Church History 1.34–2.9
Greek text: PG 67 (OCR text layer from the Bavarian State Library, cleaned for this site).English: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), public domain (CC0). Compare: Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 2 (1890).
Chapter 1
1.34PG 67:167–169
Νικητής Κωνσταντῖνος, Μέγιστος, Σεβαστὸς, τοῖς ἐν Τύρῳ συνελθοῦσιν ἐπισκόποις. Ἐγὼ μὲν ἀγνοῶ ἐ, τίνα ἐστὶ τὰ ὑπὸ τῆς ὑμετέρας συνόδου μετὰ θορύβου καὶ χειμῶνος κριθέντα. Δοκεῖ δὲ πως ὑπό τινος ταραχώδους ἀταξίας ἡ ἀλήθεια διεστράφθαι, ὑμῶν δηλαδὴ διὰ τὴν πρὸς τὸν πλησίον ἐρεσχελίαν, ἣν ἀήττητον εἶναι βούλεσθε, τὰ τῷ Θεῷ ἀρέσκοντα μὴ συνορώντων. ᾿Αλλ' ἔσται τῆς θείας Προνοίας ἔργον, καὶ τὰ τῆς φιλονεικίας ταύτης κακὰ φανερῶς ἀλόντα διασκεδάσαι· καὶ ἡμῖν διαῤῥήδην, εἴ τινα τῆς ἀληθείας αὐτοὶ οἱ συνελθόντες ἐποιήσασες 3 φροντίδα, καὶ εἰ τὰ κεκριμένα χωρίς τινος χάριτος καὶ ἀπεχθείας ἐκρίνατε, φανερῶσαι. Τοιγαροῦν ἠπειγμένως πάντας ὑμᾶς πρὸς τὴν ἐμὴν εὐσέβειαν ἀνελθεῖν δεῖ, ἵνα τὴν τῶν πεπραγμένων ὑμῖν ἀκρίβειαν δι᾽ ὑμῶν αὐτῶν παραστήσητε. Τίνος δὲ ἕνεκεν ταῦτα γράψαι πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἐδικαίωσα, καὶ ὑμᾶς πρὸς ἐμαυτὸν διὰ τοῦ γράμματος καλῶ, ἐκ τῶν ἑπομένων γνώσεσθε. Ἐπιβαίνοντί μοι λοιπὸν τῆς ἐπωνύμου ἡμῶν καὶ πανευδαίμονος πατρίδος, τῆς Κωνσταντίνου πόλεως· συνέβαινε δὲ τηνικαῦτα ἐφ᾽ ἴππου με ὀχεῖσθαι· ἐξαίφνης ᾿Αθανάσιος ὁ ἐπίσκοπος ἐν μέσῳ τῆς λεωφόρου, μετὰ ἱερῶν τινων, οὓς περὶ αὐτὸν εἶχεν, ἀπροσδοκήτως οὕτω προσῆλθεν, ὡς καὶ παρασχεῖν ἐκπλήξεως ἀφορμήν. Μαρτυρεῖ γάρ μοι ὁ πάντων ἔφορος Θεὸς, ὡς οὐδὲ ἐπιγνῶναι αὐτὸν ὅστις ἦν παρά τὴν πρώτην ὄψιν ἐδυνήθην, εἰ μὴ τῶν ἡμετέρων τινὲς, καὶ ὅστις ἦν, καὶ τὴν ἀδικίαν ἣν πέπονθε, διηγήσασθαι, πυνθανομένοις, ὥσπερ εἰκὸς, ἀνήγγειλαν ἡμῖν. Ἐγὼ μὲν οὖν οὔτε διελέχθην αὐτῷ κατ᾿ ἐκεῖνο καιροῦ, οὔτε ὁμιλίας ἐκοινώνησα. Ὡς δὲ ἐκεῖνος μὲν ἀκουσθῆναι ἠξίου, ἐγὼ δὲ παρῃτούμην, καὶ μικροῦ δεῖν ἀπελαύνειν αὐτὸν ἐκέλευον, μετὰ πλείονος παρῥησίας, οὐδὲν ἔτερον παρ' ἡμῶν ἢ τὴν ὑμετέραν ἄφιξιν ἠξίωσεν ὑπάρξαι, ἵνα ὑμῶν παρόντων, ἃ πέπονθεν ἀναγκαίως ἀποδύρασθαι δυνηθῇ. Ὅθεν ἐπειδὴ εὔλογόν μοι εἶναι φαίνεται, καὶ τοῖς καιροῖς πρέπον καταφαίνεται, ἀσμένως ταῦτα γραφῆναι πρὸς ὑμᾶς προσέταξα, ἵνα πάντες ὅσοι τὴν σύνοδον τὴν ἐν Τύρῳ γενομένην ἀνεπληρώσατε, ἀνυπερθέτως εἰς τὸ στρατόπεδον τῆς ἡμετέρας εὐσεβείας ἐπειχθῆτε, τοῖς ἔργοις αὐτοῖς ἐπιδείξοντες τὸ τῆς ὑμετέρας κρίσεως καθαρόν τε καὶ ἀδιάστροφον, ἐπ᾿ ἐμοῦ δηλαδὴ, ὃν τοῦ Θεοῦ γνήσιον εἶναι θεράποντα οὐδ᾽ ἂν ὑμεῖς ἀρνηθείητε. Τοιγαροῦν διὰ τῆς ἐμῆς πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν λατρείας η τὰ πανταχοῦ εἰρηνεύεται, καὶ ὑπὸ τῶν Βαρβάρων αὐτῶν τὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ ὄνομα γνησίως εύλογούμενον, οἱ μέχρι νῦν τὴν ἀλήθειαν ἠγνόουν. Δῆλον δὲ ὅτι ὁ τὴν ἀλήθειαν ἀγνοῶν, οὐδὲ τὸν Θεὸν ἐπιγινώσκει. Πλὴν ὅμως, καθὰ προείρηται, καὶ οἱ βάρβαροι δι᾽ ἐμὲ τὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ θεράποντα γνήσιον, ἐπέγνωσαν τὸν Θεὸν, καὶ εὐλαβεῖσθαι μεμαθήκασιν, ὃν ὑπερασπίζειν μου πανταχοῦ καὶ προνοεῖσθαι, τοῖς ἔργοις αὐτοῖς ᾔσθοντο· ὅθεν μάλιστα καὶ ἴσασι τὸν Θεὸν, ὃν ἐκεῖνοι μὲν διὰ τὸν πρὸς ἡμᾶς φόβον εὐλαβοῦνται. Ἡμεῖς δὲ οἱ τὰ ἄγια μυστήρια τῆς Ἐκκλησίας αὐτοῦ δοκοῦντες προβάλλεσθαι· οὐ γὰρ εἴποιμι φυλάττειν· ἡμεῖς, φημὶ, οὐδὲν πράττομεν, ἢ τὰ πρὸς διχόνοιαν καὶ μίσος συντείνοντα, καὶ ἁπλῶς εἰπεῖν, τὰ πρὸς ὅλεθρον τοῦ ἀνθρωπίνου γένους συντείνοντα. Ἀλλ᾿ ἐπείχθητε, καθὰ προεῖπον, πρὸς ἡμᾶς πάντες ᾗ τάχος· πεπεισμένοι, ὡς παντὶ σθένει κατορθῶσαι πειρασόμεθα, ὅπως ἐν τῷ νόμῳ τοῦ Θεοῦ ταῦτα ἐξαιρέτως ἀδιάπτωτα φυλάττηται, οἷς οὔτε ψόγος, οὔτε κακοδοξία τις δυνήσεται προσπλακῆναι, διασκεδασθέντων δηλαδὴ καὶ συντριβέντων ἄρδην, καὶ παντελῶς ἀφανισθέντων τῶν ἐχθρῶν τοῦ νόμου, οἵτινες ἐπὶ προσχήματι τοῦ ἁγίου ὀνόματος, ποικίλας καὶ διαφόρους βλασφημίας ἐμβάλλουσιν.
Nikētēs Kōnstantinos, Megistos, Sebastos, tois en Tyrǭ synelthousin episkopois. Egō men agnoō e, tina esti ta hypo tēs hymeteras synodou meta thorybou kai cheimōnos krithenta. Dokei de pōs hypo tinos tarachōdous ataxias hē alētheia diestraphthai, hymōn dēladē dia tēn pros ton plēsion ereschelian, hēn aēttēton einai boulesthe, ta tǭ Theǭ areskonta mē synorōntōn. ᾿All' estai tēs theias Pronoias ergon, kai ta tēs philoneikias tautēs kaka phanerōs alonta diaskedasai; kai hēmin diarrhēdēn, ei tina tēs alētheias autoi hoi synelthontes epoiēsases 3 phrontida, kai ei ta kekrimena chōris tinos charitos kai apechtheias ekrinate, phanerōsai. Toigaroun ēpeigmenōs pantas hymas pros tēn emēn eusebeian anelthein dei, hina tēn tōn pepragmenōn hymin akribeian di᾽ hymōn autōn parastēsēte. Tinos de heneken tauta grapsai pros hymas edikaiōsa, kai hymas pros emauton dia tou grammatos kalō, ek tōn hepomenōn gnōsesthe. Epibainonti moi loipon tēs epōnymou hēmōn kai paneudaimonos patridos, tēs Kōnstantinou poleōs; synebaine de tēnikauta eph᾽ ippou me ocheisthai; exaiphnēs ᾿Athanasios ho episkopos en mesǭ tēs leōphorou, meta hierōn tinōn, hous peri auton eichen, aprosdokētōs houtō prosēlthen, hōs kai paraschein ekplēxeōs aphormēn. Martyrei gar moi ho pantōn ephoros Theos, hōs oude epignōnai auton hostis ēn para tēn prōtēn opsin edynēthēn, ei mē tōn hēmeterōn tines, kai hostis ēn, kai tēn adikian hēn peponthe, diēgēsasthai, pynthanomenois, hōsper eikos, anēngeilan hēmin. Egō men oun oute dielechthēn autǭ kat᾿ ekeino kairou, oute homilias ekoinōnēsa. Hōs de ekeinos men akousthēnai ēxiou, egō de parę̄toumēn, kai mikrou dein apelaunein auton ekeleuon, meta pleionos parrhēsias, ouden eteron par' hēmōn ē tēn hymeteran aphixin ēxiōsen hyparxai, hina hymōn parontōn, ha peponthen anankaiōs apodyrasthai dynēthę̄. Hothen epeidē eulogon moi einai phainetai, kai tois kairois prepon kataphainetai, asmenōs tauta graphēnai pros hymas prosetaxa, hina pantes hosoi tēn synodon tēn en Tyrǭ genomenēn aneplērōsate, anyperthetōs eis to stratopedon tēs hēmeteras eusebeias epeichthēte, tois ergois autois epideixontes to tēs hymeteras kriseōs katharon te kai adiastrophon, ep᾿ emou dēladē, hon tou Theou gnēsion einai theraponta oud᾽ an hymeis arnētheiēte. Toigaroun dia tēs emēs pros ton Theon latreias ē ta pantachou eirēneuetai, kai hypo tōn Barbarōn autōn to tou Theou onoma gnēsiōs eulogoumenon, hoi mechri nyn tēn alētheian ēgnooun. Dēlon de hoti ho tēn alētheian agnoōn, oude ton Theon epiginōskei. Plēn homōs, katha proeirētai, kai hoi barbaroi di᾽ eme ton tou Theou theraponta gnēsion, epegnōsan ton Theon, kai eulabeisthai memathēkasin, hon hyperaspizein mou pantachou kai pronoeisthai, tois ergois autois ę̄sthonto; hothen malista kai isasi ton Theon, hon ekeinoi men dia ton pros hēmas phobon eulabountai. Hēmeis de hoi ta agia mystēria tēs Ekklēsias autou dokountes proballesthai; ou gar eipoimi phylattein; hēmeis, phēmi, ouden prattomen, ē ta pros dichonoian kai misos synteinonta, kai haplōs eipein, ta pros holethron tou anthrōpinou genous synteinonta. All᾿ epeichthēte, katha proeipon, pros hēmas pantes hę̄ tachos; pepeismenoi, hōs panti sthenei katorthōsai peirasometha, hopōs en tǭ nomǭ tou Theou tauta exairetōs adiaptōta phylattētai, hois oute psogos, oute kakodoxia tis dynēsetai prosplakēnai, diaskedasthentōn dēladē kai syntribentōn ardēn, kai pantelōs aphanisthentōn tōn echthrōn tou nomou, hoitines epi proschēmati tou hagiou onomatos, poikilas kai diaphorous blasphēmias emballousin.
“Victor Constantine, Maximus, Augustus, to the bishops assembled at Tyre. I do not know what was decided by your synod amid tumult and storm. But it seems that the truth has somehow been perverted by some disorderly confusion, because you, in your wrangling with your neighbour, which you wish to be invincible, do not see what is pleasing to God. But it will be the work of divine providence to scatter the evils of this contentiousness, once they are plainly detected, and to make clear to us whether you who assembled had any regard for the truth, and whether you made your decisions without favour or enmity. Therefore all of you must come with speed to my piety, so that you may yourselves give an exact account of what you have done. Why I have thought it right to write this to you and summon you to me by this letter you will learn from what follows. As I was entering our namesake and most happy homeland, the city of Constantinople (I happened then to be riding on horseback), suddenly the bishop Athanasius, with some clergy he had with him, approached me in the middle of the road so unexpectedly that he gave cause for astonishment. For God, who oversees all, is my witness that I could not even recognize who he was at first sight, until some of our attendants, when we asked, as was natural, told us who he was and the injustice he had suffered. I did not converse with him at that time, nor did I have any conversation with him. When he asked to be heard and I refused and all but ordered him to be driven away, he asked with greater boldness nothing else from us than that you should come, so that in your presence he might be able to lament what he had necessarily suffered. Since this seems reasonable to me and appears suited to the times, I gladly ordered this to be written to you, so that all of you who made up the synod at Tyre should hasten without delay to the court of our piety, to show by your deeds the purity and integrity of your judgment, in my presence, that is, whom even you would not deny to be a true servant of God. For through my worship of God everything everywhere is at peace, and the name of God is truly blessed even by the barbarians, who until now were ignorant of the truth. And it is clear that he who is ignorant of the truth does not know God either. Nevertheless, as I said before, even the barbarians, through me, the true servant of God, have come to know God and have learned to reverence him, whom they have perceived by deeds themselves to protect me everywhere and to provide for me; and so they know God above all, whom they reverence out of fear of us. But we, who seem to set forth (for I would not say guard) the holy mysteries of his church, we, I say, do nothing but what tends to dissension and hatred, and, to put it simply, to the destruction of the human race. But hasten to us, as I said, all of you, as quickly as possible, being convinced that we will try with all our strength to ensure that in the law of God those things above all are kept without fault, to which no blame or wrong belief can attach itself, the enemies of the law being scattered and utterly crushed and wholly destroyed, who under the pretext of the holy name introduce various and diverse blasphemies.”
Notes and citation
Summary: Constantine’s letter summons the bishops of Tyre to Constantinople after Athanasius met him in the road and asked for a hearing in their presence.
- Constantine’s letter to the synod of Tyre is quoted in full; it is also preserved by Athanasius, Defence against the Arians 86.
