# Church History - Author: [Sozomen](https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/authors/sozomen/) - Latin title: *Historia ecclesiastica* - Date: ca. 439-450 (approximate) - Source: J.-P. Migne, ed., Patrologia Graeca 67 (Paris, 1864), cols. 843-1630: the Greek text of Valesius, with his Latin translation and notes (dropped here) (OCR text layer from the Bavarian State Library, cleaned for this site) - Translation: Claude, from the original text, unless a passage says otherwise; each passage below gives the translator - Editions and translations: G. C. Hansen, ed., Sokrates Kirchengeschichte, GCS n.F. 1 (Berlin: Akademie, 1995); cited only; R. Hussey, ed., Socratis Scholastici Ecclesiastica historia, 3 vols. (Oxford, 1853); J.-P. Migne, ed., Patrologia Graeca 67 (Paris, 1864), with the Latin of H. Valesius - Work page: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/ - Passages: 250 ## Church History, dedication to Theodosius - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/0/#p-0 - Source: PG 67:843–851 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Sozomen dedicates his Church History to Theodosius II, praising his learning, generosity and self-control, and sets out the plan of the nine books. ### Greek text γενέσθαι, τοῖς μὲν φιλοκόσμοις, ἁλουργίδα καὶ στέφανον, καὶ τὰ τούτοις παραπλήσια· τοῖς δὲ αὖ περὶ λόγους σπουδάσασι, μυθώδη τινὰ ποίησιν, ἢ σύγγραμμα θέλγειν δυνάμενον · τοῖς δὲ τὰ περὶ πόλεμον ἀσκοῦσι, βέλος εὐστόχως ἀφεῖναι, καὶ θῆρας βάλλειν, ἢ δόρυ ἀκοντίζειν, ἢ εἰς ἵππον ἄλλεσθαι. Προσήγγελλον δὲ ἑαυτοὺς τοῖς βασιλείοις ἕκαστος, ἐπιτηδεύων ὃ τῷ κρατοῦντι φίλον ἐτύγχανεν· ὁ μὲν δυσπόριστον ψηφίδα προσφέρων, ἕτερος δὲ λαμπροτέραν βαφὴν ἀλουργίδος ὑποτιθέμενος, ὁ δὲ ποίημα ἢ σύγγραμμα προσφωνῶν, ἄλλος δὲ εὔζωνον καὶ ξένον τὸν περὶ τὰ ὅπλα τρόπον εἰσηγούμενος. Μέγιστον δὲ καὶ βασιλικὸν ἐνομίζετο, ταυτησὶ τῆς δημώδους ἀρετῆς μόριον ἓν κεκτῆσθαι τὸν πάντων ἡγούμενον. Εὐσεβείας δὲ, τοῦ ἀληθοῦς κόσμου τῆς βασιλείας, οὐδενὶ τοσοῦτος λόγος ἐγένετο. Σὺ δὲ, ὦ κράτιστε βασιλεῦ Θεοδόσιε, συλλήβδην εἰπεῖν, πᾶσαν ἐπήσκησας ἀρετὴν διὰ Θεοῦ, ἀλουργίδα δὲ καὶ στέφανον πρὸς τοὺς θεωμένους σύμβολον τῆς ἀξίας περικείμενος, ἔνδοθεν ἀεὶ τὸν ἀληθῆ κόσμον τῆς βασιλείας ἡμφίεσαι, τὴν εὐσέβειαν καὶ τὴν φιλανθρωπίαν. Ὅθεν ἑκάστοτε ποιηταὶ καὶ συγγραφεῖς καὶ τῶν σῶν ὑπάρχων οἱ πλείους, καὶ τῶν λοιπῶν ὑπηκόων, περὶ σὲ καὶ τὰς σὰς πράξεις πονοῦσιν. Ἀγωνοθέτης δὲ καὶ λόγων κριτής προκαθήμενος, οὐ κομψῇ τινι φωνῇ καὶ σχήματι κλέπτεις τὴν ἀκρίβειαν, ἀλλ᾽ εἰλικρινῶς βραβεύεις, λέξιν οἰκείαν σκοπῶν τῇ προθέσει τοῦ γράμματος, καὶ σχῆμα λόγου, καὶ μέρη, καὶ τάξιν καὶ ἁρμονίαν, καὶ φράσιν, καὶ συνθήκην, καὶ ἐπιχειρήματα, καὶ νοῦν, καὶ ἱστορίαν. ᾿Αμείβῃ δὲ τοὺς λέγοντας τῇ τε κρίσει τῇ σῇ καὶ τοῖς κρότοις καὶ χρυσαῖς εἰκόσιν, ἀναθέσει ἀνδριάντων, καὶ δώροις, καὶ τιμαῖς παντοδαπαῖς. Οἷον δὲ σεαυτὸν περὶ τοὺς λέγοντας παρέχεις, οὐ τοιοῦτοι Κρητῶν οἱ πάλαι ἐγένοντο περὶ τὸν ἀοίδιμον ἐκεῖνον "Ομηρον, ἢ ᾿Αλευάδαι περὶ Σιμωνίδην, ἢ Διονύσιος ὁ Σικελίας τύραννος περὶ Πλάτωνα τὸν Σωκράτους ἑταῖρον, ἢ Φίλιππος ὁ Μακεδὼν περὶ Θεόπομπον τὸν συγγραφέα, καὶ Σευῆρος ὁ Καῖσαρ περὶ Ὁ ππιανὸν, τὸν ἐν τοῖς μέτροις τῶν ἰχθύων τὰ γένη καὶ τὴν φύσιν τὴν θήραν ἀφηγησάμενον. Κρῆτες μὲν γὰρ ἐν χιλίοις νομίσμασιν “Ὅμηρον ἀμειψάμενοι τῆς εὐεπείας, ὡς ἀγνυπέρθλητον φιλοτιμίαν αὐχοῦντες, ἐν στήλῃ δημοσίᾳ τὴν δωρεὰν ἐγράψαντο, ᾿Αλευάδαι. δὲ καὶ Διονύσιος καὶ Φίλιππος, οὐχ ἂν στεγανώτεροι Κρητῶν ἐγένοντο, τῶν ἐπὶ πολιτείᾳ ἀτύφῳ καὶ φιλοσόφῳ σεμνυνομένων ἀλλὰ τάχος ἂν τὴν ἐκείνων στήλην ἐμιμήσαντο, εἰ μὴ κατόπιν ἧσαν τῇ δωρεᾷ. Σευῆρος δὲ μετρίας ποιήσεως χρυσοῦν κατὰ. στίχον Ὀππιανῷ δωρησάμενος, οὕτω τῇ φιλοτιμίᾳ κατέπληξεν, ὡς χρυσᾶ ἔπη τὰ Ὀππιανοῦ εἰς ἔτι νῦν παρὰ τοῖς πολλοῖς ὀνομάζεσθαι. Ταῦτα τῶν. πάλαι φιλομαθῶν καὶ φιλολόγων τὰ δῶρα. Σὺ δὲ, ὦ βασιλεῦ, οὐδενὶ τῶν πώποτε ὑπερβολὴν κατέλιπες ἐν ταῖς περὶ τοὺς λόγους φιλοτιμίαις " μοι δοχεῖς οὐχ ἀπειχότως τοῦτο ποιεῖν. Πάντας γὰρ νιχῇσαι ταῖς ἀρεταῖς σπουδάζων, εἰς ἐπίδοσιν ἄγεις τὰ σὰ, καθότι τῶν πάλαι χατωρθωμένων “Ἑλλησί τε Ρωμαίοις τὴν. ἱστορίαν ἠχρίθωσας. Φασὶ δέ μεθ᾽ ἡμέραν μὲν τὰ περὶ τὰ ὅπλα τὸ σῶμα ἀσκεῖν, τὰ τῶν ἀρχομένων διατάττειν πράγματα, διχάζοντά τε, ἃ χρὴ γράφοντα, ἰδίᾳ τε κοινῇ τὰ πρακτέα σχοποῦντα " νύκτωρ δὲ τὰς βίβλους περιέπειν. Διαχυνεῖν δέ σοι λόγος πρὸς τὴν τούτων εἴδησιν λύχνον, μηχανῆς τινος αὐτομάτως τῇ θρυαλλίδι ἐπιχέοντα. τὸ ἔλαϊον,. ὡς ἂν μηδὲ εἷς τῶν περὶ τὰ βασίλεια. ἐν τοῖς σοῖς. πόνοις ταλαιπωρεῖν ἀναγχάζοιτο, καὶ τὴν φύσιν βιάζηται, πρὸς τὸν ὕπνον μαχόμενος" οὕτω τις φιλάνθρωπος πρᾶος, πρὸς τοὺς πέλας πρὸς πάντας ὑπάρχεις, τὸν οὐράνιον Βασιλέα τὸν σὸν προστάτην μιμούμενος, ᾧ φίλον ἐστὶν ἐπὶ δικαίους ἀδίκους. ὕειν, καὶ τὸν ἥλιον ἀνατέλλειν, καὶ τὰ ἄλλα ἀφθόνως παρέχειν. Ὑπὸ γοῦν πολυμαθείας, ὡς εἰκὸς, ἀκούω σε καὶ λίθων εἰδέναι φύσεις, δυνάμεις ῥιζῶν, ἐνεργείας ἰαμάτων, οὐχ ἧττον Σολομὼν, ἢ ὁ Δαβὶδ ὁ σοφώτατος. Μᾶλλον δὲ χἀχείνον πλεονεχτεῖς ταῖς ἀρεταῖς. Ὁ μὲν. γὰρ δοῦλος γενόμενος τῶν ἡδονῶν, οὐ μέχρι τέλους τὴν εὐσέβειαν διεφύλαξε, τὴν αἰτίαν τῶν ἀγαθῶν τῆς σοφίας αὐτῷ γενομένην. Σὺ δὲ, ὦ, κράτιστε, τὸν ἐγχρατῆ λογισμὸν ἀντιτάξας τῇ ῥᾳστώνῃ, εἰκότως νομίζῃ, μὴ μόνον ἀνθρώπων αὐτοκράτωρ εἶναι, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν παθῶν τῆς ψυχῆς καὶ τοῦ σώματος. Εἰ δὲ δεῖ καὶ ταῦτα λέγειν, πυνθάνομαί σε καὶ παντὸς ὄψου καὶ ποτοῦ τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν νικᾶν· καὶ μήτε σῦκα γλυκερά, ποιητικῶς εἰπεῖν, μήτ᾿ ἄλλο τι τῶν ὡραίων ἐλεῖν σε δύνασθαι, πλὴν ὅσον ἐπιψαῦσαι καὶ μόνον ἀπογεύσασθαι, πρότερον εὐλογήσαντα τὸν πάντων Δημιουργόν. Δίψους δὲ καὶ πνίγους καὶ ῥίγους κρατεῖν ἐθισθεὶς ἐν ταῖς καθ' ἡμέραν ἀσκήσεσι, φύσιν ἔχειν νομίζῃ τὴν ἐγκράτειαν. Πρώην γέ τοι τὴν ἐν Πόντῳ πόλιν Ἡρακλέους ἐπώνυμον σπεύδων ἰδεῖν, καὶ ἐγεῖραι τῷ χρόνῳ κάμνουσαν, ὥρᾳ θέρους τὴν διὰ Βιθυνῶν ᾔεις ὀδόν. Τοῦ δὲ ἡλίου σφόδρα φλέγοντος περὶ μέσην ἡμέραν, ἰδών σε τις τῶν δορυφόρων ἱδρῶτι πολλῷ καὶ κονιορτῷ πεφυρμένον, φθάσας ὡς δὴ χαριούμενος προσεκόμισέ σοι φιάλην εὖ μάλα λαμπρῶς πρὸς τὰς ἀκτῖνας ἀντιστίλβουσαν, ἡδὺν αὐτῇ τινα πότον ἐμβαλὼν, καὶ ψυχρὸν ὕδωρ ἐπιχέας. Σὺ δὲ, ὦ κράτιστε, προσδεξάμενος, ἐπήνεσας μὲν τῆς προθυμίας τὸν ἄνδρα, καὶ δῆλος ἦσθα μετ᾿ οὐ πολὺ τοῦτον φιλοτιμία βασιλικῇ καλῶς ποιήσων· πάντων δὲ τῶν στρατιωτῶν πρὸς τὴν φιάλην κεχηνότων, καὶ μακαριούντων ὃς πίεται, πάλιν αὐτῷ, ὦ γενναῖε, τὸ ποτὸν ἀπέδωκας, καὶ ὅπου φίλον αὐτῷ κεχρῆσθαι ἐκέλευσας. Ώστε μοι δοκεί εἰκότως ταῖς σαῖς ἀρεταῖς νενικῆσθαι καὶ ᾿Αλέξανδρον τὸν Φιλίππου· ᾧ λέγεται παρὰ τῶν ἐκεῖνον θαυμαζόντων, δι' ἀνύδρου τόπου βαδίζοντι μετὰ τῶν Μακεδόνων, ἐπιμελῆ στρατιώτην ὕδωρ εὑρόντα ἀρύσασθαι καὶ προσκομίσαι· τὸν δὲ μὴ πιεῖν, ἀλλὰ ἐκχέαι τὸ πόμα. Συνελόντα οὖν εἰπεῖν, τῶν πρὸ σοῦ βασιλέων βασιλικώτερόν σε κυρίως καλεῖν ἔστι, κατὰ τὸν Ὅμηρον. Τοὺς μὲν γὰρ, οὐδὲν οἷον ἄγασθαι κεκτημένους παρειλήφαμεν· τοὺς δὲ, ἐπὶ ἑνὶ μόλις ἢ δύο τὴν βασιλείαν σεμνύνοντας. Σὺ δὲ, ὦ κράτιστε, πάσας ὁμοῦ συλλαβὼν τὰς ἀρετὰς, πάντας ὑπερεβάλου εὐσεβείᾳ, καὶ φιλανθρωπίᾳ, καὶ ἀνδρείᾳ, καὶ σωφροσύνῃ, καὶ δικαιοσύνῃ, καὶ φιλοτιμίᾳ, καὶ μεγαλοψυχίᾳ, βασιλικῇ πρεπούσῃ ἀξίᾳ. ᾿Αναίμακτον δὲ καὶ καθα. ρὰν φόνου, πάντων τῶν πώποτε γενομένων, μόνην τὴν σὴν ἡγεμονίαν ἅπας αἰὼν αὐχεῖ. Ἡδονῇ δὲ τὰ σπουδαῖα τοὺς ὑπηκόους παιδεύεις, εὐνοίᾳ τε καὶ αἰδοῖ τὴν περὶ σὲ σπουδὴν καὶ τὰ κοινὰ ἐνδείκνυσθαι. "Ώστε μοι πάντων ἕνεκεν ἀναγκαῖον καταφαίνεται ᾿Εκκλησιαστικὴν Ἱστορίαν συγγράφοντι, σοὶ προσφωνῆσαι. Τίνι γὰρ μᾶλλον οἰκειότερον τοῦτο ποιήσω, πολλῶν καὶ θεσπεσίων ἀνδρῶν ἀρετὴν ἀφηγῆσθαι μέλλων, καὶ τὰ συμβάντα περὶ τὴν καθόλου Ἐκκλησίαν, ὅσοις τε ἐχθροῖς ὑπαντήσασα, εἰς τοὺς ἃ σοὺς τῶν σῶν πατέρων λιμένας κατῆγεν. οὖν, ὦ πάντα εἰδὼς, καὶ πᾶσαν ἀρετὴν ἔχων, καὶ λιστα τὴν εὐσέθδειαν, ἣν ἀρχὴν εἶναι σοφίας ὁ θεῖός ἐστι λόγος, δέχου παρ᾽ ἐμοῦ ταύτην τὴν γραφὴν, ἐξέτασυν, τὰς τῆς σῆς ἀκριβείας προσθέσε:ς προσαγαγὼν, τοῖς σοῖς πόνοις χάθαρον. Πάντως γὰρ ὅπη ἄν σοι φίλον δοχοῖ, ταύτη τοῖς ἐντυγχάνουσι χρῆ - σιμὸν λαμπρὸν φανεῖται" οὐδ᾽ ἐπιθήσει τις δάχτυλον τῇ δοκιμασίᾳ τῇ σῇ. Πρόεισι δέ μοι ἡ γραφὴ ἀπὸ τῆς Κρίσπου Κωνσταντίνου τῶν Καισάρων τρίτης ὑπατείας, μέχοι τῆς ἑπταχαιδεχάτης τῆς σῆς. "Ἔδοξε δέ μοι καλῶς ἔχειν εἰς ἐννέα μέρη τὴν πᾶσαν πραγματείαν διελεῖν. Περιέξει δὲ ὁ πρῶτος δεύτερος τόμος τὰ ἐπὶ Κωνσταντίνου συμβάντα ταῖς Ἐκκλησίαις" ὁ δὲ τρίτος καὶ τέταρτος, τὰ ἐπὶ τῶν αὑτοῦ παίδων" ὁ δὲ πέμπτος ἕχτος, τὰ ἐπὶ Ἴουλιανοῦ τοῦ ἀνεψιοῦ τῶν παίδων τοῦ μεγάλου Κωνσταντίνου, Ἰοδιανοῦ, καὶ προσέτι Οὐαλεντινιανοῦ Οὐάλεντος. Ὁ δὲ ἕθδομος καὶ ὄγδοος ἡμῖν δηλώσει τόμος τὰ ἐπὶ Γρατιανοῦ Οὐαλεντινιανοῦ τῶν ἀδελφῶν, μέχρι τῆς ἀναῤῥήσεως Θεοδοσίου τοῦ θεσπεσίου σου πάππου ἐσότε δὴ ὁ ὑμέτερος, κράτιστε βασιλεῦ, ἀοίδιμος πατὴρ ᾿Αρκάδιος τὴν πατρῴαν ἡγεμονίαν διαδεξάμενος, ἅμα τῷ εὐσεβεστάτῳ σου θείῳ Ὁνωρίῳ, τὴν Ῥωμαίων οἰκουμένην ἰθύνειν ἔλαχε. Τὸ δὲ ἔννατον βιβλίον ἀνατέθειχα τῇ φιλοχρίστῳ καὶ εὐαγεστάτῃ ὑμῶν κορυφῇ " ἣν ἐς ἀεὶ φυλάττοι Θεὸς ἐν ἀχλονήτοις εὐθυμίαις, χατευμεγεθοῦσαν ἐχθρῶν, καὶ πάντας ἔχουσαν ὑπὸ πόδας, καὶ εἰς παῖδας παίδων ( παραπέμπουσαν τὴν εὐσεθῇ βασιλείαν, χατανεύοντος τοῦ Χριστοῦ " δι᾽ οὗ μεθ᾽ οὗ τῷ Θεῷ Πατρὶ : ἡ δόξα σὺν τῷ ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας. Ἀμήν. ### English translation (Claude) … : for those who loved finery it was purple and a crown and things like them; for those devoted to letters, some fabulous poem or a composition able to charm; for those practised in war, to shoot an arrow true, to strike wild beasts, to hurl a spear, or to leap onto a horse. Each presented himself at the palace pursuing whatever happened to please the ruler: one brought a rare mosaic stone, another proposed a brighter dye of purple, another addressed a poem or a composition to him, another introduced some nimble and novel way of handling arms. It was thought the greatest and most kingly thing for the ruler of all to possess a single part of this popular excellence; but of piety, the true ornament of empire, no one took such account. You, most mighty Emperor Theodosius, to put it in a word, have through God practised every virtue. Wearing purple and a crown for those who look on, as a symbol of your rank, within you are always clothed with the true ornament of empire, piety and love of humankind. That is why poets and writers, and most of your officials and of your other subjects, labour on every occasion over you and your deeds. Presiding as judge of contests and of speeches, you are not robbed of accuracy by some clever voice and gesture, but you award the prize sincerely, looking for diction suited to the purpose of the writing, and for the form of the speech, its parts, order and harmony, its phrasing and composition, its arguments, its thought, and its history. You reward the speakers with your judgment and your applause, with golden images, with the setting up of statues, with gifts, and with honours of every kind. The Cretans of old were not such toward that celebrated Homer as you show yourself toward speakers, nor the Aleuadae toward Simonides, nor Dionysius the tyrant of Sicily toward Plato the companion of Socrates, nor Philip of Macedon toward Theopompus the historian, nor Severus the Caesar toward Oppian, who described in verse the kinds and nature of fishes and how they are caught. The Cretans rewarded Homer for his eloquence with a thousand coins and, boasting as if of an unsurpassable generosity, recorded the gift on a public pillar. The Aleuadae, Dionysius and Philip would not have been more close-fisted than the Cretans, who prided themselves on a modest and philosophic way of life; they would quickly have imitated their pillar, had they not lagged behind them in the gift. Severus gave Oppian a gold coin for every line of a modest poem, and so astonished people by his generosity that Oppian's verses are still called “golden” by most people. Such were the gifts of the lovers of learning and of letters of old. But you, O Emperor, have left no one who ever lived a way to surpass you in generosity toward letters; and you seem to me to do this not without reason. For, eager to surpass everyone in virtues, you increase your own, since you have mastered the history of what was achieved of old by Greeks and Romans. They say that by day you exercise your body in arms and arrange the affairs of your subjects, judging and writing what is needed and considering what must be done in private and in public; and by night you busy yourself with books. It is said that for the study of these you have a lamp which, by some device, pours the oil onto the wick by itself, so that none of those about the palace should be forced to toil at your labours and do violence to nature fighting against sleep. So humane and gentle are you toward those about you and toward all, imitating the heavenly King your protector, whose pleasure it is to send rain on the just and the unjust, to make the sun rise, and to give everything else ungrudgingly. Through your wide learning, as is natural, I hear that you know the natures of stones, the powers of roots, and the operations of remedies, no less than Solomon, the wisest son of David. Rather, you surpass him in virtues. For he became a slave of pleasures and did not keep piety to the end, though it had been the cause of the good gifts of wisdom to him. But you, most mighty, setting self-controlled reason against indulgence, rightly consider yourself emperor not only of men but also of the passions of soul and body. If I must say this too, I learn that you master the desire for every dish and drink, and that neither “sweet figs,” to speak poetically, nor any other fruit in season can take hold of you, beyond touching it and merely tasting it, after first blessing the Creator of all. Having accustomed yourself in your daily exercises to master thirst, heat and cold, you consider self-control your nature. Recently, eager to see the city in Pontus named after Heracles and to raise it up, worn as it was by time, you were travelling in summer along the road through Bithynia. When the sun was blazing fiercely about midday, one of your bodyguards, seeing you covered with sweat and dust, hastened to please you and brought you a cup gleaming brightly against the rays of the sun, into which he had put some sweet drink and poured cold water. You, most mighty, accepted it and praised the man for his eagerness, and it was plain that you would soon reward him handsomely with royal generosity; but while all the soldiers gaped at the cup and counted happy whoever would drink it, you, noble one, gave the drink back to him and told him to use it as he pleased. So it seems to me that Alexander son of Philip too has rightly been surpassed by your virtues. His admirers say that as he was marching through a waterless place with the Macedonians, a diligent soldier found water, drew some, and brought it to him; but he did not drink, and poured the drink out. To sum up, then, one may properly call you, in Homer's phrase, more kingly than the kings before you. For of some we have received that they possessed nothing worth admiring; of others, that they adorned their reign with one virtue or two at most. But you, most mighty, have gathered all the virtues together and surpassed everyone in piety, love of humankind, courage, moderation, justice, generosity, and greatness of soul befitting royal rank. Every age will boast that your rule alone, of all that ever were, is bloodless and pure of slaughter. You teach your subjects serious things with pleasure, so that they show zeal for you and for the common good out of goodwill and respect. So for every reason it seems necessary to me, as I write an Ecclesiastical History, to dedicate it to you. To whom could I do this more fittingly, when I am about to narrate the virtue of many godly men and what befell the catholic church, and how many enemies it met before it came into the harbours of you and your fathers? Therefore, you who know all things and have every virtue, and above all piety, which the divine word says is the beginning of wisdom, receive this writing from me. Examine it, bring to it the additions of your own accuracy, and purify it by your labours. For in whatever way it pleases you, in that way it will appear useful and bright to its readers, and no one will lay a finger on what you have approved. My writing proceeds from the third consulship of the Caesars Crispus and Constantine to your seventeenth. I thought it well to divide the whole work into nine parts. The first and second books will contain what befell the churches under Constantine; the third and fourth, under his sons; the fifth and sixth, under Julian, the cousin of the sons of the great Constantine, under Jovian, and further under Valentinian and Valens. The seventh and eighth books will show us what happened under the brothers Gratian and Valentinian, up to the proclamation of Theodosius, your godly grandfather, until your celebrated father Arcadius, most mighty Emperor, succeeded to his father's rule and was allotted the government of the Roman world together with your most pious uncle Honorius. The ninth book I have dedicated to your Christ-loving and most holy Majesty. May God always guard it in unshaken good cheer, triumphing over its enemies, with all under its feet, and handing on the pious empire to children's children, by the assent of Christ, through whom and with whom be glory to God the Father with the Holy Spirit for ever. Amen. ### Scripture references - Matt 5:45: allusion, high confidence - 1 Kgs 4:33: allusion, low confidence - 1 Kgs 11:4: allusion, medium confidence - Prov 1:7: allusion, medium confidence - Prov 9:10: allusion, low confidence - Ps 128:6: echo, low confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Homer, Od. 7.116 (Homer, Odyssey): quotation, medium confidence - Homer, Il. 9.160 (Homer, Iliad): allusion, low confidence ### Translation notes - The title and opening of the dedication are lost in the scan used here; the text begins in mid-sentence; the lost words said, in substance, that former emperors each took an interest in some pursuit. The address is to Theodosius II. “Sweet figs” is a phrase of Homer (Od. 7.116; 11.590); “more kingly” echoes Homer's βασιλεύτερος (Il. 9.160, 392). The Cretans' reward to Homer, the Aleuadae and Simonides, Dionysius and Plato, Philip and Theopompus, and Severus (Septimius Severus or Caracalla) and Oppian, author of the Halieutica, are Sozomen's examples. In the Alexander story the scan has lost the first letters of Μακεδόνων (“the Macedonians”). The printed text reads “Solomon or the most wise David”; the sense “Solomon, the wisest son of David” follows the context (Solomon's later fall, 1 Kgs 11:1–8). The seventeenth consulship of Theodosius II is AD 439; the third of Crispus and Constantine II is 324. “The beginning of wisdom” alludes to Prov 1:7 and 9:10, which speak of the fear of the Lord. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. pref. (PG 67:843–851; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/0). ## Church History 1.1 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/0/#p-1-1 - Source: PG 67:853–861 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Sozomen asks why the Hebrews were slower to believe than the nations, cites Josephus and the Sibyl on Christ, explains his sources and method, and warns that partisan collections of documents distort the history of the Arian controversy. ### Greek text Εννοιά μοί ποτε ἐγένετο, τί δὴ ἄρα τοῖς μὲν ἄλλοις ἀνθρώποις ἑτοιμοτέρα συνέβη ἡ περὶ τὸν Θεὸν Λόγον πίστις· Ἑβραίοις δὲ δύσπιστος, καίτοι τὰ : θεῖα πρεσβεύειν ἐξ ἀρχῆς παρειληφόσι, καὶ τὰ περὶ τῆς παρουσίας τοῦ Χριστοῦ ὅπως ἔσται, πρὶν γένηται, μαθοῦσι διὰ τῶν προφητῶν. Ἀβραὰμ μὲν γὰρ αὐτοῖς ἀρχηγὸς τοῦ γένους καὶ τῆς περιτομῆς γενόμενος, αὐτὀπτης καὶ ἑστιάτωρ ἠξίωται εἶναι τοῦ Υἱοῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ. Ἰσαὰκ δὲ ὁ τούτου παῖς, τῇ μιμήσει τετίμηται τῆς ἐπὶ τοῦ σταυροῦ θυσίας, δέσμιος παρὰ τοῦ πατρὸς τῷ βωμῷ προσαχθεὶς, ᾗ συνέβη καὶ τὸ τοῦ Χριστοῦ γενέσθαι πάθος, ὡς φασιν οἱ τὰς ἱερὰς ἀκριβοῦντες Γραφάς. Ἰακὼβ δὲ τὴν ἐπ᾿ αὐτῷ νῦν οὖσαν προσδοκίαν τῶν ἐθνῶν, καὶ τὸν καιρὸν, καθ' ὃνἦλθε, προεμήνυσεν, ἡνίκα φησίν· Ἐκλείψουσιν οἱ ἡγούμενοι τῶν Ἑβραίων ἐκ τοῦ γένους Ἰούδα τοῦ φυλάρχου. Ὑπεδήλου δὲ τὴν ἡγεμονίαν Ἡρώδου, ὃς Ἰδουμαῖος ὢν τὸ γένος ἐκ πατρὸς, ᾿Αράβιος δὲ κατὰ μητέρα, ἐπ" ετράπη τὸ τῶν Ἰουδαίων ἔθνος ὑπὸ τῆς συγκλήτου Ῥωμαίων καὶ Αὐγούστου Καίσαρος. Καὶ τῶν ἄλλων δὲ προφητῶν, οἱ μὲν τὴν Χριστοῦ γένναν προεκήρυ - ξαν, καὶ τὴν ἄφραστον ἐκείνην κύησιν, καὶ μητέρα μετὰ τόκον παρθένον μείνασαν, καὶ γένος καὶ πατρίδα· οἱ δὲ, τὰς θείας αὐτοῦ καὶ παραδόξους, πράξεις · ἄλλοι δὲ πάθος, καὶ τὴν ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀνάστασιν, καὶ τὴν εἰς οὐρανοὺς ἄνοδον, καὶ τὸ ἐπὶ ἑκάστῳ συμβάν προεσήμαναν. Ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν, εἴ τιῳ ἡγνόηται, οὐ χαλεπὸν εἰδέναι, ταῖς ἱεραῖς ἐντυχόντι βίβλοις. Καὶ Ἰώσηπος δὲ ὁ Ματθίου ὁ ἱερεὺς, ἀνὴρ παρά τε Ἰουδαίοις καὶ Ῥωμαίοις ἐπιδοξότατος γενόμενος, ἀξιόχρεως ἂν εἴη μάρτυς τῆς περὶ Χριστοῦ ἀληθείας. ῎Ανδρα μὲν γὰρ αὐτὸν ἀποκαλεῖν ὀκνεῖ, ὡς παραδόξων ἔργων ποιητὴν, καὶ διδάσκαλον λόγων ἀληθῶν· Χριστὸν δὲ περιφανῶς ὀνομάζει, καὶ τῷ σταυρῷ καταδικασθῆναι, καὶ τριταῖον ζῶντα φανῆναι. Καὶ ἄλλα μυρία θαυμάσια περὶ αὐτοῦ προειρῆσθαι τοῖς θείοις προφήταις οὐκ ἀγνοεῖ. Πολλοὺς δὲ ὄντας οὓς ἐπηγάγετο Ἕλληνάς τε καὶ Ἰουδαίους, ἐπιμεῖναι ἀγαπῶντας αὐτὸν μαρτυρεῖ, καὶ τὸ ἀπ᾿ αὐτοῦ ὠνομασμένον μὴ ἐπιλεῖψαι φῦλον. Καί μοι δοκεῖ ταῦτα ἱστορῶν μονονουχὶ βοᾷν ἀναλόγως τοῖς ἔργοις, Θεὸν εἶναι τὸν Χριστόν· ὑπὸ δὲ τοῦ παραδόξου πράγματος καταπλαγεὶς, ὡδί πως μέσως παρέδραμε, μηδὲν τοῖς εἰς αὐτὸν πιστεύσασιν ἐπισκήψας, μᾶλλον δὲ καὶ συνθέμενος. Ταῦτά μοι λογιζομένῳ θαυμαστὸν εἰκότως κατεφαίνετο, μὴ τοὺς Ἑβραίους φθάσαι καὶ πρὸ τῶν ἄλλων ἀνθρώπων εἰς Χριστιανισμὸν μεταβαλεῖν. Εἰ γὰρ καὶ Σιβύλλα καὶ χρησμοί τινες τῶν ἐπὶ τῷ Χριστῷ συμβεβηκότων, τὸ μέλλον προεμήνυσαν, οὐ παρὰ τοῦτο δήπου πᾶσιν Ἕλλησιν εἰς δυσπιστίαν ἐγκαλεῖν ἔστιν. Ὁλίγοι γὰρ, οἳ παιδείᾳ διαφέρειν ἐδόκουν, τὰς τοιαύτας ᾔδεσαν προφητείας, ἐμμέτρους τε ὡς ἐπὶ τὸ πολὺ οὔσας, καὶ σεμνοτέραις πρὸς δῆμον λέξεσι πεφρασμένας. Ἦν δὲ ἄρα, ὡς ἐμοὶ δοκεῖ, τῆς ἄνωθεν προμηθίας, ἐπὶ συμφωνίᾳ τῶν ἐσομένων, μὴ μόνον ἰδίοις προφήταις ἐνηχῆσαι τὸ μέλλον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὀθνείοις ἐκ μέρους· ὥσπερ εἴ τις μελοποιὸς διὰ χρείαν παραξένου μέλους, τὰς περιττὰς τῶν χορδῶν ἐπιδράμοι τῷ πλήκτρῳ, ἢ ταῖς οὔσαις ἑτέρας προσθείη. Ὡς μὲν οὖν Ἑβραῖοι πλείοσι καὶ σαφεστέραις προφητείαις χρησάμενοι περὶ τῆς παρουσίας Χριστοῦ, κατόπιν Ἑλλήνων ἐγένοντο περὶ τὴν εἰς αὐτὸν πί· στιν, ἀπόχρη τοσοῦτον εἰπεῖν. Οὐ μὴν οὐδ' οὕτω παρὰ λόγον δόξειε, διὰ τῶν ἄλλων ἐθνῶν εἰς τὰ μάλιστα τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν ἐπιδοῦναι. Πρῶτον μὲν, καθότι φιλεῖ ὁ Θεὸς τὰς ἐκ παραδόξου μεταβάσεις βραβεύειν ἐπὶ τοῖς θείοις καὶ μεγίστοις πράγμασιν· ἔπειτα δὲ, οὐ ταῖς τυχούσαις ἀρεταῖς τῶν ἐξ ἀρχῆς" προστάντων αὐτῆς οἰκονομηθεῖσαν ἔστιν εὑρεῖν τὴν θρησκείαν. Εἰ γὰρ καὶ γλῶσσαν πρὸς φράσιν ἢ κάλλος λέξεως ήκονημένην οὐκ εἶχον, οὐδὲ λέξεσιν ἢ γραμμικαῖς ἀποδείξεσι τοὺς ἐντυγχάνοντας ἔπειθον, οὐ παρὰ τοῦτο χεῖρον αὐτοῖς ἐπράχθη τὸ σπουδαζόμενον. ᾿Αλλ' ἀποδυόμενοι τὰς οὐσίας, καὶ τῶν οἰκείων ἀμελοῦντες, ἀνασκολοπιζόμενοί τε, καὶ ὡς ἐν ἀλλοτρίοις σώμασι τὰς πολλὰς καὶ χαλεπὰς βασάνους δεχόμενοι, καὶ μήτε τῶν κατὰ πόλιν δήμων καὶ ἀρχόντων ταῖς κολακείαις ὑπαγόμενοι, μήτε ταῖς ἀπειλαῖς ἐκπληττόμενοι, δῆλον πᾶσιν ἐποίησαν, ὡς ὑπὲρ μεγίστων ἄθλων τὸν ἀγῶνα τοῦτον ὑπομένουσιν. Ώστε οὐδὲ πειθοῦς ἔδει λόγων, ἀκονιτὶ τῶν πραγμάτων κατ' οἴκους καὶ πόλεις πιστεύειν βιαζομένων, ἃ μὴ πρότερον ἀκηκόασι. Τοσαύτης οὖν θείας καὶ παραδόξου μεταβολῆς τῇ οἰκουμένῃ συμβάσης, ὡς καὶ τῆς προτέρας θρησκείας καὶ τῶν πατρίων νόμων ἀμελῆσαι, ἡ δεινὸν ἂν εἴη, τὸν μὲν ἐν Καλυδῶνι κάπρον, καὶ τὸν ἐν Μαραθῶνι ταῦρον, καὶ ἄλλα τοιαῦτα κατὰ χώρας ἢ πόλεις γινόμενα, ἢ μυθευόμενα, τοσαύτης ἀξιωθῆναι σπουδῆς, ὡς πολλοὺς τῶν παρ' "Ελλησιν εὐδοκιμωτάτων συγγραφέων περὶ ταῦτα πονῆσαι, φύσεως εὖ ἔχοντας γράφειν · ἐμὲ δὲ μὴ τὴν φύσιν βιάσασθαι καὶ ἐκκλη - σιαστικὴν ἱστορίαν συγγράψαι. Πέπεισμαι γὰρ, ὡς ὑποθέσεως οὐκ ἐξ ἀνθρώπων δημιουργηθείσης, παραδόξως ἀναφανῆναί με συγγραφέα, οὐκ ἄπορον τῷ Θεῷ. Ὡρμήθην δὲ τὰ μὲν πρῶτα, ἀπ᾿ ἀρχῆς ταύτην συγγράψαι τὴν πραγματείαν· λογισάμενος δὲ, ὡς καὶ ἄλλοι ταύτης ἐπειράθησαν μέχρι τῶν κατ' αὐτοὺς χρόνων (Κλήμης τε καὶ Ἡγήσιππος, ἄνδρες σοφώτατοι, τῇ τῶν ἀποστόλων διαδοχῇ παραχολουθήσαντες, ᾿Αφριχανὸς ὁ Συγγραφεὺς, Εὐσέβιος ὁ ἐπίκλην Παμφίλου, ἀνὴρ τῶν θείων Γραφῶν τῶν παρ᾽ “Ἕλλησι ποιητῶν συγγραφέων πολυμαθέστατος ἵἴστωρ), ὅσα μὲν τῶν εἰς ἡμᾶς ἐλθόντων ταῖς Ἐκκλησίαις συνέβη μετὰ τὴν εἰς ρανοὺς ἄνοδον τοῦ Χριστοῦ, μέχρι τῆς Λικιννίου καθαιρέσεως, ἐπιτεμόμενος ἐπραγματευσάμην ἐν βιβλίοις δύο. Νῦν δὲ, σὺν Θεῷ φᾶναι, τὰ μετὰ ταῦτα διεξελθεῖν πειράσομαι. Μεμνήσομαι δὲ πραγ - μάτων, οἷς παρέτυχον, παρὰ τῶν εἰδότων 7| - θεασαμένων ἀκήκοα, κατὰ τὴν ἡμετέραν πρὸ ἡμῶν γενεάν. Τῶν δὲ περαιτέρω τὴν κατάληψιν ἐθήρασα ἀπὸ τῶν τεθέντων νόμων διὰ τὴν θρησκείαν, καὶ τῶν κατὰ καιρὸν συνόδων, καὶ νεωτερισμῶν, βασιλικῶν ἱερατικῶν ἐπιστολῶν " ὧν αἱ μὲν εἰς ἔτι νῦν ἐν τοῖς βασιλείοις καὶ ταῖς σίαις σῴζονται αἱ δὲ, σποράδην παρὰ τοῖς φιλολόγοῖς φέρονται. Τούτων δὲ τὰ ῥητὰ περιλαβεῖν τῇ γραφῇ πολλάκις ἐννοηθεὶς, ἄμεινον ἐδοχίμασα,, διὰ τὸν ὄγχον τῆς πραγματείας, τὴν ἐν αὐτοῖς διάνοιαν συντόμως ἀπαγγεῖδαι" πλὴν εἰ μήτι τῶν ἀμφιλόγων εὑρήσομεν, ἐφ᾽ ὧν διάφορός ἔστι τοῖς πολλοῖς δόξα. Τηνικαῦτα γὰρ, εἰ εὐπορήσω τινὸς γραφῆς, παραθήσομαι ταύτην εἰς ἀπόδειξιν τῆς ἀληθείας. Ἵνα δὲ μὴ τις ἀγνοίᾳ τῶν ὄντων χαταψηφίσητα: ψεῦδος τῆς πραγματέίας,, ἐναντίαις ἴσως ἐγτυχὼν γραφαῖς, ἰστέον ὡς προφάσει τῶν ᾿Αρείου δογμάτων τῶν ὕστερον ἀναφυέντων, διαφερόμενοι πρὸς ἀλλήλους οἵ τῶν Ἐκκλησιῶν ἄρχοντες, ἕκαστοι περὶ ὧν ἐσπούδαζον, πρὸς τοὺς ὁμοδόξους ἔγραφον" καὶ καθ᾽ ἑαυ - τοὺς συνιστάμενοι κατὰ συνόδους, ἐψηφίζοντο ἅπερ ἠβούλοντο καὶ τῶν τἀναντία δοξαζόντων, πολλάκις ἐρήμην χατεδίχαζον " τοὺς κατὰ καιρὸν βασικαὶ τοὺς ἀμφ᾽ αὐτοὺς δυναμένους περιέποντες, ὡς εἶχον δυνάμεως, ἔπειθον, ὁμόφρονας αὐτοῖς κατεσκεύαζον εἰς ἀπόδειξίν τε τοῦ δόξαι σέβειν ὀρθῶς, μὲν τοῖς, οἱ δὲ ἐκείνοις προστιθέμενοι, συναγωγὴν ἐποιήσαντο τῶν ὑπὲρ τῆς οἰκείας σεως φερομένων ἐπιστολῶν, τὰς ἐναντίας παρἔλιπον. Ὃ δὴ σχολιὰν ἡμῖν λίαν κατεσκεύασε τὴν εὕρετιν τῶν περὶ ταῦτα συμβάντων. Ἐπεὶ δὲ ἡμάλιστα τῆς ἀληθείας ἐπιμελεῖσθαι χρεὼν διὰ τὸ ᾿ πῆς ἱστορίας ἀχίδδηλον, ἀναγκαῖον ἐφάνη μοι, ὡς οἷόν τε ἦν, πολυπραγμονῆσαι τὰς τοιαύτας γραφάς. Εἰ τοίνυν καὶ στάσεις ἐκκλησιαστικῶν πρὸς ἑαυτοὺς περὶ προεδρίας ἣ προτιμήσεως τῆς οἰκείας αἱρέσεως διεξέλθω, μή τῳ φορτιχὸν ἣ ἐθελοχάχου προαιρέσεως εἶναι δόξῃ, τοιαῦτά με ἱστορεῖν. Πρῶ, μὲν γὰρ, ὡς εἴρηται, πάντα δεύτερα ποιεῖσθαι πῆς ἀληθείας τὸν συγγραφέα προσῆχει" ἔπειτα δὲ τὸ δόγμα τῆς καθόλου '᾿Ἐχχλησίας γνησιώτατον ὅτι μάλιστα φανεῖται, πολλάκις μὲν ταῖς ἐπιβουλαῖς τῶν : ἐναντία δοξαζόντων δοχιμασθὲν, οἷα δὲ θεόθεν τὸ κρατεῖν αὖθις εἰς τὴν οἰκείαν ἐπανελθὸν δύναμιν, καὶ πάσας τὰς Ἐκκλησίας καὶ τὰ πλήθη πρὸς τὴν οἰκείαν ἀλήθειαν ἐπισπασάμενον. Βουλευομένῳ δέ μοι, εἰ ὧν ἔγνων μόνα προσῆκεν ἀναγράψαι τὰ γενόμενα περὶ τὴν ἘἜχχλησίαν ἀνὰ τὴν Ῥωμαίων ἀρχὴν, ἔδοξεν εὖ ἔχειν ἐφ᾽ ὅσον ἐφικέσθαι δυνήσομαι, καὶ τὰ παρὰ Πέρσαις καὶ βαρβάροις συμβάντα ἐπὶ τῇ θρησκείᾳ ἱστορήσειν. Οὐχ ἀνοίχειον δὲ εἶναι τῆς ἐκκλησιαστικῆς ἱστορίας, ἐν τῇδε τῇ πραγματείᾳ διεξελθεῖν, τίνες ποτὲ ἦσαν οἱ ὥσπερ πατέρες καὶ εἰσηγηταὶ γενόμενοι τῶν καλουμένων μοναχῶν, οἱ μετ᾽ αὐτοὺς κατὰ διαδοχὰς, ὧν ἴσμεν ἢ ἀχηχόαμεν εὐδοχιμήσαντες. Οὔτε γὰρ ἀχάριστοι δόξομεν εἶναι πρὸς αὐτοὺς, ἀμνηστίᾳ παραδεδωχότες τὴν αὐτῶν ἀρετὴν, οὔτε ἀπείρως ἔχειν τῆς αὐτοὺς ἱστορίας, μετὰ τοῦ καὶ τοῖς προειρημένοις ὧδε φιλοσοφεῖν ὑπόδειγμα χρταλιπεῖν ἀγωγῆς, χρώμενοι, μαχαριωτάτονυ εὐδαίμονος μεθέξουσι τέλους. ᾿Αλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν προϊὼν ὁ λόγος, ὡς οἷόν τε, παραφυλάξει. Τρέπομαι δὲ ἤδη ἐπὶ τὴν ἀφἤγησιν τῶν πραγμάτων, συνεργὸν ἵλεων τὸν Θεὸν ἐπιχαλεσάμενος. Ἕξει δὲ ἀρχὴν παροῦσα γραφὴ ἐνθένδε. ### English translation (Claude) The thought once came to me: why was faith in God the Word received more readily by other people, while the Hebrews were slow to believe, even though from the beginning they had been taught to honour divine things and had learned through the prophets, before it happened, how the coming of Christ would be? Abraham, who became the founder of their race and of circumcision, was counted worthy to see the Son of God with his own eyes and to entertain him. Isaac his son was honoured by being a figure of the sacrifice of the cross, when he was brought bound by his father to the altar, as also happened to Christ in his passion, as those who study the sacred Scriptures closely say. Jacob foretold the expectation of the nations that now rests on him, and the time at which he came, when he said: “The rulers of the Hebrews shall fail from the race of Judah, the head of the tribe.” He was hinting at the rule of Herod, who was an Idumaean by race on his father's side and an Arabian on his mother's, and to whom the Jewish nation was entrusted by the Roman senate and Augustus Caesar. Of the other prophets, some proclaimed beforehand the birth of Christ, that unspeakable conception, a mother who remained a virgin after giving birth, and his race and his homeland; others his divine and wonderful deeds; others his passion, his resurrection from the dead, his ascent into heaven, and what came about at each. But if anyone does not know these things, it is not hard to learn them by reading the sacred books. Josephus too, son of Matthias, the priest, a man most renowned among both Jews and Romans, would be a credible witness to the truth about Christ. He hesitates to call him a man, as a doer of wonderful works and a teacher of true words; he names him openly as the Christ, and says that he was condemned to the cross and appeared alive on the third day. Nor is he unaware that countless other wonders about him had been foretold by the divine prophets. He testifies that the many Greeks and Jews whom he won over continued to love him, and that the tribe named after him has not died out. In recording this, it seems to me, he all but cries out, in keeping with the deeds, that Christ is God; but, struck with amazement at the wonderful matter, he passed over it somehow in a middle way, laying no blame on those who believed in him, but rather agreeing with them. As I reasoned on these things, it naturally seemed astonishing to me that the Hebrews had not been the first, before other people, to turn to Christianity. For even if the Sibyl and certain oracles foretold the future concerning what befell Christ, one cannot on that account charge all the Greeks with unbelief. Only a few, who were thought to excel in education, knew such prophecies, which were mostly in verse and expressed in language too lofty for the people. It was, it seems to me, a work of providence from above, for the harmony of what was to come, to sound the future not only through its own prophets but in part through foreign ones as well, as a musician who needs an unusual melody may run his plectrum over the spare strings, or add others to those already there. That the Hebrews, then, who had more and clearer prophecies of the coming of Christ, came behind the Greeks in faith in him, so much is enough to say. Yet even so it would not seem unreasonable that the church grew most of all through the other nations. First, because God likes to bring about unexpected changes in divine and very great matters; then, because one can find that the religion was ordered by no ordinary virtues in those who led it from the beginning. Even if they did not have a tongue sharpened for expression or beauty of diction, and did not persuade their hearers by words or geometrical demonstrations, the cause they laboured for did not fare worse on that account. Stripped of their possessions, neglecting their own families, impaled, enduring many harsh tortures as if in other people's bodies, neither won over by the flatteries of the people and magistrates in the cities nor terrified by their threats, they made it plain to all that they endured this contest for the greatest prizes. So there was no need of persuasive words, since the facts, without effort, compelled households and cities to believe what they had not heard before. When so great a divine and wonderful change came upon the world that people neglected even their former religion and their ancestral laws, it would be strange if the boar of Calydon and the bull of Marathon and other such things that happened, or are told in fables, in countries or cities, were thought worth so much attention that many of the most esteemed writers among the Greeks, with a natural gift for writing, laboured over them, while I should not force my nature and write an ecclesiastical history. For I am persuaded that, since the subject was not fashioned by men, it is not hard for God to make me appear, unexpectedly, as its writer. At first I set out to write this work from the beginning. But considering that others had attempted it down to their own times (Clement and Hegesippus, very wise men, who followed close upon the succession of the apostles; Africanus the writer; and Eusebius surnamed Pamphili, a man very learned in the divine Scriptures and in the poets and writers of the Greeks), I treated in an abridgement in two books what befell the churches, so far as it has come down to us, from the ascent of Christ into heaven to the overthrow of Licinius. Now, with God's help, I shall try to narrate what came after. I shall record events at which I was present, and those I heard of from people who knew or saw them, in our own generation and the one before us. Of things further back, I sought knowledge from the laws enacted concerning religion, from the synods held from time to time, from the innovations, and from the letters of emperors and bishops. Some of these are still preserved in the palace and the churches; others are scattered among the learned. I often thought of including their wording in my writing, but judged it better, because of the bulk of the work, to report their sense briefly, except where I find something disputed on which most people hold differing opinions. Then, if I have any document, I shall set it out as proof of the truth. And lest anyone, not knowing the facts, should condemn my work as false because he happens to read documents that contradict it, he should know this: on the pretext of the doctrines of Arius and of those that sprang up afterward, the leaders of the churches quarrelled with one another, and each party wrote to those of its own opinion about what it was pressing for. Meeting by themselves in synods, they voted as they wished and often condemned those of the opposite opinion in their absence. Courting the emperors of the time and the powerful men about them, they persuaded them as far as they had power and made them like-minded. And to show that they were thought to worship rightly, some attaching themselves to one party and some to the other, they made collections of the letters that supported their own sect and left out the contrary ones. This made it very difficult for us to discover what happened in these matters. But since the truth must be cared for above all, because history must be free of falsehood, it seemed necessary to me to search into such documents as far as I could. If, then, I also narrate the disputes of churchmen among themselves over precedence, or over preference for their own party, let no one think me vulgar or ill-intentioned for recording such things. For, first, as has been said, it befits the historian to put everything second to the truth; and second, the doctrine of the catholic church will appear all the more genuine, since it was often tested by the plots of those who held opposite views, and yet, as if by God's gift of victory, it returned again to its own strength and drew all the churches and peoples to its own truth. As I deliberated whether I ought to record only what I knew to have happened to the church within the Roman empire, it seemed good to me also to narrate, as far as I can reach, what befell religion among the Persians and the barbarians. Nor is it foreign to ecclesiastical history to narrate in this work who were, as it were, the fathers and founders of those called monks, and who after them, in succession, were renowned, so far as we know or have heard. We shall not seem ungrateful to them by consigning their virtue to oblivion, nor ignorant of their history; and at the same time we shall leave a pattern of conduct to those who wish to live the philosophic life in this way; by following it they will share in a most blessed and happy end. But the account, as it proceeds, will attend to these things as far as possible. I now turn to the narration of events, calling on God as a gracious helper. The present writing will begin from here. ### Scripture references - Gen 18:1: allusion, medium confidence - Gen 22:9: allusion, high confidence - Gen 49:10: quotation, high confidence - Isa 7:14: allusion, low confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Josephus, Ant. 18.63-64 (Josephus (works)): allusion, high confidence - Sib. Or. (Sibylline Oracles): allusion, low confidence ### Translation notes - A fragment of Valesius's chapter title stood at the head of the section in the scan and has been removed. Abraham's guests (Gen 18) and Isaac bound on the altar (Gen 22:9) are read as figures of Christ. The prophecy attributed to Jacob is Sozomen's paraphrase of Gen 49:10, applied to Herod. Sozomen's account of Josephus is a paraphrase of the passage on Jesus in Jewish Antiquities 18.63–64 (the “Testimonium Flavianum”); the judgment that Josephus all but confesses Christ to be God is Sozomen's own. The “two books” are Sozomen's earlier abridgement of church history to the defeat of Licinius (324), now lost. The word rendered “sect” (αἵρεσις) can mean simply “party” here. On the place of the monks in the history, see 1.12–14. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 1.1 (PG 67:853–861; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/1-1). ## Church History 1.2 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/0/#p-1-2 - Source: PG 67:863 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The bishops of the great sees in 324 are listed, and Christians in Licinius's East are said to worship in fear while those in Constantine's West worship freely. ### Greek text Κρίσπου καὶ Κωνσταντίνου τῶν Καισάρων ὑπατευόντων, ἡγεῖτο μὲν τῆς Ῥωμαίων Ἐκκλησίας Σίλβεστρος· τῆς δὲ ᾿Αλεξανδρέων ᾿Αλέξανδρος, καὶ Μακάριος τῆς Ἱεροσολύμων· τῆς δὲ Ἀντιοχέων τῶν πρὸς τῷ Ὀῤῥόντῃ, μετὰ ᾿Ῥωμανὸν οὔπω τις ἐπετέτραπτο, τῶν διωγμῶν, ὡς εἰκὸς, μὴ συγχωρησάντων γενέσθαι τὴν χειροτονίαν. Οὐκ εἰς μακρὰν δὲ οἱ εἰς Νίκαιαν συνεληλυθότες, θαυμάσαντες τοῦ βίου καὶ τῶν λόγων Εὐστάθιον, ἄξιον ἐδοκίμασαν τοῦ ἀποστολικοῦ θρόνου ἡγεῖσθαι · καὶ ἐπίσκοπον ὄντα τῆς γείτονος Βεῤῥοίας, εἰς ᾿Αντιόχειαν μετέστησαν. Τῶν δὲ Χριστιανῶν οἱ μὲν πρὸς ἕω μέχρι τῶν ὁμόρων Αἰγυπτίοις Λιβύων, οὐκ ἐθάῤῥουν τότε εἰς τὸ φανερὸν ἐκκλησιάζειν, μεταβαλομένου Λικιννίου τῆς πρὸς αὐτοὺς εὐνοίας. Οἱ δὲ ἀνὰ τὴν δύσιν, Ἕλληνές τε καὶ Μακεδόνες καὶ Ἰλλυριοὶ, ἀδεῶς ἐθρήσκευον διὰ Κωνσταντῖνον, ὃς ἡγεῖτο τῶν τῇδε Ῥωμαίων. ### English translation (Claude) In the consulship of the Caesars Crispus and Constantine, Silvester led the church of Rome, Alexander that of the Alexandrians, and Macarius that of Jerusalem. At Antioch on the Orontes no one had yet been entrusted with the church after Romanus, since the persecutions, it seems, did not allow the ordination to take place. Not long afterward those who met at Nicaea, admiring the life and words of Eustathius, judged him worthy to lead the apostolic see, and transferred him, who was bishop of neighbouring Beroea, to Antioch. Of the Christians, those in the East as far as the Libyans who border on the Egyptians did not then dare to assemble openly, because Licinius had changed his goodwill toward them; but those in the West, Greeks, Macedonians and Illyrians, worshipped without fear because of Constantine, who ruled the Romans there. ### Translation notes - A fragment of Valesius's chapter title (“… and how the West through Constantine professed Christianity openly”) stood at the head of the section in the scan and has been removed. Sozomen names Romanus as the last bishop before the vacancy; other sources give Philogonius as Eustathius's predecessor at Antioch. