Church History 1.7–1.13

After his defeat there Licinius, who had formerly favoured the Christians, changed his mind, and at that time ill-treated many of the priests in his own dominion, and many others too, especially among the soldiers. He hated the Christians intensely because of his quarrel with Constantine, thinking that he would grieve him by the misfortunes of the religion, and at the same time supposing that the churches prayed and strove to be ruled by Constantine alone. Besides this, as often happens, when he was about to go to battle again with Constantine he made provision for the expected war by sacrifices and divinations, and, led on by some who promised him victory, he turned to paganism. The pagans themselves say that he then consulted the oracle of Didymaean Apollo at Miletus, and that when he asked about the war the demon answered him with these lines of Homer: “Old man, truly the young warriors [press] you [hard]; your strength [is spent, and hard] old age [attends] you.” Among many other things, it has seemed to me that the doctrine of the Christians was established by the providence of God and came to so great an increase not least from what happened then. For just when Licinius was about to persecute all the churches under him, the war in Bithynia broke out, the last war that he and Constantine fought against each other. Constantine had such divine help that he overcame his opponents by land and sea; and Licinius, having lost his infantry and his fleet, surrendered himself at Nicomedia, lived for some time as a private man at Thessalonica, and was put to death there. So ended a man who in the first part of his reign had been very highly esteemed in war and in other respects, and had been honoured with marriage to Constantine's sister.

When the whole Roman empire had come round to Constantine alone, he proclaimed by a public decree to his subjects in the East that they should honour the Christian religion and serve the Divine diligently, and should regard as divine only that which truly is and has power that endures for all time. For those who are zealous for it, all good things are wont to come in abundance, and whatever they undertake meets with good hopes; but for those who fail toward the better cause, all things turn out ill, in public and in private, in war and in peace. Acknowledging his gratitude, not boasting, he affirms that God, judging him a fit servant of his will, led him forward from the sea by Britain to the eastern lands, so that the religion of the Christians might grow, and that those who had remained steadfast for the service of God in confessions and martyrdoms might be shown more illustrious by honours. Having proclaimed this and gone through countless other matters by which he thought to bring his subjects to the religion, he decreed that whatever had been decided or done against the religion under the persecutors of the church should be void. He enacted that all should be released who for confessing Christ had been condemned to be deported, to live against their will on islands or elsewhere, to labour in mines or public works, or to serve in the women's quarters or the linen factories, or to be enrolled in the town councils when they had not been councillors before. Those who had been deprived of civil rights he freed from the deprivation. Those who had been stripped of some military rank he allowed, as they chose, either to hold the rank they had had or to enjoy freedom with an honourable discharge. And when he had restored them all to their former freedom and their customary honours, he also gave back their property. If any condemned to death had been deprived of their goods, he ordered that the inheritance should pass to their nearest kin; if there were none, the local church in each place was to inherit; and whether a private person or the treasury held anything from such property, it was to be returned. For those who had bought from the treasury or received a grant, he promised to provide in a possible and fitting way. These things, as has been said, the emperor decided and confirmed by law, and they were carried out without delay. Christians for the most part administered the offices of Roman government; and henceforth all were forbidden to sacrifice, to use divinations and initiations, to set up images, or to celebrate pagan festivals. Many of the ancient customs in the cities were changed. Among the Egyptians, for example, the cubit by which the rise of the waters of the Nile is marked is no longer brought to the pagan temples as before, but from that time to the churches. Among the Romans the spectacle of gladiators was then forbidden for the first time. Among the Phoenicians who live in Lebanon and Heliopolis it was no longer lawful for virgins to be prostituted before they came together with the men with whom they were accustomed to live in lawful marriage after the first experience of the unlawful union. Of the houses of prayer, those that were large enough were repaired; others were splendidly enlarged in height and breadth; and where there had been none at all, they were built from the foundations. The emperor supplied the money from the royal treasuries, having written to the bishops in each city and to the governors of the provinces, the former to direct what they wished, the latter to obey and serve the priests diligently. As his rule prospered, religion grew with it. After the war with Licinius he was so successful against foreign peoples that he subdued the Sarmatians and those called Goths, and in the end made