Extrabiblical texts: Athanasius, Apol. sec. 86 (Defence against the Arians; quotation)
Topics: Church office
Cite (SBL): Socrates, Hist. eccl. 1.34 (PG 67:167–169; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/socrates-historia/1-34). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/socrates-historia/1-34
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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Valesius's Greek text as printed in Migne PG 67 (Bavarian State Library OCR and Tesseract re-OCR); every chapter compared afterwards with Zenos's English in NPNF² 2.
1.35PG 67:169–171
Ταῦτα τὰ γράμματα · εἰς ἀγῶνα τοὺς ἐν τῇ συνὀδῳ κατέστησε. Καθὸ οἱ μὲν πλείους ἐπὶ τὰς ἑαυτῶν ἐχώρησαν πόλεις. Οἱ δὲ περὶ Εὐσέβιον καὶ Θέογνιν καὶ Μάριν, Πατρόφιλόν τε καὶ Οὐρσάκιον καὶ Οὐαλέντα, εἰς τὴν Κωνσταντίνου πόλιν ἐλθόντες, οὐκέτι περὶ ποτηρίου κατεαγότος ἢ τραπέζης ἢ Αρσενίου ἀναιρεθέντος ζήτησιν γενέσθαι συνεχώρησαν· ἀλλ᾿ ἐπὶ ἑτέραν χωροῦσι διαβολὴν, διδάξαντες τὸν βασιλέα, ὡς εἴη ᾿Αθανάσιος ἀπειλήσας κωλύσειν πεμφθῆναι τὸν σἴτον, τὸν ἐξ ἔθους ἐκ τῆς ᾿Αλεξανδρείας εἰς τὴν Κωνσταντίνου πόλιν κομιζόμενον · καὶ τούτων λεγομένων παρὰ ᾿Αθανασίου ἀκηκοέναι ᾿Αδαμάντιον, ᾿Ανουβίωνα, ᾿Αρβαθίωνα καὶ Πέτρον τοὺς ἐπισκόπους. ᾿Αλλὰ γὰρ διαβθολὴ, ὅταν ὁ διαβάλ λων ἀξιόπιστος ἧ. Τούτῳ γὰρ συναρπαγεὶς ὁ βασιλεὺς, εἰς θυμὸν ἀχθεὶς, ἐξορίᾳ ὑποθάλλει τὸν ᾿Αθανάσιον τὰς Γαλλίας κελεύσας οἰκεῖν. Φασὶ δέ τινες τοῦτο πεποιηκέναι τὸν βασιλέα, σκοπῷ τοῦ ἐνωθῆνα: τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν, ἐπειδὴ ᾿Αθανάσιος πάντη χοινωνῇσα' τοῖς περὶ Ἄρειον ἐξετρέπετο. ᾿Αλλ᾽ οὗτος μὲν ἐν Τριθέρει τῆς Γαλλίας διήγαγεν.
Tauta ta grammata ; eis agōna tous en tę̄ synodǭ katestēse. Katho hoi men pleious epi tas heautōn echōrēsan poleis. Hoi de peri Eusebion kai Theognin kai Marin, Patrophilon te kai Oursakion kai Oualenta, eis tēn Kōnstantinou polin elthontes, ouketi peri potēriou kateagotos ē trapezēs ē Arseniou anairethentos zētēsin genesthai synechōrēsan; all᾿ epi heteran chōrousi diabolēn, didaxantes ton basilea, hōs eiē ᾿Athanasios apeilēsas kōlysein pemphthēnai ton siton, ton ex ethous ek tēs ᾿Alexandreias eis tēn Kōnstantinou polin komizomenon ; kai toutōn legomenōn para ᾿Athanasiou akēkoenai ᾿Adamantion, ᾿Anoubiōna, ᾿Arbathiōna kai Petron tous episkopous. ᾿Alla gar diabtholē, hotan ho diabal lōn axiopistos hē. Toutǭ gar synarpageis ho basileus, eis thymon achtheis, exorią hypothallei ton ᾿Athanasion tas Gallias keleusas oikein. Phasi de tines touto pepoiēkenai ton basilea, skopǭ tou enōthēna: tēn Ekklēsian, epeidē ᾿Athanasios pantē choinōnę̄sa' tois peri Areion exetrepeto. ᾿All᾽ houtos men en Tritherei tēs Gallias diēgagen.
This letter threw the members of the synod into alarm. Most of them went off to their own cities; but Eusebius, Theognis, Maris, Patrophilus, Ursacius, and Valens went to Constantinople and no longer allowed any inquiry to be made about a broken cup or an overturned table or the murder of Arsenius. Instead they turned to another slander, telling the emperor that Athanasius had threatened to stop the grain that was customarily brought from Alexandria to Constantinople from being sent, and that the bishops Adamantius, Anubion, Arbathion, and Peter had heard Athanasius say this. But slander … when the slanderer is trustworthy. The emperor, carried away by this and roused to anger, sent Athanasius into exile, ordering him to live in the Gauls. Some say the emperor did this with a view to the unity of the church, since Athanasius refused altogether to communicate with Arius and his party. He lived at Treves in Gaul.
Notes and citation
Summary: The Eusebians accuse Athanasius of threatening to stop Alexandria’s grain shipments to Constantinople, and Constantine exiles him to Treves.
- The scan begins this chapter with the end of the editor’s chapter title (“… upon which the emperor, moved, sent Athanasius into exile, ordering him to live in the Gauls”); it is removed by a logged correction.
- A word is lost in the sentence about slander (marked “…”); the sense is that slander prevails when the slanderer is believed.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (end of the chapter title leaked into the text): γούμενον· ἐφ' οἷς κινηθεὶς ὁ βασιλεὺς, εἰς ἐξορίαν ἐξέπεμψε τὸν ᾿Αθανάσιον, κελεύσας τὰς Γαλλίας οἰκεῖν. Ταῦτα → Ταῦτα.
Cite (SBL): Socrates, Hist. eccl. 1.35 (PG 67:169–171; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/socrates-historia/1-35). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/socrates-historia/1-35
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-socrates-historia-1-35) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Valesius's Greek text as printed in Migne PG 67 (Bavarian State Library OCR and Tesseract re-OCR); every chapter compared afterwards with Zenos's English in NPNF² 2.
1.36PG 67:171–173
Οἱ 6$ ἐν Κωνσταντίνου πόλει: συναγθέντες ἐπίσκοποι “δἰ Ἀάρχελλον τὸν ᾿Αγκύρας τῆς ἐν μικρᾷ Γαλατίᾳ καθεῖλον, δι αἰτίαν τοιαύτην" ᾿Αστέριός ἃ τις ἐν Καππαδοκίᾳ σοφιττιχὴν μετιὼν, τὴν μὲν κατέλειπε γριστιανίζειν δὲ ἐπηγγέλλετο. Ἐπεχείρει δὲ λόγους συγγράφειν, οἵ μέχρι νῦν φέρονται, δι᾽ ὧν τὸ ᾿Αρείου συνίστη δόγμα, τὸν Χριστὸν οὕτω λέγων εἶναι Θεοῦ δύναμιν, ὡς εἴρηται παρὰ Μωῦσῇ τὴν ἀχρίδα καὶ τὴν χάμπην δύναμιν εἶναι Θεοῦ, καὶ ἕτερα τούτοις παραπλήσια. Συνῆν δὲ ὁ ᾿Αστέριος συνεχῶς καὶ τοῖς ἐπισχόύποις, τοῖς μάλιστα τὴν ᾿Αρειανῶν δόξαν μὴ ἀθετοῦτι. Καὶ δὴ εἰς τὰς συνόδους ἀπήντα, ὑποδῦναι μιᾶς πόλεως ἐπισκοπὴν προθυμούμενος" ἀλλ' ἱερωσύνης μὲν ἠστόχησε, διὰ τὸ ἐπιτεθυχέναι κατὰ τὸν διωγμόν. Περιϊὼν δὲ τὰς ἐν Συρίᾳ πόλεις, συνέταξε λόγους ἐπεδείκνυτο. Ταῦτα γνοὺς (; ὁ Μάρκελλος ἀντιπράττειν αὐτῷ βουλόμενος, κατὰ διάμετρον πολὺ εἰς τὸ ἐναντίον ἐξέπεσε, ἩΓιλὸν γὰρ ἄνθρωπον ὡς ὁ Σαμοσατεὺς ἐτόλμησεν εἰπεῖν τὸν Χριστόν. Ταῦτα γνόντες οἱ τότε ἐν "Ἱεροσολύμοις συνελθόντες, ᾿Αστερίου μὲν οὐδένα λόγον ἐτίθεντο, ἐπεὶ μηδὲ εἰς τὸν κατάλογον τῶν ἱερέων ἑτέτακτο. Μάρκελλον δὲ ὡς ἱερωμένον, λόγον ἀπήτουν τοῦ συγγραφέντος αὐτῷ βιβλίου. Ὡς δὲ ηὕρισκον αὐτὸν τὰ τοῦ Σαμοσατέως φρονοῦντα, ἐκέλευον αὐτὸν μεταθέσθαι τῆς δόξης. Ὁ δὲ καταισχυνθεὶς, ἐπηγγέλλετο κατακαύσειν τὸ βιβλίον. Ὡς δὲ σπουδῇ διελύθη ὁ τῶν ἐπισκόπων σύλλογος, τοῦ βασιλέως εἰς τὴν Κωνσταντινούπολιν καλοῦντος αὐτοὺς, τότε δὴ τῶν περὶ Εὐσέβιον ἐν τῇ Κωνσταντίνου πόλει παρὄντων, αὖθις τὰ κατὰ Μάρκελλον ἀνεζητεῖτο. Ως δὲ ὁ Μάρκελλος οὐχ ἡρεῖτο κατακαῦσαι καθὰ ὑπέσχετο τὴν ἄκαιρον συγγραφὴν, οἱ παρόντες τὸν μὲν καθεἴλον, Βασίλειον δὲ ἀντ' αὐτοῦ εἰς τὴν ῎Αγκυραν ἔπεμψαν. Ἀλλὰ τοῦτο μὲν τὸ σύγγραμμα Εὐσέβιος ἐν τρισὶ βιβλίοις ἀνέτρεψεν, ἐξελέγξας τὴν κακοδοξίαν αὐτοῦ. Μάρκελλος δὲ ὕστερον ἐν τῇ κατὰ Σαρδικὴν συνόδῳ τὴν ἐπισκοπὴν ἀνέλαβεν, εἰπὼν μὴ νενοῆσθαι αὐτοῦ τὸ σύγγραμμα, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο τοῦ Σαμοσατέως δόξαν λαβεῖν. Περὶ μὲν οὖν τούτου κατὰ χώραν ἐροῦμεν.
Hoi 6$ en Kōnstantinou polei: synagthentes episkopoi “di Aarchellon ton ᾿Ankyras tēs en mikrą Galatią katheilon, di aitian toiautēn" ᾿Asterios ha tis en Kappadokią sophittichēn metiōn, tēn men kateleipe gristianizein de epēngelleto. Epecheirei de logous syngraphein, hoi mechri nyn pherontai, di᾽ hōn to ᾿Areiou synistē dogma, ton Christon houtō legōn einai Theou dynamin, hōs eirētai para Mōysę̄ tēn achrida kai tēn champēn dynamin einai Theou, kai hetera toutois paraplēsia. Synēn de ho ᾿Asterios synechōs kai tois epischoupois, tois malista tēn ᾿Areianōn doxan mē athetouti. Kai dē eis tas synodous apēnta, hypodynai mias poleōs episkopēn prothymoumenos" all' hierōsynēs men ēstochēse, dia to epitethychenai kata ton diōgmon. Periïōn de tas en Syrią poleis, synetaxe logous epedeiknyto. Tauta gnous (? ho Markellos antiprattein autǭ boulomenos, kata diametron poly eis to enantion exepese, HēGilon gar anthrōpon hōs ho Samosateus etolmēsen eipein ton Christon. Tauta gnontes hoi tote en "Hierosolymois synelthontes, ᾿Asteriou men oudena logon etithento, epei mēde eis ton katalogon tōn hiereōn hetetakto. Markellon de hōs hierōmenon, logon apētoun tou syngraphentos autǭ bibliou. Hōs de hēuriskon auton ta tou Samosateōs phronounta, ekeleuon auton metathesthai tēs doxēs. Ho de kataischyntheis, epēngelleto katakausein to biblion. Hōs de spoudę̄ dielythē ho tōn episkopōn syllogos, tou basileōs eis tēn Kōnstantinoupolin kalountos autous, tote dē tōn peri Eusebion en tę̄ Kōnstantinou polei parontōn, authis ta kata Markellon anezēteito. Ōs de ho Markellos ouch hēreito katakausai katha hypescheto tēn akairon syngraphēn, hoi parontes ton men katheilon, Basileion de ant' autou eis tēn ᾿Ankyran epempsan. Alla touto men to syngramma Eusebios en trisi bibliois anetrepsen, exelenxas tēn kakodoxian autou. Markellos de hysteron en tę̄ kata Sardikēn synodǭ tēn episkopēn anelaben, eipōn mē nenoēsthai autou to syngramma, kai dia touto tou Samosateōs doxan labein. Peri men oun toutou kata chōran eroumen.
The bishops assembled at Constantinople also deposed Marcellus, bishop of Ancyra in Galatia Minor, for the following reason. A certain Asterius in Cappadocia, who practised sophistry, gave it up and professed to become a Christian. He undertook to write discourses, which are still in circulation, in which he upheld Arius’s doctrine, saying that Christ is the power of God in the same sense in which Moses says that the locust and the caterpillar are a power of God, and other things like these. Asterius was constantly in the company of the bishops, especially those who did not reject the Arian opinion. He attended the synods, eager to obtain the bishopric of some city; but he failed to gain the priesthood because he had sacrificed in the persecution. Going round the cities of Syria, he delivered the discourses he had composed. Learning this, Marcellus, wishing to oppose him, fell far into the diametrically opposite error; for he dared to say, as the Samosatene had, that Christ was a mere man. When those who had then met at Jerusalem learned this, they took no account of Asterius, since he was not enrolled in the list of priests; but of Marcellus, as one in holy orders, they demanded an account of the book he had written. When they found that he held the views of the Samosatene, they ordered him to change his opinion. Ashamed, he promised to burn the book. But since the assembly of bishops broke up in haste, the emperor summoning them to Constantinople, the case of Marcellus was taken up again there when Eusebius and his party were present in Constantinople. When Marcellus would not burn his ill-timed writing as he had promised, those present deposed him and sent Basil to Ancyra in his place. Eusebius refuted this treatise in three books, exposing its wrong belief. Marcellus later recovered his bishopric at the synod of Sardica, saying that his treatise had been misunderstood and had for this reason been thought to hold the opinion of the Samosatene. Of this we shall speak in its place.
Joel 2:25 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Cor 1:24 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Marcellus of Ancyra, writing against the Arian sophist Asterius, is accused of holding with Paul of Samosata that Christ was a mere man, and is deposed at Constantinople.
- “The locust and the caterpillar … a power of God”: Joel 2:25 (“my great power”).
- “The Samosatene” is Paul of Samosata, bishop of Antioch, deposed ca. 268.
- Eusebius wrote Against Marcellus and Ecclesiastical Theology against him; Socrates’ “three books” may refer to the latter.
- The charges against Marcellus are given as Socrates reports them.
