreed on the homoousion and the condemnation of Arius before Nicaea.

Topics: Trinity, Heresy

Cite (SBL): Philostorgius, Hist. eccl. 1.7 (PG 65:463; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/philostorgius-historia/1-7). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Valesius's text of Photius's epitome as printed in PG 65; every section compared afterwards with Walford's English (Bohn, 1855).

1.8PG 65:463

Μετ᾿ οὐ πολὺν δὲ χρόνον καὶ τὴν ἐν Νικαίᾳ στῆναι σύνοδον, ἐν ᾗ μετὰ τῶν ἄλλων ἀρχιερέων Θεοῦ, καὶ Βασιλέα τὸν ᾿Αμασείας ἐπίσκοπον παρεῖναι, καὶ Μελέτιον τὸν Σεβαστουπόλεως

Met᾿ ou polyn de chronon kai tēn en Nikaią stēnai synodon, en hę̄ meta tōn allōn archiereōn Theou, kai Basilea ton ᾿Amaseias episkopon pareinai, kai Meletion ton Sebastoupoleōs

Not long afterwards the Council of Nicaea met, at which, along with the other high priests of God, Basil, bishop of Amasea, and Meletius of Sebastopolis were also present.

Notes and citation

Summary: Philostorgius names Basil of Amasea and Meletius of Sebastopolis among the bishops at Nicaea.

Cite (SBL): Philostorgius, Hist. eccl. 1.8 (PG 65:463; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/philostorgius-historia/1-8). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Valesius's text of Photius's epitome as printed in PG 65; every section compared afterwards with Walford's English (Bohn, 1855).

1.9PG 65:463

Ὅτι καὶ αὐτὸς συνομολογεῖ πάντας ὁμοφρονῆσαι τῷ ἐν Νικαίᾳ τῆς πίστεως ὅρῳ, πλὴν Σεκούνδου τοῦ Πτολεμαΐδος, ᾧ καὶ Θέων ὁ τῆς Μαρμαρικῆς ἠκολούθησεν. Τὸ δὲ ἄλλο στίφος τῶν ᾿Αρειανῶν όρων, Εὐσέβιός τε, φημὶ, ὁ Νικομηδείας, ὃν οὗτος ἀποθεάζει μέγαν, καὶ Θέογνις ὁ Νικαίας, καὶ Μάρις ὁ Καλχηδόνος, καὶ ἡ ἄλλη φάλαγξ, πρὸς τὴν σύνοδον μετετάξατο δόλῳ μὲν, καὶ οὗτός φησι, καὶ τὸ ὁμοούσιον ἐν τῇ τοῦ ὁμοουσίου φωνῇ ὑποκλέψαντες· πλήν γε συμφρονεῖν τοῖς συνοδικοῖς ψηφίσμασιν ἀναδεξάμενοι, Κωνσταντίνας τῆς τοῦ Κωνσταντίνου βασιλέως ἀδελφῆς εἰσηγησαμένης αὐτοῖς τὴν εἰς τοῦ.

Hoti kai autos synomologei pantas homophronēsai tǭ en Nikaią tēs pisteōs horǭ, plēn Sekoundou tou Ptolemaïdos, hǭ kai Theōn ho tēs Marmarikēs ēkolouthēsen. To de allo stiphos tōn ᾿Areianōn orōn, Eusebios te, phēmi, ho Nikomēdeias, hon houtos apotheazei megan, kai Theognis ho Nikaias, kai Maris ho Kalchēdonos, kai hē allē phalanx, pros tēn synodon metetaxato dolǭ men, kai houtos phēsi, kai to homoousion en tę̄ tou homoousiou phōnę̄ hypoklepsantes; plēn ge symphronein tois synodikois psēphismasin anadexamenoi, Kōnstantinas tēs tou Kōnstantinou basileōs adelphēs eisēgēsamenēs autois tēn eis tou.

That he himself also admits that all agreed with the definition of the faith at Nicaea except Secundus of Ptolemais, whom Theon of Marmarica also followed. The rest of the Arian band (Eusebius of Nicomedia, I mean, whom this man extols as a god, Theognis of Nicaea, Maris of Chalcedon, and the rest of the phalanx) went over to the council, with deceit, as he too says, slipping in “of like substance” under the word “of the same substance”; but at any rate they undertook to agree with the synodal decrees, Constantia, the sister of the emperor Constantine, having advised them to this …

Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.

Notes and citation

Summary: Philostorgius says all at Nicaea signed except Secundus and Theon, and that Eusebius of Nicomedia and his party signed deceitfully at Constantia's advice.

  • The printed text has ὁμοούσιον twice (“slipping the homoousion under the word homoousion”); the sense requires ὁμοιούσιον (“of like substance”) in the first place, and it is translated so.
  • The name is printed Κωνσταντίνας; Constantine's sister was Constantia.
  • The section breaks off in mid-phrase (τὴν εἰς τοῦ…); the end is lost in the scan.

Topics: Trinity, Heresy

Cite (SBL): Philostorgius, Hist. eccl. 1.9 (PG 65:463; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/philostorgius-historia/1-9). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Valesius's text of Photius's epitome as printed in PG 65; every section compared afterwards with Walford's English (Bohn, 1855).

1.10PG 65:465

Λέγει δὲ καὶ Σεκοῦνδον ὑπεροριζόμενον εἰπεῖν πρὸς Εὐσέβιον· Εὐσέβιε, ὑπέγραψας, ἵνα μὴ ἐξορισθῇς. Πιστεύω τῷ Θεῷ, ἐνιαυτοῦ σε δεῖ ἀχθήσεσθαι ἀπαγόμενον. Καὶ γεγονέναι τῷ Εὐσεβίῳ τὸν ἐξοστρακισμὸν μετὰ μῆνας ἀπὸ τῆς συνόδου τρεῖς, καθὰ καὶ Σεκοῦνδος προεῖπε, πρὸς τὴν ἰδίαν κατὰ τὸ προφανὲς ἀσέβειαν ἀνα[σ]τρέψαντι.

Legei de kai Sekoundon hyperorizomenon eipein pros Eusebion; Eusebie, hypegrapsas, hina mē exoristhę̄s. Pisteuō tǭ Theǭ, eniautou se dei achthēsesthai apagomenon. Kai gegonenai tǭ Eusebiǭ ton exostrakismon meta mēnas apo tēs synodou treis, katha kai Sekoundos proeipe, pros tēn idian kata to prophanes asebeian ana[s]trepsanti.

He also says that Secundus, when he was being sent into exile, said to Eusebius: “Eusebius, you signed so as not to be exiled. I trust in God that within a year you must be led away into exile.” And Eusebius's banishment took place three months after the council, as Secundus had foretold, since he had openly turned back to his own impiety.

Notes and citation

Summary: Secundus foretells the exile of Eusebius of Nicomedia, which followed three months after Nicaea.

  • “His own impiety” is Photius's description of Eusebius's position.

Topics: Heresy

Cite (SBL): Philostorgius, Hist. eccl. 1.10 (PG 65:465; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/philostorgius-historia/1-10). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Valesius's text of Photius's epitome as printed in PG 65; every section compared afterwards with Walford's English (Bohn, 1855).

Chapter 2

2.1PG 65:465

Ὅτι ὁ φιλοψευδής οὗτος Κακοστόργιος, μετὰ τὴν οἰκουμενικὴν σύνοδον, καὶ τὴν ἐκ προδήλου τῶν περὶ τὸν Εὐσέβιον πρὸς τὴν εὐσέβειαν παλινῳδίαν, τὸν βασιλέα φησὶ Κωνσταντῖνον τούτους μὲν δίκην εἰσα πράξασθαι, ἀνθ᾽ ὧν ἄλλα φρονοῦντες τῷ ὁμοουσίῳ ὑπεσημήναντο· τοὺς δὲ περὶ Σεκοῦνδον ἀνακαλέσασθαι· καὶ γράμματα πανταχοῦ διαπέμψαι, τὸ μὲν ὁμοούσιον διασύροντα, κρατύνοντα δὲ τὸ ἑτεροούσιον. Οἷς γράμμασι καὶ τὸν ᾿Αλέξανδρον ᾿Αλεξανδρείας ὑπογράψαι, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο συνελθεῖν αὐτὸν καὶ τοὺς περὶ ῎Αρειον τοῦ δὲ ἐκ βασιλέως ἠρεμήσαντος τὸν μὲν ᾿Αλέξανδρον ἐπὶ τὴν οἰκείαν ἀναδραμεῖν γνώμην. Τὸν δὲ Ἄρειον πάλιν αὐτοῦ τε καὶ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας σὺν τοῖς ὁμόφροσιν ἀποστῆναι.

Hoti ho philopseudēs houtos Kakostorgios, meta tēn oikoumenikēn synodon, kai tēn ek prodēlou tōn peri ton Eusebion pros tēn eusebeian palinǭdian, ton basilea phēsi Kōnstantinon toutous men dikēn eisa praxasthai, anth᾽ hōn alla phronountes tǭ homoousiǭ hypesēmēnanto; tous de peri Sekoundon anakalesasthai; kai grammata pantachou diapempsai, to men homoousion diasyronta, kratynonta de to heteroousion. Hois grammasi kai ton ᾿Alexandron ᾿Alexandreias hypograpsai, kai dia touto synelthein auton kai tous peri ᾿Areion tou de ek basileōs ēremēsantos ton men ᾿Alexandron epi tēn oikeian anadramein gnōmēn. Ton de Areion palin autou te kai tēs Ekklēsias syn tois homophrosin apostēnai.

That this lover of lies, Cacostorgius, says that after the ecumenical council and the open recantation of Eusebius's party in favour of piety, the emperor Constantine punished them because, though thinking otherwise, they had subscribed to the homoousion; that he recalled Secundus and those with him; and that he sent letters everywhere, ridiculing the homoousion and confirming the heteroousion. To these letters, he says, Alexander of Alexandria also subscribed, and for this reason he and Arius's party came together; but when the pressure from the emperor eased, Alexander ran back to his own opinion, and Arius, with those of like mind, again separated from him and from the church.

Notes and citation

Summary: Philostorgius claims Constantine turned against the Nicene term, that Alexander briefly subscribed, then returned to his own view.

  • “Cacostorgius” is Photius's pun on Philostorgius's name (“lover of affection” turned into “of evil affection”).
  • Heteroousion: “of a different substance”, the Anomoean formula. Photius regards Philostorgius's account as false.

Topics: Trinity, Heresy

Cite (SBL): Philostorgius, Hist. eccl. 2.1 (PG 65:465; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/philostorgius-historia/2-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Valesius's text of Photius's epitome as printed in PG 65; every section compared afterwards with Walford's English (Bohn, 1855).

2.2PG 65:465

Ὅτι τὸν Ἄρειον ἀποπηδήσαντα τῆς Ἐκκλησίας φησὶ ἄσματά τε ναυτικὰ καὶ ἐπιμύλια καὶ ὁδοιπορικὰ γράψαι, καὶ τοιαῦθ᾽ ἕτερα συντιθέντα, εἰς μελῳδίας ἐντεῖναι, ἃς ἐνόμιζεν ἑκάστοις ἁρμόζειν, διὰ τῆς ἐν ταῖς μελῳδίαις ἡδονῆς ἐκκλέπτων πρὸς τὴν οἰκείαν ἀσέβειαν τοὺς ἀμαθεστέρους τῶν ἀνθρώπων.

Hoti ton Areion apopēdēsanta tēs Ekklēsias phēsi asmata te nautika kai epimylia kai hodoiporika grapsai, kai toiauth᾽ hetera syntithenta, eis melǭdias enteinai, has enomizen hekastois harmozein, dia tēs en tais melǭdiais hēdonēs ekkleptōn pros tēn oikeian asebeian tous amathesterous tōn anthrōpōn.

That he says that Arius, after breaking away from the church, wrote songs for sailors, for the mill and for travellers, and composed other such pieces, setting them to tunes he thought suited to each, and so, by the pleasure of the tunes, stole away the more ignorant people to his own impiety.

Notes and citation

Summary: Arius wrote popular songs for sailors, millers and travellers to spread his teaching.

  • “His own impiety” is Photius's wording.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR lost two letters): τῶν θρώπων → τῶν ἀνθρώπων.

Topics: Heresy

Cite (SBL): Philostorgius, Hist. eccl. 2.2 (PG 65:465; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/philostorgius-historia/2-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Valesius's text of Photius's epitome as printed in PG 65; every section compared afterwards with Walford's English (Bohn, 1855).

2.3PG 65:465

Ὅτι τὸν Ἄρειον ἐν τῷ θεομαχεῖν κατά τοῦ Υἱοῦ ὑπερθειάζων, ἀτόποις ἐνέχεσθαί φησι, διότι ἀτοπίαν κατ' ἐκεῖνο καιροῦ μὴ ῎Αρειον μόνον, ἀλλὰ ἄγνωστόν τε τὸν Θεὸν καὶ ἀκατάληπτον πανταχοῦ καὶ ἀνεννόητον εἰσηγεῖται· καὶ οὐκ ἀνθρώποις μόνοις, ὃ κακὸν μετριώτερον ἴσως, ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτῷ τῷ μονογενεῖ Υἱῷ τοῦ Θεοῦ. Καὶ πρὸς ταύτην φησὶ τὴν καὶ τοὺς πλείους αὐτῶν συναπενεχθῆναι Πλὴν γὰρ Σεκούνδου καὶ Θεωνᾶ, καὶ τῶν Λουκιανοῦ τοῦ μάρτυρος μαθητῶν, Λεοντίου τε καὶ ᾿Αντωνίου, καὶ τοῦ Νικομηδείας Εὐσεβίου, τὸ ἄλλο τῆς ἀσεβείας σύνταγμα πρὸς ταύτην ἀποῤῥυῆναι τὴν δόξαν.

Hoti ton Areion en tǭ theomachein kata tou Huiou hypertheiazōn, atopois enechesthai phēsi, dioti atopian kat' ekeino kairou mē ᾿Areion monon, alla agnōston te ton Theon kai akatalēpton pantachou kai anennoēton eisēgeitai; kai ouk anthrōpois monois, ho kakon metriōteron isōs, alla kai autǭ tǭ monogenei Huiǭ tou Theou. Kai pros tautēn phēsi tēn kai tous pleious autōn synapenechthēnai Plēn gar Sekoundou kai Theōna, kai tōn Loukianou tou martyros mathētōn, Leontiou te kai ᾿Antōniou, kai tou Nikomēdeias Eusebiou, to allo tēs asebeias syntagma pros tautēn aporrhyēnai tēn doxan.

That, though he extols Arius beyond measure for his fight against God, against the Son, he says that he was caught in absurdities, since (and at that time it was not Arius alone) he teaches that God is in every respect unknowable, incomprehensible and inconceivable, and not to human beings only, which is perhaps a lesser evil, but even to the only-begotten Son of God himself. And he says that most of them were carried away to this [absurdity] as well. For apart from Secundus and Theonas, and the disciples of Lucian the martyr, Leontius and Antony, and Eusebius of Nicomedia, the rest of the company of impiety drifted off to this opinion.

