Church History 8.20–8.28
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 8
8.20PG 67:1567–1569
Οὐ πολλῷ δὲ ὕστερον, ἀνδριάντος ἀργυροῦ τῆς τοῦ βασιλέως γαμετῆς ἐπὶ πορφυροῦ κίονος ἀνατεθέντος, ὃς καὶ νῦν ἔστι πρὸς μεσημβρίαν τῆς ἐκκλησίας πρὸ τοῦ οἴκου τῆς μεγάλης βουλῆς ἐφ᾽ ὑψηλοῦ βήματος, κρότοι τε καὶ δημώδεις θέαι ὀρχηστῶν τε καὶ μίμων ἐνθάδε ἐπετελοῦντο, ὡς ἔθος ἦν τότε ἐπὶ τῇ ἀνακλήσει τῶν βασιλικῶν εἰκόνων. Ἐφ' ὕβρει δὲ τῆς ἐκκλησίας τάδε γεγενῆσθαι, ἐν ὁμιλίᾳ πρὸς τὸν λαὸν ὁ Ἰωάννης διέβαλεν· Ἡ δὲ βασιλὶς, ἔτι προσφάτου οὔσης τῆς μνήμης τῶν πρότερον λυπηρῶν, ὡς ὑβρισμένη πάλιν ἐμπίπλαται θυμοῦ, καὶ σύνοδον αὖθις ἐπιτελεῖσθαι ἐσπούδαζεν. Ὁ δὲ οὐκ ἐνεδίδου· ἀλλ᾽ ἔτι σαφέστερον ἐπ᾿ ἐκκλησίας λοιδορῶν αὐτὴν, ἐξέκαυσε πρὸς ὀργήν. Ἡνίκα δὴ τὸν ἀοίδιμον ἐκεῖνον διεξῆλθε λόγον, ἀρξάμενος ὧδε· Πάλιν Ἡρωδιὰς μαίνεται, πάλιν ὀρχεῖται, πάλιν Ἰωάννου τὴν κεφαλὴν ἐπὶ πίνακος σπουδάζει λαβεῖν. Οὐκ εἰς μακρὰν δὲ ἄλλοι τε ἐπίσκοποι παρεγένοντο, καὶ Λεόντιος ὁ ᾿Αγγύρας, καὶ ᾿Ακάκιος ὁ Βεῤῥοίας. Ἐπιγενομένης δὲ τῆς γενε θλίου ἡμέρας τοῦ Χριστοῦ, ὁ μὲν βασιλεὺς, ὡς εἰώθει, εἰς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν οὐκ ἦλθεν· ἐδήλωσε δὲ Ἰωάννη μὴ κοινωνεῖν αὐτῷ πρὶν ἀνεύθυνος φανῇ τῶν ἐγκλημάτων. Ἐπεὶ δὲ προθύμως ἀπολογεῖσθαι ἔφη, οἱ κατήγοροι δείσαντες ἐπεξιέναι τοῖς ἐγκλήμασιν οὐκ ἐθάῤῥουν, Ἐδόκει δὲ τοῖς δικασταῖς, μὴ δέον εἰς δευτέραν χωρεῖν κρίσιν τὸν ὁπωσοῦν καθαιρεθέντα. Καὶ τῶν μὲν ἄλλων οὐδὲν ἐξήταζον. Πρὸς τοῦτο δὲ μόνον ἀπολογεῖσθαι τὸν Ἰωάννην ἀπήτουν, ὅτι καθαιρεθείς πρὶν ἐπιτρέψαι σύνοδον, εἰς τὸν ἐπισκοπικὸν ἐκάθισε θρόνον. Τοῦ δὲ τὴν ψῆφον τῶν κεκοινωνηκότων αὐτῷ μετὰ τὴν προτέραν σύνοδον προϊσχομένου, ὡς πλειόνων αὐτοῦ καταψηφισαμένων, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἱερατικοῦ κανόνος ἀπαγορεύοντος, οὐ προσίεντο τὴν ἀπολογίαν. : ᾿Αλλὰ καθεῖλον αὐτὸν, ἑτεροδόξων ἐνιστάμενοι τοῦτὸν νόμον. Ἐπεὶ γὰρ οἱ ἀπὸ τῆς ᾿Αρείου αἱρέσεως συχοφαντήσαντες ᾿Αθανάσιον ἀφείλοντο τὴν ᾿ΆἌλεξανδρέων Ἐκκλησίαν, δέει τῆς τῶν πραγμάτων μεταβολῆς, τάδε ἐνομοθέτησαν, ἀνεξέταστα μένειν τὰ ἐπ᾽ αὐτῷ βεβουλευμένα σπουδάζοντες,
Ou pollǭ de hysteron, andriantos argyrou tēs tou basileōs gametēs epi porphyrou kionos anatethentos, hos kai nyn esti pros mesēmbrian tēs ekklēsias pro tou oikou tēs megalēs boulēs eph᾽ hypsēlou bēmatos, krotoi te kai dēmōdeis theai orchēstōn te kai mimōn enthade epetelounto, hōs ethos ēn tote epi tę̄ anaklēsei tōn basilikōn eikonōn. Eph' hybrei de tēs ekklēsias tade gegenēsthai, en homilią pros ton laon ho Iōannēs diebalen; Hē de basilis, eti prosphatou ousēs tēs mnēmēs tōn proteron lypērōn, hōs hybrismenē palin empiplatai thymou, kai synodon authis epiteleisthai espoudazen. Ho de ouk enedidou; all᾽ eti saphesteron ep᾿ ekklēsias loidorōn autēn, exekause pros orgēn. Hēnika dē ton aoidimon ekeinon diexēlthe logon, arxamenos hōde; Palin Hērōdias mainetai, palin orcheitai, palin Iōannou tēn kephalēn epi pinakos spoudazei labein. Ouk eis makran de alloi te episkopoi paregenonto, kai Leontios ho ᾿Angyras, kai ᾿Akakios ho Berrhoias. Epigenomenēs de tēs gene thliou hēmeras tou Christou, ho men basileus, hōs eiōthei, eis tēn ekklēsian ouk ēlthen; edēlōse de Iōannē mē koinōnein autǭ prin aneuthynos phanę̄ tōn enklēmatōn. Epei de prothymōs apologeisthai ephē, hoi katēgoroi deisantes epexienai tois enklēmasin ouk etharrhoun, Edokei de tois dikastais, mē deon eis deuteran chōrein krisin ton hopōsoun kathairethenta. Kai tōn men allōn ouden exētazon. Pros touto de monon apologeisthai ton Iōannēn apētoun, hoti kathairetheis prin epitrepsai synodon, eis ton episkopikon ekathise thronon. Tou de tēn psēphon tōn kekoinōnēkotōn autǭ meta tēn proteran synodon proïschomenou, hōs pleionōn autou katapsēphisamenōn, kai dia touto hieratikou kanonos apagoreuontos, ou prosiento tēn apologian. : ᾿Alla katheilon auton, heterodoxōn enistamenoi touton nomon. Epei gar hoi apo tēs ᾿Areiou haireseōs sychophantēsantes ᾿Athanasion apheilonto tēn ᾿AAlexandreōn Ekklēsian, deei tēs tōn pragmatōn metabolēs, tade enomothetēsan, anexetasta menein ta ep᾽ autǭ bebouleumena spoudazontes,
Not long after, a silver statue of the emperor’s wife was set up on a column of porphyry, which still stands to the south of the church, before the house of the great council, on a high platform; and applause and popular shows of dancers and mimes were held there, as was then the custom at the dedication of imperial images. In a homily to the people John censured these things as having been done in insult to the church. The empress, the memory of the former troubles being still fresh, was again filled with anger as one insulted, and was eager for a synod to be held again. He did not give way, but reviling her still more plainly in church inflamed her anger. Then he delivered that celebrated discourse, beginning thus: “Again Herodias rages, again she dances, again she seeks to receive the head of John on a platter.” Not long after other bishops arrived, and Leontius of Ancyra and Acacius of Beroea. When the day of Christ’s nativity came, the emperor did not come to the church as he was accustomed, but sent word to John that he would not communicate with him until he was shown free of the charges. When John said he was ready to make his defence, the accusers, in fear, did not dare to proceed with the charges. The judges thought that one who had been deposed in any way at all should not proceed to a second trial. They examined nothing else, but demanded that John answer only this, that after being deposed he had sat on the episcopal throne before a synod permitted it. When he put forward the vote of those who had communicated with him after the former synod, they did not accept his defence, on the ground that more had voted against him and that for this reason a priestly canon forbade it; but deposed him, pressing a law of men of other belief. For when those of the Arian heresy, having falsely accused Athanasius, took from him the church of the Alexandrians, they made this law in fear of a change of affairs, eager that what they had decided against him should remain unexamined,
Mark 6:25 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Chrysostom denounces the games at the dedication of Eudoxia’s statue and preaches “Again Herodias rages”; a new synod, without hearing the charges, deposes him under an Arian-made canon forbidding a deposed bishop to resume his see without a synod.
- The canon is canon 4 of the council of Antioch (341), whose authors Sozomen regards as Arians. The sermon “Again Herodias rages” is attributed to Chrysostom; its authenticity is disputed. Herodias: Mark 6:22–25.
- The section breaks off in mid-sentence; the text continues in 8.21.
Extrabiblical texts: Conc. Antioch. 4 (Canons of the Council of Antioch (in Encaeniis); allusion)
Topics: Church office
Cite (SBL): Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 8.20 (PG 67:1567–1569; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/8-20). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/8-20
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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 Hartranft's English in NPNF² 2.
8.21PG 67:1569–1571
δὲ Ἰωάννης χαθαιρεθεὶς, οὐκέτι ἐκκλησίαζε' ἀλλ᾽ ἐν τῷ ἐπισκοπικῷ χαταγωγίῳ ἠρέμει, δὲ ληγούσης τῆς Τεσσαρακοστῆς, αὐτὴν τὴν ἱερὰν νύκτα, ἐν ἡ ἐτήσιος ἑορτὴ ἐπὶ ἀναμνήσει τῆς ἀναστάσεως τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐπιτελεῖται, ἐξωθοῦνται τῆς Ἐκκλησίας οἱ τὰ αὐτοῦ φρονοῦντες, ἐπιθεμένων αὐτοῖς ἔτι μυσταγωγοῦσι στρατιωτῶν καὶ τῶν δυσμενῶν. ᾿Απροόπτον δὲ τούτου συμβάντος, πολὺς περὶ τὸ βαπτιστήριον ἐγένετο θόρυβος, γυναίων μὲν μετ᾽ οἰμωγῆς ταραττομένων " παιδίων δὲ χλαιόντων " ἱερέων δὲ διακόνων τυπτομένων τε, πρὸς βίαν ὡς εἶχον σχήματος ἐλαυνομένων. 1" ἄλλα δὲ οἷα εἰκὸς ἣν γενέσθαι ἐν ἀταξίᾳ τοσαύτῃ, οἱ μνηθέντες οὐχ ἀγνοοῦσιν, Ἐγὼ δὲ ἀναγκαίως σιγήσομαι, μὴ καὶ ἀμύητός τις ἐντύχῃ τῇ γραφῇ. Αἰσθόμενοι δὲ καὶ τὸ λοιπὸν πλῆθος τὴν ἐπιδουλὴῆν, τῇ ὑστεραίᾳ καταλιπόντες τὴν ἐκκλησίαν, ἐν δημοσίῳ λουτρῷ πολυχωρήτῳ μάλα, Κωνσταντίου τοῦ βασιλέως ἐπωνύμῳ ?, τὸ Πάσχα ἐπετέλεσαν, ὑπὸ ἐπισκόποις καὶ πρεσβυτέροις, καὶ λοιποῖς ἄλλοις, οἷς θέμις τὰ περὶ τὴν ἐκκλησίαν διέπειν οἵ δὴ τῷ λαῷ συνῇσαν, τὰ Ἰωάννου φρονοῦντες, ᾿λαθέντες δὲ ἔνθεν, δυνῆλθον πρὸ τοῦ ἄστεος εἴς τινα χῶρον, ὃν Κωνσταντῖνος ὁ βασιλεὺς, μήπω τὴν πόλιν συνοιχήσας, εἰς ἱπποδρόμου θέαν ἐκάθηρε, ξύλοις περιτειχίσας " ἐξ ἐκείνου τε πῇ μὲν ἐνθάδε, πῇ δὲ ἑτέρωθι ἐξῆν, ἰδίᾳ ἐκκλησίαζον, Ἰωαννῖται ὠνομάζοντο. Περὶ δὲ τοῦτον τὸν χρόνον ἄνθρωπός τις δαιμονῶν ἢ νομιζόμενος, ἐγχειρίδιον αὐ ἔχων ὡς ἐπὶ σφαγὴν Ἰωαννου παρεσκευασμένος, οὕπω δὲ ἐπιχειρήσας τῷ πράγματι, φωρᾶται. Καὶ ὑπὸ τοῦ πλήθους ὡς ὠνητὸς εἰς τὴν ἐπιβουλὴν συλληφθείς, ἄγεται πρὸς τὸν ὕπαρχον. Ἐπισκόπους δέ τινας τῶν ἀμφ᾿ αὐτὸν ἀποστείλας Ἰωάννης, ἐξείλετο τοῦτον πρὶν αἰκισθῆναι. Εἰς ὕστερον δὲ καὶ Ἐλπιδίου πρε σβυτέρου, ὃς προφανὴς ἐχθρὸς διακόνου ἐτύγχανε, δοῦλος, δρομαῖος εἰς τὸν ἐπισκοπικὸν οἶκον εἰσέβαλλεν. Ἐπιγνοὺς δὲ τις αὐτὸν τῶν παρατυχόντων, ἐπέσχε, τοῦ δρόμου τὴν αἰτίαν πυθόμενος. Ὁ δὲ μηδὲν ἀποκριθεὶς, παραχρῆμα ξιφιδίῳ παίει τὸν ἄνδρα, καὶ μετ' ἐκεῖνον ἕτερον ἐπιβοήσαντα τῇ τοῦ πρώτου πληγῇ. Νύττει δὲ καὶ τρίτον ἐπὶ τούτοις. Θορυβησάντων δὲ σὺν βοῇ τῶν παρόντων, ὑποστρέψας ἔφυγε. Παρακελευομένων δὲ τῶν διωκόντων τοῖς πόῤῥωθεν συλλαμβάνεσθαι τὸν φεύγοντα, προσδραμών τις, ἐκ βαλανείου λελουμένος ἀναχωρῶν, ἐπελάβετο αὐτοῦ, καὶ καιρίαν πληγεὶς, ἔκειτο νεκρός. Ἐπεὶ δὲ κυκλωθεὶς, μόλις ὑπὸ τοῦ πλήθους ἐθηρεύθη, ἄγουσιν αὐτὸν εἰς τὰ βασίλεια. Καὶ μαρτυρόμενοι τῶν ἀπ εχθανομένων Ἰωάννῃ τὴν ἐπιβουλὴν, καὶ τὸν φονέα, καὶ τοὺς ἐπὶ τοῦτο ἀναπείσαντας, ἐπεβόων τιμωρίαν δοῦναι. Παραλαβὼν δὲ τοῦτον ὁ ὕπαρχος ὡς ἐπεξιὼν τῇ δίκῃ, διέλυσε τοῦ δήμου τὴν ὀργῆν.