a treaty with them as a favour. This people lived beyond the river Ister; very warlike, great in numbers and in size of body, always prepared in arms, it overcame the other barbarians and had the Romans alone as rivals. It is said that in this war too it was shown to Constantine by signs and dreams how great a providence watched over him from God. Having prevailed in all the wars that befell him, as if vying in generosity with Christ, he repaid him with zeal for the religion, urging his subjects to honour it alone and to hold it the way of salvation. From the taxable land of each city he set apart a fixed portion of the public revenue and assigned it to the local churches and clergy, and enacted that the grant should be valid for all time. Accustoming the soldiers to worship God as he did, he marked their arms with the symbol of the cross. He built a house of prayer in the palace, and when he marched against enemies he carried with him a tent shaped like a church, so that neither he nor the army, even in the desert, should lack a sacred house in which to sing praise to God, pray, and share in the mysteries. Priests and deacons accompanied him, attending the tent and fulfilling the order of these things according to the law of the church. From that time each of the Roman legions, which they now call numeri, provided itself with its own tent and had priests and deacons assigned to it. He enacted that on the day called the Lord's day, which the Hebrews call the first of the week and the Greeks dedicate to the sun, and on the day before the seventh, all should rest from the courts and from other business and serve the Divine with prayers and supplications. He honoured the Lord's day because on it Christ rose from the dead, and the other because on it he was crucified. For he had very great reverence for the divine cross, both because of the help it had given him in his battles against his enemies and because of the divine sign concerning it that had been shown to him. For example, he abolished by law the punishment of the cross, which had formerly been customary among the Romans, from the use of the courts. He ordered that this divine symbol should always be inscribed and stamped on coins and on painted images of himself; and his images in this form still bear witness to it. In all things, but above all in his laws, he was zealous to serve the Divine. He is seen, for instance, to have reformed licentious and dissolute unions that had not been forbidden before, as one can see from the laws enacted on these matters, if anyone cares to. For it does not seem to me the right time now to do this completely. But it is necessary, besides what has been said, to go through what was enacted for the honour and establishment of the religion, since it is part of ecclesiastical history. I shall begin from here.

The Romans had an old law which forbade those who were unmarried from the age of twenty-five to receive the same privileges as those who were not, both in many other respects and in that they could gain nothing by a will from those who were not their nearest kin; and it penalized the childless by half of what was left to them. The Romans of old enacted it thinking that Rome and its subjects would thus become populous, since not long before the law they had lost many lives in civil wars. The emperor, then, seeing that on this account those who practised virginity and childlessness for God's sake fared worse, thought it foolish to suppose that the human race could be increased by human care and effort, since nature always receives both decrease and increase according to the measure from above. He issued a law to the people that the unmarried and childless should enjoy all the same rights equally with others; and he even enacted that those who lived in continence and virginity should have more, that their decision should be valid and stronger than that of others, giving them, men and women alike, and even those under age, permission to make a will, contrary to what generally prevailed in the Roman state. For he thought that those whose work was always to serve the Divine and to practise philosophy would decide well about everything. For this reason the Romans of old too had enacted that the Vestal virgins might make wills freely, even at six years of age. This too is a very great proof of the emperor's reverence for religion: by enacting a law he made the clergy everywhere exempt from taxes; he allowed litigants to appeal to the judgment of the bishops if they wished to decline the civil magistrates; their verdict was to be binding on the judges, as if it had been issued by the emperor; the magistrates and the soldiers serving them were to carry out what was decided; and the definitions of synods were to be unalterable. Having come to this point in my writing, it is right not to pass over what was enacted for the benefit of those freed in the churches. Because of the strictness of the laws, and the unwillingness of owners, there was great difficulty in obtaining the better freedom which the Romans call citizenship; so he enacted three laws, decreeing that all who were freed in the churches with the priests as witnesses should obtain Roman citizenship. Time still bears proof of this pious device to this day, for the custom prevails of writing the laws on this subject at the head of the deeds of manumission. Such were the laws Constantine enacted, and in every way he was zealous to honour the religion. It was also illustrious in itself, because of the virtue of those who then practised it.