Notes and citation

Summary: Philostorgius faults Arius for teaching that God is unknowable even to the Son, and names the few Arians who did not hold it.

  • “His fight against God” is Photius's description of Arius's teaching. Philostorgius, as an Anomoean, held God's essence knowable and so criticizes Arius here.
  • The clause “and at that time it was not Arius alone” is garbled in the scan and translated by sense; after “to this” a noun has been lost (probably “absurdity”).

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR slip): ἐσηγεῖται → εἰσηγεῖται.

Topics: Trinity, Heresy

Cite (SBL): Philostorgius, Hist. eccl. 2.3 (PG 65:465; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/philostorgius-historia/2-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Valesius's text of Photius's epitome as printed in PG 65; every section compared afterwards with Walford's English (Bohn, 1855).

2.4PG 65:467

Ὅτι φησὶ τὸν Κωνσταντῖνον ἀνελεῖν τὸν ἴδιον παῖδα Κρίσπον, διαβολαῖς τῆς μητρυιᾶς συναρπασθέντα· κἀκείνην δὲ πάλιν φωραθεῖσάν τινι τῶν Κουρσώρων μοιχωμένην, τῇ τοῦ λουτροῦ ἀλέᾳ αποπνιγῆναι προστάξαι. Καὶ τῷ παιδίῳ τοῦ ξίφους διδοῦντα Κωνσταντῖνον τὴν δίκην, μετ' οὐ πολὺν χρόνον ὑπὸ τῶν ἀδελφῶν φαρμάκοις κατὰ τὴν Νικομήδειαν διατρίβοντα ἀναιρεθῆναι.

Hoti phēsi ton Kōnstantinon anelein ton idion paida Krispon, diabolais tēs mētruias synarpasthenta; kakeinēn de palin phōratheisan tini tōn Koursōrōn moichōmenēn, tę̄ tou loutrou aleą apopnigēnai prostaxai. Kai tǭ paidiǭ tou xiphous didounta Kōnstantinon tēn dikēn, met' ou polyn chronon hypo tōn adelphōn pharmakois kata tēn Nikomēdeian diatribonta anairethēnai.

That he says Constantine killed his own son Crispus, carried away by the slanders of the young man's stepmother; and that when she in turn was caught committing adultery with one of the cursores, he ordered her to be suffocated in the heat of the bath. And Constantine, paying the penalty to his son for the sword, was not long afterwards killed by his brothers with poison while he was staying at Nicomedia.

Notes and citation

Summary: Philostorgius on Constantine's killing of Crispus and Fausta, and his claim that Constantine was poisoned by his brothers.

  • The stepmother is Fausta. Cursores were imperial couriers.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (word split by OCR): Νικο μήδειαν → Νικομήδειαν.

Cite (SBL): Philostorgius, Hist. eccl. 2.4 (PG 65:467; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/philostorgius-historia/2-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Valesius's text of Photius's epitome as printed in PG 65; every section compared afterwards with Walford's English (Bohn, 1855).

2.5PG 65:467

Ὅτι Οὐρφίλαν φησὶ κατὰ τούτους τοὺς χρόνους ἐκ τῶν πέραν Ἴστρου Σκυθῶν (οὓς οἱ μὲν πάλαι Γέτας, οἱ δὲ νῦν Γότθους καλοῦσι) πολὺν εἰς τὴν Ῥωμαίων διαβιβάσαι λαὸν, δι᾽ εὐσέβειαν ἐκ τῶν οἰκείων ἡθῶν ἑλαθέντας. Χριστιανίσαι δὲ τὸ ἔθνος τρόπῳ τοιῷδε Βασιλεύοντος Οὐαλεριανοῦ καὶ Γαλλιήνου, μοῖρα Σκυθῶν βαρεῖα τῶν πέραν τοῦ Ἴστρου, διέβησαν εἰς τὴν Ῥωμαίων, καὶ πολλὴν μὲν κατἐδραμον τῆς Εὐρώπης. Διαβάντες δὲ καὶ εἰς τὴν Ασίαν τήν τε Γαλατίαν, καὶ τὴν Καππαδικίαν ἐπῆλθον, καὶ πολλοὺς ἔλαβον αἰχμαλώτους, ἄλλους τε καὶ τῶν κατειλεγμένων τῷ κλήρῳ, καὶ μετὰ πολλῆς λείας ἀπεκομίσθησαν οἴκαδε. Ὁ δὲ αἰχμάλωτος καὶ εὐσεβὴς ὅμιλος, συναναστραφέντες τοῖς βαρβάροις, οὐκ ὀλίγους τε αὐτῶν εἰς τὸ εὐσεβὲς μετεποίησαν, καὶ τὰ Χριστιανῶν φρονεῖν ἀντὶ τῆς Ἑλληνίδος δόξης παρεσκεύασαν. Ταύτης τῆς αἰχμαλωσίας γεγόνεσαν καὶ οἱ Οὐρφίλα πρόγονοι, Καππαδόκαι μὲν γένος, πόλεως δὲ πλησίον Παρνασσοῦ, ἐκ κώμης δὲ Σαδαγολθινὰ καλουμένης. Ὁ τοίνυν Οὐρφίλας οὗτος καθηγήσατο τῆς ἐξόδου τῶν εὐσεβῶν, ἐπίσκοπος αὐτῶν πρῶτος καταστάς· κατέστη δὲ ὧδε Παρὰ τοῦ τὴν ἀρχὴν ἄγοντος τοῦ ἔθνους ἐπὶ τῶν Κωνσταντίνου χρόνων εἰς πρεσβείαν σὺν ἄλλοις ἀποσταλεὶς (καὶ γὰρ καὶ τὰ τῇδε βάρβαρα ἔθνη ὑποκέκλιτο τῷ βασιλεῖ), ὑπὸ Εὐσεβίου καὶ τῶν σὺν αὐτῷ ἐπισκόπων χειροτονεῖται τῶν ἐν τῇ Γετικῇ Χριστιανιζόντων, καὶ τὰ τε ἄλλα αὐτῶν ἐπεμελεῖτο, καὶ γραμμάτων αὐτοῖς οἰκείων εὑρετὴς καταστὰς, μετέφρασεν εἰς τὴν αὐτῶν φωνὴν τὰς Γραφὰς ἁπάσας, πλήν γε δὴ τῶν Βασιλειῶν, ἅτε τῶν μὲν πολέμων ἱστορίαν ἐχουσῶν, τοῦ δὲ ἔθνους ὄντος φιλοπολέμου, καὶ δεομένου μᾶλλον χαλινοῦ τῆς ἐπὶ τὰς μάχας ὁρμῆς, ἀλλ᾽ οὐχὶ τοῦ πρὸς ταῦτα παροξύνοντος. Ὅπερ ἰσχὺν ἔχει ταῦτα ποιεῖν, σεβάσμιά τε μάλιστα νομιζόμενα, καὶ πρὸς τὴν τοῦ Θείου θεραπείαν τοὺς πειθομένους καταρυθμίζοντα. Ἱδρύσατο δ᾽ ὁ βασιλεὺς τὸν αὐτόμολον τοῦτον λαὸν περὶ τὰ τῆς Μυσίας χωρία, ὡς ἑκάστῳ φίλον ἦν· καὶ τὸν Οὐρφίλαν διὰ πλείστης ἦγε τιμῆς, ὡς καὶ πολλάκις, Ὁ ἡμῶν Μωσῆς, λέγειν περὶ αὐτοῦ. Λίαν δὲ οὗτος τὸν ἄνδρα θειάζει, καὶ τῆς αἱρετικῆς αὐτοῦ δόξης ἐραστὴν αὐτόν τε καὶ τοὺς ὑπ᾿ αὐτὸν ἀναγράφει.

Hoti Ourphilan phēsi kata toutous tous chronous ek tōn peran Istrou Skythōn (hous hoi men palai Getas, hoi de nyn Gotthous kalousi) polyn eis tēn Rhōmaiōn diabibasai laon, di᾽ eusebeian ek tōn oikeiōn hēthōn helathentas. Christianisai de to ethnos tropǭ toiǭde Basileuontos Oualerianou kai Galliēnou, moira Skythōn bareia tōn peran tou Istrou, diebēsan eis tēn Rhōmaiōn, kai pollēn men katedramon tēs Eurōpēs. Diabantes de kai eis tēn Asian tēn te Galatian, kai tēn Kappadikian epēlthon, kai pollous elabon aichmalōtous, allous te kai tōn kateilegmenōn tǭ klērǭ, kai meta pollēs leias apekomisthēsan oikade. Ho de aichmalōtos kai eusebēs homilos, synanastraphentes tois barbarois, ouk oligous te autōn eis to eusebes metepoiēsan, kai ta Christianōn phronein anti tēs Hellēnidos doxēs pareskeuasan. Tautēs tēs aichmalōsias gegonesan kai hoi Ourphila progonoi, Kappadokai men genos, poleōs de plēsion Parnassou, ek kōmēs de Sadagolthina kaloumenēs. Ho toinyn Ourphilas houtos kathēgēsato tēs exodou tōn eusebōn, episkopos autōn prōtos katastas; katestē de hōde Para tou tēn archēn agontos tou ethnous epi tōn Kōnstantinou chronōn eis presbeian syn allois apostaleis (kai gar kai ta tę̄de barbara ethnē hypokeklito tǭ basilei), hypo Eusebiou kai tōn syn autǭ episkopōn cheirotoneitai tōn en tę̄ Getikę̄ Christianizontōn, kai ta te alla autōn epemeleito, kai grammatōn autois oikeiōn heuretēs katastas, metephrasen eis tēn autōn phōnēn tas Graphas hapasas, plēn ge dē tōn Basileiōn, hate tōn men polemōn historian echousōn, tou de ethnous ontos philopolemou, kai deomenou mallon chalinou tēs epi tas machas hormēs, all᾽ ouchi tou pros tauta paroxynontos. Hoper ischyn echei tauta poiein, sebasmia te malista nomizomena, kai pros tēn tou Theiou therapeian tous peithomenous katarythmizonta. Hidrysato d᾽ ho basileus ton automolon touton laon peri ta tēs Mysias chōria, hōs hekastǭ philon ēn; kai ton Ourphilan dia pleistēs ēge timēs, hōs kai pollakis, Ho hēmōn Mōsēs, legein peri autou. Lian de houtos ton andra theiazei, kai tēs hairetikēs autou doxēs erastēn auton te kai tous hyp᾿ auton anagraphei.

That he says that about these times Ulfilas brought over into Roman territory a great people from the Scythians beyond the Ister (whom the ancients called Getae and people now call Goths), who had been driven from their homes on account of piety. The nation became Christian in this way. In the reign of Valerian and Gallienus a large portion of the Scythians beyond the Ister crossed into Roman territory and overran much of Europe. Crossing over into Asia as well, they invaded Galatia and Cappadocia and took many captives, among them some who were enrolled in the clergy, and they went back home with much plunder. The pious band of captives, living among the barbarians, converted not a few of them to piety and brought them to hold the Christian faith instead of the Greek belief. To this captivity belonged the ancestors of Ulfilas too: Cappadocians by race, from a village called Sadagolthina near the city of Parnassus. This Ulfilas, then, led the exodus of the pious, having become their first bishop. He was made bishop in this way. Sent on an embassy with others by the ruler of the nation in the time of Constantine (for the barbarian nations there too were subject to the emperor), he was ordained by Eusebius and the bishops with him as bishop of those in the Getic land who were Christians. He cared for them in every way, and having invented letters of their own for them, he translated all the Scriptures into their language except the books of Kingdoms, since these contain the history of wars, and the nation was fond of war and needed a bridle on its eagerness for battle rather than something to spur it on. And these books have the power to do this, being held in the highest reverence and training those who believe them for the service of God. The emperor settled this people of refugees in the region of Moesia, wherever each pleased, and held Ulfilas in the highest honour, so that he often called him “our Moses.” This man [Philostorgius] praises him extravagantly, and records that both he and those under him were lovers of his own heretical opinion.

Notes and citation

Summary: Philostorgius's account of Ulfilas: the Gothic captives' conversion, his ordination by Eusebius, his Gothic alphabet and Bible (without Kingdoms), and his Arian sympathies.

  • The name is printed Οὐρφίλας. The books of Kingdoms are 1–2 Samuel and 1–2 Kings.
  • The parenthesis in the printed text was broken by lemmata of Valesius's notes (repeated phrases from this and earlier sections); they have been removed.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (lemmata of Valesius's notes leaked into the text): ὑποκέκλιτο Καὶ τοὺς πλείους αὐτῶν συναπενεχθῆναι. Διαβάντες δὲ καὶ τὴν ᾿Ασίαν. διαβάντες δὲ καὶ εἰς τὴν ᾿Ασίαν, Παρὰ τοῦ τὴν ἀρχὴν ἄγοντος. Οὐρφίλαν. τῷ βασιλεῖ) → ὑποκέκλιτο τῷ βασιλεῖ).

Topics: Scripture and canon, Church office

Cite (SBL): Philostorgius, Hist. eccl. 2.5 (PG 65:467; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/philostorgius-historia/2-5). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Valesius's text of Photius's epitome as printed in PG 65; every section compared afterwards with Walford's English (Bohn, 1855).

2.6PG 65:469

Ὅτι τοὺς ἐνδοτάτω Ἰνδοὺς, ὅσοι Χριστὸν ἔμαθον τιμᾶν ἐκ τῆς Βαρθολομαίου τοῦ ἀποστόλου διδασκαλίας, τὸ ἑτεροούσιον πρεσβεύειν δ δυσσεβής φησι. Καὶ τὸν Θεόφιλον εἰσάγει τὸν Ἰνδὸν τὸ τοιοῦτον ἀσπαζόμενον φρόνημα, παραγενέσθαι τε εἰς αὐτοὺς καὶ τὴν αὐτῶν ἐκδιηγεῖσθαι δόξαν. Τὸ δὲ τῶν Ἰνδῶν ἔθνος τοῦτο, Σάβα μὲν πάλαι ἀπὸ τῆς Σάβα μητροπόλεως, τὰ νῦν δὲ Ὁμηρίτας καλεῖσθαι.

Hoti tous endotatō Indous, hosoi Christon emathon timan ek tēs Bartholomaiou tou apostolou didaskalias, to heteroousion presbeuein d dyssebēs phēsi. Kai ton Theophilon eisagei ton Indon to toiouton aspazomenon phronēma, paragenesthai te eis autous kai tēn autōn ekdiēgeisthai doxan. To de tōn Indōn ethnos touto, Saba men palai apo tēs Saba mētropoleōs, ta nyn de Homēritas kaleisthai.

That the impious man says that the innermost Indians, as many as learned to honour Christ from the teaching of the apostle Bartholomew, profess the heteroousion; and he introduces Theophilus the Indian, who embraced this opinion, as having visited them and described their belief. This nation of Indians was formerly called Sabaeans, from Saba, their chief city, but is now called Homerites.

Notes and citation

Summary: Philostorgius claims the Indians taught by Bartholomew, the Homerites, held the Anomoean doctrine.