Extrabiblical texts: Eusebius, Marcell. (Against Marcellus; allusion); Eusebius, Eccl. theol. (On Ecclesiastical Theology; allusion)
Topics: Christology, Heresy
Cite (SBL): Socrates, Hist. eccl. 1.36 (PG 67:171–173; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/socrates-historia/1-36). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/socrates-historia/1-36
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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Valesius's Greek text as printed in Migne PG 67 (Bavarian State Library OCR and Tesseract re-OCR); every chapter compared afterwards with Zenos's English in NPNF² 2.
1.37PG 67:173–175
Τριακοστὸν δὲ ἔτος τῆς βασιλείας Κωνσταντίνου τούτων γινομένων ἐπληροῦτο. Καὶ Ἄρειος σὺν τοῖς περὶ αὐτὸν καταλαβὼν τὴν ᾿Αλεξάνδρειαν, αὖθις ὅλην ἐτάραττε, τοῦ ᾿Αλεξανδρέων λαοῦ δυσφοροῦντος, ἐπί τε τῇ Ἀρείου καθόδῳ καὶ τῶν ἀμφ᾽ αὐτὸν, καὶ ὅτι ὁ ἐπίσκοπος αὐτῶν ᾿Αθανάσιος εἰς ἐξορίαν ἀπέσταλτο. Ὡς δὲ ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐπυνθάνετο διεστράφθαι τὴν Ἀρείου γνώμην, μετάπεμπτον αὖθις εἰς τὴν Κωνσταντίνου πόλιν ἥκειν αὐτὸν ἐκέλευσε, λόγον δώσοντα ὧν αὖθις ἀνακινεῖν ἐπεχείρει. Ἐτύγχανε δὲ τότε τῆς ἐν Κωνσταντίνου πόλει προεστὼς ᾿Αλέξανδρος Ἐκκλησίας, Μητροφάνην πάλαι διαδεξάμενος. Τοῦτον τὸν ἄνδρα θεοφιλῆ ὄντα, ἡ πρὸς ῎Αρειον τότε γενομένη μάχη ἀνέδειξεν, ᾽'Ὡς γὰρ ἧκε τότε Ἄρειος, ὁ λαὸς εἰς δύο πάλιν τμήματα ἐμερίζετο, ταραχῇ τε κατὰ τὴν πόλιν ἐγένετο" τῶν μὲν τὴν ἐν Νικαία πίστιν μηδαμῶς παρασαλεύειν λεγόντων " τῶν δὲ, εὔλογα λέγειν τὸν φιλονεικούντων, εἰς ἀγῶνα μέγιστον κατέστη ὁ ᾿Αλέξανδρος " καὶ μάλιστα μὲν, ὅτι Εὐσέβιος ὁ Νικομηδείας πολλὰ διηπείλει αὐτῷ, λέγων ὅσον οὐδέπω χαθαιρήσειν αὑτὸν, εἰ μὴ εἰς κοινωνίαν δέξηται τὸν τοὺς ἀμφ᾽ αὐτόν. ᾿Αλεξάνδρῳ δὲ οὐ τοσοῦτον περὶ καθαιρέσεως ἔμελεν, ὅσον ἐδεδίει ἐπὶ τῇ σπουδαζομένῃ παραλύσει τοῦ δόγματος. Φύλαχα γὰρ ἑαυτὸν τῶν ὅρων τῆς συνὀδου νομίζων, παντοῖος ἐγίνετο μὴ παρατρωθῆναι ποὺς τύπους αὐτῆς. Ἐν ταύτῃ τοίνυν τῇ ἀγωνέχ καθεστὼς, χαίρειν πολλὰ φράσας τῇ διαλεκτικῇ, προσφεύγει Θεῷ " καὶ νηστείαις μὲν συνεχέσιν ἐσχόλαζε, καὶ τοῦ προσεύχεσθαι οὐδένα τρόπον παρέλειπε. Καὶ δὴ τοιοῦτο ἐνθύμιον εἶχε, καὶ λαθὼν ἐπετέλει τὰ δόξαντα. Ἔν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ ἐπώνυμον Εἰρήνη, μόνον ἑαυτὸν κατάκλειστον ποιήσας, καὶ εἰς τὸ θυσιαστῆ - ριον εἰσελθὼν, ὑπὸ τὴν ἱερὰν τράπεζαν ἑαυτὸν ἐπὶ στόμα ἐκτείνας, εὔχεται δακρύων. Νύχτας τὸ πολλὰς ἐφεξῆς ἡμέρας τοῦτο ποιῶν διετέλει. Ἡτεῖτο γὰρ παρὰ Θεοῦ καὶ ἐλάμβανεν. Ἡ δὲ αἴτησις ἣν τοιαύτη εἰ μὲν ἀληθὴς ἡ ᾿Αρείου δόξα, ἑαυτὸν τὴν ὡρισμένην ἡμέραν τῇ συζητήσει μὴ ὄψεσθαι " εἰ δὲ ἣν αὐτὸς ἔχει πίστιν, ἀληθῆς, "“Αρειον τῆς ἀπεθείας δίκην διδόναι, τὸν πάντων αἴτιον τῶν
Triakoston de etos tēs basileias Kōnstantinou toutōn ginomenōn eplērouto. Kai Areios syn tois peri auton katalabōn tēn ᾿Alexandreian, authis holēn etaratte, tou ᾿Alexandreōn laou dysphorountos, epi te tę̄ Areiou kathodǭ kai tōn amph᾽ auton, kai hoti ho episkopos autōn ᾿Athanasios eis exorian apestalto. Hōs de ho basileus epynthaneto diestraphthai tēn Areiou gnōmēn, metapempton authis eis tēn Kōnstantinou polin hēkein auton ekeleuse, logon dōsonta hōn authis anakinein epecheirei. Etynchane de tote tēs en Kōnstantinou polei proestōs ᾿Alexandros Ekklēsias, Mētrophanēn palai diadexamenos. Touton ton andra theophilē onta, hē pros ᾿Areion tote genomenē machē anedeixen, ᾽'Hōs gar hēke tote Areios, ho laos eis dyo palin tmēmata emerizeto, tarachę̄ te kata tēn polin egeneto" tōn men tēn en Nikaia pistin mēdamōs parasaleuein legontōn " tōn de, euloga legein ton philoneikountōn, eis agōna megiston katestē ho ᾿Alexandros " kai malista men, hoti Eusebios ho Nikomēdeias polla diēpeilei autǭ, legōn hoson oudepō chathairēsein hauton, ei mē eis koinōnian dexētai ton tous amph᾽ auton. ᾿Alexandrǭ de ou tosouton peri kathaireseōs emelen, hoson edediei epi tę̄ spoudazomenę̄ paralysei tou dogmatos. Phylacha gar heauton tōn horōn tēs synodou nomizōn, pantoios egineto mē paratrōthēnai pous typous autēs. En tautę̄ toinyn tę̄ agōnech kathestōs, chairein polla phrasas tę̄ dialektikę̄, prospheugei Theǭ " kai nēsteiais men synechesin escholaze, kai tou proseuchesthai oudena tropon pareleipe. Kai dē toiouto enthymion eiche, kai lathōn epetelei ta doxanta. En tę̄ ekklēsią epōnymon Eirēnē, monon heauton katakleiston poiēsas, kai eis to thysiastē - rion eiselthōn, hypo tēn hieran trapezan heauton epi stoma ekteinas, euchetai dakryōn. Nychtas to pollas ephexēs hēmeras touto poiōn dietelei. Hēteito gar para Theou kai elambanen. Hē de aitēsis hēn toiautē ei men alēthēs hē ᾿Areiou doxa, heauton tēn hōrismenēn hēmeran tę̄ syzētēsei mē opsesthai " ei de hēn autos echei pistin, alēthēs, "“Areion tēs apetheias dikēn didonai, ton pantōn aition tōn
While this was happening, the thirtieth year of Constantine’s reign was being completed. Arius with his followers, arriving at Alexandria, again threw the whole city into turmoil, since the people of Alexandria were indignant both at the return of Arius and his party and because their bishop Athanasius had been sent into exile. When the emperor learned that Arius’s mind had become perverse, he ordered him to come to Constantinople again, to give an account of what he was trying to stir up once more. At that time Alexander presided over the church in Constantinople, having succeeded Metrophanes some time before. That this man was dear to God was shown by the struggle that then arose against Arius. When Arius came, the people were again divided into two parties and there was disturbance in the city, some saying that the faith of Nicaea must not be shaken at all, others contending that Arius spoke reasonably. Alexander was placed in the greatest struggle, especially because Eusebius of Nicomedia threatened him much, saying that he would depose him very soon unless he received Arius and his followers into communion. Alexander was not so much concerned about deposition as afraid of the overthrow of the doctrine that was being pursued; for, regarding himself as guardian of the definitions of the synod, he did everything to keep its formulas from being violated. Placed in this struggle, he bade dialectic a long farewell and fled to God: he gave himself to continual fasting and left no form of prayer undone. He conceived a plan of this kind, and carried out his resolve secretly. Shutting himself in alone in the church called Irene, he went into the sanctuary, stretched himself on his face under the holy table, and prayed with tears. He continued to do this for many nights and days in succession. For he made a request of God, and received it. The request was this: if Arius’s opinion was true, that he himself might not see the day appointed for the disputation; but if the faith he held was true, that Arius, the cause of all the …, might pay the penalty for his impiety.
Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.
Notes and citation
Summary: Arius, summoned to Constantinople, is to be received into communion; bishop Alexander of Constantinople prays in the church of Irene that God decide between his faith and Arius’s.
- The last word or words of the chapter are lost in the scan (marked “…”); the sense is “the cause of all the evils”.
Topics: Prayer, Fasting, Heresy
Cite (SBL): Socrates, Hist. eccl. 1.37 (PG 67:173–175; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/socrates-historia/1-37). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/socrates-historia/1-37
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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Valesius's Greek text as printed in Migne PG 67 (Bavarian State Library OCR and Tesseract re-OCR); every chapter compared afterwards with Zenos's English in NPNF² 2.
1.38PG 67:175–177
Τοιαῦτα μὲν οὖν ᾿Αλέξανδρος ηὔχετο. Ὁ βασιλεὺς ὃὲ ἀπόπειραν ᾿Αρείον ποιήσασθαι βουλτθεὶς, ἐπὶ τὰ βασίλεια αὐτὸν μεταπέμπεται, ἠρώτα τε εἰ τοῖς ὅροις στοιχεῖ τῆς ἐν Νικαίᾳ συνόδου. Ὁ δὲ ἑτοίμως μηδὲν μελλήσας, ἐπ᾽ αὐτοῦ ὑπέγραφε τὰ περὶ τῆς πίστεως ὁρισθέντα σοφισάμενος. Καὶ ὁ μὲν βασιλεὺς θαυμάσας, ὄρχον ἐπέφερεν. Ὁ δὲ τοῦτο σοφιζόμενος ἐποίει " τίνα τρόπον ἐτεχνάζετο γράφων, ὡς ἤκουσα, ἔστι ταῦτα' Καταγράψας, φησὶν, ὁ "Άρειος ἐν χάρτη ἣν εἶχε δόξαν, ὑπὸ μάλης ἔφερεν. τε ἀληθῶς οὕτω φρονεῖν, ὡς καὶ γεγραφηχὼς εἴη. Τοῦτο μὲν οὖν οὕτω γεγενῆσθαι, ἀκοῇ γράψας ἔχω. Ὅτι μέντοι καὶ ἐπέθηκε τοῖς γραφεῖσιν, τῶν ἐπιστολῶν τοῦ βασιλέως ἀνελεξάμην" πιστεύσας δὲ ὁ βασιλεὺς, δεχθῆναι αὐτὸν ὑπὴ τοῦ ἐπισκόπου Κωνσταντίνου πόλεως ᾿Αλεξάνδρου εἰς κοινωνίαν ἐκέλευσεν, Σαδδάτου δὲ ἦν τότε ἡμέρα" καὶ τῇ ἑξῆς προσεδόκα συνάγεσθαι " δίκη δὲ ἐπηκολούθει τοῖς ᾿Αρείου τολμήμασιν. Ὡς γὰρ ἐξῆλθε τῆς βασιλικῆς αὐλῆς, ἐδορυφορεῖτο μὲν ὑπὸ τῶν περὶ Εὐσέδιον διὰ μέσης τότε τῆς πόλεως, περίοπτός τε ἦν. Καὶ ἐπεὶ ἐγένετο πλησίον τῆς ἐπιλεγομένης ἀγορᾶς Κωνσταντίνου, ἔνθα ὁ πορφυροῦς ἵδρυται χίων, φόδος ἔκ τινος συνειδότος κατεῖχε τὸν. “Ἄρειον σύν τε τῷ φόδῳ, τῆς γαστρὸς ἐχινεῖτο χαύνωσις ἐρόμενός τε εἰ ἀφεδρών που πλησίον, μαθών. τε εἶναι- ὄπισθεν τῆς ἀγορᾶς Κωνσταντίνου, ἐκεῖσε ἐβάδιζεν. Λαμδάνει οὖν λιποθυμία τὸν ἄνθρωπον " καὶ ἅμα τοῖς διαχωρήμασιν ἡ ἔδρα τότε παραυτίκα ἐκπίπτει , καὶ αἴμαπλῆθος ἐπηκολούθει, καὶ τὰ λεπτὰ τῶν ἐντέρων. Συνέτρεχε δὲ αἷμα αὐτῷ σπληνί τε καὶ ἥπατι" αὐτίκα οὖν ἐτεθνήκει. Ὁ δὲ ἀφεδρὼν ἄχρι νῦν ἐν τῇ σταντίνου πόλει δείκνυται, ὡς ἔφην, ὄπισθεν τῆς ἀγορᾶς Κωνσταντίνου, καὶ τοῦ ἐν τῇ στοᾷ μακχέλλου" πάντων τε τῶν παριόντων ἐγειρόντων δάχτυλον αὐτοῦ", ἀειμνημόνευτον τοῦ θανάτου τὸν τρόπον ἀπεργαζόμενος. Τούτου γενομένου, φόβος καὶ ἀγωνία κατεῖχε τοὺς περὶ τὸν Νικομηδέα Εὐσέβιον διέτρεχέ τε ἡ φήμη δι᾽ ὅλης τῆς πόλεως, ὡς δὲ εἰπεῖν, καὶ τῆς συμπάσης οἰκουμένης. Ὃ δὲ βασιλεὺς τῷ Χριστιαγισμῷ μᾶλλον προσετίθετο, καὶ ἀληθῶς Θεοῦ μεμαρτυρῆσθαι τὴν ἐν Νιχαίᾳα πίστιν ἔφησεν. Εὐφραίνετό τε ἐπὶ τοῖς γεγονόσι, καὶ ἐπὶ τρισὶν υἱοῖς οὖς Καίσαρας ἀνηγορεύκει, ἕκαστον κατὰ δεκάδα ἐνιαυτῶν τῆς βασιλείας αὐτοῦ. Τὸν μὲν πρῶτον, ὁμώνυμον ἑαντου Κωνσταντῖνον, τῶν ἐσπερίων μερῶν ἄρχειν καταστήσας ἐν τῇ πρώτῃ δεχάδι τῆς βασιλείας αὐτοῦ. Τῶν δὲ πρὸς τῇ Ἑῴᾳ μερῶν, τὸν τῷ πάππῳ ἐπώνυμον Κωνστάντιον ἐν τῇ εἰχοσαετηρίδι χατ-ὄ ἐστησε Καίσαρα. Τὸν δὲ νεώτερον Κώνσταντα, ἐν τῇ τριαχονταετηρίδι τῆς ἑαυτοῦ βασιλείας ἐχειροτό-