de Iōannēs chathairetheis, ouketi ekklēsiaze' all᾽ en tǭ episkopikǭ chatagōgiǭ ēremei, de lēgousēs tēs Tessarakostēs, autēn tēn hieran nykta, en hē etēsios heortē epi anamnēsei tēs anastaseōs tou Christou epiteleitai, exōthountai tēs Ekklēsias hoi ta autou phronountes, epithemenōn autois eti mystagōgousi stratiōtōn kai tōn dysmenōn. ᾿Aproopton de toutou symbantos, polys peri to baptistērion egeneto thorybos, gynaiōn men met᾽ oimōgēs tarattomenōn " paidiōn de chlaiontōn " hiereōn de diakonōn typtomenōn te, pros bian hōs eichon schēmatos elaunomenōn. 1" alla de hoia eikos hēn genesthai en ataxią tosautę̄, hoi mnēthentes ouch agnoousin, Egō de anankaiōs sigēsomai, mē kai amyētos tis entychę̄ tę̄ graphę̄. Aisthomenoi de kai to loipon plēthos tēn epidoulēēn, tę̄ hysteraią katalipontes tēn ekklēsian, en dēmosiǭ loutrǭ polychōrētǭ mala, Kōnstantiou tou basileōs epōnymǭ ?, to Pascha epetelesan, hypo episkopois kai presbyterois, kai loipois allois, hois themis ta peri tēn ekklēsian diepein hoi dē tǭ laǭ synę̄san, ta Iōannou phronountes, ᾿lathentes de enthen, dynēlthon pro tou asteos eis tina chōron, hon Kōnstantinos ho basileus, mēpō tēn polin synoichēsas, eis hippodromou thean ekathēre, xylois periteichisas " ex ekeinou te pę̄ men enthade, pę̄ de heterōthi exēn, idią ekklēsiazon, Iōannitai ōnomazonto. Peri de touton ton chronon anthrōpos tis daimonōn ē nomizomenos, encheiridion au echōn hōs epi sphagēn Iōannou pareskeuasmenos, houpō de epicheirēsas tǭ pragmati, phōratai. Kai hypo tou plēthous hōs ōnētos eis tēn epiboulēn syllēphtheis, agetai pros ton hyparchon. Episkopous de tinas tōn amph᾿ auton aposteilas Iōannēs, exeileto touton prin aikisthēnai. Eis hysteron de kai Elpidiou pre sbyterou, hos prophanēs echthros diakonou etynchane, doulos, dromaios eis ton episkopikon oikon eiseballen. Epignous de tis auton tōn paratychontōn, epesche, tou dromou tēn aitian pythomenos. Ho de mēden apokritheis, parachrēma xiphidiǭ paiei ton andra, kai met' ekeinon heteron epiboēsanta tę̄ tou prōtou plēgę̄. Nyttei de kai triton epi toutois. Thorybēsantōn de syn boę̄ tōn parontōn, hypostrepsas ephyge. Parakeleuomenōn de tōn diōkontōn tois porrhōthen syllambanesthai ton pheugonta, prosdramōn tis, ek balaneiou leloumenos anachōrōn, epelabeto autou, kai kairian plēgeis, ekeito nekros. Epei de kyklōtheis, molis hypo tou plēthous ethēreuthē, agousin auton eis ta basileia. Kai martyromenoi tōn ap echthanomenōn Iōannę̄ tēn epiboulēn, kai ton phonea, kai tous epi touto anapeisantas, epeboōn timōrian dounai. Paralabōn de touton ho hyparchos hōs epexiōn tę̄ dikę̄, dielyse tou dēmou tēn orgēn.
John, deposed, no longer held services, but stayed quietly in the bishop’s residence. When the Forty was ending, on the very holy night on which the yearly feast is celebrated in remembrance of the resurrection of Christ, those of his party were driven out of the church, soldiers and his enemies attacking them while they were still performing the rites of initiation. As this happened unexpectedly, there was great uproar about the baptistery, women wailing in their distress, children crying, priests and deacons being beaten and driven out by force in the vestments they wore. And what else was likely to happen in such disorder, the initiated are not unaware; but I must necessarily keep silent, lest an uninitiated person should read this writing. The rest of the multitude, perceiving the plot, left the church the next day and celebrated Pascha in a very spacious public bath named after the emperor Constantius, under bishops and presbyters and the others to whom it is lawful to manage church affairs, who were with the people and held with John. Driven out from there, they met before the city in a place which the emperor Constantine, before he had settled the city, had cleared for watching horse races, enclosing it with a wooden fence; and from then on, now there, now elsewhere as they could, they held assemblies apart, and were called Johannites. About this time a man who was possessed by a demon, or thought to be, was caught with a dagger, prepared to kill John but not yet having attempted the deed. Seized by the crowd as hired for the plot, he was taken to the prefect; but John, sending some of the bishops with him, rescued him before he was tortured. Later a slave of Elpidius the presbyter, who was an open enemy of the deacon, rushed running into the bishop’s house. One of those present, recognizing him, stopped him and asked the reason for his running. Without answering, he at once struck the man with a dagger, and after him another who cried out at the first one’s wound; and he stabbed a third besides. As those present raised an uproar and shouting, he turned and fled. As the pursuers called on those further off to seize the fugitive, a man who was returning from the bath, having bathed, ran up and laid hold of him, and, struck a mortal blow, lay dead. When he had been surrounded and barely hunted down by the crowd, they brought him to the palace; and protesting that the plot was the work of those hostile to John, they shouted that the murderer and those who had persuaded him to it should be punished. The prefect, taking him into custody as if to proceed with the case, dispersed the people’s anger.
Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.
Notes and citation
Summary: After his second deposition Chrysostom’s followers are driven by soldiers from the Easter baptisms (404) and meet apart as “Johannites”; two attempts on his life follow.
- “Elpidius the presbyter … enemy of the deacon”: so the Greek as printed; the sense seems to require “enemy of John”, and a word may be lost or corrupt.
- Sozomen’s reserve about the rites of initiation (the disciplina arcani) is translated as written.
Topics: Baptism, Persecution
Cite (SBL): Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 8.21 (PG 67:1569–1571; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/8-21). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/8-21
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-sozomen-historia-8-21) · 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 Hartranft's English in NPNF² 2.
8.22PG 67:1571–1573
Ἐξ ἐκείνου δὲ τὸν Ἰωάννην ἐφύλαττον οἱ τοῦ λαοῦ σπουδαιότεροι, νύκτωρ καὶ μεθ' ἡμέραν, ἀμοιβαδὸν παρακαθήμενοι τὸν ἐπισκοπικὸν οἶκον. Σύγχυσιν δὲ ἐ ἐπαιτιώμενοι τῶν ἐκκλησιαστικῶν νόμων, οἱ κατὰ αὐτοῦ συνεληλυθότες ἐπίσκοποι, ἐπὶ σφᾶς αὐτοὺς ἔφασαν δικαιοτάτην οὖσαν ἀναδέχεσθαι τὴν ἐπ᾿ αὐτῷ κρίσιν · καὶ τῆς πόλεως αὐτὸν ἐξιέναι ἐκέλευσαν · ἄλλως γὰρ μηδὲ τὸ πλῆθος ἠρεμήσειν. Παραγενομένου δέ του ἀπὸ βασιλέως, καὶ ταῦτα σὺν ἀπειλῇ ποιεῖν προστάξαντος, λαθῶν τοὺς ἀπὸ τοῦ λαοῦ φύη λακας ἐξῆλθε · τοσοῦτον μεμφόμενος, ὅτι γε παρανόμως πρὸς βίαν ἐλαύνεται, μὴ ἀξιωθεὶς κρίσεως, ξις καὶ ἀνδροφόνοις καὶ γόησι καὶ μοιχοῖς μέτεστιν ἐκ νόμων. Καὶ διὰ μικροῦ σκάφους περαιοῦται αὐτίκα εἰς Βιθυνίαν· ἐκεῖθέν τε παραχρῆμα εἴχετο τῆς ὁδοῦ. Προϊδόντες δέ τινες τῶν ἐπιβουλευόντων αὐτῷ, ὡς εἰ αἴσθοιτο" ὁ λαὸς ἐπιδιώξει, πάλιν βιάσεται : φθάσαντες ἀποχλείουδι τὰς θύρας τῆς ἐκκλησίας. Ἐπεὶ δὲ οἱ ἀνὰ τὰς ἀγυιὰς ἔγνωσαν, οἱ μὲν δοομαῖοι ἠπείγοντο πρὸς θάλασσαν, ὡς δὴ χαταληψόμενοι " οἱ δὲ, περιδεεῖς γενόμενοι, εἰς φυγὴν ἡλαύνοντο, ὡς ἐπὶ τοσούτῳ θορύύῳ καὶ ταραχῇ στάσεως καὶ βασιλέως ὀργῆς προσδοκωμένης. Οἱ δὲ ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ ἔτι μᾶλλον ἔφραττον τὰς ἐξόδους, ἐπὶ ταύτας συῤῥέοντες καὶ περιωθοῦντες ἀλλήλους. Μόλις δὲ τὰς θύρας ἐπέτασαν σὺν βίᾳ πολλῇ. τῶν μὲν λίθοις χατεαξάντων " τῶν δὲ πρὸς ἑαυτοὺς ἀνθελχόντων, καὶ τὸν κατὰ νώτον ὄχλον εἰς τοὐπίσω ἀπωθουμένων. τούτῳ δὲ πῦρ ἐξαπίνης πάντοθεν τὴν ἐκκλησίαν ἐπεθόσχετο' πᾶσαν διαδραμὸν, ἐνεμήθη τὸν παραχεΐμενον αὐτῇ μεσημδρίας μέγιστον οἶχον τῆς συγκλήτου βουλῆς. Τούτου δὲ τὴν αἰτίαν ἀντἐπῆγον ἀλλήλοις " οἱ μὲν Ἰωάννῃ ἐπιβουλεύοντες, τοὺς τὰ αὐτοῦ φρονοῦντας ἐπαιτιώμενοι, ὡς χαλεπήναντας ποὺς τὴν τῆς συνόδου Ψῆφον " οἱ δὲ, συχοφαντεῖσθαι ἰδχυριζόμενοι, τὴν ἐκείνων πρᾶξιν σφίσι περιτρέπεῖν, ἅμα τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ καὶ αὐτοὺς πυρπολῇσαι βουλευσαμένων. ᾿Απὸ δείλης δὲ ὀψίας μέχρις ἕω τοῦ πυρὸς περαιτέρω χωροῦντος, καὶ πρὸς τὰς ἔτι συνεστώσας ὕλας ἕρποντος, οἱ μὲν ἐπιδιώξαντες Ἰωάννην εἰς Κουκουσὸν διῆγον τῆς ᾿Αρμενίας, βασιλέως γράμματι χαταδιχασθέντα τὴν ἐκεῖσε οἴκησιν. Οἱ δὲ τοὺς ξυνελθόντας αὐτῷ ἐπισκόπους καὶ κληρικοὺς ἀγαγόντες, ἐν Χαλκηδόνι χαθεῖρξαν. δὲ περιἰόντες ἀνὰ τὴν πόλιν, τοὺς χαταμηννομένους τὰ αὐἃ ἃ τοῦ φρογεῖν, συνελαμβάνοντο ἐφρούρουν" (, ἀναθεματίζειν αὐτὸν ἠνάγκαζον.