  • The Homerites are the Himyarites of southern Arabia; “Indians” is used loosely.

Topics: Heresy

Cite (SBL): Philostorgius, Hist. eccl. 2.6 (PG 65:469; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/philostorgius-historia/2-6). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Valesius's text of Photius's epitome as printed in PG 65; every section compared afterwards with Walford's English (Bohn, 1855).

2.7PG 65:469

Ὅτι μετὰ τρεῖς ὅλους ἐνιαυτούς φησιν Εὐσέβιον καὶ Μάριν καὶ Θέογνιν, ψήφῳ βασιλέως τοῦ Κωνσταντίνου ἐπανόδου τυχόντας, πίστεώς τε σύμβολον αἱρετικῆς ἐκθεῖναι, καὶ πανταχόσε διαπέμψαι; ἐπ᾿ ἀνατροπῇ τῆς ἐν Νικαίᾳ συνόδου· καὶ τὸν ᾿Αλεξανδρείας ᾿Αλέξανδρον καθελεῖν τε καὶ ἀποκηρύξασθαι, ἀνθ᾽ ὧν ἐπὶ τὸ ὁμοούσιον παλιντραπέλως ἐπανέστρεφεν. Ἀλλὰ καὶ Εὐστάθιον τὸν ᾿Αντιοχείας, παιδίσκης μίξιν καὶ αἰσχρᾶς ἡδονῆς ἀπόλαυσιν αἰτίαν ἐπιγραψαμένους, φυγὴν αὐτῷ βασιλεὺς ἐτιμήσατο εἰς τὴν Ἑσπέραν μεθόριον ποιησάμενος. Πεντήκοντα δὲ καὶ διακοσίους φησὶν εἶναι τὸ πλήρωμα τοῦ παρανόμου τούτου συνεδρίου, καὶ τὴν Νικομήδειαν αὐτοῖς τῶν παρανομηθέντων ποιήσασθαι ἐργαστήριον.

Hoti meta treis holous eniautous phēsin Eusebion kai Marin kai Theognin, psēphǭ basileōs tou Kōnstantinou epanodou tychontas, pisteōs te symbolon hairetikēs ektheinai, kai pantachose diapempsai? ep᾿ anatropę̄ tēs en Nikaią synodou; kai ton ᾿Alexandreias ᾿Alexandron kathelein te kai apokēryxasthai, anth᾽ hōn epi to homoousion palintrapelōs epanestrephen. Alla kai Eustathion ton ᾿Antiocheias, paidiskēs mixin kai aischras hēdonēs apolausin aitian epigrapsamenous, phygēn autǭ basileus etimēsato eis tēn Hesperan methorion poiēsamenos. Pentēkonta de kai diakosious phēsin einai to plērōma tou paranomou toutou synedriou, kai tēn Nikomēdeian autois tōn paranomēthentōn poiēsasthai ergastērion.

That he says that after three full years Eusebius, Maris and Theognis, having obtained their return by decree of the emperor Constantine, set forth a heretical creed and sent it everywhere to overthrow the Council of Nicaea; and that they deposed and cast out Alexander of Alexandria, because he had turned back again to the homoousion. Moreover Eustathius of Antioch, against whom they brought the charge of intercourse with a slave girl and of indulging in shameful pleasure, the emperor rewarded with exile, making the West the place of his banishment. He says the full number of this lawless assembly was two hundred and fifty, and that they made Nicomedia the workshop of their lawless deeds.

Notes and citation

Summary: Philostorgius on the return of Eusebius, Maris and Theognis, their creed, and the deposition of Alexander and Eustathius.

  • “Heretical” and “lawless” are Photius's words.

Topics: Heresy, Church office

Cite (SBL): Philostorgius, Hist. eccl. 2.7 (PG 65:469; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/philostorgius-historia/2-7). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Valesius's text of Photius's epitome as printed in PG 65; every section compared afterwards with Walford's English (Bohn, 1855).

2.8PG 65:471

Ὅτι περὶ ᾿Αγαπητοῦ τοῦ συναιρεσιώτου, ὃς καὶ ἐκ καταλόγου στρατιωτικοῦ, πρεσβύτερός τε κατέστη παρὰ τῶν ὁμοφρόνων, καὶ Συνάδων ἐπίσκοπος ὕστερον· περὶ γοῦν τούτου πολλὰ τερατολογῶν, νεκρούς τε αὐτὸν ἀναστῆναι λέγει, καὶ πολλῶν ἄλλων παθῶν φυγαδευτὴν γενέσθαι καὶ ἐλατῆρα· οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ παραδόξων ἄλλων ἔργων δημιουργὸν, καὶ πολλοὺς ἐξ Ἑλλήνων εἰς τὸν Χριστιανισμὸν μετατάξασθαι παρασκευάσαι.

Hoti peri ᾿Agapētou tou synairesiōtou, hos kai ek katalogou stratiōtikou, presbyteros te katestē para tōn homophronōn, kai Synadōn episkopos hysteron; peri goun toutou polla teratologōn, nekrous te auton anastēnai legei, kai pollōn allōn pathōn phygadeutēn genesthai kai elatēra; ou mēn alla kai paradoxōn allōn ergōn dēmiourgon, kai pollous ex Hellēnōn eis ton Christianismon metataxasthai paraskeuasai.

That about Agapetus, his fellow-heretic, who came from the army roll, was made presbyter by those of like mind, and later became bishop of Synnada: about this man, then, he tells many marvels, saying that he raised the dead, drove out and put to flight many other ailments, also performed other wonderful works, and brought many Greeks to go over to Christianity.

Notes and citation

Summary: Philostorgius tells of the miracles of Agapetus, an Arian bishop of Synnada.

Cite (SBL): Philostorgius, Hist. eccl. 2.8 (PG 65:471; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/philostorgius-historia/2-8). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Valesius's text of Photius's epitome as printed in PG 65; every section compared afterwards with Walford's English (Bohn, 1855).

2.9PG 65:471

Ὅτι Κωνσταντῖνόν φησιν ὀκτῷ καὶ εἰκοστῷ ἔτει τῆς βασιλείας αὐτοῦ, τὸ Βυζάντιον εἰς Κωνσταντίνου πόλιν μετασκευάσαι, καὶ τὸν περίβολον ὀριζόμενον, βάδην τε περιιέναι, τὸ δόρυ τῇ χειρὶ φέροντα. Ἐπεὶ δὲ τοῖς ἑπομένοις ἐδόκει μεῖζον ἢ προσῆκε τὸ τρον ἐκτείνειν, προσελθεῖν τε αὐτῷ τινα καὶ διαπυνθάνεσθαι· Ἕως ποῦ, δέσποτα; τὸν δὲ ἀποκρινάμενον διαρρήδην φάναι· Ἕως ἂν ὁ ἔμπροσθέν μου στῇ, ἐπίδηλον ποιοῦντα, ὡς δύναμις αὐτοῦ τις ούρανία προηγοῖτο, τοῦ πραττομένου διδάσκαλος. Ἱδρυσάμενον δὲ τὴν πόλιν ἄλμα Ῥώμην ὀνομάσαι, ὅ δηλοῖ τῇ Ῥωμαΐδι γλώττῃ τὴν ἔνδοξον· καὶ βουλήν τε σύγκλητον τάξασθαι, καὶ σιτηρεσίου δαπάνην αὐταρκεστάτην διανεῖμαι τοῖς οἰκήτορσι, καὶ τὸν ἄλλον ἐν αὐτῇ τῆς πολιτείας πολυτελῶς κόσμον καταστήσασθαι, ὡς ἀρκεῖν εἰς ἀντίπαλον κλέος τῇ προτέρᾳ Ῥώμῃ.

Hoti Kōnstantinon phēsin oktǭ kai eikostǭ etei tēs basileias autou, to Byzantion eis Kōnstantinou polin metaskeuasai, kai ton peribolon orizomenon, badēn te periienai, to dory tę̄ cheiri pheronta. Epei de tois hepomenois edokei meizon ē prosēke to tron ekteinein, proselthein te autǭ tina kai diapynthanesthai; Heōs pou, despota? ton de apokrinamenon diarrēdēn phanai; Heōs an ho emprosthen mou stę̄, epidēlon poiounta, hōs dynamis autou tis ourania proēgoito, tou prattomenou didaskalos. Hidrysamenon de tēn polin alma Rhōmēn onomasai, ho dēloi tę̄ Rhōmaïdi glōttę̄ tēn endoxon; kai boulēn te synklēton taxasthai, kai sitēresiou dapanēn autarkestatēn dianeimai tois oikētorsi, kai ton allon en autę̄ tēs politeias polytelōs kosmon katastēsasthai, hōs arkein eis antipalon kleos tę̄ proterą Rhōmę̄.

That he says Constantine, in the twenty-eighth year of his reign, turned Byzantium into Constantinople. Marking out the circuit of the wall, he went round on foot, carrying a spear in his hand. When to those following he seemed to be extending the measure more than was fitting, one of them came up to him and asked, “How far, master?” He answered plainly, “Until the one in front of me stops,” making clear that some heavenly power was going before him, teaching him what to do. When he had founded the city, he named it Alma Roma, which in the Roman tongue means “the glorious”; he established a senate, distributed a most ample allowance of grain to the inhabitants, and furnished the rest of the city's civic splendour lavishly, so that it was enough to rival the former Rome in fame.

Notes and citation

Summary: Constantine marks out the walls of Constantinople, led by a heavenly power, and furnishes it to rival Rome.

  • “Measure”: the scan reads τὸ τρον, with letters lost (probably μέτρον).
  • Latin alma means “nourishing”; Philostorgius glosses it as “glorious”.

Cite (SBL): Philostorgius, Hist. eccl. 2.9 (PG 65:471; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/philostorgius-historia/2-9). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Valesius's text of Photius's epitome as printed in PG 65; every section compared afterwards with Walford's English (Bohn, 1855).

2.10PG 65:471

Τελευτήσαντος δὲ τοῦ ταύτης τῆς πόλεως ἀρχιερέως ᾿Αλεξάνδρου, τὸν Νικομηδείας φησὶν Εὐσέβιον, εἰς τὸν τῆς νεοκτίστου πόλεως ἀρχιερατικὸν μεταστῆσαι θρόνον.

Teleutēsantos de tou tautēs tēs poleōs archiereōs ᾿Alexandrou, ton Nikomēdeias phēsin Eusebion, eis ton tēs neoktistou poleōs archieratikon metastēsai thronon.

When Alexander, the high priest of this city, died, he says that [Constantine] transferred Eusebius of Nicomedia to the high-priestly throne of the newly founded city.

Notes and citation

Summary: On the death of Alexander of Constantinople, Eusebius of Nicomedia is moved to the see of Constantinople.

  • The city is Constantinople; “high priest” is Philostorgius's word for bishop.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR lost the first letters of the name): φησὶν σέβιον → φησὶν Εὐσέβιον.

Topics: Church office

Cite (SBL): Philostorgius, Hist. eccl. 2.10 (PG 65:471; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/philostorgius-historia/2-10). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Valesius's text of Photius's epitome as printed in PG 65; every section compared afterwards with Walford's English (Bohn, 1855).

2.11PG 65:473

Ὅτι τὸ δυσσεβὲς οὗτος τοῦ ψεύδους ὄργανον, ᾿Αλεξάνδρου τοῦ ᾿Αλεξανδρείας τελευτήσαντος, καὶ ψήφων ἄλλων ἐπ᾿ ἄλλους φερομένων, καὶ χρόνου τινὸς ἐπὶ τοῦτο παρατεινομένου τὸν θεῖον ᾿Αθανάσιόν φησι περὶ δείλην ὀψίαν εἰς τὴν Διονυσίου καλουμένην ἐκκλησίαν ἐσπηδήσαντα καὶ δύο τινὰς τῶν Αἰγυπτίων ἐπισκόπων εὑρόντα, τὰς πύλας τε κατὰ ὀχυρώτατον μετὰ τῶν συστασιωτῶν ἐπικλεισάμενον, οὕτω τὴν χειροτονίαν ὑπελθεῖν, τῶν χειροτονούντων πολλὰ μὲν ἀνανευόντων. Τῆς δὲ προσαγομένης αὐτοῖς βίας, μείζονος τῆς βουλῆς καὶ τῆς δυνάμεως γεγενημένης, τὸ δοκοῦν ᾿Αθανασίῳ ἐπιτελεσθῆναι. Καὶ ὡς ὁ παρὼν τῶν ἐπισκόπων ἄλλος ὅμιλος, διὰ τὴν τοιαύτην αἰτίαν τῷ ἀναθήματι τοῦτον παρεπέμψαντο. Τὸν δὲ ᾿Αθανάσιον κρατυνάμενον τὰ καθ᾽ ἑαυτὸν, ὡς ἀπὸ τοῦ κοινοῦ τῆς πόλεως πρὸς βασιλέα γράψαι τὴν εἰς τὴν ἀρχιερωσύνην ἀνάῤῥησιν αὐτοῦ. Τὸν δὲ, νομίσαντα κοινῆς βουλῆς εἶναι τὸ γράμμα, ἐπιψηφίσαι τὴν κατοχὴν τοῦ θρόνου. Ὕστερον δὲ μαθόντα τὰ πεπραγμένα, εἰς Τύρον τῆς Φοινίκης αὐτὸν ἐξαποστεῖλαι, τῷ ἐκεῖσε συνεδρίῳ λόγον ὧν ἕδρασε δώσοντα. Καὶ μόλις μὲν οὖν εἶξαι τοῖς βασιλείοις ἀπειλαῖς τὸν ᾿Αθανάσιον. Εἴξαντα οὖν καὶ παραγενόμενον εἰς Τύρον, τοὺς μὲν δίκην οὐκ εἰσέρχεσθαι γύναιον δὲ τι μισθωσάμενον ἑταιρικὸν, ἤδη τῷ τῆς γαστρὸς ὄγκῳ τὴν ἀκολασίαν στηλιτεῦον, ἐπαφεῖναι διαμηχανᾶσθαι τῷ Εὐσεβίῳ, ὅς τοῦ ἐκεῖσε συνεδρίου κορυφαῖος ἐνομίζετο· τῷ διὰ τὴν συκοφαντίαν, ὡς εἰκὸς, ἐμπεσόντι θορύβῳ καὶ ταράχῳ, τὴν τε δίκην ὑποκλέψαι καὶ τὴν ἐκφυγεῖν διανοούμενος φωραθῆναι δὲ τὴν σκευὴν ὁ τοῦ ψεύδους φίλος ἀναγράφει, ἧς μεθόδου φασὶν οἱ εὐσεβεῖς τὸ κατὰ τοῦ μεγάλου ᾿Αθανασίου μισθωθὲν παρὰ τῶν δυσσεβῶν πορνίδιον ελεγχθῆναι. Τὸν μὲν γὰρ Εὐσέβιον διαπυνθάνεσθαι τῆς ἑταιρίδος, εἰ γινώσκει αὐτῆς τὸν φθορέα τῆς δὲ καὶ μάλα διατεινομένης, προσαναπυθέσθαι, εἰ ἄρα γε τοῦτον ὁ παρὼν χρόνος ἔχει τὴν δὲ φάναι, Εὐφήμει, ὦ δέσποτα· οὐ γὰρ ἔγωγ᾽ ἂν μαινοίμην, ἀνδρῶν τοιούτων αἰσχρᾶς ἡδονῆς δουλείαν. Ὥστε καταγνῶναι εἶτ' ἐντεῦθεν ἀρξαμένης παραγυμνοῦσθαι τῆς ἀληθείας, τὴν ὅλην συσκευὴν ἀνακαλυφθῆναι. Καὶ τὸν μὲν Εὐσέβιον κρείττω συκοφαντίας πάσης ὀφθῆναι· τὸν δὲ ᾿Αθανάσιον, ἀντὶ τοῦ φυγεῖν σης τῆς οὐκ εὐαγοῦς χειροτονίας τὴν ἐναγεστάτην συκοφαντίαν. Διὸ καὶ τὴν καθαιρετικὴν ψῆφον ὁμόφωνον κατ' αὐτοῦ ἐξενεχθῆναι, ἐκεῖνον μέντοι γε προσαναισχυντεῖν· καὶ λέγειν, ἀπεχθείᾳ τὴν καθαίρεσιν τοὺς συνεδρεύσαντας διαπράξασθαι, ὥσπερ καὶ τὰς συκοφαντίας, διότι μὴ παρ᾿ αὐτῶν ἀνάσχοιτο τὴν ἀρχιερατικὴν χειροθεσίαν ὑποστῆναι. Διὸ καὶ τὸν βασιλέα ἐπιτρέψαι πάλιν ἑτέρᾳ συνόδῳ τὰ κατὰ τὸν ᾿Αθανάσιον ἐτασθῆναι. Τοὺς δὲ καὶ ἕτερα τῶν ἐγκλημάτων ἐπισυναθροῖσαι· Καλλίνικόν τε γὰρ τὸν ὁμολογητὴν, ἐπίσκοπον τοῦ Πηλουσίου, πέδαις σιδηραῖς ἐνδυσάμενον εἰρκτῇ καταθέσθαι, καὶ μὴ διαλιπεῖν προπηλακίζοντα, ἕως ἂν αὐτὸν τοῦ ζῆν ελάσοι, προσετίθεσαν ταῖς κατηγορίαις. Καὶ δὴ καὶ τὴν δίκην, διπλῆς ἔνοχον ἀπελεγχθῆναι, προσλαβούΕι ἡ ᾿Αρσενίου χεὶρ τηνικαῦτα προεκομίσθη, καὶ ὁ ρεώτης, καὶ ὁ Ἰσχύρας, καὶ τὸ μυστικὸν ποτήριον, καὶ τὰ παραπλήσια τούτοις, ἐφ᾽ οἷς αὐτὸν καὶ κηρύξαι τὸ συνέδριον, καὶ ἀντ' αὐτοῦ προχειρίσασθαι τὸν ἐκ Καππαδοκίας Γρηγόριον. Ταῦτα μὲν οὖν ὁ φιλοψευδής Κακοστόργιος περὶ τοῦ ἁγίου τερατεύεται ᾿Αθανασίου.