Toiauta men oun ᾿Alexandros ēucheto. Ho basileus hoe apopeiran ᾿Areion poiēsasthai boulttheis, epi ta basileia auton metapempetai, ērōta te ei tois horois stoichei tēs en Nikaią synodou. Ho de hetoimōs mēden mellēsas, ep᾽ autou hypegraphe ta peri tēs pisteōs horisthenta sophisamenos. Kai ho men basileus thaumasas, orchon epepheren. Ho de touto sophizomenos epoiei " tina tropon etechnazeto graphōn, hōs ēkousa, esti tauta' Katagrapsas, phēsin, ho "Areios en chartē hēn eiche doxan, hypo malēs epheren. te alēthōs houtō phronein, hōs kai gegraphēchōs eiē. Touto men oun houtō gegenēsthai, akoę̄ grapsas echō. Hoti mentoi kai epethēke tois grapheisin, tōn epistolōn tou basileōs anelexamēn" pisteusas de ho basileus, dechthēnai auton hypē tou episkopou Kōnstantinou poleōs ᾿Alexandrou eis koinōnian ekeleusen, Saddatou de ēn tote hēmera" kai tę̄ hexēs prosedoka synagesthai " dikē de epēkolouthei tois ᾿Areiou tolmēmasin. Hōs gar exēlthe tēs basilikēs aulēs, edoryphoreito men hypo tōn peri Eusedion dia mesēs tote tēs poleōs, perioptos te ēn. Kai epei egeneto plēsion tēs epilegomenēs agoras Kōnstantinou, entha ho porphyrous hidrytai chiōn, phodos ek tinos syneidotos kateiche ton. “Areion syn te tǭ phodǭ, tēs gastros echineito chaunōsis eromenos te ei aphedrōn pou plēsion, mathōn. te einai- opisthen tēs agoras Kōnstantinou, ekeise ebadizen. Lamdanei oun lipothymia ton anthrōpon " kai hama tois diachōrēmasin hē edra tote parautika ekpiptei , kai aimaplēthos epēkolouthei, kai ta lepta tōn enterōn. Synetreche de haima autǭ splēni te kai hēpati" autika oun etethnēkei. Ho de aphedrōn achri nyn en tę̄ stantinou polei deiknytai, hōs ephēn, opisthen tēs agoras Kōnstantinou, kai tou en tę̄ stoą makchellou" pantōn te tōn pariontōn egeirontōn dachtylon autou", aeimnēmoneuton tou thanatou ton tropon apergazomenos. Toutou genomenou, phobos kai agōnia kateiche tous peri ton Nikomēdea Eusebion dietreche te hē phēmē di᾽ holēs tēs poleōs, hōs de eipein, kai tēs sympasēs oikoumenēs. Ho de basileus tǭ Christiagismǭ mallon prosetitheto, kai alēthōs Theou memartyrēsthai tēn en Nichaiąa pistin ephēsen. Euphraineto te epi tois gegonosi, kai epi trisin huiois ous Kaisaras anēgoreukei, hekaston kata dekada eniautōn tēs basileias autou. Ton men prōton, homōnymon heantou Kōnstantinon, tōn esperiōn merōn archein katastēsas en tę̄ prōtę̄ dechadi tēs basileias autou. Tōn de pros tę̄ Heǭą merōn, ton tǭ pappǭ epōnymon Kōnstantion en tę̄ eichosaetēridi chat-o estēse Kaisara. Ton de neōteron Kōnstanta, en tę̄ triachontaetēridi tēs heautou basileias echeiroto-
So Alexander prayed. The emperor, wishing to test Arius, sent for him to the palace and asked whether he held to the definitions of the synod at Nicaea. He at once, without hesitation, signed in his presence the definitions concerning the faith, using a trick. The emperor, surprised, required an oath. He did this too by a trick. The way he contrived it in writing, as I have heard, was this. Arius, they say, wrote down on a paper the opinion he held and carried it under his arm, … that he truly held what he had written. That this happened so I have written from hearsay; but that he added an oath to what he signed I gathered from the emperor’s letters. The emperor, believing him, ordered that he be received into communion by Alexander, bishop of Constantinople. It was then the Sabbath, and he expected to join the assembly the next day; but punishment followed Arius’s audacious deeds. For when he went out of the palace, he was escorted by Eusebius and his party through the middle of the city, attracting everyone’s gaze. When he came near the so-called Forum of Constantine, where the porphyry column stands, a fear arising from a guilty conscience seized Arius, and with the fear came a violent relaxing of the bowels. He asked whether there was a privy nearby, and learning that there was one behind the Forum of Constantine, he went there. Faintness seized the man, and together with the evacuations his bowels came out at once; a great quantity of blood followed, and the small intestines. Blood ran from him with the spleen and liver, and he died at once. The privy is shown in Constantinople to this day, as I said, behind the Forum of Constantine and the market in the colonnade; and as all who pass by point their finger at it, it keeps the manner of his death in perpetual memory. When this had happened, fear and anguish seized Eusebius of Nicomedia and his party, and the report ran through the whole city and, one might say, through the whole world. The emperor attached himself still more to Christianity and said that the faith of Nicaea had truly been attested by God. He rejoiced in what had happened and in his three sons, whom he had proclaimed Caesars, one at each decade of his reign: the first, Constantine, named after himself, he appointed to rule the western parts in the first decade of his reign; Constantius, named after his grandfather, he made Caesar of the eastern parts at his twentieth anniversary; and the younger, Constans, he appointed at the thirtieth anniversary of his reign.
Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.
Notes and citation
Summary: Arius signs the Nicene definitions deceitfully and swears an oath, is ordered received into communion, but dies suddenly in a privy near the Forum of Constantine, which Constantine takes as God’s verdict.
- Some words are lost in the scan in the account of Arius’s trick (marked “…”); the sense is that he swore he held what he had written, meaning the paper under his arm. Socrates states that this detail is hearsay.
- The account of Arius’s death is translated exactly as Socrates gives it; it follows the version spread by his opponents (compare Athanasius, Letter to Serapion on the Death of Arius).
Topics: Heresy
Cite (SBL): Socrates, Hist. eccl. 1.38 (PG 67:175–177; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/socrates-historia/1-38). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/socrates-historia/1-38
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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Valesius's Greek text as printed in Migne PG 67 (Bavarian State Library OCR and Tesseract re-OCR); every chapter compared afterwards with Zenos's English in NPNF² 2.
1.39PG 67:177–179
Ἐνιαυτοῦ δὲ μεταταῦτα παραδραμόντος ἐπιδὰς ἐξηχονταπέντε ἐνιαυτῶν. ὁ βασιλεὺς Κωνσταντῖνος, ἀξῥωστίᾳ περιπίπτει " ἐχ τῆς Κωνσταντίνου πόλεως ἐχπλεῖ ἐπὶ τὴν Ἑλενούπολιν, ὡς φυσιχοῖς θερμοῖς χρησόμενος τοῖς ἐκεῖ γειτνιάζουσιν. Ἐπεὶ δὲ αφοδροτέρου τοῦ νοσήματος ἤσθετο, τὰ μὲν λουτρὰ ὑπερέθετο" ἀπαίρει δὲ τῆς ᾿Ελενουπόλεως εἰς τὴν Νικομήδειαν" κἀκεῖ. ἐν προαστείῳ διάγων, τοῦ Χριστιανιχοῦ. μεταλαμθάνε: βαπτίσματος. Εὔθυμος δὲ ἐπὶ τούτῳ γενόμενος, διαθήκας ποιεῖται, ἐν αἷς τοὺς μὲν τρεῖς υἱοὺς κληρονόμους τῆς βασιλείας ἐνίσταται, καθὰ καὶ ζῶν αὐτοῖς τοὺς κλήρους διένειμε. Πολλὰ δὲ τῇ Ῥωμαίων πόλει καὶ τῇ ἑαυτοῦ ἐπωνύμῳ πρεσβεῖα καταλιπὼν, τὰς διαθήκας ἐκείνῳ παρατίθεται τῷ πρεσβυτέρῳ, δι' ὄνπερ ῎Αρειος ἀνακέκληται, οὗ καὶ μικρὸν ἔμπροσθεν πεποιήμεθα μνήμην· ἐντειλάμενος μηδενὶ ἑτέρῳ, ἢ τῷ υἱῷ τῷ τῆς ᾿Ανατολῆς ἄρχοντι Κωνσταντίῳ, εἰς τὰς χεῖρας βαλεῖν. Μετὰ δὲ τὸ θέσθαι τὰς διαθήκας, ὀλίγας ἡμέρας ἐπιβιοὺς, τὸν βίον ἀπέλιπε ὁ. Τῶν μέντοι υἱῶν αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τῇ τελευτῇ παρῆν οὐδείς. Πέμπεται οὖν εὐθὺς πρὸς τὴν Ἑῴαν ὁ Κωνσταντίῳ μηνύσων τὴν τελευτήν.
Eniautou de metatauta paradramontos epidas exēchontapente eniautōn. ho basileus Kōnstantinos, axrhōstią peripiptei " ech tēs Kōnstantinou poleōs echplei epi tēn Helenoupolin, hōs physichois thermois chrēsomenos tois ekei geitniazousin. Epei de aphodroterou tou nosēmatos ēstheto, ta men loutra hyperetheto" apairei de tēs ᾿Elenoupoleōs eis tēn Nikomēdeian" kakei. en proasteiǭ diagōn, tou Christianichou. metalamthane: baptismatos. Euthymos de epi toutǭ genomenos, diathēkas poieitai, en hais tous men treis huious klēronomous tēs basileias enistatai, katha kai zōn autois tous klērous dieneime. Polla de tę̄ Rhōmaiōn polei kai tę̄ heautou epōnymǭ presbeia katalipōn, tas diathēkas ekeinǭ paratithetai tǭ presbyterǭ, di' onper ᾿Areios anakeklētai, hou kai mikron emprosthen pepoiēmetha mnēmēn; enteilamenos mēdeni heterǭ, ē tǭ huiǭ tǭ tēs ᾿Anatolēs archonti Kōnstantiǭ, eis tas cheiras balein. Meta de to thesthai tas diathēkas, oligas hēmeras epibious, ton bion apelipe ho. Tōn mentoi huiōn autou epi tę̄ teleutę̄ parēn oudeis. Pempetai oun euthys pros tēn Heǭan ho Kōnstantiǭ mēnysōn tēn teleutēn.
A year later, having entered his sixty-fifth year, the emperor Constantine fell ill. He sailed from Constantinople to Helenopolis to use the natural hot springs near there. When he felt the illness growing more severe, he put off the baths, left Helenopolis for Nicomedia, and, staying in a suburb there, received Christian baptism. Made glad by this, he made his will, in which he appointed his three sons heirs of the empire, dividing the portions among them as he had done while living. He left many bequests to the city of Rome and to the city named after him, and entrusted the will to that presbyter through whom Arius had been recalled, whom we mentioned a little before, charging him to put it into the hands of no one but his son Constantius, ruler of the East. After making the will he lived a few days and departed this life. None of his sons was present at his death. A messenger was at once sent to the East to announce the death to Constantius.
Notes and citation
Summary: Constantine, falling ill in his sixty-fifth year, is baptized near Nicomedia, makes his will in favour of his three sons, and dies.
- Socrates does not name the baptizer; it was Eusebius of Nicomedia (so Jerome’s Chronicle).
Topics: Baptism
Cite (SBL): Socrates, Hist. eccl. 1.39 (PG 67:177–179; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/socrates-historia/1-39). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/socrates-historia/1-39
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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Valesius's Greek text as printed in Migne PG 67 (Bavarian State Library OCR and Tesseract re-OCR); every chapter compared afterwards with Zenos's English in NPNF² 2.
1.40PG 67:179
Τὸ δὲ σῶμα τοῦ βασιλέως οἱ ἐπιτήδειοι χρυσῇ ἐνθέμενοι λάρνακι, ἐπὶ τὴν Κωνσταντίνου πόλιν διεκόμισαν· ἀπέθεντό τε ἐν τοῖς βασιλείοις ἐφ᾽ ὑψηλοῦ, καὶ διὰ τιμῆς ἦγον καὶ δορυφορίας πολλῆς, ὡς καὶ ζῶντος ἐγίνετο· καὶ τοῦτο ἐποίουν ἕως τις τῶν υἱῶν αὐτοῦ παραγένηται. Μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα ἐκ τῶν ἀνατολικῶν μερῶν ἐπιστάντος Κωνσταντίου, κηδείας τῆς βασιλικῆς ἠξιοῦτο, ἀποτεθεὶς ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ τῇ ἐπωνύμῳ τῶν ᾿Αποστόλων, ἣν δι' αὐτὸ τοῦτο πεποιήκει, ὅπως ἂν οἱ βασιλεῖς τε καὶ ἱερεῖς τῶν ἀπαστολικών λειψάνων μὴ ἀπολιμπάνοιντο. Ἔζησε δὲ ὁ βασιλεὺς Κωνσταντῖνος ἔτη ἑξηκονταπέντε. Ἐβασίλευσε δὲ ἔτη τριάκοντα ἕν· ἐτελεύτησε δὲ ἐν ὑπατίᾳ Φιλικιανοῦ καὶ Τατιανοῦ, τῇ δευτέρᾳ καὶ εἰκάδι τοῦ Μαΐου μηνός· τοῦτο δὲ ἦν δεύτερον ἔτος τῆς διακοσιοστῆς ἑβδομηκοστῆς ὀγδόης Ὀλυμπιάδος. Περιέχει δὲ ἡ βίβλος χρόνον ἐτῶν ἑνὸς πρὸς τοῖς τριάκοντα.
To de sōma tou basileōs hoi epitēdeioi chrysę̄ enthemenoi larnaki, epi tēn Kōnstantinou polin diekomisan; apethento te en tois basileiois eph᾽ hypsēlou, kai dia timēs ēgon kai doryphorias pollēs, hōs kai zōntos egineto; kai touto epoioun heōs tis tōn huiōn autou paragenētai. Meta de tauta ek tōn anatolikōn merōn epistantos Kōnstantiou, kēdeias tēs basilikēs ēxiouto, apotetheis en tę̄ ekklēsią tę̄ epōnymǭ tōn ᾿Apostolōn, hēn di' auto touto pepoiēkei, hopōs an hoi basileis te kai hiereis tōn apastolikōn leipsanōn mē apolimpanointo. Ezēse de ho basileus Kōnstantinos etē hexēkontapente. Ebasileuse de etē triakonta hen; eteleutēse de en hypatią Philikianou kai Tatianou, tę̄ deuterą kai eikadi tou Maïou mēnos; touto de ēn deuteron etos tēs diakosiostēs hebdomēkostēs ogdoēs Olympiados. Periechei de hē biblos chronon etōn henos pros tois triakonta.