For there were then many other good Christians, and, since the persecutions had only lately ceased, very many of the confessors were still alive and gave dignity to the churches: such as Hosius, bishop of Cordova; Amphion of Epiphania in Cilicia; Maximus, who was entrusted with the church of Jerusalem after Macarius; and Paphnutius from Egypt, through whom, they say, the Divine worked very many wonders, granting him power over demons and the healing of various diseases. This Paphnutius and the Maximus already mentioned were among those confessors whom Maximinus condemned to work in the mines, after cutting out their right eyes and severing the tendons of their left knees.

We have received that Spyridon, bishop of Trimythus in Cyprus, also lived in their time. To show his virtue, I think the fame that still prevails about him is enough. Of the things that were done through him with divine help, the inhabitants naturally know most; but I shall not hide what has come to us. He was a countryman, with a wife and children, but not on that account worse in divine things. They say that once some wicked men came by night to the fold of his sheep, and as they tried to steal them they were suddenly bound, though no one had bound them. At daybreak he came and found them fettered, and he loosed them from their invisible bonds; but he rebuked them because, when they could have asked and received what they wanted, they had chosen rather to steal and to toil so much by night. Yet he took pity on them, or rather taught them to change to a better life, and said: “Go, and take this ram with you; you are worn out from staying awake, and you must not leave my fold with nothing to show for your labours.” One might rightly marvel at this, and no less at the following. One of his acquaintances entrusted something to his daughter, a virgin named Irene, and she took it and buried it in the house, so that it might be carefully kept. It happened that the girl died without saying anything, and the man came demanding his deposit. Spyridon did not know what he meant, but searched the house nonetheless and did not find it; the man wept and tore his hair and was plainly ready to die. Moved to pity, Spyridon went to the tomb and called the girl by name. When she answered, he asked about the deposit; when he had learned, he went back, found it where she had indicated, and gave it back to the man. Since I have been led to this point in the account, it is not out of place to add this as well. It was Spyridon's custom to distribute some of the produce he gathered to the poor and to lend some without interest to whoever wished. He neither gave out nor received anything with his own hands; he would only point out the storeroom and let those who came take as much as they needed, and pay back again as much as they knew they had taken. A man who had borrowed in this way came to pay it back. Allowed, as was the custom, to return what he had borrowed to the storeroom by himself, he set his mind on wrongdoing; and thinking he was unobserved, he did not pay the debt, but kept back the repayment of what he owed and went away as if he had paid. But it was not to remain hidden for long. Some time later he again asked to borrow. Spyridon sent him to the storeroom, giving him leave to measure out for himself as much as he wanted. Seeing the room empty, he told Spyridon. Spyridon said to him: “It is surprising, man, how the storeroom seems to have run short of provisions for you alone. Consider within yourself whether you used it before and did not pay back what you took first. If this is not the case, you will certainly not fail to get what you need. Go again with confidence, and you will find it.” So the man was caught out and confessed his sin. It is worth marvelling also at the gravity of this godly man and his exactness about church order. It is said that some time later the bishops of Cyprus met together for some need, and with them were this Spyridon and Triphyllius, bishop of Ledra, a man of distinction in general, who had spent a long time in the city of Berytus for the study of law. At an assembly Triphyllius was asked to teach the people; and when he had to bring forward the saying, “Take up your bed and walk,” he changed the word and said “couch” instead of “bed.” Spyridon was indignant and said: “Are you better than the one who said ‘bed,’ that you are ashamed to use his words?” With these words he sprang from the bishop's throne in sight of the people, teaching in this way the man who was proud of his eloquence to be modest. For he was able to put him to shame, being venerable and most renowned for his deeds, and at the same time older both in age and in the priesthood. How he was disposed toward the entertaining of strangers may be known from this. When Lent had already begun, someone came to him from a journey, on the days in which he was accustomed to keep the fast continuously with his household and to taste food only on a set day, remaining without food on the days between. Seeing the stranger very weary, he said to his daughter: “Come, wash the man's feet and set food before him.” When the girl said there was neither bread nor barley meal, for it was needless to have these ready because of the fast, he first prayed and asked pardon, and then ordered his daughter to boil some salted pork that happened to be in the house. When it was cooked, he seated the stranger with him, set the meat before him and began to eat, and urged the man to do as he did. When he refused, saying that he was a Christian, Spyridon said: “All the more reason not to refuse; for the divine Word has declared, ‘To the pure all things are pure.’” So much about Spyridon.