Hoti to dyssebes houtos tou pseudous organon, ᾿Alexandrou tou ᾿Alexandreias teleutēsantos, kai psēphōn allōn ep᾿ allous pheromenōn, kai chronou tinos epi touto parateinomenou ton theion ᾿Athanasion phēsi peri deilēn opsian eis tēn Dionysiou kaloumenēn ekklēsian espēdēsanta kai dyo tinas tōn Aigyptiōn episkopōn heuronta, tas pylas te kata ochyrōtaton meta tōn systasiōtōn epikleisamenon, houtō tēn cheirotonian hypelthein, tōn cheirotonountōn polla men ananeuontōn. Tēs de prosagomenēs autois bias, meizonos tēs boulēs kai tēs dynameōs gegenēmenēs, to dokoun ᾿Athanasiǭ epitelesthēnai. Kai hōs ho parōn tōn episkopōn allos homilos, dia tēn toiautēn aitian tǭ anathēmati touton parepempsanto. Ton de ᾿Athanasion kratynamenon ta kath᾽ heauton, hōs apo tou koinou tēs poleōs pros basilea grapsai tēn eis tēn archierōsynēn anarrhēsin autou. Ton de, nomisanta koinēs boulēs einai to gramma, epipsēphisai tēn katochēn tou thronou. Hysteron de mathonta ta pepragmena, eis Tyron tēs Phoinikēs auton exaposteilai, tǭ ekeise synedriǭ logon hōn hedrase dōsonta. Kai molis men oun eixai tois basileiois apeilais ton ᾿Athanasion. Eixanta oun kai paragenomenon eis Tyron, tous men dikēn ouk eiserchesthai gynaion de ti misthōsamenon hetairikon, ēdē tǭ tēs gastros onkǭ tēn akolasian stēliteuon, epapheinai diamēchanasthai tǭ Eusebiǭ, hos tou ekeise synedriou koryphaios enomizeto; tǭ dia tēn sykophantian, hōs eikos, empesonti thorybǭ kai tarachǭ, tēn te dikēn hypoklepsai kai tēn ekphygein dianooumenos phōrathēnai de tēn skeuēn ho tou pseudous philos anagraphei, hēs methodou phasin hoi eusebeis to kata tou megalou ᾿Athanasiou misthōthen para tōn dyssebōn pornidion elenchthēnai. Ton men gar Eusebion diapynthanesthai tēs hetairidos, ei ginōskei autēs ton phthorea tēs de kai mala diateinomenēs, prosanapythesthai, ei ara ge touton ho parōn chronos echei tēn de phanai, Euphēmei, ō despota; ou gar egōg᾽ an mainoimēn, andrōn toioutōn aischras hēdonēs douleian. Hōste katagnōnai eit' enteuthen arxamenēs paragymnousthai tēs alētheias, tēn holēn syskeuēn anakalyphthēnai. Kai ton men Eusebion kreittō sykophantias pasēs ophthēnai; ton de ᾿Athanasion, anti tou phygein sēs tēs ouk euagous cheirotonias tēn enagestatēn sykophantian. Dio kai tēn kathairetikēn psēphon homophōnon kat' autou exenechthēnai, ekeinon mentoi ge prosanaischyntein; kai legein, apechtheią tēn kathairesin tous synedreusantas diapraxasthai, hōsper kai tas sykophantias, dioti mē par᾿ autōn anaschoito tēn archieratikēn cheirothesian hypostēnai. Dio kai ton basilea epitrepsai palin heterą synodǭ ta kata ton ᾿Athanasion etasthēnai. Tous de kai hetera tōn enklēmatōn episynathroisai; Kallinikon te gar ton homologētēn, episkopon tou Pēlousiou, pedais sidērais endysamenon eirktę̄ katathesthai, kai mē dialipein propēlakizonta, heōs an auton tou zēn elasoi, prosetithesan tais katēgoriais. Kai dē kai tēn dikēn, diplēs enochon apelenchthēnai, proslabouEi hē ᾿Arseniou cheir tēnikauta proekomisthē, kai ho reōtēs, kai ho Ischyras, kai to mystikon potērion, kai ta paraplēsia toutois, eph᾽ hois auton kai kēryxai to synedrion, kai ant' autou procheirisasthai ton ek Kappadokias Grēgorion. Tauta men oun ho philopseudēs Kakostorgios peri tou hagiou terateuetai ᾿Athanasiou.

That this impious instrument of falsehood says that after Alexander of Alexandria died, while the votes were going to different men and some time was being spent on this, the divine Athanasius burst late one evening into the church called Dionysius's, and finding two of the Egyptian bishops there, shut the doors as securely as possible with his partisans and so got himself ordained by stealth, though those ordaining him strongly refused. But since the force brought to bear on them proved greater than their will and their strength, what Athanasius wanted was carried out. And, he says, the rest of the body of bishops then present consigned him to anathema for this reason. Athanasius, having secured his position, wrote to the emperor, as if from the community of the city, about his proclamation to the high priesthood; and the emperor, thinking the letter came from a common decision, ratified his possession of the throne. Later, however, learning what had been done, he sent him to Tyre in Phoenicia, to give an account to the council there of what he had done. Athanasius barely yielded to the imperial threats. When he had yielded and come to Tyre, he would not come to trial, but hired a woman of the streets, who was already advertising her licentiousness by her swollen belly, and contrived to set her on Eusebius, who was regarded as the leader of the council there, intending, in the uproar and confusion that the false charge would naturally cause, to steal away from the trial and escape. But the plot was detected, the lover of lies records, by the very method by which, according to the pious, the harlot hired by the impious against the great Athanasius was exposed. For Eusebius asked the woman whether she knew the man who had corrupted her; and when she insisted strongly that she did, he asked further whether he was present now; and she said, “Hush, master! I would not be so mad as to accuse such men of slavery to shameful pleasure.” Then, as the truth began to be laid bare from this point, the whole plot was uncovered. Eusebius was seen to be above all slander, while Athanasius, instead of escaping the trial, was proved guilty twice over, having added the most accursed slander to his unholy ordination. Therefore the sentence of deposition was passed against him unanimously; but he went on to further shamelessness and said that the members of the council had brought about his deposition out of hatred, as they had the false charges, because he had not consented to receive the high-priestly laying on of hands from them. Therefore the emperor again entrusted the examination of Athanasius's case to another council. They gathered further charges as well, adding to the accusations that he had bound Callinicus the confessor, bishop of Pelusium, in iron fetters and put him in prison, and had not ceased to abuse him, to drive him out of life. At that time Arsenius's hand was brought forward, and the Mareotes affair, and Ischyras, and the mystical cup, and things like these, for which the council proclaimed him [deposed] and appointed in his place Gregory from Cappadocia. These are the marvels that the lie-loving Cacostorgius tells about the holy Athanasius.

Notes and citation

Summary: Philostorgius's hostile account of Athanasius's ordination and of the councils of Tyre, which Photius rejects as lies.

  • Photius rejects this account; the epithets for Philostorgius (“instrument of falsehood”, “lover of lies”, “Cacostorgius”) and the honorifics for Athanasius are his. Philostorgius turns against Athanasius the story that orthodox writers tell of a harlot hired against Athanasius at Tyre.
  • The scan is damaged in places: the woman's answer and the clause on Athanasius's conviction (ἀντὶ τοῦ φυγεῖν σης…) have lost words; a line belonging to that clause (καὶ τὴν δίκην, διπλῆς ἔνοχον ἀπελεγχθῆναι, προσλαβού…) is displaced in the scan to the sentence before Arsenius's hand, and is translated where the sense requires; ὁ ρεώτης is the Mareotes affair (Μαρεώτης) with letters lost.
  • Arsenius's hand, Ischyras and the broken chalice are the charges known from Athanasius's Defence against the Arians.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (stray column letter of the printed page): πρὸς Α βασιλέα → πρὸς βασιλέα.

Topics: Church office, Heresy

Cite (SBL): Philostorgius, Hist. eccl. 2.11 (PG 65:473; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/philostorgius-historia/2-11). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Valesius's text of Photius's epitome as printed in PG 65; every section compared afterwards with Walford's English (Bohn, 1855).

2.12PG 65:475

Ὅτι, φησὶν, ἡ τοῦ βασιλέως Κωνσταντίνου μήτηρ Ἑλένη, ἐπὶ τῷ στόματι τοῦ τῆς Νικομηδείας κόλπου πόλιν ἐδείματο, Ἑλενόπολιν αὐτὴν ονομάσασα· ἀσπάσασθαι δὲ τὸ χωρίον κατ᾿ ἄλλο μὲν οὐδὲν, ὅτι δὲ Λουκιανὸς ὁ μάρτυς ἐκεῖσε τύχοι μετὰ τὸν μαρτυρικὸν θάνατον ὑπὸ δελφῖνος ἐκκομισθείς.

Hoti, phēsin, hē tou basileōs Kōnstantinou mētēr Helenē, epi tǭ stomati tou tēs Nikomēdeias kolpou polin edeimato, Helenopolin autēn onomasasa; aspasasthai de to chōrion kat᾿ allo men ouden, hoti de Loukianos ho martys ekeise tychoi meta ton martyrikon thanaton hypo delphinos ekkomistheis.

That, he says, Helena, the mother of the emperor Constantine, built a city at the mouth of the gulf of Nicomedia and named it Helenopolis. She was fond of the place for no other reason than that Lucian the martyr had been carried ashore there by a dolphin after his martyr's death.

Notes and citation

Summary: Helena founds Helenopolis where a dolphin brought Lucian the martyr's body ashore.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR lost the first letters): τηρ Ἑλένη → μήτηρ Ἑλένη.

Topics: Martyrdom

Cite (SBL): Philostorgius, Hist. eccl. 2.12 (PG 65:475; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/philostorgius-historia/2-12). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Valesius's text of Photius's epitome as printed in PG 65; every section compared afterwards with Walford's English (Bohn, 1855).

2.13PG 65:475

Ὅτι τὸν μάρτυρα Λουκιανόν φησι μέλλοντα τελευτᾶν, καὶ μήτε ναὸν μήτε θυσιαστήριον τῆς τυραννικῆς βίας παρεχούσης, ἀλλὰ μηδὲ ἀντικινεῖσθαι τῶν δεσμῶν καὶ πληγῶν συγχωρούντων, ἐν τῷ οἰκείῳ στέρνῳ ἀνακείμενον τὴν φρικτὴν θυσίαν τελεσάμενον, οὕτω τε αὐτὸν μετασχεῖν, καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους μεταλαβεῖν τοῦ ἀχράντου θύματος ἐπιτρέψαι. Ἐτελέσθη δὲ ἡ ἱερουργία ἐν τῇ εἰρκτῇ, τοῦ κυκλώσαντος αὐτὸν ἱεροῦ χοροῦ ὡς ἤδη ἀποβιοῦντα, ἐκκλησίας σχῆμα καὶ ἀσφάλειαν τοῦ μὴ καθορᾶσθαι τὰ δρώμενα παρὰ τῶν εὐσεβούντων ἀναπληροῦντος.

Hoti ton martyra Loukianon phēsi mellonta teleutan, kai mēte naon mēte thysiastērion tēs tyrannikēs bias parechousēs, alla mēde antikineisthai tōn desmōn kai plēgōn synchōrountōn, en tǭ oikeiǭ sternǭ anakeimenon tēn phriktēn thysian telesamenon, houtō te auton metaschein, kai tous allous metalabein tou achrantou thymatos epitrepsai. Etelesthē de hē hierourgia en tę̄ eirktę̄, tou kyklōsantos auton hierou chorou hōs ēdē apobiounta, ekklēsias schēma kai asphaleian tou mē kathorasthai ta drōmena para tōn eusebountōn anaplērountos.