Ex ekeinou de ton Iōannēn ephylatton hoi tou laou spoudaioteroi, nyktōr kai meth' hēmeran, amoibadon parakathēmenoi ton episkopikon oikon. Synchysin de e epaitiōmenoi tōn ekklēsiastikōn nomōn, hoi kata autou synelēlythotes episkopoi, epi sphas autous ephasan dikaiotatēn ousan anadechesthai tēn ep᾿ autǭ krisin ; kai tēs poleōs auton exienai ekeleusan ; allōs gar mēde to plēthos ēremēsein. Paragenomenou de tou apo basileōs, kai tauta syn apeilę̄ poiein prostaxantos, lathōn tous apo tou laou phyē lakas exēlthe ; tosouton memphomenos, hoti ge paranomōs pros bian elaunetai, mē axiōtheis kriseōs, xis kai androphonois kai goēsi kai moichois metestin ek nomōn. Kai dia mikrou skaphous peraioutai autika eis Bithynian; ekeithen te parachrēma eicheto tēs hodou. Proïdontes de tines tōn epibouleuontōn autǭ, hōs ei aisthoito" ho laos epidiōxei, palin biasetai : phthasantes apochleioudi tas thyras tēs ekklēsias. Epei de hoi ana tas aguias egnōsan, hoi men doomaioi ēpeigonto pros thalassan, hōs dē chatalēpsomenoi " hoi de, perideeis genomenoi, eis phygēn hēlaunonto, hōs epi tosoutǭ thoryyǭ kai tarachę̄ staseōs kai basileōs orgēs prosdokōmenēs. Hoi de en tę̄ ekklēsią eti mallon ephratton tas exodous, epi tautas syrrheontes kai periōthountes allēlous. Molis de tas thyras epetasan syn bią pollę̄. tōn men lithois chateaxantōn " tōn de pros heautous anthelchontōn, kai ton kata nōton ochlon eis toupisō apōthoumenōn. toutǭ de pyr exapinēs pantothen tēn ekklēsian epethoscheto' pasan diadramon, enemēthē ton paracheïmenon autę̄ mesēmdrias megiston oichon tēs synklētou boulēs. Toutou de tēn aitian antepēgon allēlois " hoi men Iōannę̄ epibouleuontes, tous ta autou phronountas epaitiōmenoi, hōs chalepēnantas pous tēn tēs synodou Psēphon " hoi de, sychophanteisthai idchyrizomenoi, tēn ekeinōn praxin sphisi peritrepein, hama tę̄ ekklēsią kai autous pyrpolę̄sai bouleusamenōn. ᾿Apo deilēs de opsias mechris heō tou pyros peraiterō chōrountos, kai pros tas eti synestōsas hylas herpontos, hoi men epidiōxantes Iōannēn eis Koukouson diēgon tēs ᾿Armenias, basileōs grammati chatadichasthenta tēn ekeise oikēsin. Hoi de tous xynelthontas autǭ episkopous kai klērikous agagontes, en Chalkēdoni chatheirxan. de periiontes ana tēn polin, tous chatamēnnomenous ta aua ha tou phrogein, synelambanonto ephrouroun" (, anathematizein auton ēnankazon.
From that time the more zealous of the people guarded John night and day, sitting in turns about the bishop’s house. The bishops who had met against him, blaming him for confusing the laws of the church, said that they took upon themselves the judgment concerning him, as being most just, and ordered him to leave the city; for otherwise the people would not keep quiet. When someone came from the emperor and ordered him with threats to do this, he went out secretly from the guards set by the people, complaining only this much, that he was being driven out lawlessly and by force, without being thought worthy of a trial, which by law is granted even to murderers, sorcerers and adulterers. In a small boat he crossed at once to Bithynia, and from there immediately continued on his way. Some of those plotting against him, foreseeing that if the people perceived it they would pursue him and bring him back by force again, shut the doors of the church beforehand. When those in the streets learned it, some ran to the sea as if to overtake him; others, terrified, were driven to flight, since in such uproar and confusion a riot and the emperor’s anger were expected. Those in the church blocked the exits still more, streaming to them and pushing one another. They barely forced the doors open with much violence, some breaking them with stones, others pulling them toward themselves and pushing the crowd behind them backward. Meanwhile fire suddenly took hold of the church on every side, ran through all of it, and spread to the very large house of the senate lying beside it to the south. They blamed one another for the cause: those plotting against John accused those of his party of having done it in anger at the synod’s vote; while the others maintained that they were slandered, and that their enemies were turning their own deed upon them, having planned to burn them together with the church. While the fire went further from evening till dawn and crept on to the materials still standing, those who pursued John took him to Cucusus in Armenia, condemned by the emperor’s letter to live there. Others led away the bishops and clergy who were with him and shut them up in Chalcedon; and others, going round the city, seized and imprisoned those reported to hold with him, and forced them to anathematize him.
Notes and citation
Summary: Chrysostom, ordered to leave, slips away to Bithynia (404); the great church and the senate house burn as his supporters struggle to leave, each side blaming the other; he is exiled to Cucusus and his followers imprisoned.
- Chrysostom left Constantinople on 20 June 404.
Topics: Persecution, Church office
Cite (SBL): Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 8.22 (PG 67:1571–1573; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/8-22). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/8-22
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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 Hartranft's English in NPNF² 2.
8.23PG 67:1573–1575
Οὐ πολλῷ δὲ ὕστερον χειροτονεῖται Κωνσταντινουπόλεως ἐπίσκοπος ᾿Αρσάκιος, Νεκταρίου τοῦ πρὸ Ἰωάννου ταύτην τὴν ἐπισκοπὴν διανύσαντος ἀδελφὸς, ἀνὴρ πρᾶος, περὶ τὸ Θεῖον εὐλαβής. δὲ τὴν ἐν τῷ πρεσδυτερίῳ περὶ αὐτοῦ Χρατοῦσαν δόξαν χληριχοί τινες, ποιοῦντες μὲν ἅπερ ἐβουλεύοντο αὐτῷ δὲ ταῦτα ἀνατιθέντες διέθαλε δὲ αὐτὸν μάλιστα καὶ τὰ συμθύάντα μετὰ ταῦτα περὶ τοὺς Ἰωάννου ἐπαινέτας. Ἐπεὶ γὰρ αὐτῷ τοῖς αὐτῷ συνοὔσι κοινωνεῖν ἢ συνεύχεσθαι οὐκέτι ἀνεκτὸν ἡγοῦντο, ἀναμεμιγμένων αὐτοῖς τῶν ἐπιβούλων Ἰωάννου, χαῦ" ἑαυτοὺς δὲ, ὡς εἴρτται, συνιέντες ἐν ταῖς: ἐσχατιαῖς τῆς πόλεως ἐκκλησίαζον, χοινοῦται βασιλεῖ περὶ τούτον. Συνηγμένοις δὲ συνταγματάρχης ἅμα στρατιώταις ἐμβαλεῖν ἐπιτραπεὶς, τὸ μὲν πλῆθος δὰ παίων ξύλοις καὶ λίθοις, φυγὴν τρέπει " τοὺς δὲ ἐπισημότερον προθυμότερον τὰ Ἰωάννου ζηλοῦντας, ἐν φρουρᾷ ποιεῖται. Ἐνταῦθα δὲ, οἷα συμδαίνειν φιλεῖ, στρατιωτῶν ἐπιτραπέντων νεανιεύεσθαι, γύνατα πρὸς βίαν τοῦ κόσμου, τῶν μὲν ὅρμους καὶ ζώνας χρυσᾶς περιδέραια στρεπτοὺς ληϊζομένων " τῶν δὲ, σὺν αὐτοῖς λοθοῖς ἐξελχόντων τὰ ἐνώτια. Μεγίστης δὲ ταραχῆς καὶ οἰμωγῆς ἀνὰ τὴν πόλιν συμδάσης, οὐδ' οὕτως μετέθεντο τοῦ περὶ Ἰωάννην φίλτρου. Δημοσίᾳ δὲ οὐκέτι συνήεσαν " πολλοὶ δὲ, οὔτε εἰς ἀγορὰν, οὔτε εἰς βαλανεῖα ἐφοίτων " τισὶ δὲ καὶ τὸ οἴκοι μένειν, οὐχ ἀκίνδυνον ἣν " καὶ φυγὴν ἑαυτοῖς ἐπιτάξαντες, τῆς πόλεως ἐξῆλθον, ἄλλοι τε ἄνδρες σπουδαῖοι, καὶ ἀγαθαὶ γυναῖκες ὧν ἣν Νιχαρέτη ἡ Βιθυνὴ, τῶν παρὰ Νιχομηδεῦσιν εὐπατριδῶν ἐπισή: βου γένους, ἐπὶ ἀϊδίῳ παρθενίᾳ ἀρετῇ βίου εὐδοχιμοῦσα. ᾿Ατυφοτάτην δὲ ὧν ἴσμεν σπουδαίων γυναιχῶν, ταύτην ἔγνων, ἤθει τε καὶ λόγῳ καὶ διαίτῃ τεταγμένην, τὰ μέχρι θανάτου τῶν βιωτιχῶν προτιμῶσα ἀνδρείᾳ τε φρονήτει πρὸς περιπετείας δυσχερῶν πραγμάτων ἀντισχεῖν ἰχανήν " ὡς μήτε, πολλῇῆς πατρῴας περιουσίας ἀδίκως ἀφαιρεθεῖσαν, ἀγανακτεῖν. ἐν ὀλίγοις τε περιλειφθεῖσιν, ὑπὸ ἀρίστης οἰκονομίας, καίπερ εἰς γῆρας προελθοῦσαν, τὰ ἐπιτήδεια σὺν τοῖς οἰκείοις ἔχειν, καὶ ἄλλοις ἀφθόνως χορηγεῖν. Ὑπὸ φιλανθρώπου δὲ προθυμίας φιλόχαλος οὖσα, παντοδαπὰ παρεσχεύαζε φάρμακα εἰς πτωχῶν νοσούντων χρείαν. Οἷς δὴ πολλοῖς τῶν γνωρίμων πολλάκις ἐπήρχεσε μηδὲν ἀποναμένοις τῶν συνήθων ἰατρῶν. Σὺν θείᾳ γάρ τινε ῥοπῇ, ἅπερ ἐπεχείρει, εἰς χρηστὸν ἀπέθαινε τέλος " καὶ συλλήδδην εἰπεῖν, τῶν καθ᾽ ἡμᾶς σπουδαίων γυναικῶν ἑτέραν οὐχ ἔγνων, εἰς τοσοῦτον ἤθους τε γαὶ σεμνότητος τῆς ἄλλης ἀρετῆς ἐπιδοῦσαν. Ἀλλ᾽ ἡ μὲν, χαΐπερ τοιάδε οὗσα, τοὺς πολλοὺς ἐλάνθανεν. Ὑ πὸ μετριότηγὰρ τρόπων, καὶ φιλοσοφίας, ἀεὶ λανθάνειν ἐπετήδευεν: ὡς μήτε εἰς ἀξίωμα διακόνου σπηυδάσαι προελθεῖν, μήτε, προτρεπομένου πολλάκις Ἰωάννου, ἐλέσθαι ποτὲ παρθένων ἐκκλησιαστικῶν ἡγεῖσθαι. Μεγίστου δὲ πᾶσιν ἐμπεσόντος, ἐπειδὴ δῆλον ἣν μηκέτι στασιάζειν τὸ πλῆθος, δημοσίᾳ προελθὼν ὁ τῆς πόλεως ὕπαρχος, ὡς ἐξετάσων τὰ περὶ τῆς πυρᾶς καὶ τοῦ βουλευτηρίου, πολλοὺς χαλεπῶς ἔτεμωρήσατο. Ἕλλην γὰρ ὧν, ὡς ἐπεγγελῶν ταῖς συμφοραῖς τῆς Ἐκκλησίας, πρὸς ἡδονὴν ἔσχε τὸ συμῦθάν.
Ou pollǭ de hysteron cheirotoneitai Kōnstantinoupoleōs episkopos ᾿Arsakios, Nektariou tou pro Iōannou tautēn tēn episkopēn dianysantos adelphos, anēr praos, peri to Theion eulabēs. de tēn en tǭ presdyteriǭ peri autou Chratousan doxan chlērichoi tines, poiountes men haper ebouleuonto autǭ de tauta anatithentes diethale de auton malista kai ta symthyanta meta tauta peri tous Iōannou epainetas. Epei gar autǭ tois autǭ synousi koinōnein ē syneuchesthai ouketi anekton hēgounto, anamemigmenōn autois tōn epiboulōn Iōannou, chau" heautous de, hōs eirttai, synientes en tais: eschatiais tēs poleōs ekklēsiazon, choinoutai basilei peri touton. Synēgmenois de syntagmatarchēs hama stratiōtais embalein epitrapeis, to men plēthos da paiōn xylois kai lithois, phygēn trepei " tous de episēmoteron prothymoteron ta Iōannou zēlountas, en phrourą poieitai. Entautha de, hoia symdainein philei, stratiōtōn epitrapentōn neanieuesthai, gynata pros bian tou kosmou, tōn men hormous kai zōnas chrysas perideraia streptous lēïzomenōn " tōn de, syn autois lothois exelchontōn ta enōtia. Megistēs de tarachēs kai oimōgēs ana tēn polin symdasēs, oud' houtōs metethento tou peri Iōannēn philtrou. Dēmosią de ouketi synēesan " polloi de, oute eis agoran, oute eis balaneia ephoitōn " tisi de kai to oikoi menein, ouch akindynon hēn " kai phygēn heautois epitaxantes, tēs poleōs exēlthon, alloi te andres spoudaioi, kai agathai gynaikes hōn hēn Nicharetē hē Bithynē, tōn para Nichomēdeusin eupatridōn episē: bou genous, epi aïdiǭ parthenią aretę̄ biou eudochimousa. ᾿Atyphotatēn de hōn ismen spoudaiōn gynaichōn, tautēn egnōn, ēthei te kai logǭ kai diaitę̄ tetagmenēn, ta mechri thanatou tōn biōtichōn protimōsa andreią te phronētei pros peripeteias dyscherōn pragmatōn antischein ichanēn " hōs mēte, pollę̄ēs patrǭas periousias adikōs aphairetheisan, aganaktein. en oligois te perileiphtheisin, hypo aristēs oikonomias, kaiper eis gēras proelthousan, ta epitēdeia syn tois oikeiois echein, kai allois aphthonōs chorēgein. Hypo philanthrōpou de prothymias philochalos ousa, pantodapa parescheuaze pharmaka eis ptōchōn nosountōn chreian. Hois dē pollois tōn gnōrimōn pollakis epērchese mēden aponamenois tōn synēthōn iatrōn. Syn theią gar tine rhopę̄, haper epecheirei, eis chrēston apethaine telos " kai syllēddēn eipein, tōn kath᾽ hēmas spoudaiōn gynaikōn heteran ouch egnōn, eis tosouton ēthous te gai semnotētos tēs allēs aretēs epidousan. All᾽ hē men, chaïper toiade housa, tous pollous elanthanen. Hy po metriotēgar tropōn, kai philosophias, aei lanthanein epetēdeuen: hōs mēte eis axiōma diakonou spēudasai proelthein, mēte, protrepomenou pollakis Iōannou, elesthai pote parthenōn ekklēsiastikōn hēgeisthai. Megistou de pasin empesontos, epeidē dēlon hēn mēketi stasiazein to plēthos, dēmosią proelthōn ho tēs poleōs hyparchos, hōs exetasōn ta peri tēs pyras kai tou bouleutēriou, pollous chalepōs etemōrēsato. Hellēn gar hōn, hōs epengelōn tais symphorais tēs Ekklēsias, pros hēdonēn esche to symythan.