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 1.2 (PG 67:863; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/1-2). ## Church History 1.3 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/0/#p-1-3 - Source: PG 67:863–867 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Constantine, before his war with Maxentius, sees the sign of the cross with the words “Conquer by this,” and Christian priests explain to him Christ, the resurrection, baptism and repentance. ### Greek text Τούτῳ γὰρ πολλὰ μὲν καὶ ἄλλα συγκυρῆσαι παρειλήφαμεν, οἷς ἐπείσθη τὸ τῶν Χριστιανῶν δόγμα πρεσβεύειν " μάλιστα δὲ τὴν φανεῖσαν αὐτῷ θεοση- ; μείαν. Ἡνίκα γὰρ ἐπιστρατεῦσαι Μαξεντίῳ ἐδεδούλευτο, οἷά γε εἰκὸς ἠπόρει καθ᾽ ἑαυτὸν, ὅπως ἄρα τὰ τῆς μάχης ἀποδήσεται, τίς αὐτῷ. βοηθὸς ἔσται. Ἐν τοιαύταις δὲ φροντίσι γενόμενος, ὄναρ εἶδε τὸ τοῦ σταυροῦ σημεῖον ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ σελαγίζον. Τεθηπότι δὲ αὐτῷ πρὸς τὴν ὄψιν, παραστάντες θεῖοι ἄγγελοι, Ὧ Κωνσταντῖνε, ἔφησαν, τούτῳ νίκα. Λέγεται δὲ καὶ αὐτὸν τὸν Χριστὸν ἐπιφανέντα αὐτῷ, ϑεῖξαι τὸ τοῦ σταυροῦ σύμβολον, καὶ παραχελεύσασθαι τούτῳ ποιῆσαι, ἐν τοῖς πολέμοις ἔχειν ἐπίχουρον καὶ νίκης ποριστιχόν. Εὐσέδιός γε μὴν ὁ Παμφίλου, αὐτοῦ φήσαντος ἐνωμότως τοῦ βασιλέωξ ἀκηκοέναι ἰσχυρίζεται, ὡς ἀμφὶ μεσημδρίαν ἤδη τοῦ ἡλίου ἀποχλίναντος, σταυροῦ τρόπαιον φωτὸς συνεστὼς, γραφὴν. συνημμένην Τούτῳ νίκα, λέγουσαν, ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ ἐθεάσατο αὐτὸς, καὶ οἱ σὺν αὐτῷ στρατιῶται" πορευομένῳ γάρ πη 4" σὺν τῷ. στρατεύματι, κατὰ τὴν ὁδοιπορίαν τόδε τὸ θαῦμα ἐπεγένετο" λογιζομένῳ δὲ αὐτῷ ὅ τι εἴη, νὺξ ἐπῆλθε. Καθεύδοντί τε τὸν Χριστὸν ὀφθῆναι σὺν τῷ φανέντι ἐν οὐρανῷ σημείῳ, καὶ παρακελεύσασθαι μίμημα ποιήσασθαι τούτηυ, ἀλεξήματι κεχρῆσθαι ἐν ταῖς πρὸς τοὺς πολεμίους μάχαις. Ἐπεὶ δὲ λοιπὸν ἐρμηνέως οὐδὲν ἔδει, ἀλλὰ περιφανῶς ἐδείχθη τῷ βασιλεῖ χρὴ περὶ Θεοῦ νομίζειν, ἅμα ἡμέρᾳ συγκαλέσας τοὺς ἱερέας τοῦ Χριστοῦ, περὶ τοῦ δόγματος ἐπυνθάνετο. Οἱ δὲ, τὰς ἱερὰς βθίδλους προϊσχόμενοι, τὰ περὶ Χριστοῦ. ἐξηγοῦντο καὶ πρὶν γενέσθαι σαφῇ τὴν ἐπὶ τούτοις πρόῤῥησιν, τῶν προφητῶν ἀπ- (; ἐδειξαν. Τὸ δὲ φανὲν αὐτῷ σημεῖον, σύμβολον εἶναι ἔλεγον τῆς κατὰ τοῦ ἄδου νίκης, ἣν εἰς ἀνθρώπους ἐλθὼν, κατώρθωσε τῷ σταυρωθῆναι καὶ ἀποθανεῖν, τριταῖος ἀναδιῶναι. Κατὰ τοῦτο γὰρ ἔφασαν ἐλπίζειν, μετὰ. τὴν ἀπαλλαγὴν. τῆς ἐνταῦθα βιοτῆς πρὸς τῷ τέλει τοῦ παρόντος αἰῶνος ἀνίστασθαι πάντας ἀνθρώπους, ἀθανάτους ἔσεσθαι " τοὺς μὲν, ἐπὶ ἀμοιθαῖς ὧν εὖ ἐδίωσαν ἐν. τούτοις. τοῖς πράγμασι" τοὺς ἐπὶ τιμωρίαις ὧν κακῶς ἔδρασαν " εἶναι μέντοι τοῖς ἐνταῦθα πλημμελήμασιν ἀφορμὴν σωτηρίας, καὶ καθαρμὸν ἀμαρτημάτων, ἀμνήτοις μὲν, μύησιν κατὰ τὸν νόμον τῆς Ἐκκλησίας " τοῖς δὲ μεμνημένοις, τὸ μὴ πάλιν ἁμαρπεῖν. Ἐπεὶ δὲ τοῦτο παντελῶς ὀλίγων καὶ θείων ἀνδρῶν ἐστι κατορθῶσαι, ἐδίδασχον δεύτερον χαθαρμὸν τετάχθαι μετανοίας. Φιλάνθρωπον γὰρ ὄντα τὸν Θεὸν συγγνώμην νέμειν τοῖς ἑπταιχόσιν, εἰ μεταμεληθῶσι, καὶ ἔργοις ἀναθοῖς τὴν μεταμέλειαν βεβαιώσουσι. ### English translation (Claude) We have received that many other things befell him by which he was persuaded to honour the doctrine of the Christians, but above all the divine sign that appeared to him. When he had resolved to make war on Maxentius, he was naturally at a loss within himself how the battle would turn out and who would be his helper. While he was in these anxieties, he saw in a dream the sign of the cross shining in the sky. As he gazed in amazement at the sight, divine angels stood by him and said: “Constantine, conquer by this.” It is said that Christ himself also appeared to him, showed him the symbol of the cross, and commanded him to make a likeness of it and to have it in his wars as a helper and a bringer of victory. Eusebius son of Pamphilus, however, affirms that he heard the emperor himself say on oath that about midday, when the sun had already begun to decline, he and the soldiers with him saw in the sky a trophy of the cross formed of light, with an inscription joined to it which said, “Conquer by this.” For this wonder happened as he was marching somewhere with the army, on the road. While he was considering what it might be, night came on; and as he slept Christ appeared to him with the sign that had appeared in the sky, and commanded him to make a likeness of it and to use it as a safeguard in his battles against the enemy. Since there was no further need of an interpreter, but it had been shown to the emperor plainly what he must believe about God, at daybreak he called together the priests of Christ and asked about their doctrine. They brought out the sacred books, explained what concerns Christ, and showed from the prophets that the prediction of these things had been clear before they happened. The sign that had appeared to him, they said, was the symbol of the victory over Hades which Christ won when he came among men, by being crucified, dying, and coming back to life on the third day. On this ground, they said, they hope that after departing from life here, at the end of the present age, all people will rise and will be immortal: some to receive rewards for the good lives they lived in this world, others punishments for the evil they did. Yet for sins committed here there is a means of salvation and a cleansing from sins: for the uninitiated, initiation according to the law of the church; for the initiated, not to sin again. But since this is achieved by very few and godly men, they taught that a second cleansing has been appointed, that of repentance. For God, being a lover of humankind, grants pardon to those who have fallen, if they repent and confirm their repentance by good works. ### Scripture references - 1 Cor 15:4: allusion, low confidence - John 5:29: allusion, medium confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Eusebius, Vit. Const. 1.28-32 (Life of Constantine): allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - A fragment of Valesius's chapter title (“… Constantine, instructed also by our people in piety”) stood at the head of the section in the scan and has been removed. Sozomen gives two versions: a dream with angels, and Eusebius's account of a daytime sign seen by the army (Eusebius, Life of Constantine 1.28–32). “Initiation” (μύησις) is baptism; “the initiated” are the baptized. The “second cleansing … of repentance” is the church's discipline of penance for sins after baptism. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 1.3 (PG 67:863–867; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/1-3). ## Church History 1.4 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/0/#p-1-4 - Source: PG 67:867 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Constantine has the Labarum remade in the form of the cross, and stories are told of its protection of those who carried it. ### Greek text Τοιαῦτα τῶν ἱερέων ὑφηγουμένων, θαυμάσας τὰς περὶ τοῦ Χριστοῦ προφητείας ὁ βασιλεὺς, ἐχέλευσεν ἄνδρας ἐπιστήμονας, χρυσῷ καὶ λίθοις τιμίοις εἰς σταυροῦ σύμβολον μετασκευάσαι τὸ παρὰ Ῥωμαίοις καλούμενον Λάβωρον. Σημεῖον δὲ τοῦτο πολεμικὸν, τῶν ἄλλων τιμιώτερον, καθότι ἀεὶ τοῦ βασιλέως ἡγεῖσθαι καὶ προσκυνεῖσθαι νενόμιστο παρὰ τῶν στρατιωτῶν. Ἡ μάλιστα οἶμαι Κωνσταν - τῖνον τὸ ἐπισημότατον σύμβολον τῆς Ῥωμαίων ἀρχῆς, εἰς Χριστοῦ σημεῖον μεταβαλεῖν · ὥστε τῇ συνεχεῖ θέᾳ καὶ θεραπείᾳ ἀπεθισθῆναι τῶν πατρίων τοὺς ἀρχομένους· μόνον δὲ τοῦτον ἡγεῖσθαι Θεὸν, ὃν καὶ βασιλεὺς σέβει, καὶ ἡγεμόνι καὶ συμμάχῳ χρῆ ται κατὰ τῶν πολεμίων. Ἀεὶ γὰρ τοῦτο τὸ σημεῖον προὐβάλλετο τῶν οἰκείων ταγμάτων· καὶ ταῖς καμνούσαις φάλαγξιν ἐν ταῖς μάχαις παρεῖναι ἐκέλευε, φανεροὺς τάξας τῶν δορυφόρων περὶ τοῦτο ποιεῖν, οἷς ἔργον ἦν ἕκαστον ἀμοιβαίως ἐπὶ τῶν ὤμων φέρειν τὸ σημεῖον, καὶ περιιέναι τὰς τάξεις τῶν πολεμίων. Λέγεται γοῦν ποτε τὸν τοῦτο φέροντα, ἀθρόως ἐπιδραμόντων τῶν πολεμίων, δείσαντα ἑτέρῳ παραδοῦναι, καὶ ἑαυτὸν τῆς μάχης ὑπεξαγαγεῖν· ἤδη δὲ τῶν βελῶν ἔξω γενόμενον, ἐξαπίνης πεσεῖν βληθέντα καιρίαν · τὸν δὲ παραλαβόντα τὸ θεῖον σύμβολον, ἄτρωτον διαμεῖναι, πολλῶν ἐπ᾿ αὐτῷ τοξευόντων. Παραδόξως γάρ πως ὡς ὑπὸ θείας δυνάμεως ιθυνό μενα τὰ βέλη τῶν πολεμίων, τῷ σημείῳ προσεπήγνυντο· τοῦ δὲ φέροντος, καὶ μέσου τῶν κινδύνων ὄντος, ἀφίπταντο. Λέγεται δὲ μήτε ἄλλον πώποτε τούτῳ τῷ σημείῳ διακονούμενον, οἷά γε εἰκὸς ἐν πολέμῳ στρατιώτην, σκαιᾷ περιπεσεῖν συμφορᾷ, καὶ τραυματίαν ἢ αἰχμάλωτον γενέσθαι. ### English translation (Claude) While the priests were explaining such things, the emperor, marvelling at the prophecies about Christ, ordered skilled craftsmen to remake into the symbol of the cross, with gold and precious stones, what the Romans call the Labarum. This was a military standard, more honoured than the others, since it was the custom for it always to go before the emperor and to be reverenced by the soldiers. I think that Constantine [was] most [eager] to change this most distinguished symbol of Roman rule into the sign of Christ, so that by seeing and honouring it constantly his subjects would be weaned from their ancestral customs and would hold as God only the one whom the emperor also worshipped and used as leader and ally against his enemies. This sign was always carried before his own troops, and he ordered it to be present with the hard-pressed lines in battle. He appointed picked men of his bodyguard to attend to it, whose task was to carry the standard on their shoulders in turn and to go round the ranks of the enemy. It is said that once, when the enemy suddenly charged, the man carrying it took fright, handed it to another, and slipped away from the battle; and when he was already out of range of the missiles he was suddenly struck and fell mortally wounded. But the man who had taken the divine symbol remained unhurt, though many shot at him. In some wonderful way, as if directed by divine power, the enemy's missiles stuck fast in the standard and flew away from the bearer, though he was in the midst of the danger. It is said, too, that no other man who served this standard ever met with misfortune, as a soldier naturally might in war, or was wounded or taken prisoner. ### Extrabiblical texts - Eusebius, Vit. Const. 2.8-9 (Life of Constantine): allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The main verb of the sentence about Constantine's purpose is lost in the scan; the bracketed words give the evident sense. The story of the standard-bearer is also in Eusebius, Life of Constantine 2.8–9. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 1.4 (PG 67:867; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/1-4). ## Church History 1.5 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/0/#p-1-5 - Source: PG 67:869–871 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Sozomen rejects the pagan story that Constantine turned to Christianity because the philosopher Sopater refused him cleansing for killing his son Crispus, arguing from dates and from pagan rites of purification. ### Greek text ἀνελόντα τινὰς τῶν ἐγγυτάτω τοῦ γένους, καὶ τῷ θανάτῳ Κρίσπου · τοῦ ἑαυτοῦ παιδὸς συμπράξαντα, μεταμεληθῆναι, καὶ περὶ καθαρμοῦ κοινώσασθαι Σωπάτρῳ τῷ φιλοσόφῳ, κατ᾿ ἐκεῖνο καιροῦ προεστῶτι τῆς Πλωτίνου διαδοχῆς· τὸν δὲ ἀποφήνασθαι, μηδένα καθαρμὸν εἶναι τῶν τοιούτων ἁμαρτημάτων. Αδημονοῦντα δὲ τὸν βασιλέα ἐπὶ τῇ ἀπαγορεύσει, περιτυχεῖν ἐπισκόποις, οἳ μετανοίᾳ καὶ βαπτίσματι ὑπέσχοντο πάσης αὐτὸν ἁμαρτίας καθαἰρειν· ἡσθῆναί τε τούτοις κατὰ σκοπὸν εἰρηκόσι, καὶ θαυμάσαι τὸ δόγμα, καὶ Χριστιανὸν γενέσθαι, καὶ τοὺς ἀρχομένους ἐπὶ τοῦτο ἀγαγεῖν. Ἐμοὶ δὲ δοκεῖ, ταῦτα πεπλάσθαι τοῖς σπουδάζουσι τὴν Χριστιανῶν θρησκείαν κακηγορεῖν. Κρίσπος μὲν γὰρ, δι᾽ ὅν φασι Κωνσταντῖνον καθαρμοῦ δεηθῆναι, τῷ εἰκοστῷ ἔτει ἐτελεύτησε τῆς τοῦ πατρὸς ἡγεμονίας, ἔτι περιὼν πολλοὺς σὺν αὐτῷ θέμενος νόμους ὑπὲρ Χριστιανῶν, ἅτε δὴ κατὰ τὸ δεύτερον σχῆμα τῆς βασιλείας τετιμημένος, Καῖσαρ ὢν, ὡς εἰς ἔτι νῦν μαρτυροῦσιν οἱ τοῖς νόμοις ὑποτεταγμένοι χρόνοι, καὶ τῶν νομοθετῶν αἱ προσηγορίαι. Σώπατρον δὲ, πρῶτον μὲν οὐκ εἰκὸς ἦν εἰς ὁμιλίαν ἐλθεῖν Κωνσταντίνῳ, μόνης τῆς πρὸς τῷ Ὠκεανῷ καὶ τῷ Ῥήνῳ μοίρας ἡγουμένῳ. Διὰ γὰρ τὴν πρὸς Μαξέντιον διαφορὰν ἐπὶ τῆς Ἰταλίας διάγοντα, ἐστασίαζε τὰ Ῥωμαίων · καὶ οὐκ εὐπετὲς ἦν τότε ἐπιδημεῖν Γαλάταις καὶ Βρεττανοῖς καὶ τοῖς τῇδε κατοικοῦσι, παρ' οἷς συνωμολόγηται τῆς τῶν Χριστιανῶν θρησκείας μετασχεῖν Κωνσταντῖνον, πρὶν ἐπὶ Μαξέντιον στρατεῦσαι, καὶ παρελθεῖν ἐπὶ ᾿Ῥώμην καὶ Ἰταλούς. Καὶ μάρτυρες πάλιν τούτου οἱ χρόνοι, καὶ οἱ νόμοι – οὓς ὑπὲρ τῆς θρησκείας ἔθετο. Εἰ δὲ καὶ ῥᾳδίως ὠδί πως συγχωρήσομεν ἐντυχεῖν Σωπάτρῳ τὸν βασιλέα, ἢ δι' ἐπιστολῆς αὐτοῦ πυθέσθαι περὶ ὧν ἐβούλετο, οὐ δήπου πιθανὸν ἦν τὸν φιλόσοφον ἀγνοεῖν, ὡς Ἡρακλῆς ὁ ᾿Αλκμήνης ᾿Αθήνῃσιν έκαθάρθη μετὰ τὴν τεκνοκτονίαν τοῖς Δήμητρος μυστη-. ρίοις, καὶ μετὰ τὸν Ἰφίτου φόνον, ὃν ξένον καὶ φίλον, ὄντα ἀδίκως ἀνεῖλεν. Ὡς μὲν οὖν οἱ Ἕλληνες τῶν τοιούτων πλημμελημάτων καθαρμοὺς ἐπηγγέλλοντο, ἀπόχρη τὰ εἰρημένα, καὶ ψεῦδος κατηγορεῖ τῶν ἐναντίᾳ ἀποφήνασθαι Σώπατρον πλασαμένων. Οὐ γὰρ ἂν εἴποιμι, ταῦτα ἠγνοηκέναι τὸν ἐπισημότατον τότε παρ' Ἕλλησὶν ἐπὶ παιδεύσει γεγενημένον. ### English translation (Claude) … that Constantine, having killed some of his nearest kin and having had a part in the death of his own son Crispus, repented and consulted about a cleansing Sopater the philosopher, who at that time headed the school of Plotinus; that Sopater declared there was no cleansing for such crimes; and that the emperor, distressed at this refusal, met bishops who promised to cleanse him of every sin by repentance and baptism; that he was pleased with what they had said to his purpose, admired the doctrine, became a Christian, and led his subjects to it. To me it seems that this was invented by those who are eager to slander the Christian religion. For Crispus, on whose account they say Constantine needed a cleansing, died in the twentieth year of his father's reign; while he lived he enacted many laws with him in favour of the Christians, being honoured with the second rank in the empire as Caesar, as the dates attached to the laws and the titles of the lawgivers bear witness to this day. As for Sopater, first, it is not likely that he came into conversation with Constantine while Constantine ruled only the part of the empire toward the Ocean and the Rhine. For when Constantine was in Italy because of his quarrel with Maxentius, the Roman state was in turmoil, and it was not easy then to travel to the Gauls, the Britons and those who live there; yet it is agreed that it was among them that Constantine embraced the Christian religion, before he marched against Maxentius and came to Rome and the Italians. Again the dates and the laws he enacted in favour of the religion bear witness to this. And even if we were to grant easily that the emperor met Sopater in some way, or asked him by letter about what he wished to know, it is surely not credible that the philosopher did not know that Heracles son of Alcmene was cleansed at Athens by the mysteries of Demeter after the killing of his children, and after the murder of Iphitus, whom he had unjustly killed though he was his guest and friend. That the Greeks promised cleansings for such crimes, then, what has been said is enough; and it convicts of falsehood those who invented the story that Sopater declared the contrary. For I would not say that the man who was then the most distinguished among the Greeks for learning did not know these things. ### Translation notes - The opening words of the section are lost in the scan; the sentence is reported speech (“… that Constantine …”), the lost words having named the pagans who told the story. The story is told by the pagan historian Zosimus (2.29), probably after Eunapius. Crispus was executed in 326. Sozomen's dates for Constantine's conversion are his own argument. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 1.5 (PG 67:869–871; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/1-5). ## Church History 1.6 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/0/#p-1-6 - Source: PG 67:871–873 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The churches under Constantine prosper, as they had under his father Constantius, who kept faithful Christians at court and dismissed those who sacrificed; Constantine's victories bring Italy and Illyricum under his rule. ### Greek text Αἱ δὲ κατὰ τὴν αρχομένην ὑπὸ Κωνσταντίνου Ἐκκλησίαι καταθυμίως ἔπραττον, καὶ ὁσημέραι ἐπεδίδουν, εὔνου καὶ ὁμόφρονος βασιλέως εὐεργεσιῶν ἀξιούμεναι. Ταύτας δὲ καὶ ἄλλως πρὸ τούτου διωγμῶν καὶ ταραχῆς ἀπειράτους τὸ Θεῖον ἐφύλαξε. Διωκομένων γὰρ τῶν ἀνὰ τὴν ἄλλην οἰκουμένην Ἐκκλησιῶν, μόνος Κωνστάντιος ὁ Κωνσταντίνου πατήρ, ἀδεῶς θρησκεύειν συνεχώρησε τοῖς Χριστιανοῖς: Αμέλει τοιόνδε τι θαυμαστὸν καὶ συγγραφῆς ἄξιον ἔγνων εἰργάσθαι αὐτῷ. Δοκιμάσαι θέλων τίνες τῶν ἐν τοῖς βασιλείοις· Χριστιανῶν ἄνδρες εἰσὶ καλοὶ καὶ ἀγαθοὶ, συγκαλέσας· πάντας, προηγόρευσεν, εἰ μὲν ἕλοιντο θύειν καὶ θρησκεύειν ὁμοίως, ἀμφ᾿ αὐτὸν εἶναι, καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς αὐτῆς μένειν ἀξίας· εἰ δὲ παραιτήσαιντο, ἐξιέναι τῶν βασιλείων, χάριν ἔχοντας ὅτι μὴ καὶ τιμωρίας προσώφλησαν. Ἐπεὶ δὲ εἰς ἑκάτερον διεκρίθησαν, οἱ μὲν τὴν θρησκείαν προδόν; ( τες, οἱ δὲ τῶν παρόντων τὰ θεῖα προτιμήσαντες, ἔγνω φίλοις καὶ συμβούλοις χρῆσθαι· τοῖς περὶ τὸ κρεῖττον πιστοῖς διαμείνασι · τοὺς δὲ, ὡς ἀνάνδρους καὶ κοβάλους ἀπεστράφη, καὶ τῆς πρὸς αὐτὸν ὁμιλίας ἀπεώσατο. Λογισάμενος μή ποτε ἔσεσθαι περὶ βασιλέα εὔνους, τοὺς ὧδε ἑτοίμους προδότας Θεοῦ γεγενημένους. Ἐντεῦθεν εἰκότως ἔτι Κωνσταντίνου περιόντος, οὐκ ἐδόκει παράνομον Χριστιανίζειν τοῖς Ἰταλῶν ἐπέκεινα, Γαλάταις τε καὶ Βρεττανοῖς, καὶ ὅσοι περὶ τὸ Πυρηναῖον ὄρος οἰκοῦσι, μέχρι τοῦ πρὸς ἑσπέραν Ὠκεανοῦ. Ἐπεὶ δὲ καὶ Κωνσταντῖνος τὴν αὐτὴν ἀρχὴν διεδέξατο, μᾶλλον διεφάνη τὰ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας πράγματα. Μαξεντίου γὰρ τοῦ Ἑρκουλίου παιδὸς ἀναιρεθέντος, καὶ τῆς αὐτοῦ μοίρας εἰς Κωνσταντῖνον ἐπιπεσούσης, ἀδεῶς ἐθρήσκέυον ὅσοι τε περὶ τὸν Θύβριν ποταμὸν ᾤκουν, καὶ τὸν Ἠριδανὸν, ὂν Πάδον οἱ ἐπιχώριοι καλοῦσι, καὶ τὸν ῎Ακυλιν, εἰς ὃν λόγος καθελκυσθῆναι τὴν ᾿Αργὼ, καὶ πρὸς τὸ Τυρρηνῶν διασωθῆναι πέλαγος. Οἱ γὰρ ᾿Αργο· ναῦται τὸν Αἰήτην φεύγοντες, οὐ τὸν αὐτὸν πλοῦν ἐν τῇ ἐπανόδῳ ἐποιήσαντο. Περαιωθέντες δὲ τὴν ὑπὲρ Σκύθας θάλασσαν, διὰ τῶν τῇδε ποταμῶν ἀφίκοντο εἰς Ἰταλῶν ὅρια, καὶ χειμάσαντες ἐνταῦθα, πόλιν ἔκτισαν, Ἥμονα προσαγορευομένην. Τοῦ δὲ θέρους ἐπικαταλαβόντος, συμπραξάντων αὐτοῖς τῶν ἐπιχωρίων, ἀμφὶ τοὺς τετρακοσίους σταδίους ὑπὸ μηχανῆς ἔλκοντες τὴν ᾿Αργὼ διὰ γῆς, ἐπὶ τὸν ᾿Ακυλιν ποταμὸν ἤγαγον, ὃς τῷ Ἠριδανῷ συμβάλλει· Ἠριδανὸς δὲ εἰς τὴν κατὰ Ἰταλοὺς θάλασσαν τὰς ἐκβολάς ἔχει. Μετὰ δὲ τὴν περὶ Κιβάλας μάχην, Δαρδάνιοί τε καὶ Μακεδόνες, καὶ ὅσοι παρὰ τὸν Ἴστρον οἰκοῦσιν, ἢ τε καλουμένη Ἑλλὰς, καὶ πᾶν τὸ Ἰλλυριῶν ἔθνος, ὑπὸ Κωνσταντῖνον ἐγένοντο. ### English translation (Claude) The churches in the region ruled by Constantine fared as they wished and grew daily, enjoying the benefits of a well-disposed and like-minded emperor. Even before this, the Divine had kept them free of persecution and trouble. For while the churches throughout the rest of the world were persecuted, Constantius alone, Constantine's father, allowed the Christians to worship without fear. I know that he did this remarkable thing, worth recording. Wishing to test which of the Christians in the palace were good and upright men, he called them all together and announced that if they chose to sacrifice and worship as he did, they might remain about him and keep their rank; but if they refused, they must leave the palace, grateful that they had not also incurred punishment. When they had divided on either side, some betraying their religion, others preferring divine things to their present advantages, he decided to keep as friends and counsellors those who had remained faithful to the better cause; the others he turned away from as unmanly knaves and drove from his company, reckoning that those who had so readily become traitors to God would never be loyal to the emperor. For this reason, naturally, while Constantius was still alive it was not thought unlawful to be a Christian among the peoples beyond Italy, the Gauls and the Britons and those who live about the Pyrenees as far as the western Ocean. When Constantine succeeded to the same rule, the affairs of the church became more conspicuous. For when Maxentius son of Herculius had been slain and his share of the empire had fallen to Constantine, those who lived by the river Tiber worshipped without fear, and by the Eridanus, which the inhabitants call the Padus, and by the Aquilis, down which, it is said, the Argo was hauled and brought safe to the Tyrrhenian sea. For the Argonauts, fleeing from Aeetes, did not make the same voyage on their return. They crossed the sea beyond the Scythians, came by way of the rivers there to the borders of Italy, wintered there, and built a city called Emona. When summer came, with the help of the inhabitants, they dragged the Argo overland by machines for about four hundred stades and brought it to the river Aquilis, which flows into the Eridanus; and the Eridanus empties into the sea of Italy. After the battle at Cibalae the Dardanians and Macedonians, those who live by the Ister, the so-called Hellas, and the whole Illyrian nation came under Constantine. ### Translation notes - Constantine's father, Constantius Chlorus, had ruled the West. The digression on the Argonauts follows a tradition that they returned by the Danube and the rivers of the Alps; Emona is Ljubljana. In the sentence “while Constantius was still alive” the scan reads Κωνσταντίνου (“Constantine”); the sense requires Constantius, and the translation follows the sense. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 1.6 (PG 67:871–873; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/1-6). ## Church History 1.7 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/1-7/#p-1-7 - Source: PG 67:873–875 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Licinius turns against the Christians and to pagan divination before his last war with Constantine, but is defeated, surrenders, and is later put to death. ### Greek text Λικίννιος δὲ μετὰ τὴν ἐνθάδε τροπὴν, πρότερον τὰ τῶν Χριστιανῶν πρεσβεύων, μετεβάλετο τὴν γνώμην, καὶ πολλοὺς τότε τῶν ἐπὶ τῇ ἰδίᾳ ἀρχῇ ἱερέων ἐκάκωσε · πολλοὺς δὲ καὶ τῶν ἄλλων, καὶ μάλιστα τοῦ στρατιωτικοῦ πλήθους. Σφόδρα γὰρ ἀπεχθάνετο πρὸς τοὺς Χριστιανοὺς, διὰ τὴν πρὸς Κωνσταντῖνον διαφορὰν, οἰόμενος αὐτὸν λυπήσειν ταῖς δυσπραγίαις τῆς θρησκείας· ἅμα δὲ καὶ τὰς Ἐκκλησίας ὑπολαμβάνων εὔχεσθαι, καὶ σπουδάζειν ὑπ' αὐτοῦ μόνου βασιλεύεσθαι. Πρὸς τούτοις δὲ, οἷα φιλεῖ γίνεσθαι, πάλιν εἰς μάχην καθίστασθαι μέλλων Κωνσταντίνῳ, τοῦ προσδοκωμένου πολέμου πρόνοιαν ἐποιεῖτο, διά τε σφαγίων καὶ μαντειῶν· καὶ ὑπαχθείς τισιν ὑπισχνουμένοις αὐτῷ κρατήσειν, εἰς Ἑλληνισμὸν ἐτράπη. Αμέλει τοίνυν καὶ Ἕλληνές φασιν αὐτὸν τότε ἀποπειραθῆναι τοῦ ἐν Μιλήτῳ μαντείου τοῦ Διδυμαίου ᾿Απόλλωνος " ἐρομένῳ δὲ αὐτῷ περὶ τοῦ πολέμου, χρῆσαι τὸ δαιμόνιον τουτουσὶ τοὺς Ὁμηοιχοὺς στίχους " Ὧ γέρον, ἦ μάλα δὴ σε νέοι μαχηταί" Σὴ τε βίη 06 σε γῆρας Ἐχ πολλῶν οὖν ἄλλων ἔδοξέ μοι, τὸ δόγμα τῶν Χριστιανῶν Θεοῦ προνοίᾳ συνίστασθαι, καὶ εἰς τοσαύτην παρελθεῖν ἐπίδοσιν, οὐχ ἤκιστα δὲ ἐχ τῶν τότε γενομένων, Μέλλοντι γὰρ ἤδη Λιχινίῳ διώκειν πάσας τὰς ὑπ᾽ αὐτὸν Ἐκκλησίας, συνίσταται ὁ ἐν Βιθυνίᾳ πόλεμος, ὃν τελευταῖον ἐπολέμησαν πρὸς ἀλλήλους αὐτός τε καὶ Κωνσταντῖνος. Τοσαύτῃ δὲ θείᾳ ῥοπῇ ἐχρήσατο Κωνσταντῖνος, ὡς γῆν καὶ θάλασσαν κρατῆσαι τῶν ἐναντίων " ἀποθαλόντα δὲ Λιχίνιον τὸ πεζὸν καὶ τὸ ἑαυτὸν ἐν Νικομηδείᾳ προδοῦναι, ἰδιώτην ἐπί τινα χρόνον ἀγαγεῖν ἐν Θεσσαλονίκῃ, χἀχεῖσε ἀναιρεθῆναι. "Ανδρα ταπρῶτα τῆς ἡγεμονίας, ἐν πολέμοις καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις εὐδοχιμώτατον γενόμενον, καὶ τῷ γάμῳ τῆς ἀδελφῆς Κωνσταντίνου τετιμημένον, εἰς τοῦτο ὃὲ καταστάντα τέλους. ### English translation (Claude) 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. ### Extrabiblical texts - Homer, Il. 8.102-103 (Homer, Iliad): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The oracle quotes Homer, Iliad 8.102–103 (Diomedes to Nestor). The scan has lost several words of the lines; the words in brackets are supplied from Homer's text. “Paganism” renders Ἑλληνισμός, “Hellenism,” Sozomen's word for the traditional religion. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 1.7 (PG 67:873–875; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/1-7). ## Church History 1.8 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/1-7/#p-1-8 - Source: PG 67:875–881 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Once sole emperor, Constantine restores the persecuted, returns their property, curbs pagan rites, funds churches, endows the clergy, marks his army with the cross, and makes Sunday and Friday days of rest. ### Greek text Κωνσταντῖνος δὲ, εἰς μόνον αὐτὸν πάσης τῆς Ῥωμαίων ἀρχῆς περιστάσης, γράμματι δημοσίῳ προηγόρευσε τοῖς ἀνὰ τὴν ἕω ὑπηκόοις, τὴν Χριστιανῶν σέβειν θρησκείαν, τὸ Θεῖον ἐπιμελῶς θεραπεύειν Θεῖον δὲ νοεῖν μόνον, ὅ καὶ ὄντως ἐστὶ, καὶ διαρκῆ κατὰ παντὸς τοῦ χρόνου τὴν δύναμιν ἔχει. Τάδε μὲν γὰρ σπουδάζουσιν ἄφθονα πάντα τὰ ἀγαθὰ φιλεῖν προσγίνεσθαι, καὶ ἅπερ ἂν ἐγχειρῶσι, μετὰ χρηστῶν ἐλπίδων ἀπαντᾷν " τοῖς δὲ περὶ τὸ κρεῖττον ἁμαρτάνουσι, κοινῇ καὶ ἰδίᾳ ἐν πολέμοις τε καὶ εἰρήνῃ πάντα δυσχερῆ συμβαίνειν. Χάριν τε ὁμολογῶν, οὐ χομπάζων λέγειν ἰσχυρίζεται, ὡς ἐπιτήδειον ὑπηρέτην ἀξιώσας αὐτὸν εἶναι ὁ Θεὸς τῆς αὐτοῦ βουλήσεως, ἀπὸ τῆς πρὸς Βρεττανοὺς θαλάσσης, μέχρι τῶν ἑῴων χωρίων προήγαγεν, ὅπως ἡ Χριστιανῶν αὐξηθείη θρησκεία, καὶ οἱ θεραπείας Θεοῦ ἕνεκεν χαρτεριχοὶ διαμείναντες ἐν ὁμολογίαις μαρτυρίαις, ἐπιφανέστεροι ταῖς τιμαῖς ἀναδειχθῶσι. Τοιαῦτα ἀναγορεύσας, ἄλλα μυρία διεξελθὼν, δι' ὧν ῴετο τὸ ὑπήκοον πρὸς τὴν θρησκείαν ἐπἀγεσθαι, ἄχυρα εἶναι ἐψηφίσατο τὰ κατὰ τῆς θρησκείας δόξαντα ἢ πεπραγμένα ἐπὶ τῶν διωξάντων τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν " ἄφεσίν τε ἔχειν πάντας ἐνομοθέτησεν, ὅσοι διὰ τὴν εἰς Χριστὸν ὁμολογίαν κατεδιχάσθησαν μετοιχεῖν, ἐν νήσοις, ἀλλαχόσε παρὰ γνώμην διατρίβειν, ἢ μετάλλοις ἐμπονεῖν, ἢ δημοσίοις ἔργοις, ἢ γυναικείοις, ἢ λινυφίοις ὑπηρετεῖν, ἢ βουλευτηρίοις ἐναριθμεῖσθαι, μὴ βουλευταὶ ὄντες πρότερον. Ατίμοις δὲ γενομένοις τὴν ἀτιμίαν ἔλυσε. Τοῖς δὲ στρατείας τινὸς ἀφαιρεθεῖσιν, ἐν γνώμῃ εἴασεν, ἢ ἐφ' οὗπερ ἦσαν σχήματος εἶναι, ἢ μετὰ ἀφέσεως ἐντίμου ἐλευθέραν ἄγειν σχολήν. Ἐπεὶ δὲ πάντας εἰς τὴν προτέραν ἐλευθερίαν καὶ τὰς συνήθεις τιμὰς ἀνεκαλέσατο, καὶ τὰς οὐσίας αὐτοῖς ἀπέδωκεν. Εἰ δέ τινες θάνατον καταδικασθέντες τῶν ὄντων ἀφῃρέθησαν, προσέταξε τοῖς ἐγγυτέρω γένους διαφέρειν τοὺς κλήρους · μηδενὸς δὲ τούτων ὄντος, τὴν καθέκαστον ἐπιχώριον ἐκκλησίαν κληρονομεῖν· εἴτε δὲ ἰδιώτης, εἴτε τὸ δημόσιον, ἐκ τοιαύτης οὐσίας ἔχοι τι, ἀποδιδόναι. Τῶν δὲ παρὰ τοῦ ταμείου πριαμένων, ἢ δωρεὰν λαβόντων, εἰς τὸν δυνατὸν καὶ πρέποντα : τρόπον προνοεῖν ὑπέσχετο. Τάδε μὲν, ὡς εἴρηται, τῷ βασιλεῖ ἔδοξε, καὶ νόμῳ ἐκυρώθη, ἀμελητί τε τοῦ προσήκοντος τέλους ἐτύγχανε. Χριστιανοὶ δὲ ὡς ἐπίπαν τὰς Ῥωμαίων ἀρχὰς ἐπετρόπευον · καὶ τοῦ λοιποῦ θύειν ἀπείρητο πᾶσιν, ἢ μαντείαις καὶ τελε - ταῖς κεχρῆσθαι, ἢ ξόανα ἀνατιθέναι, ἡ Ἑλληνικάς ἄγειν ἑορτάς. Πολλὰ δὲ καὶ τῶν κατὰ πόλεις ἐθῶν ἡμείβετο τῆς ἀρχαιότητος. ᾿Αμέλει τοι, παρὰ μὲν Αἰγυπτίοις, οὐκέτι εἰς τοὺς εἰοιθότας Ἑλληνικοὺς ναοὺς, εἰς δὲ τὰς ἐκκλησίας ἐξ ἐκείνου φέρεται ὁ πῆχυς, ᾧ σημαίνεται τῶν τοῦ Νείλου ὑδάτων ἡ ἐπίδοσις. Παρὰ δὲ Ῥωμαίοις, τότε πρῶτον ἡ τῶν μονομάχων ὁ ἐκωλύθη θέα. Παρὰ δὲ Φοίνιξιν, οἳ τὸν Λίβανον καὶ τὴν Ἡλίου πόλιν οἰκοῦσιν, οὐκέτι θέμις ἦν ἐκπορνεύεσθαι τὰς παρθένους, πρὶν τοῖς ἀνδράσι συνελθεῖν, οἷς νομίμῳ γάμῳ συνοικεῖν εἰώθεσαν μετὰ τὴν πρώτην πεῖραν τῆς ἀθεμίτου μίξεως. Τῶν δὲ εὐκτηρίων οἴκων, οἱ μὲν ἀρκούντως μεγέθους ἔχοντες, ἐπανωρθοῦντο· οἱ δὲ, εἰς ἐπίδοσιν ὕψους καὶ πλάτους λαμπρῶς ἐπεσκευάζοντο. Ἑτέρωθι δὲ τὴν ἀρχὴν μὴ ὄντες, ἐκ θεμελίου ἐδημιουργοῦντο. Τὰ δὲ χρήματα ἐκ τῶν βασιλικῶν θησαυρῶν ἐχορήγει ὁ βασιλεὺς, γράψας τοῖς κατὰ πόλιν ἐπισκόποις, ἃ τοῖς ἡγουμένοις τῶν ἐθνῶν, τοῖς μὲν ἐπιτάττειν ὅ τι βούλοιντο τοὺς δὲ πειθαρχεῖν, καὶ σπουδαίως ὑπηρετεῖσθαι τοῖς ἱερεῦσιν. Εὐημερούσης δὲ αὑτῷ τῆς ἀρχῆς, συνεπεδίδου ἡ θρησκεία. Ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον ὃὲ καὶ μετὰ τὸν πρὸς Λιχένιον πόλεμον ἐπιτευχτιχὸς ἐγένετο ἐν ταῖς κατὰ τῶν ἀλλοφύλων ὡς καὶ Σαυροματῶν χρατῇσαι, τῶν καλουμένων Γότθων, τὸ τελευταῖον, ἐν μέρει χάριτος σπείσασθαι πρὺς αὑτούς. Τοῦτο δὲ τὸ ἔθνος ᾧχει μὲν «τε πέραν Ἴστρου ποταμοῦ" μαχιμώτατον δὲ τυγχάνον, πλήθει, μεγέθει σωμάτων, ἐν ὅπλοις ἀεὶ παρεσκευασμένον, τῶν μὲν ἄλλων Βαρβάρων ἐκράτει" μόνους δὲ Ῥωμαίους ἀνταγων:στὰς εἶχεν. Οὐχ ἥκιστα δὲ λέγεται καὶ τοῦτον τὸν πόλεμον ἐπιδεῖξαι Κωνσταντίνῳ διὰ σημείων ὀνειράτων, ὅσης θειόθεν φείωτο προνοίας. Κρατῆσας δὲ πάντων τῶν ἐπὶ αὖτοῦ συμβάντων πολέμων, καθάπερ ἀντιφιλοτιμούμενος τὸν Χριστὸν, ἡμείδετο τῇ περὶ τὴν θρησκείαν σπουδῇ" ταύτην μόνην πρεσβεύειν, σωτήριον ἡγεῖσθαι, τοὺς ἀρχομένους προτρέπων. Ἐχ δὲ τῆς οὔσης ὑποφόρου γῆς. καθ᾽ ἐχάστην πόλιν ἐξελὼν τοῦ δημοσίου ῥητὸν τέλος, ταῖς κατὰ τόπον ἐκκλησίαις καὶ κλήροις ἀπένειμε, τὴν δωρεὰν εἰς τὸν ἅπαντα χρόνον κυρίαν εἶναι ἐνομοθέτησε. Προσεθίζων δὲ τοὺς στρατιώτας ὁμοίως αὑτῷ τὸν Θεὸν σέβειν, τὰ τούτων ὅπλα τῷ συμβόλῳ τοῦ σταυροῦ χατεσῆμαινε, καὶ ἐν τοῖς βασιλείοις εὐκτήριον οἶχον κατεσκεύασε" καὶ σκηνὴν εἰς ἐκκλησίαν εἰχασμένην περιέφερεν, ἡνίκα πολεμίοις ἐπεστράτευεν ᾿ ὥστε μηδὲ ἐν ἐρημίᾳ διάγοντα αὐτὸν, ἢ τὴν στρατιὰν, ἱεροῦ οἴκου ἀμοιρεῖν, ἐν ᾧ δέοι τὸν Θεὸν ὑμνεῖν καὶ προσεύχεσθαι, καὶ μυστηρίων μετέχειν. συνείποντο γὰρ καὶ ἱερεῖς καὶ διάκονοι τῇ σκηνῇ προσεδρεύοντες, κατὰ τὸν νότῆς Ἐκκλησίας, τὴν περὶ ταῦτα τάξιν ἐπλήρουν. ἘῈ ἐκείνου δὲ καὶ τὰ Ῥωμαίων τάγματα, ἃ νῦν ἀριθμοὺς καλοῦσιν, ἔχαστον ἰδίαν σκηνὴν κατεσχευάσατο, καὶ ἱερέας διακόνους ἀπονενεμημένους ἔχειν. Τὴν δὲ Κυριακὴν καλουμένην ἡμέραν, ἣν Ἑβραῖοι πρώτην τῆς ἑβδομάδος ὀνομάζουσιν, : Ἕλληνες δὲ ἡλίῳ ἀνατιθέασι, καὶ τὴν πρὸ τῆς ἑβδόμης, ἐνομοθέτησε δικαστηρίων καὶ τῶν ἄλλων πραγμάτων σχολὴν ἄγειν πάντας, καὶ ἐν εὐχαῖς καὶ λιταῖς τὸ θεῖον θεραπεύειν. Ἐτίμα δὲ τὴν Κυριακὴν, ὡς ἐν ταύτῃ τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἀναστάντος ἐκ νεκρῶν· τὴν δὲ ἑτέραν, ὡς ἐν αὐτῇ σταυρωθέντος. Πάνυ γάρ πολὺ σέβας εἶχε τοῦ θείου σταυροῦ, ἔκ τε τῶν ὑπαρξάντων αὐτῷ τῇ ἐνθένδε ῥοπῇ ἐν ταῖς κατὰ τῶν ἐναντίων μάχαις, καὶ ἐκ τῆς συμβάσης αὐτῷ περὶ τούτου θεοσημείας. Αμέλει τοι πρότερον νενομισμένην Ῥωμαίοις τὴν τοῦ σταυροῦ τιμωρίαν, νόμῳ ἀνεῖλε τῆς χρήσεως τῶν δικαστηρίων. Πλαττομένῳ τε ἐν νομίσμασι καὶ εἰκόσι γραφομένῳ, ἐκέλευσεν ἀεὶ συγγράφεσθαι, καὶ συντυποῦσθαι τοῦτο τὸ θεῖον σύμβολον. Καὶ μαρτυροῦσιν εἰς ἔτι νῦν εἰκόνες αὐτοῦ, ἐπὶ τούτου οὖσαι τοῦ σχήματος. Ἐν ἅπασι μὲν, νομοθετῶν δὲ μάλιστα, ἐσπούδαζε θεραπεύειν τὸ Θεῖον. Φαίνεται γοῦν τὰς ἀκολάστους καὶ καταβεβλακευμένας μίξεις, πρὸ τούτου μὴ κωλυομένας, ἐπανορθώσας · ὡς ἐξ αὐτῶν συνιδεῖν ἔστι τῶν περὶ τούτων κειμένων νόμων, εἴ τῳ τοῦτο ἐπιμελὲς τυγχάνει. Νυνὶ γὰρ περὶ τὸ τέλειον τοῦτο ποιεῖν, οὐκ εὔκαιρον εἶναί μοι δοκεῖ. Τὰ δὲ ἐπὶ τιμῇ καὶ συστάσει τῆς θρησκείας νενομοθετημένα, πρὸς τοῖς εἰρημένοις διεξελθεῖν ἀναγκαῖον, μέρος ὄντα τῆς ἐκκλησιαστικῆς ἱστορίας. ῎Αρξομαι δὲ ἐντεῦθεν. ### English translation (Claude) 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. ### Extrabiblical texts - Eusebius, Vit. Const. 2.24-42 (Life of Constantine): allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Sozomen summarizes Constantine's letter to the provinces of the East (Eusebius, Life of Constantine 2.24–42). The Phoenician custom described is ritual prostitution of virgins before marriage, at Heliopolis (Baalbek); Sozomen reports its suppression without comment. “The day before the seventh” is Friday. The scan has lost words in several places (“his subjects in the East”; “in public and in private, in war and in peace”), restored in the translation from the evident sense. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 1.8 (PG 67:875–881; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/1-8). ## Church History 1.9 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/1-7/#p-1-9 - Source: PG 67:881–885 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Constantine repeals the penalties on the unmarried and childless, lets those vowed to virginity make wills, exempts clergy from taxes, makes bishops' judgments binding, and grants citizenship to slaves freed in church. ### Greek text Νόμος ἦν Ῥωμαίοις παλαιὸς, ἀπὸ εἴκοσι καὶ πέντε ἐτῶν, τῶν ἴσων ἀξιοῦσθαι κωλύων τοὺς ἀγάμους τοῖς μὴ τοιούτοις, περὶ ἄλλα τε πολλά, καὶ τὸ μηδὲν κερδαίνειν ἐκ διαθήκης τοὺς μὴ γένει ἐγγυτάτω προσήκοντας · τοὺς δὲ ἄπαιδας ζημιῶν τὸ ἥμισυ τῶν καταλελειμμένων. Ἔθεντο δὲ τοῦτον οἱ πάλαι Ῥωμαῖοι, πολυάνθρωπον ἔσεσθαι τὴν Ῥώμην καὶ τὴν ὑπήκοον οἰόμενοι, καθότι οὐ πρὸ πολ λοῦ τοῦ νόμου, ἔτυχον ἀποβαλόντες τὰ σώματα ἐν ἐμφυλίοις πολέμοις. Ὁρῶν οὖν ὁ βασιλεὺς παρὰ τοῦτο χεῖρον πράττοντας τοὺς παρθενίαν καὶ ἀπαιδίαν διὰ Θεὸν ἀσκοῦντας, εὔηθες ἐνόμισεν, ἐξ ἐπιμελείας καὶ σπουδῆς ἀνθρώπων δύνασθαι τὸ τούτων γένος αὔξειν, τῆς φύσεως ἀεὶ κατὰ τὴν ἄνωθεν ἐπιμέτρησιν, καὶ φθορὰν καὶ αὔξησιν δεχομένης. Καὶ νόμον τῷ δήμῳ προσεφώνησεν, ὥστε ἐπίσης πάντων τῶν ὁμοίων ἀπολαύειν τοὺς ἀγάμους καὶ ἅπαιδας· οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ πλέον ἔχειν ἐνομοθέτησε – εἶναι τὴν αὐτῶν ψῆφον, καὶ κρείττω τῆς τῶν ἄλλων τοὺς ἐν ἐγκρατείᾳ καὶ παρθενίᾳ βιοῦντας, ἄδειαν αὐτοῖς δοὺς ἄῤῥεσί τε καὶ θηλείαις, καὶ ἀνήβοις οὖσφ διατίθεσθαι, παρὰ τὸ κοινῇ κρατοῦν ἐν τῇ Ῥως μαίων πολιτείᾳ. Περὶ πάντων γὰρ εὖ βούλεσθαι ᾠήθη, οἷς ἔργον ἀεὶ τὸ Θεῖον θεραπεύειν, καὶ φιλοσοφίαν ἀσκεῖν. Ἐπεὶ τούτου χάριν καὶ οἱ πάλαι Ῥωμαῖοι ἀδεῶς διατίθεσθαι τὰς ἐστιακὰς παρθένους καὶ ἑξαετεῖς οὔσας, ἐνομοθέτησαν. Τεκμήριον δὲ κἀκεῖνο μέγιστον τῆς τοῦ βασιλέως περὶ τὴν θρησκείαν αἰδοῦς. Τοὺς μὲν γὰρ πανταχή κληρικοὺς θέσει νόμου ἀτελεῖς ἀνῆκε· τῶν δὲ ἐπισκόπων ἐπικαλεῖσθαι τὴν κρίσιν ἐπέτρεψε τοῖς δικαζομένοις, ἣν βούλωνται τοὺς πολιτικοὺς ἄρχοντας παραιτεῖσθαι· κυρίαν δὲ δικαστῶν, ὡσανεὶ παρὰ τοῦ βασιλέως ἐξενεχθεῖσαν· εἰς ἔργον δὲ τὰ κρινόμενα ἄγειν τοὺς ἄρχοντας, καὶ τοὺς διακονουμένους αὐτοῖς στρατιώτας· ἀμετατρέτ πτους τε εἶναι τῶν συνόδων τοὺς ὅρους. Εἰς τοῦτο δὲ με προελθόντα γραφῆς, ἄξιον μὴ παραλιπεῖν τὰ νενομοθετημένα ἐπ᾿ ὠφελείᾳ τῶν ἐν ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις ἐλευθερουμένων. Ὑπὸ γὰρ ἀκριβείας νόμων, καὶ ἀκόντων τῶν κεκτημένων, πολλῆς δυσχερείας οὔσης περὶ τὴν κτῆσιν τῆς ἀμείνονος ἐλευθερίας, ἣν πολιτείαν Ῥωμαίων καλοῦσι, τρεῖς ἔθετο νόμους, ψηφισάμενος πάντας τοὺς ἐν ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις ἔλευθερουμένους ὑπὸ μάρτυτι τοῖς ἱερεῦσι, πολιτείας Ῥωμαϊκῆς τυγχάνειν. Ταύτης τῆς εὐτεθοῦς ἐφευρέσεως εἰς ἔτι νῦν ὁ χρόνος φέρει τὸν ἔλεγχον " ἔθους κρατοῦντος τοὺς περὶ τούτου νόμους προγράφεσθαι ἐν τοῖς γραμματείοις τῶν ἐλευθεριῶν. μὲν δὴ Κωυνσταυντῖνος τοιαῦτα ἐνομοθέτε;, διὰ πάντων ἐσπούδαζε τὴν θρησκείαν γεραίρειν" ἦν δὲ καὶ καθ᾽ ἑαυτὴν εὐχλεὴς, διὰ τὴν ἀρετὴν τῶν τότε μετιόντιον αὐτήν. ### English translation (Claude) 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. ### Translation notes - The old law is the Augustan marriage legislation (lex Papia Poppaea); Constantine's repeal is dated 320. “Practised virginity and childlessness for God's sake” refers to ascetics and consecrated virgins; Sozomen treats the repeal as a favour to them. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 1.9 (PG 67:881–885; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/1-9). ## Church History 1.10 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/1-7/#p-1-10 - Source: PG 67:885 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Many confessors of the recent persecution, among them Hosius, Amphion, Maximus and Paphnutius, still adorned the churches. ### Greek text ΛΛλλοι τε γὰρ πολλοὶ ἀγαθοὶ Χριστιανῶν ἦσαν τότε, ἔναγχός τε τῶν διυγμῶν πεπαυμένων, εἰσέτι πλεῖστοι τῶν ὁμολογητῶν τῷ βίῳ περιόντες, τὰς Ἐκκλησίας ἐσέμνυνον" ὡς ὁ “Ὅσιος Κουρδούθης ἐπίσχοπος, ᾿Αμφίων ὁ Ἐπιφανίας τῆς Κιλίκων, καὶ Μάξιμος ὁ μετὰ. Μακάριον τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν τῶν Ἱεροσολύμων ἐπιτραπεὶς, καὶ Παφνούτιος ὁ ἐξ Αἰγύπτου" δι᾽ οὗ φασι πλεῖστα θαυματουργῆσαι τὸ Θεῖον, δαιμόνων τε κρατεῖν, καὶ ποικίλων παθημάτων ἐάσεις αὐτῷ χαρισάμενον. ᾿Ἐγένοντο δὲ Παφνούτιος οὗτος, καὶ Μάξιμος ὁ δηλωθεὶς, ἐξ ἐκείνων τῶν ὁμολυγητῶν, οὺς Μαξιμῖνος ἐν τοῖς μετάλλοις ἐργάζεσθαι οἱ ἡ. κατεδίκασε, τοὺς δεξιοὺς αὐτῶν ἐχχόψας ὀφθαλμοὺς καὶ τὰς ἀριστερὰς ἀγχύλας ἀποτεμών. ### English translation (Claude) 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. ### Translation notes - Maximinus Daia, persecuting emperor in the East (died 313). ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 1.10 (PG 67:885; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/1-10). ## Church History 1.11 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/1-7/#p-1-11 - Source: PG 67:885–889 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Stories of Spyridon of Trimythus: the bound sheep-thieves, the deposit recovered from his dead daughter, the dishonest borrower, his rebuke of Triphyllius for altering a Gospel word, and his eating with a guest in Lent. ### Greek text Κατὰ τούτους δὲ γενέσθαι παρειλήφαμεν καὶ Σπυρίδωνα τὸν Τριμυθοῦντος τῆς Κύπρον ἐπίσκοπον " οὗ τὴν ἀρετὴν ἐπιδεῖξαι, τὴν ἔτι κρατοῦσαν περὶ αὖτοῦ φήμην ἀρκεῖν ἡγοῦμαι, Τῶν δὲ δι᾽ αὐτοῦ σὺν θείᾳ ῥοπῇ γενομένων, τὰ μὲν πλεῖστα, ὥ; γε εἰκὸς, οἱ ἐπιχώριοι ἴσασιν " ἐγὼ δὲ τὰ εἰς ἡμᾶς ἐλθόντα οὐχ ἀποχρύψομαι. Ἐγένετο γὰρ οὗτος ἄγροιχος, γαμετὴν καὶ παῖδας ἔχων" ἀλλ᾽ οὐ παρὰ τοῦτο τὰ θεῖα χείρων. Φασὶ δὲ ποτε νύκτωρ ἐλθεῖν χαχούργους ἄνδρας ἐπὶ τὴν αὐλὴν τῶν αὐτοῦ προβάτων, κλέψαι ἐπιχειρήσαντας, ἐξαπίνης γενέσθαι δεσμίους, μηδενὸς δήσαντος. Ἅμα δὲ ἡμέρᾳ παραγενόμενον αὐτὸν, πεπεδημένους εὑρεῖν τούτους, καὶ λῦσαι μὲν τῶν ἀοράτων δεσμῶν " μέμψασθαι δὲ, ὅτι ἐξὸν πεῖσαι καὶ λαβεῖν ἅ γε ἐπεθύμουν, κλέψαι μᾶλλον εἴλοντο, καὶ ἐν νυκτὶ τοσοῦτον ταλαιπωρῆσαι. Όμως δ' οὖν αὐτοὺς ἐλεήσας, μᾶλλον δὲ πρὸς τὸν ἀμείνω βίον μετατεθῆναι παιδεύων, "Απιτε, ἔφη, τοῦτον τὸν κριὸν λαβόντες· κεκμήκατε γὰρ ἀγρυπνοῦντες, καὶ δεῖ ὑμᾶς μὴ μεμφομένους τοὺς πόνους, ἐκ τῆς ἐμῆς αὐλῆς ἀπαλλάττεσθαι. Τοῦτο θαυμάσειε μὲν ἄν τις εἰκότως · οὐχ ἧττον δὲ κἀκεῖνο· Θυγατρὶ αὐτοῦ παρθένῳ, Εἰρήνη τοὔνομα, παρέθετό τις τῶν γνωρίμων τι. Ἡ δὲ, λαβοῦσα κατώρυξεν οἶκοι, ὅπως ἐπιμελῶς φυλάττοιτο. Συμβὰν δὲ τὴν παῖδα τελευτῆσαι μηδὲν εἰποῦσαν, ἧκεν ὁ ἄνθρωπος τὴν παρακαταθήκην ἀπαιτῶν. Ἀγνοοῦντος δὲ Σπυρίδωνος ὅ τι λέγει, ἀναζητήσαντος δὲ ὅμως κατὰ τὴν οἰκίαν, καὶ μὴ εὐρόντος, ἔκλαιε, καὶ τὰς τρίχας ἔτιλλε, καὶ θανατῶν δῆν λος ἦν. Κινηθεὶς δὲ πρὸς ἔλεον ὁ Σπυρίδων, ἦλθεν ἐπὶ τὸν τάφον, καὶ ὀνομαστὶ τὴν παῖδα ἐκάλεσε. Τῆς δὲ ἀποκριναμένης, ἤρετο περὶ τῆς παρακαταθήκης · καὶ μαθὼν ἀνέστρεφε · καὶ εὑρὼν ᾗ ἐσήμαινεν, ἀπέδωκε τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ. Ἐπεὶ δὲ εἰς τοῦτο προήχθην λόγου, οὐκ ἄτοπον καὶ τοῦτο προσθεῖναι. Ἔθος ἦν τούτω τῷ Σπυρίδωνι, τῶν γινομένων αὐτῷ καρπῶν τοὺς μὲν, πτωχοῖς διανέμειν, τοὺς δὲ͵ προῖκα δανείζειν τοῖς ἐθέλουσιν. Οὔτε δὲ διδοὺς, οὔτε ἀπολαμβάνων, δι' ἑαυτοῦ παρεἶχεν ἢ ὑπεδέχετο· μόνον δὲ τὸ ταμεῖον ἐπιδεικνὺς, ἐπέτρεπε τοῖς προσιοῦσιν, ὅσον δέονται κομίζεσθαι, καὶ πάλιν ἀποδιδόναι ὅσον ᾔδεσαν κομισάμενοι. Δανεισάμενος οὖν τις τοῦτον τὸν τρόπον, ἧκεν ὡς ἀποδώσων. Ἐπιτραπεὶς δὲ κατὰ τὸ ἔθος αὐτὸς καθ' ἑαυτὸν ἀποδοῦναι τῷ ταμείῳ τὰ : δεδανεισμένα, πρὸς ἀδικίαν εἶδε. Καὶ νομίσας λανθάνειν, οὐκ ἀπέδωκε τὸ χρέος · ἀλλ᾽ ὑφελόμενος τοῦ ὀφειλήματος τὴν ἀπόδοσιν, ὡς ἀποτίσας ἀπῆλθε. Τὸ δὲ ἄρα οὐκ ἔμελλεν ἐπὶ πολὺ λήσειν. Μετὰ γάρ τινα χρόνον, ὁ μὲν πάλιν ἐδεῖτο δανείζεσθαι. Ὁ δὲ, πρὸς τὸ ταμεῖον ἀπέπεμπεν, ἐξουσίαν δοὺς αὐτὸν ἑαυτῷ παραμετρεῖν ὅσον βούλεται. Κενὸν δὲ τὸν οἶκον ἰδὼν, ἐμήνυσε τῷ Σπυρίδωνι. Ὁ δὲ πρὸς αὐτὸν, Θαυμαστὸν ἄρα, ὦ ἄνθρωπε, ἔφη, πῶς σοὶ μόνῳ ἔδοξε τὸ ταμεῖον ἐπιλείπειν τὰ ἐπιτήδεια. Σκόπει οὖν κατὰ σαυτὸν, μὴ χρησάμενος ἄλλοτε, τὰ πρῶτα οὐκ ἀπέδωκας. Εἰ γὰρ μὴ τοῦτό ἐστιν, πάντως οὐκ ἀποτεύξῃ ὧν δέῃ. Καὶ πάλιν ἴθι θαῤῥῶν ὡς εὐρήσων. Καὶ ὁ μὲν οὕτω φωραθεὶς, κατεμήνυσε τὴν ἁμαρτίαν. "Αξιον δὲ, τούτου τοῦ θείου ἀνδρὸς θαυμάσαι τὸ ἐμβριθὲς, καὶ τὴν ἀκρίβειαν τῆς ἐκκλησιαστικῆς τάξεως. Λέγεται οὖν χρόνῳ ὕστερον κατά τινα χρείαν εἰς ταὐτὸ συνελθεῖν τοὺς ἐπισκόπους τῆς Κύπρου · εἶναι δὲ σὺν αὐτοῖς Σπυρίδωνα τοῦτον, καὶ Τριφύλλιον τὸν Λεδρῶν ἐπίσκοπον, ἄνδρα ἄλλως τε ἐλλόγιμον, καὶ διὰ νόμων ἄσκησιν πολὺν χρόνον ἐν τῇ Βηρυτίων πόλει διατρίψαντα. Συνάξεως δὲ ἐπιτελουμένης, ἐπιτραπεὶς Τριφύλλιος διδάξαι τὸ πλῆθος, ἐπεὶ τὸ ῥητὸν ἐκεῖνο παράγειν εἰς μέσον ἐδέησε, τὸ, Αρόν σου τὸν κράββατον καὶ περιπάτει· σκίμποδα, ἀντὶ τοῦ κραββάτου, μεταβαλὼν τὸ ὄνομα, εἶπε. Καὶ ὁ Σπυρίδων ἀγανακτήσας, Οὐ σύ γε, ἔφη, ἀμείνων τοῦ κράββατον εἰρηκότος, ὅτι ταῖς αὐτοῦ λέξεσιν ἐπαισχύνῃ κεχρῆσθαι; Καὶ τοῦτο εἰπὼν, ἀπεπήδησε τοῦ ἱερατικοῦ θρόνου, τοῦ δήμου ὁρῶντος· ταύτῃ γε μετριάζειν παιδεύων τὸν τοῖς λόγοις ὠφρυωμένον. Ἱκανὸς γὰρ ἦν ἐντρέπειν, αἰδέσιμός τε ὧν καὶ ἐκ τῶν ἔργων ἐνδοξότατος· ἅμα δὲ πρεσβύτερος τῇ ἡλικίᾳ τε καὶ ἱερωσύνῃ τυγχάνων. Ὅπως δὲ διέκειτο περὶ τὰς δεξιώσεις τῶν ξένων, ἐντεῦθεν ἰστέον· "Ἤδη τῆς Τεσσαρακοστῆς ἐνστάσης, ἧκέ τις πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐξ ὁδοιπορίας, ἐν αἷς εἰώθει μετὰ τῶν οἱκείων ἐπισυνάπτειν τὴν νηστείαν, καὶ εἰς ῥητὴν ἡμέραν γεύεσθαι, ἄσιτος τὰς ἐν μέσῳ διαμένων · ἰδὼν δὲ τὸν ξένον μάλα κεκμηκότα, ῎Αγε δή, πρὸς τὴν θυγατέρα ἔφη, ὅπως τοῦ ἀνδρὸς τοὺς πόδας νίψῃς, καὶ φαγεῖν αὐτῷ παράθες. Εἰπούσης δὲ τῆς παρθένου μήτε ἄρτον εἶναι, μήτε ἄλφιτα· περιττὴ γὰρ ἡ τούτων παρασκευή διὰ τὴν νηστείαν· εὐξάμενος πρότερον καὶ συγγνώμην αἰτήσας, ἐκέλευσε τῇ θυγατρὶ, κρέα ὕεια, ἅπερ ἔτυχε τῇ οἰκίᾳ τεταριχευμένα, ἐψεῖν. Ἐπεὶ δὲ ἥψητο, καθίσας ἅμα αὐτῷ τὸν ξένον, παρατεθέντων τῶν κρεῶν ἤσθιε, καὶ τὸν ἄνδρα παρεκάλει αὐτὸν μιμεῖσθαι. Παραιτούμενον δὲ, καὶ λέγοντα Χριστιανὸν ἑαυτὸν, Ταύτῃ μᾶλλον, ἔφη, οὐ παραιτητέον. Πάντα γὰρ καθαρὰ τοῖς καθαροῖς ὁ θεῖος ἀπεφήνατο Λόγος. Τάδε μὲν περὶ Σπυρίδωνος. ### English translation (Claude) 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. ### Scripture references - John 5:8: quotation, high confidence - Mark 2:9: quotation, medium confidence - Titus 1:15: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - “Take up your bed and walk” (John 5:8; Mark 2:9): the Gospel word is κράββατος, a colloquial term; Triphyllius substituted the more literary σκίμπους. “To the pure all things are pure” is Titus 1:15. The Lenten practice described is fasting for several days together (“superposition”), eating only on set days. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 1.11 (PG 67:885–889; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/1-11). ## Church History 1.12 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/1-7/#p-1-12 - Source: PG 67:889–895 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Sozomen describes the monastic philosophy, its virtues and its origins, which some trace to Elijah and John the Baptist, others to the community Philo describes by Lake Mareotis, and others to flight in persecution. ### Greek text Οὐχ ἥκιστα δὲ ἐπισημοτάτην τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν ἔδειξαν, καὶ τὸ δόγμα ἀνέσχον ταῖς ἀρεταῖς τοῦ βίον, : τότε μετιόντες τὴν μοναστικὴν πολιτείαν. Ὦφελιμώτατον γάρ τι χρῆμα εἰς ἀνθρώπους ἐλθοῦσα παρὰ Θεοῦ ἡ τοιαύτη φιλοσοφία, μαθημάτων μὲν πολλῶν διαλεκτικῆς τεχνολογίας ἀμελεῖ ὡς περιέργου, καὶ τὴν ἐν τοῖς ἀμείνοσι σχολὴν ἀφαιρουμένης, καὶ πρὸς τὸ βιοῦν ὀρθῶς οὐδὲν συλλαμθανομένης. Μόνη δὲ φυσιχῇ ἀπεριέργῳ φρονήσει παιδεύει τὰ παντελῶς ἀναιροῦντα, 7| μείονα ἐργαζόμενα, Ἔν οὐδεμιᾷ δὲ τάξει ἀγαθῶν τίθεται τὰ μεταξὺ κακίας καὶ ἀρετῆς ὄντα μόνοις δὲ τοῖς καλοῖς χαίρει. Καὶ τὸν ἀπεχόμενον τοῦ κακοῦ, μὴ δρῶντα δὲ τὸ ἀγαθὸν, φαῦλον νομίζει " οὐ γὰρ ἐπιδείχνυται ἀρετὴν, ἀλλ᾽ ἀσκεῖ, παρ᾽ οὐδὲν ποιουμένη τὴν πρὸς ἀνθρώπους δόξαν. ᾿Ανδρείως δὲ μάλα ἀνθισταμένη τοῖς πάθεσι τῆς ψυχῆς, οὔτε ταῖς ἀνάγχαις τῆς φύσεως ὑπείχει, οὔτε ταῖς τοῦ σώματος ὑποχαταχλίνεται ἀσθενείαις. Θείου δὲ νοῦ δύναμιν χεχτημένη, πρὸς τὸν Δημιουργὸν τῶν ὅλων ἀποθλέπει ἀεὶ, νύκτωρ μεθ᾽ ἡμέραν αὐτὸν σέβει, καὶ εὐχαῖς λιταῖς ἐξιλεοῦται. Καθαρότητι δὲ ψυχῆς καὶ πολιτείᾳ πράξεων ἀγαθῶν, εἰς τὸ θρησκεύειν εὐαγῶς ἐρχομένη, χαθαρμῶν περιῤῥαντηρίων, καὶ τῶν τοιούτων ὑπερορᾷ " μόνα γὰρ μιάσματα ἡγεῖται τὰ ἁμαρτήματα. Κρείττων δὲ οὖσα τῶνξξωθεν συμπιπτόντων, καὶ ὡς εἰπεῖν, ἁπάντων δεσπόζουσα, οὔτε ὑπὸ τῆς κατεχούσης τὸν βίον ἀταξίας ἣ ἀνάγκης, τῆς προαιρέσεως μεθίσταται" οὔτε ὑθριζομένη ἀνιᾶται, οὔτε κακῶς πάσχουσα ἀμύνεται " οὔτε νόσῳ ἣ ἐνδείᾳ ἐπιτηδείων ἐχπιεξομένη ἃ : ( χαταπίπτει. Μᾶλλον δὲ ἐπὶ τούτοις σεμνύνεται, τὸ οἱ ἃ πρᾶον, τὸ ὀλίγων δεῖσθαι δι' ὅλου τοῦ βίου ἀσχοῦσα, καὶ ὡς οἷόν τε ἀνθρώπου φύσει, ἐγγυτάτω Θεῷ γινομένη. Ὡς ἐν παρόδῳ δὲ τῇ παροὐτῇ βιοτῇ χεχρημένη, οὔτε περὶ κτῆσιν πραγμάτων ἀσχολουμένη ἄγχεται, οὔτε πέρα τῆς κατεπειγούσης χρείας, τῶν παρόντων προνοεῖ " ἀεὶ δὲ τὸ λιτὸν καὶ εὔζωνον τῆς ἐνταῦθα κατασκευῆς ἐπαινοῦσα, χαραδοκεῖ τὴν ἐντεῦθεν μαχαριότητα, καὶ συντέταται ἀεὶ πρὸς τὴν εὐδαίμονα λῆξιν. ᾿Αναπνέουσα δὲ διαπαντὸς τὴν εἰς τὸ Θεῖον εὐλάβειαν, αἰσχροῤῥημοσύνης ἀηδίαν ἀποστρέφεται, μηδὲ μέχρι φωνῆς ἀνἐχομένη τούτων, ὧν τὰς πράξεις τῆς οἰκείας ἀγωγῆς ἀφώρισεν. Ἐπὶ βραχύ τε συστέλλαυσα τὴν χρείαν τῆς φύσεως, καὶ τὸ σῶμα συναναγχάζουσα τῶν μετρίων δεῖσθαι σωφροσύνῃ μὲν, τῆς ἀκολασίας τεῖ " δικαιοσύνῃ δὲ, τὴν ἀδικίαν κολάζει, ἀληθείᾳ τὸ Ψεῦδος, καὶ εὐταξίᾳ, τῶν ἐπὶ πᾶσι μέτρων μεταλαγχάνει. Ἐν ὁμονοίᾳ τε καὶ κοινωνίᾳ τῇ πρὸς τοὺς πέλας, τὴν πολιτείαν καθίστησι " προνοητιχὴ φίλων ξένων ἐστὶ, τὰ οἰκεῖα, κοινὰ ποιεῖται τῶν δεομένων, καὶ τὰ πρόσφορα ἑκάστῳ συλλαμδάνεται᾽ μήτε χαίροντας ἐνοχλοῦσα, καὶ λυπουμένους παραμυθουμένη" καθόλου δὲ σπουδάζουσα, πρὸς τὸ ὄντως ἀγαθὸν ἐπιμέλειαν τείνουσα, λόγοις σώφροσι καὶ σοφοῖς ἐννοήμασι, καλλωπισμοῦ καὶ κακηγορίας ἀμοίρους, παιδεύει, καὶ ὥσπερ φαρμάκοις τισὶν ἰᾶται τοὺς ἀκούοντας· μετὰ τιμῆς καὶ αἰδοῦς τὰς διαλέξεις ποιουμένη, καὶ ἔριδος καὶ τωθασμοῦ καὶ ὀργῆς ἐλευθέρα. Λογικὴ γὰρ οὖσα, παραιτεῖται πᾶσαν ἀλόγιστον κίνησιν, καὶ καθάπαξ κρατεῖ τῶν παθῶν τοῦ σώματος καὶ τῆς ψυχῆς. Ταύτης δὲ τῆς ἀρίστης φιλοσοφίας ἤρξατο μὲν, ὡς τινες λέγουσιν, Ηλίας ὁ προφήτης, καὶ Ἰωάννης ὁ Βαπτιστής. Φίλων δὲ ὁ Πυθαγόριος ἐν τοῖς κατ᾿ αὐτὸν χρόνοις ἱστορεῖ, τοὺς πανταχόθεν Ἑβραίων ἀρίστους, εἴς τι χωρίον ὑπὲρ τὴν Μαρείαν λίμνην ἐπὶ γεωλόφου κείμενον φιλοσοφεῖν. Οἴκησιν δὲ αὐτῶν καὶ δίαιταν καὶ διαγωγήν τοιαύτην παρίστησιν, οἷαν καὶ ἡμεῖς νῦν παρὰ τοῖς Αἰγυπτίων μοναχοῖς πολιτευομένην ὁρῶμεν. Γράφει γὰρ ἀρχομένους αὐτοὺς τοῦ φιλοσοφεῖν, ἐξ- 26 ίστασθαι τῶν ὄντων τοῖς προσήκουσι · καὶ πράγμασι καὶ ἐπιμιξίαις ἀπαγορεύοντας, ἔξω τειχῶν ἐν μοναγρίαις καὶ ἐν κήποις διατρίβειν. Οἰκήματα δὲ αὐτοῖς εἶναι ἱερὰ, ἃ καλεῖται μοναστήρια · ἐν τούτοις δὲ μεμονωμένους σεμνὰ μυστήρια ἐπιτελεῖν· ἐπιμελῶς δὲ ψαλμοῖς καὶ ὕμνοις τὸ Θεῖον θεραπεύειν · καὶ πρὸ ἡλίου δύσεως μὴ ἀπογεύεσθαι τροφῆς· τοὺς δὲ διὰ τριῶν ἡμερῶν καὶ πλειόνων· καὶ λοιπὸν, ῥηταῖς ἡμέραις χαμευνεῖν, καὶ οἴνου πάμπαν καὶ ἐναίμων ἀπέχεσθαι· ὄψον δὲ αὐτοῖς εἶναι ἄρτον καὶ ἅλας καὶ ὕσσωπον, καὶ ποτὸν ὕδωρ. Γυναῖκας δὲ αὐτοῖς συνεῖναι γηραλέας παρθένους, δι' ἔρωτα φιλοσοφίας ἑκουσίῳ γνώμῃ τὴν ἀγαμίαν ἀσκούσας. Καὶ ὁ μὲν Φίλων ὧδέ πη ἱστορῶν, ἔοικεν ὑποφαίνειν τοὺς κατ᾿ αὐτὸν ἐξ Ἑβραίων Χριστιανίσαντας, ἔτι Ἰουδαϊκώτερον βιοῦντας, καὶ τὰ ἐκείνων ἔθη φυλάττοντας. Παρ᾿ ἄλλοις γὰρ οὐκ ἔστιν εὑρεῖν ταύτην τοῦ βίου τὴν διαγωγήν. "Οθεν συμβάλλω, ἐξ ἐκείνου παρ' Αἰγυπτίοις ἀκμάται ταυτηνὶ τὴν φιλοσοφίαν. "Αλλοι δέ φασιν αἰτίαν ταύτῃ παρασχεῖν τοὺς κατὰ καιρὸν τῇ θρησκείᾳ συμβάντας διωγμούς. Ἐπεὶ γὰρ φεύγον τες, ἐν ὄρεσι καὶ ἐρημίαις καὶ νάπαις τὰς διατριβάς ἐποιοῦντο, ἐθάδες τοῦ βίου τούτου ἐγένοντο. ### English translation (Claude) 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. ### Scripture references - 1 Kgs 17:1: allusion, low confidence - Matt 3:4: allusion, low confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Philo, Contempl. 21-39 (Philo of Alexandria (works)): allusion, high confidence - Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 2.17 (Church History): allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Philo's account is On the Contemplative Life (the Therapeutae); Sozomen follows Eusebius (Church History 2.17) in taking them for early Jewish Christians, a view now generally rejected. Calling Philo “the Pythagorean” follows an ancient label. Two places in the description are damaged in the scan: “what entirely destroys evil or lessens it” and “by self-control it [masters] licentiousness” give the evident sense of lost words. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 1.12 (PG 67:889–895; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/1-12). ## Church History 1.13 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/1-7/#p-1-13 - Source: PG 67:895–899 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Antony, the great monk, his disciplines, teaching and fame, and his disciple Paul the Simple, who left his adulterous wife and became stronger than his master against demons. ### Greek text ᾿Αλλ' εἴτε Αἰγύπτιοι, εἴτε ἄλλοι τινὲς ταύτης προῦστησαν ἐξ ἀρχῆς τῆς φιλοσοφίας, ἐκεῖνο γοῦν παρὰ πᾶσι συνωμολόγηται, ὡς εἰς ἄκρον ἀκριβείας καὶ τελειότητος ἤθεσι, καὶ γυμνασίοις τοῖς πρέπουσιν ἐξήσκησε ταυτηνὶ τοῦ βίου τὴν διαγωγὴν ᾿Αντώνιος ὁ μέγας μοναχός· ὃν τηνικαῦτα διαπρέποντα ἐν ταῖς κατ᾿ Αἴγυπτον ἐρημίαις, κατὰ κλέος τῆς τοῦ ἀνδρὸς ἀρετῆς φίλον ἐποιήσατο Κωνσταντίνος ὁ βασιλεὺς, καὶ γράμμασιν ἐτίμα, καὶ περὶ ὧν ἐδεῖτο, γράφειν προὐτρέπετο. Ἐγένετο δὲ οὗτος Αἰγύπτιος τῷ γένει, τῶν εὐπατριδῶν, ἀπὸ Κομᾶ. Κώμη δὲ αὕτη ὁμοῦ Ἡρακλείας τῆς παρ' Αἰγυπτίοις ἄκρασι. Βούπαις δὲ καταλειφθεὶς ὀρφανὸς, τοὺς μὲν πα τρῴους ἀγροὺς ἐδωρήσατο τοῖς κωμήταις· τὴν δὲ ἄλλην οὐσίαν διαθεὶς, τὸ τίμημα τοῖς πενομένοις διένειμε. Σπουδαίου γὰρ εἶναι φιλοσόφου κατεῖδεν, ( μὴ μόνον ἑαυτὸν γυμνῶσαι χρημάτων, ἀλλὰ καὶ εἰς δέον ταῦτα ἀναλῶσαι. Συγγενόμενος δὲ τοῖς κατ᾿ αὐ - τὸν σπουδαίοις, τὰς πάντων ἐζήλωσεν ἀρετάς · δοκιμάσας δὲ τὸν ἀγαθὸν βίον ἡδὺν ἔσεσθαι τῇ συνηθείᾳ καὶ χαλεπὸν ὄντα τὰ πρῶτα, τρόπους περινοῶν συντονωτέρας ἀσκήσεως, ὁσημέραι ἐπεδίδου τῇ ἐγκρατείᾳ· καὶ ὡς ἀεὶ ἀρχόμενος, ἀνενέου τὴν προθυμίαν· ταῖς μὲν ταλαιπωρίαις τοῦ σώματος τὰς ἡδονὰς κοι λάζων· θεοσόφῳ δὲ προαιρέσει τοῖς πάθεσι τῆς ψυχῆς ἀντιτασσόμενος. ὧν δὲ αὐτῷ τροφὴ μόνος ἄρτος, καὶ ἅλας, ὕδωρ δὲ ποτόν. Καὶ ἀρίστου καιρὸς, δυόμενος ἥλιος. Πολλάκις δὲ δύο καὶ πλείους ἡμέρας διέμεινεν ἄσιτος. Ἠγρύπνει δὲ, ἀεὶ μὲν, ὡς εἰπεῖν, ὁλοκλήρους νύκτας · καὶ εὐχόμενος, τῆς ἡμέρας ἐφήπτετο· εἰ δ᾽ ἄρα καὶ ὕπνου ἐγεύσατο, ἐπὶ ῥιπὸς ἀκαριαῖον ἐκάθευδε. Τὰ πολλὰ δὲ καὶ χαμαὶ κείμενος, αὐτὴν μόνην τὴν γῆν στρωμνὴν ἐποιεῖτο. Ἐλαίου τε τὴν ἀλοιφὴν, καὶ λουτρῶν καὶ παραπλησίων τὴν χρῆσιν παρῃτεῖτο, ὡς ὑγρότητι τὸ σύντονον τοῦ σώματος εἰς τὸ χαῦνον μεταβάλλουσαν. Φασὶ δὲ μήτε γυμνὸν ἑαυτὸν θεασάμενον πώποτε. Γράμματα δὲ οὐδὲ ἠπίστατο, οὐδὲ ἐθαύμαζεν· ἀλλὰ νοῦν ἀγαθὸν ὡς πρεσβύτερον τῶν γραμμάτων, καὶ αὐτὸν τούτων εὑρετὴν ἐπῄνει. Ἐγένετο δὲ πρᾶος ταμάλιστα, καὶ φιλανθρωπότατος, καὶ ἐχέφρων, καὶ ἀνδρεῖος· χαρίεις τε τοῖς ἐντυγχάνουσι, καὶ ἄλυπος οἷς διελέγετο, εἰ καὶ ἐριστικῶς τὰς διαλέξεις ἐποιοῦντο. Σοφῶς γάρ πως τῷ οἰκείῳ ἤθει, καὶ ἐπιστήμῃ τινὶ φιλονεικίαν αὐξομένην κατέπαυε, καὶ πρὸς μέτρον μετετίθει · καὶ τῶν ὁμιλούντων αὐτῷ τὸν τόνον ἐκίρνα, καὶ τοὺς τρόπους ἐρύθμιζε. Διὰ τοσούτων δὲ ἀρετῶν ἔμπλεως θείας προγνώσεως γεγονώς, οὐχ ἡγεῖτο ἀρετὴν, προειδέναι τὸ μέλλον· καὶ κατὰ τοῦτο μὴ πονεῖν εἰκῆ περὶ τοῦτο συνεβούλευεν· οὔτε τὸν ἀγνοοῦντα τὰ ἐσόμενα εὐθύνας ὑφέξειν, οὔτε τὸν εἰδότα παρὰ τοῦτο ζηλωτὸν ἔσεσθαι ἀποφαινόμενος. Τὸ γὰρ ἀληθῶς μακάριον ὑπάρχειν ἐν τῷ σέβειν τὸν Θεὸν εἶναι, καὶ τοὺς νόμους αὐτοῦ φυλάττειν. Εἰ δὲ καὶ τούτου, φησὶ, μέλει τῳ, καθαρευέτω τὴν ψυχήν· τουτὶ γὰρ δύνασθαι διορατικὴν αὐτὴν ποιεῖν, καὶ τῶν ἐσομένων ἐπιστήμονα, τοῦ Θεοῦ τὸ μέλλον προαναφαίνοντος. ᾿Αργεῖν δὲ οὔτε αὐτὸς ἡνείχετο· καὶ τὸν μέλλοντα καλῶς βιοῦν, ἐργάζεσθαι παρεκελεύετο, καὶ καθ' ἑαυτὸν ἀνακρίνειν, καὶ λόγον τιθέναι ὧν ἐποίησε νύκτωρ καὶ καθ' ἡμέραν· εἰ δὲ τι μὴ δέον πέπραχεν, ἀναγράφεσθαι τοῦτο, ἵνα τοῦ λοιποῦ φείδηται τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων, ἑαυτὸν αἰδούμενος εἰ πολλὰ εὔροι γεγραμμένα · ἄτε δεδιώς, μὴ φωραθείσης αὐτῷ τῆς γραφῆς, κατάδηλος ἄλλοις γένηται μοχθηρὸς ὧν. Οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ περὶ τὰς προστασίας τῶν ἀδικουμένων, εἰ καί τις ἄλλος, ὑπερφυῶς σπουδαιότατος ἐγένετο· καὶ τούτων ἕνεκα, πολλάκις εἰς τὰς πόλεις ἐφοίτα. Παροδυρόμενοι γὰρ αὐτῷ πολλοὶ, ἐβιάζοντο πρεσβεύειν ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν πρὸς τοὺς ἄρχοντας καὶ τοὺς ἐν τέλει · πολλοῦ γὰρ ἂν ἕκαστος ἐτιμήσατο ἰδεῖν αὐτὸν, καὶ λαλοῦντος ἀκοῦσαι, καὶ κελεύοντι πειθαρχῆσαι, ἐπεὶ καὶ τηλικοῦτος ὧν, ἐσπούδαζεν ἀγνοεῖσθαι καὶ ἐν ταῖς ἐρημίαις λανθάνειν. Εἰ δὲ καὶ βιασθείς ποτε εἰς πόλιν ἦλθεν ἐπικουρῆσαι δεομένοις, διαθεὶς ὅτου χάριν παρεγένετο, αὐτίκα ἐπὶ τὴν ἔρημον ἐπανῄει. Τοὺς μὲν γὰρ ἐχθύας ἔλεγε τὴν ὑγρὰν οὐσίαν τρέφειν• μοναχοῖς δὲ κόσμον φέρειν τὴν ἔρημον· ἐπίσης τε τοὺς μὲν ξηρᾶς ἀπτομένους τὸ ζῇν ἀπολιμπάνειν, τοὺς δὲ τὴν μοναστικὴν σεμνότητα ἀπολλύειν τοῖ; ἄστεσι προσιόντας. Πειθίνιον δὲ καὶ κεχαρισμένον τοῖς ὁρῶσιν ἑαυτὸν παρέχων, ἐπεμελεῖτο μήτε φύσιν ὑπερορῶσαν ἔχειν, μήτε δοκεῖν εἶναι τοῦτο. Ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν μικρὰ ἄττα τῶν ᾿Αντωνίου πολιτευμάτων εἰπεῖν προήχθην, ἵνα ὑποδείγμασι χρώμενοι τοῖς εἰρημένοις, ἀναλογισώμεθα τοῦ ἀνδρὸς τὴν φιλοσοφίαν. Πλείστους δὲ καὶ εὐδοκιμωτάτους μαθητὰς ἔσχεν · ὧν οἱ μὲν ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ καὶ Λιβύῃ· οἱ δὲ ἐν Παλαιστίνῃ, καὶ Συρίᾳ καὶ ᾿Αραβίᾳ διέπρεψαν. Καὶ ἕκαστος οὐχ ἧττον ἢ ὁ διδάσκαλος, παρ' οἷς διέτριβε, διεβίω τε καὶ ἐπολιτεύσατο, καὶ πολλοὺς ἐπαίδευσε, καὶ εἰς τὴν ὁμοίαν ἀρετὴν καὶ φιλοσοφίαν ἤγαγεν. Ὥστε ἔργον εἶναι, κατὰ πόλεις καὶ χώρας περιιόντα, ἐπιμελῶς ζητεῖν τοὺς ᾿Αντωνίου ἑταίρους, ἢ τοὺς τούτων διαδόχους. Πῶς γὰρ καὶ ῥᾳδία γένοιτο τούτων ἡ εὔρεσις, οἷς ἐν τῷ βίῳ λανθάνειν ἐσπουδάζετο ἐπιμελέστερον, ἢ πολλοὶ τῶν νῦν ἀνθρώπων ὑπὸ φιλοτιμίας τυφόμενοι, πομπεύουσιν ἑαυτοὺς καὶ καταδήλους ποιοῦσιν; Εγέ νοντό γε μὴν εὐδοκιμώτατοι ὧν παρειλήφαμεν ᾿Αντωνίου μαθητῶν, ἄλλοι τε πολλοὶ, οὓς κατὰ τὸν οἰκεῖον καιρὸν ἀναγράψομεν, καὶ Παῦλος ὁ ἐπίκλην ᾿Απλοῦς. ὧν φασιν ἄγροικον ὄντα, καλῇ τὸ εἶδος γυναικὶ συνοικῆσαι· ἐπ᾿ αὐτοφώρῳ δὲ αὐτὴν καταλαβόντα μοιχευομένην, ἠρέμα ἐπιγελάσαι, καὶ ὄρκον προσθεῖναι ὡς οὐκ ἔτι αὐτῇ συνοικήσει. Ἔχε δὲ αὐτὴν, πρὸς τὸν μοιχὸν εἰπὼν, εὐθὺς ἐπὶ τὴν ἐρημίαν ἦλθε πρὸς ᾿Αντώνιον. Πραότατον δὲ καὶ καρτερικὸν εἰς ἄγαν λέγεται τόνδε γενέσθαι τὸν ἄνδρα, ἀμέλει τοι καὶ γηραλέῳ ὄντι καὶ μοναστικῆς τληπαθείας ἀήθει, ἔτι γὰρ νέηλυς ἦν, παντοδαπαῖς πείραις προσβαλὼν ᾿Αντώνιος, ἐν οὐδενὶ ἀγεννῆ ἐφώρασε. Τελείαν δὲ αὐτῷ φιλοσοφίαν ἐπιμαρτυρήσας, καὶ ἑαυτὸν διάγειν ἐπέτρεπεν, ὡς μηδὲν διδασκάλου δεόμενον. Ἐπεψηφί ζετο δὲ καὶ ὁ Θεὸς τῇ Ἀντωνίου μαρτυρίᾳ, καὶ τοῖς ἔργοις ἐπεδείκνυε τὸν ἄνδρα ἐνδοξότατον κρείττονα δὲ καὶ αὐτοῦ τοῦ διδασκάλου εἰς τὸ κακοῦν καὶ ἀπελαύνειν τοὺς δαίμονας. ### English translation (Claude) 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. ### Extrabiblical texts - Athanasius, V. Ant. (Life of Antony): allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Sozomen draws largely on Athanasius's Life of Antony. Paul the Simple's separation from his wife after catching her in adultery is reported without comment by Sozomen; he simply renounces the marriage by oath and goes to the desert. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 1.13 (PG 67:895–899; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/1-13). ## Church History 1.14 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/1-14/#p-1-14 - Source: PG 67:899–903 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Amun of Nitria lives in virginity with his wife for eighteen years before founding the monasteries of Nitria; his wonders and Antony's vision of his death are told, and the Novatian monk Eutychian frees a prisoner and wins Constantine's favour. ### Greek text Περὶ δὲ τοῦτον τὸν χρόνον, καὶ Ἀμοῦν ὁ Αἰγύπτιος ἐφιλοσόφει. Ὃν δὴ λόγος, βιασαμένων τῶν οἰκείων γυναῖκα ἀγαγέσθαι· μὴ πειραθῆναι δὲ αὐτῆς, ᾗ θέμις ἀνδράσιν. Ὡς γὰρ ἀρχὴν εἶχεν αὐτοῖς ὁ γάμος, καὶ νύμφην οὖσαν οἷα νυμφίος εἰς τὸν θάλαμον λαβὼν, ἐμονώθη· Ὁ μὲν δὴ γάμος ἡμῖν οὗτος, ἔφη, ὦ γύναι, μέχρι τούτων τετέλεσται. Ἡλίκον δὲ ἀγαθόν ἐστι δυνηθῆναι παρθένον διαμεῖναι, ἐκ τῶν ἱερῶν Γραφῶν ὑφηγεῖτο, καὶ ἐπειρᾶτο καθ' ἑαυτὸν οἰκεῖν. ἐπειδὴ τοὺς περὶ παρθενιας λόγους ἐπένει γυνὴ, χωρισθῆναι δὲ αὑτοῦ χαλεπῶς ἔφερεν, καθεύδων ἐπὶ δέκα καὶ ὀκτὼ ἔτεσι συνῆν αὐτῇ, μηδὲ οὕτω μοναχικῆς ἀσκήσεως ἀμελῶν. Ἐν τοσούτῳ δὲ χρόνω ζηλώσασα τὴν τοῦ ἀνδρὸς ἀρετὴν ἡ γυνὴ, ἐλογίσατο μὴ δίκαιον εἶναι, τηλιχοῦτον ὄντα οἴκοι κρύπτεσθαι δι᾽ αὐτὴν, χρῆναι ἑκάτερον χεχωρισμένως οἰχοῦντα φιλοσοφεῖν, Καὶ περὶ τούτου ἐδεήθη τοῦ ἀνδρός. Ὃ δὲ, χάριν ὁμολογήσας τῷ Θεῷ ὑπὲρ τῶν βεδουλευμένων τῇ γυναικὶ, Σὺ μὲν δὴ, ἔφη, τοῦτὸν τὸν οἶχον ἔχε" ἐγὼ δὲ ἕτερον ἐμαυτῷ ποιήσω. Καὶ πρὸς μεσημθδρίαν τῆς Μαρείας λίμνης καταλαθὼν ἔρημον τόπον, ἀμφὶ τὴν Σχήτην καὶ τὸ χαλούμενον τῆς Νητρίας ὄρος, δύο καὶ εἴκοσι ἔτη ἐνθάδε ἐφιλοσόφησε, δὶς ἐχάστου ἔτους τὴν γυναῖκα θεώμενος. Τούτῳ δὲ τῷ θεσπεσίῳ ἀρχηγῷ γενομένῳ τῶν τῇδε μοναστηρίων, πολλοὶ καὶ ἀξιόλογοι ἐγένοντο μαθηταὶ, ὡς αἱ διαδοχαὶ ἐπιδείξουσι. Πολλὰ δὲ θεσπέσια ἐπ᾽ αὐτῷ συμβέβηκεν, ἃ μάλιστα τοῖς Αἴγυπτον μοναχοῖς ἠχρίδωται, περὶ πολλοῦ ποιουμένοις, διαδοχῇ παραδόσεως ἀγράφου ἐπιμελῶς ἀπομνημονεύειν τὰς τῶν παλαιοτέρων ἀσκητῶν ἀρετάς. Ἐμοὶ δὲ τῶν εἷς ἡμᾶς ἐλθόντων ἐκεῖνα ῥητέον. Ἐδέησεν αὐτῷ καὶ Θεοδώρῳ τῷ αὐτοῦ μαθητῇ ἀπιοῦσί που, διαβῆναι διώρυχα, ἣν Αύχον καλοῦσιν. Ἵνα δὲ μὴ γυμνοὺς ἀλλήλους θεάσωνται, ἐκέλευσεν ᾿Αμοῦν ὑπἀναχωρῆσαι Θεόδωρον. Ὡς δὲ ἑαυτὸν ἡἠσχύνετο γυμνὸν θεάσασθαι, ἐξαπίνης μετάρσιος ἀρθεὶς ὑπὸ θείας δυνάμεως, ἐπὶ τὴν ἀντικρὺ ὄχθην μετετέθη. Διαδὰς δὲ τὸ ὕδωρ Θεόδωρος, καὶ θεασάμενος αὐτοῦ τὴν ἐσθῆτα καὶ τοὺς πόδας ἀδρόχους, ἐλιπάρει τὸν πρεσβύτην φράζειν αὐτῷ τὴν αἰτίαν. Ἐπεὶ δὲ ὁ μὲν παρῃτεῖτο λέγειν" ὁ δὲ μὴ ἄλλως ἀνίσχειν ἰσχυρίζετο, εἰ μὴ μάθη, συνθεμένου Θεοδώρου, ζῶντος αὐτοῦ μηδενὶ λέξειν, ὡμολόγησε τὸ Παραπλήσιον δὲ τῷ εἰρημένῳ εἰς θαῦμα καὶ τοῦτο" "Αδιχοι πατέρὲς ὑπὸ χυνὸς λυσσῶντος ἴδιον παῖδα δηχθέντα, ὅσον οὕπω ἀπολέσθαι προσδοκώμενον, ἤγαγον ὡς αὐτόν" καὶ ὀλοφυρόμενοι ἐδέοντο αὐτοῦ θεραπεῦσαι τὸν υἱόν. Ὃ δὲ πρὸς αὑτούς ᾿Αλλ᾽ οὐδὲν, ἔφη, δεῖται τῆς παρ᾽ ἐμοῦ θεραπείας " ὑμεῖς δὲ εἰ βούλεσθε τὸν βοῦν ὃν χεχλόφατε ἀποδοῦναι τοῖς δεσπόταις, αὐτίκα ἰαθήσεται. Ὃ καὶ γὰρ ὁ βοῦς ἀπεδόθη, τὸ πάθης τὸν παῖδα ἀπέλιπεν. '᾿Ηνίχα δὲ ὁ ᾿Αμοῦς οὗτος ἐτελεύτα, λέγεται τὸν ᾿Αντώνιον θεάσασθαι τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τὸν οὐρανὸν ἀναγομένην, θείων Δυνάμεων σὺν ψαλμῳδίαις ἡγουμένων. Πυνθανομένοις δὲ τοῖς περὶ αὑτὸν τοῦ θαύματος τὴν αἰτίαν, οὐχ ἀπεχρύψατο᾽ δῆλος γὰρ ἣν σπουδαίως τὸν ἀέρα χατανοῶν, ἐχπεπληγμένος πρὸς τὴν ὄψιν τοῦ παραδόξου θαύματος. Ὡς δὲ μετὰ ταῦτα παραγενόμενοί τινες ἀπὸ τῆς Σκήτεως, ἀνήγγειλαν τὴν ὥραν τῆ; ᾿Αμοῦς τελευτῆς, τἀληθὲς ἐδείχθη τῆς ᾿Αντω: νίου προῤῥήσεως. Καὶ ἀμφοτέρους ἐμαχάριζον, τὸν μὲν, ἐπὶ ὁμολογουμένοις ἀγαθοῖς μεταστάντα τῆς ἐνταῦθα βιοτῆς" τὸν δὲ, τοσαύτης ἀξιωθέντα θέας, ἣν ὁ Θεὸς αὐτῷ ἀπὸ τοσούτου ἐδήλωσε. Πολλῶν γὰρ ἡμερῶν ὁδός ἐστι, τὸ μέσον τῶν τόπων ἐν οἷς ἑκάτερος διέτριβεν. Καὶ τὰ μὲν ἱστόρηται παρὰ τῶν "-— πὰ - αὶ τὰ δὲ τῆς ἡγεμονίας εὐδοκίμως ἐπυθόμην φιλοσοφῆσαι καὶ Εὐτυχιανόν· ὃς ἐν Βιθυνίᾳ περὶ τὸν Ολυμπον τὰς διατριβὰς εἶχεν. Αἵρεσιν δὲ τὴν Ναυατιανῶν πρεσβεύων, θείας χάριτος μετεῖχε, θεραπείαις παθῶν καὶ πράξεσι παραδόξοις, ὡς καὶ αὐτῷ Κωνσταντίνῳ διὰ τὴν ἀρετὴν τοῦ βίου συνήθη καὶ φίλον εἶναι. Κατ' ἐκεῖνο γοῦν καιροῦ, δεσμώτου τινὸς ὄντος τῶν δορυφόρων· ὑποπτευθεὶς γὰρ τυραννικὰ φρονεῖν ἔφυγε, καὶ περὶ τὸν Ὄλυμπον ἀναζητηθεὶς, συνελήφθη· δεηθέντων τῶν ἐπιτηδείων Εὐτυχιανοῦ πρε σβεύειν ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα, πρότερον δὲ προνοεῖν, ὥστε τῶν δεσμῶν ἀφεθῆναι τὸν ἄνθρωπον, μὴ χαλεπῶς δεδεμένος φθάσῃ ἀπολούμενος· λέγεται ὡς τοὺς δεσμοφύλακας πέμψας, ἐδεήθη τῶν δεσμῶν ᾿Αντωνίῳ καὶ ᾿Αμοῦν συγγενομένων. Ἐπὶ ταύτης : αὐτὸν ἀνεῖναι. Οἱ δὲ ὡς οὐκ ἐπείθοντο, εἰς τὸ δεσμωτήριον ἐλθεῖν· αὐτομάτως δὲ κεκλεισμένας ἀναπετασθῆναι τὰς θύρας, καὶ τοῦ δεσμώτου τὰ δεσμὰ διαβῥυῆναι. Μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα καὶ πρὸς βασιλέα παραγενέσθαι ἐν Βυζαντίῳ διατρίβοντα τότε, ἑτοίμως τε τὴν χάριν λαβεῖν. Οὐ γὰρ εἴωθε Κωνσταντίνος δυσχε ραίνειν ἐπὶ ταῖς αὐτοῦ αἰτήσεσι. Σφόδρα γὰρ ἐν πλείστῃ τιμῇ τὸν ἄνδρα ἦγε. Τάδε μὲν ἡμῖν ὡς ἐν βραχεῖ δεδηλώσθω, περὶ τῶν τότε λαμπρῶς ἐν μοναχοῖς φιλοσοφησάντων. Ὁ δὲ ἀκριβείας τῆς περὶ τούτων μέλει, ζητῶν ἂν εὔροι τῶν πλειόνων τοὺς βίους ἀναγράπτους. ### English translation (Claude) About this time Amun the Egyptian also practised philosophy. It is said that his family compelled him to marry, but that he did not have relations with his wife in the way lawful for husbands. When their marriage began and, as a bridegroom, he had taken her, his bride, into the chamber and was alone with her, he said: “Wife, this marriage of ours has been carried thus far, and no further.” He explained to her from the sacred Scriptures what a great good it is to be able to remain a virgin, and tried to live on his own. Although his wife approved of what he said about virginity, she took it hard to be separated from him; so for eighteen years he lived with her, sleeping apart, not neglecting monastic discipline even so. In that time his wife came to emulate her husband's virtue and reasoned that it was not right for so great a man to be hidden at home because of her, but that each of them should live apart and practise philosophy; and she asked her husband to do this. He gave thanks to God for what his wife had resolved and said: “You keep this house; I shall make another for myself.” He took a deserted place south of Lake Mareotis, near Scetis and what is called the mountain of Nitria, and practised philosophy there for twenty-two years, seeing his wife twice each year. This godly man became the founder of the monasteries there, and he had many notable disciples, as the successions will show. Many wonders befell him, which have been most carefully recorded by the monks of Egypt, who take great pains to remember accurately, by an unwritten tradition handed down, the virtues of the older ascetics. I shall tell those that have come to us. He and his disciple Theodore once had to cross a canal which they call the Lycus, as they were going somewhere. So that they should not see each other naked, Amun told Theodore to withdraw. And as he was ashamed to see even himself naked, he was suddenly lifted up by divine power and carried across to the opposite bank. Theodore crossed the water, and seeing that Amun's clothes and feet were not wet, he begged the old man to tell him the reason. Amun refused to tell; but Theodore insisted that he would not leave off unless he learned, and when Theodore had agreed to tell no one while Amun lived, he confessed the [wonder]. This too is like it as a marvel. Some parents who were wrongdoers brought to him their own child, who had been bitten by a mad dog and was expected to die at any moment, and with laments begged him to heal their son. He said to them: “He has no need of healing from me; but if you are willing to give back the ox you have stolen to its owners, he will be healed at once.” And when the ox was returned, the affliction left the child. When this Amun died, Antony is said to have seen his soul being carried up to heaven, with divine Powers leading it with psalm-singing. When those about him asked the reason of his wonder, he did not hide it; for he was plainly gazing intently into the air, astonished at the sight of the wonderful marvel. When afterward some people came from Scetis and reported the hour of Amun's death, the truth of Antony's prediction was shown. And they called both blessed: the one for departing from life here with acknowledged goods, the other for being counted worthy of so great a sight, which God showed him from so far away; for the distance between the places where each of them lived is a journey of many days. These things are related by those who associated with Antony and Amun. In this reign I learned that Eutychian too practised philosophy with distinction; he lived in Bithynia near Olympus. Though he belonged to the sect of the Novatians, he shared in divine grace through healings of diseases and wonderful deeds, so that because of the virtue of his life he was an intimate and friend of Constantine himself. At that time, for instance, one of the bodyguards was in prison; he had fled because he was suspected of plotting to seize power, and had been sought out near Olympus and arrested. His friends begged Eutychian to plead for him with the emperor, and first to see that the man was released from his chains, lest, bound so harshly, he should die before anything could be done. It is said that Eutychian sent to the jailers and asked them to release him; when they did not comply, he went to the prison, and the doors, which were locked, opened of themselves, and the prisoner's chains fell away. After this he went to the emperor, who was then staying at Byzantium, and readily obtained the favour; for Constantine was not accustomed to be displeased at his requests, since he held the man in very great honour. Let this be our brief account of those who then practised philosophy brilliantly among the monks. Anyone who cares about exactness on these matters would find, if he searched, that the lives of most of them have been written down. ### Scripture references - 1 Cor 7:5: allusion, low confidence ### Translation notes - In the scan several lines of this chapter are damaged or displaced. The words “in this reign” and “by those who associated with Antony and Amun” were printed out of place, inside the story of Eutychian; the translation restores them to the places the sense requires. After “he confessed” a word is lost (“[the wonder]” supplies the sense). The Novatians were a rigorist church separated from the catholic church since the 250s; Sozomen notes Eutychian's sect without censure. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 1.14 (PG 67:899–903; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/1-14). ## Church History 1.15 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/1-14/#p-1-15 - Source: PG 67:903–907 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The Arian controversy begins: Arius's earlier career, his teaching that the Son was made from nothing, his excommunication by Alexander, and the support he wins from Eusebius of Nicomedia and bishops in Bithynia and Palestine. ### Greek text ᾿Ἀλλὰ γὰρ καὶ καίπερ ὧδε καὶ διὰ πάντων τῶν ἄλλων τῆς θρησκείας εὐδοκιμούσης, ἐριστικαί τινες διαλέξεις ἐτάραττον τὰς Ἐκκλησίας, ἐπὶ προφάσει δῆθεν εὐσεβείας, καὶ τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ τελείας εὑρέσεως, εἰς ζήτησιν ἄγουσαι τὰ πρότερον ἀνεξέταστα. Ἦρξε δὲ τούτων τῶν λόγων "Αρειος, πρεσβύτερος τῆς κατ᾿ Αἴγυπτον ᾿Αλεξανδρείας. ὡς ἐξ ἀρχῆς σπουδαίος εἶναι περὶ τὸ δόγμα δόξας, νεωτερίζοντι Μελιτίῳ συνέπραττε· καταλιπὼν δὲ τοῦτον, ἐχειροτονήθη διάκονος παρὰ Πέτρου τοῦ ᾿Αλεξανδρέων ἐπισκόπου - καὶ πάλιν αὖ παρ᾿ αὐτοῦ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας ἐξεβλήθη, καθότι Πέτρου τοὺς Μελιτίου σπουδαστὰς ἀποκηρύξαντος, καὶ τὸ αὐτῶν βάπτισμα μὴ προσιεμένου, τοῖς γινομένοις ἐπέσκηπτε, καὶ ἠρεμεῖν οὐκ ἠνείχετο. Ἐπεὶ δὲ Πέτρος ἐμαρτύρησε, συγγνώμην αἰτήσας ᾿Αχιλλᾶν, ἐπετράπη διακονεῖν · καὶ πρεσβυτερίου ἠξιώθη. Μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα καὶ ᾿Αλέξανδρος ἐν τιμῇ εἶχεν αὐτόν. Διαλεκτικώτατος δὲ γενόμενος, ἐλέγετο γὰρ μηδὲ τῶν τοιούτων ἀμοιρεῖν μαθημάτων, εἰς ἀτόπους ἐξεκυλίσθη λόγους· ὡς τοῦτο πρότερον παρ' ἑτέρου μὴ εἰρημένον, τολμῆσαι ἐν ἐκκλησίᾳ ἀποφήνασθαι, τὸν Υἱὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων γεγενῆσθαι, καὶ εἶναί ποτε ὅτε οὐκ ἦν, καὶ αὐτεξουσιότητι κακίας καὶ ἀρετῆς δηκτικὸν ὑπάρχειν, καὶ κτίσμα καὶ ποίημα, καὶ ἄλλα πολλὰ ἃ λέγειν εἰκὸς τὸν τούτοις συνιστάμενον, εἰς διαλέξεις προϊόντα καὶ τὰς κατὰ μέρος ζητήσεις. Λαβόμενοι δέ τινες τῶν εἰρημένων, ἐμέμφοντο ᾿Αλέξανδρον, ὡς οὐ δέον ἀνεχόμενον τῶν κατὰ τοῦ δόγματος νεωτερισμῶν. Ὁ δὲ, ὑπολαβὼν ἄμεινον εἶναι περὶ τῶν ἀμφιβόλων ἑκατέρῳ μέρει προθεῖναι λόγον, ὥστε μὴ δόξαι ἀνάγκῃ, ἀλλὰ πειθοῖ τῆς ἔριδος αὐτοὺς παύειν, κριτὴν καθίσας σὺν τοῖς ἀπὸ τοῦ κλήρου, εἰς ἅμιλλαν ἀμφοτέρους ἡγαγεν. Ὡς δὲ συμβαίνειν φιλεῖ περὶ τὰς ἔριδας τῶν λόγων, ἑκάτερος ἐπειρᾶτο νικᾶν. Συνίσταται δὲ Ἄρειος μὲν τοῖς παρ᾿ αὐτοῦ εἰρημένοις · οἱ δὲ, ὡς ὁμοούσιος καὶ συναἰδιός ἐστιν ὁ Υἱὸς τῷ Πατρί. Συνεδρίου δὲ πάλιν γενομένου, τοσαύτας διαλέξεις ἀνακινήσαντες, οὐ συνέβησαν ἀλλήλοις. Αμφηρίστου δὲ τῆς ζητήσεως ἔτι δοκούσης εἶναι, πέπονθέ τι καὶ ᾿Αλέξανδρος καπρῶτα, πῆ μὲν τούτους, πῆ δὲ ἐκείνους ἐπαινῶν. Τελευτῶν δὲ, τοῖς ὁμοούσιον καὶ συναΐδιον εἶναι τὸν Υἱὸν ἀποφαινομένοις ἔθετο· καὶ τὸν Ἄρειον ὁμοίως φρονεῖν ἐκέλευσε, τῶν ἐναντίων λόγων ἀφέμενον, Ἐπεὶ δὲ οὐκ ἔπεισεν, ἤδη δὲ πολλοὶ τῶν ἀμφ᾿ αὐτὸν, τῶν ἐπισκόπων καὶ τοῦ κλήρου, λέγειν ὀρθῶς τὸν Ἄρειον ἐνόμιζον, ἀπεκήρυξε τῆς Ἐκκλησίας αὐτὸν τε καὶ τοὺς συμπράττοντας αὐτῷ περὶ τὸ δόγμα κληρικούς. Συνέπραττον δὲ αὐτῷ τῆς ᾿Αλεξανδρέων παροικίας, πρεσβύτεροι μὲν, ᾿Αειθαλᾶς καὶ ᾿Αχιλλᾶς, καὶ Καρπώνης τε καὶ Σαρμάτης καὶ ῎Αρειος · διάκονοι δὲ, Εὐζώϊος καὶ Μακάριος Ιούλιος καὶ Μηνᾶς καὶ Ἑλλάδιος. Ἐντεῦθεν δὲ καὶ τοῦ λαοῦ οὐκ ὀλίγη μοῖρα μετέθεντο πρὸς αὐτοὺς, οἱ μὲν ὁμοίως χρῆναι περὶ Θεοῦ νομίζειν ἡγούμενοι· οἱ δὲ, τοῦτο δὴ τὸ τοῖς πολλοῖς συμβαῖνον, ὡς ἡδικημένους ἐλεοῦν- 1 τες, καὶ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας ἀκρίτως ἐκβεβλημένους. Ἐπεὶ δὲ κατὰ ᾿Αλεξάνδρειαν ὧδε εἶχεν, λογισάμενοι οἱ ἀμφὶ τὸν ᾿Αρειον ἀναγκαῖον εἶναι τὴν εὔνοιαν προφθάσαι τῶν κατὰ πόλιν ἐπισκόπων, πρεσβεύοντα, πρὸς αὐτούς. Καὶ γράψαντες ὡς ἐπίστευον, ἐζήτουν εἰ μὲν ὀρθῶς ἔχει τάδε νομίζειν περὶ Θεοῦ, δηλῶσαι ᾿Αλεξάνδρῳ μὴ χαλεπαίνειν αὐτοῖς· εἰ δὲ μὴ, διδάσκεσθαι ὂν χρὴ τρόπον δοξάζειν. Οὐ μετρίως δὲ ὧνησεν αὐτοὺς τοῦτο τὸ σπουδαζόμενον. Διασπαρέντος γὰρ σχεδὸν εἰς πάντας τοῦ τοιούτου δόγματος, κοινῇ τοῖς πανταχῆ ἐπισκόποις ἡ αὐτὴ γέγονε ζήτησις. Καὶ οἱ μὲν ἔγραφον πρὸς ᾿Αλέξανδρον, μὴ προσἱεσθαι τοὺς περὶ Ἄρειον, εἰ μὴ τὴν ἑαυτῶν πίστιν ἀποκηρύξουσιν · οἱ δὲ, μὴ τοῦτο ποιεῖν ἐδέοντο. Ἰδὼν οὖν ᾿Αλέξανδρος πλείστους ἀγαθοῦ βίου προσχήματι σεμνοὺς, καὶ πιθανότητι λόγου δεινοὺς, συλλαμβανομένους τοῖς ἀμφὶ τὸν Ἄρειον, καὶ μάλιστα Εὐσέβιον τὸν τότε προεστῶτα τῆς Νικομηδέων ἐκκλησίας, ἄνδρα ἐλλόγιμον καὶ ἐν τοῖς βασιλείοις τετιμημένον, ἔγραψε τοῖς πανταχῆ ἐπισκόποις, μὴ κοινωνεῖν αὐτοῖς. Ἐκ τούτου δὲ ἔτι μᾶλλον ἐπὶ ἑκάτεμα ἐξεκαίετο ἡ σπουδή, καὶ μείζων οἷα φιλεῖ ἀνεκινήθη ἔρις. Ἐπεὶ γὰρ πολλάκις δεηθέντες ᾿Αλεξάνδρου οἱ ἀμφὶ τὸν Εὐσέβιον οὐκ ἔπεισαν ὡς ὑβρισμένοι έχαλέπαινον, καὶ προθυμότεροι ἐγένοντο κρατῦναι τὸ ᾿Αρείου δόγμα. Καὶ σύνοδον ἐν Βιθυνίᾳ συγκροτήσαντες, γράφουσι τοῖς πανταχῆ ἐπισκόποις, ὡς ὀρθῶς δοξάζουσι κοινωνῆσαι τοῖς ἀμφὶ τὸν ῎Αρειον, παρασκευάσαι δὲ καὶ ᾿Αλέξανδρον κοινωνεῖν αὐτοῖς. Ὡς δὲ οὐδὲν ἦττον παρὰ γνώμην αὐτοῖς ἐχώρει ἡ σπου δὴ, ᾿Αλεξάνδρου μὴ εἴκοντος, πρεσβεύεται ὁ "Αρειος πρὸς Παυλῖνον τὸν Τύρου ἐπίσκοπον, καὶ Εὐσέβιον τὸν Παμφίλου, ἐπιτροπεύοντα τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν τῆς ἐν Παλαιστίνῃ Καισαρείας, καὶ Πατρόφιλον τὸν Σκυ- θοπόλεως · καὶ ἐξαιτεῖ ἅμα τοῖς ἀμφ᾿ αὐτὸν ἐπιτραπῆναι ἐκκλησιάζειν τὸν μετ᾿ αὐτῶν λαὸν, ὡς πρότερον τὴν τῶν πρεσβυτέρων τάξιν ἐπέχοντας. Εἶναι γὰρ ἐν ᾿Αλεξανδρείᾳ ἔθος, καθάπερ καὶ νῦν, ἑνὸς ὄντος τοῦ κατὰ πάντων ἐπισκόπου, πρεσβυτέρους ἰδίᾳ τὰς ἐκκλησίας κατέχειν, καὶ τὸν ἐν αὐταῖς λαὖν συνάγειν. Οἱ δὲ, καὶ ἄλλοις ἐπισκόποις ἐν Παλαιστίνῃ συνελθόντες, ἐψηφίσαντο τῇ Ἀρείου αἰτήσει, παρακελευσάμενοι συνάγειν μὲν αὐτοὺς ὡς πρότερον · ὑποτετάχθαι δὲ ᾿Αλεξάνδρῳ, καὶ ἀντιβολεῖν ἀεὶ τῆς πρὸς αὐτὸν εἰρήνης καὶ κοινωνίας μετέχειν. ### English translation (Claude) But although religion was thus thriving in all other respects, certain contentious disputes troubled the churches, which, on the pretext of piety and of a perfect discovery of God, brought into question things that had not been examined before. Arius, a presbyter of Alexandria in Egypt, began these debates. At first he was thought to be zealous for the doctrine, and he took part with Melitius in his innovations; but he left him and was ordained deacon by Peter, bishop of Alexandria. He was again expelled from the church by him, because when Peter excommunicated the followers of Melitius and would not accept their baptism, Arius censured what was done and would not keep quiet. After Peter was martyred, Arius asked pardon of Achillas, was allowed to serve as deacon, and was made a presbyter. Later Alexander too held him in honour. Being very skilled in dialectic, for he was said not to lack such learning, he rolled down into strange arguments, so that he dared to declare in the church what no one had said before: that the Son of God was made from nothing, that there was once when he was not, that by free will he is capable of vice and virtue, and that he is a creature and a thing made, and many other things that one who holds these views is likely to say when he goes on into debates and detailed inquiries. Some people took hold of what was said and blamed Alexander for not opposing innovations against the doctrine as he should. He, thinking it better to set out argument on both sides about the doubtful matters, so that he might seem to end their strife by persuasion and not by force, sat as judge with members of the clergy and brought both parties into debate. As usually happens in contests of words, each side tried to win. Arius maintained what he had said; the others maintained that the Son is of the same essence as the Father and co-eternal with him. When the council met again and they had raised so many arguments, they did not agree. While the question still seemed undecided, Alexander himself was at first in some way affected, praising now one side and now the other. In the end he sided with those who declared the Son to be of the same essence and co-eternal, and ordered Arius to think likewise and give up the contrary arguments. When he failed to persuade him, and many of the bishops and clergy about him already thought that Arius spoke rightly, he excommunicated him and the clergy who supported him in the doctrine. Those who supported him from the Alexandrian church were the presbyters Aithales, Achillas, Carpones, Sarmates and Arius, and the deacons Euzoius, Macarius, Julius, Menas and Helladius. From then on no small part of the people also went over to them, some thinking that they ought to believe the same about God, others, as commonly happens with most people, pitying them as wronged and as expelled from the church without trial. Since matters stood thus at Alexandria, Arius's party, reckoning it necessary to win over first the goodwill of the bishops in the various cities, sent envoys to them. Writing down what they believed, they asked that, if it was right to hold these views about God, the bishops should tell Alexander not to be harsh with them; and if not, that they should be taught how they ought to think. This effort helped them not a little. For when this doctrine had been spread among almost everyone, the same question became common to the bishops everywhere. Some wrote to Alexander not to receive Arius's party unless they renounced their belief; others asked him not to do this. Alexander, seeing that very many men, dignified by the appearance of a good life and formidable in persuasive speech, were supporting Arius's party, especially Eusebius, who then presided over the church of Nicomedia, a learned man honoured at the palace, wrote to the bishops everywhere not to hold communion with them. From this the zeal on both sides was kindled still more, and, as usually happens, a greater strife was stirred up. For when Eusebius's party had often begged Alexander and failed to persuade him, they were angry as if insulted, and became more eager to strengthen the doctrine of Arius. They held a synod in Bithynia and wrote to the bishops everywhere to hold communion with Arius's party as holding right opinions, and to induce Alexander also to hold communion with them. When their effort still went against their wishes, since Alexander would not yield, Arius sent envoys to Paulinus, bishop of Tyre, to Eusebius son of Pamphilus, who governed the church of Caesarea in Palestine, and to Patrophilus of Scythopolis, and asked that he and those with him be allowed to assemble the people who were with them, since they had formerly held the rank of presbyters. For it was the custom at Alexandria, as it still is now, that while there is one bishop over all, the presbyters hold the churches separately and gather the people in them. These bishops met with other bishops in Palestine and voted for Arius's request, directing that they should assemble the people as before, but should be subject to Alexander and continually entreat him to grant them peace and communion with him. ### Translation notes - ὁμοούσιος is rendered “of the same essence” (homoousios), the term later adopted at Nicaea. Sozomen's report of the disputation before Alexander, and of Alexander's wavering, is his own; other accounts differ. Melitius of Lycopolis led a schism in Egypt during the Diocletianic persecution. The list of Arius's supporters names a second Arius among the presbyters, as in Alexander's own letter (in Socrates, Church History 1.6). ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 1.15 (PG 67:903–907; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/1-15). ## Church History 1.16 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/1-14/#p-1-16 - Source: PG 67:909–911 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Constantine, grieved by the Arian dispute and the disagreement over the date of Easter, writes to Alexander and Arius urging concord and sends Hosius of Cordova to make peace. ### Greek text Ἐπεὶ δὲ καὶ ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ συνόδων περὶ τούτου πολλῶν γενομένων, ἤκμαζεν ἡ ἔρις μέχρι τῶν βασιλείων ἐλθεῖν, οὐ μετρίως ἐδυσφόρει Κωνσταντίνος ὁ βασιλεὺς, καθότι προσφάτως τῆς θρησκείας αὔξειν ἀρχομένης, πολλοὺς Χριστιανίζειν ἀπέτρεπεν ἡ διαφωνία τῶν δογμάτων. Καὶ τούτου χάριν, δῆλος ἦν ἐν αἰτίᾳ ποιούμενος "Αρειόν τε καὶ ᾿Αλέξανδρον. Καὶ γράψας αὐτοῖς ἐνεκάλει, ὡς δυναμένην λαθεῖν, εἰς τὸ φανερὸν ἐξήγαγον ταύτην τὴν ζήτησιν· καὶ τῇ ἄγαν πρὸς τὸ ἐναντίον σπουδῇ φιλονείκως ἀνεκίνησαν, μήτε ζητεῖν τὴν ἀρχὴν ἔδει, μήτε ἐνθυμεῖσθαι, καὶ ἐνθυμηθέντας σιωπῇ παραδοῦναι· ἐξὸν ἀλλήλων μὴ χωρίζεσθαι, εἰ καὶ περί τι μέρος τοῦ δόγματος διαφέροντα:. Περὶ μὲν γὰρ τῆς θείας προνοίας, μίαν καὶ τὴν αὐτὴν πίστιν ἔχειν ἀναγκαῖον. Τὰς δὲ περὶ τῶν τοιούτων ζητήσεων ἀκριβολογίας, κἂν μὴ πρὸς μίαν συμφέρηται γνώμην, προσήκειν ἐν ἀποῤῥήτῳ κατὰ διάνοιαν ἔχειν. Ἀφεμένους τε τῆς περὶ ταῦτα λέσχης, ἐκέλευσεν ὁμονοεῖν. ῎Αχθεσθαι γὰρ οὐ μετρίως· καὶ διὰ τοῦτο σπουδάζοντα τὰς ἐπὶ τῆς Ἕω πόλεις ἰδεῖν, ἐπισχεῖν. ᾿Αλεξάνδρῳ μὲν οὖν καὶ ᾿Αρείῳ, πῆ μὲν μεμφόμενος, πῆ δὲ συμβουλεύων, τοιάδε ἔγραψε. Χαλεπῶς δὲ ἔφερε, πυνθανόμενός τινας ἐναντίως πᾶσι τὴν τοῦ Πάσχα ἄγειν ἑορτήν. Τηνικαῦτα γὰρ ἐν ταῖς πρὸς Ἕω πόλεσι διαφερόμενοί τινες περὶ τοῦτο, τῆς μὲν πρὸς ἀλλήλους οὐκ ἀπείχοντο κοινωνίας. Ιουδαϊκώτερον δὲ τὴν ἑορτὴν ἦγον, καὶ ὡς εἰκὸς τῇ περὶ τούτου διχονοία, τὴν λαμπρότητα τῆς πανηγύρεως ἔβλαπτον. Κατ᾿ ἀμφότερα τοίνυν ἀστασίαστον εἶναι τὴν ἐκκλησίαν ἐσπούδαζε · νομίσας τε δύνασθαι προκαταλαβεῖν τὸ κακὸν, πρὶν εἰς πλείους χωρῆσαι, πέμπει ἄνδρα τὸν ἀμφ᾿ αὐτὸν πίστει καὶ βίῳ ἐπίσημον, καὶ ταῖς ὑπὲρ τοῦ δόγματος ὁμολογίαις ἐν τοῖς πρόσθεν χρόνοις εὐδοκιμηκότα, διαλλάξοντα τοὺς ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ διὰ τὸ δόγμα στασιάζοντας, καὶ τοὺς πρὸς Ἕω περὶ τὴν ἑορτὴν διαφερομένους· ἦν δὲ οὗτος Ὅσιος ὁ Κορδούβης ἐπίσκοπος. ### English translation (Claude) When many synods had been held on this matter in Egypt as well, and the strife was at its height, so that it reached the palace, the emperor Constantine was greatly vexed, because the disagreement over doctrines was turning many away from becoming Christians just when the religion had lately begun to grow. For this reason he plainly held Arius and Alexander to blame. He wrote to them and accused them of bringing into the open this question, which might have stayed hidden, and of stirring it up contentiously by too much zeal for opposing views, when they ought neither to have raised it in the first place nor to have pondered it, and, having pondered it, ought to have consigned it to silence. They could have kept from separating from one another, even if they differed on some part of the doctrine. For about divine providence it is necessary to have one and the same faith; but the hair-splitting of inquiries about such matters, even if it does not come to one opinion, ought to be kept secret in the mind. He ordered them to give up their talk about these things and to be of one mind. He was, he said, greatly grieved, and for this reason had put off his eager wish to see the cities of the East. Such was what he wrote to Alexander and Arius, partly blaming and partly advising them. He was also distressed to learn that some celebrated the feast of Easter differently from everyone else. At that time some in the cities of the East differed on this point; they did not break off communion with one another, but they kept the feast in a more Jewish way, and, as was natural, through their disagreement on this they spoiled the splendour of the festival. He was eager, then, that the church should be free of strife on both counts. Thinking that he could check the evil before it spread to more people, he sent a man of his circle distinguished for faith and life, who had won renown in earlier times by his confessions for the doctrine, to reconcile those in Egypt who were in strife over the doctrine and those in the East who differed over the feast. This was Hosius, bishop of Cordova. ### Extrabiblical texts - Eusebius, Vit. Const. 2.64-72 (Life of Constantine): allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Sozomen summarizes Constantine's letter to Alexander and Arius, given in full by Eusebius, Life of Constantine 2.64–72. Keeping Easter “in a more Jewish way” refers to those (in Syria and elsewhere) who reckoned Easter from the Jewish date of Passover; Sozomen reports the emperor's objection without comment. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 1.16 (PG 67:909–911; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/1-16). ## Church History 1.17 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/1-14/#p-1-17 - Source: PG 67:911–913 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Constantine summons the council of Nicaea; about 320 bishops gather, the emperor burns their petitions of complaint against one another, and the bishops debate Arius's teaching, in which the deacon Athanasius stands out. ### Greek text Ἐπεὶ δὲ παρ᾽ ἐλπίδας ἐχώρει τὸ πρᾶγμα, καὶ κρείττων ἦν διαλλαγῶν ἡ ἔρις, ἄπρακτός τε ἐπανῄει ὁ τὴν εἰρήνην βραβεῦσαι ἀπεσταλμένος, συνεκάλεσε σύνοδον εἰς Νίκαιαν τῆς Βιθυνίας, καὶ πανταχῆ τοῖς προεστῶσι τῶν Ἐκκλησιῶν ἔγραψεν, εἰς ῥητὴν ἡμέραν παρεῖναι. Ἐκοινώνουν δὲ τούτου τοῦ συλλόγου, τῶν μὲν Ἀποστολικῶν θρόνων, Μακάριος ὁ Ἱεροσολύμων, καὶ Εὐστάθιος ἤδη τὴν ᾿Αντιοχείας τῆς πρὸς τῷ Ὀρόντῃ Ἐκκλησίαν ἐπιτραπεὶς, καὶ ᾿Αλέξανδρος Ἀλεξανδρείας τῆς πρὸς τὴν Μαρείαν λίμνην. Ἰούλιος δὲ ὁ Ῥωμαίων ἐπίσκοπος, διὰ γῆρας ἀπελιμπάνετο. Παρῆσαν δὲ ἀντ᾿ αὐτοῦ Βίτων καὶ Βικέντιος, πρεσβύτεροι τῆς αὐτῆς Ἐκκλησίας. Ἐπὶ τούτοις δὲ, καὶ ἄλλοι πλεῖστοι καλοὶ καὶ ἀγαθοὶ ἐκ διαφόρων ἐθνῶν συνῆλθον, οἱ μὲν νοεῖν καὶ λέγειν ἱκανοὶ, εἰδήσει τε τῶν ἱερῶν βίβλων καὶ τῆς ἄλλης παιδεύσεως ἐπίσημοι, ἐν ἀρετῇ βίου διαπρέποντες· οἱ δὲ, κατ᾿ ἀμφότερον εὐδοκιμοῦντες. Ἦσαν δὲ ἐπίσκοποι ἀμφὶ τριακόσιοι εἴκοσι· πρεσβυτέρων τε καὶ διακόνων ὡς εἰκὸς ἑπομένων, οὐκ ἦν ὀλίγον πλῆθος. Συμπαρῆσαν δὲ αὐτοῖς ἄνδρες διαλέξεων ἔμπειροι ἐκείνοις βοηθεῖν λόγοις σπουδάζοντες. Οἷα δὲ φιλεῖ γίνεσθαι, πολλοὶ τῶν ἱερέων, ὡς ὑπὲρ ἰδίων πραγμάτων ἀγωνίσασθαι συνελθόντες, καιρὸν ἔχειν ἐνόμισαν τῆς τῶν λυπούντων διορθώσεως · καὶ περὶ ὧν ἕκαστος τῶν ἄλλων ἐμέμ φετο, βιβλίον ἐπιδοὺς βασιλεῖ, τὰ εἰς αὐτὸν ἡμαρτητο μένα προσήγγελλεν. Ἐπεὶ δὲ ἐφ᾽ ἑκάστης εὐχερῶς τοῦτο συνέβαινε, προσέταξεν ὁ βασιλεὺς εἰς ῥητὴν ἡμέραν ἕκαστον περὶ ὧν ἐνεκάλει δῆλον ποιεῖν. Αφικομένης δὲ τῆς προθεσμίας, τὰ ἐπιδοθέντα βιβλία δεξάμενος, αὗται μὲν ἔφη αἱ κατηγορίαι καιρὸν οἱκεῖον ἔχουσι τὴν ἡμέραν τῆς μεγάλης κρίσεως · δικαστὴν δὲ, τὸν μέλλοντα πᾶσι τότε κρίνειν. Ἐμοὶ δὲ οὐ θεμιτὸν ἀνθρώπῳ ὄντι, τοιαύτην εἰς ἑαυτὸν ἕλκειν ἀκρόασιν, ἱερέων κατηγορούντων καὶ κατηγορουμένων. Ἥκιστα γὰρ χρὴ τοιούτους ἑαυτοὺς παρέχειν, ὡς παρ' ἑτέρου κρίνεσθαι. "Αγε οὖν, μιμησάμενοι τὴν θείαν φιλανθρωπίαν ἐν τῇ πρὸς ἀλλήλους συγγνώμῃ, ἀπαλειφθέντων τῶν κατηγορουμένων, πεισόμεθα, καὶ τὰ περὶ τῆς πίστεως σπουδάσωμεν, οὗ ἕνεκεν δεῦρο συνεληλύθαμεν. Ταῦτα εἰπὼν ὁ βασιλεὺς, τὴν ἑκάστου γραφὴν ἀργεῖν, καὶ τὰ βιβλία καυθῆναι προσέταξε· καὶ ἡμέραν ὥρισε, καθ᾽ ἣν ἐχρῆν λῦσαι τὰ ἀμφισβητούμενα. Πρὸ δὲ τῆς προθεσμίας συνιόντες καθ' ἑαυτοὺς οἱ ἐπίσκοποι, μετακαλοῦνται τὸν "Αρειον · καὶ προτιθεμένων εἰς τὸ κοινὸν ὧν ἐδόξαζον, διελέγοντο. Οἷα δὲ εἰκὸς, εἰς διαφόρους ζητήσεις περιισταμένης τῆς διασκέψεως, οἱ μὲν, μὴ νεωτερίζειν παρὰ τὴν ἀρχῆθεν παραδοθεῖσαν πίστιν συνεβούλευον, καὶ μάλιστα οἷς τὸ τῶν τρόπων ἁπλοῦν ἀπεριέργως εἰσηγεῖτο προσίεσθαι τὴν εἰς τὸ θεῖον πίστιν. Οἱ δὲ ἰσχυρίζοντο, μὴ χρῆναι ἀβασανίστως ταῖς παλαιοτέραις δόξαις ἕπεσθαι. Πολλοί δὲ τῶν τότε συνεληλυθότων ἐπισκόπων, καὶ τῶν ἑπομένων αὐτοῖς κληρικῶν, δεινοὶ διαλέγεσθαι, καὶ τὰς τοιαύτας μεθόδους τῶν λόγων ἠσκημένοι, διέπρεψαν, καὶ βασιλεῖ γνώριμος καὶ τοῖς ἀμφ᾿ αὐτὸν ἐγένοντο. Εξ ἐκείνου δὲ καὶ ᾿Αθανάσιος ὁ ᾿Αλεξανδρείας ἔτι τότε διάκονος, ᾿Αλεξάνδρῳ τῷ ἐπισκόπῳ συνών, πλεῖστον εἶναι ἔδοξε μέρος τῆς περὶ ταῦτα βουλῆς. ### English translation (Claude) When the matter went against his hopes, and the strife was too strong for reconciliation, and the man sent to arbitrate the peace came back without success, he summoned a synod to Nicaea in Bithynia and wrote to the leaders of the churches everywhere to be present on a set day. Of the apostolic sees there took part in this assembly Macarius of Jerusalem, Eustathius, who already had charge of the church of Antioch on the Orontes, and Alexander of Alexandria by Lake Mareotis. Julius, bishop of Rome, was absent because of old age; in his place Vito and Vincentius, presbyters of the same church, were present. Besides these, very many other good and upright men came together from various nations: some able in thought and speech, distinguished for knowledge of the sacred books and of other learning, and eminent in virtue of life; others renowned in both respects. There were about three hundred and twenty bishops; and since presbyters and deacons naturally accompanied them, the crowd was not small. With them were also men skilled in debate, eager to help them in argument. As usually happens, many of the priests, thinking they had come together to contend for their own affairs, considered this an opportunity to set right what grieved them; and each, about what he blamed in others, handed a petition to the emperor and reported the wrongs done to him. When this was being done readily every day, the emperor ordered each to make plain on a set day what he was accusing. When the appointed time came, he received the petitions that had been handed in and said: “These accusations have their proper time, the day of the great judgment, and their judge, the one who will then judge all. It is not lawful for me, a man, to take upon myself such a hearing, where priests accuse and are accused. Such men should least of all present themselves to be judged by another. Come then, let us imitate the divine love of humankind in forgiving one another; let the charges be blotted out, let us be persuaded, and let us give our zeal to the matters of faith for whose sake we have come here.” Having said this, the emperor ordered each man's charge to be set aside and the petitions to be burned, and he fixed a day on which the disputed questions should be resolved. Before the appointed time the bishops met by themselves, summoned Arius, and set before the assembly what he believed and debated it. As was natural, since the inquiry turned to various questions, some advised that there be no innovation against the faith handed down from the beginning, especially those whose simple manners led them to accept faith in God without curiosity; others maintained that older opinions should not be followed without examination. Many of the bishops who had then come together, and of the clergy who accompanied them, being able debaters and practised in such methods of argument, became prominent and known to the emperor and those about him. From that time Athanasius of Alexandria too, then still a deacon and in the company of Alexander the bishop, was thought to have the greatest share in the deliberations on these matters. ### Scripture references - Rom 14:10: allusion, low confidence ### Translation notes - Sozomen names Julius as bishop of Rome; the bishop at the time of Nicaea (325) was Silvester, as Sozomen himself says in 1.2. The burning of the bishops' petitions is also told by Socrates (Church History 1.8) and Rufinus (Church History 10.2). ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 1.17 (PG 67:911–913; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/1-17). ## Church History 1.18 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/1-14/#p-1-18 - Source: PG 67:915–917 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: At Nicaea a simple confessor converts a pagan philosopher by a plain statement of the faith, and Alexander of Constantinople silences a philosopher in the name of Christ. ### Greek text Οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καί τινες τῶν παρ' Ἕλλησι σοφῶν ἐπιτηδὲς τουτωνὶ τῶν διαλέξεων μετέσχον · οἱ μὲν, ὅτι ποτέ ἐστι τὸ δόγμα μανθάνειν σπουδάζοντες - οἱ δὲ, προσφάτως ἀπόλλυσθαι τῆς Ἑλληνικῆς θρη σκείας ἀρχομένης, ἀπεχθανόμενοι τοῖς Χριστιανοῖς, τὴν περὶ τοῦ δόγματος ζήτησιν εἰς ἔριδας λόγων ἐνέβαλλον· ὥστε πρὸς ἑαυτοὺς στασιάζειν καὶ ἐναν τία δοκεῖν. Λέγεται οὖν, ὡς τινος αὐτῶν ὑπὸ φιλοτιμίας λόγων κομπάζοντος, καὶ τοῖς ἱερεῦσιν ἐπιτωθάζοντος, οὐκ ἤνεγκε τὸν τύφον γέρων ἁπλοῦς τις τῶν ἐν ὁμολογίαις εὐδοκιμησάντων. Τοιούτων δὲ σκιν δαλμῶν καὶ τερθρίας ἄμοιρος ὢν, τὸν πρὸς αὐτὸν ἀνεδέξατο λόγον. Ἐπὶ τοῦτο δὲ, τοῖς μὲν προπετέσι τῶν εἰδότων τὸν ὁμολογητὴν, γέλωτα ἐκίνησε τὸ πρᾶγμα· τοῖς δὲ ἐπιεικέσι δέος, προορωμένοις μὴ παρὰ ἀνδρὶ τεχνίτῃ λόγων γελοῖος φανείη. Όμως δ' οὖν συγχωρησάντων λέγειν ἃ βούλεται· ἀντιτείνειν γὰρ αὐτῷ τοιούτῳ ὄντι ἐπὶ πολὺ ἡδοῦντα· ἐν ὀνόματι Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, ἔφη, φιλόσοφε ἄκουσον. Εἷς ἐστι Θεὸς, οὐρανοῦ καὶ γῆς, καὶ πάντων τῶν ὁρωμένων καὶ ἀοράτων δημιουργὸς, ὁ πάντα ταῦτα τῇ δυνάμει τοῦ Λόγου ποιήσας, καὶ τῇ ἁγιωσύνῃ τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύ ματος αὐτοῦ στηρίξας. Οὗτος οὖν ὁ Λόγος, φησὶν, ὃν ἡμεῖς Υἱὸν Θεοῦ προσαγορεύομεν, ἐλεήσας τοὺς ἀνθρώπους τῆς πλάνης καὶ τῆς θηριώδους πολιτείας, εἴλετο ἐκ γυναικὸς τεχθῆναι, καὶ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις συνομιλῆσαι, καὶ ἀποθανεῖν ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν. Ἥξει δὲ πάλιν κριτὴς τῶν ἑκάστῳ βεβιωμένων. Ταῦτα οὕτως ἔχειν ἀπεριέργως πιστεύομεν. Μὴ τοίνυν μάτην πόνει, τῶν πίστει κατορθουμένων ἐλέγχους ἐπιζητῶν, καὶ τρόπον ᾧ γενέσθαι ταῦτα ἢ μὴ γενέσθαι ἐνεδέχετο. Αλλ' εἰ πιστεύεις, ἐρομένῳ μοι ἀποκρίνου. Πρὸς ταῦτα καταπλαγεὶς ὁ φιλόσοφος, Πιστεύω, φησί. Καὶ τῆς ἥττης χάριν ὁμολογήσας, τὰ αὐτὰ τῷ πρεσβύτῃ ἐδόξαζε, καὶ τοῖς πρότερον ὁμοίως διακειμένοις, ὁμοφρονεῖν συνεβούλευεν · οὐκ ἀθεεὶ μετατεθεῖσθαι ἐπομνύμενος, ἀλλ᾿ ἀφράστῳ τινὶ δυνάμε: χριστιανίσαι προτραπείς. Λέγεται δὲ τῷ εἰρημένῳ παραπλήσιον γενέσθαι θαῦμα, δι' ᾿Αλεξάνδρου τοῦ ἐπιτροπεύσαντος τὴν Κωνσταντινουπόλεως Ἐκκλησίαν. Ἡνίκα γὰρ παρεγένετο Κωνσταντῖνος εἰς τὸ Βυζάντιον, προσελθόντες αὐτῷ φιλόσοφοί τινες ἐμέμφοντο ὡς οὐ δεόντως θρησκεύει, καὶ περὶ τὰ θεῖα νεωτερίζει, καινὸν εἰσάγων σέβας τῇ πολιτείᾳ, παρὰ τὰ νενομισμένα τοῖς αὐτοῦ προγόνοις, καὶ πᾶσιν ὅσους Ἑλλήνων τε καὶ Ῥωμαίων ἡγεμόνας ὁ παρελθὼν αἰὼν ἤνεγκεν. Καὶ ἐζήτουν διαλεχθῆναι ᾿Αλεξάνδρῳ τῷ ἐπισκόπῳ περὶ τοῦ δόγματος. Ὁ δὲ, καίπερ τοιαύτης γυμνασίας λόγων ἀτριβὴς, ἴσως δὲ τῷ βίῳ πεποιθὼς, ἐγένετο γὰρ καλὸς καὶ ἀγαθὸς, ὑπέστη τὸν ἀγῶνα τοῦ βασιλέως προστάξαντος. Συνελθόντων δὲ τῶν φιλοσόφων, ἐπειδὴ πάντες διαλέγε· σθαι ἠβούλοντο, ἕνα αὐτοὺς αἱρεῖσθαι ὃν θέλουσιν ἠξίου, τοὺς δὲ ἄλλους παρόντας ἡσυχίαν ἄγειν. ᾿Αναδεξαμένου δὲ ἑνὸς τὸν λόγον, Ἐν ὀνόματι Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, ἔφη πρὸς αὐτὸν ᾿Αλέξανδρος, ἐπιτάττω σοι μὴ λαλεῖν. ῞Αμα δὲ τῷ λόγῳ, καὶ ὁ ἄνθρωπος αὐτίκα τὸ οτόμα πεδηθεὶς ἐσιώπα. ᾿Αρ' οὖν δίκαιον ἀναλογίσασθαι, πότερον μεῖζον ἐν παραδόξοις, ἄνθρωπον, καὶ ταῦτα φιλόσοφον, οὕτω ῥᾳδίως ἀφελέσθαι τοῦ λόγου, ἢ λίθον βίᾳ λόγου τῇ χειρὶ διελθεῖν, ὅ πρός τινων ἐπὶ Ἰουλιανῷ τῷ καλουμένῳ Χαλδαίῳ κεκομπολογῆσθαι ἀκήκοα· καὶ τὰ μὲν ὧδε ἐπυθόμην. ### English translation (Claude) Moreover, some of the learned among the pagans deliberately took part in these debates: some eager to learn what the doctrine was; others, hating the Christians because the pagan religion had lately begun to perish, threw the inquiry about the doctrine into verbal contests, so that the Christians would quarrel among themselves and appear to contradict one another. It is said that when one of them, out of ambition for speaking, was boasting and mocking the priests, a simple old man, one of those renowned for their confessions, could not bear his arrogance. Though he had no part in such quibbling and jargon, he took up the argument against him. At this the thing roused laughter among the rash who knew the confessor, and fear among the reasonable, who foresaw that he would appear ridiculous before a man skilled in argument. Nevertheless, since they let him say what he wished, for out of respect they could not oppose such a man for long, he said: “In the name of Jesus Christ, philosopher, listen. There is one God, the maker of heaven and earth and of all things visible and invisible, who made all these by the power of the Word and established them by the holiness of his Holy Spirit. This Word,” he said, “whom we call the Son of God, took pity on men for their error and their beastlike way of life, and chose to be born of a woman, to live among men, and to die for them. And he will come again as judge of what each has done in life. That these things are so we believe without curiosity. Do not labour in vain, then, seeking proofs of what is accomplished by faith, and the way in which these things could or could not have happened. But if you believe, answer me as I ask.” Struck by this, the philosopher said, “I believe.” Acknowledging his defeat with thanks, he held the same views as the old man, and advised those who had been of his former opinion to agree with him, swearing that he had not changed without God, but had been moved to become a Christian by some unspeakable power. A wonder like the one described is said to have been worked through Alexander, who governed the church of Constantinople. When Constantine came to Byzantium, some philosophers approached him and complained that he did not worship as he should and was innovating in divine matters, bringing into the state a new worship contrary to what had been customary with his ancestors and with all the rulers of Greeks and Romans whom past ages had produced. They asked to debate with Alexander the bishop about the doctrine. Although he was unpractised in such exercises of argument, he relied perhaps on his life, for he was a good and upright man, and he accepted the contest at the emperor's command. When the philosophers came together, since all wished to debate, he asked them to choose one whom they wished, and the others present to keep quiet. When one had taken up the argument, Alexander said to him: “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you not to speak.” At the word the man's mouth was at once bound, and he fell silent. Is it fair, then, to consider which is the greater wonder, so easily to take speech from a man, and a philosopher at that, or to cleave a stone by force of a word with the hand, which I have heard was boasted of by some in the case of Julian, called the Chaldean? This is what I learned of these matters. ### Scripture references - Col 1:16: allusion, low confidence - Gen 1:1: allusion, low confidence ### Translation notes - The story of the confessor and the philosopher is also told by Rufinus, Church History 10.3, and Socrates, Church History 1.8. Julian “the Chaldean” was a second-century theurgist associated with the Chaldean Oracles; the stone-splitting is a legend about him. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 1.18 (PG 67:915–917; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/1-18). ## Church History 1.19 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/1-14/#p-1-19 - Source: PG 67:917–919 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The emperor opens the council in the palace, and after Eusebius of Caesarea's address urges the bishops to lay aside their strife and settle the dispute in peace. ### Greek text Οἱ δὲ ἐπίσκοποι συνεχῶς συνιόντες, τὸν Ἄρειον εἰς μέσον παρήγαγον, καὶ ἀκριβῆ βάσανον ἐποιοῦντο τῶν αὐτοῦ προτάσεων. Προπετῶς δὲ ἐπὶ θάτερα τὴν ψῆφον ἄγειν ἐφυλάττοντο. Ἐπεὶ δὲ ἡ κυρία παρῆν, καθ' ἣν ὥριστο τεμεῖν τὰ ἀμφίβολα, συνῆλθον εἰς τὰ βασίλεια, καθότι καὶ τῷ κρατοῦντι δέδοκτο κοινωνῆσαι αὐτοῖς τῆς βουλῆς. Ἐπεὶ δὲ εἰς ταυτὸ παρεγένοντο τοῖς ἱερεῦσι, διαβὰς πρὸς τὴν ἀρχὴν τοῦ συλλόγου, ἐπὶ θρόνου τινὸς ἐκάθισεν ὥσπερ αὐτῷ κατεσκεύαστο· καὶ ἡ σύνοδος καθῆσθαι ἐκελεύσθη. Παρεσκεύαστο γὰρ ἑκατέρωθεν βάθρα πολλά, παρ. εκτεινόμενα τοῖς τοίχοις τοῦ βασιλείου οἴκου · μέγ:στος δὲ ἦν οὗτος, καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους ὑπερφέρων. Καθεζομένων δὲ αὐτῶν, ἀναστὰς Εὐσέβιος ὁ Παμφίλου, λόγον τινὰ τῷ βασιλεῖ προσεφώνησε, καὶ δι' αὐτὸν, τῷ Θεῷ χαριστήριον ὕμνον. Παυσαμένου δὲ αὐτοῦ, καὶ σιγῆς γενομένης, Πάντων μὲν ἕνεκεν, ἔφη ὁ βασιλεὺς, τῷ Θεῷ τὴν χάριν ἔχω, οὐχ ἤκιστα δὲ τὸν ὑμέτερον σύλλογον ὁρῶν, ὦ φίλοι. Καί μοι κρείττον εὐχῆς ἀπέβη, τοσούτους ἱερέας Χριστοῦ εἰς ταυτὸν ἀγαγεῖν. Βουλοίμην δ' ἂν ὁμόφρονας ὑμᾶς θεάσασθαι, καὶ συμφώνου γνώμης κοινωνούς. Ἐπεὶ παντὸς κακοῦ χαλεπώτερον ἡγοῦμαι, τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν τοῦ Θεοῦ στασιάζειν. Ὅτε οὖν ἡγγέλθη ὧν οὐκ ὤφελον ἀκοῦσαι, σφόδρα τὴν ψυχὴν ἠνιάθην, διχονοεῖν ὑμᾶς πυθόμενος, οὓς ἥκιστα προσῆκε, Θεοῦ λειτουργοὺς ὄντας, καὶ βραβευτὰς εἰρήνης. Καὶ διὰ τοῦτο τὴν ἱερὰν ὑμῶν συνεκρότησα σύνοδον· βασιλεύς τε ὧν καὶ συνθεράπων ὑμέτερος, χάριν αἰτῶ λαβεῖν ἀρεστὴν τῷ Θεῷ τῷ κοινῷ δεσπότῃ, ἐμοί τε λαβεῖν, καὶ ὑμῖν δοῦναι πρέπουσαν. Ἡ δέ ἐστι, προενεγκεῖν εἰς μέσον τὰ αἴτια τῆς ἀμφισβητήσεως, καὶ ὁμόφρονα καὶ εἰρηναῖον αὐτοῖς ἐπιθεῖναι τέλος. "Ωστε με σὺν ὑμῖν τοῦτο τὸ τρόπαιον ἀναστῆσαι κατὰ τοῦ φθονεροῦ δαίμονος, ὃς τῶν ἀλλοφύλων καὶ τυράννων ἐκποδὼν γενομένων, ταυτηνὶ τὴν ἐμφύλιον στάσιν ἤγειρε, νεμεσήσας τοῖς ἡμετέροις ἀγαθοῖς. Τοιαῦτα τῇ Ῥω μαίων φωνῇ τοῦ βασιλέως εἰπόντος, παρεστώς τις ἡρμήνευεν. ### English translation (Claude) The bishops met continually, brought Arius forward, and examined his propositions closely; but they took care not to cast their vote rashly for either side. When the appointed day came on which the doubtful questions were to be settled, they gathered at the palace, since the ruler had decided to share in their deliberation. When he had come together with the priests, he passed to the head of the assembly and sat on a throne that had been prepared for him, and the synod was told to sit down. Many benches had been set out on either side along the walls of the palace hall, which was very large and surpassed the others. When they were seated, Eusebius son of Pamphilus rose and addressed a speech to the emperor, and on his account a hymn of thanksgiving to God. When he had finished and there was silence, the emperor said: “For all things I give thanks to God, my friends, and not least for seeing your assembly. It has turned out better than I prayed, to bring so many priests of Christ together. I should wish to see you of one mind and sharing a harmonious judgment, since I consider it worse than any evil for the church of God to be in strife. So when I was told what I ought never to have heard, I was greatly grieved in soul to learn that you were at variance, you to whom it least belongs, since you are ministers of God and arbiters of peace. For this reason I have convened your holy synod; and being emperor and your fellow servant, I ask to receive a favour pleasing to God, our common Master, fitting for me to receive and for you to give: that you bring into the open the causes of the dispute and put an end to them in concord and peace, so that with you I may set up this trophy against the envious demon, who, now that foreign enemies and tyrants have been removed, has stirred up this civil strife, resenting our good fortune.” When the emperor had said this in the Roman tongue, someone standing by translated it. ### Extrabiblical texts - Eusebius, Vit. Const. 3.10-12 (Life of Constantine): allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Constantine's speech is summarized from Eusebius, Life of Constantine 3.10–12. “The Roman tongue” is Latin; the speech was translated into Greek. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 1.19 (PG 67:917–919; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/1-19). ## Church History 1.20 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/1-14/#p-1-20 - Source: PG 67:919–921 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The council votes that the Son is of the same essence as the Father; Constantine threatens exile for opponents; Sozomen withholds the text of the creed out of reverence for the discipline of secrecy. ### Greek text Ἐκ τούτου δὲ ἡ περὶ τοῦ δόγματος διάλεξις ἐκινήθη τοῖς ἱερεῦσι. Σχολῇ δὲ καὶ μάλα ἀνεξικάκως ἡκροᾶτο ὁ βασιλεὺς τῶν ἑκατέρωθεν λόγων. Καὶ τοῖς μὲν εὖ λέγουσιν ἐτίθετο· τοὺς δὲ φιλονεικοῦντας μετετίθει τῆς ἔριδος· πράως ἑκάστῳ διαλεγόμενος, ὡς ἀκούειν ἠπίστατο, καθότι οὐδὲ τῆς Ἑλλήνων γλώττης ἀπείρως εἶχε. Τὸ δὴ τελευταῖον, συνέβησαν ἀλλήλοις πάντες οἱ ἱερεῖς, καὶ ὁμοούσιον εἶναι τῷ Πατρὶ τὸν Υἱὸν ἐψηφίσαντο. Μόνοι δὲ τὰ μὲν πρῶτα, δέκα καὶ ἑπτὰ λέγονται τὴν ᾿Αρείου δόξαν ἐπαινέσαι· παραχρῆμα δὲ καὶ τούτων οἱ πλείους πρὸς τὸ κοινῇ δόξαν μετέθεντο. Ταύτῃ δὲ τῇ γνώμῃ καὶ ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐψηφίσατο, συμβαλὼν αὐτὴν θεόθεν δεδοκιμᾶσθαι τὴν συμφωνίαν τοῦ συλλόγου. Ὑπερορίῳ τε φυγῇ ζημιωθήσεσθαι προηγόρευσε τὸν ἐναντίον τῶν δεδογμένων ἐρχόμενον, ὡς διαφθείραντα τοὺς θείους ὅρους. Ἵνα δὲ καὶ εἰς τὸν ἑξῆς χρόνον βέβαιον καὶ δῆλον τοῖς ἐσομένοις ὑπάρχῃ τὸ σύμβολον τῆς τότε συναρεσάσης πίστεως, ἀναγκαῖον ᾠήθην εἰς ἀπόδειξιν τῆς ἀληθείας, αὐτὴν τὴν περὶ τούτων γραφὴν παραθέσθαι. Εὐσεβῶν δὲ καὶ φίλων καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα ἐπιστημόνων, οἷα δὲ μύσταις καὶ μυσταγωγοῖς μόνοις δέοντα λέγειν καὶ ἀκούειν ὑφηγουμένων ἐπήνεσα τὴν βουλήν. Οὐ γὰρ ἀπεικὸς και των ἁμυήτων τινὰς τῇδε τῇ βίβλῳ ἐντυχεῖν. Ὡς ἔνι δὲ τῶν ἀποῤῥήτων ἃ χρὴ σιωπᾶν αποκρυψάμενον · ὡς μὴ πάμπαν ἀγνοεῖν τὰ δόξαντα τῇ συνόδῳ. ### English translation (Claude) After this the debate about the doctrine was opened among the priests. The emperor listened to the arguments on both sides at leisure and with great patience. He agreed with those who spoke well and drew the contentious away from their strife, talking gently with each, as far as he knew how to listen, since he was not unacquainted with the Greek language either. In the end all the priests came to agreement with one another and voted that the Son is of the same essence as the Father. At first only seventeen are said to have praised Arius's opinion; but immediately most of these too went over to the common opinion. The emperor also voted for this view, concluding that the agreement of the assembly had been approved by God; and he proclaimed that anyone who opposed what had been decided would be punished with exile, as one who had corrupted the divine definitions. So that the creed of the faith then agreed upon might remain firm and plain to those who would come after, I thought it necessary to set down the document itself as proof of the truth. But godly friends who understood such matters advised that these things should be spoken and heard only by the initiated and their initiators, and I approved their counsel. For it is not unlikely that some of the uninitiated will read this book. So I have hidden, as far as possible, the secret things that must be kept in silence, while not leaving the reader altogether ignorant of what the synod decided. ### Translation notes - Sozomen deliberately omits the text of the Nicene Creed, following the practice of keeping the creed from the unbaptized (“the uninitiated”). ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 1.20 (PG 67:919–921; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/1-20). ## Church History 1.21 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/1-14/#p-1-21 - Source: PG 67:921–923 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The council declares the Son of the same essence as the Father, anathematizes Arius's formulas and his Thalia; Constantine exiles Arius, orders his writings burned, and deposes Eusebius of Nicomedia and Theognis. ### Greek text Ἱστέον δὲ ὅτι τὸν μὲν Υἱὸν ὁμοούσιον εἶναι τῷ Πατρὶ ἀπεφήναντο· τοὺς δὲ λέγοντας ἦν ποτὲ ὅτε οὐκ ἦν, καὶ πρὶν γεννηθῆναι οὐκ ἦν, καὶ ὅτι ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων ἐγένετο, ἢ ἐξ ἑτέρας ὑποστάσεως ἢ οὐσίας, ἢ τρεπτὸν ἢ ἀλλοιωτὸν, ἀπεκήρυξαν, καὶ τῆς καθόλου Ἐκκλησίας ἀλλοτρίους ἐψηφίσαντο. Ταύτην δὲ τὴν γραφὴν ἐπήνεσαν Εὐσέβιός τε ὁ Νικομηδείας· καὶ Θεόγνιος ὁ Νικαίας, Μάρις τε ὁ Χαλκηδόνιος, καὶ Πατρόφιλος ὁ Σκυθοπόλεως, καὶ Σεκοῦνδος ὁ Πτολεμαΐδος τῆς Λιβύης. Εὐσέβιος δὲ ὁ Παμφίλου μικρὸν ἐπισχὼν, ἐπεσκέψατο ταύτην καὶ ἐπήνεσεν. Ἡ δὲ σύνοδος ἀπεκήρυξεν "Αρειον καὶ τοὺς ὁμοίως αὐτῷ φρονοῦντας, ᾿Αλεξανδρείας τε μὴ ἐπιβαίνειν αὐτὸν · ἐψηφίσαντο. Οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰς λέξεις τῆς αὐτοῦ δόξης ἀπεκήρυξαν, καὶ τὸ βιβλίον ὁ περὶ ταύτης συντάξας Θαλείαν ἐπέγραψε. Τούτου δὲ τοῦ συντάγματος, ὡς ἐπυθόμην, οὐ γὰρ ἐνέτυχον, διαλελυμένος ἐστὶν ὁ χαρακτήρ, ὡς ἐμφερὴς εἶναι τῇ χαυνό. τητι τοῖς Σωτάδου ᾄσμασιν. Ιστέον μέντοι, ὡς τῇ ᾿Αρείου καθαιρέσει οὔτε ἔθεντο, οὔτε ὑπέγραψαν Εὐσέβιος ὁ Νικομηδείας καὶ Θεόγνιος ὁ Νικαεὺς, καίπερ τῇ γραφῇ τῆς πίστεως συναινέσαντες. Ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς ῎Αρειον μὲν ὑπερορίῳ φυγῇ ἐζημίωσε· καὶ τοῖς πανταχῆ ἐπισκόποις καὶ λαοῖς νομοθετῶν ἔγραψεν, ἀσεβεῖς ἡγεῖσθαι αὐτόν τε καὶ τοὺς αὐτοῦ ὁμόφρονας, καὶ πυρὶ παραδοῦναι εἴ τι αὐτῶν εὑρίσκοιτο σύγγραμμα, ὥς τε μήτε αὐτοῦ, μήτε τοῦ δόγματος οὗ εἰσηγήσατο, ὑπόμνημα φέρεσθαι. Εἰ δέ τις φωραθείη κρύπτων, καὶ μὴ παραχρῆμα καταμηνύσας ἐμπρήσῃ, θάνατον εἶναι τὴν ζημίαν, καὶ τιμωρίαν εἰς κεφαλήν. Καὶ ἄλλας δὲ κατὰ πόλιν ἐπιστολὰς διεπέμψατο, κατὰ Ἀρείου καὶ τῶν ὁμοδόξων αὐτοῦ. Εὐσέβιον δὲ καὶ Θεόγνιον, φεύγειν προσέταξεν ἃς ἐπεσκόπουν πόλεις. Τῇ δὲ Νικομηδέων Ἐκκλησία ἔγραψεν, ἔχεσθαι τῆς πίστεως ἣν ἡ σύνοδος παρέδωκεν · ὀρθοδόξους δὲ προβάλλεσθαι ἐπισκόπους, καὶ τούτοις πείθεσθαι· τῶν δὲ λήθῃ παραδοῦναι τὴν μνήμην. Τοὺς δὲ ἐπαινεῖν, ἢ τὰ αὐτῶν φρονεῖν ἐπιχειροῦντας, ἠπείλησε τιμωρεῖσθαι. Ἐν τούτοις δὲ τοῖς γράμμασι, καὶ ἄλλως ἀπεχθάνεσθαι· πρὸς Εὐσέ βιον ἐδήλου, ὡς πρότερον ἤδη τὰ τοῦ τυράννου φρονήσαντα, καὶ αὐτῷ ἐπιβουλεύσαντα. Κατὰ ταῦτα μὲν οὖν τὰ τοῦ βασιλέως γράμματα, ἀφηρέθησαν ὧν εἶχον Ἐκκλησιῶν Εὐσέβιός τε καὶ Θεόγνιος. Παραλαμβάνει δὲ τὴν Νικομηδέων Αμφίων, Χρῆστος δὲ τὴν Νίκαιαν. Παυσαμένης δὲ τῆς ἐπὶ τῷ δόγματι ζητήσεως, ἔδοξε τῇ συνόδῳ καὶ τὴν Πασχαλίαν ἑορτὴν ἅπαντας κατὰ τὸν αὐτὸν ἐπιτελεῖν καιρόν ### English translation (Claude) It should be known that they declared the Son to be of the same essence as the Father; and those who say, “There was once when he was not,” and “Before he was begotten he was not,” and that he came into being from nothing, or from another subsistence or essence, or that he is mutable or alterable, they anathematized and voted to be strangers to the catholic church. This formula was approved by Eusebius of Nicomedia, Theognis of Nicaea, Maris of Chalcedon, Patrophilus of Scythopolis, and Secundus of Ptolemais in Libya. Eusebius son of Pamphilus held back a little, examined it, and approved it. The synod anathematized Arius and those who thought as he did, and voted that he should not set foot in Alexandria. They also condemned the expressions of his opinion, and the book which he composed about it and entitled Thalia. I have learned, for I have not read it, that the style of this composition is loose, so that in its slackness it resembles the songs of Sotades. It should be known, however, that Eusebius of Nicomedia and Theognis of Nicaea neither agreed to nor signed the deposition of Arius, although they assented to the written statement of the faith. The emperor punished Arius with exile beyond the frontiers, and wrote to the bishops and peoples everywhere, as a law, that they should regard him and those of his mind as impious, and should burn any writing of theirs that was found, so that no memorial either of him or of the doctrine he introduced should survive. If anyone were caught hiding one and did not at once report and burn it, the penalty was to be death and capital punishment. He also sent other letters to the cities against Arius and those who shared his opinions. He ordered Eusebius and Theognis to leave the cities of which they were bishops. To the church of Nicomedia he wrote that they should hold to the faith which the synod had handed down, should put forward orthodox bishops and obey them, and should consign the memory of the others to oblivion; and he threatened to punish those who tried to praise them or to hold their views. In these letters he also made plain that he was hostile to Eusebius on other grounds, as one who had earlier taken the tyrant's side and plotted against him. In accordance with these letters of the emperor, Eusebius and Theognis were deprived of the churches they held; Amphion received that of Nicomedia, and Chrestus that of Nicaea. When the inquiry about the doctrine had ended, the synod decided that all should also celebrate the feast of Easter at the same time. ### Extrabiblical texts - Conc. Nic. Ep. (Synodal Letter of the Council of Nicaea to the Church of Alexandria): allusion, low confidence ### Translation notes - A fragment of Valesius's chapter title (“… about the settling of Easter”) stood at the head of the section in the scan and has been removed. Sozomen, having withheld the creed (1.20), gives only the substance of its closing anathemas. Sotades was a Hellenistic poet of indecent verse in a lax metre. “The tyrant” is Licinius. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 1.21 (PG 67:921–923; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/1-21). ## Church History 1.22 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/1-14/#p-1-22 - Source: PG 67:923–925 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Acesius, the Novatian bishop, accepts Nicaea's faith and Easter date but refuses communion to those guilty of mortal sin after baptism, and Constantine tells him to climb to heaven alone. ### Greek text Λέγεται δὲ τὸν βασιλέα τῆς πάντων Χριστιανῶν ὁμονοίας προνοοῦντα, καὶ ᾿Ακέσιον ὃς ἐπίσκοπος ἦν τῆς Ναυατιανῶν Ἐκκλησίας, ἐπὶ τὴν σύνοδον καλέσαι· καὶ τὸν περὶ τῆς πίστεως καὶ τῆς ἑορτῆς ἐπιδεῖξαι ὅρον, ἤδη δὲ βεβαιωθέντα ταῖς τῶν ἐπισκόπων ὑπογραφαῖς, πυθέσθαι τε εἰ καὶ αὐτὸς τούτοις συναινεῖ. Τὸν δὲ φάναι, μηδὲν ὡρίσθαι καινὸν, καὶ ἐπαινέσαι τὸ τῇ συνόδῳ δόξαν· οὕτω γὰρ καὶ αὐτὸν ἐξ ἀρχῆς παρειληφέναι πιστεύειν τε καὶ ἑορτάζειν. Τί οὖν, : ἔφη ὁ βασιλεὺς, ὁμοίως φρονῶν, χωρίζῃ τῆς κοινωνίας; Τοῦ δὲ προφέροντος τὴν ἐπὶ Δεκίου Ναυάτῳ καὶ Κορνηλίῳ συμβᾶσαν διαφορὰν», καὶ ὡς μετὰ τὸ βάπτισμα κοινωνίας οὐκ ἀξιοῖ μυστηρίων τοὺς ἁμαρτίας ἐνόχους, ἣν πρὸς θάνατον καλοῦσιν αἱ θεῖαι Γραφαί · Θεοῦ γὰρ ἐξουσίας μόνου, οὐχ ἱερέων ἠρτῆσθαι τὴν ἄφεσιν · ὑπολαβὼν ὁ βασιλεὺς εἶπεν· Ὦ ᾿Ακέσις, κλίμακα θὲς, καὶ μόνος εἰς οὐρανοὺς ἀνάβηθι. Ταῦτα δὲ οἶμαι εἰπεῖν τὸν βασιλέα πρὸς ᾿Ακέσιον, οὐκ ἐπαινοῦντα · ἀλλ᾽ ὅτι ἄνθρωποι ὄντες, ἀναμαρτήτους σφᾶς εἶναι νομίζουσιν. ### English translation (Claude) It is said that the emperor, taking thought for the concord of all Christians, also summoned to the synod Acesius, who was bishop of the church of the Novatians, showed him the definition about the faith and the feast, already confirmed by the bishops' signatures, and asked whether he too agreed with it. He replied that nothing new had been defined, and praised what the synod had decided; for so he too had received from the beginning to believe and to keep the feast. “Why then,” said the emperor, “if you think the same, do you separate yourself from communion?” He brought up the dispute that arose under Decius between Novatus and Cornelius, and said that after baptism they do not admit to communion in the mysteries those guilty of the sin which the divine Scriptures call “unto death”; for forgiveness depends on the authority of God alone, not of priests. The emperor took him up and said: “Acesius, set up a ladder and climb into heaven alone.” I think the emperor said this to Acesius not in praise, but because, being men, they think themselves without sin. ### Scripture references - 1 John 5:16: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - “The sin unto death” alludes to 1 John 5:16. The Novatians refused readmission to those who had committed grave sins (such as apostasy) after baptism. The story is also in Socrates, Church History 1.10. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 1.22 (PG 67:923–925; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/1-22). ## Church History 1.23 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/1-14/#p-1-23 - Source: PG 67:925 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: At Nicaea Paphnutius dissuades the bishops from requiring married clergy to abstain from their wives, appealing to the ancient tradition that clergy do not marry after ordination but do not leave wives already married. ### Greek text Ἡ δὲ σύνοδος, ἐπανορθῶσαι τὸν βίον σπουδάζουσα τῶν περὶ τὰς ἐκκλησίας διατριβόντων ἔθετο νόμους οὖς κανόνας ὀνομάζουσιν. Ἐν δὲ τῷ περὶ τούτου βουλεύεσθαι, τοῖς μὲν ἄλλοις ἐδόκει νόμον ἐπεισἁγειν, ἐπισκόπους καὶ πρεσβυτέρους, διακόνους τε καὶ ὑποδιακόνους, μὴ συγκαθεύδειν ταῖς γαμεταῖς ἃς πρὶν ἱερᾶσθαι ἠγάγοντο. Αναστὰς δὲ Παφνούτιος ὁ ὁμολογητὴς, ἀντεῖπε· τίμιόν τε τὸν γάμον ἀποκαλῶν, σωφροσύνην τε τὴν πρὸς τὰς ἰδίας γυναῖκας συνουσίαν, συνεβούλευσε τῇ συνόδῳ μὴ τοιοῦτον θέσθαι νόμον. Χαλεπὸν γὰρ ἐἶναι τὸ πρᾶγμα φέρειν· ἴσως δὲ καὶ αὐτοῖς, καὶ ταῖς τούτων γαμεταῖς, τοῦ μὴ σωφρονεῖν αἰτία γενήσεται. Κατὰ δὲ τὴν ἀρχαίαν τῆς Ἐκκλησίας παράδοσιν, τοὺς μὲν ἀγάμους τοῦ ἱερα - τικοῦ τάγματος κοινωνήσαντας, μηκέτι γαμεῖν· τοὺς δὲ μετὰ γάμον ὧν ἔχουσι γαμετῶν μὴ χωρίζεσθαι. Καὶ ταῦτα μὲν ὁ Παφνούτιος, καίπερ ἄπειρος ὧν γάμου εἰσηγήσατο. Ἐπήνεσε δὲ καὶ ἡ σύνοδος τὴν βουλὴν, καὶ περὶ τούτου οὐδὲν ἐνομοθέτησεν· ἀλλὰ τῇ ἑκάστου γνώμῃ τὸ πρᾶγμα, οὐκ ἐν ἀνάγκῃ ἔθετο. Περὶ δὲ τῶν ἄλλων ᾗπερ αὐτῇ καλῶς ἔχειν ἐδόκει νόμους ἀνεγράψατο, καθ' οὓς πολιτεύεσθαι προσήκει τὰ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας πράγματα. ᾿Αλλὰ τούτοις μὲν, εἴ τῳ φίλον, ῥᾴδιον ἐντυχεῖν, παρὰ πολλοῖς φερομένοις. ### English translation (Claude) The synod, eager to reform the life of those who serve in the churches, enacted laws which they call canons. While they were deliberating on this, some thought it right to introduce a law that bishops and presbyters, deacons and subdeacons should not sleep with the wives they had married before they entered the priesthood. But Paphnutius the confessor rose and spoke against it. Calling marriage honourable, and intercourse with one's own wife chastity, he advised the synod not to make such a law; for the thing would be hard to bear, and might perhaps become a cause of unchastity both for them and for their wives. According to the ancient tradition of the church, he said, those who were unmarried when they entered the priestly order should not afterwards marry; but those who were married should not separate from the wives they had. Paphnutius proposed this, although he himself had no experience of marriage. The synod approved his counsel and made no law on the matter, but left it to each person's judgment, not to compulsion. On other matters it wrote down laws as it thought right, by which the affairs of the church should be governed. These anyone who wishes may easily read, for many people have copies. ### Scripture references - Heb 13:4: allusion, medium confidence - 1 Cor 7:5: allusion, low confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Conc. Nic. (Creed and Canons of the Council of Nicaea (325)): allusion, low confidence ### Translation notes - A fragment of Valesius's chapter title stood at the head of the section in the scan and has been removed. “Honourable” echoes Heb 13:4 (“Let marriage be honourable among all”). The story is also in Socrates, Church History 1.11; its historicity has been disputed. Sozomen reports it as written. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 1.23 (PG 67:925; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/1-23). ## Church History 1.24 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/1-14/#p-1-24 - Source: PG 67:927 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The council confines Melitius to Lycopolis with the bare title of bishop and sets terms for receiving the clergy he had ordained. ### Greek text Ἐξετασθέντων δὲ καὶ τῶν κατὰ Μελίτιον ἀνὰ τὴν Αἴγυπτον συμβάντων, κατεδίκασεν αὐτὸν ἢ σύνοδος ἐν τῇ Λύχῳ διατρίδειν, Ψιλὸν ὄνομα ἐπισκοπῆς ἔχοντα " τοῦ δὲ λοιποῦ, μήτε ἐν πόλει, μήτε ἐν χώμῃη χειροτονεῖν. τοὺς δὲ ἤδη παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ καταστάντα:, κοινωνεῖν καὶ λειτουργεῖν " δευτερεύειν δὲ ταῖς τιμαῖς τῶν ἐν ἐχάστῃ ἐκκλησίᾳ παροικίᾳ κληρικῶν Ἐπαναθαίνειν δὲ ταῖς τάξεσι τῶν προτελευτώντων, εἰ Ψήφῳ τοῦ πλήθους ἄξιοι φανοῖεν, ἐπιχειροτονοῦντος τοῦ ἐπισκόπου τῆς ᾿Αλεξανδρέων ᾿Ἐχχλησίσας" μὴ ἐξ: εἶναι δὲ αὑτοῖς ἐπιλέγεσθαι κατὰ γνώμην ἰδίαν, οὖς ἂν ἐθέλωσιν. Ἐφάνη δὲ τοῦτο τῇ συνόδῳ δίκαιον, λογιζομένῃ τὸ προπετὲς ἕτοιμον εἰς χειροτονίαν οἱ : Μιελιτίου τῶν τὰ αὐτὰ φρονούντων" ὥστε Πέτρου τοῦ μαρτυρήσαντος, ἡνίκα ἡγεῖτο τῆς ᾿Άλεξανδρέων ᾿Εκκλησίας, φεύγοντος διὰ τὸν τότε διωγμὸν,. τὰς διαφερούσας αὐτῷ χειροτονίας ὑφήῤποσε. ### English translation (Claude) When the events concerning Melitius in Egypt had also been examined, the synod sentenced him to remain in Lycus, holding the bare name of bishop, and thereafter to ordain no one either in city or in village. Those already appointed by him were to be in communion and to minister, but to take second place in honour to the clergy in each church and parish. They might succeed to the ranks of those who died before them, if they were found worthy by the vote of the people, the bishop of the church of Alexandria confirming the ordination; but they were not permitted to choose whomever they wished by their own judgment. This seemed just to the synod, considering the rashness and readiness of Melitius and those of the same opinion in ordaining; for while Peter, who was martyred, was leading the church of Alexandria and had fled because of the persecution of that time, Melitius had usurped the ordinations that belonged to him. ### Extrabiblical texts - Conc. Nic. Ep. (Synodal Letter of the Council of Nicaea to the Church of Alexandria): allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Lycus is Lycopolis in Upper Egypt. Sozomen summarizes the synodal letter of Nicaea to the Egyptians. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 1.24 (PG 67:927; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/1-24). ## Church History 1.25 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/1-25/#p-1-25 - Source: PG 67:927–929 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Constantine feasts the bishops at his twentieth anniversary, urges them to unity, and writes to the churches, especially Alexandria, commending the council's faith as the mind of God. ### Greek text Τούτων ὧδε δοξάντων τῇ συνόδῳ, ξυνηνέχθη κατὰ ( ταυτὸν ἑορτὴν εἶναι εἰκοσαετηρίδα τῆς Κωνσταντίνου. βασιλείας. Ἔθος δὲ Ῥωμαίοις, δημοτελῇ πανήγυἄγειν καθ᾽ ἑκάστην δεκάδα ἐτῶν τῆς τοῦ κρατοῦντος ἀρχῆς. Εὔκαιρον οὖν εἶναι νομίσας ὁ σιλεὺς, προετρέψατό τε τὴν σύνοδον εἰς ἐστίατιν, καὶ τοῖς προσήκουσι δώροις ἐτίμησεν. Ἐπεὶ δὲ οἴκαδε ἐπανιέναι παρεσχενάσαντο, συγκαλέσας πάντὰς, συνεθούλευδεν ὁμονοεῖν περὶ τὴν πίστιν, τῆς πρὸς σφᾶς αὑτοὺς εἰρήνης ἔχεσθαι, ὡς ἂν ἀστασίαπτοι τοῦ λοιποῦ διαμένοιεν. Καὶ πολὺν περὶ τούτου λόγον διεξελθὼν, τὸ τελευταῖον ἐκέλευσεν ὑπὲρ ἑαντοῦ, καὶ πᾶίδων, βασιλείας εὔχεσθαι σπουδαίως, τὸν Θεὸν ἱκετεύειν ἑχάστυτε. Καὶ πρὸς μὲν τοὺς τότε ἀφικομένους πρὸς Νίκαιαν τοιαῦτα εἰπὼν, συνετάξατο. Δῆλα δὲ ποιῶν καὶ τοῖς μὴ παροῦσι Ὁ νὰ ἐν τῇ συνόδῳ χατωρθωμένα, γράμματα πέπομφε ταῖς κατὰ πόλιν Ἐκκλησίαις. Τῇ δὲ ᾿Αλεξανδρέων ἰδίᾳ ἕτερα παρὰ ταῦτα, προτρέπων πάσης ἀφεμένους διχονοίας ὁμονοῆσαι περὶ τὴν ἐκτεθεῖσαν παρὰ τῆς συνόδου πίστιν. Μηδὲν γὰρ ἕτερον εἶναι, ἢ ταύτην Θεοῦ γνώμην, ἐκ συμφωνίας τηλικούτων καὶ τοσούτων ἀρχιερέων ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι συστᾶσαν, μετά ζήτησιν ἀκριβῆ καὶ βάσανον πάντων τῶν ἀμφιβόλων δοκιμασθεῖσαν. ### English translation (Claude) When the synod had decided these things, it happened that at the same time there was the festival of the twentieth year of Constantine's reign. It is the Roman custom to hold a public festival every ten years of the ruler's reign. Thinking it a fitting occasion, the emperor invited the synod to a banquet and honoured them with suitable gifts. When they were preparing to return home, he called them all together and advised them to be of one mind about the faith and to hold to peace among themselves, so that they might remain free of strife thereafter. After speaking at length on this, he finally bade them pray earnestly for himself, his children and the empire, and entreat God continually. Having said this to those who had come to Nicaea, he took leave of them. To make known to those who were absent what had been accomplished at the synod, he sent letters to the churches in the cities, and in particular other letters besides these to the church of Alexandria, urging them to lay aside all dissension and to agree about the faith set forth by the synod. For this, he said, was nothing other than the mind of God, established by the Holy Spirit through the agreement of so many and such great high priests, and approved after exact inquiry and testing of all doubtful points. ### Extrabiblical texts - Eusebius, Vit. Const. 