That he says that the martyr Lucian, when he was about to die, since the tyrant's violence allowed him neither church nor altar, and his bonds and wounds did not even let him move, lay on his back and performed the awesome sacrifice on his own breast, and so partook himself and let the others share in the spotless victim. The sacred rite was performed in the prison, the holy company that surrounded him as he was already dying filling the place of a church and providing protection so that what was done would not be seen by the impious.

Notes and citation

Summary: Lucian the martyr, bound in prison, celebrates the Eucharist on his own breast for his companions.

  • “By the impious”: the printed text reads εὐσεβούντων (“the pious”), which makes no sense here; the reading ἀσεβούντων (“the impious”), given in a lemma of Valesius's notes that leaked into 2.14, is followed.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR duplicated a letter; OCR lost the first letters; OCR lost two letters): τελευτᾷᾶν → τελευτᾶν; τῆς ραννικῆς → τῆς τυραννικῆς; τοὺς λους → τοὺς ἄλλους; κλησίας σχῆμα → ἐκκλησίας σχῆμα.

Topics: Eucharist, Martyrdom

Cite (SBL): Philostorgius, Hist. eccl. 2.13 (PG 65:475; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/philostorgius-historia/2-13). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Valesius's text of Photius's epitome as printed in PG 65; every section compared afterwards with Walford's English (Bohn, 1855).

2.14PG 65:475

Ὅτι τούτου τοῦ μάρτυρος πολλοὺς μὲν καὶ ἄλλους μαθητὰς ἀναγράφει, οἷς καὶ Εὐσέβιον τὸν Νικομηδείας, καὶ Μάριν τὸν Χαλχηδόνος, καὶ τὸν Νικαίας Θέογνιν συντάττει, καὶ Λεόντιον, τὸν ὕστερον γεγονότα τῆς ᾿Αντιοχείας ἐπίσκοπον, καὶ ᾿Αντώνιον τὸν Ταρσοῦ τῆς Κιλικίας, καὶ Μηνόφαντον, καὶ Νεομήνιον, καὶ Εὐδόξιον· οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ ᾿Αλέξανδρον καὶ Ἀστέριον τὸν Καππαδόκην· οὓς καὶ Ἑλληνίσαι φησὶ ἐνδόντας τῇ τῶν τυράννων βίᾳ· ὕστερον δὲ ἀνακαλέσασθαι τὴν ἧτταν, συμβαλλομένου αὐτοῖς πρὸς τὴν μετάνοιαν τοῦ διδασκάλου.

Hoti toutou tou martyros pollous men kai allous mathētas anagraphei, hois kai Eusebion ton Nikomēdeias, kai Marin ton Chalchēdonos, kai ton Nikaias Theognin syntattei, kai Leontion, ton hysteron gegonota tēs ᾿Antiocheias episkopon, kai ᾿Antōnion ton Tarsou tēs Kilikias, kai Mēnophanton, kai Neomēnion, kai Eudoxion; ou mēn alla kai ᾿Alexandron kai Asterion ton Kappadokēn; hous kai Hellēnisai phēsi endontas tę̄ tōn tyrannōn bią; hysteron de anakalesasthai tēn hēttan, symballomenou autois pros tēn metanoian tou didaskalou.

That he records many disciples of this martyr, among whom he lists Eusebius of Nicomedia, Maris of Chalcedon, Theognis of Nicaea, Leontius, who later became bishop of Antioch, Antony of Tarsus in Cilicia, Menophantus, Numenius and Eudoxius, and also Alexander and Asterius the Cappadocian. These, he says, also went over to the Greek religion, yielding to the violence of the tyrants, but later retracted their fall, their teacher helping them to repentance.

Notes and citation

Summary: Philostorgius lists the disciples of Lucian, some of whom lapsed in persecution and repented.

  • “These” may refer to all the disciples or only to the last named; the Greek is ambiguous.
  • Lemmata of Valesius's notes on 2.11–2.13 had leaked into the opening of this section; they are removed.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (lemmata of Valesius's notes leaked into the text): πολλοὺς μὲν καὶ Πέδαις σιδηραῖς ἐνδυσάμενον. ένδησάμενον. τῆς κινεῖσθαι. ἀλλὰ μηδὲ αὐτῷ κινεῖσθαι τῶν δεσμῶν καὶ πληγῶν συγχωρούντων, Παρὰ τῶν εὐσεβούντων. ἀσεβούντων. ᾿Αντ' αὐτοῦ προχειρίσασθαι Γρηγόριον. Ἑλενόπολιν. ἄλλους → πολλοὺς μὲν καὶ ἄλλους.

Topics: Persecution

Cite (SBL): Philostorgius, Hist. eccl. 2.14 (PG 65:475; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/philostorgius-historia/2-14). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Valesius's text of Photius's epitome as printed in PG 65; every section compared afterwards with Walford's English (Bohn, 1855).

2.15PG 65:477

Ὅτι τῶν εἰρημένων ᾿Αντώνιον μὲν καὶ Λεόντιον, ἀπαράτρωτον τὴν εὐσέβειαν διασώσασθαι λέγει Εὐσέβιον δὲ καὶ Μάριν καὶ Θέογνιν, συναπαχθῆναι μὲν τῇ κατὰ Νίκαιαν συνόδῳ, ἀνενεχθῆναι δὲ τῆς μεταβολῆς. Τὸν δὲ Μάριν ἐκεῖθεν ἀνενεχθέντα, εἰς ἑτέραν αὖθις κατολισθῆσαι ἀτοπίαν, καὶ δὴ καὶ τὸν Θέογνιν· ὃς τὸν Θεὸν καὶ πρὸ τοῦ γεννῆσαι τὸν Υἱὸν Πατέρα οἴεται, ἄτε δὴ τὴν δύναμιν ἔχοντα τοῦ γεννῆσαι. Ἀλλὰ δὴ καὶ τὸν ᾿Αστέριον παρατρέψαι τὸ φρόνημα, ἀπαράλλακτον εἰκόνα τῆς τοῦ Πατρὸς οὐσίας εἶναι τὸν Υἱὸν ἐν τοῖς αὐτοῦ λόγοις καὶ γράμμασι διαμαρτυρόμενον

Hoti tōn eirēmenōn ᾿Antōnion men kai Leontion, aparatrōton tēn eusebeian diasōsasthai legei Eusebion de kai Marin kai Theognin, synapachthēnai men tę̄ kata Nikaian synodǭ, anenechthēnai de tēs metabolēs. Ton de Marin ekeithen anenechthenta, eis heteran authis katolisthēsai atopian, kai dē kai ton Theognin; hos ton Theon kai pro tou gennēsai ton Huion Patera oietai, ate dē tēn dynamin echonta tou gennēsai. Alla dē kai ton ᾿Asterion paratrepsai to phronēma, aparallakton eikona tēs tou Patros ousias einai ton Huion en tois autou logois kai grammasi diamartyromenon

That of those named, he says, Antony and Leontius preserved their piety unwounded, while Eusebius, Maris and Theognis were carried away together with the Council of Nicaea, though they recovered from that change. But Maris, having recovered from it, slid again into another absurdity, and Theognis too, who thinks that God was Father even before he begot the Son, inasmuch as he had the power to beget. Asterius also perverted his opinion, affirming in his discourses and writings that the Son is the exact image of the Father's essence.

Notes and citation

Summary: Philostorgius on which of Lucian's disciples kept his doctrine and which, like Theognis and Asterius, departed from it.

  • To Philostorgius, the Anomoean, calling the Son the “exact” (literally “unvarying”) image of the Father's essence was a departure from the true teaching.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (stray column letter of the printed page): καὶ Β τὸν → καὶ τὸν.

Topics: Trinity, Heresy

Cite (SBL): Philostorgius, Hist. eccl. 2.15 (PG 65:477; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/philostorgius-historia/2-15). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Valesius's text of Photius's epitome as printed in PG 65; every section compared afterwards with Walford's English (Bohn, 1855).

2.16PG 65:477

Ὅτι τὸ τριακοστὸν δεύτερον ἔτος ἐπιβαίνοντος τῆς βασιλείας αὐτοῦ Κωνσταντίνου, ἐν Νικομηδείᾳ φαρμάκοις ὑπὸ τῶν ἀδελφῶν τεθνάναι γράφει· ἐγγὺς δὲ τοῦ τέλους γεγονότα καὶ αἰσθόμενον τῆς ἐπιβουλῆς, διαθήκας τε γράψαι, τιμωρίαν ἀπαιτούσας τοὺς ἀνελόντας, καὶ ταύτην εἰσπράξασθαι τὸν προκαταλαβόντα τῶν παίδων κελεῦσαι, δέει τοῦ μή τι κάκείνους ὑπ᾿ αὐτῶν ὅμοιον ὑποστῆναι δοῦναί τε τὰς διαθήκας Εὐσεβίῳ τῷ Νικομηδείας. Τὸν δὲ ὑφορώμενον τοὺς τοῦ βασιλέως ἀδελφοὺς, μή ποτε τήσειαν αὐτὰς, καὶ ἀναμαθεῖν τὰ γεγραμμένα βουληθεῖεν, ἐνθεῖναι τῇ χειρὶ τοῦ νεκροῦ τὸ βιβλίον, καὶ παραβύσαι τοῖς ἱματίοις. Ἐπιζητησάντων ὡς ενόει λαβεῖν μὲν φάναι, ἀντιπαραδοῦναι δὲ πάλιν εἰς χεῖρας ὁμολογῆσαι. Εἶτα μετὰ ταῦτα ἀνελόμενον, Κωνσταντίῳ τῷ αὐτοῦ παιδὶ ἐγχειρίσαι τὸ γράμμα προφθάσαντι τοὺς ἄλλους· τὸν δὲ μετ᾿ οὐ πολὺ κατὰ τὰ προστάγματα τοῦ πατρὸς διαπράξασθαι.

Hoti to triakoston deuteron etos epibainontos tēs basileias autou Kōnstantinou, en Nikomēdeią pharmakois hypo tōn adelphōn tethnanai graphei; engys de tou telous gegonota kai aisthomenon tēs epiboulēs, diathēkas te grapsai, timōrian apaitousas tous anelontas, kai tautēn eispraxasthai ton prokatalabonta tōn paidōn keleusai, deei tou mē ti kakeinous hyp᾿ autōn homoion hypostēnai dounai te tas diathēkas Eusebiǭ tǭ Nikomēdeias. Ton de hyphorōmenon tous tou basileōs adelphous, mē pote tēseian autas, kai anamathein ta gegrammena boulētheien, entheinai tę̄ cheiri tou nekrou to biblion, kai parabysai tois himatiois. Epizētēsantōn hōs enoei labein men phanai, antiparadounai de palin eis cheiras homologēsai. Eita meta tauta anelomenon, Kōnstantiǭ tǭ autou paidi encheirisai to gramma prophthasanti tous allous; ton de met᾿ ou poly kata ta prostagmata tou patros diapraxasthai.

That he writes that Constantine, as he entered the thirty-second year of his reign, died at Nicomedia by poison from his brothers; that when he was near the end and perceived the plot, he wrote a will demanding punishment of those who had killed him, and ordered that whichever of his sons arrived first should exact it, for fear that they too might suffer something similar at their hands; and that he gave the will to Eusebius of Nicomedia. Eusebius, suspecting the emperor's brothers, lest they should search for it and want to learn what was written, put the document in the dead man's hand and tucked it under his clothes. When they looked for it, as he had suspected, he said that he had received it, but declared that he had given it back into [the emperor's] hands. Afterwards he took it up and handed the document to Constantius, his son, who arrived before the others; and Constantius not long afterwards carried it out according to his father's orders.

Notes and citation

Summary: Philostorgius's story that Constantine, poisoned by his brothers, left a will demanding vengeance, which Eusebius passed to Constantius.

  • The scan has lost letters in τήσειαν (“search for”, ζητήσειαν) and ενόει (“suspected”, ὑπενόει); translated by sense.

Cite (SBL): Philostorgius, Hist. eccl. 2.16 (PG 65:477; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/philostorgius-historia/2-16). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Valesius's text of Photius's epitome as printed in PG 65; every section compared afterwards with Walford's English (Bohn, 1855).

2.17PG 65:479

Οὗτος ὁ θεομάχος, καὶ τὴν Κωνσταντίνου εἰκόνα τὴν ἐπὶ τοῦ πορφυροῦ κίονος ἱσταμένην, θυσίαις τε ἱλάσκεσθαι καὶ λυχνοκαΐαις καὶ θυμιάμασι τιμᾶν, καὶ εὐχὰς προσάγειν ὡς Θεῷ, καὶ ἀποτροπαίους ἱκετηρίας τῶν δεινῶν ἐπιτελεῖν τοὺς Χριστιανοὺς κατηγορεῖ.

Houtos ho theomachos, kai tēn Kōnstantinou eikona tēn epi tou porphyrou kionos histamenēn, thysiais te hilaskesthai kai lychnokaïais kai thymiamasi timan, kai euchas prosagein hōs Theǭ, kai apotropaious hiketērias tōn deinōn epitelein tous Christianous katēgorei.

This fighter against God also accuses the Christians of propitiating with sacrifices the image of Constantine that stands on the porphyry column, of honouring it with lamp-lighting and incense, of offering prayers to it as to a god, and of performing supplications to it to avert disasters.

Notes and citation

Summary: Philostorgius accuses the Christians of worshipping Constantine's statue on the porphyry column.

  • “Fighter against God” is Photius's description of Philostorgius.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR lost the first letters; OCR lost the first letters (the word is quoted in full in a leaked lemma in 3.2)): Κωνσταντίνου κόνα → Κωνσταντίνου εἰκόνα; σίαις τε → θυσίαις τε; μιάμασι → θυμιάμασι.

Cite (SBL): Philostorgius, Hist. eccl. 2.17 (PG 65:479; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/philostorgius-historia/2-17). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Valesius's text of Photius's epitome as printed in PG 65; every section compared afterwards with Walford's English (Bohn, 1855).

2.18PG 65:479

Ὅτι τελευτήσαντος τοῦ μεγάλου Κωνσταντίνου φησὶ, καὶ τῶν πανταχόθι μεθορίαις ταλαιπωρουμένων ἄδειαν ἀνακλήσεως εἰληφότων, καὶ ᾿Αθανάσιόν φησι ἐκ τῶν Γαλλιῶν εἰς τὴν ᾿Αλεξάνδρειαν παραγεγονότα, ἐπεὶ Γρηγόριον ἐμεμαθήκει τετελευτηκότα, ὡς εἶχεν εὐθὺς ἀπὸ τῆς νεὼς εἰς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν χωρῆσαι, καὶ τὸν θρόνον ἀναλαβεῖν, μηδένα λόγον τῶν ἀποκηρυξάντων αὐτὸν πεποιηκότα.

Hoti teleutēsantos tou megalou Kōnstantinou phēsi, kai tōn pantachothi methoriais talaipōroumenōn adeian anaklēseōs eilēphotōn, kai ᾿Athanasion phēsi ek tōn Galliōn eis tēn ᾿Alexandreian paragegonota, epei Grēgorion ememathēkei teteleutēkota, hōs eichen euthys apo tēs neōs eis tēn ekklēsian chōrēsai, kai ton thronon analabein, mēdena logon tōn apokēryxantōn auton pepoiēkota.