His household placed the emperor’s body in a golden coffin and brought it to Constantinople. They laid it out on a high place in the palace and paid it honour with a great guard, as had been done while he lived; and they did this until one of his sons should arrive. Afterwards, when Constantius arrived from the eastern parts, he was given an imperial funeral and laid in the church called after the Apostles, which he had built for this very purpose, so that emperors and priests might not be separated from the relics of the apostles. The emperor Constantine lived sixty-five years and reigned thirty-one. He died in the consulship of Felicianus and Tatianus, on the twenty-second of May; this was the second year of the two hundred and seventy-eighth Olympiad. This book covers a period of thirty-one years.
Notes and citation
Summary: Constantine is buried in the church of the Apostles at Constantinople; he lived sixty-five years and reigned thirty-one, dying on 22 May 337.
- A displaced line from 1.39 (“many to the city of Rome and to the city named after him”) interrupts the word “reigned” in the scan; it is removed by a logged correction.
- The consuls of 337 are usually named Felicianus and Titianus; the text reads Tatianus.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (a line from the previous chapter is repeated inside the word): Ἐβασί Πολλὰ δὲ καὶ τῇ Ῥωμαίων πόλει καὶ τῇ ἑαυτοῦ ἐπωνύμῳ. καί, λευσε → Ἐβασίλευσε.
Cite (SBL): Socrates, Hist. eccl. 1.40 (PG 67:179; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/socrates-historia/1-40). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/socrates-historia/1-40
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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Valesius's Greek text as printed in Migne PG 67 (Bavarian State Library OCR and Tesseract re-OCR); every chapter compared afterwards with Zenos's English in NPNF² 2.
Chapter 2
2.1PG 67:183–185
νήθη. Τὰ τὰρ κατὰ ᾿Αθανάσιον νομίζει μετὰ τὴν τε. λευτὴν τοῦ βασιλέως Κωνσταντίνου γεγενῆσθαι· ἀγνοεῖ δὲ καὶ τὴν ἐν Γαλλίαις γενομένην αὐτοῦ ἐξω ορίαν, καὶ ἕτερα πλείονα. Ἡμεῖς οὖν πρότερον φίνῳ ἀκολουθήσαντες, τὸ πρῶτον καὶ τὸ δεύτερον τῆς Ἱστορίας βιβλίον, ᾗ ἐκείνῳ ἐδόκει συνεγράψαμεν• ἀπὸ δὲ τοῦ τρίτου ἄχρι τοῦ ἑβδόμου βιβλίου, τὰ μὲν παρὰ Ῥουφίνου λαβόντες, τὰ δὲ ἐκ διαφόρων συναγαγόντες, τινὰ δὲ καὶ παρὰ τῶν ἔτι ζώντων ἀκούσαντες, ἐπληρώσαμεν. Ὕστερον μέντοι συντυχόντες Αθανασίου συντάγμασιν, ἐν οἷς τὰ καθ' ἑαυτὸν ὀδύρεται πάθη, καὶ ὅπως διὰ τὴν διαβολὴν τῶν περὶ Εὐσέβιον ἐξωρίσθη, ἔγνωμεν δεῖν πιστεύειν μᾶλλον τῷ πεπονθότι, καὶ τοῖς γινομένων τῶν πραγμάτων παροῦσιν, ἢ τοῖς καταστοχασαμένοις αὐτῶν, καὶ διατοῦτο πλανηθεῖσιν. Ἔτι μὴν καὶ ἐπιστολῶν τῶν τότε διαφόρων ἐπιτετυχηκότες, ὡς οἷόν τε τὴν ἀλήθειαν ἀνιχνεύσαμεν. Διὸ ἠναγκάσθημεν τὸ πρῶτον καὶ τὸ δεύτερον βιβλίον ἄνωθεν ὑπαγορεῦσαι, συγχρώμενοι καὶ ἐν οἷς ὁ Ῥουφῖνος οὐκ ἐκπίπτει τοῦ ἀληθοῦς. Οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῦτο ἰστέον, ὅτι οὐ παρεθήκαμεν ἐν τῇ πρώτῃ ὑπαγορεύσει τὸ καθαιρετικὸν ᾿Αρείου, οὔτε μὴν τὰς βασιλέως ἐπιστολὰς, ἀλλὰ τὰ γυμνα μόνον πράγματα, ὑπὲρ τοῦ μὴ πολυστίχου γενομένης τῆς ἱστορίας, ὀκνηροὺς τοὺς ἀναγινώσκοντας ἀπεργάσασθαι. Ἐπειδὴ πρὸς σὴν χάριν, ὦ ἱερὲ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἄνθρωπε Θεόδωρε, καὶ τοῦτο ἔδει ποιῆσαι, ὥστε μὴ ἀγνοεῖν καὶ ὅσα ταῖς λέξεσιν οἱ βασιλεῖς ἐπέστειλαν, ἢ κατὰ διαφόρους συνόδους οἱ ἐπίσκοποι τὴν πίστιν καταβραχύ μεταποιοῦντες ἐξέδωκαν· διατοῦτο ὅσα ἀναγκαῖα ἡγησάμεθα, ἐν τῇδε τῇ μεταταῦτα ὑπαγορεύσει μετατεθείκαμεν · καὶ τοῦτο ἐν τῷ πρώτῳ βιβλίῳ ποιήσαντες, καὶ ἐν τῷ μετὰ χεῖρας, λέγω δὲ τῷ δευτέρῳ, ποιῆσαι σπουδάζομεν. ᾿Αρκτέον δὲ ἤδη τῆς ἱστορίας.
nēthē. Ta tar kata ᾿Athanasion nomizei meta tēn te. leutēn tou basileōs Kōnstantinou gegenēsthai; agnoei de kai tēn en Galliais genomenēn autou exō orian, kai hetera pleiona. Hēmeis oun proteron phinǭ akolouthēsantes, to prōton kai to deuteron tēs Historias biblion, hę̄ ekeinǭ edokei synegrapsamen• apo de tou tritou achri tou hebdomou bibliou, ta men para Rhouphinou labontes, ta de ek diaphorōn synagagontes, tina de kai para tōn eti zōntōn akousantes, eplērōsamen. Hysteron mentoi syntychontes Athanasiou syntagmasin, en hois ta kath' heauton odyretai pathē, kai hopōs dia tēn diabolēn tōn peri Eusebion exōristhē, egnōmen dein pisteuein mallon tǭ peponthoti, kai tois ginomenōn tōn pragmatōn parousin, ē tois katastochasamenois autōn, kai diatouto planētheisin. Eti mēn kai epistolōn tōn tote diaphorōn epitetychēkotes, hōs hoion te tēn alētheian anichneusamen. Dio ēnankasthēmen to prōton kai to deuteron biblion anōthen hypagoreusai, synchrōmenoi kai en hois ho Rhouphinos ouk ekpiptei tou alēthous. Ou mēn alla kai touto isteon, hoti ou parethēkamen en tę̄ prōtę̄ hypagoreusei to kathairetikon ᾿Areiou, oute mēn tas basileōs epistolas, alla ta gymna monon pragmata, hyper tou mē polystichou genomenēs tēs historias, oknērous tous anaginōskontas apergasasthai. Epeidē pros sēn charin, ō hiere tou Theou anthrōpe Theodōre, kai touto edei poiēsai, hōste mē agnoein kai hosa tais lexesin hoi basileis epesteilan, ē kata diaphorous synodous hoi episkopoi tēn pistin katabrachy metapoiountes exedōkan; diatouto hosa anankaia hēgēsametha, en tę̄de tę̄ metatauta hypagoreusei metatetheikamen ; kai touto en tǭ prōtǭ bibliǭ poiēsantes, kai en tǭ meta cheiras, legō de tǭ deuterǭ, poiēsai spoudazomen. ᾿Arkteon de ēdē tēs historias.
… went astray. For he thinks that the affairs of Athanasius took place after the death of the emperor Constantine; he is also unaware of his exile in the Gauls, and of many other things. We at first followed Rufinus and wrote the first and second books of our History as he thought; from the third to the seventh book we completed it partly by taking from Rufinus, partly by gathering from various sources, and partly by hearing from those still living. Later, however, coming upon writings of Athanasius in which he laments his own sufferings and how he was exiled through the slander of Eusebius and his party, we recognized that we ought to believe the sufferer and those present at the events, rather than those who guessed at them and so went astray. Moreover, having found various letters of that time, we traced the truth as far as we could. We were therefore compelled to dictate the first and second books afresh, using Rufinus too where he does not fall from the truth. It should also be known that in the first dictation we did not include the deposition of Arius or the emperor’s letters, but only the bare facts, so that the history might not become long and make readers weary. But since for your sake, Theodore, holy man of God, it was necessary to do this too, so that you might not be ignorant of what the emperors wrote in their own words, or of what the bishops published in various synods, altering the faith little by little, we have therefore inserted in this later dictation whatever we thought necessary. Having done this in the first book, we are trying to do it in the one in hand, I mean the second. Now we must begin the history.
Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.
Notes and citation
Summary: Socrates explains that he rewrote Books 1–2 after finding Athanasius’s writings and contemporary letters, which showed that Rufinus had erred, and now includes the documents for his patron Theodore.
- The opening of this chapter is lost in the scan (marked “…”); the sense, from what follows, is that Rufinus, author of a Church History in Latin, erred in his chronology.
- Theodore is the patron to whom the History is dedicated.
Extrabiblical texts: Rufinus of Aquileia, Hist. (Rufinus of Aquileia, Rufinus, Church History; allusion)
Cite (SBL): Socrates, Hist. eccl. 2.1 (PG 67:183–185; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/socrates-historia/2-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/socrates-historia/2-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Valesius's Greek text as printed in Migne PG 67 (Bavarian State Library OCR and Tesseract re-OCR); every chapter compared afterwards with Zenos's English in NPNF² 2.
2.2PG 67:185–187
Τοῦ βασιλέως Κωνσταντίνου τελευτήσαντος, οἱ περὶ Εὐσέβιον τὸν Νικομηδέα καὶ Θέογνιν Νικαίας ἐπίσκοπον, καιροῦ δεδράχθαι εὐκαίρου νομίσαντες, ἀγῶνα ἔθεντο τὴν τοῦ ὁμοουσίου πίστιν ἐκβαλεῖν, ἀντεισάγειν δὲ τὴν ἀρειανίζουσαν. Περιέσεσθαι δὲ τούτου οὐκ ἂν δύναιντο, εἰ μὴ ὑπονοστήσῃ ᾿Αθανάσιος. Ταῦτα δὲ κατεσκεύαζον, ὑπουργῷ χρώμενοι τῷ πρεσβυτέρῳ, ὃς τῆς ᾿Αρείου ἀνακλήσεως αἴτιος μικρὸν ἔμπροσθεν ἐγεγόνει. Πῶς δὲ τοῦτο ἐπράχθη, λεκτέον. Τὴν διαθήκην ὁ πρεσβύτερος καὶ τὰ ἐνταλθέντα παρὰ τοῦ κατοιχομένου βασιλέως προσφέρει Κωνσταντίῳ τῷ τοῦ βασιλέως υἱῷ. Ὁ δὲ τοῦθ᾽ εὑρηκὼς γεγραμμένον ὅπερ ἐβούλετο· τῆς γὰρ Ἑψας βασιλεύειν αὐτὸν ἐπέτρεπεν ἡ διαθήκη· διὰ τιμῆς ἦγε τὸν πρεσβύτερον, παῤῥησίας τε μετεδίδου πολλῆς, εἴς τε τὰ βασίλεια θαῤῥοῦντα εἰσιέναι ἐκέλευεν. Ἡ τοίνυν δοθεῖσα παῤῥησία γνώριμον αὐτὸν ταχέως κατέστησε τῇ τε τοῦ βασιλέως γαμετῇ, καὶ τοῖς εὐνούχοις αὐτῆς. Ἦν δὲ ἐν τῷ χρόνῳ τούτῳ πρωτότυτ πος τῶν κοιτώνων τοῦ βασιλέως εὐνοῦχος, ᾧ ὄνομα ἦν Εὐσέβιος. Τοῦτον ὁ πρεσβύτερος συνθέσθαι τῇ ᾿Αρείου δόξῃ συνέπεισεν. Ἐκ δὲ τούτου, καὶ οἱ λοιποί τῶν εὐνούχων τὰ αὐτὰ φρονεῖν ἀνεπείθοντο. Οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ ἡ τοῦ βασιλέως γαμετὴ, διὰ τῶν εὐνούχων. καὶ τοῦ πρεσβυτέρου, τῇ Ἀρείου δόξῃ προστίθεται. Μετ᾿ οὐ πολὺ δὲ καὶ ἐπ᾿ αὐτὸν διέβαινε τὸν βασιλέα, τὸ ζήτημα τοῦτο · καὶ γίνεται φανερὸν κατὰ βραχύ, πρῶτον μὲν τοῖς κατὰ τὰ βασίλεια στρατευομένοις. Ἔπειτα δὲ, διεδάθη καὶ εἰς τὰ πλήθη τῆς πόλεως· διελέγοντο δὲ περὶ τῆς δόξης, ἐν μὲν, τοῖς βασιλείοις οἱ ἐπικοιτωνῖται ἅμα ταῖς γυναιξίν ἐν δὲ τῇ πόλει, καθ' ἑκάστην οἰκίαν διαλεκτικὸς πόλεμος ἦν· διέτρεχεν οὖν ταχέως τὸ κακὸν, καὶ ἐπὶ τὰς ἄλλας ἐπαρχίας τε καὶ πόλεις. Καὶ ὡς σπινθήρ, ἐκ μικροῦ λαμβάνον τὴν ἀρχὴν τὸ ζήτημα, εἰς φιλονεικίαν τοὺς ἀκούοντας ἤγειρεν. Ἔκαστος γὰρ τῶν πυνθανομένων τῆς ταραχῆς τὴν αἰτίαν, πρόφασιν εὐθὺς εἶχε ζητήσεως· καὶ ἅμα τῇ ἐρωτήσει, ἐρίζειν ἐβούλετο. Ἐκ δὲ τῆς ἔριδος πάντα ἀνατέτραπτο. Ταῦτα μὲν οὖν κατὰ τὰς Ἀνατολικὰς πόλεις ἐγένετο. Αἱ γὰρ ἐν Ἰλλυριοῖς, καὶ τὰ Ἑσπέρια μέρη τέως ἡσύχαζον· τοὺς ὅρους γὰρ τοὺς τῆς ἐν Νικαίᾳ συνόδου παρασαλεύειν οὐκ ἤθελον. Ὡς οὖν ἐξαφθὲν τὸ πρᾶγμα ἐπὶ τὸ χεῖρον ἐπέδωκε, τηνικαῦτα οἱ περὶ Εὐσέβιον τὸν Νικομηδέα, ἔρμαιον ἡγοῦντο τὴν τῶν πολλῶν ταραχήν. Οὕτω γὰρ μόνως δύνασθαι τῆς ᾿Αλεξανδρείας ἐπίσκοπον ἀναδεῖξαι τῆς αὐτῶν δόξης ὁμόφρονα. ᾿Αλλὰ τότε μὲν ἔφθασεν ἐπανελθὼν εἰς αὐτὴν ᾿Αθανάσιος, ἑνὸς τῶν Αὐγούστων ὠχυρωμένος γράμμασιν, ἅπερ τῷ ᾿Αλεξανδρέων λαῷ Κωνσταντῖ· νος ὁ νέος ὁ τῷ πατρὶ ὁμώνυμος, ἐκ τῆς ἐν Γαλλία Τριβέρεως ἔπεμψεν. Ἔστι δὲ τάδε τὰ γράμματα τὰ ὑποτεταγμένα.