Not least, those who then followed the monastic way of life made the church most illustrious and upheld its doctrine by the virtues of their lives. This kind of philosophy, a most useful thing that came to men from God, neglects many studies and the technicalities of dialectic as superfluous, since they take away leisure from better things and contribute nothing to living rightly. By a natural, unaffected wisdom alone it teaches what entirely destroys evil or lessens it. It places among good things nothing that lies between vice and virtue, and delights only in what is noble. It counts as worthless the man who abstains from evil but does not do good; for it does not display virtue but practises it, making no account of glory among men. Resisting the passions of the soul very bravely, it neither yields to the necessities of nature nor gives way to the weaknesses of the body. Possessing the power of a divine mind, it always looks to the Creator of all, worships him night and day, and propitiates him with prayers and supplications. Coming to holy worship by purity of soul and a life of good deeds, it disregards purifications, sprinklings and the like; for it holds that sins alone are defilements. Being superior to what befalls from outside and, so to speak, master of all things, it is not moved from its purpose by the disorder or necessity that holds life in its grip; it is not grieved when insulted nor does it retaliate when ill-treated; nor, when pressed by disease or lack of necessaries, does it lose heart. Rather it takes pride in these, practising gentleness and the need of little throughout life, and coming as near to God as human nature can. Using the present life as if in passing, it is not distressed with business about acquiring property, nor does it provide for present things beyond pressing need; always praising the simplicity and lightness of equipment here, it awaits the blessedness that is from there and is always intent on its happy lot. Breathing constant reverence toward the Divine, it turns from the unpleasantness of foul speech, not tolerating even in word the things whose deeds it has banished from its own way of life. Reducing the needs of nature to little and compelling the body to need only what is moderate, by self-control it [masters] licentiousness, by justice it punishes injustice, by truth falsehood, and by good order it attains due measure in all things. It establishes its life in concord and fellowship with its neighbours; it provides for friends and strangers, makes its own goods common to those in need, and helps each as is fitting, neither troubling the joyful nor failing to comfort the grieving. Altogether eager, and directing its care to what is truly good, it teaches with sober words and wise thoughts that have no part in ornament or slander, and heals its hearers as with medicines, holding its conversations with honour and respect, free from strife, mockery and anger. Being rational, it rejects every irrational impulse and masters once for all the passions of body and soul. This most excellent philosophy was begun, as some say, by Elijah the prophet and John the Baptist. Philo the Pythagorean relates that in his time the best of the Hebrews from every quarter practised philosophy on a certain estate lying on a low hill above Lake Mareotis. He presents their dwelling, diet and manner of life as being such as we now see lived among the monks of Egypt. He writes that when they began to practise philosophy they gave up their possessions to their relatives, and renouncing business and society, lived outside the walls in solitary fields and gardens; that they had sacred houses called monasteries, in which they performed solemn mysteries in solitude; that they served the Divine diligently with psalms and hymns; that they tasted no food before sunset, and some only every three days or more; that on certain days they lay on the ground, and abstained altogether from wine and from meat; that their food was bread, salt and hyssop, and their drink water; and that women lived among them, elderly virgins, who practised the unmarried life of their own free will out of love of philosophy. In relating this, Philo seems to point to those of his time who had become Christians from among the Hebrews, still living in a more Jewish way and keeping their customs; for this manner of life is not found among any others. From this I infer that this philosophy has flourished among the Egyptians since that time. Others say that the persecutions which befell the religion from time to time gave rise to it; for when people fled and spent their time in mountains, deserts and ravines, they became accustomed to this life.