That he says that when Constantine the Great died, and those suffering in banishment everywhere received leave to return, Athanasius too came from Gaul to Alexandria; and since he had learned that Gregory had died, he went straight from the ship to the church, just as he was, and took back the throne, taking no account of those who had cast him out.

Notes and citation

Summary: After Constantine's death Athanasius returns from Gaul and resumes his see.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (word split by OCR): τετελευτη κότα → τετελευτηκότα.

Topics: Church office

Cite (SBL): Philostorgius, Hist. eccl. 2.18 (PG 65:479; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/philostorgius-historia/2-18). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Valesius's text of Photius's epitome as printed in PG 65; every section compared afterwards with Walford's English (Bohn, 1855).

Chapter 3

3.1PG 65:479

Ὅτι Κώνσταντά φησιν, ὃς ἦν πρεσβύτερος τῶν Κωνσταντίνου παίδων, ἐπιβουλεῦσαι τῷ ἀδελφῷ Κωνσταντίνῳ, καὶ μάχῃ τοῖς στρατηγοῖς αὐτοῦ συρῥαγέντα διαφθαρῆναί τε καὶ τὴν μοῖραν τῆς ὑπ᾿ τὸν ἀρχῆς εἰς τὴν Κώνσταντος ἀνακοινωθῆναι.

Hoti Kōnstanta phēsin, hos ēn presbyteros tōn Kōnstantinou paidōn, epibouleusai tǭ adelphǭ Kōnstantinǭ, kai machę̄ tois stratēgois autou syrrhagenta diaphtharēnai te kai tēn moiran tēs hyp᾿ ton archēs eis tēn Kōnstantos anakoinōthēnai.

That he says that Constans, who was the eldest of Constantine's sons, plotted against his brother Constantine, and, engaging in battle with his generals, was killed; and the share of the empire under him was added to that of Constans.

Notes and citation

Summary: Philostorgius on the war between Constantine's sons in which the eldest was killed and his share passed to Constans.

  • As printed, the names are confused: it was Constantine II, the eldest son, who attacked his brother Constans and was killed (340), and whose share passed to Constans.

Cite (SBL): Philostorgius, Hist. eccl. 3.1 (PG 65:479; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/philostorgius-historia/3-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Valesius's text of Photius's epitome as printed in PG 65; every section compared afterwards with Walford's English (Bohn, 1855).

3.2PG 65:479

Ὅτι Κωνστάντιον δι᾽ ἐπαίνων ἄγει, καὶ τὴν ἐκκλησίαν φησὶν αὐτὸν δομήσασθαι τὴν ἐν Κωνσταντίνου πόλει, καὶ οὖσαν καὶ καλουμένην μεγάλην. Καὶ δὴ καὶ ᾿Ανδρέαν τὸν ἀπόστολον ἐκ τῆς Αχαΐας μετακομίσαι ἐπὶ τὸν ναὸν ὃν οὗτος ἐξῳκοδομήσατο, τὸ κοινὸν τῶν ᾿Αποστόλων ἐπιφερόμενον ὄνομα, οὗ πλησίον καὶ τὸν πατρῷον τάφον ἱδρύσασθαι· καὶ δὴ καὶ Λουκᾶν τὸν εὐαγγελιστὴν ἐκ τῆς αὐτῆς ᾿Αχαΐας εἰς τὸ αὐτὸ μετενεγκεῖν τέμενος· ἀλλὰ καὶ Τιμόθεον τὸν ἀπόστολον ὡσαύτως ἐξ Ἐφέσου τῆς Ἰωνίας εἰς τὸν αὐτὸν ἀνακομίσαι περιώνυμον καὶ σεβάσμιον οἶκον.

Hoti Kōnstantion di᾽ epainōn agei, kai tēn ekklēsian phēsin auton domēsasthai tēn en Kōnstantinou polei, kai ousan kai kaloumenēn megalēn. Kai dē kai ᾿Andrean ton apostolon ek tēs Achaïas metakomisai epi ton naon hon houtos exǭkodomēsato, to koinon tōn ᾿Apostolōn epipheromenon onoma, hou plēsion kai ton patrǭon taphon hidrysasthai; kai dē kai Loukan ton euangelistēn ek tēs autēs ᾿Achaïas eis to auto metenenkein temenos; alla kai Timotheon ton apostolon hōsautōs ex Ephesou tēs Iōnias eis ton auton anakomisai periōnymon kai sebasmion oikon.

That he praises Constantius, and says that he built the church in Constantinople that both is and is called the Great Church. He also transferred Andrew the apostle from Achaea to the temple that he built, which bears the common name of the Apostles, near which he also set up his father's tomb; he moved Luke the evangelist too from the same Achaea to the same sanctuary; and likewise brought Timothy the apostle from Ephesus in Ionia to the same famous and venerable house.

Notes and citation

Summary: Constantius builds the Great Church and brings the relics of Andrew, Luke and Timothy to the Church of the Apostles.

  • A long passage from Valesius's notes (a quotation from the Paschal Chronicle about the gilded statue of Constantine carried in the circus) had leaked into the text after the first clause; it is removed.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR slip; a quotation and lemmata from Valesius's notes leaked into the text; word split by a line break and a stray column letter): καὶ τὴν Θυσίαις τε ἱλάσκεσθαι. Ποιήσας ἑαυτῷ ἄλλην στήλην ἀπὸ ξοάνου κεχρυσωμένην, βαστάζουσαν ἐν τῇ δεξιᾷ χειρὶ τὴν τύχην τῆς αὐτῆς πόλεως καὶ αὐτὴν κεχρυσωμένην, κελεύσας κατὰ τὴν αὐτὴν ἡμέραν τοῦ γενεθλιακοῦ ἱππικοῦ εἰσιέναι τὴν αὐτὴν τοῦ ξοάνου στήλην, δηριγευομένην ὑπὸ τῶν στρατευμάτων μετὰ χλανιδίων καὶ καμπηγίων γαμπαγίων. ἐπεγείρεσθαι τὸν κατὰ καιρὸν βασιλέα. καμπαγίων, πάντων κατεχόντων κηροὺς λευκούς, ἀπὸ ξοάνου, περιέρχεσθαι τὸ ὄχημα τὸν ἄνω κάμπον καὶ ἔρχεσθαι εἰς τὸ σκάμμα κατέναντι τοῦ βασιλικοῦ καθἱσματος, καὶ ἐπεγείρεσθαι κατὰ καιρὸν βασιλέα, καὶ προσκυνεῖν τὴν στήλην τοῦ αὐτοῦ βασιλέως Κωνσταντίνου καὶ τύχης τῆς αὐτῆς πόλεως. Κώνσταντά φησιν. ἐκκλησίαν → καὶ τὴν ἐκκλησίαν; Κων- Α σταντίνου → Κωνσταντίνου; ναὶ δὴ → καὶ δὴ.

Cite (SBL): Philostorgius, Hist. eccl. 3.2 (PG 65:479; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/philostorgius-historia/3-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Valesius's text of Photius's epitome as printed in PG 65; every section compared afterwards with Walford's English (Bohn, 1855).

3.3PG 65:481

Ὅτι φησὶ ὡς ὁ Κωνστάντιος γνοὺς ᾿Αθανάσιον τὸν ᾿Αλεξανδρείας θρόνον ἀναλαβεῖν, ἐκεῖνον μὲν ἐλαύνει τῆς ᾿Αλεξανδρείας, ἀντιχειροτονηθῆναι δὲ γνώμην ἀποφαίνει Γεώργιον τὸν ἐκ Καππαδοκίας. Ὁ δὲ ᾿Αθανάσιος δείσας καὶ τὰς ἀπειλὰς καὶ τὸν ἐξ ἐπιβουλῆς θάνατον, πρὸς τὸν ἑσπέριον ἀφικνεῖται πάλιν βασιλέα.

Hoti phēsi hōs ho Kōnstantios gnous ᾿Athanasion ton ᾿Alexandreias thronon analabein, ekeinon men elaunei tēs ᾿Alexandreias, anticheirotonēthēnai de gnōmēn apophainei Geōrgion ton ek Kappadokias. Ho de ᾿Athanasios deisas kai tas apeilas kai ton ex epiboulēs thanaton, pros ton hesperion aphikneitai palin basilea.

That he says that Constantius, learning that Athanasius had taken back the throne of Alexandria, drove him out of Alexandria and declared his decision that George of Cappadocia should be ordained in his place. Athanasius, fearing both the threats and death by treachery, went once again to the western emperor.

Notes and citation

Summary: Constantius expels Athanasius and has George of Cappadocia appointed; Athanasius flees to the West.

Topics: Church office

Cite (SBL): Philostorgius, Hist. eccl. 3.3 (PG 65:481; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/philostorgius-historia/3-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Valesius's text of Photius's epitome as printed in PG 65; every section compared afterwards with Walford's English (Bohn, 1855).

3.4PG 65:481

Ὅτι Κωνστάντιόν φησι διαπρεσβεύσασθαι πρὸς τοὺς πάλαι μὲν Σαβαίους νῦν δὲ Ὁμηρίτας καλουμένους. Ἔστι δὲ τὸ ἔθνος τῶν ἐκ Χεττούρας τῷ Ἀβραὰμ γενομένων. Τὴν δὲ χώραν μεγάλην τε ᾿Αραβίαν καλεῖσθαι καὶ εὐδαίμονα πρὸς τῶν Ἑλλήνων· καθήκειν δὲ ἐπὶ τὸν ἐξώτατον ὠκεανόν· ἧς μητρόπολις ἡ Σάβα· ἐξ ἧς καὶ ἡ βασιλὶς καὶ τὸν Σολομῶντα παραγεγόνει Ἐμπερίτομον δὲ τὸ ἔθνος κατὰ τὴν ὀγδόην περιτεμνόμενον ἡμέραν· καὶ θύουσιν ἡλίῳ καὶ σελήνῃ καὶ δαίμοσιν ἐπιχωρίοις. Οὐκ ὀλίγον δὲ πλῆθος καὶ Ἰουδαίων αὐτοῖς ἀναπέφυρται. Πρὸς τούτοις οὖν διαπρεσβεύεται Κωνστάντιος, ἐπὶ τὴν εὐσέβειαν σκοπὸν ποιούμενος αὐτοὺς μεταθέσθαι· δώροις τε οὖν μεγαλοπρεπέσι, καὶ πλήθει τὸν καθηγούμενον τοῦ ἔθνους κειώσασθαι διενοεῖτο κἀκεῖθεν αὐτὶ καὶ τὰ τῆς εὐσεβείας σπέρματα χώραν εὑρεῖν ἐναποθέσθαι. ᾿Αξιοῖ δὲ καὶ παρασχεῖν ἐκκλησίας τοῖς ἐκεῖσε τῶν Ῥωμαίων ἀφικνουμένοις ἀνοικοδομήσασθαι, καὶ εἴ τι ἄλλο τῶν αὐτοχθόνων ἐπὶ τὴν εὐσέβειαν ἀποκλίνοιεν. Ἐδίδου δὲ καὶ φέρειν φιλοτίμως τοὺς πρέσβεις καὶ ἐν τοῖς πρώτοις ἦν καὶ Θεόφιλος ὁ Ἰνδός. Ὃς πάλαι μὲν Κωνσταντίνου τοῦ πάλαι βασιλεύοντος, ἔτι τὴν ἡλικίαν νεώτατος, καθ᾽ ὀμηρίαν παρὰ τῶν Διβηνῶν καλουμένων εἰς Ῥωμαίους ἐστάλη Διβοῦς ἐστὶν αὐτοῖς ἡ νῆσος χώρα. Τῶν Ἰνδῶν δὲ καὶ οὗτοι φέρουσι τὸ ἐπώνυμον· τὸν μέντοι Θεόφιλον, οὐκ ὀλίγον Ῥωμαίοις ἐνδιατρίψαντα χρόνον, τά τε ἤθη εἰς τὸ ἀκρότατον πρὸς ἀρετὴν ῥυθμίσαι, καὶ τὴν δόξαν πρὸς εὐσέβειαν, καὶ τὸν μοναύλιον ἀνελέσθαι βίον· καὶ δὴ καὶ εἰς βαθμὸν διακόνων παραγγείλαι, Εὐσεβίου τὰς ἱερουργοὺς αὐτῷ χεῖρας ἐπιθεμένου (ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν πρότερον), τὴν δὲ πρεσβείαν ὑπελθόντα καὶ όρου λαβεῖν παρὰ τῶν ὁμοδόξων ἀξίωμα Ὁ μέντοι Κωνστάντιος μεγαλοπρεπῶς καὶ εἰς τὸ τῆς οἰκοδομῆς τὸ ἀνάλωμα. Ταύτης δὲ τῆς πρεσβείας λιστα κεχαρισμένον τὴν πρεσβείαν στέλλων, καὶ ἵππους εἰς διακοσίους τῶν ἐκ Καππαδοκίας εὐγενεστάτων ἱππαγωγοῖς πλοίοις κομιζομένους, καὶ πολλὰς ἄλλας δωρεὰς εἰς τὸ πολυτελέστατον θαῦμα παρασχεῖν, καὶ θελκτηρίους συνεξέπεμψε. Καταλαβὼν δὲ τοὺς Σαβαίους ὁ Θεόφιλος, πείθειν ἐπεχείρει τὸν ἐθνάρχην, Χριστόν τε σέβειν εἰδέναι, καὶ τῆς ληνικῆς πλάνης ἀποστῆναι. Ἡ δὲ τῶν Ἰουδαίων κεία ἐπίνοια, τοῦ Θεοφίλου παραδόξοις ἔργοις καὶ ἅπαξ καὶ δὶς τὴν εἰς Χριστὸν πίστιν ἅμαχον ἐπιδειξαμένου, εἰς σιγὴν μὲν βαθεῖαν, καὶ ἄκον τὸ ἀντιπνέον κατέδυ. Τὰ δὲ τῆς πρεσβείας τὸ πέρας ἐδέχετο, καθαρότητι γνώμης τοῦ τὴν ἀρχὴν ἔχοντος τοῦ ἔθνους πρὸς τὴν εὐσέβειαν ἀποκλίναντος, καὶ τρεῖς οὐ μίαν im-ἐκκλησίας ἀνὰ τὴν χώραν ἀναστήσαντος, οὐκ ἐξ ὧν οἱ πρέσβεις ἔφερον βασιλικῶν ἀναλωμάτων, ἀλλ᾽ ἐξ ὧν αὐτὸς ἐκεῖνος προθύμως οἴκοθεν ἐχορήγει· καὶ τῷ θαύματι τῶν Θεοφίλου ἔργων, ἐνάμιλλον παρέχειν ἐφιλοτιμεῖτο τὸ πρόθυμον. Τῶν δὲ ἐκκλησιῶν μίαν μὲν ἐν αὐτῇ τῇ μητροπόλει τοῦ παντὸς ἔθνους Τάφαρον ὀνομαζομένῃ καθιδρύσατο· ἑτέραν δὲ ἐν ᾧ τὲ Ῥωμαϊκὸν ἐμπόριον ἐτύγχανεν, ἔξω πρὸς τὸν ὠκεανὸν τετραμμένον. Καλοῦσι δὲ τὸ χωρίον νην, ἔνθα καὶ τοὺς ἐκ Ῥωμαίων ἀφικνουμένους ἔθος ἦν καθορμίζεσθαι. Τὴν δὲ τρίτην ἐπὶ θάτερον τῆς χώρας μέρος, ἐν ᾧ Περσικὸν ἐμπόριον γνωρίζεται ἐπὶ τῷ στόματι τῆς ἐκεῖσε Περσικῆς κείμενον λάσσης.