Tou basileōs Kōnstantinou teleutēsantos, hoi peri Eusebion ton Nikomēdea kai Theognin Nikaias episkopon, kairou dedrachthai eukairou nomisantes, agōna ethento tēn tou homoousiou pistin ekbalein, anteisagein de tēn areianizousan. Periesesthai de toutou ouk an dynainto, ei mē hyponostēsę̄ ᾿Athanasios. Tauta de kateskeuazon, hypourgǭ chrōmenoi tǭ presbyterǭ, hos tēs ᾿Areiou anaklēseōs aitios mikron emprosthen egegonei. Pōs de touto eprachthē, lekteon. Tēn diathēkēn ho presbyteros kai ta entalthenta para tou katoichomenou basileōs prospherei Kōnstantiǭ tǭ tou basileōs huiǭ. Ho de touth᾽ heurēkōs gegrammenon hoper ebouleto; tēs gar Hepsas basileuein auton epetrepen hē diathēkē; dia timēs ēge ton presbyteron, parrhēsias te metedidou pollēs, eis te ta basileia tharrhounta eisienai ekeleuen. Hē toinyn dotheisa parrhēsia gnōrimon auton tacheōs katestēse tę̄ te tou basileōs gametę̄, kai tois eunouchois autēs. Ēn de en tǭ chronǭ toutǭ prōtotyt pos tōn koitōnōn tou basileōs eunouchos, hǭ onoma ēn Eusebios. Touton ho presbyteros synthesthai tę̄ ᾿Areiou doxę̄ synepeisen. Ek de toutou, kai hoi loipoi tōn eunouchōn ta auta phronein anepeithonto. Ou mēn alla kai hē tou basileōs gametē, dia tōn eunouchōn. kai tou presbyterou, tę̄ Areiou doxę̄ prostithetai. Met᾿ ou poly de kai ep᾿ auton diebaine ton basilea, to zētēma touto ; kai ginetai phaneron kata brachy, prōton men tois kata ta basileia strateuomenois. Epeita de, diedathē kai eis ta plēthē tēs poleōs; dielegonto de peri tēs doxēs, en men, tois basileiois hoi epikoitōnitai hama tais gynaixin en de tę̄ polei, kath' hekastēn oikian dialektikos polemos ēn; dietrechen oun tacheōs to kakon, kai epi tas allas eparchias te kai poleis. Kai hōs spinthēr, ek mikrou lambanon tēn archēn to zētēma, eis philoneikian tous akouontas ēgeiren. Ekastos gar tōn pynthanomenōn tēs tarachēs tēn aitian, prophasin euthys eiche zētēseōs; kai hama tę̄ erōtēsei, erizein ebouleto. Ek de tēs eridos panta anatetrapto. Tauta men oun kata tas Anatolikas poleis egeneto. Hai gar en Illyriois, kai ta Hesperia merē teōs hēsychazon; tous horous gar tous tēs en Nikaią synodou parasaleuein ouk ēthelon. Hōs oun exaphthen to pragma epi to cheiron epedōke, tēnikauta hoi peri Eusebion ton Nikomēdea, ermaion hēgounto tēn tōn pollōn tarachēn. Houtō gar monōs dynasthai tēs ᾿Alexandreias episkopon anadeixai tēs autōn doxēs homophrona. ᾿Alla tote men ephthasen epanelthōn eis autēn ᾿Athanasios, henos tōn Augoustōn ōchyrōmenos grammasin, haper tǭ ᾿Alexandreōn laǭ Kōnstanti; nos ho neos ho tǭ patri homōnymos, ek tēs en Gallia Tribereōs epempsen. Esti de tade ta grammata ta hypotetagmena.
When the emperor Constantine had died, Eusebius of Nicomedia and Theognis, bishop of Nicaea, thinking they had seized a good opportunity, strove to drive out the faith of the homoousios and to bring in the Arian one instead. But they could not succeed in this unless Athanasius were kept from returning. They contrived this by using as their agent the presbyter who had a little before been the cause of Arius’s recall. How this was done must be told. The presbyter presented the will and the late emperor’s instructions to Constantius, the emperor’s son. He, finding written what he wished (for the will entrusted him with the rule of the East), held the presbyter in honour, gave him much freedom of speech, and ordered that he might enter the palace freely. The freedom given him soon made him known to the emperor’s wife and to her eunuchs. At that time the chief chamberlain of the emperor was a eunuch named Eusebius. The presbyter persuaded him to agree with Arius’s opinion, and through him the rest of the eunuchs were persuaded to think the same. Moreover the emperor’s wife too, through the eunuchs and the presbyter, attached herself to Arius’s opinion. Not long afterwards the question passed to the emperor himself, and little by little it became known, first to those serving in the palace, and then it spread to the crowds of the city. In the palace the chamberlains discussed the opinion with the women, and in the city there was a war of dialectic in every house. So the evil quickly ran through the other provinces and cities as well. Like a spark, the question, starting from something small, roused its hearers to contention; for everyone who asked the cause of the disturbance at once found occasion for dispute, and with the question wanted to quarrel. Through the quarrelling everything was turned upside down. This happened in the eastern cities; for those in Illyricum and the western parts were quiet for a time, since they did not wish to shake the definitions of the synod of Nicaea. As the matter, once kindled, grew worse, Eusebius of Nicomedia and his party counted the confusion of the many a godsend; for only so, they thought, could they appoint a bishop of Alexandria of their own opinion. But at that time Athanasius forestalled them by returning there, fortified by a letter of one of the Augusti, which Constantine the Younger, his father’s namesake, sent from Treves in Gaul to the people of the Alexandrians. The letter subjoined is as follows.
Notes and citation
Summary: After Constantine’s death the Arian presbyter wins over Constantius’s court, and Arianism spreads through the East; Athanasius returns to Alexandria with a letter of Constantine the Younger.
Topics: Heresy
Cite (SBL): Socrates, Hist. eccl. 2.2 (PG 67:185–187; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/socrates-historia/2-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/socrates-historia/2-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Valesius's Greek text as printed in Migne PG 67 (Bavarian State Library OCR and Tesseract re-OCR); every chapter compared afterwards with Zenos's English in NPNF² 2.
2.3PG 67:189–191
Κωνσταντῖνος Καῖσαρ τῷ λαῷ τῆς Καθολικῆς Ἀλεξανδρέων Εκκλησίας. Οὐδὲ τῆς ὑμετέρας ἱερᾶς ἐννοίας ἀποπεφευγέναι εἰς γνῶσιν οἶμαι, διατοῦτο ᾿Αθανάσιον τὸν τοῦ προσκυνητοῦ νόμου ὑποφήτην πρὸς καιρὸν εἰς τὰς Γαλλίας ἀπεστάλθαι, ἵνα ἐπειδὴ ἡ ἀγριότης τῶν αἰμοβόρων καὶ πολεμίων αὐτοῦ ἐχθρῶν, εἰς κίνδυνον τῆς ἱερᾶς αὐτοῦ κεφαλῆς ἐπέμενε, μὴ ἄρα διὰ τῆς τῶν φαύλων διαστροφῆς ἀνήκεστα ὑποστῇ. Πρὸς τὸ διαπαῖξαι τοίνυν ταύτην, ἀφῃρέθη τῶν φαρύγγων τῶν ἐπικειμένων αὐτῷ ἀνδρῶν, ὑπ᾿ ἐμοὶ διάγειν κελευσθεὶς οὕτως, ὡς ἐν ταύτῃ τῇ πόλει ἐν ᾗ διέτριβεν, πᾶσι τοῖς ἀναγκαίοις ἐκπλεονάζειν, εἰ καὶ ταμάλιστα αὐτοῦ ἡ ἀοίδιμος ἀρετὴ ταῖς θείαις πεποιθυῖα βοηθείαις, καὶ τὰ τῆς τραχυτέρας τύχης ἄχθη ἐξουθενεῖ. Τοιγαροῦν εἰ καὶ ταμάλιστα πρὸς τὴν προσφιλεστάτην ὑμῶν θεοσέβειαν, ὁ δεσπότης ἡμῶν ὁ τῆς μακαρίας μνήμης Κωνσταντίνος ὁ Σεβαστὸς, ὁ ἐμὸς πατὴρ, τὸν αὐτὸν ἐπίσκοπον τῷ ἰδίῳ τόπῳ παρασχεῖν προήρητο, ὅμως ἐπειδὴ ἀνθρωπίνῳ κλήρῳ προληφθεὶς, πρὸ τοῦ τὴν εὐχὴν πληρῶσαι ἀνεπαύσατο, ἀκόλουθον ἡγησάμην, τὴν προαίρεσιν τοῦ τῆς θείας μνήμης βασιλέως διαδεξάμενος πληρῶσαι. ῾Ὅστις ἐπειδὰν τῆς ὑμετέρας τύχῃ προσόψεως, ὅσης παρ᾿ ἐμοῦ αἰδοῦς τετύχηκε γνώσεσθε · οὐ γὰρ θαυμαστὸν, εἴ τι δ' ἂν ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ πεποίηκα. Καὶ γὰρ τὴν ἐμὴν ψυχὴν, ἡ τοῦ ὑμετέρου πόθου εἰκὼν, καὶ τὸ ( τηλικούτου ἀνδρὸς σχῆμα εἰς τοῦτο ἐκίνει καὶ προέτρεπεν. Ἡ θεία Πρόνοια ὑμᾶς διαφυλάξοι, ἀδελφοὶ ἀγαπητοί. Τούτοις θαῤῥῶν τοῖς γράμμασιν ὁ ᾿Αθανάσιος, καταλαμβάνει τὴν ᾿Αλεξάνδρειαν· καὶ ἥδιστα μὲν αὐτὸν ἀνεδέξατο ὁ τῶν ᾿Αλεξανδρέων λαός. Ὅσοι δὲ ἐτύγχανον ἀρειανίζοντες ἐν αὐτῇ, φατρίας συνἱσταντο κατ' αὐτοῦ. Δι' ὧν συνεχεῖς στάσεις ἐγίνοντο· αἴτινες ὑπόθεσιν παρείχον τοῖς περὶ Εὐσέβιον τοῦ διαβάλλειν αὐτὸν βασιλεῖ, ὅτι μὴ κρίναντος τοῦ κοινοῦ συνεδρίου τῶν ἐπισκόπων, ἑαυτῷ ἐπιτρέψας τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν κατελάμβανεν,· ἐπιτοσοῦτον δὲ τὰς διαβολὰς ἐξέτεινον, ὡς ὀργισθέντα τὸν βασιλέα, τῆς ᾿Αλεξανδρείας ἐκβαλεῖν. Πῶς μὲν οὖν τοῦτο ἐγένετο, μικρὸν ὕστερον λέξω.
Kōnstantinos Kaisar tǭ laǭ tēs Katholikēs Alexandreōn Ekklēsias. Oude tēs hymeteras hieras ennoias apopepheugenai eis gnōsin oimai, diatouto ᾿Athanasion ton tou proskynētou nomou hypophētēn pros kairon eis tas Gallias apestalthai, hina epeidē hē agriotēs tōn aimoborōn kai polemiōn autou echthrōn, eis kindynon tēs hieras autou kephalēs epemene, mē ara dia tēs tōn phaulōn diastrophēs anēkesta hypostę̄. Pros to diapaixai toinyn tautēn, aphę̄rethē tōn pharyngōn tōn epikeimenōn autǭ andrōn, hyp᾿ emoi diagein keleustheis houtōs, hōs en tautę̄ tę̄ polei en hę̄ dietriben, pasi tois anankaiois ekpleonazein, ei kai tamalista autou hē aoidimos aretē tais theiais pepoithuia boētheiais, kai ta tēs trachyteras tychēs achthē exouthenei. Toigaroun ei kai tamalista pros tēn prosphilestatēn hymōn theosebeian, ho despotēs hēmōn ho tēs makarias mnēmēs Kōnstantinos ho Sebastos, ho emos patēr, ton auton episkopon tǭ idiǭ topǭ paraschein proērēto, homōs epeidē anthrōpinǭ klērǭ prolēphtheis, pro tou tēn euchēn plērōsai anepausato, akolouthon hēgēsamēn, tēn proairesin tou tēs theias mnēmēs basileōs diadexamenos plērōsai. ῾Hostis epeidan tēs hymeteras tychę̄ prosopseōs, hosēs par᾿ emou aidous tetychēke gnōsesthe ; ou gar thaumaston, ei ti d' an hyper autou pepoiēka. Kai gar tēn emēn psychēn, hē tou hymeterou pothou eikōn, kai to ( tēlikoutou andros schēma eis touto ekinei kai proetrepen. Hē theia Pronoia hymas diaphylaxoi, adelphoi agapētoi. Toutois tharrhōn tois grammasin ho ᾿Athanasios, katalambanei tēn ᾿Alexandreian; kai hēdista men auton anedexato ho tōn ᾿Alexandreōn laos. Hosoi de etynchanon areianizontes en autę̄, phatrias synistanto kat' autou. Di' hōn synecheis staseis eginonto; aitines hypothesin pareichon tois peri Eusebion tou diaballein auton basilei, hoti mē krinantos tou koinou synedriou tōn episkopōn, heautǭ epitrepsas tēn Ekklēsian katelambanen,; epitosouton de tas diabolas exeteinon, hōs orgisthenta ton basilea, tēs ᾿Alexandreias ekbalein. Pōs men oun touto egeneto, mikron hysteron lexō.
“Constantine Caesar to the people of the catholic church of the Alexandrians. I think it has not escaped the knowledge of your holy minds that Athanasius, the interpreter of the venerable law, was sent for a time to the Gauls for this reason: since the savagery of his bloodthirsty and hostile enemies persisted to the danger of his sacred head, he was sent so that he might not suffer irreparable harm through the perversity of wicked men. To frustrate this, he was snatched from the jaws of the men who pressed upon him and ordered to live under my care, in such a way that in this city where he stayed he had everything necessary in abundance; although his celebrated virtue, trusting in divine help, despises even the burdens of harsher fortune. Therefore, although our lord Constantine Augustus of blessed memory, my father, had resolved to restore this same bishop to his own place for your most beloved godliness, yet since he was overtaken by the lot of mortals and went to his rest before fulfilling his wish, I thought it fitting, as successor to the purpose of the emperor of divine memory, to fulfil it. When he comes into your presence you will know how great a respect he has received from me. Nor is it surprising if I have done anything on his behalf; for my soul was moved and urged to this by the image of your longing and by the bearing of so great a man. May divine providence keep you, beloved brothers.”
Confident in this letter, Athanasius arrived at Alexandria, and the people of the Alexandrians received him most gladly. But all who held with Arius there formed factions against him. Continual riots resulted, which gave Eusebius and his party grounds for accusing him to the emperor of having taken possession of the church on his own authority, without the judgment of a general council of bishops. They pushed their slanders so far that the angry emperor expelled him from Alexandria. How this happened I will tell a little later.
Notes and citation
Summary: Constantine the Younger’s letter restores Athanasius to Alexandria; Arian factions riot, and the Eusebians accuse him of resuming his see without a synod.
- The letter of Constantine II to the church of Alexandria (338) is quoted in full; it is also in Athanasius, Defence against the Arians 87.