But whether Egyptians or some others first led this philosophy, this at least is agreed by all, that Antony the great monk brought this way of life to the height of exactness and perfection by his conduct and fitting exercises. As he was then distinguished in the deserts of Egypt, the emperor Constantine, because of the fame of the man's virtue, made him his friend, honoured him with letters, and urged him to write about whatever he needed. He was an Egyptian by race, of a noble family, from Coma; this village lies near Heraclea in Egypt. Left an orphan as a youth, he gave his ancestral fields to the villagers; he sold the rest of his property and distributed the price to the poor. For he saw that it belongs to an earnest philosopher not only to strip himself of money but also to spend it as he ought. He associated with the earnest men of his time and emulated the virtues of all of them. Judging that the good life, though hard at first, would become pleasant by habit, he devised ways of stricter discipline and advanced daily in self-control; and as if always beginning, he renewed his eagerness, chastising pleasures by the hardships of the body and opposing the passions of the soul with a purpose wise in God. His food was bread alone, and salt; his drink water; and his time for dinner sunset. He often remained without food for two days or more. He kept vigil, so to speak, always through whole nights, and was still praying when day came on; and if he tasted sleep at all, he slept for a moment on a mat. Mostly he lay on the ground, and made the bare earth his bed. He refused anointing with oil, the use of baths and the like, on the ground that moisture changes the firmness of the body into slackness. They say that he never saw himself naked. He neither knew letters nor admired them, but praised a good mind as older than letters and as their inventor. He was exceedingly gentle, most kind, sensible and courageous, gracious to those who met him and inoffensive to those with whom he conversed, even if they argued contentiously; for by his own character and a certain skill he wisely calmed growing rivalry and brought it to moderation, tempered the vehemence of those who talked with him, and set their manners in order. Though through so many virtues he had become full of divine foreknowledge, he did not consider it a virtue to foresee the future, and so he advised others not to labour vainly after it, declaring that one who does not know what is to come will not be called to account for it, and one who knows it will not on that account be enviable. True blessedness, he said, lies in worshipping God and keeping his laws. “But if anyone cares about this,” he said, “let him keep his soul pure”; for this can make it clear-sighted and knowing of what is to come, when God reveals the future beforehand. He would not endure being idle himself, and he urged anyone who meant to live well to work, to examine himself and give account of what he had done by night and by day; and if he had done anything he should not, to write it down, so that thereafter he might keep from sins, ashamed of himself if he found much written, and fearing that if his record were found he would be shown to others to be wicked. Moreover, he was extraordinarily zealous, if anyone ever was, in defending those who were wronged, and for their sake he often went into the cities. For many came to him lamenting and pressed him to plead for them with the magistrates and those in authority. Each of these would have paid much to see him, to hear him speak, and to obey his commands, since, great as he was, he was eager to be unknown and to lie hidden in the deserts. If he was ever compelled to come into a city to help those in need, as soon as he had settled the business for which he had come, he went straight back to the desert. For he said that as the water nourishes fishes, so the desert gives monks their ornament; and that as fishes that touch dry land lose their life, so monks who approach the towns lose their monastic dignity. Showing himself persuasive and gracious to those who saw him, he took care neither to have a disdainful nature nor to seem to have one. I have been led to tell these few of Antony's ways of life so that, using what has been said as examples, we may estimate the philosophy of the man. He had very many and very renowned disciples, some of whom were distinguished in Egypt and Libya, others in Palestine, Syria and Arabia. Each of them, no less than his teacher, lived and conducted himself among those with whom he dwelt, taught many, and led them to a like virtue and philosophy. So it would be a task to go round the cities and countries carefully seeking out the companions of Antony or their successors. How could it be easy to find those who were more careful to remain hidden in life than many people now, puffed up with ambition, are to parade themselves and make themselves known? Among the disciples of Antony of whom we have received an account, the most renowned were, among many others whom we shall record in their proper time, Paul, surnamed the Simple. They say that he was a countryman married to a woman of beautiful appearance; that he caught her in the act of adultery, laughed quietly, and swore an oath that he would no longer live with her; and that saying to the adulterer, “Keep her,” he went straight to Antony in the desert. This man is said to have been very gentle and exceedingly patient. Although he was old and unused to monastic hardship, being still a newcomer, Antony put him to every kind of test and found him ignoble in nothing. Bearing witness to his perfect philosophy, he allowed him to live by himself, as one who needed no teacher. God too confirmed Antony's testimony and by his works showed the man to be most renowned, and stronger even than his teacher in tormenting and driving out demons.