Hoti Kōnstantion phēsi diapresbeusasthai pros tous palai men Sabaious nyn de Homēritas kaloumenous. Esti de to ethnos tōn ek Chettouras tǭ Abraam genomenōn. Tēn de chōran megalēn te ᾿Arabian kaleisthai kai eudaimona pros tōn Hellēnōn; kathēkein de epi ton exōtaton ōkeanon; hēs mētropolis hē Saba; ex hēs kai hē basilis kai ton Solomōnta paragegonei Emperitomon de to ethnos kata tēn ogdoēn peritemnomenon hēmeran; kai thyousin hēliǭ kai selēnę̄ kai daimosin epichōriois. Ouk oligon de plēthos kai Ioudaiōn autois anapephyrtai. Pros toutois oun diapresbeuetai Kōnstantios, epi tēn eusebeian skopon poioumenos autous metathesthai; dōrois te oun megaloprepesi, kai plēthei ton kathēgoumenon tou ethnous keiōsasthai dienoeito kakeithen auti kai ta tēs eusebeias spermata chōran heurein enapothesthai. ᾿Axioi de kai paraschein ekklēsias tois ekeise tōn Rhōmaiōn aphiknoumenois anoikodomēsasthai, kai ei ti allo tōn autochthonōn epi tēn eusebeian apoklinoien. Edidou de kai pherein philotimōs tous presbeis kai en tois prōtois ēn kai Theophilos ho Indos. Hos palai men Kōnstantinou tou palai basileuontos, eti tēn hēlikian neōtatos, kath᾽ omērian para tōn Dibēnōn kaloumenōn eis Rhōmaious estalē Dibous estin autois hē nēsos chōra. Tōn Indōn de kai houtoi pherousi to epōnymon; ton mentoi Theophilon, ouk oligon Rhōmaiois endiatripsanta chronon, ta te ēthē eis to akrotaton pros aretēn rhythmisai, kai tēn doxan pros eusebeian, kai ton monaulion anelesthai bion; kai dē kai eis bathmon diakonōn parangeilai, Eusebiou tas hierourgous autǭ cheiras epithemenou (alla tauta men proteron), tēn de presbeian hypelthonta kai orou labein para tōn homodoxōn axiōma Ho mentoi Kōnstantios megaloprepōs kai eis to tēs oikodomēs to analōma. Tautēs de tēs presbeias lista kecharismenon tēn presbeian stellōn, kai hippous eis diakosious tōn ek Kappadokias eugenestatōn hippagōgois ploiois komizomenous, kai pollas allas dōreas eis to polytelestaton thauma paraschein, kai thelktērious synexepempse. Katalabōn de tous Sabaious ho Theophilos, peithein epecheirei ton ethnarchēn, Christon te sebein eidenai, kai tēs lēnikēs planēs apostēnai. Hē de tōn Ioudaiōn keia epinoia, tou Theophilou paradoxois ergois kai hapax kai dis tēn eis Christon pistin hamachon epideixamenou, eis sigēn men batheian, kai akon to antipneon katedy. Ta de tēs presbeias to peras edecheto, katharotēti gnōmēs tou tēn archēn echontos tou ethnous pros tēn eusebeian apoklinantos, kai treis ou mian im-ekklēsias ana tēn chōran anastēsantos, ouk ex hōn hoi presbeis epheron basilikōn analōmatōn, all᾽ ex hōn autos ekeinos prothymōs oikothen echorēgei; kai tǭ thaumati tōn Theophilou ergōn, enamillon parechein ephilotimeito to prothymon. Tōn de ekklēsiōn mian men en autę̄ tę̄ mētropolei tou pantos ethnous Tapharon onomazomenę̄ kathidrysato; heteran de en hǭ te Rhōmaïkon emporion etynchanen, exō pros ton ōkeanon tetrammenon. Kalousi de to chōrion nēn, entha kai tous ek Rhōmaiōn aphiknoumenous ethos ēn kathormizesthai. Tēn de tritēn epi thateron tēs chōras meros, en hǭ Persikon emporion gnōrizetai epi tǭ stomati tēs ekeise Persikēs keimenon lassēs.

That he says Constantius sent an embassy to the people formerly called Sabaeans and now called Homerites. The nation is descended from the sons born to Abraham by Keturah. Their land is called Great Arabia, and Happy Arabia by the Greeks, and reaches to the outermost ocean. Its capital is Saba, from which the queen also came to Solomon. The nation practises circumcision, circumcising on the eighth day; and they sacrifice to the sun and the moon and to local demons. A considerable number of Jews is also mixed among them. To these, then, Constantius sent an embassy, aiming to bring them over to piety. He intended to win over the ruler of the nation with magnificent gifts, and many of them, and from there to find a place to sow the seeds of piety. He asked him also to allow churches to be built for the Romans who came there, and for any of the natives who might turn to piety. He also gave the envoys money to take, generously, for the cost of the building. Among the first of this embassy was Theophilus the Indian. Long before, in the reign of the former emperor Constantine, while he was still very young, he had been sent to the Romans as a hostage by the people called Divaeans; their land is the island of Divus. These too bear the name of Indians. Theophilus, after spending a long time among the Romans, formed his character to the height of virtue and his belief to piety, and took up the monastic life; and he was also raised to the rank of deacon, Eusebius laying his consecrating hands on him (but this was earlier). When he undertook the embassy, he also received the dignity of bishop from those of like belief. Constantius sent the embassy magnificently, furnished with what would please most, and sent with it two hundred of the finest Cappadocian horses carried on horse-transports, and many other gifts for the most costly display, to win them over. When Theophilus reached the Sabaeans, he tried to persuade the ruler of the nation to acknowledge and worship Christ and to give up the pagan error. The Jews' usual cunning, after Theophilus had shown once and again by wonderful works that faith in Christ was invincible, sank into deep silence, and their opposition subsided, though unwillingly. The embassy reached its goal: the ruler of the nation, with purity of mind, turned to piety and erected not one but three churches in the land, not from the imperial funds that the envoys brought, but from what he himself eagerly supplied from his own resources, and he was ambitious to match the wonder of Theophilus's works with his zeal. One of the churches he founded in the capital of the whole nation itself, called Tapharon; another where the Roman trading-post was, facing outward toward the ocean (they call the place Adane, and those who come from Roman lands were accustomed to anchor there); and the third in the other part of the land, where the Persian trading-post is known to be, lying at the mouth of the Persian sea there.

Gen 25:1–4 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Kgs 10:1 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Constantius's embassy under Theophilus the Indian to the Homerites of Arabia, whose ruler builds three churches.

  • The scan of this section is damaged: several words have lost letters (e.g. Ἐλληνικῆς, μάλιστα, the place name Ἀδάνην, Aden) and a few lines are displaced (the cost of the building, the start of the description of the embassy). It is translated by sense in the order the sense requires; “bishop” renders a damaged word (όρου).
  • Keturah: Gen 25:1–4; the queen of Sheba: 1 Kgs 10:1. Tapharon is Zafar, the Himyarite capital.

Topics: Church office

Cite (SBL): Philostorgius, Hist. eccl. 3.4 (PG 65:481; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/philostorgius-historia/3-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Valesius's text of Photius's epitome as printed in PG 65; every section compared afterwards with Walford's English (Bohn, 1855).

3.5PG 65:485

Ὁ μέντοι Θεόφιλος τὰ ἐν τοῖς Ὁμηρίταις, ὡς ἕκαστα δυνατὸν ἦν καὶ ὁ καιρὸς ἐδίδου, διαθεὶς, καὶ τὰς ἐκκλησίας ἱερωσάμενος, καὶ κόσμοις οἷς ἐνῆν δυνατὸν διακοσμήσας, ἐπὶ τὴν Διβοῦ νῆσον (ἣν αὐτοῦ πατρίδα προεδίδαξεν ὁ λόγος) ἀπέπλευσε. Κἀκεῖθεν εἰς τὴν ἄλλην ἀφίκετο Ἰνδικὴν, καὶ πολλὰ τῶν παρ' αὐτοῖς οὐκ εὐαγῶς δρωμένων ἐπανωρθώσατο. γὰρ καθεζόμενοι τῶν εὐαγγελικῶν ἀναγνωσμάτων ἐποιοῦντο τὴν ἀκρόασιν, καὶ ἄλλα τινὰ ὧν μὴ θεῖος θεσμὸς ἐπεστάτει διεπράττοντο. Ἀλλὰ ταῦθ' ἕκαστα πρὸς τὸ σεβάσμιον αὐτοῖς καὶ θεοφιλές ταρυθμίσας, καὶ τὸ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας δόγμα έκρατύνατο. Οὐ γὰρ ἐδέοντο, φησὶν ὁ δυσσεβὴς οὗτος, τῆς τὸ θεῖον σέβας διορθούσης ὑφηγήσεως, ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἀπαρατρώτως τὸ ἑτεροούσιον πρεσβευόμενοι.

Ho mentoi Theophilos ta en tois Homēritais, hōs hekasta dynaton ēn kai ho kairos edidou, diatheis, kai tas ekklēsias hierōsamenos, kai kosmois hois enēn dynaton diakosmēsas, epi tēn Dibou nēson (hēn autou patrida proedidaxen ho logos) apepleuse. Kakeithen eis tēn allēn aphiketo Indikēn, kai polla tōn par' autois ouk euagōs drōmenōn epanōrthōsato. gar kathezomenoi tōn euangelikōn anagnōsmatōn epoiounto tēn akroasin, kai alla tina hōn mē theios thesmos epestatei dieprattonto. Alla tauth' hekasta pros to sebasmion autois kai theophiles tarythmisas, kai to tēs Ekklēsias dogma ekratynato. Ou gar edeonto, phēsin ho dyssebēs houtos, tēs to theion sebas diorthousēs hyphēgēseōs, ex archēs aparatrōtōs to heteroousion presbeuomenoi.

Theophilus, having set in order the affairs of the Homerites as far as each was possible and the time allowed, consecrated the churches and adorned them with what adornments he could, then sailed to the island of Divus, which the account has already shown to be his homeland. From there he went on to the rest of India and corrected many things that were not rightly done among them. For they sat while listening to the Gospel readings, and did certain other things that divine law did not sanction. Having regulated each of these to what was reverent and pleasing to God, he also confirmed the doctrine of the church. For, says this impious man, they did not need instruction to correct their worship of God, since from the beginning they had held the heteroousion without deviation.

Notes and citation

Summary: Theophilus visits his home island and India, correcting their customs; Philostorgius claims they had always held the Anomoean doctrine.

  • “This impious man” is Photius's description of Philostorgius.

Topics: Heresy

Cite (SBL): Philostorgius, Hist. eccl. 3.5 (PG 65:485; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/philostorgius-historia/3-5). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Valesius's text of Photius's epitome as printed in PG 65; every section compared afterwards with Walford's English (Bohn, 1855).

3.6PG 65:485

Ἐκ δὲ ταύτης τῆς μεγάλης ᾿Αραβίας, εἰς τοὺς Αὐξουμίτας καλουμένους ἀπαίρει Αιθίοπας, οἳ κατὰ τὰς πρώτας ὄχθας κατώκηνται τῆς Ἐρυθρᾶς θαλάσσης, ἣν ὁ ταύτῃ ὠκεανὸς εἰσκολπιζόμενος ἐργάζεται πᾶσαν· ἡ μέντοι Ἐρυθρὰ ἐπὶ πλεῖστον μηκυνομένη εἰς δύο τινὰς ἀπομερίζεται κόλπους· καὶ τὸ μὲν αὐτῆς ἐπ᾿ Αἰγύπτου χωρεῖ Κλύσμα καθ' ὁ τελευτᾷ τὸ ἐπώνυμον φέρον οὗ πάλαι καὶ τὸ Ἰσραηλιτικὸν φεύγοντες τοὺς Αἰγυπτίους, ἀβρόχῳ τὸ ῥεῖθρον διεπεραιώθησαν ποδί. Τὸ δὲ ἕτερον μέρος ἐπὶ Παλαιστίνης ἔρχεται κατὰ πόλιν ᾿Αειλὰ ἐκ παλαιοῦ καλουμένην. Ἀλλὰ γὰρ ταύτης τῆς Ἐρυθρᾶς θαλάσσης ἐν ἀριστερῷ τῆς ἔξωθεν Αὐξουμῖται κατέχουσιν, ἀπὸ τῆς μητροπόλεως οὕτω κληθέντες. Αὔξουμις γὰρ αὐτοῖς ἡ μητρόπολις. Πρότερος δὲ τούτων τῶν Αὐξουμιτῶν ἐπὶ τὸν ἐξωτάτω πρὸς ἀνατολὰς καθήκοντες ὠκεανὸν παροικοῦσιν οἱ Σύροι, ταύτην τὴν κλῆσιν καὶ παρὰ τοῖς ἐκεῖσε φέροντες. ᾿Αλέξανδρος δὲ παρὰ τούτοις ὁ Μακεδὼν ἐκ τῆς Συρίας ἀναστήσας, ἐνταυθοῖ κατώκισεν· οἳ καὶ νῦν ἔτι τῇ πατρῴῳ φωνῇ κέχρηνται. Μέλανες οὖν εἰσι δεινῶς ἅπαντες, ὀξείας αὐτοῖς τῆς ἀκτῖνος τοῦ ἡλίου καθαπτομένης. Παρὰ τούτοις ἤ τε ξυλοκασσία μάλιστα γίνεται, καὶ ἡ κασσία, καὶ τὸ κάσσαμον, καὶ τὸ κιννάμωμον, καὶ δὴ καὶ ἐλεφάντων πλῆθος. Πρὸς μὲν τούτους ὁ Θεόφιλος οὐκ ἀφίκετο· τοῖς Αὐξουμίταις δὲ παραγεγονὼς, καὶ τὰ ἐκεῖσε καταστησάμενος, τῆς ἐπὶ Ῥωμαίους άνακομιδῆς εἶχετο. Πολλῆς δὲ τῆς τιμῆς παρὰ τοῦ βασιλέως μετὰ τὴν ἐπάνοδον ἀξιωθεὶς, πόλιν μὲν ἰδίαν ἐφορᾶν οὐκ ἐκληρώσατο· κοινὸν δ᾽ ὥσπερ ἄγαλμα ἀρετὴν τοῖς ὁμοδόξοις ἐβλέπετο.