Not long after, Arsacius was ordained bishop of Constantinople, the brother of Nectarius who had held this episcopate before John, a gentle man, devout toward the divine. But the reputation he had while a presbyter was spoiled by certain clergy who did what they wished but attributed it to him; and what happened afterwards to the admirers of John discredited him most. For since they no longer thought it tolerable to communicate or pray with those who were with him, as the plotters against John were mixed among them, but, as has been said, met by themselves in the outskirts of the city, he consulted the emperor about this. A tribune, ordered to attack them with soldiers when they were assembled, put the crowd to flight by beating them with clubs and stones, and put in custody those most notable and most zealous for John. Then, as tends to happen when soldiers are allowed to run riot, they stripped women by force of their ornaments, some plundering their necklaces and golden girdles, collars and bracelets, others tearing off their earrings with the lobes. Though there was the greatest confusion and lamentation throughout the city, not even so did they change their love for John. They no longer met publicly; and many went neither to the market nor to the baths; for some even staying at home was not without danger; and, imposing exile on themselves, they left the city, among them other earnest men and good women, among whom was Nicarete of Bithynia, of a distinguished noble family of Nicomedia, renowned for perpetual virginity and virtue of life. Of the earnest women we know, I have found her the most free from pride, ordered in character, speech and manner of life, preferring divine things to worldly all her life, able with courage and prudence to withstand the reversals of hard circumstances; so that she was not indignant when unjustly deprived of a large ancestral fortune; and with the little that was left, by the best management, though she reached old age, she had what was needed for herself and her household and supplied others generously. Being fond of beauty from a kindly zeal, she prepared medicines of every kind for the needs of the sick poor; with these she often helped many of her acquaintance who had got nothing from the usual physicians; for with some divine aid what she undertook came to a good end. And in short, of the earnest women of our time I know no other who advanced so far in character and dignity and other virtue. But, such as she was, she was hidden from the many; for through modesty of manners and philosophy she always strove to remain unknown; so that she neither sought to advance to the rank of deaconess, nor, though John often urged her, ever chose to lead the church’s virgins. When the greatest fear had fallen on all, since it was clear that the people would riot no more, the prefect of the city came forward publicly as if to investigate the burning of the church and the senate house, and punished many severely. For being a pagan, as one exulting in the calamities of the church, he took pleasure in what had happened.
Notes and citation
Summary: Arsacius succeeds Chrysostom; soldiers break up the Johannite assemblies and rob the women; many of his followers, among them the noble virgin Nicarete, whom Sozomen praises, leave the city, and the pagan prefect tortures many over the fire.
- The first word of the staged text is the end of the chapter title and is removed by a correction.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (end of the chapter title printed by Valesius leaked into the text): ρέτης. Οὐ πολλῷ δὲ ὕστερον χειροτονεῖται → Οὐ πολλῷ δὲ ὕστερον χειροτονεῖται.
Topics: Persecution, Church office
Cite (SBL): Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 8.23 (PG 67:1573–1575; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/8-23). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/8-23
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-sozomen-historia-8-23) · 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 Hartranft's English in NPNF² 2.
8.24PG 67:1577–1579
Ἐν δὲ τῷ τότε καὶ Εὐτρόπιός τις ἀναγνώστης παραχθεὶς ἐπὶ τῇ καταμηνύσει τῶν ἐμβαλόντων τὸ πῦρ, οὔτε βοείαις, οὔτε ξύλοις, οὔτε ὄνυξι ξαινόμενος πλευράς τε καὶ παρειάς · ἐπὶ τούτοις τε καὶ τὸν ὑφαπτόμενον τῷ σώματι πυρσὸν ὑπομείνας, καὶ ταῦτα νέος καὶ ἁπαλόχρως ὢν, οὐδὲν ὡμολόγησεν εἰδέναι. Μετὰ δὲ τὰς βασάνους, ἐγκλείεται εἰς το δεσμωτήριον· ἔνθα δὴ, οὐκ εἰς μακρὰν ἐτελεύτησεν. ῎Αξιον δὲ τῇ γραφῇ παραδοῦναι καὶ τὸ συμβὰν ἐπ᾿ αὐτῷ ὄναρ. Σισινίῳ γὰρ τῷ ἐπισκόπῳ τῆς τῶν Ναυaτιανῶν αἱρέσεως ἤδη καθεύδοντι, ἀνήρ τις κάλλει καὶ μεγέθει περιφανέστατος, παρεστὼς τῷ θυσιαστηρίῳ τῆς αὐτῶν ἐκκλησίας, ἣν εἰς τιμὴν Στεφάνου τοῦ πρωτομάρτυρος ᾠκοδόμησεν, ἔδοξεν ἀδημονεῖν ἐπὶ σπάνει ἀγαθῶν ἀνδρῶν, ὡς τούτου χάριν τὴν πᾶσαν πόλιν περιεληλυθὼς, καὶ μηδένα εὑρὼν ἢ μόνον Εὐτρόπιον. Πρὸς δὲ τὴν ὄψιν καταπλαγεὶς ὁ Σισίνιος, πρός τινα τῶν ὑπ' αὐτὸν πιστοτάτων πρεσβυτέρων ὁμολογήσας τὸ ὄναρ, ἐκέλευσεν ἀναζητεῖν τὸν ἄνδρα ὅστις εἴη. Ὁ δὲ, εὐστόχως συμβαλὼν ὡς ἐν τοῖς ἕναγχος ἐπὶ τοῦ ὑπάρχου βασανισθεῖσιν εἰκὸς εἶναι τοιοῦτον, περιιὼν τὰ δεσμωτήρια, ἐπυνθάνετο εἴ τις ἐστὶν ἐν αὐτοῖς Εὐτρόπιος. Καὶ εὑρὼν, εἰς λόγους αὐτῷ ἦλθε, καὶ διηγήσατο τοῦ ἐπισκόπου τὸ ὄναρ καὶ δακρύων, εὔχεσθαι ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ ἐλιπάρει · καὶ τὰ μὲν κατὰ Εὐτρόπιον ὧδε ἔσχε. ᾿Ανδρεία δὲ ἐν ταύταις ταῖς συμφοραῖς ἀνεφάνη καὶ Ὀλυμπιὰς ἡ διάκονος. Ἐπεὶ γὰρ ἐκ ταύτης τῆς αἰτίας εἰς τὸ δικαστήριον παρήχθη, πυθομένου τοῦ ὑπάρχου τί δήποτε τὴν ἐκκλησίαν ἐνέπρησεν, ὑπολαβοῦσα, Οὐχ αὕτη, ἔφη, τοῦ ἐμοῦ βίου ἡ προαίρεσις · πολλὴν γὰρ οὖσαν εἰς ἀνανέωσιν ναῶν Θεοῦ τὴν οὐσίαν ἀνάλωσα. Τοῦ δὲ τὸν αὐτῆς βίον ἐπίστασθαι λέγοντος, Οὐκοῦν εἰς κατηγόρου τάξιν μετάβηθι, ἔφη, καὶ ἕτερος ἡμῖν δικάσει. ᾿Αμαρτύρου δὲ τῆς κατηγορίας οὔσης, μή ἔχων ὁ ὕπαρχος ὅ τι δικαίως μέμψαιτο, ἠπιώτερόν πως εἰς ἕτερον μετέβη ἔγκλημα. Καὶ ὡς ἐν συμβουλῇ, ἄνοιαν αὐτῇ καὶ ταῖς ἄλλαις γυναιξὶν ἐμέμφετο, ὅτι τὴν εἰς τὸν ἐπίσκοπον κοινωνίαν ἠρνοῦντο, ἐξὸν μεταμεληθῆναι καὶ πραγμάτων ἀπηλλάχθαι. Ἀλλ᾽ αἱ μὲν, ὑπὸ δέους τάδε τῷ ὑπάρχῳ προστάξαντι 357 εἶξαν· ἡ δὲ Ὀλυμπιὰς, Οὐ δίκαιον, ἔφη, τὴν ἐν τῷ πλήθει ὑπὸ συκοφαντίας ἁλοῦσαν, ἐν δὲ τοῖς δικαστηρίοις ἐπ᾿ οὐδενὶ τῶν κατηγορουμένων διελεγχθεῖσαν, εἰς ἀπολογίαν ἕλκεσθαι μέμψεων ἀνευθύνων. Ἐπίτρεψον οὖν μοι, πρὸς τὴν προτέραν γραφὴν συνηγόρους προστήσασθαι. Εἰ γὰρ παρανόμως βιασθείην οἷς μὴ δεῖ κοινωνεῖν, οὐ ποιήσω ἃ μὴ θέμις τοῖς εὐσεβοῦσιν. Ὁ δὲ, ὡς οὐκ ἔπεισεν αὐτὴν ᾿Αρσακίῳ κοινωνεῖν, τότε μὲν ἠφίει ὡς συνηγόρους διδάξουσαν· ἐν ἑτέρᾳ δὲ παραγαγών, πολλοῦ χρυσίου κατεδίκασεν· ᾤετο γὰρ οὕτως αὐτὴν μεταθήσειν τῆς γνώμης. Ἀλλ᾿ ἡ μὲν τῶν χρημάτων ὑπεριδοῦσα, οὐ καθυφῆκε· καὶ καταλιποῦσα τὴν Κωνσταντινούπολιν, ἐν Κυζίκῳ διέτριβεν. Ἐν δὲ τῷ τότε καιρῷ καὶ Τίγριος πρεσβύτερος τῆς ἐσθῆτος γυμνωθεὶς, καὶ κατὰ νώτου μαστιγωθεὶς, πόδας καὶ χεῖρας δεδεμένος διαταθεὶς, διελύθη τὰ ἄρθρα. Ἐγένετο δὲ οὗτος βάρβαρος τὸ γένος, οὐκ ἐκ γενετῆς εὐνοῦχος· ἐν οἰκίᾳ δὲ τινος τῶν ἐν δυνάμει τὰ πρῶτα δουλεύσας, καὶ ἐπαινεθεὶς παρὰ τοῦ κεκτημένου, μετέσχεν ἐλευθερίας. Εἰς πρεσβυτέρου δὲ ἀξίαν προελθὼν, τῷ χρόνῳ διεφάνη τὸ ἦθος ἐπιεικέστατος, καὶ πρᾶος, καὶ περὶ τοὺς δεομένους καὶ ξένους, εἴπερ τις ἄλλος, δεξιώτατος. Καὶ τὰ μὲν ἐν Κωνσταντινουπόλει, τοιάδε ἦν. Ἐν τούτῳ δὲ Σιρικίου τὴν Ῥωμαίων ἐπισκοπὴν δέκα καὶ πέντε διανύσαντος ἔτη, ᾿Αναστασίου δὲ τρία, μετὰ τοῦτον Ἰνοκέντιος ταύτην ἐπλήρου τὴν διαδοχήν. Ἐτελεύτησε δὲ καὶ Φλαβιανὸς, μὴ συνθέμενος τῇ Ἰωάννου καθαιρέσει · διαδέχεται δὲ τὴν ᾿Αντιοχέων Ἐκκλησίαν Πορφύριος· καὶ ἐπειδὴ τοῖς κατ' αὐτοῦ κεχρημένοις ἐπεψηφίσατο, πολλοὶ τῶν ἐν Συρίᾳ τῆς ἐνθάδε Ἐκκλησίας ἐχωρίσθησαν· καθ' ἑαυτούς τε τὰς συνόδους ποιούμενοι, πραγμάτων καὶ πλείστων δεινῶν ἐπειράθησαν. Χάριν γὰρ τῆς πρὸς ᾿Αρσάκιον κοινωνίας, καὶ Πορφύριον τοῦτον καὶ Θεόφιλον τὸν ᾿Αλεξανδρείας ἐπίσκοπον, σπουδῇ τῶν ἐν τοῖς βασι- λείοις δυνατῶν, νόμος ἐτέθη τοὺς ὀρθῶς δοξάζοντας ἐκτὸς τῶν ἐκκλησιῶν μὴ συνιέναι· τοὺς δὲ μὴ κοινωνοῦντας αὐτοῖς, ἐλαύνεσθαι.