Extrabiblical texts: Athanasius, Apol. sec. 87 (Defence against the Arians; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Socrates, Hist. eccl. 2.3 (PG 67:189–191; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/socrates-historia/2-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/socrates-historia/2-3
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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Valesius's Greek text as printed in Migne PG 67 (Bavarian State Library OCR and Tesseract re-OCR); every chapter compared afterwards with Zenos's English in NPNF² 2.
2.4PG 67:191
Ἐν δὲ τῷδε τῷ χρόνῳ τελευτήσαντος Εὐσεβίου ὃς τῆς ἐν Παλαιστίνῃ Καισαρείας ἐπίσκοπος ἦν, καὶ τὴν Παμφίλου προσωνυμίαν ἐκέκτητο, Ακάκιος μαθητὴς αὐτοῦ τὴν ἐπισκοπὴν διαδέχεται · ὃς ἄλλα μὲν βιβλία πολλὰ ἐξέθετο, καὶ εἰς τὸν βίον δὲ τοῦ διδα σκάλου αὐτοῦ συνέγραψεν.
En de tǭde tǭ chronǭ teleutēsantos Eusebiou hos tēs en Palaistinę̄ Kaisareias episkopos ēn, kai tēn Pamphilou prosōnymian ekektēto, Akakios mathētēs autou tēn episkopēn diadechetai ; hos alla men biblia polla exetheto, kai eis ton bion de tou dida skalou autou synegrapsen.
At this time Eusebius, who was bishop of Caesarea in Palestine and bore the surname of Pamphilus, died, and Acacius his disciple succeeded to the bishopric. He published many other books and also wrote a life of his teacher.
Notes and citation
Summary: Eusebius of Caesarea dies and is succeeded by his disciple Acacius, who wrote his life.
- Acacius’s life of Eusebius is lost.
Cite (SBL): Socrates, Hist. eccl. 2.4 (PG 67:191; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/socrates-historia/2-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/socrates-historia/2-4
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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Valesius's Greek text as printed in Migne PG 67 (Bavarian State Library OCR and Tesseract re-OCR); every chapter compared afterwards with Zenos's English in NPNF² 2.
2.5PG 67:191
Μετ᾿ οὐ πολὺ δὲ ὁ τοῦ βασιλέως Κωνσταντίου ἀδελ φὸς ὃς ἦν ὁμώνυμος τῷ πατρὶ, ὁ Νέος Κωνσταντῖνος, ἐπιὼν τοῖς μέρεσι τοῦ νέου ἀδελφοῦ Κώνσταντος, συμβαλών τε τοῖς στρατιώταις αὐτοῦ, ἀναιρεῖται κα ὑπ᾿ αὐτῶν, ἐν ὑπατείᾳ ᾿Ακινδύνου καὶ Πρόκλου.
Met᾿ ou poly de ho tou basileōs Kōnstantiou adel phos hos ēn homōnymos tǭ patri, ho Neos Kōnstantinos, epiōn tois meresi tou neou adelphou Kōnstantos, symbalōn te tois stratiōtais autou, anaireitai ka hyp᾿ autōn, en hypateią ᾿Akindynou kai Proklou.
Not long afterwards the emperor Constantius’s brother, Constantine the Younger, who bore his father’s name, invaded the territories of his younger brother Constans, engaged with his soldiers, and was killed by them, in the consulship of Acindynus and Proclus.
Notes and citation
Summary: Constantine II is killed attacking the territory of his brother Constans (340).
- The consulship of Acindynus and Proclus is 340.
Cite (SBL): Socrates, Hist. eccl. 2.5 (PG 67:191; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/socrates-historia/2-5). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/socrates-historia/2-5
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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Valesius's Greek text as printed in Migne PG 67 (Bavarian State Library OCR and Tesseract re-OCR); every chapter compared afterwards with Zenos's English in NPNF² 2.
2.6PG 67:191–193
Ὑπὸ δὲ τὸν αὐτὸν τοῦτον χρόνον κατὰ τὴν Κωνσταντίνου πόλιν, ἑτέρα ταῖς προτέραις ἐπισυμπλέκεται ταραχή, ἐξ αἰτίας τοιαύτης· ᾿Αλέξανδρος ὁ κατὰ τήνδε τὴν πόλιν τῶν ἐκκλησιῶν προεστώς, ὁ τὴν πρὸς ῎Ἄρειον μάχην ἀγωνισάμενος, τὸν ἐνθάδε βίον ἀπέλειπεν 4, εἰκοσιτρία μὲν ἔτη κατὰ τὴν ἐπισκοπὴν διατρίψας, ἐνενήκοντα καὶ ὀκτὼ δὲ ἔτη τὰ πάντα βιοὺς, οὐδένα εἰς τὸν αὐτοῦ τόπον χειροτονήσας. Ἐνετείλατο δὲ τοῖς καθήκουσιν ἐλέσθαι δυοῖν τὸν ἕτερον, ὧν αὐτὸς ὀνομάσειεν. Καὶ εἰ μὲν βούλοιντο διδασκαλικὸν ἐν ταὐτῷ καὶ βίου χρηστοῦ μαρτυρούμενον, Παῦλον τὸν ὑπ᾿ αὐτοῦ χειροτονηθέντα πρεσβύτερον, ἄνδρα νέον μὲν τὴν ἡλικίαν, προβεβηκότα δὲ ταῖς φρεσίν. Εἰ δὲ μόνον ἐκ τοῦ προσχήματος τῆς εὐλαβείας δεικνύμενον, αἱρεῖσθαι Μακεδόνιον, διάκονον τυγχάνοντα μὲν ἤδη πάλαι τῆς ἐκκλησίας, τῇ ἡλικίᾳ δὲ γέροντα. Ἐκ τούτου μείζων φιλονεικία περὶ χειροτονίας γίνεται ἐπισκόπου, καὶ τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν διετάραττεν. Ἐπεὶ γὰρ ὁ λαὸς εἰς δύο διετέτμητο μέρη· τῶν μὲν προσκειμένων τῷ ᾿Αρειανῷ δόγματι, τῶν δὲ φρονούντων καθὰ ἡ ἐν Νικαίᾳ σύνοδος ὥρισε. Καὶ ἕως μὲν ᾿Αλέξανδρος περιῆν, κατεκράτουν οἱ φρονοῦντες τὸ ὁμοούσιον, τῶν ἀρειανιζόντων · διακρινομένων, καὶ ὁσημέραι διαπληκτιζομένων περὶ τοῦ δόγματος. Ἐπεὶ δὲ ἐκεῖνος τετελευτήκει, ἀμφήριστος ἡ τοῦ λαοῦ μάχη καθίστατο. Διὸ οἱ μὲν τοῦ. ὁμοουσίου τὴν πίστιν φυλάττοντες, Παῦλον εἰς τὴν ἐπισκοπὴν προχειρίζονται· οἱ δὲ ἀρειανίζοντες, Μακεδόνιον ἔσπευδον. Καὶ ἐν μὲν τῇ τῆς Εἰρήνης ἐπωνύμῳ ἐκκλησίᾳ, καὶ ἐχομένῃ τῆς νῦν Μεγάλης καὶ Σοφίας ὀνομαζομένης, χειροτονεῖται Παῦλος, ἐφ' οὗ καὶ μᾶλλον ἡ τοῦ ἀπελθόντος ψῆφος ἐδόκει κρατεῖν.
Hypo de ton auton touton chronon kata tēn Kōnstantinou polin, hetera tais proterais episympleketai tarachē, ex aitias toiautēs; ᾿Alexandros ho kata tēnde tēn polin tōn ekklēsiōn proestōs, ho tēn pros ᾿Areion machēn agōnisamenos, ton enthade bion apeleipen 4, eikositria men etē kata tēn episkopēn diatripsas, enenēkonta kai oktō de etē ta panta bious, oudena eis ton autou topon cheirotonēsas. Eneteilato de tois kathēkousin elesthai dyoin ton heteron, hōn autos onomaseien. Kai ei men boulointo didaskalikon en tautǭ kai biou chrēstou martyroumenon, Paulon ton hyp᾿ autou cheirotonēthenta presbyteron, andra neon men tēn hēlikian, probebēkota de tais phresin. Ei de monon ek tou proschēmatos tēs eulabeias deiknymenon, haireisthai Makedonion, diakonon tynchanonta men ēdē palai tēs ekklēsias, tę̄ hēlikią de geronta. Ek toutou meizōn philoneikia peri cheirotonias ginetai episkopou, kai tēn Ekklēsian dietaratten. Epei gar ho laos eis dyo dietetmēto merē; tōn men proskeimenōn tǭ ᾿Areianǭ dogmati, tōn de phronountōn katha hē en Nikaią synodos hōrise. Kai heōs men ᾿Alexandros periēn, katekratoun hoi phronountes to homoousion, tōn areianizontōn ; diakrinomenōn, kai hosēmerai diaplēktizomenōn peri tou dogmatos. Epei de ekeinos teteleutēkei, amphēristos hē tou laou machē kathistato. Dio hoi men tou. homoousiou tēn pistin phylattontes, Paulon eis tēn episkopēn procheirizontai; hoi de areianizontes, Makedonion espeudon. Kai en men tę̄ tēs Eirēnēs epōnymǭ ekklēsią, kai echomenę̄ tēs nyn Megalēs kai Sophias onomazomenēs, cheirotoneitai Paulos, eph' hou kai mallon hē tou apelthontos psēphos edokei kratein.
About this same time another disturbance was added to the earlier ones at Constantinople, for the following reason. Alexander, who presided over the churches of that city and had fought the battle against Arius, departed this life, having spent twenty-three years in the episcopate and lived ninety-eight years in all, without ordaining anyone in his place. He instructed those whom it concerned to choose one of two men whom he named: if they wanted one who was both a teacher and attested for a good life, Paul, whom he had ordained presbyter, a man young in age but advanced in understanding; but if they wanted one marked only by an outward show of piety, they should choose Macedonius, who had long been a deacon of the church and was an old man. From this arose a greater contention over the ordination of a bishop, and it troubled the church. For the people were divided into two parties, some holding to the Arian doctrine, others thinking as the synod of Nicaea had defined. As long as Alexander lived, those who held the homoousios prevailed, while the Arians were disputing and quarrelling daily about the doctrine. But when he died, the people’s struggle became evenly matched. So those who kept the faith of the homoousios put forward Paul for the bishopric, while the Arians pressed for Macedonius. Paul was ordained in the church named after Irene, which adjoins the one now called the Great Church and Sophia; in his case the vote of the departed seemed more to prevail.
Notes and citation
Summary: Alexander of Constantinople dies, naming Paul or Macedonius as possible successors; the Nicene party ordains Paul, the Arians back Macedonius.
Topics: Church office
Cite (SBL): Socrates, Hist. eccl. 2.6 (PG 67:191–193; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/socrates-historia/2-6). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/socrates-historia/2-6
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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Valesius's Greek text as printed in Migne PG 67 (Bavarian State Library OCR and Tesseract re-OCR); every chapter compared afterwards with Zenos's English in NPNF² 2.
2.7PG 67:193
Μετ᾿ οὐ πολὺ δὲ ἐπιστὰς ὁ βασιλεὺς τῇ Κωνσταν. τίνου πόλει, πρὸς ὀργὴν ἐκκάεται ἐπὶ τῇ γενομένῃ χειροτονίᾳ· καὶ καθιστὰς συνέδριον τῶν τὰ ᾿Αρείου φρονούντων ἐπισκόπων, τὸν μὲν Παῦλον σχολάζειν ἐποίησεν· Εὐσέβιον δὲ ἐκ τῆς Νικομηδείας μεταστήσας, τῆς Κωνσταντίνου πόλεως ἐπίσκοπον ἀναδείκνυσι. Καὶ ὁ μὲν βασιλεὺς ταῦτα πράξας, ἐπὶ τὴν ᾿Αντιόχειαν ὥρμησεν.
Met᾿ ou poly de epistas ho basileus tę̄ Kōnstan. tinou polei, pros orgēn ekkaetai epi tę̄ genomenę̄ cheirotonią; kai kathistas synedrion tōn ta ᾿Areiou phronountōn episkopōn, ton men Paulon scholazein epoiēsen; Eusebion de ek tēs Nikomēdeias metastēsas, tēs Kōnstantinou poleōs episkopon anadeiknysi. Kai ho men basileus tauta praxas, epi tēn ᾿Antiocheian hōrmēsen.
Not long afterwards the emperor came to Constantinople and was inflamed with anger at the ordination that had taken place. Convening a council of bishops who held Arius’s views, he removed Paul from office, and transferring Eusebius from Nicomedia, he made him bishop of Constantinople. Having done this, the emperor set out for Antioch.
Notes and citation
Summary: Constantius has Paul removed and transfers Eusebius of Nicomedia to the see of Constantinople.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (column number leaked into the text): συνέδριον (82΄) τῶν → συνέδριον τῶν.
Topics: Church office
Cite (SBL): Socrates, Hist. eccl. 2.7 (PG 67:193; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/socrates-historia/2-7). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/socrates-historia/2-7
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-socrates-historia-2-7) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Valesius's Greek text as printed in Migne PG 67 (Bavarian State Library OCR and Tesseract re-OCR); every chapter compared afterwards with Zenos's English in NPNF² 2.