Ek de tautēs tēs megalēs ᾿Arabias, eis tous Auxoumitas kaloumenous apairei Aithiopas, hoi kata tas prōtas ochthas katōkēntai tēs Erythras thalassēs, hēn ho tautę̄ ōkeanos eiskolpizomenos ergazetai pasan; hē mentoi Erythra epi pleiston mēkynomenē eis dyo tinas apomerizetai kolpous; kai to men autēs ep᾿ Aigyptou chōrei Klysma kath' ho teleutą to epōnymon pheron hou palai kai to Israēlitikon pheugontes tous Aigyptious, abrochǭ to rheithron dieperaiōthēsan podi. To de heteron meros epi Palaistinēs erchetai kata polin ᾿Aeila ek palaiou kaloumenēn. Alla gar tautēs tēs Erythras thalassēs en aristerǭ tēs exōthen Auxoumitai katechousin, apo tēs mētropoleōs houtō klēthentes. Auxoumis gar autois hē mētropolis. Proteros de toutōn tōn Auxoumitōn epi ton exōtatō pros anatolas kathēkontes ōkeanon paroikousin hoi Syroi, tautēn tēn klēsin kai para tois ekeise pherontes. ᾿Alexandros de para toutois ho Makedōn ek tēs Syrias anastēsas, entauthoi katōkisen; hoi kai nyn eti tę̄ patrǭǭ phōnę̄ kechrēntai. Melanes oun eisi deinōs hapantes, oxeias autois tēs aktinos tou hēliou kathaptomenēs. Para toutois ē te xylokassia malista ginetai, kai hē kassia, kai to kassamon, kai to kinnamōmon, kai dē kai elephantōn plēthos. Pros men toutous ho Theophilos ouk aphiketo; tois Auxoumitais de paragegonōs, kai ta ekeise katastēsamenos, tēs epi Rhōmaious anakomidēs eicheto. Pollēs de tēs timēs para tou basileōs meta tēn epanodon axiōtheis, polin men idian ephoran ouk eklērōsato; koinon d᾽ hōsper agalma aretēn tois homodoxois eblepeto.

From this Great Arabia he set off to the Ethiopians called Auxumites, who live on the first shores of the Red Sea, which the ocean here forms entirely by entering as a gulf. The Red Sea, extending a very great length, divides into two gulfs. One part of it goes toward Egypt, and where it ends it bears the name Clysma; there long ago the Israelites too, fleeing the Egyptians, crossed the stream on dry foot. The other part comes toward Palestine, by the city called from of old Aila. On the left of this Red Sea, on the outer side, are the Auxumites, so called from their capital, for Auxumis is their capital. Beyond these Auxumites, reaching to the farthest ocean eastward, live the Syrians, who bear this name among the people there as well. Alexander of Macedon removed them from Syria and settled them there, and they still use their ancestral language. They are all exceedingly black, since the rays of the sun strike them fiercely. Among them grow especially wood-cassia, cassia, cassamum and cinnamon, and there is also a multitude of elephants. Theophilus did not go to these; but having come to the Auxumites and set things in order there, he set out on his return to the Romans. After his return he was thought worthy of much honour by the emperor. He was not allotted a city of his own to oversee, but was regarded by those of like belief as a kind of common image of virtue.

Exod 14:22 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Theophilus goes on to the Auxumites of Ethiopia; a description of the Red Sea and of the Syrians beyond them, and of his honoured return.

  • The crossing at Clysma alludes to Exod 14:21–29.
  • Lemmata of Valesius's notes on 3.5 and 3.6 had leaked into the text; they are removed.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR lost the first letters; lemmata of Valesius's notes leaked into the text; word split by OCR): τῆς Ἐρυθρᾶς Καὶ γὰρ καθεζόμενοι. ἀπαρατρόπως. Εἰς τοὺς Αὐξουμίτας. θαλάσσης → τῆς Ἐρυθρᾶς θαλάσσης; ἡ τρόπολις → ἡ μητρόπολις; κέχρην. ται → κέχρηνται.

Cite (SBL): Philostorgius, Hist. eccl. 3.6 (PG 65:485; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/philostorgius-historia/3-6). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Valesius's text of Photius's epitome as printed in PG 65; every section compared afterwards with Walford's English (Bohn, 1855).

3.7PG 65:489

Ὅτι ἐπὶ τῷ στόματι τῆς Περσικῆς θαλάσσης, ἣν ὁ ταύτῃ ὠκεανὸς εἰσέχων ἀποτελεῖ, μεγίστην τε οὖσαν, καὶ ἔθνη κύκλῳ πολλά περιβαλλομένην, ἄλλοι τε μέγιστοι ποταμοὶ, καὶ ὁ Τίγρις τοῖς ῥείθροις βάλλει, ὃς πρὸς Ἀπηλιώτην καὶ κάτωθεν τῆς Ὑρκανίας θαλάσσης, ἐν Κορδιαίοις μὲν τὰς ἐμφανεῖς ἀναδόσεις λαμβάνει παρὰ τὴν Συρίαν ἑλκόμενος. Ἐπεὶ ἂν γένοιτο κατὰ τὴν Σουσίδα γῆν, ἐνταῦθα τοῦ Εὐφράτου τὸ ῥεῖθρον αὐτῷ μιγνύντος, μέγας ἤδη τοῖς χεύμασι χωρήσας πρόεισι παφλάζων· ὅθεν αὐτόν φασι καὶ τοῦ θηρίου τοῦ τίγρητος λαβεῖν τὸ ἐπώνυμον. Πρὶν ἢ δ᾽ ἐπὶ θάλατταν καταβαίνει, σχίζεται εἰς δύο μεγάλους ποταμούς· ἔπειτα δυσὶ τοῖς ἐσχάτοις στόμασιν ἀλλήλων διειργομένοις, εἰς τὴν Περσικὴν θάλατταν ποιεῖται τὰς ἐκβολὰς, γῆν ἐν μέσῳ πλείστην περιτεμνόμενος, καὶ νῆσον αὐτὴν ποιῶν, ποταμίαν τε ἅμα καὶ θαλαττίαν, ἣν ἔθνος ἐνοικεῖ τῶν Μεσηνῶν ἐπικαλούμενον.

Hoti epi tǭ stomati tēs Persikēs thalassēs, hēn ho tautę̄ ōkeanos eisechōn apotelei, megistēn te ousan, kai ethnē kyklǭ polla periballomenēn, alloi te megistoi potamoi, kai ho Tigris tois rheithrois ballei, hos pros Apēliōtēn kai katōthen tēs Hyrkanias thalassēs, en Kordiaiois men tas emphaneis anadoseis lambanei para tēn Syrian helkomenos. Epei an genoito kata tēn Sousida gēn, entautha tou Euphratou to rheithron autǭ mignyntos, megas ēdē tois cheumasi chōrēsas proeisi paphlazōn; hothen auton phasi kai tou thēriou tou tigrētos labein to epōnymon. Prin ē d᾽ epi thalattan katabainei, schizetai eis dyo megalous potamous; epeita dysi tois eschatois stomasin allēlōn dieirgomenois, eis tēn Persikēn thalattan poieitai tas ekbolas, gēn en mesǭ pleistēn peritemnomenos, kai nēson autēn poiōn, potamian te hama kai thalattian, hēn ethnos enoikei tōn Mesēnōn epikaloumenon.

That into the mouth of the Persian Sea, which the ocean forms by entering there (it is very large and is encircled by many nations), other very great rivers and the Tigris discharge their streams. The Tigris, toward the east wind and below the Hyrcanian Sea, takes its visible sources among the Cordiaeans, and is drawn along beside Syria. When it comes to the land of Susa, where the Euphrates mixes its stream with it, it goes on, now great with its waters, foaming; for this reason, they say, it took its name from the beast, the tiger. Before it goes down to the sea it splits into two great rivers; then, with its two outermost mouths kept apart from each other, it empties into the Persian Sea, cutting off a very large stretch of land in between and making it an island, bounded by river and sea at once, which is inhabited by a nation called the Mesenians.

Notes and citation

Summary: Philostorgius's description of the course of the Tigris to the Persian Gulf.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR lost the first letters): τοῦ φράτου → τοῦ Εὐφράτου.

Cite (SBL): Philostorgius, Hist. eccl. 3.7 (PG 65:489; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/philostorgius-historia/3-7). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Valesius's text of Photius's epitome as printed in PG 65; every section compared afterwards with Walford's English (Bohn, 1855).

3.8PG 65:489

Ὁ δὲ Εὐφράτης ποταμὸς ἐξ ᾿Αρμενίων κατὰ τὸ προφανὲς ἀνατέλλει, ἔνθα τὸ ὄρος ἐστὶ τὸ Ἀραράτ, ἔτι καὶ πρὸς Αρμενίων οὕτω καλούμενον, ἐφ᾿ οὗ καὶ τὴν κιβωτὸν ἱδρυθῆναί φησιν ἡ Γραφή· ἧς ἄχρι καὶ νῦν εἶναί φασιν οὐ μικρὰ λείψανα τῶν τε ξύλων καὶ τῶν ἥλων ἐκεῖσε σωζόμενα. Ἐντεῦθεν καὶ ὁ Εὐφράτης ὀλίγος τὰ πρῶτα ῥυεὶς, προβαίνων ἀεὶ γίνεται μείζων, πλείστους ἐμβάλλοντας αὐτῷ ποταμοὺς εἰς τὴν ἑαυτοῦ προσηγορίαν συνεφελκόμενος. Τὴν ᾿Αρμενίαν δὲ, τήν τε μεγάλην καὶ τὴν μικρὰν διελθὼν, ἔπειτα πρόεισι, τέμνων μὲν πρότερον τὴν Συρίαν τὴν ἰδίως Εὐφρατησίαν καλουμένην· ἔπειτα μέντοι καὶ τὴν ἄλλην διαμειψάμενος, καὶ ἕλικα διασπῶν ὧν δίεισι ποικιλωτάτην κλασθεὶς, ὁπηνίκα τῇ ᾿Αραβίᾳ πελάσει, ἐνταῦθα δὴ κυκλοτερῶς κατ᾿ ἀντικρὺ τῆς Ἐρυθρᾶς θαλάσσης παρενεχθεὶς, καὶ χώραν οὐκ ὀλίγην ἐγκολπωσάμενος, ἔπειτα πρὸς Καικείαν ἄνεμον ἐπιστρέφει τὸ ῥεῖθρον, ὅπερ οὖν βορέου τε καὶ ἀπηλιώτου μέσος ἕστηκε. πρὸς Τίγρητα ποταμὸν ὁρμήσας, οὐχ οἷός τέ ἐστιν αὐτῷ ὅλως συμμίξαι, ἀλλὰ μοίραις τισὶν ἐν τῷ διὰ μέσου παραναλούμενος, τῇ ὑπολειπομένῃ μεγίστῃ τε οὔσῃ, καὶ ναυτῶν ἀνασχέσθαι δυνατωτάτῃ, τῷ Τίγρητι κατὰ Σούσας μάλιστα συμπίπτει. Καὶ δὴ τῆς ἑαυτοῦ προσηγορίας ἀποπαυσάμενος, σὺν ἐκείνῳ πρὸς τὸν Περσικὸν κατασύρεται κόλπον. Καὶ τὸ μεταξὺ τῶν δύο ποταμῶν τούτων, τοῦ τε Τίγρητος καὶ τοῦ Εὐφράτου, Μεσοποταμία τυγχάνει προσαγορευόμενον.

Ho de Euphratēs potamos ex ᾿Armeniōn kata to prophanes anatellei, entha to oros esti to Ararat, eti kai pros Armeniōn houtō kaloumenon, eph᾿ hou kai tēn kibōton hidrythēnai phēsin hē Graphē; hēs achri kai nyn einai phasin ou mikra leipsana tōn te xylōn kai tōn hēlōn ekeise sōzomena. Enteuthen kai ho Euphratēs oligos ta prōta rhyeis, probainōn aei ginetai meizōn, pleistous emballontas autǭ potamous eis tēn heautou prosēgorian synephelkomenos. Tēn ᾿Armenian de, tēn te megalēn kai tēn mikran dielthōn, epeita proeisi, temnōn men proteron tēn Syrian tēn idiōs Euphratēsian kaloumenēn; epeita mentoi kai tēn allēn diameipsamenos, kai helika diaspōn hōn dieisi poikilōtatēn klastheis, hopēnika tę̄ ᾿Arabią pelasei, entautha dē kykloterōs kat᾿ antikry tēs Erythras thalassēs parenechtheis, kai chōran ouk oligēn enkolpōsamenos, epeita pros Kaikeian anemon epistrephei to rheithron, hoper oun boreou te kai apēliōtou mesos hestēke. pros Tigrēta potamon hormēsas, ouch hoios te estin autǭ holōs symmixai, alla moirais tisin en tǭ dia mesou paranaloumenos, tę̄ hypoleipomenę̄ megistę̄ te ousę̄, kai nautōn anaschesthai dynatōtatę̄, tǭ Tigrēti kata Sousas malista sympiptei. Kai dē tēs heautou prosēgorias apopausamenos, syn ekeinǭ pros ton Persikon katasyretai kolpon. Kai to metaxy tōn dyo potamōn toutōn, tou te Tigrētos kai tou Euphratou, Mesopotamia tynchanei prosagoreuomenon.

The river Euphrates evidently rises among the Armenians, where Mount Ararat is, still so called by the Armenians, on which Scripture says the ark came to rest; and they say that not a few remains of it, of both the timbers and the nails, are preserved there even now. From there the Euphrates, flowing small at first, grows ever larger as it goes on, drawing into its own name very many rivers that fall into it. Having passed through Armenia, both Greater and Lesser, it then goes on, first cutting through the part of Syria properly called Euphratesia; then, crossing the rest of Syria too and winding in a most intricate spiral through the regions it passes, when it draws near to Arabia it is carried round in a circle there, opposite the Red Sea, and, enclosing a good deal of land, it then turns its stream toward the wind Caecias, which stands midway between the north wind and the east wind. Rushing toward the river Tigris, it cannot mingle with it entirely, but spends some portions of itself in the land between, and with the remainder, which is very large and well able to carry ships, it meets the Tigris, chiefly near Susa. Then, ceasing to bear its own name, it is swept along with the Tigris into the Persian Gulf. The land between these two rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates, is called Mesopotamia.

Gen 8:4 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Philostorgius traces the Euphrates from Mount Ararat, where the ark rested, to its junction with the Tigris.

  • The ark on Ararat: Gen 8:4.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR lost the first letters of the name; OCR lost two letters): τὸ ὄρος ἐστὶ τὸ ρὰτ → τὸ ὄρος ἐστὶ τὸ Ἀραράτ; τὴν κρὰν → τὴν μικρὰν; τὸ ταξὺ → τὸ μεταξὺ.

Cite (SBL): Philostorgius, Hist. eccl. 3.8 (PG 65:489; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/philostorgius-historia/3-8). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Valesius's text of Photius's epitome as printed in PG 65; every section compared afterwards with Walford's English (Bohn, 1855).