En de tǭ tote kai Eutropios tis anagnōstēs parachtheis epi tę̄ katamēnysei tōn embalontōn to pyr, oute boeiais, oute xylois, oute onyxi xainomenos pleuras te kai pareias ; epi toutois te kai ton hyphaptomenon tǭ sōmati pyrson hypomeinas, kai tauta neos kai hapalochrōs ōn, ouden hōmologēsen eidenai. Meta de tas basanous, enkleietai eis to desmōtērion; entha dē, ouk eis makran eteleutēsen. ᾿Axion de tę̄ graphę̄ paradounai kai to symban ep᾿ autǭ onar. Sisiniǭ gar tǭ episkopǭ tēs tōn Nauatianōn haireseōs ēdē katheudonti, anēr tis kallei kai megethei periphanestatos, parestōs tǭ thysiastēriǭ tēs autōn ekklēsias, hēn eis timēn Stephanou tou prōtomartyros ǭkodomēsen, edoxen adēmonein epi spanei agathōn andrōn, hōs toutou charin tēn pasan polin perielēlythōs, kai mēdena heurōn ē monon Eutropion. Pros de tēn opsin kataplageis ho Sisinios, pros tina tōn hyp' auton pistotatōn presbyterōn homologēsas to onar, ekeleusen anazētein ton andra hostis eiē. Ho de, eustochōs symbalōn hōs en tois henanchos epi tou hyparchou basanistheisin eikos einai toiouton, periiōn ta desmōtēria, epynthaneto ei tis estin en autois Eutropios. Kai heurōn, eis logous autǭ ēlthe, kai diēgēsato tou episkopou to onar kai dakryōn, euchesthai hyper autou eliparei ; kai ta men kata Eutropion hōde esche. ᾿Andreia de en tautais tais symphorais anephanē kai Olympias hē diakonos. Epei gar ek tautēs tēs aitias eis to dikastērion parēchthē, pythomenou tou hyparchou ti dēpote tēn ekklēsian eneprēsen, hypolabousa, Ouch hautē, ephē, tou emou biou hē proairesis ; pollēn gar ousan eis ananeōsin naōn Theou tēn ousian analōsa. Tou de ton autēs bion epistasthai legontos, Oukoun eis katēgorou taxin metabēthi, ephē, kai heteros hēmin dikasei. ᾿Amartyrou de tēs katēgorias ousēs, mē echōn ho hyparchos ho ti dikaiōs mempsaito, ēpiōteron pōs eis heteron metebē enklēma. Kai hōs en symboulę̄, anoian autę̄ kai tais allais gynaixin emempheto, hoti tēn eis ton episkopon koinōnian ērnounto, exon metamelēthēnai kai pragmatōn apēllachthai. All᾽ hai men, hypo deous tade tǭ hyparchǭ prostaxanti 357 eixan; hē de Olympias, Ou dikaion, ephē, tēn en tǭ plēthei hypo sykophantias halousan, en de tois dikastēriois ep᾿ oudeni tōn katēgoroumenōn dielenchtheisan, eis apologian helkesthai mempseōn aneuthynōn. Epitrepson oun moi, pros tēn proteran graphēn synēgorous prostēsasthai. Ei gar paranomōs biastheiēn hois mē dei koinōnein, ou poiēsō ha mē themis tois eusebousin. Ho de, hōs ouk epeisen autēn ᾿Arsakiǭ koinōnein, tote men ēphiei hōs synēgorous didaxousan; en heterą de paragagōn, pollou chrysiou katedikasen; ǭeto gar houtōs autēn metathēsein tēs gnōmēs. All᾿ hē men tōn chrēmatōn hyperidousa, ou kathyphēke; kai katalipousa tēn Kōnstantinoupolin, en Kyzikǭ dietriben. En de tǭ tote kairǭ kai Tigrios presbyteros tēs esthētos gymnōtheis, kai kata nōtou mastigōtheis, podas kai cheiras dedemenos diatatheis, dielythē ta arthra. Egeneto de houtos barbaros to genos, ouk ek genetēs eunouchos; en oikią de tinos tōn en dynamei ta prōta douleusas, kai epainetheis para tou kektēmenou, meteschen eleutherias. Eis presbyterou de axian proelthōn, tǭ chronǭ diephanē to ēthos epieikestatos, kai praos, kai peri tous deomenous kai xenous, eiper tis allos, dexiōtatos. Kai ta men en Kōnstantinoupolei, toiade ēn. En toutǭ de Sirikiou tēn Rhōmaiōn episkopēn deka kai pente dianysantos etē, ᾿Anastasiou de tria, meta touton Inokentios tautēn eplērou tēn diadochēn. Eteleutēse de kai Phlabianos, mē synthemenos tę̄ Iōannou kathairesei ; diadechetai de tēn ᾿Antiocheōn Ekklēsian Porphyrios; kai epeidē tois kat' autou kechrēmenois epepsēphisato, polloi tōn en Syrią tēs enthade Ekklēsias echōristhēsan; kath' heautous te tas synodous poioumenoi, pragmatōn kai pleistōn deinōn epeirathēsan. Charin gar tēs pros ᾿Arsakion koinōnias, kai Porphyrion touton kai Theophilon ton ᾿Alexandreias episkopon, spoudę̄ tōn en tois basi- leiois dynatōn, nomos etethē tous orthōs doxazontas ektos tōn ekklēsiōn mē synienai; tous de mē koinōnountas autois, elaunesthai.
At that time also a reader named Eutropius was brought forward to inform on those who had set the fire; and though he was torn on the sides and cheeks with ox-hide thongs, clubs and claws, and besides this endured torches applied to his body — young and tender-skinned as he was — he confessed that he knew nothing. After the tortures he was shut up in prison, where he died not long after. It is worth handing down in writing the dream that occurred concerning him. To Sisinnius, the bishop of the Novatian heresy, as he slept, a man most conspicuous for beauty and stature seemed to stand by the altar of their church, which he had built in honour of Stephen the first martyr, and to be distressed at the scarcity of good men, as if he had gone round the whole city for this and found no one but Eutropius. Struck by the vision, Sisinnius told the dream to one of the most trusted presbyters under him and ordered him to search out who the man was. He, aptly conjecturing that such a man was likely to be among those lately tortured before the prefect, went round the prisons and asked whether there was any Eutropius in them. Finding him, he talked with him, told him the bishop’s dream, and with tears begged him to pray for him. So it was with Eutropius. Courage appeared also in these calamities in Olympias the deaconess. For when she was brought to court on this charge, and the prefect asked why she had set fire to the church, she answered: “This is not the purpose of my life; for I have spent a great fortune on the restoration of temples of God.” When he said that he knew her life, she said: “Then step into the place of the accuser, and let another judge us.” Since the accusation had no witnesses, the prefect, having nothing he could justly charge, passed somewhat more gently to another charge; and as if giving advice, he blamed her and the other women for folly in refusing communion with the bishop, when they could repent and be rid of their troubles. The others, in fear, yielded to the prefect’s command. But Olympias said: “It is not just that one who has been convicted by slander before the crowd, but in the courts has been proved guilty of none of the charges, should be dragged into a defence against charges not under trial. Allow me, then, to bring forward advocates for the former indictment. For even if I am unlawfully forced, I will not communicate with those with whom I ought not, nor do what is not lawful for the pious.” When he did not persuade her to communicate with Arsacius, he released her for the time to instruct advocates; but at another hearing he fined her a great sum of gold, thinking thus to change her mind. But she, disregarding the money, did not give way, and leaving Constantinople she lived at Cyzicus. At that time too Tigrius the presbyter was stripped of his clothes, scourged on the back, and stretched out bound hand and foot so that his joints were dislocated. He was a barbarian by race, a eunuch but not from birth; having first been a slave in the house of one of the powerful, and having been praised by his owner, he received his freedom. Advanced to the rank of presbyter, he proved in time to be most fair in character, gentle, and, if anyone, most kindly to the needy and to strangers. Such were the things in Constantinople. Meanwhile, when Siricius had completed fifteen years in the episcopate of the Romans and Anastasius three after him, Innocent filled this succession. Flavian also died, not having agreed to John’s deposition; and Porphyry succeeded to the church of the Antiochenes. Since he voted with those who had acted against John, many in Syria separated from the church there; and holding their own assemblies, they underwent troubles and very many hardships. For because of communion with Arsacius and this Porphyry and Theophilus the bishop of Alexandria, through the efforts of the powerful at the palace, a law was made that those of right belief should not assemble outside the churches, and that those who did not communicate with them should be expelled.
Notes and citation
Summary: The reader Eutropius dies under torture, honoured in a dream to the Novatian Sisinnius; the deaconess Olympias defies the prefect and leaves for Cyzicus; the presbyter Tigrius is tortured; Innocent becomes bishop of Rome and Porphyry of Antioch, and a law expels those not in communion with Arsacius, Porphyry and Theophilus.
- The law is Codex Theodosianus 16.4.6 (18 November 404).
Topics: Persecution, Martyrdom, Church office
Cite (SBL): Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 8.24 (PG 67:1577–1579; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/8-24). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/8-24
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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 Hartranft's English in NPNF² 2.
8.25PG 67:1579–1583
Περὶ δὲ τοῦτον τὸν χρόνον, ὡς ἐπίπαν συνενεχθέν εὑρεῖν ἔστιν ἐν ταῖς τῶν ἱερέων διχονοίαις, καὶ τὰ κοινὰ θορύβων καὶ ταραχῆς ἐπειράθη. Καὶ Οὖννοι Ο μὲν τὸν Ἴστρον περαιωθέντες, τοὺς Θρᾷκας ἐδήουν. δὲ ἐν ἸΙσαυρίᾳ λῃσταὶ πλῆθος , ἀπροισθέντες, μέχρι Καρῶν καὶ Φοινίχων, τὰς μέσῳ πόλεις κώμας ἐκακούργουν. Στελίχων δὲ ὁ Ονωρίου στρατηγὸς, ἀνὴρ εἴπερ τις πώποτε ἐν πολλῇ δυνάμει γεγενημένος, Ῥωμαίων τε. ποὺς νέους πειθομένοῳφ ἔχων, εἰς ἔχθραν καταστὰς τοῖς ᾿Αρκαδίου ἄρχουσιν, ἐθδεδούλευτο πρὺς ἑαυτὰ συγκροῦσαι τὰ βασίλεια, καὶ στρατηγοῦ ' Ῥωμαίων ἀξίωμα περὶ ᾿θνωρίου προξενίσας ᾿Αλαρίχῳ τῷ ἡγουμένῳ τῶν Γότθων, Ἰλλυριοῖς ἐπανέστησεν ὕπαρχόν τε αὐτῶν καταστάντα Ἰόθδιον προπέμψας, συνέθετο συνδραμεῖσθαι μετὰ τῶν Ῥωμαίων στρατιωτῶν, ὥστε δῆθεν καὶ τοὺς τῇδε ὑπηκόους ὑπὸ τὴν ᾿θνωρίου ἡγεμονίαν ποιῆσαι. Παραλαβὼν δὲ ᾿Αλάριχος τοὺς ὑπ᾽ αὐτὸν τῆς πρὸς τῇ Δαλματίᾳ Παννονίᾳ βαρβάρου γῆς οὗ διῆγεν, ἧκεν εἰς τὰς ἩἨπείρους " καὶ συχνὸν ἐνταῦθα μείνας χρόνον, ἐπανῆλθεν εἰς Ἰταλίαν. Μέλλων γὰρ ἐκδημεῖν ὡς ὡμολόγησε Στελίχων, γράμΟἱ μασιν ἐπεσχέθη. τὰ μὲν τούτοις
Peri de touton ton chronon, hōs epipan synenechthen heurein estin en tais tōn hiereōn dichonoiais, kai ta koina thorybōn kai tarachēs epeirathē. Kai Ounnoi O men ton Istron peraiōthentes, tous Thrąkas edēoun. de en IIsaurią lę̄stai plēthos , aproisthentes, mechri Karōn kai Phoinichōn, tas mesǭ poleis kōmas ekakourgoun. Stelichōn de ho Onōriou stratēgos, anēr eiper tis pōpote en pollę̄ dynamei gegenēmenos, Rhōmaiōn te. pous neous peithomenoǭph echōn, eis echthran katastas tois ᾿Arkadiou archousin, ethdedouleuto prys heauta synkrousai ta basileia, kai stratēgou ' Rhōmaiōn axiōma peri ᾿thnōriou proxenisas ᾿Alarichǭ tǭ hēgoumenǭ tōn Gotthōn, Illyriois epanestēsen hyparchon te autōn katastanta Iothdion propempsas, synetheto syndrameisthai meta tōn Rhōmaiōn stratiōtōn, hōste dēthen kai tous tę̄de hypēkoous hypo tēn ᾿thnōriou hēgemonian poiēsai. Paralabōn de ᾿Alarichos tous hyp᾽ auton tēs pros tę̄ Dalmatią Pannonią barbarou gēs hou diēgen, hēken eis tas HēĒpeirous " kai sychnon entautha meinas chronon, epanēlthen eis Italian. Mellōn gar ekdēmein hōs hōmologēse Stelichōn, gramOi masin epeschethē. ta men toutois
About this time, as one can generally find happening in the dissensions of the priests, public affairs too experienced uproar and turmoil. The Huns crossed the Ister and ravaged Thrace. The robbers in Isauria, gathered in great numbers, did harm to the cities and villages in between as far as Caria and Phoenicia. Stilicho, the general of Honorius, a man who had come to as great power as anyone ever, having the young men of the Romans and of the barbarians obedient to him, and being at enmity with the officials of Arcadius, planned to set the two courts at odds with each other. Having obtained from Honorius for Alaric, the leader of the Goths, the rank of a Roman general, he set him against Illyricum; and sending ahead Jovius, appointed their prefect, he agreed to join them with the Roman soldiers, so as supposedly to bring the subjects there too under the rule of Honorius. Alaric, taking those under him from the barbarian land bordering Dalmatia and Pannonia where he was living, came to the Epiruses; and after staying there a long time, returned to Italy. For when about to leave, he was held back, as Stilicho agreed, by letters …
Notes and citation
Summary: Huns ravage Thrace and Isaurian brigands raid the East; Stilicho, at enmity with Arcadius’s court, sets Alaric against Illyricum.
- The end of the section is damaged in the scan (marked “…”); Alaric was recalled by letters of Honorius.
Cite (SBL): Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 8.25 (PG 67:1579–1583; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/8-25). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/8-25
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-sozomen-historia-8-25) · 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 Hartranft's English in NPNF² 2.