2.8PG 67:195–197
Εὐσέβιος δὲ οὐδενὶ τρόπῳ ἡσυχάζειν ἐβούλετο, ἀλλὰ, τὸ τοῦ λόγου, πάντα λίθον ἐκίνει, ὅπως ἂν ὁ προέθετο κατεργάσηται· κατασκευάζει οὖν σύνοδον ἐν Ἀντιοχείᾳ τῆς Συρίας ὁ γενέσθαι, προφάσει μὲν τῶν ἐγκαινίων τῆς ἐκκλησίας, ἣν ὁ πατὴρ μὲν τῶν Αὐγούστων κατασκευάζειν ἤρξατο, μετὰ τελευτὴν δὲ αὐτοῦ, ὁ υἱὸς Κωνστάντιος δεκάτῳ ἔτει ἀπὸ τῆς θεμελιώσεως συνετέλεσεν. Τὸ δὲ ἀληθὲς, ἐπὶ τῇ ἀνατροπῇ καὶ καθαιρέσει τῆς ὁμοουσίου πίστεως. Ἐν ταύτῃ δὲ τῇ συνόδῳ συνῆλθον ἐκ διαφόρων πόλεων ἐπίσκοποι ἐνενήκοντα. Μάξιμος μέντοι ὁ τῶν Ἱεροσολύμων ἐπίσκοπος, ὃς Μακάριον διεδέξατο, οὐ παρεγένετο ἐν αὐτῇ, ἐπιλογισάμενος ὡς εἴη συναρ παγεὶς, καὶ τῇ καθαιρέσει ὑπογράψας ᾿Αθανασίου. ᾿Ἀλλὰ μὴν οὐδὲ Ἰούλιος παρῆν, ὁ τῆς μεγίστης Ῥώμης ἐπίσκοπος · οὐδὲ μὴν εἰς τὸν τόπον αὐτοῦ ἀπεστάλκει τινά· καίτοι κανόνος ἐκκλησιαστικοῦ κελεύοντος, μὴ δεῖν παρὰ τὴν γνώμην τοῦ ἐπισκόπου Ῥώμης, τὰς Ἐκκλησίας κανονίζειν κ. Συγκροτείται οὖν αὕτη σύνοδος τῇ ᾿Αντιοχείᾳ, παρουσίᾳ Κωνσταντίου τοῦ βασιλέως, ἐν ὑπατείᾳ Προδίνου: ἦν δὲ πέμπτον ἔτος τοῦτο τῆς τελευτῆς τοῦ τῶν Αὐγούστων πατρὸς Κωνσταντίνου. Προειστήχει δὲ τότε τῆς ἐν ᾿Αντιοχείᾳ Ἔχχλησίας Πλάχιτος, διαδεξάμενος Εὐφρόνιον. Οἱ περὶ Εὐσέδιον οὖν, τίθενται προηγουμένως ᾿Αθανάδιαδάλλειν, πρῶτον μὲν ὡς παρὰ κανόνα πράξαντα, ὃν αὐτοὶ ὥρισαν τότε, ὅτι μὴ γνώμη κοινοῦ συνεδρίου τῶν ἐπισκόπων, τὴν τάξιν τῆς ἱερωσύνης ἀνέλαδεν. Ἐπανελθὼν γὰρ ἀπὸ τῆς ἐξορίας, ἑαυτῷ ἐπιτρέψας εἰς τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν εἰσεπήδησε. Καὶ ὅτι ἐν τῇ εἰσόδῳ αὐτοῦ ταραχῆς γενομένης, πολλοὶ τῇ στάσει ἀπέθανον ὥς τινων αἰχιτθέντων ὑπὸ ᾿Αθανασίου, τινῶν ὃὲ δικαστηρίοις παραδοθένἡ των. Οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ τὰ ἐν τῇ Τύρῳ πεπραγμένα ᾿Αθαγασίου εἰς μέσον ἦγον. ||
Eusebios de oudeni tropǭ hēsychazein ebouleto, alla, to tou logou, panta lithon ekinei, hopōs an ho proetheto katergasētai; kataskeuazei oun synodon en Antiocheią tēs Syrias ho genesthai, prophasei men tōn enkainiōn tēs ekklēsias, hēn ho patēr men tōn Augoustōn kataskeuazein ērxato, meta teleutēn de autou, ho huios Kōnstantios dekatǭ etei apo tēs themeliōseōs synetelesen. To de alēthes, epi tę̄ anatropę̄ kai kathairesei tēs homoousiou pisteōs. En tautę̄ de tę̄ synodǭ synēlthon ek diaphorōn poleōn episkopoi enenēkonta. Maximos mentoi ho tōn Hierosolymōn episkopos, hos Makarion diedexato, ou paregeneto en autę̄, epilogisamenos hōs eiē synar pageis, kai tę̄ kathairesei hypograpsas ᾿Athanasiou. ᾿Alla mēn oude Ioulios parēn, ho tēs megistēs Rhōmēs episkopos ; oude mēn eis ton topon autou apestalkei tina; kaitoi kanonos ekklēsiastikou keleuontos, mē dein para tēn gnōmēn tou episkopou Rhōmēs, tas Ekklēsias kanonizein k. Synkroteitai oun hautē synodos tę̄ ᾿Antiocheią, parousią Kōnstantiou tou basileōs, en hypateią Prodinou: ēn de pempton etos touto tēs teleutēs tou tōn Augoustōn patros Kōnstantinou. Proeistēchei de tote tēs en ᾿Antiocheią Echchlēsias Plachitos, diadexamenos Euphronion. Hoi peri Eusedion oun, tithentai proēgoumenōs ᾿Athanadiadallein, prōton men hōs para kanona praxanta, hon autoi hōrisan tote, hoti mē gnōmē koinou synedriou tōn episkopōn, tēn taxin tēs hierōsynēs aneladen. Epanelthōn gar apo tēs exorias, heautǭ epitrepsas eis tēn Ekklēsian eisepēdēse. Kai hoti en tę̄ eisodǭ autou tarachēs genomenēs, polloi tę̄ stasei apethanon hōs tinōn aichitthentōn hypo ᾿Athanasiou, tinōn hoe dikastēriois paradothenē tōn. Ou mēn alla ta en tę̄ Tyrǭ pepragmena ᾿Athagasiou eis meson ēgon. ||
Eusebius would by no means keep quiet, but, as the saying goes, left no stone unturned to accomplish what he intended. He arranged for a synod to be held at Antioch in Syria, on the pretext of the dedication of the church which the father of the Augusti had begun to build and which after his death his son Constantius completed in the tenth year after its foundation; but in truth for the overthrow and abolition of the faith of the homoousios. Ninety bishops from various cities met at this synod. Maximus, bishop of Jerusalem, who had succeeded Macarius, did not attend, reflecting that he had been entrapped into signing the deposition of Athanasius. Nor was Julius, bishop of great Rome, present, nor had he sent anyone in his place; although an ecclesiastical canon commands that the churches must not make canons against the judgment of the bishop of Rome. This synod, then, met at Antioch in the presence of the emperor Constantius, in the consulship of … Probinus; this was the fifth year after the death of Constantine, father of the Augusti. Placitus, who had succeeded Euphronius, then presided over the church at Antioch. Eusebius and his party set out first of all to accuse Athanasius: first, as having acted against a canon which they themselves then laid down, because he had resumed the rank of priesthood without the judgment of a general council of bishops; for on his return from exile he had rushed into the church on his own authority. And that at his entry a disturbance arose and many died in the riot, some being beaten by Athanasius and others handed over to the courts. Moreover, they brought forward the proceedings at Tyre against Athanasius.
Notes and citation
Summary: At the dedication synod of Antioch (341), held without Julius of Rome, the Eusebians accuse Athanasius of resuming his see without a synod and of violence.
- The canon requiring the judgment of the bishop of Rome is Socrates’ own statement; it is translated exactly.
- A name is lost before “Probinus” (marked “…”); the consuls of 341 were Marcellinus and Probinus.
Extrabiblical texts: Conc. Antioch. (Canons of the Council of Antioch (in Encaeniis); allusion)
Topics: Church office
Cite (SBL): Socrates, Hist. eccl. 2.8 (PG 67:195–197; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/socrates-historia/2-8). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/socrates-historia/2-8
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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Valesius's Greek text as printed in Migne PG 67 (Bavarian State Library OCR and Tesseract re-OCR); every chapter compared afterwards with Zenos's English in NPNF² 2.
2.9PG 67:197–199
Ἐπὶ τούτοις τότε τῆς διαβολῆς γενομένης, ρίζονται τῆς ᾿Αλεξανδρείας ἐπίσκοπον, πρῶτον μὲν Εὐσέδιον τὸν ἐπιχληθέντα Ἐμισηνόν. Τίς δὲ οὗτος ἣν, διδάσκει Γεώργιος ὁ Λαοδικείας, ὃς τότε παρῆν ἐν τῇ συνόδῳ. Φησὶ γὰρ ἐν τῷ εἰς αὐτὸν πεπονημένῳ βιδλέῳ, ὡς εἴη Εὐσέδιος τῶν εὐπατριδῶν τῆς ἐν Μετοποταμίᾳ Ἐδέση: χαταγόμενος᾽ νέας τε ἡλιχίας τὰ ἱερὰ μαθὼν Γράμματα" εἶτα τὰ ᾿Ελλήνων παιδευθεὶς παρὰ τῷ τηνικαῦτα τῇ ᾿Εδέσῃ ἐπιδημήσαντι παιδευτῇ' τέλος ὑπὸ Πατροφίλου Εὐσεύθίου τὰ ἱερὰ ἡρμηνεύθη Βιδλία ὧν ὁ μὲν τῶν ἐν Καισα- α' ὁ δὲ τῆς ἐν Σχυθοπόλει προΐστατο Ἐκκλησίας. Μετὰ ταῦτα δὲ ἐπιδημήσαντος αὐτοῦ τῇ ᾿Αντιοχείᾳ, συνέβη. Εὐστάθιον ὑπὸ Κύρου κατηγορηθέντα τοῦ Βεροιέως καθαιρεθῆναι ὡς Σαθελλίζοντα. Εἶτα αὖθις τὸν Εὐσέβιον συνεῖναι Εὐφρονίῳ τῷ διαδεξαμένῳ Εὐστάθιον " φεύγοντά τε τὴν ἱερωσύνην, καταλαβεῖν ἃ τὴν ᾿Αλεξάνδρειαν, κἀκεῖ μαθεῖν τὰ φιλόσοφα. Ἐπανελθόντα τε εἰς τὴν ᾿Αντιόχειαν, Πλακίτῳ τῷ μετὰ Εὐφρόνιον συνεῖναι, ὑπό τε Εὐσεβίου τοῦ Κωνσταντίνου πόλεως ἐπισκόπου προβληθῆναι εἰς τὴν ᾿Αλεξανδρείας ἐπισκοπήν. ᾿Αλλ᾽ ἐκεῖ μὲν μηκέτι ὁρμῆσαι, διὰ τὸ σφόδρα ὑπὸ τοῦ τῶν ᾿Αλεξανδρέων λαοῦ ἀγαπᾶσθαι ᾿Αθανάσιον. Πεμφθῆναι δὲ εἰς τὴν Ἐμισηνῶν πόλιν. Διαστασιασάντων δὲ τῶν Ἐμισηνῶν ἐπὶ τῇ χειροτονίᾳ αὐτοῦ · ἐλοιδορεῖτο γὰρ, ὡς μαθηματικὴν ἀσκούμενος· φυγῇ χρῆται, καὶ ἄπεισιν εἰς Λαοδίκειαν πρὸς τὸν περὶ αὐτοῦ πολλὰ εἰπόντα Γεώργιον. Οὗτος δὲ αὐτὸν εἰς τὴν ᾿Αντιόχειαν καταστήσας, παρεσκεύασεν αὖθις ὑπὸ Πλακίτου καὶ Ναρκίσσου καταχθῆναι εἰς τὴν Ἔμισαν. Πάλιν τε μέμψιν ὑπομεῖναι, ὡς τὰ Σαβελλίου φρονοῦντα αὐτόν. Καὶ τὰ μὲν περὶ τῆς καταστάσεως αὐτοῦ πλατύτερον διεξῆλθεν ὁ Γεώργιος. Τελευταῖον δὲ ἐπάγει, ὅτι καὶ ὁ βασιλεὺς αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τοὺς βαρβάρους ἀπιὼν ἐπῆγε, καὶ ὅτι τεράστια ἐν ταῖς χερσὶν αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο. Τὰ μὲν δὴ Γεωργίῳ εἰρημένα περὶ τοῦ Ἐμισηνοῦ Εὐσεβίου, ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον λελέχθω μοι.
Epi toutois tote tēs diabolēs genomenēs, rizontai tēs ᾿Alexandreias episkopon, prōton men Eusedion ton epichlēthenta Emisēnon. Tis de houtos hēn, didaskei Geōrgios ho Laodikeias, hos tote parēn en tę̄ synodǭ. Phēsi gar en tǭ eis auton peponēmenǭ bidleǭ, hōs eiē Eusedios tōn eupatridōn tēs en Metopotamią Edesē: chatagomenos᾽ neas te hēlichias ta hiera mathōn Grammata" eita ta ᾿Ellēnōn paideutheis para tǭ tēnikauta tę̄ ᾿Edesę̄ epidēmēsanti paideutę̄' telos hypo Patrophilou Euseuthiou ta hiera hērmēneuthē Bidlia hōn ho men tōn en Kaisa- a' ho de tēs en Schythopolei proïstato Ekklēsias. Meta tauta de epidēmēsantos autou tę̄ ᾿Antiocheią, synebē. Eustathion hypo Kyrou katēgorēthenta tou Beroieōs kathairethēnai hōs Sathellizonta. Eita authis ton Eusebion syneinai Euphroniǭ tǭ diadexamenǭ Eustathion " pheugonta te tēn hierōsynēn, katalabein ha tēn ᾿Alexandreian, kakei mathein ta philosopha. Epanelthonta te eis tēn ᾿Antiocheian, Plakitǭ tǭ meta Euphronion syneinai, hypo te Eusebiou tou Kōnstantinou poleōs episkopou problēthēnai eis tēn ᾿Alexandreias episkopēn. ᾿All᾽ ekei men mēketi hormēsai, dia to sphodra hypo tou tōn ᾿Alexandreōn laou agapasthai ᾿Athanasion. Pemphthēnai de eis tēn Emisēnōn polin. Diastasiasantōn de tōn Emisēnōn epi tę̄ cheirotonią autou ; eloidoreito gar, hōs mathēmatikēn askoumenos; phygę̄ chrētai, kai apeisin eis Laodikeian pros ton peri autou polla eiponta Geōrgion. Houtos de auton eis tēn ᾿Antiocheian katastēsas, pareskeuasen authis hypo Plakitou kai Narkissou katachthēnai eis tēn Emisan. Palin te mempsin hypomeinai, hōs ta Sabelliou phronounta auton. Kai ta men peri tēs katastaseōs autou platyteron diexēlthen ho Geōrgios. Teleutaion de epagei, hoti kai ho basileus auton epi tous barbarous apiōn epēge, kai hoti terastia en tais chersin autou egeneto. Ta men dē Geōrgiǭ eirēmena peri tou Emisēnou Eusebiou, epi tosouton lelechthō moi.
When the slander had been made on these grounds, they first put forward as bishop of Alexandria Eusebius surnamed of Emesa. Who he was is told by George of Laodicea, who was then present at the synod. He says in the book he composed about him that Eusebius came from one of the noble families of Edessa in Mesopotamia; that from his youth he learned the sacred writings; then he was educated in pagan learning by a teacher who was then staying at Edessa; finally the sacred books were explained to him by Patrophilus and Eusebius, of whom the latter presided over the church at Caesarea and the former over that at Scythopolis. Afterwards, when he was staying at Antioch, it happened that Eustathius was accused by Cyrus of Beroea and deposed as a Sabellian. Then Eusebius lived with Euphronius, Eustathius’s successor; avoiding the priesthood, he went to Alexandria and studied philosophy there. Returning to Antioch, he lived with Placitus, Euphronius’s successor, and was put forward by Eusebius, bishop of Constantinople, for the bishopric of Alexandria. But he did not go there, because Athanasius was much loved by the people of Alexandria; he was sent instead to the city of Emesa. When the people of Emesa rioted over his ordination (for he was reviled as one who practised astrology), he fled and went to Laodicea, to George, who said much about him. George took him to Antioch and arranged for him to be brought back again to Emesa by Placitus and Narcissus. Again he incurred blame, as holding the views of Sabellius. George describes his installation at length, and finally adds that the emperor took him along when he went against the barbarians, and that wonders were done at his hands. Let this much be said by me of what George says about Eusebius of Emesa.
Notes and citation
Summary: The Eusebians first propose Eusebius of Emesa for Alexandria; Socrates summarizes George of Laodicea’s account of his education and troubled episcopate.
- George of Laodicea’s book on Eusebius of Emesa is lost.
- In the list of his teachers the scan has lost a few letters (“Caesarea”); the sense is clear.
Cite (SBL): Socrates, Hist. eccl. 2.9 (PG 67:197–199; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/socrates-historia/2-9). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/socrates-historia/2-9
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-socrates-historia-2-9) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Valesius's Greek text as printed in Migne PG 67 (Bavarian State Library OCR and Tesseract re-OCR); every chapter compared afterwards with Zenos's English in NPNF² 2.