8.26PG 67:1583–1589
Μαθὼν δὲ 4 ὁ Ῥωμαίων ἐπίσκοπος τὰ κατὰ Ἰωάννου πεπραγμένα, ἐχαλέπαινε" καὶ τῶν μὲν κατέγνω " οἰκουμενικὴν δὲ σύνοδον συναγεῖραι σπουδάζων, ἔγραψεν Ἰωάννῃ, ἐν μέρει τε τοῖς Κωνσταντινουπόλεως κληρικοῖς. Ἑ χατέραν δὲ ἐπιστολὴν ἐχ τῆς Ῥωμαίων φωνῆς εὑρὼν παρεθέμην. "Ἔχει δὲ ὧδε. Τῷ ἀγαπητῷ ἀδελφῷ Ἰωάννῃ Ἱνοχέντιος. Εἰ καὶ πάντα δεῖ τὸν ἀναίτιον προσδοκᾷν τὰ χρηστὰ, καὶ παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ τὸν ἔλεον αἰτεῖν, ὅμως παρὰ ἡμῶν τὴν ἀνεξιχαχίαν συμδουλευόντων, τὰ χαθήχοντα γράμματα διὰ Κυριακοῦ τοῦ διαχόνον ἐξαπέσταλται᾽" ὥστε μὴ πλέον δυνηθῆναι τὴν ὕδριν ἐν τῷ συντρίδειν τὸ ἀγαθὸν συνειδὸς, ἐν τῷ ἐλπίζειν. Οὐδὲ γὰρ ὀφείλεις διδαχθῆναι ὁ τοσούτων λαῶν διδάσκαλος καὶ ποιμὴν τοὺς ἀρίστους ἀεὶ καὶ πολλάκις δοχιμάζεσθαι, εἰ ἐν τῇ ἀκμῇ τῆς ὑπομονῆς παραμένουσι, οὐδενὶ πόνῳ χαχοπαθείας ὑποπίπτουσι. Καὶ ἔστιν ὡς ἀληθῶς πρᾶγμα τὸ συνειδὸς εἰς πάντα τὰ ἀδίκως συμπίπτοντα. εἰ μὴ νιχήσειέ τις ὑπομένων, τεκμήριον φαύλης ὑπολήψεω; ἐχφέρει. Πάντα γὰρ ὑπομένειν ὀφείλει, ὁ τῷ Θεῷ πρῶτον, εἶτα τῷ ἰδίῳ πεποιθὼς συνειδότι ὁπότε μάλιστα γυμνάζεσθαι εἰς ὑπομονὴν ὁ καλὸς ἀγαθὸς δύναται" νιχᾶσθαι δὲ οὐχ ἐπειδήπερ αὐτοῦ τὴν διάνοιαν αἱ θεῖαι Γραφαὶ φυλάττουσι. περιττεύουσιν ὑποδεΐγμαοιν αἱ θεῖαι ἀναγνώσεις, ἃς τοῖς λαοῖς παραδιδόαμεν" αἵτινες πάντας σχεδὸν τοὺς ἁγίους χαταπεπονήῃσθαι διαφόρως συνεχῶς ἐπιστώσαντο, δοχιμάξζεσθαι καθάπερ ἔν τιν: διαγνώσει, οὕτω τε εἰς τὸν στέφανον τῆς ὑπομονῆς ἐληλυθέναι. Παραμυθείτω τὴν ἀγάπην σου αὐτὸ τὸ συνειδὸς, ἀδελφὲ τιμιώτατε, ὅπερ ἐν ταῖς θλίψεσιν ἔχει τὴν παραμυθείαν τῆς ἀρετῆς. Ἐποπτεύοντος γὰρ τοῦ Δεσπότου Χριστοῦ, ἐν τῷ λιμένι τῆς εἰρήνης καθαρισθεῖσα ἡ συνείδησις στήσεται. Ἰνοκέντιος ἐπίσκοπος πρεσβυτέροις καὶ διακόνοις καὶ παντὶ τῷ κλήρῳ καὶ τῷ λαῷ τῆς Κωνσταντινουπόλεως Ἐκκλησίας τοῖς ὑπὸ τὸν ἐπίσκοπον Ἰωάννην, ἀγαπητοῖς ἀδελφοῖς χαίρειν. Ἐκ τῶν γραμμάτων τῆς ὑμετέρας ἀγάπης, ἅτινα διὰ Γερμανοῦ τοῦ πρεσβυτέρου καὶ Κασιανοῦ τοῦ διακόνου ἀπεστάλκατε, τὴν σκηνὴν τῶν κακῶν ἣν πρὸ τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν ἐθήκατε, ἐμμερίμνῳ φροντίδι κατέμαθον· ὅσαις τε ἡ πίστις κάμνει ταλαιπωρίαις τε καὶ πόνοις, ἐπαναληφθείσῃ πολλάκις τῇ ἀναγνώσει κατεῖδον. Ὅπερ πρᾶγμα μόνη ἡ παράκλησις τῆς ὑπομονῆς ἰᾶται. Δώσει γὰρ ἐν τάχει ὁ ἡμέτερος Θεὸς ταῖς τοιαύταις θλίψεσι τέλος, καὶ καὶ ταῦτα συνοίσει ὑπενηνοχέναι. Αλλά γὰρ αὐτὴν τὴν ἀναγκαίαν παράκλησιν, ἐν ἀρχῇ τῆς ἐπιστολῆς τῆς ὑμετέρας ἀγάπης κειμένην, ἐγκωμιάζοντες ὑμῶν τὴν πρόθεσιν ἐπεγνώκαμεν, πολλάς πρὸς τὸ ὑπομένειν μαρτυρίας περιέχουσαν. Τὴν γὰρ ἡμετέραν παράκλησιν ἣν ὠφείλομεν ὑμῖν ἐπιστεῖλαι, τοῖς ὑμετέροις γράμμασι προεφθάσατε. Ταύτην γὰρ τοῖς κάμνουσιν ὁ ἡμέτερος Δεσπότης ὑπομονὴν παρέχειν εἴωθεν · ἵνα καὶ ἐν ταῖς θλίψεσι τυγχάνοντες, ἑαυτοὺς οἱ τοῦ Χριστοῦ δοῦλο: παραμυθῶνται. ᾿Αναλογιζόμενοι ἐν ἑαυτοῖς, καὶ πρότερον γεγενῆσθαι, τοῖς ἁγίοις ἄπερ αὐτοὶ πάσχουσι. Καὶ ἡμεῖς δὲ ἐξ αὐτῶν τῶν ὑμετέρων γραμμάτων δυνάμεθα ὑμῖν προσενέγκαι παράκλησιν. Οὐ γὰρ τοῦ συναλγεῖν ὑμῖν ἐσμεν ἀλλότριοι, ἐπειδήπερ καὶ ἡμεῖς κολαζόμεθα ἐν ὑμῖν. Τίς γὰρ ἐνέγκαι δυνήσεται τὰ ἐξαμαρτανόμενα ὑπ᾽ ἐκείνων, οὔστινας ἐχρῆν μάλιστα τοῦ γαληνοῦ τῆς εἰρήνης, καὶ αὐτῆς σπουδαστὰς εἶναι τῆς ὁμονοίας; Νῦν ἐνηλλαγμένῳ τρόπῳ ἀπὸ τῆς προεδρίας τῶν ἰδίων Ἐκκλησιῶν ἐξωθοῦνται ἀθῶοι ἱερεῖς. Ὁ δὴ καὶ πρῶτος ὁ ἀδελφὸς ἡμῶν καὶ συλλειτουργὸς Ἰωάννης ὁ ὑμέτερος ἐπίσκοπος ἀδίκως πέπονθε, μηδεμιᾶς τυχὼν ἀκροάσεως. Οὐδὲν ἔγκλημα ἐπιφέρεται οὐδ᾽ εἰσακούεται. Καὶ τίς ἡ ἀπηγορευμένη ἐπίνοια; ἵνα μὴ πρόφασις κρίσεως γένηται, ἢ ζητηθῇ, εἰς τόπους ζώντων ἱερέων ἄλλοι ἀποκαθίστανται, ὡς δυναμένων τῶν ἐκ τοιούτου πλημμελήματος όρμωμένων, ὀρθῶς τι ἔχειν ἢ πεπρᾶχθαι ὑπό τινος κριθῆναι. Οὐδὲ γὰρ πώποτε παρὰ τῶν πατέρων τῶν ἡμετέρων τοιαῦτα τετολμῆσθαι ἐγνώκαμεν· ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον κεκωλύσθαι τῷ μηδενὶ εἰς τόπον ζῶντος · χειροτονεῖν ἄλλον δεδόσθαι ἐξουσίαν· οὐ γὰρ χειροτονία ὑμῖν ἡμῖν. ἀδόχιμος τὴν τιμὴν δύνατα: ἀφελέσθαι τοῦ ἱερέως, ἐπειδήπερ οὐδὲ ἐπίσκοπος δύναται εἶναι ἐκεῖνος, ὃς ἀδίκως ὑποχαθίσταται. “Ὅτι περὶ τῶν κανόνων παραφυλαχῆς, τούτοις δεῖν ἕπεσθαι" γράφομεν, οἴτινες ἐν Νικαίᾳ εἰσὶν ὡρισ , οἷς μόνοις ὀφείλει ἐξαχολουθεῖν ἡ καθολικὴ Ἐκκλησία, καὶ τούτους γνωρίζειν. Εἰ δὲ ἕτεροι ὑπό τίνων προφέρονται, οἵτινες ἀπὸ τῶν κανόνων τῶν ἐν Νικαίᾳ διαφωνοῦσι, καὶ ὑπὸ αἱρετικῶν ἐλέγχοντα! συντετάχθαι, οὗτοι παρὰ τῶν χαθολιχῶν ἐπισκόπων ἀποδάλλονται. Τὰ γὰρ ὑπὸ τῶν αἱρετικῶν εὑρεθέντα, ταῦτα οὐχ ἔστι τοῖς χαθολιχοῖς χανόσι προσάπτειν. γὰρ διὰ τῶν τίων καὶ ἀθέσμων, τὴν τῶν ἐν Νικαίᾳ μειοῦν βουλὴν ἐθέλουσιν. Οὐ μόνον οὖν λέγομεν τούτοις δεῖν ἐξαχολουθεῖν, ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον αὐτοὺς μετὰ αἱρέτιχῶν σχισματιχῶν δογμάτων εἶναι χαταχριτέους, καθάπερ καὶ πρότερον γέγονεν ἐν τῇ Σαρδικῇ συνόδῳ ὑπὸ τῶν πρὸ ἡμῶν ἐπισκόπων. Τὰ γὰρ καλῶς πραχθέντα χαταχρίνεσθαι μᾶλλον προσῆκεν; 7| ἄντικρυς τῶν χανόνων γενόμενα, ἔχειν τινὰ βεθαιότητα, ἀδελφοὶ τιμιώτατοι. ᾿Αλλὰ τί κατὰ τῶν τοιούτων νῦν ἐν τῷ παρόντι ποιήσωμεν ; ᾿Αναγκαία ἐστὶ διάγνωσις οδιχὴ, ἣν καὶ πάλαι ἔφημεν συναθροιστέαν. Μόνη γάρ ἐστιν ἥτις δύναται τὰς χινήσεις τῶν τοιούτων χαταστεῖλαι χαταιγίδων" ἧς ἵνα τύχωμεν, χρήσιμόν ἔστι τέως ὑπερτίθεσθαι τὴν ἰατρίαν τῇ τοῦ μεγάλου Θεοῦ, καὶ τοῦ Χριστοῦ αὐτοῦ, τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν. Πάντα ὅσα νῦν τῷ φθόνῳ τοῦ διαδόλου πρὸς τὴν τῶν πιστῶν δοχιμασίαν τετάραχται, πραῦνθήσεται. Οὐδὲν ὀφείλομεν τῇ στεῤῥότητι τῆς πίστεως παρὰ τοῦ Κυρίου ἀπελπίσαι. Καὶ γὰρ ἡμεῖς πολλὰ σχεπτόμεθα, ὃν τρόπον ἡ σύνοδος οἰκουμενικὴ σὺναχθείη, ὅπως τῇ βουλήσει τοῦ Θεοῦ, αἱ ταραχώδεις χινήσεις παύσωνται. ᾿Υπομείνωμεν οὖν τέως, τῷ τείχει τῆς ὑπομονῆς ὀχυρούμενοι, ἐλπίσωμεν τῷ πάντα τῇ βοηθείᾳ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡμῶν ἀποκατασταθῆναι. Πάντα δὲ ὅσα ὑμᾶς ὑφίστασθαι εἰρήχατε, καὶ πρότερον συνδραιμάντων εἰς τὴν Ῥώμην τῶν ἡμετέρων συνεπισκόπων, εἰ καὶ τὰ μάλιστα διαφόροις χρόνοις, 362 τουτέστι Δημητρίου, Κυριακοῦ, Εὐλυσίου καὶ Παλλαδίου, οἵ τινες σύνεισι μεθ᾽ ἡμῶν, τελείᾳ ἐρωτήσει μεμαθήκαμεν.
Mathōn de 4 ho Rhōmaiōn episkopos ta kata Iōannou pepragmena, echalepaine" kai tōn men kategnō " oikoumenikēn de synodon synageirai spoudazōn, egrapsen Iōannę̄, en merei te tois Kōnstantinoupoleōs klērikois. He chateran de epistolēn ech tēs Rhōmaiōn phōnēs heurōn parethemēn. "Echei de hōde. Tǭ agapētǭ adelphǭ Iōannę̄ Hinochentios. Ei kai panta dei ton anaition prosdokąn ta chrēsta, kai para tou Theou ton eleon aitein, homōs para hēmōn tēn anexichachian symdouleuontōn, ta chathēchonta grammata dia Kyriakou tou diachonon exapestaltai᾽" hōste mē pleon dynēthēnai tēn hydrin en tǭ syntridein to agathon syneidos, en tǭ elpizein. Oude gar opheileis didachthēnai ho tosoutōn laōn didaskalos kai poimēn tous aristous aei kai pollakis dochimazesthai, ei en tę̄ akmę̄ tēs hypomonēs paramenousi, oudeni ponǭ chachopatheias hypopiptousi. Kai estin hōs alēthōs pragma to syneidos eis panta ta adikōs sympiptonta. ei mē nichēseie tis hypomenōn, tekmērion phaulēs hypolēpseō? echpherei. Panta gar hypomenein opheilei, ho tǭ Theǭ prōton, eita tǭ idiǭ pepoithōs syneidoti hopote malista gymnazesthai eis hypomonēn ho kalos agathos dynatai" nichasthai de ouch epeidēper autou tēn dianoian hai theiai Graphai phylattousi. peritteuousin hypodeïgmaoin hai theiai anagnōseis, has tois laois paradidoamen" haitines pantas schedon tous hagious chatapeponēę̄sthai diaphorōs synechōs epistōsanto, dochimaxzesthai kathaper en tin: diagnōsei, houtō te eis ton stephanon tēs hypomonēs elēlythenai. Paramytheitō tēn agapēn sou auto to syneidos, adelphe timiōtate, hoper en tais thlipsesin echei tēn paramytheian tēs aretēs. Epopteuontos gar tou Despotou Christou, en tǭ limeni tēs eirēnēs katharistheisa hē syneidēsis stēsetai. Inokentios episkopos presbyterois kai diakonois kai panti tǭ klērǭ kai tǭ laǭ tēs Kōnstantinoupoleōs Ekklēsias tois hypo ton episkopon Iōannēn, agapētois adelphois chairein. Ek tōn grammatōn tēs hymeteras agapēs, hatina dia Germanou tou presbyterou kai Kasianou tou diakonou apestalkate, tēn skēnēn tōn kakōn hēn pro tōn ophthalmōn ethēkate, emmerimnǭ phrontidi katemathon; hosais te hē pistis kamnei talaipōriais te kai ponois, epanalēphtheisę̄ pollakis tę̄ anagnōsei kateidon. Hoper pragma monē hē paraklēsis tēs hypomonēs iatai. Dōsei gar en tachei ho hēmeteros Theos tais toiautais thlipsesi telos, kai kai tauta synoisei hypenēnochenai. Alla gar autēn tēn anankaian paraklēsin, en archę̄ tēs epistolēs tēs hymeteras agapēs keimenēn, enkōmiazontes hymōn tēn prothesin epegnōkamen, pollas pros to hypomenein martyrias periechousan. Tēn gar hēmeteran paraklēsin hēn ōpheilomen hymin episteilai, tois hymeterois grammasi proephthasate. Tautēn gar tois kamnousin ho hēmeteros Despotēs hypomonēn parechein eiōthen ; hina kai en tais thlipsesi tynchanontes, heautous hoi tou Christou doulo: paramythōntai. ᾿Analogizomenoi en heautois, kai proteron gegenēsthai, tois hagiois aper autoi paschousi. Kai hēmeis de ex autōn tōn hymeterōn grammatōn dynametha hymin prosenenkai paraklēsin. Ou gar tou synalgein hymin esmen allotrioi, epeidēper kai hēmeis kolazometha en hymin. Tis gar enenkai dynēsetai ta examartanomena hyp᾽ ekeinōn, oustinas echrēn malista tou galēnou tēs eirēnēs, kai autēs spoudastas einai tēs homonoias? Nyn enēllagmenǭ tropǭ apo tēs proedrias tōn idiōn Ekklēsiōn exōthountai athōoi hiereis. Ho dē kai prōtos ho adelphos hēmōn kai sylleitourgos Iōannēs ho hymeteros episkopos adikōs peponthe, mēdemias tychōn akroaseōs. Ouden enklēma epipheretai oud᾽ eisakouetai. Kai tis hē apēgoreumenē epinoia? hina mē prophasis kriseōs genētai, ē zētēthę̄, eis topous zōntōn hiereōn alloi apokathistantai, hōs dynamenōn tōn ek toioutou plēmmelēmatos ormōmenōn, orthōs ti echein ē peprachthai hypo tinos krithēnai. Oude gar pōpote para tōn paterōn tōn hēmeterōn toiauta tetolmēsthai egnōkamen; alla mallon kekōlysthai tǭ mēdeni eis topon zōntos ; cheirotonein allon dedosthai exousian; ou gar cheirotonia hymin hēmin. adochimos tēn timēn dynata: aphelesthai tou hiereōs, epeidēper oude episkopos dynatai einai ekeinos, hos adikōs hypochathistatai. “Hoti peri tōn kanonōn paraphylachēs, toutois dein hepesthai" graphomen, oitines en Nikaią eisin hōris , hois monois opheilei exacholouthein hē katholikē Ekklēsia, kai toutous gnōrizein. Ei de heteroi hypo tinōn propherontai, hoitines apo tōn kanonōn tōn en Nikaią diaphōnousi, kai hypo hairetikōn elenchonta! syntetachthai, houtoi para tōn chatholichōn episkopōn apodallontai. Ta gar hypo tōn hairetikōn heurethenta, tauta ouch esti tois chatholichois chanosi prosaptein. gar dia tōn tiōn kai athesmōn, tēn tōn en Nikaią meioun boulēn ethelousin. Ou monon oun legomen toutois dein exacholouthein, alla mallon autous meta hairetichōn schismatichōn dogmatōn einai chatachriteous, kathaper kai proteron gegonen en tę̄ Sardikę̄ synodǭ hypo tōn pro hēmōn episkopōn. Ta gar kalōs prachthenta chatachrinesthai mallon prosēken? 7| antikrys tōn chanonōn genomena, echein tina bethaiotēta, adelphoi timiōtatoi. ᾿Alla ti kata tōn toioutōn nyn en tǭ paronti poiēsōmen ? ᾿Anankaia esti diagnōsis odichē, hēn kai palai ephēmen synathroistean. Monē gar estin hētis dynatai tas chinēseis tōn toioutōn chatasteilai chataigidōn" hēs hina tychōmen, chrēsimon esti teōs hypertithesthai tēn iatrian tę̄ tou megalou Theou, kai tou Christou autou, tou Kyriou hēmōn. Panta hosa nyn tǭ phthonǭ tou diadolou pros tēn tōn pistōn dochimasian tetarachtai, praunthēsetai. Ouden opheilomen tę̄ sterrhotēti tēs pisteōs para tou Kyriou apelpisai. Kai gar hēmeis polla scheptometha, hon tropon hē synodos oikoumenikē synachtheiē, hopōs tę̄ boulēsei tou Theou, hai tarachōdeis chinēseis pausōntai. ᾿Ypomeinōmen oun teōs, tǭ teichei tēs hypomonēs ochyroumenoi, elpisōmen tǭ panta tę̄ boētheią tou Theou hēmōn apokatastathēnai. Panta de hosa hymas hyphistasthai eirēchate, kai proteron syndraimantōn eis tēn Rhōmēn tōn hēmeterōn synepiskopōn, ei kai ta malista diaphorois chronois, 362 toutesti Dēmētriou, Kyriakou, Eulysiou kai Palladiou, hoi tines syneisi meth᾽ hēmōn, teleią erōtēsei memathēkamen.
When the bishop of the Romans learned what had been done against John, he was angry; and he condemned those responsible, and, eager to gather an ecumenical synod, he wrote to John, and separately to the clergy of Constantinople. I found both letters, from the language of the Romans, and have set them down here. They run as follows: “Innocent to the beloved brother John. Although one who is blameless ought to expect all good things and ask mercy from God, nevertheless, since we too counsel forbearance, the fitting letter has been sent through Cyriacus the deacon, so that insult may not prevail more in crushing a good conscience than hope does. For you, the teacher and shepherd of so many peoples, need not be taught that the best men are always and often tested, whether they remain in the vigour of patience and fall under no toil of suffering. And it is truly a thing — conscience — against all that befalls unjustly; unless one overcomes by enduring, he gives proof of a bad opinion. For he ought to endure all things who trusts first in God and then in his own conscience; especially since a good and noble man can be exercised in patience but not overcome, since the divine Scriptures guard his mind. The divine readings, which we hand on to the peoples, abound in examples, which have shown that almost all the saints were afflicted in various ways and continually, and tested as if in a trial, and so came to the crown of patience. Let your conscience itself console your love, most honoured brother, which in afflictions has the consolation of virtue. For under the oversight of Christ the Lord, the conscience, cleansed, will stand in the harbour of peace.” “Bishop Innocent to the presbyters, deacons, all the clergy and the people of the church of Constantinople under Bishop John, beloved brothers, greeting. From the letters of your love, which you sent through Germanus the presbyter and Cassian the deacon, I have learned with anxious care the scene of evils that you set before our eyes; and by reading them again and again I have seen with what hardships and toils the faith is suffering. This thing only the consolation of patience heals. For our God will soon give an end to such afflictions, and it will profit you to have borne these things. But we have recognized, and praise your purpose, the very consolation needed, set at the beginning of the letter of your love, containing many testimonies to endurance. For you have anticipated in your letters the consolation which we ought to have sent you. For our Lord is wont to give this patience to those who suffer, so that even in afflictions the servants of Christ may console themselves, reckoning within themselves that what they suffer happened before to the saints. And we too can offer you consolation from your own letters. For we are not strangers to suffering with you, since we too are punished in you. For who can bear what is done amiss by those who ought most of all to be zealous for the calm of peace and for concord itself? Now, in a reversed manner, innocent priests are thrust from the presidency of their own churches. This our brother and fellow minister John, your bishop, was the first to suffer unjustly, without obtaining any hearing. No charge is brought, none is heard. And what is this forbidden device? So that no ground for judgment may arise or be sought, others are installed in the places of living priests — as though those who start from such an offence could be judged by anyone to hold or have done anything rightly. For we have never known such things to be dared by our fathers, but rather to have been prevented, in that no one was given authority to ordain another in the place of one living; for an ordination that is unapproved cannot take the honour from a priest, since he cannot even be a bishop who is unjustly installed. As to the observance of the canons, we write that one must follow those defined at Nicaea, which alone the catholic church ought to follow and recognize. But if others are put forward by some, which differ from the canons of Nicaea and are shown to have been composed by heretics, these are rejected by the catholic bishops. For what was invented by heretics may not be attached to the catholic canons; for by contrary and lawless canons they wish to diminish the counsel of those at Nicaea. We say, then, not only that these should not be followed, but rather that they are to be condemned with heretical and schismatic doctrines, as happened before at the synod of Sardica by the bishops before us. For it would be more fitting for things well done to be condemned than for things done directly against the canons to have any validity, most honoured brothers. But what shall we do against such things at present? A synodal examination is necessary, which we said long ago should be gathered. For it alone can calm the movements of such storms; and to obtain it, it is useful meanwhile to commit the cure to the will of the great God and of his Christ, our Lord. All that has now been stirred up by the envy of the devil for the testing of the faithful will be calmed. We ought to despair of nothing from the Lord in the firmness of faith. For we too are considering much how an ecumenical synod may be gathered, so that by the will of God the turbulent movements may cease. Let us then endure meanwhile, fortified by the wall of patience, and hope that all things will be restored by the help of our God. All that you have said you are undergoing we have also learned before by full inquiry, when our fellow bishops came running to Rome, though at different times — that is, Demetrius, Cyriacus, Eulysius and Palladius, who are with us.”
Notes and citation
Summary: Innocent of Rome, condemning the proceedings against Chrysostom and seeking an ecumenical synod, writes a letter of consolation to John and another to his clergy denouncing the uncanonical installation of bishops in the place of the living and rejecting canons made by heretics.
- Two letters of Innocent I (ca. 404–405), translated by Sozomen from Latin into Greek, are quoted in full and translated from the Greek as printed; the second is also preserved in Palladius, Dialogue on the Life of Chrysostom 3. Several phrases are garbled in the scan and are translated by sense.
- The “heretical” canons are those of the council of Antioch (341).
Extrabiblical texts: Palladius, Dial. Vit. Chrys. 3 (Dialogue on the Life of John Chrysostom; echo)
Topics: Church office
Cite (SBL): Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 8.26 (PG 67:1583–1589; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/8-26). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/8-26
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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 Hartranft's English in NPNF² 2.
8.27PG 67:1589–1591
Τάδε μὲν τὰ Ἰνοκεντίου γράμματα · ἐξ ὧν συνιδεῖν ἔστιν, οἷαν εἶχε περὶ Ἰωάννου γνώμην. Ἐν τούτοις δὲ παμμεγέθης ἐν Κωνσταντινουπόλει καὶ τοῖς προαστείοις χάλαζα κατερράγη · τετάρτῃ τε μετὰ τοῦτο ἡμέρᾳ, ἡ τοῦ βασιλέως γαμετὴ ἐτελεύτησε. Καὶ τάδε συμβῆναι χαλεπαίνοντος τοῦ Θεοῦ διὰ Ἰωάννην, ὡς τοῖς πολλοῖς ἐδόκει. Καὶ γὰρ δὴ καὶ Κυρῖνος ὁ Χαλκηδόνος ἐπίσκοπος, ὃς αὐτὸν μάλιστα ἐλοιδόρει, οὐ πολλῷ πρότερον ἐκ τῆς συγκυρησάσης αὐτῷ περὶ τὸν πόδα συμφορᾶς, ἑκάτερον σκέλος ὑπὸ τῶν ἰατρῶν ἀποπρισθεὶς, ἐλεεινῶς ἀπεδίω. Καὶ ᾿Αρσάκιος δὲ ἐπ᾿ ὀλίγον χρόνον τὴν Κωνσταντινουπόλεως Ἐκκλησίαν ἐπιτροπεύσας, ἐτελεύτησε. Πολλῶν δὲ τὴν αὐτοῦ διαδοχὴν μνωμένων, τετάρτῳ μηνὶ τῆς αὐτοῦ τελευτῆς, χειροτονεῖται Αττικὸς, πρεσβύτερος τοῦ Κωνσταντινουπόλεως κλήρου, ἐκ τῶν ἐπιβούλων Ἰωάννου. Οὗτος μὲν γένος ἦν ἐκ Σεβαστείας τῆς ᾿Αρμενίας · ἐκ νέου δὲ φιλοσοφεῖν ἐπαιδεύθη ὑπὸ μοναχοῖς τῆς Μακεδενίου αἱρέσεως · οἳ δὴ τότε ἀνὰ τὴν Σεβάστειαν ἐν τῇδε τῇ φιλοσοφίᾳ διέπρεπον, ἐκ τῆς Εὐσταθίου διατριβῆς ὄντες, ὃν ἐπίσκοπον ἐνθάδε καὶ ἡγεμόνα ἀρίστων μοναχῶν γενέσθαι ἐν τοῖς πρόσθεν ἔγνωμεν. ἤδη δὲ εἰς ἄνδρας τελῶν, πρὸς τὴν καθόλου Ἐκκλησίαν μετέθετο· φύσει δὲ μᾶλλον, ἢ μαθήσει φρόνιμος ῶν, ἐγένετο τῶν πρακτέων ἐπήβολος, ἐπιβουλεῦσαί · τε, καὶ πρὸς ἐπιβουλὰς ἀντισχεῖν ἱκανὸς · τὸ δὲ ἦθος ἐπαγωγὸς, ὡς πολλοῖς κεχαρισμένος εἶναι· μέτριος δὲ πρὸς τοὺς ἐπ᾿ ἐκκλησίας λόγους, ὡς μήτε γραφῆς ἀξίους νομίζεσθαι τοῖς ἀκροαταῖς, μήτε παιδείας παντελῶς ἀμοίρους. Ἐμμελὴς γὰρ ὢν, εἴ πη καιρὸν ἦγε, τοὺς παρ' Ἕλλησιν εὐδοκιμωτάτους συγγραφέας ἡσκεῖτο. Καὶ τῷ δοκεῖν ἰδιώτης εἶναι, περὶ τούτων διαλεγόμενος, καὶ τοὺς ἐπιστήμονας πολλάκις ἐλάνθανεν. Ελέγετο δὲ πρὸς μὲν τοὺς ὁμοδόξους σπουδαῖος εἶναι· τοῖς δὲ ἑτεροδόξοις φοβερός. Καὶ ῥᾳδίως μὲν αὐτοῖς ἡνίκα βούλοιτο, δέος ἐμποιεῖν· αὖθις δὲ μεταβαλλόμενος, πρᾶος φαίνεσθαι. Καὶ τὸν μὲν, τοιόνδε γενέσθαι φασὶν, οἱ γε τὸν ἄνδρα ἔγνωσαν. Ὁ δὲ Ἰωάννης καὶ φεύγων, ἐπισημότερος ἐγένετο· χρημάτων γὰρ ἔχων ἀφθονίαν, ἄλλων τε πολλῶν προσφερόντων, καὶ Ὀλυμπιάδος τῆς διακόνου πεμπούσης, πολλοὺς αἰχμαλώτους παρὰ τῶν Ἰσαύρων ὠνεῖτο, καὶ τοῖς ἰδίοις ἀπεδίδου · πολλοῖς δὲ δεομένοις τὰ ἀναγκαῖα ἐχορήγει· οἷς δὲ οὐδὲν ἔδει χρημάτων, τῷ λόγῳ προσήγετο · καὶ εἰς ἄγαν κεχαρισμένος ἐτύγχανεν, ᾿Αρμενίοις τε παρ' οἷς ἦν, καὶ τοῖς πλησιοχώροις. Πλεῖστοι δὲ πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐφοίτων ἀπό τε ᾿Αντιοχείας, καὶ τῆς ἄλλης Συρίας καὶ Κιλικίας.
Tade men ta Inokentiou grammata ; ex hōn synidein estin, hoian eiche peri Iōannou gnōmēn. En toutois de pammegethēs en Kōnstantinoupolei kai tois proasteiois chalaza katerragē ; tetartę̄ te meta touto hēmerą, hē tou basileōs gametē eteleutēse. Kai tade symbēnai chalepainontos tou Theou dia Iōannēn, hōs tois pollois edokei. Kai gar dē kai Kyrinos ho Chalkēdonos episkopos, hos auton malista eloidorei, ou pollǭ proteron ek tēs synkyrēsasēs autǭ peri ton poda symphoras, hekateron skelos hypo tōn iatrōn apopristheis, eleeinōs apediō. Kai ᾿Arsakios de ep᾿ oligon chronon tēn Kōnstantinoupoleōs Ekklēsian epitropeusas, eteleutēse. Pollōn de tēn autou diadochēn mnōmenōn, tetartǭ mēni tēs autou teleutēs, cheirotoneitai Attikos, presbyteros tou Kōnstantinoupoleōs klērou, ek tōn epiboulōn Iōannou. Houtos men genos ēn ek Sebasteias tēs ᾿Armenias ; ek neou de philosophein epaideuthē hypo monachois tēs Makedeniou haireseōs ; hoi dē tote ana tēn Sebasteian en tę̄de tę̄ philosophią dieprepon, ek tēs Eustathiou diatribēs ontes, hon episkopon enthade kai hēgemona aristōn monachōn genesthai en tois prosthen egnōmen. ēdē de eis andras telōn, pros tēn katholou Ekklēsian metetheto; physei de mallon, ē mathēsei phronimos ōn, egeneto tōn prakteōn epēbolos, epibouleusai ; te, kai pros epiboulas antischein hikanos ; to de ēthos epagōgos, hōs pollois kecharismenos einai; metrios de pros tous ep᾿ ekklēsias logous, hōs mēte graphēs axious nomizesthai tois akroatais, mēte paideias pantelōs amoirous. Emmelēs gar ōn, ei pē kairon ēge, tous par' Hellēsin eudokimōtatous syngrapheas hēskeito. Kai tǭ dokein idiōtēs einai, peri toutōn dialegomenos, kai tous epistēmonas pollakis elanthanen. Elegeto de pros men tous homodoxous spoudaios einai; tois de heterodoxois phoberos. Kai rhądiōs men autois hēnika bouloito, deos empoiein; authis de metaballomenos, praos phainesthai. Kai ton men, toionde genesthai phasin, hoi ge ton andra egnōsan. Ho de Iōannēs kai pheugōn, episēmoteros egeneto; chrēmatōn gar echōn aphthonian, allōn te pollōn prospherontōn, kai Olympiados tēs diakonou pempousēs, pollous aichmalōtous para tōn Isaurōn ōneito, kai tois idiois apedidou ; pollois de deomenois ta anankaia echorēgei; hois de ouden edei chrēmatōn, tǭ logǭ prosēgeto ; kai eis agan kecharismenos etynchanen, ᾿Armeniois te par' hois ēn, kai tois plēsiochōrois. Pleistoi de pros auton ephoitōn apo te ᾿Antiocheias, kai tēs allēs Syrias kai Kilikias.
Such were Innocent’s letters; from which one can see what opinion he had about John. Meanwhile an enormous hail fell in Constantinople and its suburbs; and on the fourth day after this the emperor’s wife died. And these things, it seemed to most people, happened because God was angry on John’s account. For Cyrinus too, the bishop of Chalcedon, who had most reviled him, not long before, from the misfortune that had befallen his foot, had both legs sawn off by the physicians and died pitiably. Arsacius also died, having governed the church of Constantinople a short time. While many were seeking his succession, in the fourth month after his death Atticus was ordained, a presbyter of the clergy of Constantinople, one of John’s plotters. He was by race from Sebasteia in Armenia, and from youth had been trained in the philosophic life by monks of the Macedonian heresy, who were then distinguished in this philosophy about Sebasteia, being of the school of Eustathius, whom we learned earlier to have been bishop there and leader of excellent monks. On coming to manhood he went over to the catholic church. Prudent more by nature than by learning, he was skilled in affairs, able both to plot and to withstand plots, and of an engaging character, so that he was liked by many. His sermons in church were moderate, so that his hearers thought them neither worth writing down nor altogether without learning. For being cultivated, whenever he had leisure, he studied the most renowned writers of the Greeks; and by seeming to be untaught when he spoke about them, he often escaped the notice even of the learned. He was said to be zealous toward those of his own belief and fearsome to those of other belief, and able easily to put fear into them when he wished, and again, changing, to appear gentle. Such was the man, they say who knew him. John, even in exile, became more famous. For having abundance of money, since many others brought him gifts and Olympias the deaconess sent them, he ransomed many captives from the Isaurians and restored them to their families; he supplied necessities to many in need, and those who needed no money he won over by his words; and he was exceedingly well liked by the Armenians among whom he was, and by their neighbours. Very many came to him from Antioch and the rest of Syria and Cilicia.
Notes and citation
Summary: Hail and the death of the empress Eudoxia (404) are seen as God’s anger; Arsacius dies and Atticus, a former Macedonian from Sebasteia, becomes bishop; Chrysostom in exile ransoms captives and draws visitors from Syria and Cilicia.
- Eudoxia died on 6 October 404. Cyrinus’s death is told in 8.16.
Topics: Church office
Cite (SBL): Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 8.27 (PG 67:1589–1591; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/8-27). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/8-27
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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 Hartranft's English in NPNF² 2.
8.28PG 67:1591
Ἰνοκέντιος δὲ ὁ Ῥώμης ἐπίσκοπος, καθὰ πρότερον ἔγραψεν, ἐπανελθεῖν αὐτὸν σπουδάζων, σὺν τοῖς ἐκ τῆς Ἕω περὶ τούτου πρεσβευομένοις ἐπισκόποις, πέπομφεν ἐπισκόπους πέντε, καὶ πρεσβυτέρους δύο τῆς Ῥωμαίων Ἐκκλησίας πρὸς Ονώριον καὶ ᾿Αρκάδιον τὸν βασιλέα, σύνοδον αἰτήσοντας, καὶ καιρὸν ταύτης καὶ τόπον. Οἱ δὲ ἐπὶ Κωνσταντινουπόλεως ἀπεχθανόμενοι Ἰωάννῃ, ὡς ἐπὶ ὕβρει τῆς ἐνταῦθα βασιλείας τούτων γενομένων, διαβολὴν κατεσκεύασαν καὶ τοὺς μὲν ὡς ὑπερορίαν ἀρχὴν ἐνοχλήσαντας, ἀτίμως ἐκπεμφθῆναι παρεσκεύασαν · αὐτὸν δὲ Ἰωάννην ψήφῳ βασιλέως ποῤῥωτέρω μετοικισθῆναι εἰς Πιτυοῦντα κατώρθωσαν· ἐν τάχει τε παραγενόμενοι στρατιῶται, τοῦτο ἐπετέλουν. Φασὶ δὲ αὐτὸν ὑπὸ τοῦτων ἀγόμενον, καθ' ὁδὸν προῖδεῖν τὴν ἡμέραν ἐν ᾗ τελευτᾷν ἔμελλεν, ἐπιφανέντος αὐτῷ Βασιλίσκου του μάρτυρος ἐν Κωμάνοις τῆς ᾿Αρμενίας· ἔνθα δὴ μηκέτι πρὸς τὴν ὁδὸν ἀντισχὼν, ἤλγει γὰρ τὴν κεφαλὴν, καὶ τὴν ἀκτῖνα τοῦ ἡλίου φέρειν οὐχ οἷός τε ὢν, νόσῳ τὸν βίον μετήλλαξεν.
Inokentios de ho Rhōmēs episkopos, katha proteron egrapsen, epanelthein auton spoudazōn, syn tois ek tēs Heō peri toutou presbeuomenois episkopois, pepomphen episkopous pente, kai presbyterous dyo tēs Rhōmaiōn Ekklēsias pros Onōrion kai ᾿Arkadion ton basilea, synodon aitēsontas, kai kairon tautēs kai topon. Hoi de epi Kōnstantinoupoleōs apechthanomenoi Iōannę̄, hōs epi hybrei tēs entautha basileias toutōn genomenōn, diabolēn kateskeuasan kai tous men hōs hyperorian archēn enochlēsantas, atimōs ekpemphthēnai pareskeuasan ; auton de Iōannēn psēphǭ basileōs porrhōterō metoikisthēnai eis Pityounta katōrthōsan; en tachei te paragenomenoi stratiōtai, touto epeteloun. Phasi de auton hypo toutōn agomenon, kath' hodon proidein tēn hēmeran en hę̄ teleutąn emellen, epiphanentos autǭ Basiliskou tou martyros en Kōmanois tēs ᾿Armenias; entha dē mēketi pros tēn hodon antischōn, ēlgei gar tēn kephalēn, kai tēn aktina tou hēliou pherein ouch hoios te ōn, nosǭ ton bion metēllaxen.
Innocent, bishop of Rome, eager, as he had written before, for John’s return, sent five bishops and two presbyters of the church of the Romans, with the bishops from the East who had come as envoys about this, to Honorius and the emperor Arcadius, to ask for a synod and a time and place for it. Those in Constantinople who were hostile to John framed an accusation, as though this had been done in insult to the empire there; and they contrived that these men, as having troubled a foreign jurisdiction, should be sent away in disgrace, and that John himself, by the emperor’s decree, should be moved further away to Pityus; and soldiers quickly came and carried this out. They say that as he was being led by them, on the way he foresaw the day on which he was to die, the martyr Basiliscus having appeared to him at Comana in Armenia; and there, being no longer able to endure the journey — for he suffered in his head and could not bear the sun’s rays — he departed this life by illness.
Notes and citation
Summary: Innocent’s envoys seeking a synod are sent back in disgrace, and Chrysostom is ordered further away to Pityus; he dies on the way at Comana, warned by the martyr Basiliscus.
- Chrysostom died at Comana on 14 September 407.
Topics: Persecution
Cite (SBL): Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 8.28 (PG 67:1591; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/8-28). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/8-28
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-sozomen-historia-8-28) · 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 Hartranft's English in NPNF² 2.