3.15-20 (Life of Constantine): allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Constantine's letters are given in Eusebius, Life of Constantine 3.17–20, and Socrates, Church History 1.9. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 1.25 (PG 67:927–929; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/1-25). ## Church History 2.1 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/1-25/#p-2-1 - Source: PG 67:929–933 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: After Nicaea Constantine builds a church at Golgotha; Helena comes to Jerusalem, the tomb and three crosses are uncovered beneath a temple of Aphrodite, and the true cross is identified by the healing of a dying woman. ### Greek text Τὰ μὲν δὴ κατὰ Νίκαιαν, μέχρι τούτου τέλος ἔσχε· καὶ τῶν ἱερέων ἕκαστος οἴκαδε ἐπανῆλθον. Ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς ἔχαιρεν ὑπερφυῶς, συμφωνοῦσαν ὁρῶν περὶ τὸ δόγμα τὴν καθόλου Ἐκκλησίαν· χαριστήριά τε ἀνατιθεὶς τῷ Θεῷ ὑπὲρ τῆς ὁμονοίας τῶν ἐπισκόπων, ὑπέρ τε αὐτοῦ καὶ παίδων καὶ τῆς βασιλείας, ψήθη δεῖν οἶκον εὐκτήριον τῷ Θεῷ κατασκευάσαι ἐν Ἱεροσολύμοις, ἀμφὶ τὸν καλούμενον Κρανίου τόπον. Περὶ δὲ τὸν αὐτὸν χρόνον, καὶ Ἑλένη ἡ αὐτοῦ μήτηρ ἧκεν εἰς Ἱεροσόλυμα, εὔξασθαί τε, καὶ τοὺς ἐνταῦθα ἱεροὺς ἱστορῆσαι τόπους. Εὐλαβῶς δὲ περὶ τὸ δόγμα τῶν Χριστιανῶν διακειμένη, περὶ πολλοῦ ἐποιεῖτο τοῦ σεβασμίου σταυροῦ τὸ ξύλον εὑρεῖν. Ἧν δὲ οὔτε τούτου, οὔτε τοῦ θεσπεσίου τάφου ἡ εὔρεσις ῥᾳδία. Οἱ γὰρ πάλαι τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν διώξαντες Ἕλληνες, ἔτι φύεσθαι ἀρχομένην τὴν θρησκείαν πάσῃ μηχανῇ σπουδάσαντες ἐκτεμεῖν, ὑπὸ πολλῷ χώματι τὸν τῇδε τόπον κατέκρυψαν, καὶ εἰς ὕψος ἤγειραν βαθύτερον ὑπάρχοντα, ὡς καὶ νῦν φαίνεται. Περιλαβόντες δὲ πέριξ πάντα τὸν τῆς ἀναστάσεως χῶρον καὶ τοῦ Κρανίου, διεκόσμησαν, καὶ λίθῳ τὴν ἐπιφάνειαν κατέστρωσαν· καὶ ᾿Αφροδίτης ναὸν κατεσκεύασαν, καὶ ζῴδιον ἱδρύσαντο· ὥστε τοὺς αὐτόθι τὸν Χριστὸν προσκυνοῦντας, δόξαι τὴν ᾿Αφροδίτην σέβειν · καὶ τῷ χρόνῳ εἰς λήθην ἐλθεῖν τὴν ἀληθῆ αἰτίαν τοῦ περὶ τὸν τόπον σεβάσματος, μήτε τῶν Χριστιανῶν ἀδεῶς εἰς τοῦτο φοιτᾷν, ἢ ἑτέροις καταμηνύειν τολμώντων, καὶ τούναντίον πιστουμένου τοῦ Ἑλληνικοῦ ναοῦ καὶ τοῦ ἀγάλματος. Ἐγένετό γε μὴν δῆλος ὁ τόπος, καὶ ἐφωράθη ἡ σπουδασθεῖσα περὶ αὐτὸν πλάνη· ὡς μὲν τινὲς λέγουσιν, ἀνδρὸς Ἑβραίου τῶν ἀνὰ τὴν Εω οἰκούντων, ἐκ πατρώας γραφῆς καταμηνύσαντος· ὡς δὲ ἀληθέστερον ἐννοεῖν ἔστι, τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐπιδείξαντος διὰ σημείων καὶ ὀνειράτων. Οὐ γὰρ οἶμαι τὰ θεῖα δεῖσθαι τῆς παρ᾿ ἀνθρώπων μηνύσεως, ἡνίκα ἂν δῆλα αὐτὰ τῷ Θεῷ δοκῇ γενέσθαι. Τηνικαῦτα οὖν κατὰ πρόσταξιν τοῦ βασιλέως, τοῦ τῇδε χώρου καθαρθέντος εἰς βάθος, ἐν μέρει τὸ τῆς ἀναστάσεως ἐφάνη ἄντρον. Ἑτέρωθι δὲ περὶ τὸν αὐτὸν τόπον τρεῖς εὐρέθησαν σταυροί· καὶ χωρὶς ἄλλο ξύλον ἐν τάξει λευκώματος ῥήμασι καὶ γράμμασιν Ἑβραῖκοῖς, Ἑλληνικοῖς τε καὶ Ῥωμαϊκοῖς, τὰ δηλοῦντα Ἰησοῦς ὁ Ναζωραῖος, ὁ βασιλεὺς τῶν Ἰουδαίων. Καὶ ταῦτα μὲν, ὡς ἡ ἱερὰ βίβλος τῶν Εὐαγγελίων ἱστορεῖ, οὕτω συνέβη προγραφῆναι ὑπὲρ κεφαλῆς τοῦ Χριστοῦ, Πιλάτου τοῦτο προστάξαντος, τοῦ τὴν Ἰουδαίαν ἐπιτροπεύοντος. Ἐργώδης δὲ ἔτι ἐτύγχανεν ἡ τοῦ θείου σταυροῦ διάκρισις, εἰ καὶ εὑρέθη, διερ ῥυηκότος αὐτοῦ τοῦ γράμματος, καὶ διεῤῥιμμένου. ἅμα δὲ καὶ τῶν τριῶν σταυρῶν χύδην διεσπαρμένων, ὥς γε εἰκὸς, ἐν τῇ καθαιρέσει τῶν σταυρωθέντων σωμάτων συγχυθείσης τῆς τάξεως. Ἐπεὶ γὰρ οἱ στρατιῶται νεκρὸν ἐν τῷ ξύλῳ εὑρήκασι, καθελόντες αὐτὸν, πρῶτον ἀπέδοντο εἰς ταφὴν, κατὰ τὴν ἱστορίαν. Μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα τῶν ἑκατέρωθεν λῃστῶν ταχύ· ναντες τὸν θάνατον, τὰ σκέλη κατέαξαν, καὶ τὰ ξύλα ὅπη ἔτυχεν, ἄλλο ἄλλῃ ἔρριψαν. Τί γὰρ καὶ ἐπιμελὲς αὐτοῖς, ἐν τῇ προτέρᾳ τάξει ταῦτα ἐᾶν, ἑκάστου φθάσαι τὴν ἑσπέραν σπουδάζοντος, καὶ ἀνδρῶν βία τετελευτηκότων, περὶ σταυροὺς ἐνδιατρίβειν οὐκ ἀγαθὸν ἡγουμένου. Ταύτῃ οὖν ἀδήλου τυγχάνοντος ἔτι τοῦ θείου ξύλου, καὶ θειοτέρας, ἢ κατὰ ἄνθρωπον δεομένου μηνύσεως, τοιόνδε τι συνέβη. Γυνή τις ἦν ἐν Ἱεροσολύμοις τῶν ἐπισήμων, χαλεπωτάτῳ καὶ ἀνιάτῳ νόσῳ κάμνουσα. Πρὸς ταύτην κειμένην ἦλθς Μακάριος ὁ Ἱεροσολύμων ἐπίσκοπος, παραλαβὼν τὴν τοῦ βασιλέως μητέρα καὶ τοὺς ἀμφ' αὐτόν. Εὐξάμενός τε πρότερον, καὶ σύμβολον τάξας τοῖς ὁρῶσιν, ἐκεῖνον εἶναι τὸν θεῖον σταυρὸν, ὃς ἐπιτιθεὶς ἀπαλλάξει τῆς νόσου τὴν γυναῖκα, φέρων ἕκαστον αὐτῇ τῶν ξύλων προσήγαγεν. ᾿Αλλὰ τῶν μὲν δύο ἐπιτεθέν· των, οὐδὲν ὅτι μὴ λῆρος καὶ γέλως ἔδοξεν εἶναι τὸ γινόμενον, θανάτου ἐν θύραις ὄντος τοῦ γυναίου. Ἐπεὶ δὲ τὸ τρίτον ξύλον ὁμοίως προσήνεγκεν, ἐξαπίνης ἀνέβλεψε, καὶ τὰς δυνάμεις ἀθροίσασα, παραχρῆμα τῆς στρωμνῆς ὑγιὴς ἀπεπήδησε. Λέγεται δὲ καὶ νεκρὸν τῷ ἴσῳ τρόπῳ ἀναβιῶναι. Τοῦ δὲ εὐρεθέντος θεσπεσίου ξύλου, τὸ μὲν πλεῖστον ἐν ἀργυρᾷ θήκη μένον ἔτι καὶ νῦν ἐν Ἱεροσολύμοις φυλάττεται. Μέρος δὲ ἡ βασιλὶς πρὸς Κωνσταντῖνον τὸν παῖδα διεκόμισεν· οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς ἤλους οἷς τὸ σῶμα τοῦ Χριστοῦ διαπεπερόνητο. Ἐκ τούτων δὲ ἱστοροῦσι, περικεφαλαίαν τὸν βασιλέα κατασκευάσαι, καὶ χαλινὸν ἴππου, κατὰ τὴν Ζαχαρίου προφητείαν, ᾧ δὴ προείρηται, ὡς Ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος καιροῦ, ἔσται τὸ ἐπὶ τὸν χαλινὸν τοῦ ἵππου ἅγιον τῷ Κυρίῳ παντοκράτορι. Ὧδε γὰρ αὐταῖς λέξεσιν ὁ προφήτης φησί. Ταῦτα πάλαι μὲν ἔγνωστο καὶ προείρητο τοῖς ἱεροῖς προφήταις· εἰς ὕστερον δὲ διὰ θαυμασίων ἐβεβαιοῦτο τῶν ἔργων, ὅτε ἐν καιρῷ δοκοῦν εἶναι τῷ Θεῷ κατεφαίνετο. Καὶ θαυμαστὸν οὔπω τοσοῦτον, ὅπου γε καὶ πρὸς αὐτῶν τῶν Ἑλλήνων συνωμολόγηται, Σιβύλλης εἶναι τοῦτο, Ὦ ξύλον ὦ μακαριστὸν, ἐφ᾽ οὗ Θεὸς ἐξετανύσθη! Τοῦτο γὰρ καὶ σπουδάζων τις ἐναντίος εἶναι, οὐκ ἂν ἀρνηθείη. Προὐσήμαινεν οὖν τὸ τοῦ σταυροῦ ξύλον, καὶ τὸ περὶ αὐτοῦ σέβας. Τάδε μὲν ἡμῖν ὡς παρειλήφαμεν ἱστόρηται, ἀνδρῶν τε ἀκριβῶς ἐπισταμένων ἀκούσασιν, εἰς οὓς ἐκ διαδοχῆς πατέρων εἰς παῖδας τὸ μανθάνειν παρεγένετο, καὶ ὅσοι γε αὐτὰ συγγράψαντες, ὡς δυνάμεως εἶχον, τοῖς ἔπειτα καταλελοίπασιν. ### English translation (Claude) So the affairs at Nicaea came to this end, and each of the priests returned home. The emperor rejoiced exceedingly, seeing the catholic church in agreement on doctrine; and offering thanks to God for the concord of the bishops, for himself, his children and the empire, he thought he should build a house of prayer to God in Jerusalem, near what is called the place of the Skull. About the same time his mother Helena came to Jerusalem to pray and to visit the holy places there. Being devoutly disposed toward the doctrine of the Christians, she made it a great concern to find the wood of the venerable cross. But it was not easy to find either it or the godly tomb. For the pagans who formerly persecuted the church, eager by every device to cut off the religion while it was still beginning to grow, had hidden the place under a great mound of earth and raised it high, though it had been lower, as can still be seen. They enclosed the whole area of the resurrection and of the Skull, adorned it, paved the surface with stone, built a temple of Aphrodite and set up an image, so that those who worshipped Christ there would seem to honour Aphrodite, and in time the true reason for the reverence paid to the place would be forgotten, since Christians did not dare to go there freely or to point it out to others, while the pagan temple and statue were gaining credit. Yet the place became known and the deception contrived about it was detected: as some say, because a Hebrew who lived in the East revealed it from writings handed down from his fathers; but as it is truer to think, because God showed it by signs and dreams. For I do not think that divine things need to be revealed by men, when God sees fit to make them known. At that time, then, by the emperor's command, the area was cleared to a depth, and in one part the cave of the resurrection appeared. Elsewhere, near the same place, three crosses were found, and apart from them another piece of wood, like a whitened board, bearing in Hebrew, Greek and Roman letters the words, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” As the sacred book of the Gospels relates, this had been written above Christ's head by order of Pilate, who governed Judea. But it was still difficult to distinguish the divine cross, even though it had been found, since the inscription had been torn off and thrown aside, and the three crosses were scattered about at random, the order, naturally, having been confused when the crucified bodies were taken down. For when the soldiers found him already dead on the wood, they took him down and gave him up first for burial, according to the account. After that, hastening the death of the robbers on either side, they broke their legs, and threw the pieces of wood one here, one there, wherever it happened. Why would they take care to leave them in their former order, when each was eager to finish before evening and thought it no good thing to linger near the crosses of men who had died by violence? Since the divine wood was thus still unknown and needed a revelation more divine than human, the following happened. There was in Jerusalem a woman of rank who was suffering from a very severe and incurable disease. Macarius, bishop of Jerusalem, came to her as she lay ill, bringing with him the emperor's mother and those about her. He first prayed, and gave those who were watching a sign: that cross would be the divine one which, when laid on the woman, would free her from her disease. Then he brought each piece of wood and applied it to her. When two had been laid on her, what was happening seemed nothing but nonsense and a joke, for the woman was at death's door. But when he brought the third piece of wood in the same way, she suddenly opened her eyes, gathered her strength, and at once sprang up healthy from her bed. It is said that a dead man was also restored to life in the same way. Of the godly wood that was found, the greater part, kept in a silver case, is still guarded in Jerusalem to this day. The empress took a part to her son Constantine, and also the nails with which the body of Christ had been pierced. From these, they relate, the emperor made a helmet and a horse's bridle, according to the prophecy of Zechariah, which foretold: “At the present time, what is on the bridle of the horse shall be holy to the Lord Almighty.” For so the prophet says in these words. These things had long been known and foretold by the sacred prophets, but were confirmed later by wonderful works, when they appeared at the time God thought fit. Nor is this so very wonderful, since even the pagans themselves agree that this line is the Sibyl's: “O most blessed wood, on which God was stretched out!” Not even someone eager to oppose it could deny this. So the wood of the cross was foretold, and the veneration paid to it. We have related these things as we received them, having heard them from men who knew them exactly, to whom the knowledge came by succession from fathers to sons, and from those who wrote them down, as far as they were able, and left them to those who came after. ### Scripture references - Matt 27:33: allusion, medium confidence - John 19:19: quotation, high confidence - John 19:20: allusion, high confidence - John 19:32: allusion, high confidence - John 19:33: allusion, high confidence - Zech 14:20: quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Sib. Or. 6.26 (Sibylline Oracles): quotation, high confidence - Eusebius, Vit. Const. 3.25-28 (Life of Constantine): allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The inscription on the cross: John 19:19–20. The breaking of the robbers' legs: John 19:32–33. The prophecy is Zech 14:20 in the Septuagint (“in that day, what is on the bridle of the horse shall be holy to the Lord Almighty”), quoted with “at the present time” for “in that day.” The Sibylline line is Sibylline Oracles 6.26. The finding of the cross is also told by Rufinus (Church History 10.7–8) and Socrates (1.17); Eusebius's Life of Constantine (3.26–28) tells of the uncovering of the tomb but not of the cross. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 2.1 (PG 67:929–933; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/2-1). ## Church History 2.2 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/1-25/#p-2-2 - Source: PG 67:933–935 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Helena builds churches at Bethlehem and on the Mount of Olives, serves consecrated virgins at table, gives generously throughout the East, and dies honoured, about eighty years old. ### Greek text Ἀμφὶ δὲ τοῦτον τὸν χρόνον, προθέμενος ὁ βασιλεὺς ναὸν ἐγεῖραι τῷ Θεῷ, προσέταξε τοῖς τῇδε ἄρχουσι, προνοεῖν ὡς ἂν μάλιστα μεγαλοφυὲς καὶ πολυτελὲς ἀποδειχθείη τὸ ἔργον. Ἐν μέρει δὲ καὶ Ἑλένη ἡ αὐτοῦ μήτηρ, δύο ναοὺς ᾠκοδόμησε, τὸν μὲν ἐν Βηθλεὲμ, ἀμφὶ τὸ τῆς γεννήσεως Χριστοῦ σπήλαιον τὸν δὲ, πρὸς ταῖς ἀκρωρείαις τοῦ ὄρους τῶν Ἑλαιῶν, ὅθεν ἐπὶ τὸν οὐρανὸν ἀνελήφθη. Ταύτης δὲ πολλὰ μὲν καὶ ἄλλα δείκνυσι τὴν εὐσέβειαν καὶ εὐλάβειαν· οὐχ ἥκιστα δὲ καὶ τόδε. Λέγεται γὰρ αὐτὴν τότε ἐν Ἱεροσολύμοις διατρίβουσαν, συγκαλέσαι πρὸς ἐστίασιν τὰς ἱερὰς παρθένους, καὶ ὑπηρέτιν γενέσθαι περὶ τὸ ῥεῖπνον, παρατιθεῖσαν τὰ ὄψα, και ὕδωρ ταῖς χερσὶν ἐπιχέουσαν, καὶ τ᾽ ἄλλα ποιοῦσαν, ἃ θέμις διακονεῖσθαι τοὺς τῶν δαιτυμόνων θεράποντας. Τηνικαῦτα δὲ τὰς πόλεις τῆς περιϊοῦσα, τὰς μὲν κατὰ πόλιν ἐκκλησίας ἀναθήμασ! τοῖς προσήχουσιν ἐτίμησε πολλοὺς δὲ οὐσιῶν ἐχπεπτωχότας, πλουσίους ἐποίησε " πενομένοις δὲ τὰ ἐπιτήδεια ἀφθόνως διένειμε τοὺς χρονίων δεσμῶν καὶ ὑπερορίας φυγῆς καὶ μετάλλων ἠλευθέρωσε. μοι δοκεῖ τούτων ἀξίως ἀπειληφέναι τὰς ἀμοιδάς. Τὴν μὲν γὰρ ἐνταῦθα βιοτὴν, ὡς οὐ πλέον ἐνεδέχετο, λαμπρῶς καὶ λίαν ἐπισήμως διήνυσε" σεθαστὴ τεἀνεχηρύχθη, καὶ εἰχόνι ἰδίᾳ χρυσοῦν νόμισμα κατεσήμανε βασιλικῶν θησαυρῶν ἐξουσίαν παρὰ τοῦ παιδὸς λαβοῦσα, κατὰ γνώμην ἐχρῆτο. Ἐπειδη δὲ ἔδει τὸν τῇδε καταλιπεῖν βίον, εὐκλεῶς ἐτελεύτησει" ἔτη μὲν ἀμφὶ τὰ ὀγδοήκοντα γεγονυῖα, τὸν παῖδα καταλιποῦσα ἅμα Καίσαρσιν αὐτῆς ἐχγόνοις, πάσης : τῆς Ῥωμαίων οἰκουμένης ἡγούμενον. Εἰ δέ τίς ἔστι τούτων ὄνησις, οὐδὲ τελευτήσασαν ἡ λήθη ἐχάλυἔχει δὲ αὐτῆς διηνεχοῦς μνήμης ἐνέχυρον ὁ μέλλων αἰὼν, τὴν ἐπὶ Βιθυνίας πόλιν ", καὶ ἑτέραν παρὰ Παλαιστινοῖς, ἀπ᾿ αὐτῆς λαδούσας τὴν προσηγορίαν. Ταῦτα μὲν ἡμῖν ὧδε περὶ Ἑλένης εἰρήσθω ### English translation (Claude) About this time the emperor, having resolved to raise a church to God, ordered the governors there to see that the work should be made as magnificent and costly as possible. His mother Helena for her part built two churches, one at Bethlehem by the cave of Christ's birth, and the other on the summit of the Mount of Olives, from which he was taken up into heaven. Many other things show her piety and reverence, and not least this. It is said that while she was staying at Jerusalem at that time she invited the holy virgins to a banquet and became their servant at the meal, setting the dishes before them, pouring water on their hands, and doing the other things that it is customary for the servants of guests to do. Then, going round the cities of the East, she honoured the churches in each city with fitting gifts; she made rich many who had fallen from their property; she distributed necessities generously to the poor; and she freed people from long imprisonment, from exile beyond the frontiers, and from the mines. And it seems to me that she received a worthy reward for these things. For she passed her life here as splendidly and as illustriously as was possible: she was proclaimed Augusta, she stamped gold coin with her own image, and she received from her son authority over the imperial treasuries and used them as she wished. When she had to leave this life, she died gloriously, about eighty years old, leaving her son, together with the Caesars, her grandsons, rulers of the whole Roman world. And if there is any benefit in such things, oblivion did not cover her even in death; for future ages hold a pledge of her lasting memory in the city in Bithynia, and another among the Palestinians, which took their names from her. Let this be what we have to say about Helena. ### Scripture references - Acts 1:12: allusion, low confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Eusebius, Vit. Const. 3.41-47 (Life of Constantine): allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The cities named after Helena are Helenopolis in Bithynia (Drepanum) and Helenopolis in Palestine. The scan has lost the end of the word ἐκάλυψεν (“covered”) and a few letters elsewhere; the sense is clear. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 2.2 (PG 67:933–935; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/2-2). ## Church History 2.3 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/1-25/#p-2-3 - Source: PG 67:935–941 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Constantine founds Constantinople as a new Rome free of pagan worship and adorns it with churches, among them the Michaelion, where Sozomen and others report healings and visions. ### Greek text δὲ βασιλεὺς ἀεΐ τι πονῶν, εἰς εὐσέβειαν συνετέλει, καὶ πανταχοῦ περιχαλλεστάτους ναοὺς ἀνίστη τῷ Θεῷ. Διαφερόντως δὲ ἐν ταῖς μητροπόλεσιν, ὡς ἐπὶ τῆς Νικομηδείας τῆς Βιθυνῶν, ᾿Αντιοχείας τῆς παρὰ τὸν ῤῥόντην ποταμὸν, καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς Βυζαντίων πόλεως, ἣν ἴσα Ῥώμῃ κρατεῖν καὶ κοινωνεῖν αὐτῇ τῆς ἀρχῆς κατεστήσατο. ᾿Επεὶ γὰρ κατὰ γνώμην αὐτῷ πάντα προὐχώρει, κατώρθωτο δὲ τὰ τοὺς ἀλλοφύλους πολέμοις σπονδαῖς, ἔγνωκεν οἰκίσαι πόλιν ὁμώνυμον ἑαυτῷ, τῇ Ῥώμῃ ὁμότιμον. Καταλαβὼν τὸ πρὸ τοῦ Ἰλίου πεδίον, παρὰ τὸν Ἑλλήσποντον ὑπὲρ τὸν Αἴαντος τάφον, οὗ δὴ λέγεται τὸν ναύσταθμον καὶ τὰς σκηνὰς ἐσχηκέναι τοὺς ἐπὶ Τροίαν τότε στρατευσαμένους Αχαιούς, ἴαν ἐχρῆν καὶ ὅσην τὴν πόλιν διέγραψε · καὶ πύλας κατεσκεύασεν ἐν περιωπῇ, αἳ δὴ νῦν ἔτι ἀπὸ θαλάσσης φαίνονται τοῖς παραπλέουσι. Ταῦτὰ δὲ αὐτῷ πονοῦντι, νύκτωρ ἐπιφανεὶς ὁ Θεὸς, ἔχρησεν ἕτερον ἐπιζητεῖν τόπον. Καὶ κινήσας αὐτὸν εἰς τὸ Βυζάντιον τῆς Θράκης, πέραν Χαλκηδόνος τῆς Βιθυνῶν, ταύτην αὐτῷ οἰκίζειν ἀπέφηνε πόλιν, καὶ τῆς Κωνσταντίνου ἐπωνυμίας ἀξίαν. Ὁ δὲ, τοῖς τοῦ Θεοῦ λόγοις πεισθεὶς, τὴν πρὶν Βυζάντιον προσαγορευομένην εἰς εὐρυχωρίαν ἐκτείνας, μεγίστοις τείχεσι περιέβαλεν. Ἐπεὶ δὲ τοὺς αὐτόχθονας οὐχ ἱκανοὺς ἐνόμισεν πολίτας τῷ μεγέθει τῆς πόλεως, μεγίστας οἰκίας ἀνὰ τὰς ἀγυιὰς σποράδην οἰκοδομήσας, ἄνδρας ἐν λόγῳ σὺν τοῖς οἰκείοις δεσπότας ποιήσας, ἐν ταύταις κατώκισε· τοὺς μὲν ἐκ τῆς πρεσβυτέρας Ρώμης, τοὺς δὲ ἐξ ἑτέρων ἐθνῶν μετακαλεσάμενος. Φόρους δὲ τάξας, τοὺς μὲν εἰς οἰκοδομὰς καὶ κάλλη τῆς πόλεως, τοὺς δὲ εἰς ἀποτροφὴν τῶν πολιτῶν, ἅπασί τε τοῖς ἄλλοις τὰ περὶ τὴν πόλιν διαθεὶς, ἱπποδρόμῳ τε καὶ κρήναις καὶ στοαῖς καὶ λοιποῖς οἰκοδομήμασι φιλοτίμως κοσμήσας, νέαν Ῥώμην Κωνσταντινούπολιν ὠνόμασε · καὶ βασιλίδα κατέστησε τῶν ὅσοι τὴν Ῥωμαίων ὑπήκοον γῆν οἰκοῦσι πρὸς ἄρκτον καὶ νότον καὶ ἥλιον ἀνίσχοντα, καὶ τὰ ἐν μέσῳ πελάγη, ἐκ τῶν παρὰ τὸν Ἴστρον πόλεων, καὶ Ἐπιδάμνου, τῶν πρὸς τῷ Ἰονίῳ κόλπῳ, μέχρι Κυρήνης καὶ τῶν τῇδε Λιβύων παρὰ τὸ Βόρειον καλούμενον. Βουλευτήριόν σατο, τὰς αὐτὰς τάξας τιμὰς καὶ ἱερομηνίας, ᾗ καὶ Ῥωμαίοις τοῖς πρεσβυτέροις ἔθος. Ἐν πᾶσι δὲ δεῖξαι σπουδάσας ἐφάμιλλον τῇ παρὰ Ἰταλοῖς Ῥώμῃ τὴν ὁμώνυμον αὐτοῦ πόλιν, οὐ διήμαρτεν. Εἰς τοσοῦτον γὰρ, σὺν Θεῷ φᾶναι, ἐπέδωκεν, ὡς καὶ τοῖς σώμασι καὶ τοῖς χρήμασι μείζονα συνομολογεῖσθαι. Τούτου δὲ πρόφασιν ἡγοῦμαι, τὸ τοῦ οἰκιστῆρος καὶ τὸ τῆς πόλεως θεοφιλές, καὶ τῶν οἰκητόρων τὸν περὶ τοὺς ἐνδεεῖς ἔλεον καὶ φιλοτιμίαν. Εἰς τοσοῦτον γὰρ τῆς εἰς Χριστὸν πίστεως ἐπαγωγός ἐστιν, ὡς πολλοὺς μὲν Ἰουδαίους, Ἕλληνας δὲ σχεδὸν ἅπαντας αὐτόθι Χριστιανίζειν. ᾿Αρξαμένη δὲ βασιλεύειν καθ' ὂν συν έβη χρόνον καὶ τὴν θρησκείαν εἰς πλῆθος ἐπιδιδόναι, οὔτε βωμῶν, οὔτε Ἑλληνικῶν ναῶν ἢ θυσιῶν ἐπει τε μέγα, ἣν σύγκλητον ὀνομάζουσιν, ἕτερον συνεστήράθη, πλὴν ὅσον παρὰ Ἰουλιανοῦ τοῦ βασιλεύσαντος ὕστερον πρὸς ὀλίγον ἐπεχειρήθη, καὶ αὐτίκα ἀπέσβη. Ταύτην μὲν οὖν ὡσεί τινα νεοπαγή Χριστοῦ πόλιν καὶ ὁμώνυμον ἑαυτῷ γεραίρων Κωνσταντῖνος, πολλοῖς καὶ μεγίστοις ἐκόσμησεν εὐκτηρίοις οἴκοις. Συνελαμβάνετο δὲ καὶ τὸ Θεῖον τῇ προθυμίᾳ τοῦ βασιλέως, καὶ ταῖς ἐπιφανείαις ἐπιστοῦτο ἁγίους καὶ σωτηρίους εἶναι τοὺς ἀνὰ τὴν πόλιν εὐκτηρίους οἴκους. Ἐπισημότατον δὲ μάλιστα ξένοις τε καὶ ἀστοῖς ἐξ ἐκείνου γενέσθαι συνωμολόγηται τὴν ἐν ταῖς Ἑστίαις ποτὲ καλουμέναις ἐκκλησίαν. Τόπος δὲ οὗτος ὁ νῦν Μιχαήλιον ὀνομαζόμενος, ἐν δεξιᾷ καταπλέοντι ἐκ Πόντου εἰς Κωνσταντινούπολιν· διεστώς αὐτῆς πλωτῆρι μὲν, ἀμφὶ τριάκοντα καὶ πέντε στάδια · ἑβδομήκοντα δὲ καὶ πρὸς, κύκλῳ περιοδεύοντι τὸν διὰ μέσου πορθμόν. Ἔλαχε δὲ τὸ χωρίον τοῦτο τὴν νυνὶ κρατοῦσαν προσηγορίαν, καθότι πεπίστευται ἐνθάδε ἐπιφαίνεσθαι Μιχαὴλ τὸν θεῖον ἀρχάγγελον. Τοῦτο δὲ κἀγὼ εὐηργετημένος τὰ μέγιστα ἀληθὲς εἶναι σύμφημι. Δεικνύει δὲ τοῦθ᾽ οὕτως ἔχειν, καὶ ἀπὸ πολλῶν ἄλλων ἡ τῶν πραγμάτων πεῖρα. Οἱ μὲν γὰρ περιπετείαις δειναῖς ἢ κινδύνοις ἀφύκτοις, οἱ δὲ νόσοις ἢ πάθεσιν ἀγνώστοις περιπεσόντες, εὐξάμενοι ἐνταῦθα τῷ Θεῷ, ἀπαλλαγὴν εὐρήκασιν τῶν συμφορῶν. Ἀλλὰ τὰ μὲν καθ᾿ ἕκαστον, ὅπως συνέβη καὶ τίσι, μακρὸν ἂν εἴη λέγειν. Οἷον δὲ ᾿Ακυλίνῳ ὑπῆρξεν, ἀνδρὶ εἰσέτι νῦν ἡμῖν συνδιατρί - βοντι, καὶ ἐν τοῖς αὐτοῖς δικαστηρίοις δίκας ἀγορεύοντι, τὰ μὲν παρ' αὐτοῦ ἀκούσας, τὰ δὲ καὶ θεασάμενος, ἀναγκαίως ἐρῶ. Ἐπεὶ γὰρ λάβρος πυρετὸς ὑπὸ ξανθῆς χολῆς κινηθεὶς ἐπέλαβεν αὐτὸν, ἐπήλυτόν τι φάρμακον δεδώκασιν αὐτῷ πιεῖν οἱ ἰατροί· καὶ τοῦτο ἐξήμεσεν, ἅμα δὲ τῷ ἐμέτῳ ἐκχυθεῖσα ἡ χολή, πρὸς ὁμόχροον ἰδέαν ἔβαψε τὴν ἐπιφάνειαν · ἐκ τούτου δὲ πᾶν ὄψον καὶ ποτὸν ἐξήμει. · Ὡς δὲ ἐπὶ πολλῷ τῷ χρόνῳ τοῦτο ὑπέμεινε, μὴ ἠρεμούσης τε ἐν αὐτῷ τῆς τροφῆς, ἠπόρει πρὸς τὸ πάθος ἡ τῶν ἰατρῶν τέχνη. Καὶ ἤδη ἡμιθανὴς ὢν, παρεκελεύσατο τοῖς οἰκείοις φέρειν αὐτὸν εἰς τὸν εὐκτήριον οἶκον, ἰσχυρισάμενος ἢ αὐτόθι ἀποθανεῖσθαι, ἢ τῆς νόσου ἀπαλλαγήσεσθαι. Κειμένῳ δὲ ἐνθάδε, νύκτωρ ἐπιφανεῖσα θεία δύναμις, προσέταξε τὰ ἐσθιόμενα πόματι βάπτειν τοιούτῳ, ὅ σύνθετον ἐκ μέλιτος καὶ οἴνου καὶ πεπέρεως ἀναμιγνυμένων ἅμα, τὴν κατασκευὴν ἔχει. "Ο δὴ τῆς νόσου ἀπήλλαξε τὸν ἄνθρωπον· καίτοιγε τοῖς ἰατροῖς, κατὰ λόγον τῆς τέχνης, ἐναντίον ἐδόκει παθήμασι ξανθῆς χολῆς, πόμα τὸ θερμότατον. Ἐπυθόμην δὲ καὶ Προβιανὸν, ἄνδρα τῶν ἐν τοῖς βασιλείοις στρατευσαμένων ἰατρῶν, χαλεπῶς ὑπὸ πάθους ποδῶν ὀδυνώμενον, ἐνθάδε τῶν ἀλγηδόνων ἀπαλλαγῆναι, καὶ παραδόξου θείας ὄψεως ἀξιωθῆναι. Ἑλληνίζοντι γὰρ αὐτῷ ταπρῶτα, ἐπεὶ Χριστιανίζειν ἤρξατο, τὰ μὲν ἄλλα τοῦ δόγματος ἀμωσγέπως πιθανὰ ἐδόκει· τὸ δὲ τῶν πάντων σωτηρίας αἴτιον γενέσθαι τὸν θεῖον σταυρὸν, οὐ προσίετο. Ωδε δὲ ἔχοντι γνώμης θεία προφανεῖσα ὄψις ἔδειξέ τι σταυροῦ σύμβολον τῶν ἀνακειμένων τῷ θυσιαστηρίῳ τῆς ἐνθάδε ἐκκλησίας· καὶ διαῤῥήδην ἀπεφήνατο, ἀφ᾿ οὗ ἐσταυρώθη ὁ Χριστὸς, τῶν ὅσα γέγονεν ἐπ᾿ ὠφελείᾳ κοινῇ τοῦ ἀνθρωπείου γένους, ἢ ἰδίᾳ τινῶν, ἄνευ τῆς τοῦ σεβασμίου σταυροῦ δυνάμεως μηδὲν κατορθῶσαι, μήτε τοὺς θείους ἀγγέλους, μήτε τοὺς εὐσεβεῖς καὶ ἀγαθοὺς ἀνθρώπους. Ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν, ὅτι μὴ πάντα καταλέγειν καιρὸς, ἐξ ὧν ἔγνω συμβεβηκέναι ἐν τῷδε τῷ νεῷ, εἰπεῖν προήχθην. ### English translation (Claude) The emperor, always labouring at something, contributed to piety and raised most beautiful churches to God everywhere, especially in the chief cities, as at Nicomedia in Bithynia, at Antioch on the river Orontes, and at the city of Byzantium, which he made equal to Rome in power and a sharer in its rule. For when everything went as he wished, and his dealings with foreign peoples had been brought to success by wars and treaties, he decided to found a city bearing his own name and equal in honour to Rome. He took the plain before Ilium, by the Hellespont, above the tomb of Ajax, where the Achaeans who once made war on Troy are said to have had their anchorage and their tents, and he laid out the plan of the city, its shape and its size; and he built gates on a height, which are still seen from the sea by those sailing past. While he was at work on this, God appeared to him by night and bade him seek another place; and moving him to Byzantium in Thrace, across from Chalcedon in Bithynia, he showed him that he should build this city and that it was worthy to bear the name of Constantine. Obeying the words of God, he enlarged the city formerly called Byzantium to a wide extent and surrounded it with very great walls. Since he judged the native inhabitants too few to be citizens of so great a city, he built very large houses here and there along the streets and settled in them men of note, whom he summoned with their households, some from the elder Rome and some from other nations, and made them owners of the houses. He imposed taxes, some for the buildings and ornaments of the city, others for the maintenance of the citizens; and having arranged everything else about the city, and adorned it lavishly with a hippodrome, fountains, porticoes and other buildings, he named it New Rome, Constantinople, and made it the capital of all who inhabit the Roman lands to the north, to the south and to the east, and of the seas between, from the cities by the Ister and Epidamnus on the Ionian gulf as far as Cyrene and the part of Libya called Boreum. He established another great council, which they call the senate, and appointed the same honours and festivals as were customary for the Romans of the elder city. Eager to show his namesake city a rival in everything to Rome in Italy, he did not fail; for with God's help, it has grown so greatly that it is agreed to surpass Rome in population and in wealth. I think the reason for this is the godliness of its founder and of the city, and the compassion and generosity of its inhabitants toward the needy. It draws people so strongly to faith in Christ that many Jews and almost all pagans there become Christians. Since it began to rule at the time when religion was increasing in numbers, it has known neither altars nor pagan temples nor sacrifices, except for a brief attempt by Julian, who reigned later, which was soon quenched. Constantine honoured this city, as a newly founded city of Christ and his namesake, and adorned it with many very great houses of prayer. The Divine too assisted the emperor's zeal, and confirmed by manifestations that the houses of prayer in the city were holy and saving. It is agreed that the most famous of all, to strangers and citizens alike, has been from that time the church at the place once called Hestiae. This is the place now called the Michaelion, on the right as one sails from the Pontus to Constantinople, about thirty-five stades from the city by sea, and more than seventy going round the bay between. The place has received the name that now prevails because it is believed that Michael the divine archangel appears there. I too, having received very great benefits there, affirm that this is true. The experience of events shows it to be so from many other cases as well. Some who fell into terrible misfortunes or inescapable dangers, others into diseases or unknown afflictions, prayed to God there and found release from their troubles. It would be long to tell each case, how it happened and to whom; but I must tell what happened to Aquilinus, a man who still lives among us and pleads cases in the same courts as I do, partly as I heard it from him and partly as I saw it myself. When a violent fever caused by yellow bile seized him, the physicians gave him a medicine to drink, and he vomited it up; with the vomiting the bile poured out and stained his skin the same colour, and from then on he vomited every food and drink. When he had endured this for a long time and no food would stay in him, the physicians' art was at a loss before the disease. Being now half dead, he told his household to carry him to the house of prayer, declaring that he would either die there or be freed from his disease. As he lay there, a divine power appeared to him by night and ordered him to dip his food in a drink compounded of honey, wine and pepper mixed together. This freed the man from his disease, although to the physicians, according to the principles of their art, so very heating a drink seemed contrary to disorders of yellow bile. I have learned also that Probianus, one of the physicians who served at the palace, who suffered severely from a disease of the feet, was freed from his pains there and was counted worthy of a wonderful divine vision. He had at first been a pagan; when he began to be a Christian, the other parts of the doctrine seemed to him in some way persuasive, but he did not accept that the divine cross had become the cause of salvation for all. While he was of this mind, a divine vision appeared to him and showed him a symbol of the cross among those dedicated at the altar of the church there, and declared plainly that since Christ was crucified, of all the things that have been done for the common benefit of the human race or for individuals, none has been achieved, either by the divine angels or by pious and good men, without the power of the venerable cross. I have been led to tell these things, since there is no time to list all that I know to have happened in this church. ### Translation notes - Several lines in the description of the founding are displaced in the scan: the words about the senate (“a great council, which they call the senate”) were printed inside the sentence about altars and temples; the translation restores the evident order. Sozomen was himself a lawyer at Constantinople, as his remark about Aquilinus shows. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 2.3 (PG 67:935–941; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/2-3). ## Church History 2.4 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/1-25/#p-2-4 - Source: PG 67:941–945 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: At the oak of Mamre, where Jews, pagans and Christians held a yearly festival with sacrifices, Constantine orders the altar destroyed and a church built. ### Greek text ᾿Αναγκαῖον δὲ ἐξελθεῖν καὶ τὰ περὶ τὴν δρῶν τὴν Μαμβρή καλουμένην βεβουλευμένα Κωνσταντίνῳ τῷ βασιλεῖ. Τόπος δὲ οὗτος, ὃν νῦν Τερέβινθον προσαγορεύουσιν, ἀπὸ δέκα καὶ πέντε σταδίων γείτονα τὴν Χεβρῶν πρὸς μεσημβρίαν ἔχων, Ἱεροσολύμων δὲ διεστὼς ἀμφὶ διακόσια καὶ πεντήκοντα στάδια. Οὗ δὴ λόγος ἐστὶν ἀληθὴς, ἅμα τοῖς Σοδομιτῶν ἀποσταλεῖσιν ἀγγέλοις τὸν Υἱὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ φανῆνα' τῷ εἰπεῖν αὐτῷ τοῦ παιδὸς τὴν γένεσιν. Ἐνταῦθα δὲ λαμπρὰν εἰσέτι νῦν ἐτήσιον πανήγυριν ἄγουσιν ὥρᾳ θέρους οἱ ἐπιχώριοι, προσωτέρω Παλαιστινοὶ, καὶ Φοίνιχες καὶ ᾿Αῤῥάθιοι. Συνίασι δὲ πλεῖστοι ἐμπορείας ἕνεκα, πωλῆσον. τες καὶ ἀγοράσοντες " πᾶσι γὰρ περισπούδαστος ἡ Ἰουδαίοις μὲν, καθότι πατριάρχην αὐχοῦσι τὸν ᾿Αθραάμ" Ἕλλησι δὲ, διὰ τὴν ἐπιδημίαν τῶν ἀγγέλων" τοῖς δ᾽ αὖ Χριστιανοῖς, ὅτι τότε ἐπ’ ἐφάνη τῷ εὑσεθεῖ ἀνδρὶ, χρόνοις ὕστερον ἐπὶ σωτηρίᾳ τοῦ ἀνθρωπείου γένους διὰ τῆς Παρθένου φανερῶς αὐτὸν ἐπιδείξας. Προσφόρως δὲ ταῖς θρησκείαις τιμῶσι τοῦτον τὸν χῶρον, οἱ μὲν, εὐχόμενοι τῷ πάντων Θεῷ οἱ δὲ, τοὺς ἀγγέλους ἐπικαλούμενοι, οἶνον σπένδοντες, λίθανον θύοντες, βοῦν 1) τράγον, ἢ πρόδατον ἣ ἀλεχτρυόνα. Ὃ γὰρ ἕκαστος ἐσπουδασμένον καὶ καλὸν εἶχε, διὰ παντὸς τοῦ ἔτους ἐπιμελῶς τρέφων, ὑπόσχεσιν εἰς εὐωχίαν τῆς ἐνθάδε ἑορτῆς ἐφύλαττεν ἑαυτῷ τε τοῖς οἰκείοις. Τιμῶντες δὲ τὸν τόπον πάντες, ἢ διὰ θεομηνίας κακῶς παθεῖν φυλαττόμενοι, οὔτε γυναιξὶν ἐνθάδε συνουσιάζουσιν, ὡς ἐν ἑορτῇ, κάλλους καὶ κόσμου πλείονος ἐπιμελουμέναις, καὶ εἰ ἔτυχε φαινομέναις τε καὶ προϊούσαις " οὔτε ἄλλως ἀχολασταίνουσι, καὶ ταῦτα ὁμοῦ ἐπίπαν τὰς σκηνὰς ἔχοντες, καὶ ἀναμὶξ χαθεύδοντες. Αἴθριος γὰρ καὶ ἀρόσιμός ἐστιν ὁ χῶρος, οὐχ ἔχων οἰκήματα, ἣ μόνα τὰ περὶ τὴν δρῦν πάλαι τοῦ ᾿Αδραὰμ γενόμενα, καὶ τὸ φρέαρ τὸ παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ χατασχευᾳσθέν " περὶ δὲ τὸν καιρὸν τῆς πανηγύρεως, οὐδεὶς ἐντεῦθεν ὑδρεύεται, Νόμῳ γὰρ Ἑλληνικῷ, οἱ μὲν λύχνους ἡμμένους ἐνθάδ» ἐτίθεσαν" οἱ δὲ ἐπέχεον, ἢ πόπανα ἔῤῥιπτον " ἄλλοι δὲ νομίσματα, ἣ μύρα, 7) θνμιάματα. Καὶ διὰ τοῦτο, ὥς γε ἀχρεῖον τὸ ὕδωρ ἐγένετο τῇ μετουσίᾳ τῶν ἐμθαλλομένων. Ταῦτα δὲ κατὰ τὸν εἰρημένον τρόπον ἡδέως ἧ θέμις “Ἕλλησιν ἐπιτελούμενα, παραγενομένη ποτὲ ἐνθάδε χατ᾽ εὐχὴν ἡ τῆς γαμετῆς Κωνσταντίνου μήτηρ, τῷ βασιλεῖ κατήγγειλεν. Ὁ δὲ πυθόμενος, οὐ μετρίως ἠτιᾶτο τοὺς Παλαιστίνης ἐπισκόπους, ὡς τοῦ προσήκοντος ὀλιγωρήσαντας, τὸν τόπον ἅγιον ὄντα ὑπεριδόντας, σπονδαῖς θύβεδήλοις μιαίνεσθαι. Δείχνυσι δὲ αὐτοῦ τὴν ϑἀνοηίθηϑ, ἢ) εὐσεβῆ μέμψιν ἡ περὶ τούτου γραφεῖπα ἐπιστολὴ τῷ Ἱεροσολύμων ἐπισκόπῳ, Εὐσεδίῳ τῷ Παμφίλον, καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις Παλαιστινῶν ἐπισκόποις ' οὗς κατὰ ταὐτὸν συνελθεῖν προσέταξε τοῖς ἐκ Φοινίκης ἐπισκόποις τοῦ πρότερον ἐνθάδε βωμοῦ ἀνακαθαιρουμένου ἐκ βάθρων, πυρί τε τῶν ξοάνων παραδεδομένων, ἐκκλησίαν αὐτόθι διαγράψαι τῆς τοῦ τόπου ἀρχαιότητος καὶ σεμνότητος ἀξίαν, καὶ τοῦ λοιποῦ προνοεῖν, ἐλεύθερον σπονδῶν καὶ θυμάτων τοῦτον εἶναι· ὥστε μηδὲν ἕτερον πράττεσθαι, ἢ τὸν Θεὸν θρησκεύειν κατὰ τὸν τῆς Ἐκκλησίας νόμον. Εἰ δὲ τὰ πρότερόν τις ἐπιχειρῶν ἁλοίη, τοὺς ἐπισκόπους μηνύειν, ὥστε αὐτὸν μεγίστην τιμωρίαν ἐπαγαγεῖν. Κατὰ ταύτην τὴν βασιλέως ἐπιστολὴν, ἄρχοντες καὶ ἱερεῖς Χριστοῦ, ἔργῳ τὰ προστεταγμένα παρέδοσαν. ### English translation (Claude) It is necessary also to relate what the emperor Constantine decided about the oak called Mamre. This place, which they now call the Terebinth, is fifteen stades from Hebron, which lies to the south, and about two hundred and fifty stades from Jerusalem. It is truly said that here the Son of God appeared to Abraham together with the angels sent against the Sodomites, and foretold to him the birth of his son. Here even now the people of the country and of more distant parts, Palestinians, Phoenicians and Arabians, hold a splendid yearly festival in summer. Very many also come together for trade, to sell and to buy. For the place is greatly prized by all: by the Jews because they boast of Abraham as their patriarch; by the pagans because of the visit of the angels; and by the Christians because he who in later times showed himself openly through the Virgin for the salvation of the human race then appeared to the pious man. They honour this place in ways suited to their religions: some praying to the God of all, others invoking the angels, pouring libations of wine, burning incense, and sacrificing an ox, a goat, a sheep or a cock. For each man kept whatever fine animal he had been carefully rearing through the whole year, promised for the feast of the festival here for himself and his household. All of them, honouring the place or guarding against suffering harm through divine wrath, neither have intercourse here with women, though these, as at a festival, take more care of beauty and adornment and happen to appear in public and go about, nor are they otherwise licentious, even though for the most part they have their tents together and sleep side by side. For the place is open country and ploughland, without buildings except those that were once Abraham's, by the oak, and the well he made. At the time of the festival no one draws water from it; for by pagan custom some set lighted lamps there, others poured wine or threw cakes into it, others coins, perfumes or incense; and for this reason, naturally, the water became useless because of what was thrown in. The mother of Constantine's wife, coming there once to fulfil a vow, reported to the emperor these rites, which were performed in the manner described and with pleasure, according to pagan custom. When he learned of it, he blamed the bishops of Palestine severely for neglecting their duty and allowing a holy place to be defiled by profane libations. His pious rebuke is shown by the letter he wrote on this to the bishop of Jerusalem, Eusebius son of Pamphilus, and the other bishops of Palestine. He ordered them to meet at the place with the bishops of Phoenicia, to demolish from its foundations the altar that had been there, to burn the images, and to lay out a church there worthy of the antiquity and sanctity of the place; and thereafter to see that it was kept free of libations and sacrifices, so that nothing else should be done there but the worship of God according to the law of the church. If anyone were caught attempting the former practices, the bishops were to report him, so that the emperor might inflict the severest punishment on him. In accordance with this letter of the emperor, the governors and the priests of Christ carried out what was commanded. ### Scripture references - Gen 18:1: allusion, high confidence - Gen 18:10: allusion, medium confidence - Gen 21:30: allusion, low confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Eusebius, Vit. Const. 3.51-53 (Life of Constantine): allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Sozomen identifies the one who appeared to Abraham at Mamre (Gen 18) with the Son of God. The emperor's mother-in-law was Eutropia. The letter (Eusebius, Life of Constantine 3.52–53) was addressed to Macarius of Jerusalem and the other bishops of Palestine; the scan reads “to the bishop of Jerusalem, Eusebius son of Pamphilus,” and a name may have been lost. The phrase introducing the letter is garbled in the scan; the sense “his pious rebuke” is clear. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 2.4 (PG 67:941–945; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/2-4). ## Church History 2.5 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/1-25/#p-2-5 - Source: PG 67:945–947 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Constantine's officials strip the temples of their images, which are melted down or taken to Constantinople; famous temples are destroyed, and many cities, such as Maiuma near Gaza, turn to Christianity. ### Greek text Ἐπειδὴ δὲ πολλοὶ δῆμοι καὶ πόλεις ἀνὰ πᾶσαν τὴν ὑπήκοον, εἰσέτι δεῖμα καὶ σέβας ἔχοντες τῆς περὶ τὰ ξήανα φαντασίας, ἀπεστρέφοντο τὸ δόγμα τῶν Χριστιανῶν, ἀρχαιότητός τε ἐπεμελοῦντο καὶ τῶν πατρῴων ἐθῶν καὶ πανηγύρεων, ἀναγκαῖον αὐτῷ ἐφάνη, παιδεῦσαι τοὺς ἀρχομένους ἀμελεῖν τῶν θρησκευομένων. Εἶναι δὲ τοῦτο εὐπετὲς, εἰ πρῶτον αὐτοὺς ἐθίσειε καταφρονεῖν τῶν ναῶν καὶ τῶν ἐν αὐτοῖς ἀγαλμάτων. Ἐννοηθέντι δὲ ταῦτα, στρατιωτικῆς χειρὸς οὐκ ἐδέησεν. ᾿Αλλ' ἄνδρες Χριστιανοὶ ἐν τοῖς βασιλείοις ἐπετέλουν τὰ δόξαντα, διαβάντες τὰς πόλεις ἅμα γράμμασι βασιλικοῖς. Οἱ μὲν γὰρ δῆμοι, περὶ αὐτῶν καὶ παίδων καὶ γυναικῶν δεδιότες μήτι κακὸν πάθωσιν ἐναντιούμενοι, ἡσυχίαν ἦγον. Γυμνωθέντες δὲ τῆς τοῦ πλήθους ῥοπῆς οἱ νεωκόροι καὶ οἱ ἱερεῖς, προὔδωκαν τὰ παρ' αὐτοῖς τιμιώτατα, καὶ τὰ διοπετῆ καλούμενα· καὶ δι᾿ ἑαυτῶν ταῦτα προῆγον ἐκ τῶν ἀδύτων καὶ τῶν ἐν τοῖς ναοῖς κρυφίων μυχῶν. Βατά τε λοιπὸν ἦν τοῖς θέλουσι, τὰ πρὶν ἄδατα, καὶ τοῖς ἱερεῦσι μόνοις ἐγνωσμένα. Τῶν δ' αὖ ξοάνων τὰ ὄντα τιμίας ὕλης, καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ὅσον ἐδόκει χρήσιμον εἶναι, πυρὶ διεκρίνετο, καὶ δημόσια ἐγίνετο χρήματα. Τὰ δὲ ἐν χαλκῷ θαυμασίως εἰργασμένα, πάντοθεν εἰς τὴν ἐπώνυμον πόλιν τοῦ αὐτοκράτορος μετεκομίσθη πρὸς κόσμον · καὶ εἰσέτι νῦν δημοσίᾳ ἵδρυνται κατὰ τὰς ἀγυιὰς καὶ τὸν ἱππόδρομον καὶ τὰ βασίλεια. Τὰ μὲν, τοῦ Πυθίας ἦν μαντείου Ἀπόλλωνος, καὶ Μοῦσαι αἱ Ἑλικωνιάδες, καὶ οἱ ἐν Δελφοῖς τρίποδες, καὶ ὁ Πὰν ὁ βοώμενος, ὃν Παυσανίας ν ὁ Λακεδαιμόνιος, καὶ αἱ Ἑλληνίδες πόλεις διοπετῆ ἀνέθεντο μετὰ τὸν πρὸς Μήδους πόλεμον. Νεὼ δὲ οἱ μὲν θυρῶν, οἱ δὲ ὀρόφων ἐγυμνώθησαν· οἱ δὲ καὶ ἄλλως ἀμελούμενοι, ἠρείποντό τε καὶ διεφθείροντο. Κατεσκάφησαν δὲ τότε καὶ ἄρδην ἠφανίσθησαν, ὁ ἐν Αἰγαῖς τῆς Κιλικίας Ασκληπιοῦ ναὸς, καὶ ὁ ἐν ᾿Αφάκοις τῆς ᾿Αφροδίτης περὶ τὸν Λίβανον τὸ ὄρος καὶ ῎Αδωνιν τὸν ποταμόν. ῎Αμφω δὲ ἐπισημοτάτω νεὼ ἐγενέσθην, καὶ σεβασμίω τοῖς πάλαι. Καθότι Αἰγεάται μὲν ηὔχουν τοὺς κάμνοντας τὰ σώματα νόσων ἀπαλλάττεσθαι παρ᾿ αὐτοῖς, ἐπιφαινομένου νύκτωρ καὶ ἰωμένου τοῦ δαίμονος. Ἐν ᾿Αφάκοις δὲ, κατ᾿ ἐπίκλησίν τινα καὶ ῥητὴν ἡμέραν ἀπὸ τῆς ἀκρωρείας τοῦ Λιβάνου πῦρ διαΐσσον, καθάπερ ἀστὴρ, εἰς τὸν παρακείμενον ποταμὸν ἔδυνεν. Ἔλεγον δὲ τοῦτο τὴν Οὐρανίαν εἶναι ὡδὶ τὴν ᾿Αφροδίτην καλοῦντες. Τούτων οὕτω συμβάντων, κατὰ σκοπὸν προὐχώρει τῷ βασιλεῖ τὸ σπουδαζόμενον. Οἱ μὲν γὰρ τὰ πρὶν σεμνὰ καὶ φοβερὰ εἰκῆ ἐῤῥιμμένα, καὶ καλάμης καὶ φορυτοῦ ἔνδοθεν βεβυσμένα ὁρῶντες, εἰς καταφρόνησιν ἦλθον τῶν πρότερον σεβασμίων, καὶ πλάνην τοῖς προγόνοις ἐμέμφοντο Οἱ δὲ, ζηλώσαντες τοὺς Χριστιανοὺς τῆς παρὰ τῷ βασιλεῖ τιμῆς, ἀναγκαῖον ᾠήθησαν τὰ τοῦ κρατοῦντος ἤδη μιμήσασθαι. ῎Αλλοι δὲ, καθέντες ἑαυτοὺς εἰς διάσκεψιν τοῦ δόγματος, ἢ σημείοις, ἢ ὀνείρασιν, ἢ ἐπισκόπων, ἢ μοναχῶν συνουσίαις, ἐδοκίμασαν ἄμεινον εἶναι Χριστιανίζειν. Ἐξ ἐκείνου δῆμοι καὶ πόλεις, ἐκοντὶ τῆς προτέρας μετέθεντο γνώμης. Ἡνίκα δὴ τὸ ἐπίνειον τῆς Γαζαίων πόλεως, ὃν Μαϊουμᾶν προσαγορεύουσιν, εἰσάγαν δεισιδαιμονοῦν, καὶ τὰ ἀρχαῖα πρὸ τούτου θαυμάζον, εἰς Χριστιανισμὸν ἀθρόον πανδημεὶ μετέβαλε. ᾿Αμειβόμενος δὲ αὐτοὺς τῆς εὐσεβείας ὁ βασιλεὺς, πλείστης τιμῆς ἠξίωσε, καὶ πόλιν οὐ πρότερον ἂν τὸ χωρίον ἀπέφηνε, καὶ Κωνσταντίαν ἐπωνόμασε· τῷ τιμιωτάτῳ τῶν παίδων γεραίρων τὸν τόπον διὰ τὴν θρησκείαν. Ἐκ τοιαύτης δὲ αἰτίας, καὶ Κωνσταντίναν τὴν παρὰ Φοίνιξιν ἔγνων ἐπιγράψασθαι τὴν τοῦ βασιλέως ἐπωνυμίαν. Ἀλλὰ γὰρἕκαστα συγγράφειν οὐκ εὐχερές. Πλεῖσται γὰρ δὴ καὶ ἄλλαι πόλεις τηνικαῦτα πρὸς τὴν θρησκείαν ηὐτομόλησαν, καὶ αὐτόματοι, βασιλέως μηδὲν ἐπιτάττοντος, τοὺς παρ᾿ αὐτοῖς ναοὺς καὶ ξόανα καθεῖλον, καὶ εὐκτηρίους οἴκους ᾠκοδό μησαν. ### English translation (Claude) Since many peoples and cities throughout the empire still had fear and reverence for the illusion of idols, turned away from the doctrine of the Christians, and clung to antiquity and their ancestral customs and festivals, it seemed necessary to him to teach his subjects to neglect what they worshipped. This, he thought, would be easy if he first accustomed them to despise the temples and the statues in them. When he had resolved on this, he had no need of military force. Christian men of the palace carried out what had been decided, going through the cities with imperial letters. The peoples kept quiet, fearing that they themselves, their children and their wives might suffer some harm if they resisted. The temple wardens and priests, stripped of the support of the crowd, gave up their most precious things, including the images said to have fallen from heaven, and themselves brought them out of the inner shrines and the secret recesses of the temples. What had formerly been inaccessible and known only to the priests became accessible to anyone who wished. Of the images, those made of precious material, and of the other things whatever seemed useful, were refined by fire and became public property. Those wonderfully worked in bronze were brought from everywhere to the city named after the emperor, for ornament, and they still stand in public in the streets, the hippodrome and the palace. Among them were the Apollo of the Pythian oracle, the Muses of Helicon, the tripods of Delphi, and the celebrated Pan which Pausanias the Lacedaemonian and the Greek cities dedicated after the war against the Medes. Some temples were stripped of their doors, others of their roofs; others, otherwise neglected, fell into ruin and decay. At that time the temple of Asclepius at Aegae in Cilicia was razed and utterly destroyed, and that of Aphrodite at Aphaca by Mount Lebanon and the river Adonis. Both were very famous temples and revered by the ancients. For the people of Aegae boasted that those who were sick in body were freed from their diseases there, the demon appearing by night and healing them; and at Aphaca, at a certain invocation and on a set day, a fire darted like a star from the summit of Lebanon and sank into the nearby river. They said this was Urania, as they call Aphrodite. When this had happened, what the emperor was striving for went forward as he intended. Some, seeing things that had been held holy and dreadful thrown down anyhow and stuffed inside with straw and rubbish, came to despise what they had formerly revered and blamed their ancestors for their error. Others, envying the honour the Christians had with the emperor, thought it necessary to imitate the ruler. Others, giving themselves to the examination of the doctrine, judged it better to be Christians, through signs or dreams or conversations with bishops or monks. From that time peoples and cities changed their former opinion of their own accord. So it was that the port of the city of Gaza, which they call Maiuma, which had been exceedingly devoted to superstition and before this admired the ancient rites, turned to Christianity all at once, the whole people together. Rewarding them for their piety, the emperor counted them worthy of the highest honour: he declared the place, which had not been a city before, a city, and named it Constantia, honouring the place with the name of the most honoured of his children because of its religion. For a similar reason I have learned that Constantina in Phoenicia too took the emperor's name. But it is not easy to record each case; for very many other cities went over to the religion at that time and of their own accord, without any command of the emperor, pulled down their temples and images and built houses of prayer. ### Extrabiblical texts - Eusebius, Vit. Const. 3.54-58 (Life of Constantine): allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Sozomen follows Eusebius, Life of Constantine 3.54–58. His account of the measures against the temples, and of the motives of those who converted, is reported as he gives it. The serpent column of Delphi, set up after the Persian War, still stands in the Hippodrome of Istanbul; Sozomen's “Pan” may refer to a different offering. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 2.5 (PG 67:945–947; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/2-5). ## Church History 2.6 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/1-25/#p-2-6 - Source: PG 67:947–949 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Christianity spreads among the barbarians beyond the frontiers, especially through Christian priests taken captive in the third-century invasions. ### Greek text Πληθυνούσης δὲ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας τούτῳ τῷ τρόπῳ ἀνὰ πᾶσαν τὴν Ῥωμαίων οἰκουμένην, καὶ δι' αὐτῶν βαρβάρων ἡ θρησκεία ἐχώρει. "Ἤδη γὰρ τά τε ἀμφὶ τὸν Ῥῆνον φῦλα ἐχριστιάνιζον, Κελτοί τε καὶ οἱ Γαλατῶν ἔνδον τελευταῖοι τὸν Ὠκεανὸν προσοικοῦσι, καὶ Γότθοι, καὶ ὅσοι τούτοις ὅμοροι τὸ πρὶν ἦσαν ἀμφὶ τὰς ὄχθας Ἴστρου ποταμοῦ, πάλαι μετασχόντες τῆς εἰς Χριστὸν πίστεως, ἐπὶ τὸ ἡμερώτερον καὶ λογικὸν μεθηρμόσαντο. Πᾶσι δὲ βαρβάροις σχεδὸν πρόφασις συνέβη πρεσβεύειν τὸ δόγμα τῶν Χριστιανῶν, οἱ γενόμενοι κατὰ καιρὸν πόλεμοι Ῥωμαίοις καὶ τοῖς ἀλλοφύλοις, ἐπὶ τῆς Γαλλιήνου ἡγεμονίας καὶ τῶν μετ᾿ αὐτὸν βασιλέων. Ἐπεὶ γὰρ τότε πλῆθος ἄφατον μιγάδων ἐθνῶν, ἐκ τῆς Θράκης περαιωθὲν τὴν ᾿Ασίαν κατέδραμεν, ἄλλοι τε ἀλλαχῆ βάρβαροι ταὐτὸν εἰργάσαντο τοὺς παρακειμένους Ῥωμαίους, πολλοὶ τῶν ἱερέων τοῦ Χριστοῦ αἰχμάλωτοι γενόμενοι, σὺν αὐτοῖς ἦσαν. Ὡς δὲ τοὺς αὐτόθι νοσοῦντας ἰῶντο, καὶ τοὺς δαιμονῶντας ἐκάθαιρον, Χριστὸν μόνον ὀνομάζοντες, καὶ υἱὸν Θεοῦ ἐπικαλούμενοι · προσέτι δὲ καὶ πολιτείαν ἅμεμπτον ἐφιλοσόφουν, καὶ ταῖς ἀρεταῖς τὸν μῶμον ἐνίκων, θαυμάσαντες οἱ βάρβαροι τοὺς ἄνδρας τοῦ βίου καὶ τῶν παραδόξων ἔργων, εὐφρονεῖν συνεῖδον, καὶ τὸν Θεὸν ἴλεων ἔχειν, εἰ· τοὺς ἀμείνους φανέντας μιμήσαιντο, καὶ ὁμοίως αὐτοῖς τὸ κρεῖττον θεραπεύοιεν. Προβαλλόμενοι οὖν αὐτοὺς τοῦ πρακτέου καθηγητὰς, ἐδιδάσκοντο καὶ ἐβαπτίζοντο, καὶ ἀκολούθως ἐκκλησίαζον. ### English translation (Claude) As the church was multiplying in this way throughout the Roman world, the religion also made its way among the barbarians themselves. For the tribes about the Rhine were already Christians, as were the Celts and the farthest Gauls who live by the Ocean; and the Goths, and those who formerly bordered on them about the banks of the river Ister, having long since shared in faith in Christ, had changed to a gentler and more rational way of life. For almost all the barbarians the occasion of honouring the doctrine of the Christians was the wars that arose from time to time between the Romans and foreign peoples, under the reign of Gallienus and the emperors after him. For when at that time an untold multitude of mixed nations crossed from Thrace and overran Asia, and other barbarians elsewhere did the same to the Romans who bordered on them, many priests of Christ were taken captive and were with them. When they healed the sick there and cleansed those possessed by demons, naming only Christ and calling on him as Son of God, and moreover lived a blameless life and overcame reproach by their virtues, the barbarians, marvelling at the men's life and their wonderful works, saw that it was wise, and that they would have God gracious to them, if they imitated those who had shown themselves better and served the Supreme as they did. So they took them as guides in what they should do, were taught and baptized, and thereafter assembled as churches. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 2.6 (PG 67:947–949; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/2-6). ## Church History 2.7 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/2-7/#p-2-7 - Source: PG 67:949–953 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: A Christian captive woman heals a child and the queen of the Iberians; the king, rescued from darkness while hunting, accepts Christ; a column of their first church is miraculously raised, and they ask Constantine for priests. ### Greek text Ἐπὶ δὲ τῆς προκειμένης βασιλείας, λέγεται τοὺς Ἴβηρας ὁ τὸν Χριστὸν ἐπιγνῶναι. Ἔθνος δὲ τοῦτο βάρβαρον, μέγα τε καὶ μαχιμώτατον· οἰκεῖ δὲ τῆς ᾿Αρμενίων ἐνδότερον πρὸς ῎Αρκτον. Παρεσκεύασε δὲ ᾿ αὐτοὺς τῆς πατρώας θρησκείας ὑπεριδεῖν Χριστιανή γυνὴ αἰχμάλωτος· ἡ δὴ πιστοτάτη καὶ θεοσεβής ἄγαν οὖσα, οὐδὲ παρὰ τοῖς ἀλλοφύλοις καθυφῆκε τῆς συνήθους πολιτείας. Φίλον δὲ τι αὐτῇ χρῆμα ἐτύγχανε νηστεία, καὶ νύκτωρ καὶ μεθ' ἡμέραν εὔχεσθαι, καὶ τὸν Θεὸν εὐλογεῖν. Οἱ δὲ βάρβαροι ἐπυνθάνοντο ὅτου χάριν τοῦτο ὑπομένοι. Τῆς δὲ, ἁπλούστερον λεγούσης οὕτω χρῆναι σέβειν τὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ Υἱόν, ξένον αὐτοῖς ἐδόκει καὶ τοῦ θρησκευομένου τὸ ὄνομα, καὶ τῆς θρησκείας ὁ τρόπος. Συμβὰν δὲ μειράκιον ἐνταῦθα δεινῶς ἀσθενεῖν, περιφέρουσα καθ᾿ ἕκαστον οἶκον ἡ μήτηρ ἐδείκνυεν. Ἔθος γὰρ Ιβηρσι τοῦτο ποιεῖν, ἵν᾿ εἴ τις εὑρεθείη τοῦ νοσήματος ἰατρὸς, εὐπόριστος γένηται τοῖς κάμνουσιν ἡ τοῦ πάθους ἀπαλλαγή. Ἐπεὶ δὲ μηδαμοῦ θεραπευθὲν, καὶ παρὰ τὴν αἰχμάλωτον ἐκομίσθη τὸ παιδίον, Φαρμάκων μὲν, ἔφη, οὔτε χρηστῶν οὔτε ἐπιπλάστων εἴδησιν ἢ πεῖραν ἔχω· πιστεύω δὲ τὸν Χριστὸν ὃν σέβω, τὸν ἀληθινὸν καὶ μέγαν Θεὸν, σωτῆρα τοῦ σοῦ παιδὸς γενέσθαι, ὦ γύναι. Παραχρῆμά τε ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ εὐξαμένη, τῆς νόσου ἀπήλλαξεν αὐτὸν, ὅσον οὔπω τεθνήξεσθαι προσδοκώμενον. Οὐ πολλῷ δὲ ὕστερον, καὶ τὴν γαμετὴν τοῦ κρατοῦντος τοῦ ἔθνους ἀνιάτῳ πάθει διόλλυσθαι μέλλουσαν, τῷ ἔσῳ τρόπῳ διέσωσε· καὶ τὴν τοῦ Χριστοῦ γνῶσιν ἐπαίδευσεν · ὑγείας ταμίαν, καὶ ζωῆς, καὶ βασιλείας, καὶ πάν· των Κύριον αὐτὸν εἰσηγουμένη. Καὶ ἡ μὲν, τῇ πείρα τοῦ ἐπὶ αὐτῇ συμβεβηκότος ἀληθεῖς εἶναι πιστεύσασα τοὺς τῆς αἰχμαλώτου λόγους, τὴν Χριστιανῶν θρη σκείαν ἐπρέσβευε, καὶ διὰ πολλῆς τιμῆς εἶχε τὴν ἄνθρωπον. Ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς, θαυμάσας τὸ ταχὺ καὶ παράδοξον τῆς πίστεως καὶ ἰάσεως, ἔμαθε τὴν αἰτίαν παρὰ τῆς γαμετῆς, καὶ δώροις ἐκέλευσεν ἀμείβεσθαι τὴν αἰχμάλωτον. ᾿Αλλὰ τούτων, ἔφη ἡ βασιλὶς, ὀλίγος αὐτῇ λόγος, κἂν πάνυ τίμια νομί ζηται. Μόνην δὲ περιπολλοῦ ποιεῖται τὴν εἰς τὸν ἴδιον Θεὸν θεραπείαν. ὧν οὖν αὐτῇ χαριεῖσθαι βουλοίμεθα, καὶ ἀσφαλῶς πράττειν καὶ καλῶς σπουδάζοιμεν, ἄγε δὴ καὶ ἡμεῖς τοῦτον σεβώμεθα, κραταιὸν Θεὸν ὄντα καὶ σωτῆρα, καὶ βασιλέας, ἣν βούληται, ἐν οἷς εἰσι διαμένειν ποιοῦντα, πάλιν τ᾽ αὖ ἱκανὸν ῥᾳδίως τοὺς μεγάλους, μικροὺς ἀποφαίνειν, καὶ τοὺς ἀδόξους ἐπιφανεῖς, καὶ τοὺς ἐν δεινοῖς ὄντας σώζειν. Τοιαῦτα πολλάκις εὖ λέγειν δοκούσης τῆς γυναικός, ἀμφίβολος ἦν ὁ τῆς Ἱβηρίας ἡγούμενος, καὶ οὐ πάνυ ἐπείθετο, τοῦ πράγματος τὸ νεώτερον ( ἐννοῶν, καὶ τὴν πατρώαν θρησκείαν αἰδούμενος. Μετ᾿ οὐ πολὺ δὲ ἅμα τοῖς ἀμφ᾿ αὐτὸν εἰς ὕλην ἐλθὼν, ἐθήρα. Ἐξαπίνης οὖν ἀχλὺς πυκνοτάτη, καὶ παχὺς ἀὴρ ἐπιχυθεὶς αὐτοῖς πάντοθεν, τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὸν ἥλιον ἐκάλυψε. Νὺξ δὲ βαθεῖα καὶ σκότος πολὺ τὴν ὕλην κατεῖχεν. Ἐνταῦθα δὲ περὶ ἑαυτοῦ δείσας ἕκαστος, διεσκεδάσθησαν ἀλλήλων. Ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς, μόνος ἀλώμενος, οἷα φιλεῖ συμβαίνειν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἀμηχανοῦσιν ἐν τοῖς δεινοῖς, ἐνενοήθη τὸν Χριστόν· καὶ Θεὸν αὐτὸν ἡγεῖσθαι, καὶ τοῦ λοιποῦ σέβειν κατὰ νοῦν ἐδοκίμασεν, εἰ τὸ παρὸν διαφύγοι κακόν. Ἔτι δὲ αὐτοῦ ταῦτα ἐνθυμουμένου, παραχρῆμα διελύθη ἡ ἀχλὺς, καὶ ὁ ἀὴρ εἰς αἰθρίαν μετέβαλεν· ἐμβαλούσης τε τῆς ἀκτῖνος τῇ ὕλῃ, διεσώθη ἐνθάδε. Καὶ τὸ συμβὰν τῇ γαμετῇ κοινωσάμενος, μετεπέμψατο τὴν αἰχμάλωτον, καὶ τίνα τρόπον προσήκει τὸν Χριστὸν θρησκεύειν, ἐκέλευσε διδάσκειν. Τῆς δὲ, ὅσα γυναικὶ θέμις λέγειν τε καὶ ποιεῖν, εἰσηγησαμένης, ἀγείρας τοὺς ὑπηκόους ἐκεῖνος, τὰς συμβάσας αὐτῷ καὶ τῇ γαμετῇ θείας εὐεργεσίας εἰς κοινὸν ἐξήγγειλε" μήπω δὲ μυηθεὶς, τὰ περὶ τοῦ δόγματος μετέδιυχε τοῖς ἀρχομένοις" τὸν Χριστὸν πανδημεὶ σέβειν πείθουσιν, αὐτὸς μὲν τοὺς ἄνδρας " ἡ δὲ βασίλισσα ἅμα τῇ αἰχμαλώτῳ., τὰς γυναῖκας. Καὶ ἐν τάχει κοινῇ συνθήκῃ παντὸς τοῦ , φιλοτιμότατα παρεσχευάσαντο ἐκκλησίαν κοδομεῖν. Ἐπεὶ δὲ κύκλῳ τοῦ νεὼ τὸν περίβολον ἤγειραν, στήσαντες μηχανὰς, ἀνίμων τοὺς κίονας, καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν βάσεων ἑστήριζον. Λέγεται δὲ τοῦ τε πρώτου καὶ δευτέρου ὀρθωθέντος, ἐργώδη γενέσθαι τοῦ τρίτου κίονος τὴν σύστασιν, καὶ μήτε τέχνῃ τῶν ἐπιστημόνων χατορθωθῆναι, μήτε ἰσχύϊ βιασθῆναι, χαΐπερ πολλῶν ὄντων τῶν ἑλχόντων. Ἑσπέρας δὲ ἐπιγενομένης, μόνη αἰχμάλωτος αὐτόθι διενυχτέρευσεν, ἱχετεύουσα τὸν Θεὸν, εὐπετῇ γενέσθαι τῶν χιόνων τὴν διόρθωσιν. Οἱ ὃὲ ἄλλο! πάντες ἀνεχώρησαν δυσφοροῦντες, καὶ μάλιστα ὁ βασιλεύς. Ὄρθωθεὶς: γὰρ μέχρι τοῦ μέσου ὁ χίων, ἐγχάρσιος ἔμενε, τῷ ἐδάφει ἐμπαγεὶς, τῆς κάτωθεν ἀρχῆς ἀκίνητος Ἔμελλε δὲ διατοῦτο τὰ πρὸ τούτου Κκαράδοξα βεθαιοτέρους καὶ περὶ τὸ Θεῖον ποιήσειν τοὺς Ἴδηρας. Περὶ γὰρ τὴν ἕω παραγενομένων αὐτῶν εἰς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν, θαυμάσιόν τε χρῆμα καὶ ὀνείρῳ προσεσιχὺὸς, ὀρθὸς ἐφάνη ὁ τῇ προτεραίᾳ ἀχίνητος χίων, ἀπὸ μικροῦ διαστήματος ἐπὶ τῆς ἰδίας βάσεως αἰωρούμενος. Καταπλαγέντων οὖν πάντων, καὶ μόνον εἶναι Θεὸν ἀληθινὸν συνομολογούντων τὸν Χριστὸν, θεωμένων πάντων, ἡσυχῇ διολισθῆσας αὐτομάτως, ὡς ἀπὸ τέχνης τῇ βάσει προσηρμόσθη. Μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα εὐπετῶς οἱ ἄλλοι ὧρθώθησαν, προθυμότεροι οἱ Ἴβηρες τὰ λοιπὰ ἐπετέλουν. Σπουδῇ δὲ τῆς ἐκκλησίας οἰχοδομηθείσης, ὑποθεμένης τῆς αἰχμαλώτου πέμπουσι πρέσβεις πρὸς Κωνσταντῖνον τὸν βασιλέα, συμμαχίαν καὶ σπονδὰς φέοοντας, ἀντὶ δὲ τούτων ἱερέας τῷ ἔθνει ἀποσταλῆναι δεομένους. Διεξελθόντων δὲ τῶν πρέσβεων οἷα παρ᾽ αὐτοῖς συνέδη, καὶ ὡς τὸ πᾶν ἔθνος ἐν ἐπιμελείᾳ πολλῇ σέδει τὸν Χριστὸν., ἤσθη τῇ πρεσθείᾳ ὁ Ῥωμαίων βασιλεύς " καὶ πάντα κατὰ γνώμην πράξαντας τοὺς πρέσβεις ἀπέπεμψεν. Ὧδε μὲν Ἴθηρε: τὸν Χριστὸν ἐπέγνωσαν, εἰσέτι νῦν ἐπιμελῶς σέβουσιν. ### English translation (Claude) Under the reign we are describing, the Iberians are said to have come to know Christ. This is a barbarian nation, large and very warlike, living further inland than the Armenians, toward the north. A Christian woman who had been taken captive led them to despise their ancestral religion. Being very faithful and exceedingly devout, she did not relax her customary way of life even among foreigners. Fasting was dear to her, and praying night and day and blessing God. The barbarians asked why she endured this; and when she said simply that this was how one must worship God's Son, both the name of the one worshipped and the manner of worship seemed strange to them. It happened that a child there fell gravely ill, and his mother carried him round to every house and showed him; for the Iberians have this custom, so that if anyone is found who knows a cure for the disease, release from the illness may be easily obtained for the sick. When the child had been cured nowhere and was brought to the captive woman, she said: “Of medicines, whether to drink or to apply, I have neither knowledge nor experience; but I believe that Christ, whom I worship, the true and great God, will be the saviour of your child, woman.” At once she prayed for him and freed from his disease the child who was expected to die at any moment. Not long afterward, in the same way, she saved the wife of the ruler of the nation, who was about to perish from an incurable disease, and taught her the knowledge of Christ, presenting him as the steward of health, of life and of kingship, and Lord of all. The queen, believing from the experience of what had happened to her that the captive's words were true, honoured the religion of the Christians and held the woman in great honour. The king, amazed at the speed and wonder of the faith and the cure, learned the cause from his wife and ordered that the captive be rewarded with gifts. “But she makes little account of these,” said the queen, “even if they are thought very precious. Only the service of her own God does she value highly. If, then, we wish to please her, and to act safely and do well, come, let us too worship this God, who is mighty and a saviour, who causes kings to remain in their place if he wills, and again is able easily to make the great small, the obscure famous, and to save those in danger.” Though the woman often seemed to speak well in this way, the ruler of Iberia was in two minds and not fully persuaded, considering the novelty of the matter and revering his ancestral religion. Not long after, he went into a forest with his companions to hunt. Suddenly a very thick mist and dense air poured round them on every side and hid the sky and the sun; deep night and great darkness held the forest. Each of them, fearing for himself, scattered from the others. The king, wandering alone, as people commonly do when helpless in danger, thought of Christ, and resolved in his mind to hold him as God and to worship him thereafter, if he escaped the present evil. While he was still thinking this, the mist at once dispersed, the air changed to clear sky, and as the sun's rays struck into the forest, he came safely out. He told his wife what had happened, sent for the captive, and ordered her to teach him how Christ ought to be worshipped. When she had explained what it was lawful for a woman to say and do, he gathered his subjects and announced publicly the divine benefits that had come to him and his wife; and though he was not yet initiated, he imparted the doctrine to his subjects. They persuaded the whole people to worship Christ, he the men and the queen, with the captive, the women. And quickly, by the common agreement of the whole nation, they made ready with great zeal to build a church. When they had raised the enclosure round the church, they set up machines, hoisted the columns, and fixed them on their bases. It is said that when the first and second had been set upright, the setting up of the third column proved laborious, and could be achieved neither by the skill of the experts nor by force, though many were hauling. When evening came, the captive alone spent the night there, entreating God that the raising of the columns might be made easy. All the others went away in distress, the king most of all. For the column, raised halfway, stayed slanting, stuck in the ground, and its lower end would not move. This was to make the Iberians firmer in their belief in the Divine than the wonders before it. For when they came to the church at dawn, a marvellous thing like a dream appeared: the column that had been immovable the day before stood upright, hanging a little above its own base. All were astonished and confessed that Christ alone is the true God; and as all watched, it slid down quietly of its own accord and fitted onto its base as if by skill. After this the others were set up easily, and the Iberians completed the rest more eagerly. When the church had been built with zeal, at the captive's suggestion they sent envoys to the emperor Constantine, offering alliance and treaties and asking in return that priests be sent to the nation. When the envoys had related what had happened among them, and how the whole nation worshipped Christ with great care, the emperor of the Romans was pleased with the embassy, and sent the envoys away having done all they wished. In this way the Iberians came to know Christ, and they still worship him carefully to this day. ### Scripture references - 1 Sam 2:7: allusion, low confidence - Luke 1:52: allusion, low confidence ### Translation notes - The Iberians lived in what is now eastern Georgia; the captive woman is known in Georgian tradition as Nino. Sozomen follows Rufinus, Church History 10.11. In the scan, the words “the cause from his wife” were displaced into the captive's speech; the translation restores them to the sentence about the king. “What it was lawful for a woman to say and do” means she did not baptize or ordain. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 2.7 (PG 67:949–953; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/2-7). ## Church History 2.8 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/2-7/#p-2-8 - Source: PG 67:953–955 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The Armenians under Tiridates had become Christian earlier, and the faith spread from them and from Osrhoene to the Persians. ### Greek text ᾿Ἀρμενίους δὲ πάλιν πρότερον ἐπυθόμην Χριστιανίσαι. Λέγεται γὰρ Τηριδάτην τὸν ἡγούμενον τούτου τοῦ ξῦνους, ἔκ τινο; παραδόξου θεοσημείας συμβάσης περὶ τὸν αὐτοῦ οἶκον, ἅμα τε Χριστιανὸν γενέσθαι, καὶ πάντας τοὺς ἀρχομένους ὑφ᾽ ἑνὶ κηρύγματι προστάξαι ὁμοίως θρησκεύειν. Ἐφεξῆς δὲ καὶ διὰ τῶν ὁμόρων φυλῶν τὸ δόγμα διέβη, καὶ εἰς πλῆθος ἐπέδωκε. Καὶ Περσῶν δὲ Χριστιανίσαι · τὴν ἀρχὴν ἡγοῦμαι, ὅσοι προφάσει τῆς Ὀσροηνῶν καὶ ᾿Αρμενίων ἐπιμιξίας, ὡς εἰκὸς, τοῖς αὐτόθι θείοις ἀνδράσιν ὡμίλησαν, καὶ τῆς αὐτῶν ἀρετῆς ἐπειράθησαν. ### English translation (Claude) I have learned that the Armenians were Christians even earlier. It is said that Tiridates, the ruler of this nation, because of a wonderful divine sign that befell his house, at once became a Christian and by a single proclamation ordered all his subjects to worship likewise. After that the doctrine passed through the neighbouring tribes and grew in numbers. I think that the first Persians to become Christians were those who, through their dealings with the Osrhoenians and Armenians, naturally associated with the godly men there and experienced their virtue. ### Translation notes - The opening sentence of the chapter in the scan (“After that the doctrine passed through the neighbouring tribes and grew in numbers”) is a duplicate of a sentence printed below and has been removed. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 2.8 (PG 67:953–955; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/2-8). ## Church History 2.9 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/2-7/#p-2-9 - Source: PG 67:955–959 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: In Persia the magi and Jews accuse Bishop Symeon of Seleucia-Ctesiphon before Sapor II, who taxes and persecutes the Christians; Symeon refuses to worship the sun, and the eunuch Usthazanes, rebuked by him for having done so, confesses Christ and is beheaded. ### Greek text Ἐπεὶ δὲ τῷ χρόνῳ πλεῖστοι ἐγένοντο, καὶ ἐκκλησιάζειν ἤρξαντο, καὶ ἱερέας καὶ διακόνους εἶχον, ἐλύπει τοῦτο οὐ μετρίως τοὺς μάγους, οἱ τὴν Περσῶν θρησκείαν, ὥσπερ τι φῦλον ἱερατικὸν, κατὰ διαδοχὴν γένους ἀρχῆθεν ἐπιτροπεύουσιν. Ἐλύπει δὲ καὶ Ἰουδαίους, τρόπον τινὰ φύσει ὑπὸ βασκανίας πρὸς τὸ δόγμα τῶν Χριστιανῶν ἐκπεπολεμουμένους. Καὶ διαβάλλουσι πρὸς Σαβώρην, τὸν τότε βασιλέα, Συμεώνην τὸν τότε ἀρχιεπίσκοπον Σελευκείας καὶ Κτησιφῶντος, τῶν ἐν Περσίδι βασιλευουσῶν πόλεων, ὡς φίλον ὄντα τῷ Καίσαρι Ῥωμαίων, καὶ τὰ Περσῶν πράγματα τούτῳ καταμηνύοντα. Πεισθεὶς δὲ ταῖς διαβολαῖς ὁ Σαβώρης, τὰ μὲν πρῶτα φόροις ἀμέτροις ἐπέτριβε τοὺς Χριστιανοὺς, καθότι τοὺς πλείστους ἀκτημοσύνην ἀσκεῖν ἔγνω· καὶ χαλεποῖς ἀνδράσιν ἐπέτρεψε τὴν εἴσπραξιν· ὥστε ἐνδείᾳ χρημάτων, καὶ ἀπηνείᾳ τῶν εἰσπρακτόρων βιαζομένους, ὑπεριδεῖν τὴν οἰκείαν θρησκείαν· τοῦτο γὰρ αὐτῷ ἐσπου· δάζετο. Μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα τοὺς ἱερέας καὶ λειτουργούς τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀναιρεθῆναι ξίφει προσέταξε, τὰς δὲ ἐκκλησίας κατασκαφῆναι, καὶ τὰ κειμήλια δημόσια γενέσθαι, καὶ Συμεώνην ἄγεσθαι, ὡς προδότην τῆς Περσῶν βασιλείας καὶ θρησκείας γεγενημένον. Οἱ μὲν οὖν μάγοι, συλλαμβανομένων αὐτοῖς τῶν Ἰου δαίων, σπουδῇ τοὺς εὐκτηρίους οἴκους καθεῖλον. Συμεώνης δὲ συλληφθεὶς, σιδηροδεσμώτης ὡς βασιλέα ἤχθη · ἔνθα δὴ γίνεται ἀνὴρ ἀγαθὸς καὶ ἀνδρεῖος. Ἐπεὶ γὰρ βασανίσων αὐτὸν εἰσάγεσθαι προσέταξεν ὁ Σαβώρης, οὔτε ἔδεισεν, οὔτε προσεκύνησεν. Ἐφ' ᾧ σφόδρα χαλεπήνας ὁ βασιλεὺς, ἐπύθετο, Τί δή ποτε νῦν οὐ προσεκύνησας, πρότερον τοῦτο ποιῶν; Ὅτι πρότερον, ἔφη ὁ Συμεώνης, οὐ δεσμώτης ἠγόμην ἐπὶ προδοσίᾳ τοῦ ἀληθοῦς Θεοῦ - καὶ μηδὲν διαφερόμενος, τὰ νενομισμένα περὶ τὴν βασιλείαν ἐπλήρουν. Νῦν δὲ μοι οὐ θέμις τοῦτο ποιεῖν. Ἥχω γὰρ ἀγωνιούμενος ὑπὲρ τῆς εὐσεβείας καὶ τοῦ ἡμετέρου δόγματος. Τοιαῦτα εἰπόντα, παρεκελεύσατο ὁ βασιλεὺς προσκυνῆσαι τὸν ἥλιον· καὶ πειθομένῳ μὲν πολλὰ δῶρα δώσειν ὑπισχνεῖτο καὶ ἐν τιμῇ ἔξειν, ἀπειθοῦντα δὲ ἀπολέσειν ἠπείλησεν αὐτόν τε καὶ πᾶν τὸ τῶν Χριστιανῶν φῦλον. Ἐπεὶ δὲ οὔτε ταῖς ἀπειλαῖς κατεκτύπει τὸν Συμεώνην, οὔτε ταῖς ἐπαγγελίαις ἐχάλαζεν, ἀλλ᾿ ἀνδρεῖος ἔμενεν, ἰσχυριζόμενος μή ποτε προσκυνήσειν τὸν ἥλιον, μηδὲ προδότης φανήσεσθαι τῆς αὐτοῦ θρησκείας, προσέταξεν αὐτὸν τέως ἐν δεσμοῖς εἶναι, λογισάμενος, ὡς εἰκὸς, μεταμεληθήσεσθαι. ᾿Απαγόμενον δὲ εἰς τὸ δεσμωτήριον ἰδὼν Οὐσθαζάνης πρεσβύτης εὐνοῦχος, τροφεὺς Σαβώρου, καὶ μείζων τῆς βασιλέως οἰκίας, προσεκύνησεν αὐτὸν ἀναστάς. Ἔτυχε γὰρ πρὸ τῶν βασι-. λείων θυρῶν καθήμενος. Ὁ δὲ Συμεώνης ὑβριστικῶς ἐπετίμησεν αὐτῷ, καὶ θυμωθεὶς ἀνεβόησε, καὶ ἀποστραφεὶς παρήμειψε. Χριστιανὸς γὰρ ῶν, οὐ προπολλοῦ ἐβιάσθη προσκυνῆσαι τὸν ἥλιον. Αὐτίκα δὲ δακρύσας μετ' οἰμωγῆς ὁ εὐνοῦχος, ἣν μὲν ἡμφίεστο λαμπρὰν ἐσθῆτα ἀπέθετο · οἷα δὲ πενθῶν μέλαιναν περιβαλλόμενος, πρὸ τῆς βασιλέως οἰκίας ἐκαθέζετο, κλαίων καὶ στένων, Οἴμοι ἐγὼ, λέγων, οἷον χρή προσδοκᾷν εἶναι περὶ ἐμὲ ὂν ἠρνησάμην Θεὸν, ὅπουγε τούτου χάριν ἐντεῦθεν ἤδη πάλαι μοι συνήθης γεγονώς Συμεώνης, οὐδὲ λόγου μεταδοὺς, ὧδέ με ἀπεστράφη καὶ παρέδραμεν! Ἐπεὶ δὲ ἔγνω ταῦτα Σαβώρης, μετακαλεσάμενος αὐτὸν, ἐπυνθάνετο τὴν αἰτίαν τοῦ πένθους, καὶ εἰ συμφορᾷ τινι περὶ τὸν ( οἶκον ἐχρήσατο. Ὑπολαβὼν δὲ Οὐσθαζάνης εἶπεν, Ὦ βασιλεῦ, οὐδὲν περὶ τὸν ἐνθάδε οἶκον ἡτύχησα. Εἴθε γὰρ ἀντὶ τοῦ συμβεβηκότος μοι, παντοδαπαῖς ἀλλοίαις περιπέπτωκα συμφοραῖς, καὶ ῥᾷον ἦν. Πενθῶ δὲ νῦν, ὅτι ζῶ· καὶ πάλαι τεθνάναι ὀφείλων, ὁρῶ τὸν ἥλιον, ὃν σοὶ χαριζόμενος, οὐκ ἀπὸ γνώμης προσεκύνησα τῷ δοκεῖν. "Ωστε κατ' ἀμφότερον δίκαιον εἶναί με ἀποθανεῖν, προδότην Χριστοῦ γεγενημένον, καὶ περὶ σὲ ἀπατεῶνα. Καὶ ὁ μὲν, τοιάδε εἰπὼν, ὤμωσεν οὐρανοῦ καὶ γῆς δημιουργὸν, μὴ μεταθήσεσθαι λοιπὸν τῆς γνώμης. Σαβώρης δὲ πρὸς τὸ παράδοξον τῆς μεταβολῆς τοῦ εὐνούχου τεθηπὼς, ἔτι μᾶλλον ἐχαλέπαινε τοῖς Χριστιανοῖς, ὡς γοητείαις τοιάδε κατορθοῦσι. Φειδοῖ δὲ τῇ περὶ τὸν πρεσβύτην, πῆ μὲν πρᾶος, πῆ δὲ ἀπηνὴς φαινόμενος, παντὶ σθένει μεταπείθειν αὐτὸν ἐπειρᾶτο. Ὡς δὲ οὐδὲν ἥνυεν, ἰσχυριζομένου Οὐσθαζάδου μήποτε τοσοὔτον εὐήθη ἔσεσθαι, ὡς ἀντὶ τοῦ πάντων δημιουργοῦ Θεοῦ τὰ πρὸς αὐτοῦ δεδημιουργημένα σέβειν, τότε δὴ πρὸς ὀργὴν κινηθεὶς, προσέταξεν αὐτοῦ ξίφει τὴν κεφαλὴν ἀποτμηθῆναι. Ἐπὶ τοῦτο δὲ ἀγόμενος παρὰ τῶν δημίων, ἐπισχεῖν μικρὸν αὐτῶν ἐδεήθη, ὡς περί του βασιλεῖ δηλώσων. Καὶ προσκαλεσάμενός τινα τῶν πιστοτάτων εὐνούχων, ἐκέλευσε τάδε εἰπεῖν Σαβώρῃ· Ην μὲν ἐκ νέου μέχρι τοῦ νῦν εὔνοιαν ἔσχον, ὦ βασιλεῦ, περὶ τὸν ὑμέτερον οἶκον πατρί τε σῷ καὶ σοὶ, σπουδῇ τῇ προσηκούσῃ διακονούμενος, οὗ μοι δοκεῖ μαρτύρων παρὰ σοὶ, εὖ ταῦτα ἐπισταμένῳ, δεῖσθαι. ᾿Αντὶ πάντων δὲ ὧν πώποτε κεχαρισμένος ὑμῖν ἐγενόμην, ἀπόδος μοι ταύτην τὴν ἀμοιβὴν, τὸ μὴ δόξαι τοῖς ἀγνοοῦσι τιμωρίαν ὑπέχειν ὡς ἄπιστον περὶ τὴν βασιλείαν, ἢ ἄλλως κακοῦργον ἀλόντα. Καὶ ὥστε τοῦτο δῆλον γενέσθαι, κήρυξ βοῶν σημανεῖ πᾶσιν, ὅτι Οὐσθαζάδης τὴν κεφαλὴν ἀποτέμνεται, μοχθηρὸς μὲν οὐδα μῶς ἔν τινι ἐν τοῖς βασιλείοις φανεὶς, Χριστιανὸς δὲ ὢν, καὶ τὸν ἴδιον Θεὸν ἀρνήσασθαι τῷ βασιλεῖ μὴ πειθόμενος. Καὶ ὁ μὲν εὐνοῦχος ἤγγειλε ταῦτα. Σαβώρης δὲ κατὰ τὴν αἴτησιν Οὐσθαζάδου, κήρυκα βοῆσαι προσέταξεν. "ρετο γὰρ τοὺς ἄλλους ἑτοίμως παύεσθαι Χριστιανίζειν, εἰ κατὰ νοῦν λάβοιεν, ὡς οὐδενὸς Χριστιανοῦ φείσεται, πρεσβύτην τροφέα καὶ οἰκεῖον εὔνουν ἀνελών. Οὐσθαζάδης δὲ ἐσπούδαζεν ἀνακηρυχθῆναι τὴν αἰτίαν τῆς αὐτοῦ τιμωρίας, λογισάμενος ὡς ἡνίκα εὐλαβηθεὶς προσεκύνησε τὸν ἥλιον, πολλοὺς Χριστιανῶν εἰς δέος κατέστησε · νυνὶ δὲ εἰ μάθοιεν αὐτὸν ὑπὲρ τῆς θρησκείας ἀναιρεθέντα, μιμητὰς πολλοὺς ποιήσει τῆς οἰκείας ἀνδρείας. ### English translation (Claude) When in time they had become very numerous and had begun to hold assemblies and to have priests and deacons, this greatly grieved the magi, who from the beginning have had charge of the Persians' religion by hereditary succession, like a priestly tribe. It grieved the Jews too, who in some way are by nature set at war against the doctrine of the Christians through envy. They slandered to Sapor, the king at that time, Symeon, then archbishop of Seleucia and Ctesiphon, the royal cities of Persia, as a friend of the Caesar of the Romans who reported the affairs of the Persians to him. Persuaded by the slanders, Sapor at first ground down the Christians with immoderate taxes, knowing that most of them practised voluntary poverty, and entrusted the collection to harsh men, so that, forced by lack of money and the cruelty of the collectors, they would abandon their religion; for this was his aim. After this he ordered the priests and ministers of God to be put to the sword, the churches to be razed, their treasures to become public property, and Symeon to be brought to him as a traitor to the kingdom and religion of the Persians. The magi, then, with the help of the Jews, eagerly pulled down the houses of prayer. Symeon was arrested and brought in iron chains to the king; and there he showed himself a good and brave man. When Sapor ordered him to be brought in for torture, he neither feared nor did obeisance. The king, greatly angered at this, asked: “Why do you not do obeisance now, when you did so before?” Symeon said: “Because before I was not being brought in chains to betray the true God; and since there was no dispute, I fulfilled what was customary toward the kingship. But now it is not lawful for me to do this; for I have come to contend for piety and our doctrine.” When he had said this, the king ordered him to worship the sun, promising, if he obeyed, to give him many gifts and to hold him in honour, and threatening, if he disobeyed, to destroy both him and the whole race of Christians. When neither his threats terrified Symeon nor his promises softened him, but he remained brave, insisting that he would never worship the sun nor appear a traitor to his religion, the king ordered him to be kept in chains for the time being, reckoning, naturally, that he would change his mind. As he was being led to prison, Usthazanes, an old eunuch, Sapor's foster-father and chief of the king's household, saw him, rose and did obeisance to him; for he happened to be sitting before the palace doors. Symeon rebuked him insultingly, cried out in anger, turned away and passed by; for Usthazanes was a Christian and not long before had been forced to worship the sun. At once the eunuch burst into tears and laments, put off the splendid clothing he wore, put on black as one in mourning, and sat before the king's house weeping and groaning, saying: “Woe is me! What must I expect from the God I have denied, when on this account Symeon, who has long been my friend, has not even given me a word, but has turned away from me and passed me by!” When Sapor learned this, he called him and asked the reason for his mourning, and whether some misfortune had befallen his household. Usthazanes answered: “O king, I have met with no misfortune in my house here. Would that instead of what has befallen me I had fallen into every other kind of misfortune; it would have been easier. I mourn now because I am alive, and though I ought to have died long ago, I see the sun, which to please you I worshipped in appearance, not from conviction. So on both counts it is just that I die, having become a traitor to Christ and a deceiver toward you.” Having said this, he swore by the Creator of heaven and earth that he would not change his mind again. Sapor, astounded at the wonderful change in the eunuch, was still more incensed against the Christians, as though they did such things by sorcery. Yet sparing the old man, now gentle, now harsh, he tried with all his might to win him back. When he achieved nothing, since Usthazanes insisted he would never be so foolish as to worship the things made by God instead of God, the Creator of all, the king was moved to anger and ordered his head to be cut off with the sword. As he was being led to this by the executioners, he asked them to wait a little, so that he might tell the king something. He called one of the most trusted eunuchs and told him to say this to Sapor: “What goodwill I have had from youth until now toward your house, O king, toward your father and you, serving with fitting zeal, I think needs no witnesses with you, who know it well. In return for all the services I have ever done you, grant me this reward: that I may not seem to those who do not know to be suffering punishment as one unfaithful to the kingdom, or as caught in some other crime. To make this plain, let a herald proclaim aloud to all that Usthazanes is beheaded, not because he has been found wicked in any way at the palace, but because he is a Christian and would not obey the king and deny his own God.” The eunuch delivered this message, and Sapor, in accordance with Usthazanes' request, ordered a herald to proclaim it; for he thought that the others would readily stop being Christians if they realized that he would spare no Christian, since he had put to death an old man who was his foster-father and a loyal member of his household. But Usthazanes was eager that the cause of his punishment be proclaimed, reckoning that when he had worshipped the sun out of fear he had made many Christians afraid, and now, if they learned that he had been killed for his religion, he would make many imitators of his own courage. ### Translation notes - Fragments of Valesius's chapter title (“… completed …” and “… the Persians became Christians”) stood at the head of the section and inside it in the scan and have been removed. Sozomen's account of the Persian martyrs under Sapor II (from about 340) depends on Syriac acts of the martyrs. His statements about the magi and the Jews are his own; they are translated as written. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 2.9 (PG 67:955–959; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/2-9). ## Church History 2.10 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/2-7/#p-2-10 - Source: PG 67:959–961 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: On Good Friday Symeon of Seleucia-Ctesiphon is executed after encouraging a hundred clergy put to death before him. ### Greek text Ὧδε μὲν Οὐσθαζάδης Ενδοξοτάτην βιοτὴν ἐνθάδε κατέλιπε. Συμεώνης δὲ μαθὼν ἐν τῷ δεσμωτηρίῳ, εὐχαριστήρια περὶ αὐτοῦ τῷ Θεῷ ηὔξατο. Τῇ δὲ ἑξῆς ἡμέρᾳ, ἔτυχε δὲ ἕκτην τῆς ἑβδομάδος εἶναι, καθ᾿ ἣν πρὸ τῆς ἀναστασίμου πανηγύρεως ἡ ἐτήσιος τοῦ σωτηρίου πάθους ἀνάμνησις ἐπιτελεῖται, καὶ τὸν Συμεώνην ἐψηφίσατο ὁ βασιλεὺς ξίφει ἀναιρεθῆναι. Προαχθεὶς γὰρ αὖθις ἐκ τοῦ δεσμωτηρίου εἰς τὰ βασίλεια, γενναίως μάλα διελέχθη Σαβώρῃ περὶ τοῦ δόγματος, καὶ οὔτε αὐτὸν, οὔτε τὸν ἥλιον προσκυνῆσαι ἠνέσχετο. Κατὰ δὲ τὴν αὐτὴν ἡμέραν, ὁμοίως ἀναιρεθῆναι προσετάχθησαν καὶ ἄλλοι ἑκατὸν ἐν τῷ δεσμωτηρίῳ ὄντες · τελευταῖον δὲ αὐτοῖς ἐπισφαγῆναι Συμεώνην, τὸν πάντων θάνατον θεασάμενον. Ἦσαν δὲ τούτων οἱ μὲν ἐπίσκοποι, οἱ δὲ πρεσβύτεροι, καὶ ἄλλοι ἄλλων κληρικῶν ταγμάτων. Ὡς δὲ πάντες τὴν ἐπὶ θανάτῳ ἤγοντο, παραγενόμενος ὁ μέγας ἀρχιμάγος, ἤρετο αὐτοὺς εἰ βούλοιντο ζῇν, βασιλεῖ παραπλησίως θρησκεύειν, καὶ τὸν ἥλιον σέδειν. Οὐδενὸς δὲ τὴν ἐπὶ τούτοις ζωὴν ἑλομένου, ὡς εἰς τὸν τόπον ἤχθησαν οὗ χτείνεσθαι ἔμελλον, οἱ μὲν δήμιοι ἔργου εἴχοντο, καὶ περὶ τὴν σφαγὴν τῶν μαρτύρων ἐπόνουν" Συμεώνης δὲ εστηχὼς αὐτοῖς ἀναιρουμένοις, παρεκελεύετο θαῤῥεῖν, περὶ θανάτου, περὶ ἀναστάσεως, περὶ εὐσεβείας διελέγετο. Καὶ τῶν ἱερῶν Γραφῶν πιστούμενος, ἐδείκνυ ζωὴν μὲν ἀληθῶς εἶναι τὸ ὧδε ἀποθανεῖν τὸ δὲ διὰ δειλίαν προδοῦναι Θεὸν, ὁμολογουμένως θάνατον. Μετ᾿ οὐ πολὺ γὰρ καὶ μηδενὸς ἀποχτείνοντος, αὐτομάτως τεθνήξονται " τοῦτο γὰρ ἄφυχτον παντὶ τιχτομένῳ τέλος. Τὰ μετὰ ταῦτα δὲ διηνεχῇ ὄντα, οὐ πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις ὁμοίως ἀπαντήσει " ἀλλ᾽ ὡς ἀπὸ στάθμης τινὸς, ἀχριδῇ λόγον δώσουσι τῆς ἐνθάδε βιοτῆς. Καὶ ἀθανάτους ὧν ἕκαστος εὖ ἐποίησε τὰς ἀμοιθὰς λήψεται, καὶ τὰς εὐθύνας τῶν ἐναντίων ὑφέξει, Μεῖζον δὲ πάντων ἐν ἀγαθοῖς μακαριώτατον, ὑπὲρ Θεοῦ ἑλέσθαι ἀποθανεῖν. Τοιαῦτα Συμεώνου διεξιόντος, οἷα παιδοτρίθου παραχελευομένου ἐν τοῖς ἀγῶσιν ὃν χρὴ τρόπον ἐλθεῖν, ἐπαΐων, προθύμως πρὸς τὴν σφαγὴν ἐχώρει. Ἐπεὶ δὲ τοὺς ἑκατὸν διῆλθεν ὁ δήμιος, τελευταῖον αὐτὸν Συμεώνην ἔχτεινε καὶ ᾿Αδεδεχαλάαν καὶ ᾿Αναννίαν. ᾿Αμφότεροι δὲ γηραλέοι πρεσβύτεροι τῆς ὑπ' αὐτὸν Ἐκκλησίας, ἅμα αὐτῷ συνελέφθησαν, ἐν δεσμοῖς ἧσαν. ### English translation (Claude) So Usthazanes left this life most gloriously. Symeon, learning of it in prison, offered thanks to God for him. On the next day, which happened to be the sixth day of the week, on which, before the festival of the resurrection, the yearly commemoration of the saving passion is held, the king condemned Symeon also to be put to the sword. For he was brought again from the prison to the palace, argued very nobly with Sapor about the doctrine, and would not do obeisance either to him or to the sun. On the same day a hundred others who were in the prison were likewise ordered to be put to death, and Symeon to be slain last after them, when he had watched the death of all. Of these some were bishops, others presbyters, and others of other clerical orders. As they were all being led to death, the chief of the magi came and asked them whether they wished to live, by worshipping as the king did and honouring the sun. When no one chose life on these terms, and they had been brought to the place where they were to be killed, the executioners set to work and laboured at the slaughter of the martyrs; Symeon, standing by them as they were killed, urged them to be of good courage, and spoke about death, resurrection and piety. Confirming it from the sacred Scriptures, he showed that to die in this way is truly life, while to betray God through cowardice is confessedly death. For in a little while, even if no one kills them, they will die of themselves; for this end is inescapable for everyone who is born. But what comes after is everlasting, and will not befall all people alike: rather, as by a measuring line, they will give an exact account of their life here; and each will receive immortal rewards for the good he has done, and pay the penalty for the contrary. And greatest of all, the most blessed among good things, is to choose to die for God. As Symeon went through these things, like a trainer urging athletes in the games how they must enter the contest, each one who heard him went eagerly to the slaughter. When the executioner had gone through the hundred, last of all he killed Symeon himself, and Abdechalaas and Ananias, both elderly presbyters of his church, who had been arrested with him and were in chains. ### Scripture references - Matt 10:39: allusion, low confidence - 2 Cor 5:10: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - “The sixth day of the week … the yearly commemoration of the saving passion” is Good Friday. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 2.10 (PG 67:959–961; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/2-10). ## Church History 2.11 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/2-7/#p-2-11 - Source: PG 67:961–963 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Pusices, chief of the king's craftsmen, is cruelly executed for encouraging Ananias; on the next Good Friday Sapor orders a general massacre of Christians, then limits it to the clergy after the death of his favourite eunuch Azades. ### Greek text Τηνικαῦτα δὲ Πουσίχης, ὃς πάντων ἦρχε τῶν τοῦ βασιλέως τεχνιτῶν, αὐτόθι ἑστὼς, ἰδὼν ᾿Αναννίαν τρέμοντα ὡς ηὐτρεπίζετο ἐπὶ τὴν σφαγὴν, Πρὸς βραχὺ, ἔφη, γέρον, μῦσον τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς σου, καὶ θάῤῥει. Αὐτίκα γὰρ ὄψει τοῦ Χριστοῦ τὸ φῶς. Ὁ δὲ τοῦτο εἰπὼν, συνελήφθη, ὡς βασιλέα ἤχθη. Καὶ Χριστιανὸς εἶναι ὁμολογήσας, καθότι ἐλευθεροστομῶν ὑπὲρ τοῦ δόγματος καὶ τῶν μαρτύ. ρων προσδιελέχθη τῷ βασιλεῖ, ὡς οὐ δέον παῤῥησιασάμενο:, παραξένῳ καὶ ὠμοτάτῳ τρόπῳ ἀποθανεῖν προσετάχθη. Περὶ γὰρ τὸν τένοντα διορύξαντες αὖποῦ τὸν αὐχένα οἱ δήμιοι, τῇδε αὐτοῦ τὴν γλῶτταν ἐξείλχυσαν διαδολῆς δέ τινων, καὶ θυγάτηρ αὐτοῦ παρθένος ἱερὰ συλληφθεῖσα τότε ἀνῃρέθη. Τοῦ δὲ ἐπιγενομένου ἔτους, κατὰ τὴν ἡμέραν, τοῦ μὲν πάθους τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἡ ἀνάμνησις ἐπετελεῖτο, τῆς δὲ νεκρῶν ἀναστάσεως ἡ πανήγυρις προσεδοκᾶτο, ὠμοτάτη Σαδώρου πρόσταξις ἀνὰ πᾶσαν τὴν Περσῶν γῆν ἐφοίτα, χαταδιχάζουσα θάνατον τῶν ἑαυτοὺς Χριστιανοὺς εἶναι ὁμολογούντων" ἡνίκα δὴ λέγεται ἀριθμοῦ κρείττονα πληθὺν Χριστιανῶν, ὑπὸ ξίφους ἀναιρεθῆναι. Οἵ τε γὰρ μάγοι, κατὰ πόλεις κώμας ἐπιμελῶς ἐθήρων τοὺς λανθάνοντας" οἱ δὲ, καὶ αὐτόματοι μηδενὸς ἄγοντος ἑαυτοὺς χατεμήννον, ὥστε μὴ τῇ σιγῇ δόξαν τὸν Χριστὸν ἀπαρνεῖσθαι. ᾿Αφειδῶς δὲ πάντων Χριστιανῶν χτιννυμένων, πλεῖστοι ἐν αὐτοῖς τοῖς βασιλείοις ἀνῃρέθησαν, ᾿Αζάδης ὁ εὐνοῦχος, ταμάλιστα βασιλεῖ κεχαρισμένος ὥν. Ὃν ἐπείπερ ἀποθανεῖν ὁ Σαβώρης ἐπύθετο, περίλυπος εἰς ἄγαν ἐγένετο, καὶ τὴν δημώδη ταύτην σφαγὴν ἔστησε, μόνους δὲ τοὺς καθηγητὰς τῆς θρησκείας ἀναιρεῖσθαι προσέταξε, ### English translation (Claude) At that time Pusices, who was over all the king's craftsmen, was standing there, and seeing Ananias trembling as he was being made ready for the slaughter, he said: “Old man, close your eyes for a little while and take courage; for at once you will see the light of Christ.” As soon as he had said this he was arrested and brought to the king. He confessed that he was a Christian; and because he spoke freely to the king on behalf of the doctrine and the martyrs, as one who had used improper boldness, he was ordered to be put to death in a strange and most cruel way: the executioners pierced his neck at the sinew and drew out his tongue through it. At the slander of some people his daughter too, a holy virgin, was arrested and put to death at that time. In the following year, on the day when the commemoration of the passion of Christ was being kept and the festival of the resurrection of the dead was expected, a most cruel order of Sapor went out through the whole land of the Persians, condemning to death those who confessed themselves to be Christians. It is said that at that time a multitude of Christians beyond counting was put to the sword. For the magi carefully hunted out in cities and villages those who were in hiding, and others gave themselves up of their own accord with no one bringing them, so as not to seem by their silence to deny Christ. As all Christians were killed without mercy, very many were put to death in the palace itself, among them Azades the eunuch, who was particularly dear to the king. When Sapor learned of his death he was exceedingly grieved, stopped this general slaughter, and ordered that only the teachers of the religion should be put to death. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 2.11 (PG 67:961–963; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/2-11). ## Church History 2.12 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/2-7/#p-2-12 - Source: PG 67:963–965 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Tarbula, Symeon's sister, with her sister and servant, is accused by Jews of poisoning the queen and is sawn in two; persecution then falls on the clergy, especially in Adiabene. ### Greek text ἐκεῖνο δὲ καιροῦ, νόσῳ περιπεσούσης τῆς βασιλίδος, συλλαμβάνεται. ἡ Συμεώνου τοῦ ἐπισκόπου ἀδελφὴ, Ταρθούλα τοὔνομα, ἱερὰ παρθένος. σὺν θεραπαίνῃ τὸν αὐτὸν μετιούσῃ βίον, καὶ ἀδελφῇ μετὰ θάνατον ἀνδρὸς, γάμον ἀπαγορευσάσῃ, καὶ ὁμοίως ἀγομένη. Ἐγένετο δὲ αὐτῶν ἡ σύλληψις διαδολῇς τῶν Ἰουδαίων, ἐπαιτιωμένων ὡς φαρμάκοις τῇ κρατούσῃ ἐπεδούλευσαν, διὰ τὸν Συμεώνου θάνατον μηνιῶσαι. δὲ βασιλὶς (φιλεῖ γάρ πως τὸ νοσοῦν τοῖς ἀπευχταίοις ὑπέχειν τὴν ἀκοὴν [99]} ὑπέλαθεν ἀληθῆ εἶναι τὴν διαδολὴν, μάλιστα παρὰ Ἰουδαίων γεγενημένην " ἐπεὶ τὰ αὑτῶν ἐφρόνει, καὶ Ἰουδαϊκῶς , (, ἐδίω, καὶ ἀψευδεῖς αὐτοὺς ἡγεῖτο εὔνους αὐτῇ. οἱ Παραλαθόντες δὲ μάγοι Ταρθούλαν καὶ τὰς λοιπὰς, χαταδιχάζουσιν αὐτῶν θάνατον" πρίονι διχῇ τεμόντες, ἀνεσχολόπισαν, ὡς ἀποτρόπαιον νόσου, διὰ μέσου τῶν σχολόπων τὴν βασιλίδα παρελθεῖν ἐποίησαν. Λέγεται δὲ Ταρδούλαν ταύτην, εὐπρεπῇ μάλα καλὴν τὸ εἶδος γενέσθαι" ἐρασθῆναι δὲ αὖτῆς τινα τῶν μάγων, καὶ περὶ τῆς συνουσίας λάθρα προπέμψασθαι μισθὸν, ἐπαγγειλάμενον, εἰ πεισθείη, σωτηρίαν αὐτῇ ταῖς συνούσαις. Τὴν δὲ, μῆτε ἀσελγοὺς ἀκοῆς ἀνασχομένην, ἐνυβρίσαι μὲν αὐτοῖς ἄἀχολασίαν ὀνειδίσαι" προθυμότατα δὲ μᾶλλον ἑλέσθαι ἀποθανεῖν, ἢ τὴν παρθενίαν προδοῦναι. Κρατήσαντος δὲ κατὰ τὴν Σαβώρου πρόσταξιν, ὡς ἐν τοῖς πρόσθεν εἴρηται, τοὺς ἄλλους ἐᾶν, μόνους δὲ συλλαμβάνεσθαι τοὺς ἱερέας καὶ τοὺς ὑφηγητὰς τοῦ δόγματος, περιιόντες μάγοι τε καὶ ἀρχιμάγοι ἀνὰ τὴν Περσῶν γῆν, ἐπιμελῶς ἐκακούργουν τοὺς ἐπισκόπους καὶ πρεσβυτέρους, μάλιστα δὲ κατὰ τὴν Διαβηνῶν χώραν· κλίμα δὲ τοῦτο Περσικὸν, ὡς ἐπίπαν Χριστιανίζον. ### English translation (Claude) At that time, when the queen fell ill, Tarbula, the sister of Symeon the bishop, a holy virgin, was arrested, together with a servant who followed the same way of life and a sister who after her husband's death had renounced marriage and was arrested likewise. Their arrest came about through the slander of the Jews, who accused them of plotting against the queen with poisons in revenge for Symeon's death. The queen (for sickness somehow tends to lend an ear to the worst things) believed the slander to be true, especially since it came from Jews; for she was of their way of thinking, lived in a Jewish manner, and regarded them as truthful and well disposed to her. The magi took Tarbula and the others and condemned them to death; they sawed them in two, impaled them on stakes, and, as a charm to avert the disease, made the queen pass between the stakes. It is said that this Tarbula was very comely and beautiful in appearance, and that one of the magi fell in love with her and secretly sent her an offer for intercourse, promising safety for her and her companions if she consented. But she would not endure hearing of such licentiousness; she insulted them and reproached their lewdness, and most eagerly chose to die rather than betray her virginity. When Sapor's order prevailed, as has been said above, that the rest should be left alone and only the priests and teachers of the doctrine arrested, the magi and chief magi went round the land of the Persians and carefully ill-treated the bishops and presbyters, especially in the country of the Adiabenians; this is a district of Persia that is almost entirely Christian. ### Translation notes - Sozomen's statements that the Jews slandered the women and that the queen favoured Judaism are reported as he gives them. Valesius's text reads “Diabenians”; the region is Adiabene. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 2.12 (PG 67:963–965; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/2-12). ## Church History 2.13 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/2-7/#p-2-13 - Source: PG 67:965–967 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Bishop Acepsimas and other clergy are tortured; Acepsimas dies, and Sozomen lists many Persian bishops martyred under Sapor, among them Dausas with Mareabdes and 250 clergy. ### Greek text Ὑπὸ δὲ τοῦτον τὸν χρόνον, καὶ Ἀκεψιμᾶν τὸν ἐπίσκοπον συνελάβοντο, καὶ πολλοὺς τῶν ὑπ᾿ αὐτὸν κληρικῶν. Ἑπιλογισάμενοι δὲ, τῇ ἄγρᾳ τοῦ ἡγουμένου ἠρκέσθησαν. Τοὺς δὲ ἄλλους ἀφῆκαν, τὰς οὐσίας αὐτῶν ἀφελόμενοι. Ἰάκωβος δέ τις πρεσβύτερος, ἐκοντὴς εἶπετο τῷ ᾿Ακεψιμᾷ· καὶ δεηθεὶς τῶν μάγων, ὑπὸ τὸν αὐτὸν ἐγένετο δεσμόν· καὶ οἷα γηραλέῳ προθύμως ὑπηρετεῖτο· καὶ τὰς συμφορὰς αὐτῷ ἐκούφιζεν ὡς ἐνῆν, καὶ τὰς πληγὰς ἐθεράπευε. Μετ' οὐ πολὺ γὰρ τῆς συλλήψεως, ἱμάσιν ὠμοῖς χαλεπῶς αὐτὸν ἐβασάνισαν οἱ μάγοι, βιαζόμενοι προσκυνῆσαι τὸν ἥλιον. Ὡς δὲ οὐκ εἶξε, πάλιν αὐτὸν ἐν δεσμοῖς εἶχον. Κατ᾿ ἐκεῖνο δὲ καιροῦ καὶ ᾿Αειθαλᾶς καὶ Ἰάκωβος πρεσβύτεροι, ᾿Αζαδάνης τε καὶ ᾿Αβδιησοῦς διάκονοι, διὰ δόγμα δεσμωτήριον ᾤκουν, χαλεπώτατα ὑπὸ τῶν μάγων μαστιγωθέντες. Χρόνου δὲ πολλοῦ ( παρελθόντος, ἐκοινώσατο περὶ αὐτῶν τῷ βασιλεῖ ὁ μέγας ἀρχιμάγος. Καὶ ἐπιτραπεὶς ὡς βούλεται τιμωρήσασθαι αὐτοὺς, εἰ μὴ τὸν ἥλιον προσκυνήσουσι, δήλην τοῖς ἐν δεσμωτηρίῳ ἐποιήσατο τὴν Σαβώρου πρόσταξιν. Ὡς δὲ ἀναφανδὸν ἀπεκρίναντο, μήποτε σφᾶς προδότας γενέσθαι τοῦ Χριστοῦ, μηδὲ τὸν ἥλιον προσκυνήσειν, ἀφειδῶς αὐτοὺς ἐβασάνισε. Καὶ ᾿Ακεψιμᾶς μὲν ἐν ταῖς τοῦ δόγματος ὁμολογίαις ἀνδρείως διαμείνας, ἐτελεύτησε. Τινὲς δὲ τῶν ἐξ Αρμενίας παρὰ Πέρσαις ὁμήρων, τὸ λείψανον αὐτοῦ λάθρα ἀνελόμενοι, ἔθαψαν. Οἱ δὲ ἄλλοι, καίπερ οὐχ ἧττον μαστιγωθέντες, παραδόξως ἔζων· καὶ μὴ μεταθέμενοι τῆς γνώμης, πάλιν ἐν δεσμοῖς ἐγένοντο. Σὺν αὐτοῖς δὲ ἦν καὶ ᾿Αειθαλᾶς, ὃς ἐν τῷ τύπτεσθαι, τεινόμενος, ὑπὸ τοῦ ἄγαν ἑλκυσμοῦ ἀπὸ τῶν ὤμων διεσπάσθη τοὺς βραχίονας, καὶ νεκρὰς μόνον καὶ ᾐωρημένας τὰς χεῖρας ἔφερε, ὡς ἄλλους τῷ στόματι αὐτοῦ τὴν τροφὴν προσάγειν. Ἐπὶ ταύτης τῆς ἡγε. μονίας, μαρτύρια τοῦ βίου περιέστησαν, πρεσβυτέρων τε καὶ διακόνων, καὶ μοναχῶν καὶ ἱερῶν παρθένων, καὶ τῶν ἄλλων περὶ τὰς ἐκκλησίας ὑπηρετουμένων, καὶ περὶ τὸ δόγμα διακειμένων, πλῆθος ἀναρίθμητον. Ἐπίσχοποι δὲ ὧν ἐπυθόμην, βίο σύμης Παῦλος, καὶ Γαδδιάδθης Σαβῖνος, Μαρέας Μώχιος, καὶ Ἰωάννης Ὁ ρμήσδας, Πάπας τε καὶ Ἰάχωθδος, καὶ ῬῬώμας Μαάρης, καὶ ἼΛγας Βόχρης, καὶ ᾿Αὐδᾶς ᾿Αὐδιησοῦς, ᾿ Ἰωάννης τε ᾿Αδράμιος καὶ ᾿Αγδελᾷς, καὶ Σαθώκαὶ Ἰσαὰκ, καὶ Δαῦσας, ὃς αἰχμάλωτος ἣν γενόμενος ὑπὸ Περσῶν ἀπὸ Ζαθδαίου χωρίου ὧδε προσαγορευομένου. Κατ᾽ ἐκεῖνο δὲ καιροῦ ὑπὲρ τοῦ δόγματος τέθνηκεν, ἅμα Μαρεάδδῃ χωρεπισχόπῳ, κληρικοῖς τοῖς ὑπ᾽ αὐτὸν, ἀμφὶ διακοσίοις πεντῆήκοντα, οἱ παρὰ Περσῶν αἰχμάλωτοι συνελήφθησαν. ### English translation (Claude) About this time they also arrested Acepsimas the bishop and many of the clergy under him; but on reflection they contented themselves with the capture of the leader, and let the others go, taking away their property. But a presbyter named James followed Acepsimas of his own accord, and by begging the magi came under the same bonds; he served the old man eagerly, lightened his misfortunes as far as he could, and tended his wounds. For not long after his arrest the magi tortured him severely with raw thongs, trying to force him to worship the sun; and when he did not yield, they kept him again in chains. At that time also the presbyters Aithalas and James and the deacons Azadanes and Abdiesus were living in prison for the doctrine, after being most cruelly scourged by the magi. When much time had passed, the chief magus spoke to the king about them; and being allowed to punish them as he wished if they would not worship the sun, he made Sapor's order known to those in prison. When they answered openly that they would never become traitors to Christ nor worship the sun, he tortured them without mercy. Acepsimas, remaining brave in his confession of the doctrine, died; and some of the Armenian hostages among the Persians secretly took up his remains and buried them. The others, though scourged no less, survived beyond expectation, and since they did not change their mind, were put in chains again. Among them was Aithalas, whose arms, as he was stretched out while being beaten, were torn from his shoulders by the excessive pulling, so that he carried his hands dead and hanging, and others had to bring food to his mouth. Under this reign an innumerable multitude of presbyters, deacons, monks, holy virgins, and others who served the churches or were devoted to the doctrine ended their lives in martyrdom. Of the bishops, those I have learned of are Barbasymes, Paul, Gaddiabes, Sabinus, Mareas, Mocius, John, Hormisdas, Papas, James, Romas, Maares, Agas, Bochres, Abdas, Abdiesus, John, Abramius, Agdelas, Sapor, Isaac, and Dausas, who had been taken captive by the Persians from a place called Zabdaeus. At that time he died for the doctrine together with Mareabdes, a country bishop, and about two hundred and fifty of the clergy under him, who had been taken captive by the Persians. ### Translation notes - The list of bishops' names is badly garbled in the scan; the forms are given as nearly as they can be read, with the help of the usual spellings in the Persian martyr acts. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 2.13 (PG 67:965–967; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/2-13). ## Church History 2.14 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/2-7/#p-2-14 - Source: PG 67:967–969 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The bishop Milles, after cursing a city that rejected him, goes on pilgrimage; Sozomen sums up the Persian martyrs under Sapor at sixteen thousand known by name, besides countless others. ### Greek text Ὑπὸ τοῦτον τὸν χρόνον Μίλλης ἐμαρτύρησεν ὃς τὰ μὲν πρῶτα παρὰ Πέρσαις ἐστρατεύετο. Μετὰ ὃὲ ταῦτα καταλιπὼν τὴν στρατείαν, τὴν ἀπὸ στολιχὴν πολιτείαν ἐζήλωσε. Λέγεται δὲ πόλεως Περσιχὴς ἐπίσκοπος χειροτονηθεὶς, πολλὰ πολλάκις παθεῖν, πληγὰς ὑπομεῖναι ἑλχυσμούς. Ὡς δὲ οὐδένα ἔπεισε Χριστιανίσαι, χαλεπῶς ἐνεγκὼν, ἐπἡράσατο τῇ πόλει, καὶ ἀνεχώρησε. Μετ᾿ οὐ πολὺ δὲ τῶν ἐνθάδε πρωτενόντων ἐξαμαρτόντων εἰς βασιλέα, παραγενομένη στρατιὰ μετὰ τριακοσίων ἐλεφάντων, τὴν πόλιν χατέστρεψαν, καὶ οἷα ἄρουραν γεωργήσαντες ἔσπειραν. Ὁ δὲ μόνον πῆραν ἐπιφερόμενος, ἐν ᾗ τὴν ἱερὰν βίβλον τῶν Εὐαγγελίων εἶχεν, εἰς Ἱεροσόλυμα ἀπῆλθεν εὐξόμενος· κἀκεῖθεν εἰς Αἴγυπτον ἐπὶ θέαν τῶν αὐτόθι μοναχῶν. Οἴων δὲ τοῦτον τὸν ἄνδρα παραδόξων καὶ θεσπεσίων ἔργων δημιουργὸν γενέσθαι παρειλήφαμεν, μαρτυροῦσι Σύρων παῖδες, οἳ τὰς αὐτοῦ πράξεις καὶ τὸν βίον ἀνεγράψαντο. Ἐμοὶ δὲ ἀρκεῖν ἡγοῦμαι ταῦτα τέως περὶ αὐτοῦ διεξελθεῖν, καὶ τῶν ἐν Περσίδι μαρτυρησάντων ἐπὶ τῆς Σαβώρου βασιλείας. Σχολῇ γὰρ ἄν τις ἅπαντα τὰ ἐπ᾿ αὐτοῖς γεγενημένα ἀπαριθμήσαι, τίνες τε ἦσαν καὶ πόθεν, ἢ πῶς τὴν μαρτυρίαν ἐπετέλεσαν, καὶ ποίας τιμωρίας ὑπέμειναν· παντοδαποὶ γὰρ τῶν τοιούτων τρόπων παρὰ Πέρσαις εἰς ὠμότητα φιλοτιμουμένων. Ὡς ἔνι δὲ συλλήβδην εἰπεῖν, λέγεται τῶν τότε μαρτύρων τοὺς ὀνομαστὶ φερομένους ἄνδρας τε καὶ γυναῖκας, εἶναι εἰς μυρίους ἐξακισχιλίους· τὴν δὲ ἐκτὸς τούτων πληθὺν, κρείττω ἀριθμοῦ, καὶ διατοῦτο ἐργῶδες φανῆναι τὰς αὐτῶν προσηγορίας ἀπαριθμήσασθαι, Πέρσαις τε καὶ Σύροις, καὶ τοῖς ἀνὰ τὴν Ἔδεσαν οἰκοῦσιν, οἳ πολλὴν τοῦτο ἐπιμέλειαν ἐποιήσαντο. ### English translation (Claude) About this time Milles was martyred. At first he served as a soldier among the Persians; afterward he left military service and emulated the apostolic way of life. It is said that, having been ordained bishop of a Persian city, he often suffered much and endured blows and draggings; and when he persuaded no one to become a Christian, he was angry, cursed the city, and departed. Not long afterward, when its leading men had offended against the king, an army came with three hundred elephants and destroyed the city, and having ploughed it like a field, sowed it. Carrying only a wallet, in which he had the sacred book of the Gospels, he went to Jerusalem to pray, and from there to Egypt to see the monks there. What wonderful and godly works we have received that this man performed is witnessed by the sons of the Syrians, who have written down his deeds and his life. For myself, I think it is enough for the present to relate these things about him and about those martyred in Persia under the reign of Sapor. For it would be a long task to enumerate everything that happened to them, who they were and where they came from, or how they accomplished their martyrdom and what punishments they endured; for among the Persians all kinds of such methods are pursued in rivalry of cruelty. To speak in summary as far as possible, it is said that of the martyrs of that time those recorded by name, men and women, amount to sixteen thousand, and that the multitude beyond these is past counting, so that it has seemed laborious to the Persians, the Syrians and those who live about Edessa, who have taken great care in this, to enumerate their names. ### Translation notes - The scan has garbage characters before “sowed it” and has lost the first word (“He”) of the sentence about the wallet. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 2.14 (PG 67:967–969; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/2-14). ## Church History 2.15 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/2-7/#p-2-15 - Source: PG 67:969–971 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Constantine writes to Sapor commending the Persian Christians to him, citing his own victories under the cross and Valerian's fate after persecuting the church. ### Greek text Ἐπεὶ δὲ ὧδε πολεμεῖσθαι τοὺς ἐν Περσίδι Χριστιανοὺς ἔγνω Κωνσταντίνος ὁ Ῥωμαίων βασιλεὺς, ἤσχαλλέ τε καὶ σφόδρα ἐδυσφόρει. Καὶ βοηθεῖν αὐτοῖς σπουδάζων, ἠπόρει ὅ τι ποιήσοι, ὡς ἂν καὶ αὐτοὶ βε-, βαίως διάγοιεν. Καὶ συμβάν κατ᾿ ἐκεῖνο καιροῦ πρέ- - σβεις παρ' αὐτὸν ἐλθεῖν τοῦ Περσῶν βασιλέως, ἐπινεύσας τοῖς αἰτουμένοις, τὰ κατὰ γνώμην πράξαντας ἀπέμψεν. Εὔκαιρον δὲ τότε νομίσας, παραθέσθαι Σαβώρῃ τοὺς ἐν Περσίδι Χριστιανοὺς, ἔγραψε πρὸς αὐτὸν, μεγίστην καὶ ἀνάγραπτον ἀεὶ ἐχάριν ὁμολογῶν ἔξειν, εἰ φιλάνθρωπος γένοιτο περὶ τοὺς ὑπ᾿ αὐτὸν τὸ δόγμα τῶν Χριστιανῶν θαυμάζοντας. Ἐπεὶ καὶ τῷ τρόπῳ, φησὶ, τῆς θρησκείας οὐδὲν ἐγκαλεῖν ἔστιν, εἴ γε μόναις εὐχαῖς ἀναιμάκτοις πρὸς ἱκεσίαν Θεοῦ ἀρκοῦνται. Οὐ γὰρ αὐτῷ φίλον αἱμάτων χύσις· μόνῃ δὲ χαίρει ψυχῇ καθαρᾷ, πρὸς ἀρετὴν καὶ εὐσέβειαν ὁρώσῃ· ὥστε καὶ ἐπαινεῖν χρῆναι τοὺς ὧδε πιστεύοντας. Ἔπειτα δὲ τῆς περὶ τὸ δόγμα προνοίας, ίλεω καὶ αὐτὸ ἕξειν τὸ θεῖον ὑπισχνεῖτο, τεκμηρίοις χρώ μενος τοῖς Οὐαλεριανῷ καὶ αὐτῷ συμβεβηκόσιν. Αὐτὸς μὲν γὰρ διὰ τὴν εἰς Χριστὸν πίστιν συμμάχω χρώμενος τῇ θεόθεν ῥοπῇ, ἐκ τοῦ πρὸς δύσιν Ὠκεανοῦ ἀρξάμενος, τὴν πᾶσαν Ῥωμαίων οἰκουμένην ὑφ᾽ ἑαυτὸν ἐποιήσατο· καὶ πολλοὺς πολέμους κατώρθωσε πρὸς ἀλλοφύλους καὶ τοὺς τότε τυράννους μαχόμενος· καὶ μὴ δεηθῆναι σφαγίων ἢ μαντείων τινῶν· ἀλλὰ ἀποχρῆσαι αὐτῷ εἰς νίκην τὸ τοῦ σταυροῦ σύμβολον, τῶν οἰκείων στρατευμάτων προηγούμενον, καὶ εὐχὴν καθαρὰν αἱμάτων καὶ ῥύπου. Ὁ δὲ Οὐαλεριανὸς, ἐφ᾿ ὅσον οὐκ ἐκακούργει τὰς Ἐκκλησίας, εὐημερῶν διετέλει τὴν ἀρχήν. Ἐπεὶ δὲ διωγμὸν ἐγείρειν ἐβουλεύσατο κατὰ τῶν Χριστιανῶν, θεία μῆνις ἐλάσασα αὐτὸν ὑπὸ Πέρσας ἐποίησε. Παρ' ὧν αἰχμάλωτος ληφθεὶς, ἐλεεινῶς τὸν βίον κατέπαυσε. Τοιαῦτα Σαβώρῃ γράψας Κωνσταντῖνος, ἐπειρᾶτο πείθειν αὐτὸν εὐνοεῖν τῇ θρησκείᾳ. Πλείστῃ γὰρ ἐχρῆτο κηδεμονίᾳ περὶ τοὺς πανταχοῦ Χριστιανοὺς, Ῥωμαίους καὶ ἀλλοφύλους. ### English translation (Claude) When Constantine, the emperor of the Romans, learned that the Christians in Persia were being warred against in this way, he was vexed and greatly distressed. Eager to help them, he was at a loss what to do so that they too might live securely. It happened that at that time envoys of the king of the Persians came to him; he granted their requests and sent them away having done as they wished. Thinking it then a fitting moment to commend the Christians in Persia to Sapor, he wrote to him, declaring that he would always have very great and lasting gratitude if Sapor were humane toward those under him who admired the doctrine of the Christians. For, he said, there is nothing to blame even in the manner of their religion, since they are content with bloodless prayers alone in supplicating God; for he takes no pleasure in the shedding of blood, but rejoices only in a pure soul that looks to virtue and piety, so that those who believe thus deserve praise. Then he promised that Sapor would have the Divine itself gracious to him for his care of the doctrine, using as proofs what had happened to Valerian and to himself. He himself, through faith in Christ, having divine help as his ally, had begun from the western Ocean and brought the whole Roman world under him, and had won many wars, fighting against foreign peoples and the tyrants of the time; he had needed no sacrifices or divinations, but the symbol of the cross going before his armies, and prayer pure from blood and defilement, had sufficed him for victory. Valerian, so long as he did not harm the churches, continued to prosper in his rule; but when he resolved to raise a persecution against the Christians, divine wrath drove him and put him in the power of the Persians, by whom he was taken captive and ended his life pitiably. Writing such things to Sapor, Constantine tried to persuade him to be well disposed toward the religion. For he took very great care of Christians everywhere, Romans and foreigners alike. ### Extrabiblical texts - Eusebius, Vit. Const. 4.9-13 (Life of Constantine): allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Sozomen summarizes Constantine's letter to Sapor, given in full in Eusebius, Life of Constantine 4.9–13. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 2.15 (PG 67:969–971; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/2-15). ## Church History 2.16 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/2-7/#p-2-16 - Source: PG 67:971–975 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Arius is recalled from exile, and Eusebius of Nicomedia and Theognis of Nicaea recover their sees after sending the bishops a letter accepting the Nicene faith while explaining that they had refused only to condemn Arius personally. ### Greek text Οὐ πολλῷ δὲ ὕστερον τῆς ἐν Νικαίᾳ συνόδου, ῎Αρειος ἐπὶ τὴν ἐξορίαν ἀπαγόμενος, ἀνεκλήθη ᾿Αλεξανδρείας δὲ ἔτι ἐπιβαίνειν κεκώλυτο. ᾿Αμέλει τοι ὕστερον ἡ εἰς Αἴγυπτον αὐτῷ κάθοδος ἐσπουδάσθη, ὡς ἐν καιρῷ λελέξεται. Οὐκ εἰς μακρὰν δὲ τὰς αὐτῶν Ἐκκλησίας ἀπέλαβον, Εὐσέβιός τε ὁ Νικομηδείας, ᾿Αμφίωνα τὸν ἀντ' αὐτοῦ χειροτονηθέντα ἐκβαλών, καὶ Θεόγνιος δὲ ὁ Νικαίας Χρῆστον. ᾿Ανεκλήθησαν δὲ, μετανοίας βιβλίον ὧδε ἔχον τοῖς ἐπισκόποις διδόντες. Ἤδη μὲν καταψηφισθέντες πρὸ κρίσεως παρὰ τῆς εὐλαβείας ὑμῶν, ὠφείλομεν σιωπᾶν τὰ κεκριμένα παρὰ τῆς εὐλαβείας ὑμῶν. ᾿Αλλ' ἐπειδὴ ἄτοπον, καθ' ἑαυτῶν διδόναι τῶν συκοφαντούντων τὴν ἀπόδειξιν τῇ σιωπῇ, τούτου ἕνεκεν ἀναφέρομεν, ὡς ἡμεῖς καὶ τῇ πίστει συνεδράμομεν, καὶ τὴν ἔννοιαν ἐξετάσαντες ἐπὶ τῷ ὁμοουσίῳ, ὅλοι ἐγενόμεθα τῆς εἰρήνης, μηδαμοῦ τῇ αἱρέσει ἐξακολουθήσαντες. Ὑπομνήσαντες δὲ ἐπὶ τῇ ἀσφαλείᾳ τῶν Ἐκκλησιῶν, ὅσα τὸν λογισμὸν ἡμῶν ὑπέτρεχε, καὶ πληροφορηθέντες, καὶ πληροφορήσαντες τοὺς δι' ἡμῶν πεισθῆναι ὀφείλοντας, ὑπεσημηνάμεθα τῇ πίστει. Τῷ δὲ ἀναθεματισμῷ οὐχ ὑπεγράψαμεν, οὐχ ὡς τῆς πίστεως κατηγοροῦντες, ἀλλ᾽ ὡς ἀπιστοῦντες τοιοῦτὸν εἶναι τὸν κατηγορηθέντα, ἐκ τῶν ἰδίᾳ πρὸς ἡμᾶς παρ' αὐτοῦ διὰ τε ἐπιστολῶν καὶ τῶν εἰς πρόσωπον διαλέξεων πεπληροφορημένοι μὴ τοιοῦτον εἶναι. Ἐπεὶ δὲ ἐπείσθη ἡ ἁγία ὑμῶν σύνοδος, οὐκ ἀντιτείνοντες, ἀλλὰ συντιθέμενοι τοῖς παρ' ὑμῶν ἠκριβωμένοις, καὶ διὰ τοῦ γράμματος πληροφοροῦμεν τὴν συγκατάθεσιν, οὐ τὴν ἐξορίαν βαρέως φέροντες, ἀλλὰ τὴν ὑπόνοιαν τῆς αἱρέσεως ἀποδυόμενοι. Εἰ γὰρ καταξιώσητε νῦν γοῦν εἰς πρόσωπον ἐπαναλαβεῖν ἡμᾶς, ἕξετε ἐν ἅπασι συμψύχους, ἀκολουθοῦντας τοῖς παρ' ὑμῖν κεκριμένοις · καὶ ὅτε αὐτὸν τὸν ἐπὶ τούτοις ἐναγόμενον ἔδοξεν ὑμῶν τῇ εὐλαβείᾳ φιλανθρωπεύεσθαι, καὶ ἀνακαλέσασθαι. "Ατοπον δέ τι δοκοῦντες εἶναι ὑπευθύνου ἀνακεκλημένου, καὶ ἀπολογισαμένου ἐφ᾿ οἷς διεβάλλετο, ἡμᾶς ἐπισιωπᾶν καθ᾿ ἑαυτῶν ἐνδόντας τὸν ἔλεγχον. Καταξιώσατε οὖν, ὡς ἁρμόζει τῇ φιλοχρίστῳ ὑμῶν εὐλαβείᾳ, καὶ τὸν θεοφιλέστατον βασιλέα ὑπομνῆσαι, καὶ δεήσεις ἡμῶν ἐγχειρίσαι, καὶ θᾶττον βουλεύσασθαι τὰ ὑμῖν ἁρμόζοντα ἐφ᾿ ἡμῖν. Ὧδε μὲν αὐτοῖς Εὐσέβιός τε καὶ Θεόγνιος μετεμελήθησαν, καὶ τὰς αὐτῶν Ἐκκλησίας ἀπέλαβον͵ ### English translation (Claude) Not long after the synod at Nicaea, Arius, who was being taken into exile, was recalled; but he was still forbidden to set foot in Alexandria. His return to Egypt was in fact pressed for later, as will be told in its place. Soon afterward Eusebius of Nicomedia and Theognis of Nicaea recovered their churches, the former expelling Amphion, who had been ordained in his place, and the latter Chrestus. They were recalled after giving the bishops a document of repentance, which reads as follows: “Having already been condemned by your Piety without a trial, we ought to have kept silent about what your Piety had judged. But since it is absurd by our silence to give proof against ourselves to our slanderers, we therefore declare that we have both agreed in the faith and, having examined the meaning of ‘of the same essence’ (homoousios), have been wholly for peace, never having followed the heresy. Having put forward, for the security of the churches, whatever came into our minds, and having been fully satisfied, and having fully satisfied those who were to be persuaded through us, we signed the faith. We did not sign the anathema, not as finding fault with the faith, but as not believing that the man accused was such as he was charged with being, since we had been fully assured from what he had said to us privately, both by letters and in conversations face to face, that he was not such. But since your holy synod was persuaded, we do not oppose it, but agree with what you have determined, and by this letter we confirm our assent; not because we take our exile hard, but to strip off the suspicion of heresy. For if you will now at least deign to receive us into your presence, you will have us of one mind in everything, following what you have decided; especially since your Piety has seen fit to deal kindly with and to recall the very man who was charged with these things. We think it absurd, when the one held responsible has been recalled and has defended himself on the charges, that we should keep silent and give the proof against ourselves. Deign, then, as befits your Christ-loving Piety, to remind the most God-beloved emperor, to put our petitions into his hands, and to decide quickly what befits you concerning us.” In this way Eusebius and Theognis repented and recovered their churches. ### Translation notes - The letter of Eusebius and Theognis is quoted in full; it is also in Socrates, Church History 1.14. The man “accused” and “recalled” is Arius. On ὁμοούσιος, “of the same essence,” see 1.15. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 2.16 (PG 67:971–975; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/2-16). ## Church History 2.17 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/2-17/#p-2-17 - Source: PG 67:975–979 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Athanasius succeeds Alexander at Alexandria, according to Apolinarius by a divinely guided choice he tried to flee; Sozomen rejects the Arian account of an irregular ordination and tells how the boy Athanasius played at baptizing other children, whose baptism Alexander accepted. ### Greek text Ὑπὸ δὲ τοῦτον τὸν χρόνον, μέλλων τὸν βίον μεταλλάσσειν ᾿Αλέξανδρος ὁ ᾿Αλεξανδρείας ἐπίσκοπος, διάδοχον αὐτοῦ κατέλιπεν ᾿Αθανάσιον, θείαις προστάξεσιν, ὡς ἡγοῦμαι, ἐπ' αὐτὸν ἀγαγὼν τὴν ψῆφον. Ἐπεὶ τόν γε ᾿Αθανάσιον φασὶν ἀποφυγεῖν πειραθῆναι, καὶ ἄκοντα βιασθῆναι πρὸς ᾿Αλεξάνδρου, τὴν ἐπισκοπὴν ὑποδέξασθαι. Καὶ μαρτυρεῖ ᾿Ἀπολινάριος ὁ Σύρος ὧδε λέγων · Οὐκ ὀκνεῖ δὲ καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα πολεμεῖν ἡ δυσσέβεια. ᾿Αλλὰ πρῶτον μὲν ἐπὶ τὸν μακάριον διδάσκαλον τοῦ ἀνδρὸς ὡπλίζετο. Καὶ οὗτος παρῆν συν ήγορος, ὡς πατρὶ παῖς. Ἔπειτα καὶ ἐπ᾿ αὐτὸν, ὡς ἧκεν ἐπὶ τὴν τῆς ἐπισκοπῆς διαδοχὴν, πολλῇ μὲν ἀποφυγῇ χρησάμενος · κατὰ Θεὸν δὲ ἀνευρεθεὶς, ὡς καὶ τῷ μακαρίῳ ἀνδρὶ τῷ τὴν ἐπισκοπὴν ἐγχειρίσαντι προδεδήλωτο θείαις δηλώσεσιν, οὐχ ἕτερον ἔσεσθαι τὸν διάδοχον ἢ τοῦτον. Ἐκαλεῖτο μὲν γὰρ ἐκ τοῦ βίου· ἤδη δὲ πρὸς ἀπαλλαγὴν τυγχάνων, ᾿Αθανάσιον όνομαστὶ μὴ παρόντα ἐκάλει. Καὶ ὡς ὁ παρὼν ὁμώνυμος ὑπήκουε τῇ κλήσει, πρὸς μὲν τοῦτον ἀπεσιώπα, ὡς οὐ τοῦτον καλῶν. Αὖθις δὲ ἐχρῆτο τῇ κλήσει · καὶ ὡς ταὐτὸ πολλάκις ἐγίνετο, ἀπεσιωπᾶτο μὲν ὁ παρών· ἐδηλοῦτο δὲ ὁ μὴ παρών. Καὶ προφητικῶς ἔλεγεν ὁ μακάριος ᾿Αλέξανδρος· ᾿Αθανάσιε, νομίζεις ἐκπεφευ γέναι · οὐκ ἐκφεύξῃ δὲ · δηλῶν ὡς πρὸς τὸν ἀγῶνα ἐκαλεῖτο. Ταῦτα μὲν Ἀπολινάριος γράφει περὶ ᾿Αθανασίου. Οἱ δὲ ἀπὸ τῆς ᾿Αρείου αἱρέσεως λέγουσιν, ὡς ᾿Αλεξάνδρου τελευτήσαντος, ἐκοινώνουν ἀλλήλοις οἱ τὰ ᾿Αλεξάνδρου καὶ Μελιτίου φρονοῦντες· συνελθόντες τε ἐκ Θηβαΐδος καὶ τῆς ἄλλης Αἰγύπτου πεντήκοντα καὶ τέσσαρες ἐπίσκοποι, ἐνωμότως συνέθεντο, κοινῇ ψήφῳ αἰρεῖσθαι τὸν ὀφείλοντα τὴν ᾿Αλεξανδρέων Ἐκκλησίαν ἐπιτροπεύειν. Ἐπιορκήσαντας δὲ ἑπτά τινας τῶν ἐπισκόπων, παρὰ τὴν πάντων γνώμην κλέψαι τὴν ᾿Αθανασίου χειροτονίαν καὶ διὰ τοῦτο πολλοὺς τοῦ λαοῦ, καὶ τῶν ἀνὰ τὴν Αἴγυπτον κληρικῶν, ἀποφυγεῖν τὴν πρὸς αὐτὸν κοινωνίαν. Ἐγὼ δὲ πείθομαι τὸν ἄνδρα τοῦτον, οὐκ ἀθεεὶ παρελθεῖν ἐπὶ τὴν ἀρχιερωσύνην, λέγειν τε, καὶ νοεῖν ἱκανὸν, καὶ πρὸς ἐπιβουλὰς ἀντέχειν· οἴου μάλιστα ὁ κατ' αὐτὸν ἐδεῖτο καιρός. Ἐγένετο δὲ ἐκκλησιαστικὸς ὅτι μάλιστα, καὶ περὶ τὸ ἱερᾶσθαι ἐπιτηδειότατος, ἐκ νέου, ὡς εἰπεῖν, αὐτοδίδακτος τοιοῦτος φανείς. Αμέλει τοι οὔπω προσήβῳ γενομένῳ, τόδε φασὶν ἐπ᾿ αὐτῷ συμβεβηκέναι. Δημοτελῆ καὶ σφόδρα λαμπράν πανἡγυριν εἰσέτι νῦν ἄγουσιν ᾿Αλεξανδρεῖς, τὴν ἐτησίαν ἡμέραν τῆς μαρτυρίας Πέτρου τοῦ γενομένου παρ' αὐτοῖς ἐπισκόπου. Ταύτην τε ἐπιτελῶν ᾿Αλέξανδρος, ὁ τότε τῆς Ἐκκλησίας ἡγούμενος, ἤδη τὴν λειτουργίαν πληρώσας, περιέμενε τοὺς ἅμα αὐτῷ μέλλοντας ἀριστᾷν. Καθ᾽ ἑαυτὸν δὲ διάγων, τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς εἶχεν ἐπὶ τὴν θάλασσαν. Ἰδὼν δὲ πόῤῥωθεν παρὰ τὸν αἰγιαλὸν παῖδας παίζοντας, καὶ ἐπίσκοπον μιμουμένους καὶ τὰ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας ἔθη, ἐφ᾿ ὅσον ἀκίνδυνον ἑώρα τὴν μίμησιν, ἥδετο τῇ θέᾳ, καὶ τοῖς γινομένοις ἔχαιρεν. Ἐπεὶ δὲ καὶ τῶν ἀποῤῥήτων ἥψαντο, ἐταράχθη· καὶ μετακαλεσάμενος τοὺς ἐν τέλει τοῦ κλήρου, ἐπέδειξε τοὺς παῖδας· καὶ συλληφθέντας αὐτοὺς ἀχθῆναι κελεύσας, ἐπυνθάνετο τίς αὐτοῖς ἦν ἡ παιδιὰ, καὶ ποδαποὶ οἱ ἐπὶ ταύτῃ λόγοι καὶ πράξεις. Οἱ δὲ, δείσαντες, τὰ πρῶτα ἠρνοῦντο· ἐπιμείναντος δὲ αὐτοῦ τῇ βασάνῳ, κατεμήνυσαν ἐπίσκοπον μὲν καὶ ἀρχηγὸν γενέσθαι τὸν ᾿Αθανάσιον · βαπτισθῆναι δὲ παρ' αὐτοῦ τινὰς τῶν ἀμυήτων παίδων. Οὓς ἐπιμελῶς ἀνέκρινεν ᾿Αλέξανδρος, τί μὲν αὐτοὺς ἤρετο ἢ ἐποίησεν ὁ τῆς παιδιᾶς ἱερεύς· τί δὲ αὐτοὶ ἀπεκρίναντο ή ἐδιδάχθησαν. Ανευρὼν δὲ πᾶσαν τὴν ἐκκλησιαστικὴν τάξιν ἀκριβῶς ἐπ᾿ αὐτοῖς φυλαχθεῖσαν, ἐδοκίμασεν ἅμα τοῖς ἀμφ᾿ αὐτὸν ἱερεῦσι βουλευσάμενος, μὴ χρῆναι ἀναβαπτίσαι ἱ τοὺς ἅπαξ ἐν ἁπλότητι τῆς θείας χάριτος ἀξιωθέντας. Τὰ δὲ ἄλλα περὶ αὐτοὺς ἐπλήρου, ἃ θέμις μόνους τοὺς ἱερωμένους μυσταγωγοῦντας τελεῖν, ᾿Αθανάτιον δὲ τοὺς ἄλλους παῖδας οἵ πρεσβύτεροι διάκονοι ἐν τῷ παίζειν ἐτύγχανον, ὑπὴ μάρτυρι τῷ Θεῷ, τοῖς οἰκείοις παρέδωκεν ἀναθρέψαι τῇ Ἐκκλησίᾳ, καὶ ἀγαγεῖν ἐφ᾽ ὃ ἐμιμήσαντο. Μετ᾿ οὐ πολὺ δὲ, ὁμοδίαιτον καὶ ὑπογραφέα τὸν ᾿Αθαγάσιον εἶχεν. Εὖ δὲ ἀχθεὶς, γραμματιχοῖς τε ῥήτορσι φοιτήσας, ἤδη εἰς ἄνδρας τελῶν, πρὸ τῆς ἐπισκοπῆς πεῖραν ἔδωχε τοῖς ὁμιλήσασιν αὐτῷ σοφοῦ ἑλλογίμου ἀνδρός. Ἐπεὶ δὲ ἐτελεύτησεν ᾿Αλέξανδρος, διάδοχον αὐτὸν καταλιπὼν, ἔτι μᾶλλον ἐπέδωκεν ἡ περὶ αὐτοῦ δόξα, βεθαιουμένη ταῖς οἱχείαις ἀρεταῖς, τῇ μαρτυρίᾳ τοῦ μεγάλου ᾿Αντωνίου μοναχοῦ. Μεταχαλουμένου γὰρ αὐτοῦ ὑπήκουε, καὶ ταῖς πόλεσιν ἐφοίτα " καὶ εἰς τὰς ἐκκλησίας συνήει " καὶ οἷς ἐδόξαζε περὶ Θεοῦ, συνεψηφίζετο. Καὶ φίλον ἐν πᾶσιν εἶχεν αὐτὸν, τοὺς ἐναντιουμέ^ ἢ ἀπεχθανομένους αὑτῷ ἀπεστρέφετο. ### English translation (Claude) About this time Alexander, bishop of Alexandria, being about to depart this life, left Athanasius as his successor, having directed the vote to him, as I think, by divine commands. For they say that Athanasius tried to flee, and was compelled against his will by Alexander to accept the episcopate. Apolinarius the Syrian bears witness to this, saying: “Impiety does not hesitate to make war afterward too. First it armed itself against the man's blessed teacher, and he was present as his advocate, as a son for his father. Then it turned against him himself, when he came to succeed to the episcopate, after much flight, but found according to God, as had been shown beforehand by divine revelations to the blessed man who entrusted the episcopate to him, that the successor would be no other than he. For he was being called from life; and being already at the point of departure, he called Athanasius by name, who was not present. When a man of the same name who was present answered the call, he said nothing to him, as not calling him. Again he called; and when this happened many times, the one present was passed over in silence, and the one absent was made known. And the blessed Alexander said prophetically: ‘Athanasius, you think you have escaped; but you will not escape,’ showing that he was being called to the contest.” This is what Apolinarius writes about Athanasius. Those of the heresy of Arius say that after Alexander's death those who held with Alexander and with Melitius were in communion with one another; that fifty-four bishops came together from the Thebaid and the rest of Egypt and agreed on oath to choose by common vote the man who should govern the church of Alexandria; but that seven of the bishops broke their oath and, against the judgment of all, ordained Athanasius by stealth; and that for this reason many of the people and of the clergy in Egypt avoided communion with him. But I am persuaded that this man did not come to the high priesthood without God, being able in speech and thought and able to withstand plots, such a man as his time particularly needed. He was a churchman in the fullest degree and most fitted for the priesthood, having shown himself such from youth, so to speak, self-taught. Indeed, they say that the following happened to him when he was not yet grown up. The Alexandrians still hold a public and very splendid festival on the yearly day of the martyrdom of Peter, who had been their bishop. Alexander, who then led the church, was keeping it; and having already completed the liturgy, he was waiting for those who were to dine with him. Spending the time by himself, he had his eyes on the sea. Seeing from a distance some boys playing on the shore and imitating a bishop and the customs of the church, so long as he saw that the imitation was harmless, he enjoyed the sight and was pleased with what was done. But when they touched also on the secret rites, he was troubled; and calling the leading clergy, he pointed out the boys, ordered them to be caught and brought to him, and asked what their game was, and what words and actions there were in it. At first they were afraid and denied it; but when he persisted in his questioning, they revealed that Athanasius had been their bishop and leader, and that some of the uninitiated boys had been baptized by him. Alexander carefully examined them as to what the priest of the game had asked them or done, and what they had answered or been taught. Finding that the whole order of the church had been exactly observed with them, he decided, after consulting the priests about him, that those who had once in simplicity been counted worthy of divine grace ought not to be baptized again. But he completed for them the other rites that only those who are ordained and administer the mysteries may perform. Athanasius, and the other boys who had been presbyters and deacons in the game, he handed over to their families, with God as witness, to be brought up for the church and led on to what they had imitated. Not long afterward he had Athanasius as his companion at table and his secretary. Well brought up, and having attended grammarians and rhetoricians, he was already reaching manhood when, before his episcopate, he gave those who talked with him proof that he was a wise and learned man. When Alexander died leaving him as successor, his reputation grew still more, confirmed by his own virtues and by the testimony of Antony the great monk. For when Athanasius summoned him, Antony obeyed, came into the cities, attended the churches, and agreed with him in his views about God. He held him as a friend in all things and turned away from those who opposed or hated him. ### Translation notes - A fragment of Valesius's chapter title (“… high priest, and beloved by the great Antony”) stood at the head of the section in the scan and has been removed. The quotation from Apolinarius (of Laodicea, here called “the Syrian”) is from a lost work. The Arian account of Athanasius's ordination is reported by Sozomen in order to reject it. Peter of Alexandria was martyred in 311. Alexander's acceptance of a baptism performed by a boy in play, because the church's form had been kept, is reported as Sozomen gives it; the story is also in Rufinus, Church History 10.15. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 2.17 (PG 67:975–979; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/2-17). ## Church History 2.18 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/2-17/#p-2-18 - Source: PG 67:979–981 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Eusebius of Nicomedia presses Athanasius to receive Arius's party, and Eusebius of Caesarea and Eustathius of Antioch accuse each other of departing from Nicaea and of Sabellianism. ### Greek text Μάλιστα δὲ ἐνδοξότατον αὐτὸν κατέστησαν οἱ τὰ ᾿Αρείου καὶ Μελιτίου φρονοῦντες ἀεὶ μὲν ἐπιβουλεύσαντες, οὐδέποτε δὲ δικαίως αὐτὸν ἑλεῖν δόξαντες. Τὰ μὲν οὖν πρῶτα δι᾽ ἐπιστολῆς ἐπειράθη αὐτοῦ Εὐσέδιος, δέχεσθαι τοὺς περὶ εἰ δὲ ἀπειθήσει, κακῶς αὐτὸν ποιήσειν ἀγράφως ἠπείλει. Ὡς δὲ οὐχ εἶξε, μὴ δεχτοὺς εἶναι ἐνιστάμενος, τοὺς ἐπὶ νέωτε-ρισμῷ τῆς ἀληθείας αἵρεσιν εὑρόντας, καὶ παρὰ τῆς ἐν Νικαίᾳ συνόδου ἀποχηρυχθέντας, ἐσπούδαζεν ὅπως αὑτὸς ὁ βασιλεὺς προσδέξηται τὸν ΓΆρειον, καὶ κάθοδον αὐτῷ παράσχῃ. ᾿Αλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν ὡς ἐγένετο, οὐχ εἰς μακρὰν ἐρῶ. Ἐν δὲ τῷ τότε, πάλιν πρὸς ἑαυτοὺς ἐστασίαζον οἱ ἐπίσκοποι, ἀκριβολογούμενοι περὶ τὸ ὁμοούσιον ὄνομα. Οἱ μὲν γὰρ, τοὺς τοῦτο προσδεχομένους, βλασφημεῖν ὡς ὑπάρξεως ἐκτὸς τὸν δοξάζοντας, καὶ τὰ Μοντανοῦ καὶ Σαδελλίου φρονοῦντας. Οἱ δ᾽ αὖ πάλιν, ὡς Ἑλληνιστὰς τοὺς ἑτέρους ἐξετρέποντο, πολυθεῖας εἰσάγειν διέβαλλον. Κατετρίθοντο δὲ μάλιστα περὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα, Εὑσέ6:6, τε ὁ Παμφίλου, Εὐστάθιος ὁ ᾿Αντιοχεύς. ᾿Αμφότεροι μὲν γὰρ τὸν Υἱὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐν ὑποστάσει ὡμολόγουν ὥσπερ δὲ ἀλλήλων μὴ ἐπαΐοντες, ἀλλήλους διέδαλλου. Καὶ Εὐστάθιος μὲν ἐπῃτιᾶτο τὸν Εὐσέβιον, εἰς τὰ ἐν Νικαίᾳ δόξαντα περὶ τοῦ δόγματὸς χαινοτομοῦντα' ὁ δὲ, ταῦτα μὲν ἐπαινεῖν φησιν" Εὐσταθίῳ δὲ τὴν Σαβελλίου ὀνειδίζειν δόξαν. ### English translation (Claude) What made him most renowned of all was that those who held the views of Arius and Melitius were always plotting against him and yet never seemed to convict him justly. At first Eusebius tried him by letter, asking him to receive Arius's party, and threatened, without putting it in writing, to do him harm if he disobeyed. When he would not yield, maintaining that those who had invented a heresy by innovating against the truth and had been anathematized by the synod at Nicaea were not to be received, Eusebius worked to have the emperor himself receive Arius and grant him a return. How this came about I shall tell shortly. At that time the bishops were again in strife among themselves, splitting hairs over the term “of the same essence.” Some held that those who accepted it blasphemed, as holding the Son to be without existence of his own, and as thinking the same as Montanus and Sabellius. Others again turned away from the first party as pagans and accused them of introducing many gods. Eusebius son of Pamphilus and Eustathius of Antioch wore themselves out most of all over such matters. Both confessed the Son of God as existing in his own subsistence; yet, as if they did not understand each other, they slandered each other. Eustathius accused Eusebius of innovating against what had been decided at Nicaea about the doctrine; Eusebius said that he approved those decisions, and reproached Eustathius with the opinion of Sabellius. ### Translation notes - Several words are lost or garbled in the scan at the start of the chapter (the names of Arius and Melitius, and the words “Arius's party”); the translation gives the evident sense. Montanus is named here oddly beside Sabellius, who taught that Father, Son and Spirit are one person under different names; the charge is that the homoousian party left the Son no distinct existence. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 2.18 (PG 67:979–981; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/2-18). ## Church History 2.19 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/2-17/#p-2-19 - Source: PG 67:981–983 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: A synod at Antioch deposes Eustathius, ostensibly for misconduct but really for his defence of Nicaea; riots follow, Eusebius of Caesarea declines the see, and Euphronius is ordained. ### Greek text Συνόδου δὲ ἐν ᾿Αντιοχείᾳ γενομένης, ἀφαιρεῖται Εὐστάθιος τὴν ᾿Αντιοχέων Ἐκκλησίαν τὸ μὲν ἀληθὲς, ὡς πολὺς ἔχε: λόγος, καθότι τὴν ἐν Νικαίᾳ πίστιν ἐπήνει, τοὺς ἀμφὶ τὸν Εὐσέδιον καὶ Παυλῖνον τὸν Τύρου ἐπίσκοπον, καὶ Πατρόφιλον τὸν Σχυθοπόλεως, ὧν τῇ γνώμῃ οἱ ἀνὰ τὴν Ἕω ἱερεῖς εἵποντο, οἷά γε τὰ ᾿Αρείου φρονοῦντας ἁ πεστρέφετο, φανερῶς διέβαλλε" πρόφασιν δὲ, ὡς οὐχ ὁσίαις πράξεσι τὴν ἱερωσύνην αἰσχύνας ἐφωράθη. Μεγίστη δὲ διὰ τὴν αὐτοῦ καθαίρεσιν ἀνεχινήέθη στάσις κατὰ τὴν ᾿Αντιόχειαν" ὡς μικροῦ δεῖν ξιφῶν ἅψασθαι τὸ πλῆθος, πᾶσαν κινδυνεῦσαι τὴν πόλιν. "Ἐθλαψε δὲ αὑτὸ τοῦτο οὐ μετρίως αὐτὸν πρὸς βασιλέα. Ὡς γὰρ ἔγνω ταῦτα συμδεθηχέναι, καὶ τὸν λαὸν τῆς Ἐκκλησίας εἰς δύο διηρῆσθαι, σφόδρα ἐχαλέπαινε, ἐν ὑπονοίᾳ αὐτὸν εἶχεν, ὡς αἴτιον τῆς στάσεως. Πέμπει δ᾽ ὅμως τινὰ τῶν ἀμφ᾽ αὐτὸν λαμπρῶς στρατευομένων, ἐντειλάμενος εἰς δέος καταστῆσαι τὸ πλῆθος, δίχα ταραχῆς καὶ βλάδης χαταπαῦσαι τὴν στάσιν. Λογισάμενοι δὲ οἱ καθελόντες Εὐστάθιον, οἱ δὴ τούτου χάριν εἰς ᾿Αντιόχειαν σννηγμένοι ἐτύγχανον, ὡς εἰ τῶν ὁμοδόξων αὐτοῖς προστήσαιντό τινα τῆς ἐνθάδε Ἐκκλησίας βασιλεῖ γνώριμον, καὶ ἐπὶ λόγων ἐπιστήμη εὐδόχιμον, ῥᾳδίως ἕξουσι πειθομένους τοὺς ἄλλους, εὖ ἔχειν ἐνόμισαν ἐπιτρέψαι τὸν ᾿Αντιοχέων θρόνον Εὐσεδίῳ τῷ Παμφίλου, Καὶ γράφουσι περὶ τούτου τῷ βασιλεῖ, δηλώσαντες καὶ τῷ λαῷ ὑπερφνῶς τοῦτο κεχαρισμένον εἶναι" ὧδε γὰρ ἐξήτησαν ὅσοι τοῦ κλήρου καὶ τοῦ πλήθους ἀπεχθῶς εἶχον πρὸς Εὐστάθιον. Οὐ μὴν ἀλλ᾽ Εὐσέβιος ἔγραψε τῷ βασιλεῖ παραιτούμενος. ᾿Επαινέσας δὲ αὐτοῦ τὴν παραίτησιν ὁ βασιλεύς " νόμος γὰρ ἐχχλησιαστιχὺς ἐκώλνε, τὸν ἅπαξ ἡγησάμενον Ἐκκλησίας, ἐπισκοπὴν ἄλλην μὴ μετιέναι " ἔγραψε δὲ Εὐσεθδίῳ ἀποδεχόμενος αὐτὸν τῆς γνώμης, καὶ μακάριον ἀποκαλῶν, ὡς οὐ μιᾶς πόλεως, ἀλλὰ πάσης «Ὡς οἰκουμένης ὄντα ἄξιον ἐπισκοπεῖν. Ἔγραψε δὲ καὶ τῷ λαῷ τῆς ᾿Ἀντιοχέων Ἐκχχλησίας, περί τε ὁμονοίας, καὶ κοῦ μὴ δεῖν ἐφίεσθαι τοῦ παρ᾽ ἄλλοις ἐπισχοποῦντος, οἱ οἱ ὡς οὐκ ἀγαθοῦ ὄντος τῶν ἀλλοτρίων ἐπιθυμεῖν. Ἰδίᾳ δὲ παρὰ ταύτας ἄλλην ἐπιστολὴν τῇ συνόδῳ διεπέμψατο· καὶ Εὐσέβιον μὲν ὁμοίως τῆς παραιτήσεως ἐθαύμαζεν ἐν τοῖς πρὸς αὐτὸν γράμμασιν. Ὡς δοκίμους δὲ τὴν πίστιν εἶναι πυθόμενος Εὐφρό νιον Καππαδόκην πρεσβύτερον, καὶ Γεώργιον ᾿Αρεθούσιον, ἐκέλευσε τούτων ὃν ἂν κρίνωσιν, ἢ ἕτερον ὃς ἄξιος, φησὶ, φανείη, χειροτονῆσαι τῆς ᾿Αντιοχέων 'Eκκλησίας προστάτην. Ἐπεὶ δὲ τὰ βασιλέως ἐδέξαντο γράμματα, Εὐφρόνιον ἐχειροτόνησαν. Εὐστάθιος δὲ, ὡς ἐπυθόμην, ἡσυχῆ τὴν συκοφαντίαν ἤνεγκεν, ὧδέ πη κρίνας ἄμεινον· ἀνὴρ τά τε ἄλλα καλὸς καὶ ἀγαθὸς, καὶ ἐπὶ εὐγλωττίᾳ δικαίως θαυμαζόμενος, ὡς ἐκ τῶν φερομένων αὐτοῦ λόγων συνιδεῖν ἔστιν, ἀρχαιότητι φράσεως καὶ σωφροσύνῃ νοημάτων, καὶ ὀνομάτων κάλλει, καὶ χάριτι ἀπαγγελίας εὐδοκιμούντων. ### English translation (Claude) A synod was held at Antioch, and Eustathius was deprived of the church of Antioch: in truth, as is widely said, because he praised the faith of Nicaea, openly attacked Eusebius's party, and Paulinus, bishop of Tyre, and Patrophilus of Scythopolis, whose opinion the priests of the East followed, and turned away from them as holding the views of Arius; but the pretext was that he had been caught disgracing the priesthood by unholy deeds. Because of his deposition a very great disturbance was stirred up at Antioch, so that the people almost took up swords and the whole city was in danger. This itself did him no little harm with the emperor. For when he learned that this had happened and that the people of the church had been divided in two, he was very angry and suspected him of being the cause of the disturbance. Yet he sent one of the distinguished officers about him with orders to put the people in fear and to stop the disturbance without tumult or harm. Those who had deposed Eustathius, who had gathered at Antioch for this purpose, reckoned that if they set over the church there someone of their own opinion who was known to the emperor and esteemed for learning, they would easily have the others obedient; so they thought it good to entrust the see of Antioch to Eusebius son of Pamphilus. They wrote about this to the emperor, declaring that it was exceedingly pleasing to the people as well; for so all those of the clergy and people who were hostile to Eustathius had requested. But Eusebius wrote to the emperor declining. The emperor praised his refusal, since a law of the church forbade one who had once led a church to seek another episcopate, and wrote to Eusebius approving his judgment and calling him blessed, as worthy to be bishop not of one city but of the whole world. He also wrote to the people of the church of Antioch about concord, and that they should not covet one who was bishop of others, since it is not good to desire what belongs to others. Besides these, he sent another letter separately to the synod; and in his letter to Eusebius he likewise admired his refusal. Having learned that Euphronius, a presbyter from Cappadocia, and George of Arethusa were approved in the faith, he ordered them to ordain whichever of these they judged best, or another who should appear worthy, as head of the church of Antioch. When they had received the emperor's letters, they ordained Euphronius. Eustathius, as I have learned, bore the false accusation quietly, judging this the better course. He was a good and upright man in general, and justly admired for his eloquence, as can be seen from the speeches of his that are in circulation, which are esteemed for their old-fashioned diction, the soundness of their thoughts, the beauty of their words, and the grace of their style. ### Extrabiblical texts - Eusebius, Vit. Const. 3.59-62 (Life of Constantine): allusion, high confidence - Conc. Nic. 15 (Creed and Canons of the Council of Nicaea (325)): allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - A fragment of Valesius's chapter title (“… to the synod, to Eusebius son of Pamphilus, who declined Antioch”) stood at the head of the section in the scan and has been removed. The “law of the church” is Nicaea, canon 15, against the transfer of bishops. Constantine's letters are in Eusebius, Life of Constantine 3.59–62. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 2.19 (PG 67:981–983; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/2-19). ## Church History 2.20 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/2-17/#p-2-20 - Source: PG 67:983–985 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Julius becomes bishop of Rome and Maximus of Jerusalem, Maximus having been kept back from Diospolis to succeed Macarius. ### Greek text Ὑπὸ δὲ τοῦτον τὸν χρόνον, Ἰούλιος μὲν, Μάρκου μετὰ Σίλβεστρον ὁ ἐπ' ὀλίγῳ χρόνῳ ἐπισκοπήσαντος, τὸν ἐν Ῥώμῃ διεῖπε θρόνον. Μάξιμος δὲ μετὰ Μακάριον τὸν Ἱεροσολύμων. Τοῦτον δὲ λόγος ἐπίσκοπον ὑπὸ Μακαρίου χειροτονηθῆναι τῆς ἐν Διοσπόλει Ἐκxκλησίας· ἐπισχεθῆναι δὲ παρὰ τῶν ἐν Ἱεροσολύμοις κατοικούντων. Ὁμολογητὴς γὰρ ἂν, καὶ ἄλλως ἀγαθὸς, τῇ δοκιμασίᾳ τοῦ λαοῦ ὑποψήφιος ἦν, μετὰ τὴν τοῦ Μακαρίου τελευτὴν εἰς τὴν ἐνθάδε ἐπισκοπήν. Ἐπεὶ δὲ χαλεπῶς τὸ πλῆθος ἔφερεν, οὗ τῆς ἀρετῆς ἐπειράθη ἀποστερούμενον, καὶ στάσις ἠπειλεῖτο, ἔδοξεν εὖ ἔχειν, Διοσπολίταις μὲν ἕτερον αἱρεῖσθαι ἐπίσκοπον · Μάξιμον δὲ ἐν Ἱεροσολύμοις μεῖναι, καὶ Μακαρίῳ συνιερᾶσθαι· μετὰ δὲ τὴν αὐτοῦ τελευτὴν, ἡγεῖσθαι τῆς Ἐκκλησίας. Ἰστέον μέντοι ὡς οἱ τάδε ἠκριβωκότες, κατὰ γνώμην Μακαρίου γενέσθαι τε καὶ σπουδασθῆναι τῷ πλήθει ταῦτα ἰσχυρίζονται. Φασὶ γὰρ αὐτὸν μεταμεληθῆναι ἐπὶ τῇ Μαξίμου χειροτονίᾳ, ἐπιλογισάμενον ὡς ὀρθῶς περὶ Θεοῦ δοξάζων, καὶ διὰ τὴν ὁμολογίαν τῷ λαῷ κεχαρισμένος, ἀναγκαίως φυλακτέος ἐστὶν εἰς τὴν αὐτοῦ διαδοχήν. Ἐδεδίει γὰρ μὴ τελευτήσαντος αὐτοῦ, καιρὸν εὐρόντες οἱ ἀμφὶ τὸν Εὐσέβιον καὶ Πατρόφιλον, οἱ δὴ τὰ ᾿Αρείου φρονοῦντες, ὁμοδόξῳ τὸν ἐνθάδε θρόνον ἐπιτρέψουσιν. Ἐπεὶ καὶ Μακαρίου περιόντος, νεωτερίσαι ἐπεχείρησαν · ἀφορισθέντες δὲ παρ᾿ αὐτοῦ, διὰ τοῦτο ἡσυχίαν ἦγον. ### English translation (Claude) About this time Julius held the see of Rome, after Mark, who had been bishop for a short time after Silvester; and Maximus held that of Jerusalem after Macarius. It is said that Maximus had been ordained by Macarius as bishop of the church of Diospolis, but was kept back by the inhabitants of Jerusalem. For being a confessor and good in other respects, he was the people's candidate, in their judgment, for the episcopate there after Macarius's death. When the people took it hard to be deprived of one whose virtue they had experienced, and a disturbance threatened, it seemed good that the people of Diospolis should choose another bishop, and that Maximus should remain in Jerusalem and share the priesthood with Macarius, and after his death lead the church. It should be known, however, that those who have looked into these matters closely maintain that this happened by Macarius's own wish and was urged on the people. For they say that he repented of the ordination of Maximus, reflecting that since Maximus held right views about God and was dear to the people because of his confession, he must necessarily be kept for his own succession. For he feared that after his death the party of Eusebius and Patrophilus, who held the views of Arius, would find an opportunity and entrust the see there to one of their own opinion. For even while Macarius was alive they had attempted innovations; but being excommunicated by him, they kept quiet for this reason. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 2.20 (PG 67:983–985; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/2-20). ## Church History 2.21 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/2-17/#p-2-21 - Source: PG 67:985–989 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: In Egypt the Melitians, under John, make common cause with the Arians; elsewhere Eusebius of Nicomedia and Theognis erase their signatures to Nicaea and oppose “of the same essence,” angering Constantine. ### Greek text Ἐν τούτῳ δὲ, Αἰγυπτίοις οὔπω τέλος εἶχεν ἡ ἐξ ἀρχῆς αὐτοῖς πρὸς ἀλλήλους κινηθεῖσα φιλονεικία. Ἐπεὶ γὰρ ἐν τῇ συνόδῳ τῇ κατὰ Νίκαιαν, ἡ μὲν ᾿Αρειανὴ αἵρεσις παντάπασιν ἀπεκηρύχθη, οἱ δὲ τὰ Μελιτίου φρονοῦντες ἐπὶ τοῖς εἰρημένοις, ἐδέχθησαν, ἐπανελθόντι ᾿Αλεξάνδρῳ εἰς Αἴγυπτον, παρέδωκε Μελίτιος τὰς Ἐκκλησίας, ἃς παρανόμως ὑφ᾽ ἑαυτὸν ἐποιήσατο, καὶ ἐν τῇ Λυκῷ διῆγε. Μετ᾿ οὐ πολὺ δὲ μέλλων τὸν βίον καταλιμπάνειν, Ἰωάννην τινὰ τῶν αὐτῷ συνήθων, παρὰ τὸ δόγμα τῆς ἐν Νικαίᾳ συνόδου, κατέστησεν ἀντ᾿ αὐτοῦ, καὶ πάλιν αἴτιος ἀταξίας ταῖς Ἐκκλησίαις ἐγένετο. Ἰδόντες δὲ οἱ ᾿Αρείου τοὺς Μελιτίου νεωτερίζοντας, συνετάραττον καὶ αὐτοὶ τὰς Ἐκκλησίας. Οἷα γὰρ φιλεῖ ἐν ταῖς τοιαύταις ταραχαῖς, οἱ μὲν τὴν ᾿Αρείου δόξαν ἐθαύμαζον· οἱ δὲ ἐδικαίουν, τοὺς Μελιτίου χειροτονηθέντας χρῆναι τῶν Ἐκκλησιῶν ἡγεῖσθαι, καὶ τούτοις προσετίθεντο. Πρότερον δὲ διαφερόμενοι πρὸς ἑαυτοὺς ἑκάτεροι, ὡς εἶδον τὸ πλῆθος ἑπόμενον τοῖς ἱερεῦσι τῆς καθόλου Ἐκκλησίας, εἰς φθόνον κατέστησαν. Καὶ πρὸς ἀλλήλους ἐσπείσαντο, καὶ κοινὴν τὴν ἔχθραν ἀνεδέξαντο “πρὸς τὸν κλῆρον ᾿Αλεξανδρείας. Ἐπιμίξ τς πρὸς διελέγοντο, τὰ ἐγκλήματα προέφερον, τὰς ἀπολογίας ἐποιοῦντο ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον, ὡς προϊόντος τοῦ χρόνου, Μελιτιανοὺς ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ παρὰ τῶν πολλῶν ὀνομάζεσθαι τοὺς τὰ ᾿Αρείου φρονοῦντας καίτοι" γε προστασίας μόνης ἕνεκεν Ἐκκλησιῶν διεφέροντὸ ᾿Αρειανοὶ δὲ ὁμοίως ᾿Αρείῳ περὶ Θεοῦ ἐδόξαζον. ᾿Αλλ᾽ ὅμως ἰδίᾳ τὰ παρ᾽ ἀλλήλων ἀναινόμενοι, ὑποχρίνεσθαι σφᾶς παρὰ γνώμην καὶ συμφωνεῖν ὑπέμενον ἐν τῇ κοινωνίᾳ τῆς ἔχθρας, ἔκαστοι δοχῶντες ῥᾳδίως κρατήσειν ὧν ἐβούλοντο. Τῷ δὲ χρόνῳ, ὡς εἰκὸς, τῶν περὶ ταῦτα διαλέξεων, ἕξιν λαβόντες τῶν δογμάτων, ὁμοίως περὶ Θεοῦ ἐδόξαζον. Ἔ ντεῦθέν τε πάλιν εἰς τὴν προτέραν ταραχὴν ἐπανῆλθε τὰ κατὰ τὸν “Αρειῖον " καὶ λαοὶ χλῆροι, τῆς πρὸς ἀλλήλους ἀπεσχίζοντο κοινωνίας. Οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ ἐν ἄλλαις πόλεσι, μάλιστα παρὰ Βιθυνοῖς καὶ Ελλησποντίοις καὶ ἐν τῇ Κωνσταντίνου πόλει αὖθις ἀνεῤῥιπίζετο τὰ περὶ τῶν ᾿Αρείου δογμάτων. ᾿Αμέλει τοι λέγεται, ὡς Εὐσέβιος ὁ Νικομηδείας ἐπίσκοπος Θεόγνιος ὁ Νικαίας, παραπείσαντες τὸν ὑπὸ τοῦ βασιλέως ἐπιτραπέντα φυλάττειν τὴν γραφὴν τῆς ἐν Νικαίᾳ συνόδου, ἀπήλειψαν τὰς αὐτῶν ὑπογραφάς " εἰς τὸ φανερὸν ἐπεχείρουν διδάσκειν μὴ χρῆναι ὁμοούσιον εἶναι τῷ Πατρὶ τὸν Υἱὸν δοξάζειν. Περὶ δὲ τούτου ἐγχαλούμενον Εὐσέβιον, ὧδε ἄντικρυς πρὸς βασιλέα παῤῥησιάσασθαι, καὶ εἰπεῖν ἐπιδείξατά τι ὧν ἡμφίεστο" Ὡς εἰ τοῦτο τὸ ἱμάτιον ἐμοῦ θεωμένου διαιρεθείη, οὔποτε ἂν φαίην τῆς αὖτῆς οὐσίας ἑκάτερον. Ἐπὶ τούτοις ὃὲ χαλεπῶς ἄγαν ἔφερεν ὁ βασιλεύς. Οἰόμενος γὰρ μετὰ τὴν ἐν Νικαίᾳ σύνοδον πεπαῦσθαι τὰς τοιαύτας ζητήσεις, παρ᾽ ἐλπίδα αὖθις ἀναχινουμένας ἑώρα. Οὐχ ἥκιστα δὲ αὑτὸν ἐλύπησεν Εὐσέβιος καὶ Θεόγνιος, ᾿Αλεξανδρεῦσί τισι κοινωνήσαντες, οὖς εἰς μεταμέλειαν ἢ σύνοδος τετήρηχεν ὡς μὴ ὀρθῶς δοξάζοντας " αὐτὸς δὲ ὡς αἰτίους διχονοίας, καὶ ἐπὶ τούτῳ τῆς τρίδος ἐκδημοῦντας, ἐκπεμφθῆναι προσέταξεν. Ἐπὶ ταύτης δὲ τῆς αἰτίας εἰσὶν οἱ λέγουσιν ὀργισθέντα τὸν βασιλέα, καταδικάσαι φυγὴν Εὐσεβίου καὶ Θεογνίου. ᾿Αλλὰ περὶ μὲν τούτου ἐν τοῖς πρόσθεν ἔγραψα, ἅπερ παρὰ ἀκριβῶς ἐπισταμένων ἀκήκοα. ### English translation (Claude) Meanwhile the rivalry that had arisen among the Egyptians from the beginning had not yet come to an end. For when, at the synod of Nicaea, the Arian heresy had been entirely anathematized and the followers of Melitius had been received on the terms stated, Melitius, when Alexander returned to Egypt, handed over to him the churches he had unlawfully brought under himself, and lived in Lycus. But not long afterward, being about to depart this life, he appointed in his place one John, one of his intimates, contrary to the decree of the synod of Nicaea, and again became a cause of disorder to the churches. When the Arians saw the Melitians making innovations, they too threw the churches into confusion. As usually happens in such disturbances, some admired the opinion of Arius, others held that those ordained by Melitius ought to lead the churches, and attached themselves to them. Though the two parties had formerly been at variance with each other, when they saw the people following the priests of the catholic church they fell into envy, made a truce with one another, and took up a common enmity against the clergy of Alexandria. They mingled and conversed together, brought forward charges, and made defences, to such an extent that in course of time most people in Egypt called the Melitians adherents of Arius, although the Melitians differed only over the leadership of churches, while the Arians held the same views about God as Arius. Yet, though privately rejecting each other's positions, they endured feigning against their convictions and agreeing in the fellowship of their enmity, each thinking they would easily get what they wanted. In time, naturally, through their discussions on these matters they became familiar with the doctrines and held the same views about God. From then on the affair of Arius returned to its former turmoil, and peoples and clergy cut themselves off from communion with one another. Moreover, in other cities, especially among the Bithynians and the people of the Hellespont and in the city of Constantine, the question of Arius's doctrines was fanned up again. It is said, for instance, that Eusebius, bishop of Nicomedia, and Theognis of Nicaea persuaded the man whom the emperor had entrusted with keeping the document of the synod of Nicaea, erased their signatures, and set about teaching openly that one should not believe the Son to be of the same essence as the Father. When Eusebius was accused of this, he spoke openly to the emperor and, pointing to the robe he was wearing, said: “If this garment were cut in two before my eyes, I would never say that each part was of the same essence.” The emperor was greatly vexed at this. For he had thought that such inquiries had ended after the synod of Nicaea, and he saw them stirred up again beyond his expectation. Not least, Eusebius and Theognis grieved him by holding communion with certain Alexandrians whom the synod had reserved for repentance as not holding right views, and whom he himself had ordered to be sent away as causes of dissension, and who were for this reason living away from their country. Some say that it was angered for this reason that the emperor condemned Eusebius and Theognis to exile. But on this I have written above what I heard from those who knew exactly. ### Translation notes - The story of the erased signatures and of Eusebius's comparison with a garment is reported by Sozomen with “it is said”; Philostorgius tells of the erasure too. Sozomen's own account of the exile of Eusebius and Theognis is in 1.21. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 2.21 (PG 67:985–989; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/2-21). ## Church History 2.22 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/2-17/#p-2-22 - Source: PG 67:989–991 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Eusebius of Nicomedia and the Melitians accuse Athanasius before Constantine; the emperor first threatens Athanasius if he excludes anyone from the church, then acquits him of charges of taxing linen and sending gold to a conspirator. ### Greek text ᾿Αθανασίῳ δὲ τῶν ἐπιγενομένων δυσχερῶν πρῶτοι γεγόνασιν αἴτιοι. Πλείστην γὰρ ἔχοντες παρὰ βασιλεῖ παῤῥησίαν καὶ δύναμιν, τὸν Ἄρειον μὲν ὡς ὁμόδοξον καὶ φίλον, κατάγειν εἰς τὴν ᾿Αλεξάνδρειαν ἐσπούδαζον · τὸν δὲ, τῆς Ἐκκλησίας ἐκβαλεῖν, ὡς ἐναντίον αὐτοῖς γινόμενον. Διαβάλλουσιν οὖν αὐτὸν πρὸς Κωνσταντῖνον, ὡς στάσεων καὶ θορύβων αἴτιον τῇ Ἐκκλησίᾳ γενόμενον, καὶ εἴργοντα τοὺς βουλομένους εἰς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν εἰσιέναι, ἐξὸν πάντας ὁμονοεῖν, εἰ τοῦτο μόνον συγχωρηθείη. Ἐπιστοῦντο δὲ ἀληθεῖς εἶναι τὰς κατ᾿ αὐτοῦ διαβολὰς, πολλοὶ τῶν μετὰ Ἰωάννου ἐπισκόπων καὶ κληρικῶν, συνεχῶς βασιλεῖ προσιόντες, ὀρθοδόξους τε σφᾶς εἶναι λέγοντες, καὶ φόνων καὶ δεσμῶν καὶ πληγῶν ἀδίκων καὶ τραυμάτων, καὶ ἐμπρησμῶν ἐκκλησιῶν κατηγοροῦντες αὐτοῦ καὶ τῶν ὑπ᾿ αὐτὸν ἐπισκόπων. Ἐπεὶ δὲ καὶ ᾿Αθανάσιος ἐδήλωσε τῷ βασιλεῖ, παρανόμους χειροτονίας ἐγκαλῶν τοῖς ἀμφὶ τὸν Ἰωάννην, καὶ νεωτερισμὸν τῶν ἐν Νικαίᾳ δοξάντων, καὶ πίστιν οὐχ ὑγιᾶ, καὶ στάσεις καὶ ὕβρεις κατὰ τῶν ὀρθῶς περὶ Θεοῦ δοξαζόντων, οὐκ εἶχε λοιπὸν ὅτῳ πιστεύσειεν ὁ Κωνσταντίνος. Τοιαῦτα δὲ αὐτῶν ἐγκαλούντων ἀλλήλοις, καὶ πολλάκις πολλῶν κατηγόρων ἑκατέρωθεν ὀχλούντων, ἐπεὶ σφόδρα αὐτῷ ἔμελε τῆς ὁμονοίας τῶν λαῶν, γράφει ᾿Αθανασίῳ, μηδένα τῆς ἐκκλησίας εἴργεσθαι. Εἰ δὲ τοῦτο καὶ εἰς ὕστερον μηνυθείη, πέμπειν ἀμελητί τὸν ἐξελάσοντα αὐτὸν τῆς ᾿Αλεξανδρέων πόλεως. Εἴτῳ δὲ φίλον καὶ αὐτῇ τῇ τοῦ βασιλέως ἐντυχεῖν ἐπιστολῇ, ὧδε ἔχει τὸ περὶ τούτου μέρος. Ἔχων τοίνυν τῆς ἐμῆς βουλήσεως τὸ γνώρισμα, πᾶσι τοῖς βουλομένοις εἰς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν εἰσελθεῖν, ἀκώλυτον παράσχου τὴν εἴσοδον. Ἐὰν γὰρ γνῶ ὡς ἐχώλυσας ἃ αὐτῶν τινας τῆς ἐκκλησίας μεταποιουμένους, ἢ : « ἀπεῖρξας τῆς εἰσόδου, ἀποστελῶ παραχρῆμα τὸν καθαιρήσοντά σε ἐξ ἐμῆς κελεύσεως, τῶν τόπων μεταστήσοντα. Ἐπεὶ δὲ γράφων τὸν : βασιλέα ἔπειθε, μὴ μεταδοτέον κοινωνίας τοῖς ᾿Αρείου πρὸς τὴν ᾿Εχχλησίαν, συνιδὼν Εὐσέθδιος ὡς οὐχ ἐπιτεύξεται τοῦ σκοποῦ, ᾿Αθανασίου τἀναντία. » σπουδάζοντος, δεῖν πάσῃ μηχανῇ ἐκποδὼν τὸν ποιῆσαι, Πρόφασιν δὲ μὴ ἔχων πρὸς τοσαύτην ἐπιβουλὴν, ὑπέσχετο τοῖς Μελιτίου, συλλαμβάνεσθαι πρὸς βασιλέα τοὺς ἀμφ᾽ αὐτὸν δυναμένους, ἣν ἐθέλωσιν ᾿Αθανασίου κατηγορεῖν. Ἐντεῦθέν τε πρώτην ὑπομένει γραφὴν, ὡς χιτωνίων λινῶν φόρον ἐπιτιθεὶς Αἰγυπτίοις, καὶ παρὰ τῶν κατηγόρων τοιοῦτον δασμὸν εἰσπραξάμενος. Παρατυ - χόντες δὲ αὐτόθι “Λπις πρεσβύτεροι τῆς ᾿Αλεξανδρέων ᾿Εκκλησίας, ψευδῆ τὴν κατηγορίαν ἐσπούδασαν διελέγξαι. ταύτης τε τῆς αἰτίας μεταχληθέντα ᾿Αθανάσιον πάλιν ἐγράψαντο ὡς λεύων τῷ κρατοῦντι, χρυσοῦ Φιλουμένῳ τινὶ πέπομφεν. Ἐπεὶ δὲ συκοφαντίας κατέγνω τῶν κατηγόρων ὁ βασιλεὺς, ἐπέτρεψεν ᾿Αϑανασίῳ ἐπανελθεῖν οἴκαδε " τῷ λαῷ τῆς ᾿Αλεξανδρείας ἔγραψε, μαρτυρήσας αὐτῷ πολλὴν ἐπιείκειαν πίστιν ὀρθὴν, ἀσμένως τε αὐτῷ συντετυχηχέναι, θεῖον ἄνδρα πεπεῖσθαι. Φθόνου τε χάριν τὴν γραφὴν ὑπομείναντα, κρείττω φανῆναι τῶν αὐτοῦ κατηγόρων. ( Πυθόμενός τε πολλοὺς ἔτι ἀπὸ τῶν Αἰγυπτίων ζυγομαχεῖν ἐχ τῆς Μελιτίου προφάσεως. διὰ τῆς αὐτοῦ ἐπιστολῆς παρεκάλει τὸ πλῆθος εἰς Θεὸν οἱ ἀπιδεῖν, τὴν παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ κρίσιν εἰς νοῦν : λαβεῖν, εὐνοεῖν τε ἀλλήλοις, καὶ τοὺς ἐπιδουλεύοντας τῇ αὐτῶν ὁμονοίᾳ, παντὶ σθένει διώκειν. Καὶ ὁ μὲν βασιλεὺς ὧδέ πη γράφων εἰς τὸ κοινὸν, πάντας εἰς ὁμόνοιαν ἐκάλει, καὶ μὴ διασπᾶσθαι τὴν ἘἜχχλησίαν ἐσπούδαζε, ### English translation (Claude) They were the first causes of the troubles that befell Athanasius. Having very great freedom of speech and power with the emperor, they were eager to bring Arius back to Alexandria as one of their opinion and a friend, and to drive Athanasius from the church as their opponent. So they slandered him to Constantine as the cause of strife and tumult in the church, and as keeping out of the church those who wished to enter, when all could be of one mind if only this were allowed. Many of the bishops and clergy who were with John confirmed that the slanders against him were true; they came continually to the emperor, saying that they were orthodox and accusing him and the bishops under him of murders, imprisonments, unjust beatings and woundings, and burnings of churches. When Athanasius in turn informed the emperor, charging John's party with unlawful ordinations, innovation against the decisions of Nicaea, unsound faith, and acts of violence and insult against those who held right views about God, Constantine no longer knew whom to believe. As they were bringing such charges against each other, and many accusers on both sides were often troubling him, since he cared greatly for the concord of the peoples, he wrote to Athanasius not to keep anyone out of the church, and that if this were reported again later, he would send without delay someone to expel him from the city of Alexandria. If anyone wishes to read the emperor's letter itself, the part about this reads as follows: “Having, then, knowledge of my will, grant unhindered entry to all who wish to enter the church. For if I learn that you have hindered any of those who lay claim to the church, or have kept them from entering, I will at once send someone who will depose you by my command and remove you from your place.” When Athanasius wrote and persuaded the emperor that those of Arius's party should not be admitted to communion with the church, Eusebius, seeing that he would not attain his aim while Athanasius was working for the opposite, decided that the man must be put out of the way by every device. Having no pretext for so great a plot, he promised the Melitians to secure the help of the powerful men about the emperor if they would accuse Athanasius. From this Athanasius faced his first charge: that he had imposed a tax of linen tunics on the Egyptians and had exacted such a levy from his accusers. But Apis and Macarius, presbyters of the church of Alexandria, who happened to be there, were able to prove the accusation false. On this charge Athanasius was summoned, and they accused him again of having sent a chest of gold to one Philumenus, as plotting against the ruler. When the emperor had found the accusers guilty of false accusation, he allowed Athanasius to return home, and wrote to the people of Alexandria, bearing witness to his great reasonableness and right faith, saying that he had been glad to meet him and was persuaded that he was a godly man, and that he had endured the accusation because of envy and had proved superior to his accusers. Having learned that many Egyptians were still contending on the pretext of Melitius, he urged the people in his letter to look to God, to keep his own judgment in mind, to be well disposed to one another, and to drive away with all their strength those who plotted against their concord. Writing in this way to the public, the emperor called all to concord and was eager that the church should not be torn apart. ### Extrabiblical texts - Athanasius, Apol. sec. 59 (Defence against the Arians): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotation is from Constantine's letter to Athanasius, quoted also by Athanasius, Defence against the Arians 59. The scan has lost or garbled several words in this chapter (the presbyter Macarius's name, the words “plotting” and “chest,” and part of the emperor's threat), which are given from the evident sense. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 2.22 (PG 67:989–991; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/2-22). ## Church History 2.23 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/2-17/#p-2-23 - Source: PG 67:991–995 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The Melitians accuse Athanasius of breaking a chalice and of murdering Arsenius, whom they have hidden; Athanasius's deacon proves Arsenius alive, and Constantine rebukes the accusers. ### Greek text Μελιτιανοὶ δὲ τῆς προτέρας ἀποτυχόντες πείρας, ἑτέρας ὕφαινον ᾿Αθανασίου γραφάς " τὴν μὲν, ; ὡς ποτήριον ἱερὸν συνέτριψε τὴν δὲ, ὡς ᾿Αρσένιόν τινα κτείνας, ἐξέτεμεν αὐτοῦ τὸν βραχίονα, καὶ παρ' ἑαυτῷ ἔχει γοητείας ἕνεκα. Οἷα δὲ κληρικός ἐλέγετο ὁ ᾿Αρσένιος οὗτος, ἁμαρτήματι περιπεσών κρύπτεσθαι. Δίκην γὰρ ὑφωρᾶτο δώσειν, παρὰ τῷ ἐπισκόπῳ εὐθυνόμενος. Τὸ δὲ συμβὰν οὕτως, εἰς ἐσχάτην διαβολὴν διεσκεύασαν οἱ ἐπιβουλεύοντες ᾿Αθανασίῳ. Καὶ τὸν μὲν ᾿Αρσένιον ἐπιμελῶς ζητήσαντες εὗρον, καὶ φιλοφρονησάμενοι, καὶ πᾶσαν εὔνοιαν καὶ ἀσφάλειαν παρέξειν αὐτῷ ὑποσχόμενοι, ἄγουσι λάθρα πρός τινα τῶν αὐτοῖς συνήθων, καὶ τὰ αὐτὰ σπουδαζόντων. Πρίνης ὄνομα αὐτῷ ἦν, πρεσβύτερος μοναστηρίου. Ἐνταῦθά τε τὸν ᾿Αρσένιον κρύψαντες, σπουδῇ περιῄεσαν κατὰ τὰς ἀγορὰς καὶ τοὺς συλλόγους τῶν ἐν τέλει, λογοποιοῦντες τοῦτον πεφονεῦσθαι παρὰ ᾿Αθανασίου. Παρεσκεύαστο δὲ πρὸς τοιαύτην κατηγορίαν καὶ Ἰωάννης μοναχός τις ὁ γραφόμενος. Ταύτης δὲ τῆς αἰσχρᾶς φήμης εἰς πολλοὺς διασπαρείσης ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον, ὡς καὶ βασιλέως ἀκοὰς φθάσαι, ὁρῶν ᾿Αθανάσιος ὡς εἰ συμβαίη αὐτὸν καὶ ἐπὶ ταύτῃ τῇ αἰτίᾳ γραφὴν ὑπομείναι, χαλεπόν ἐστιν ἀπολογήσασθαι παρὰ δικασταῖς τοιαύταις φήμαις προκατειλημμένοις, ἀντεστρατήγει ταῖς τῶν ἐναντίων τέχναις · καὶ ὡς ἐνεδέχετο πάντας πιστούμενος, ἐπενόει μὴ καλύπτεσθαι τὴν ἀλήθειαν ταῖς αὐτῶν διαβολαῖς. ὧν δὲ ἄρα τοὺς πολλοὺς πείθειν ἐργῶδες, ᾿Αρσενίου μὴ φαινομένου. Λογισάμενος οὖν ὡς οὐκ ἂν ἄλλως ἑαυτὸν καθάροι τῆς ὑπονοίας, εἰ μὴ ζῇν ἀπελέγξειε τὸν τεθνάναι λεγόμενον, πέμπει τῶν ἀμφ᾿ αὐτόν τινα πιστότατον διάκονον, ἀναζητήσοντα τοῦτον. Ὁ δὲ, παραγενόμενος εἰς Θηβαΐδα, ἐξαγγειλάντων τινῶν μοναχῶν, ἔγνω ὅπου διῆγεν. Ἐπεὶ δὲ ἦκε πρὸς Πρίνην παρ' ᾧ ἐκρύπτετο, αὐτὸν μὲν ᾿Αρσένιον οὐ καταλαμβάνει. Προμαθόντες γὰρ τὴν ἄφιξιν τοῦ διακόνου, μετέστησαν τοῦτον εἰς τὴν χάτω Αἴγυπτον. Παραλαβὼν δὲ τὸν Πρίνην, ἤγαγεν εἰς ᾿Αλεξάνδρειαν ἅμα δὲ καὶ Ἠλίαν, ἕνα τῶν αὐτῷ συνόντων, ὃς ἐλέγετο τὸν ᾿Αρσένιον ἑτέρωθι μεταστῆσαι. "Ἄμφω προσαχθέντες τῷ ἄρχοντι τῶν ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ στρατιωτικῶν ταγμάτων, ὡμολόγησαν ἐν ζῶσιν εἶναι ᾿Αρσένιον " λαθεῖν δὲ παρ᾽ αὑτοῖς πρότερον κρυπτόμενον, καὶ νῦν ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ διάγειν. Ταῦτα οὕτω συμδάντα, δῆλα γενέσθαι Κωνσταντίνῳ ἐσπούδασεν ᾿Αθανάσιος. Τῷ δὲ βασιλεὺς ἀντέγραψεν, ἔχεσθαι τῆς ἱερωσύνης ἐπιμελῶς, καὶ τῆς τοῦ λαοῦ εὐταξίας εὐσεβείας προνοεῖν παρ᾽ οὐδὲν δὲ ἡγεῖσθαι τὰς τῶν Μελιτιανῶν ἐπιδουλὰς, ὡς τοῦ εὖ εἰδότος, φθόνον αὐτοὺς ἐγείρειν εἰς τοιαύτας ψευδεῖς καὶ πεπλασμένας γραφὰς, καὶ τοὺς κατὰ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας θορύθδους. Αὐτόν τε τοῦ λοιποῦ μὴ συγχωρεῖν τὰ τοιαῦτα " ἀλλὰ δικαστὴν ἔσεσθαι κατὰ ποὺς πολιτικοὺς νόμους, εἰ μὴ ἡσυχίαν ἄγοιεν, δίκην λαθεῖν αὐτῶν, ὡς οὐ μόνον ἀδίκως τοῖς ἀθώοις ἐπιθουλενόντων, ἀλλ᾽ ἀδίκως τῇ εὐταξίᾳ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας, καὶ τῇ εὐσεδείᾳ λυμαινομένων. Τοιαῦτα γράψας ὁ βασιλεὺς ᾿Αθανασίῳ, προσέταξεν εἰς τὸ κοινὸν ἀναγνωσθῆναι τὴν ἐπιστολὴν, ἵν᾽ εἰδέναι πάντες ἔχοιεν τὴν αὐτοῦ προαίρεσιν. Τὸ δὲ ἐξ ἐκείνου περιδεεῖς γενόμενοι οἱ τὰ Μελιτίου φρονοῦντες, τέως ἠρέμουν, ὑφορώμενοι τὴν τοῦ κρατοῦντος ἀπειλήν. Εἰρηνευομένη δὲ ἡ κατὰ πᾶσαν Αἴγυπτον Ἐκκλησία, καὶ ὑπὸ τοσούτου ἱερέως προστασίᾳ ἰθυνομένη, πολυπλασίων ὁσημέραι ἐγίνετο, πολλῶν προστιθεμένων ἐχ τοῦ Ἑλληνικοῦ πλήθους, καὶ τῶν ἄλλων αἱρέσεων. ### English translation (Claude) The Melitians, having failed in their first attempt, wove other charges against Athanasius: one, that he had broken a sacred chalice; the other, that he had killed a certain Arsenius, cut off his arm, and kept it with him for sorcery. This Arsenius, a cleric, was said to have fallen into some sin and gone into hiding, for he suspected that he would be punished when called to account by his bishop. Those plotting against Athanasius turned what had happened into the most extreme slander. They searched carefully for Arsenius, found him, treated him kindly, promised to give him every goodwill and safety, and secretly brought him to one of their intimates who shared their aims; his name was Prines, presbyter of a monastery. Having hidden Arsenius there, they went eagerly about the market-places and the gatherings of those in authority, spreading the story that he had been murdered by Athanasius. A certain monk John was also prepared to bring such an accusation. When this shameful rumour had spread among many, so far that it reached the ears of the emperor, Athanasius saw that if he happened to be charged on this count too, it would be hard to defend himself before judges already prejudiced by such rumours. So he countered the stratagems of his opponents, and, winning over everyone as far as he could, he took care that the truth should not be hidden by their slanders. But it was hard to persuade most people while Arsenius did not appear. Reckoning that he could not clear himself of suspicion in any other way than by proving that the man said to be dead was alive, he sent one of his most trusted deacons to search for him. The deacon came to the Thebaid and, when some monks told him, learned where he was living. When he came to Prines, with whom he was hidden, he did not find Arsenius himself; for learning beforehand of the deacon's arrival, they had moved him to Lower Egypt. But he took Prines, and also Elias, one of his companions, who was said to have moved Arsenius elsewhere, and brought them to Alexandria. Both, brought before the commander of the military forces in Egypt, confessed that Arsenius was alive, that he had earlier been hidden with them unnoticed, and that he was now living in Egypt. Athanasius took care that this should be made known to Constantine. The emperor wrote back to him to hold carefully to his priesthood and to care for the good order and piety of the people, and to make nothing of the plots of the Melitians, since he well knew that envy stirred them to such false and fabricated charges and to the disturbances against the church. He himself, he said, would not permit such things in future; but if they did not keep quiet, he would be their judge according to the civil laws and would punish them, as men who not only plotted unjustly against the innocent but also unjustly corrupted the good order and piety of the church. Having written thus to Athanasius, the emperor ordered the letter to be read in public, so that all might know his purpose. From then on the followers of Melitius were afraid and kept quiet for a time, fearing the ruler's threat. The church throughout Egypt, at peace and directed by the leadership of so great a priest, grew manifold daily, as many joined it from the pagan multitude and from the other heresies. ### Extrabiblical texts - Athanasius, Apol. sec. 65-68 (Defence against the Arians): allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Constantine's letter is quoted by Athanasius, Defence against the Arians 68. The first letters of “But it was hard” and of “brought them” are lost in the scan. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 2.23 (PG 67:991–995; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/2-23). ## Church History 2.24 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/2-17/#p-2-24 - Source: PG 67:995–999 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Frumentius and Aedesius, captured as boys by “Indians” after their kinsman Meropius is killed, serve the king, gather Christians, and Frumentius is ordained bishop by Athanasius and evangelizes the country. ### Greek text Ὑπὸ δὲ τοῦτον τὸν χρόνον, παρειλήφαμεν τοὺς ἔνδον τῶν ἡμᾶς ᾿Ινδῶν, ἀπειράτους μείναντας τῶν Βαρθολομαίον χηρυγμάτων, μετασχεῖν τοῦ δόγματος ὑπὸ Φρουμεντίῳ, ἱερεῖ χαθηγητῇ γενομένῳ παρ᾽ αὐτοῖς τῶν ἱερῶν μαθημάτων. Ἵνα δὲ γνοίημεν ἐν τῷ παραδόξῳ τοῦ συμβάντος περὶ τοὺς Ἰνδοὺς, οὐκ ἐξ ἀνθρώπων, ὥς τισι τερατολογεῖσθαι δοκεῖ, τὴν σύστασιν λαθεῖν τὸ τῶν Χριστιανῶν δόγμα, ἀναγκαῖον τὴν αἰτίαν τῆς Φρουμεντίου χειροτονίας διεξελθεῖν " ἔχει δὲ ὧδε. Περὶ πολλοῦ τοῖς : παρ' “Ἕλλησιν εὐδοχιμοτάτοις φιλοσόφοις ἐγίνετο, πόλεις καὶ τόπους ἀγνῶτας ἱστορεῖν. Οὕτω γοῦν Πλάτων ὁ Σωκράτους ἑταῖρος Αἰγυπτίοις ἐνεδήμησε, τὰ παρ᾿ αὐτοῖς μαθησόμενος. Ἔπλευσε δὲ καὶ εἰς Σικελίαν, ἐπὶ θέᾳ τῶν αὐτόθι κρατήρων· ἐν οἷς ἀεὶ μὲν ὡς ἀπὸ πηγῆς ἀναδιδόμενον αὐτόματον παμφλάζει πῦρ· πολλάκις δὲ ὑπερχέον, ποταμοῦ δίκην ῥεῖ, καὶ τὴν γείτονα γῆν ἐπιβόσκεται τοσοῦτον, ὡς ἔτι νῦν πολλοὺς ἀγροὺς φαίνεσθαι κατακεκαυμένους, καὶ μήτε σπόρον δέχεσθαι, μήτε φυτείαν δένδρων, οἷά γε περὶ τῆς Σοδομιτῶν χώρας καταγγέλλουσι. Τούτους δὲ τοὺς κρατῆρας καὶ Ἑμπεδοκλῆς ἱστόρησεν, ἀνὴρ λαμπρῶς παρ' Ἕλλησι φιλοσοφήσας, καὶ ἐν ἔπεσιν ἠρώοις τὴν ἐπιστήμην πραγματευσάμενος. Διαπορούμενος δὲ περὶ τῆς ἀναδόσεως τοῦ πυρὸς, ἢ τούτῳ τῷ τρόπῳ ἄμεινον ἀποθανεῖν δοκιμάσας, ἡ τόγε ἀληθέστερον εἰπεῖν, οὐδὲ αὐτὸς ἴσως εἰδὼς οὗ χάριν πρὸ καιροῦ τὴν τοιαύτην ἑαυτῷ εὗρεν τοῦ βίου ἀπαλλαγὴν, ἥλατο εἰς τὸ πῦρ, καὶ διεφθάρη. Οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ Δημόκριτος ὁ Κῶος πλείστας ἱστόρησε πόλεις, ἀέρα τε, καὶ χώρας, καὶ ἔθνη, καὶ ἐπὶ ἔτεσιν ὀγδοήκοντα διαγαγεῖν ἐπὶ ξένης αὐτός που περὶ ἑαυτοῦ φησιν. "Αλλοι τε ἐπὶ τούτοις μυρίοι τῶν παρ' Ἕλλησι σοφῶν, ἀρχαῖοι καὶ νεώτεροι, τοῦτο ἐσπούδασαν. Οὓς ζηλώσας Μερόπιός τις φιλόσοφος Τύριος τῆς Φοινίκης, παρεγένετο εἰς Ἰνδούς. Εἴποντο δὲ αὐτῷ παῖδες δύο, Φρουμέντιός τε καὶ Αἰδέσιος· ἄμφω δὲ γένει αὐτῷ προσήκοντες · οὓς διὰ λόγων ἦγε, καὶ ἐλευθερίως ἐπαίδευεν. Ἱστορήσας δὲ τῆς Ἰνδικῆς ὅσα γε αὐτῷ ἐξεγένετο, τῆς ἐπανόδου εἴχετο, νηὸς ἐπιτυχὼν στελλομένης εἰς Αἴγυπτον. Συμβὰν δὲ κατὰ χρείαν ὕδατος ἢ τῶν ἄλλων ἐπιτηδείων, εἰς ὅρμον τινὰ προσχεῖν τὴν ναῦν, καταδραμόντες οἱ τῇδε Ἰνδοὶ κτείνουσι πάντας, καὶ τὸν Μερόπιον. Ἔτυχον γὰρ τότε λύσαντες τὰς πρὸς Ῥωμαίους σπονδάς. Τοὺς δὲ παῖδας νέους ὄντας οἰκτείραντες ἐζώγρησαν, καὶ βασιλεῖ τῷ ἑαυτῶν προσήγαγον. Ὁ δὲ, τὸν μὲν νεώτερον οἰνοχόον κατέστησε· μείζονα δὲ τῆς αὐτοῦ οἰκίας τὸν Φρουμέντιον, καὶ τῶν χρημάτων ἐπίτροπον. Ἔγνω γὰρ αὐτὸν ἐχέφρονα, καὶ διοικεῖν ἱκανώτατον. Ἐπὶ πολὺν δὲ χρόνον χρησίμους σφᾶς καὶ πιστοὺς παρασχομένους, τελευτῶν ἐπὶ παιδὶ καὶ γαμετῇ, ἐλευθερίᾳ τῆς εὐνοίας αὐτοὺς ἡμείψατο, καὶ οἱ βούλοιντο διάγειν ἐπέτρεψε. Καὶ οἱ μὲν εἰς Τύρον πρὸς τοὺς οἰκείους ἐπανελθεῖν ἐσπούδαζον. Ἔτι δὲ τοῦ βασιλέως υἱοῦ νέου κομιδῇ ὄντος, ἐδεήθη ἡ τούτου μήτηρ ) ἐπ᾿ ὀλίγον χρόνον περιμεῖναι ἄμφω τὴν βασιλείαν ἐπιτροπεύοντας, ἄχρις ἂν ὁ παῖς ἀνδρωθείη. Καὶ ἀντιβολοῦσαν δὲ τὴν βασιλίδα ἠδέσθησαν· καὶ τὰ βασίλεια καὶ τὴν ἡγεμονίαν Ἰνδῶν διώκουν. Ὁ δὲ Φρουμέντιος, θείαις ἴσως προτραπεὶς ἐπιφανείαις, ἢ καὶ αὐτομάτως τοῦ Θεοῦ κινοῦντος, ἐπυνθάνετο εἴ τινες εἶεν Χριστιανοὶ παρ' Ἰνδοῖς, ἢ Ῥωμαῖοι τῶν εἰσπλεόντων ἐμπόρων. Ἐπιμελῶς δὲ τούτους ἀναζητῶν, μετεκαλεῖτο πρὸς ἑαυτόν. Αμφαγαπάζων τε καὶ φιλοφρονούμενος, εὐχῆς ἕνεκεν συνιέναι ἐποίει, καὶ ᾗ Ῥωμαίοις ἔθος ἐκκλησιάζειν· καὶ διὰ πάντων προὐτρέπετο τὸ θεῖον πρεσβεύειν, εὐκτηρίους οἴκους οἰκοδομήσας. Ἤδη δὲ τοῦ βασιλέως υἱοῦ εἰς ἐφήβους τελοῦντος, παραιτησάμενοι αὐτὸν καὶ τὴν βασιλίδα, οὐκ ἀνεκτὸν ἡγουμένους χωρίζεσθαι σφῶν, πείσαντες, καὶ φίλοι ἀπαλλαγέντες, παρεγένοντο εἰς τὴν Ῥωμαίων ὑπήκοον, καὶ Αἰδέσιος μὲν τοὺς οἰκείους ὀψόμενος, εἰς Τύρον ἦλθεν· ἔνθα δὴ μετὰ ταῦτα πρεσβυτερείου ἠξιώθη. Φρουμέντιος δὲ τὴν ἐπὶ Φοινίκην ὁδὸν τέως ἀναβαλλόμενος, ἀφίκετο εἰς ᾿Αλεξάνδρειαν. ῎Ἔδοξε γὰρ αὐτῷ οὐ καλῶς ἔχειν, πατρίδος καὶ γένους δευτερεύειν τὴν περὶ τὰ θεῖα σπουδήν. Συντυχὼν δὲ ᾿Αθανασίῳ τῷ προϊσταμένῳ τῆς ᾿Αλεξανδρέων Ἐχκλησίας, τὰ κατ' Ἰνδοὺς διηγήσατο, καὶ ὡς ἐπισκό που δέοι αὐτοῖς, τῶν αὐτόθι Χριστιανῶν ἐπιμελησομένου. Ὁ δὲ ᾿Αθανάσιος, τοὺς ἐνδημοῦντας ἱερέας ἀγείρας, ἐβουλεύσατο περὶ τούτου· καὶ χειροτονεῖ αὐτὸν τῆς Ἰνδικῆς ἐπίσκοπον, λογισάμενος ἐπιτηδειότατον εἶναι τοῦτον, καὶ ἱκανὸν πολλὴν ποιῆσαι τὴν θρησκείαν, παρ' οἷς πρῶτος αὐτὸς ἔδειξε τὸ Χριστιανῶν ὄνομα, καὶ σπέρμα παρέσχετο τῆς τοῦ δόγματος μετουσίας. Ὁ δὲ Φρουμέντιος πάλιν εἰς Ἰνδοὺς ὑποστρέψας, λέγεται τοσοῦτον εὐκλεῶς τὴν ἱερωσύνην μετελθεῖν, ὡς ἐπαιρεθῆναι παρὰ πάντων τῶν αὐτοῦ πειραθέντων, οὐχ ἧττον ἢ τοὺς ἀποστόλους θαυμάζουσι. Καθότι καὶ ἐπισημότατον αὐτὸν ὁ Θεὸς ἀπέφηνε, πολλὰς καὶ παραδόξους ἰάσεις, καὶ σημεῖα, καὶ τέρατα δι' αὐτοῦ δημιουργήσας. Ἡ μὲν δὴ παρ᾿ Ἰνδοῖς ἱερωσύνη ταύτην ἔσχεν ἀρχήν. ### English translation (Claude) About this time, we have received, the Indians of the interior, who had remained untouched by the preaching of Bartholomew, came to share in the doctrine through Frumentius, who became a priest and teacher of the sacred learning among them. So that we may know, from the wonder of what befell the Indians, that the doctrine of the Christians received its establishment not from men, as some think who tell marvels, it is necessary to relate the cause of Frumentius's ordination. It is as follows. The most esteemed philosophers among the Greeks made it a great concern to visit unknown cities and places. So Plato, the companion of Socrates, stayed among the Egyptians to learn what they knew. He also sailed to Sicily to see the craters there, in which fire bubbles up of itself continually as from a spring, and often overflows and runs like a river, devouring the neighbouring land, so that many fields still appear burned and receive neither seed nor planting of trees, as they report of the land of the Sodomites. Empedocles too, a man who practised philosophy brilliantly among the Greeks and treated his science in heroic verse, visited these craters. Being perplexed about the eruption of the fire, or having judged it better to die in this way, or, to put it more truly, perhaps not knowing himself why he devised such a departure from life before his time, he leaped into the fire and perished. Democritus of Cos too visited very many cities, climates, countries and nations, and he says somewhere of himself that he spent eighty years abroad. Besides these, countless others of the wise men among the Greeks, ancient and more recent, pursued this. Emulating them, a certain Meropius, a philosopher of Tyre in Phoenicia, went to the Indians. Two boys accompanied him, Frumentius and Aedesius, both related to him, whom he was leading through his studies and educating liberally. Having visited as much of India as he could, he set out on his return, finding a ship bound for Egypt. It happened that, for want of water or other necessities, the ship put in at a certain harbour, and the Indians there rushed down and killed everyone, including Meropius; for they had just then broken their treaty with the Romans. But taking pity on the boys because they were young, they took them alive and brought them to their king. He appointed the younger his cupbearer, and Frumentius steward of his household and manager of his property; for he saw that he was sensible and very capable at administration. When they had shown themselves useful and faithful for a long time, the king, dying and leaving a son and a wife, rewarded their goodwill with freedom and allowed them to live wherever they wished. They were eager to return to their families at Tyre. But since the king's son was still very young, his mother begged them both to stay a short time and govern the kingdom until the boy grew to manhood. Out of respect for the queen's entreaty they administered the palace and the government of the Indians. Frumentius, perhaps moved by divine manifestations, or God stirring him of his own accord, inquired whether there were any Christians among the Indians, or Romans among the merchants who sailed there. Seeking them out carefully, he called them to himself, welcomed and befriended them, and had them meet together for prayer and assemble as is the custom of the Romans; and in every way he encouraged them to honour the Divine, building houses of prayer. When the king's son was already reaching youth, they asked leave of him and of the queen, who thought it unbearable to be parted from them; having persuaded them, they departed as friends and came into the Roman dominions. Aedesius went to Tyre to see his family, and there was afterward made a presbyter. Frumentius, putting off for a time the journey to Phoenicia, came to Alexandria; for he thought it not right that zeal for divine things should take second place to country and family. Meeting Athanasius, who led the church of Alexandria, he told him about the Indians, and that they needed a bishop to care for the Christians there. Athanasius gathered the priests who were present, took counsel about this, and ordained Frumentius bishop of India, reckoning that he was most fit and able to make the religion great among those to whom he had first shown the name of Christian and given the seed of a share in the doctrine. Frumentius returned to the Indians and is said to have exercised the priesthood so gloriously that he was praised by all who had experience of him, and admired no less than the apostles. For God made him most renowned, working through him many wonderful healings, signs and wonders. Such was the beginning of the priesthood among the Indians. ### Scripture references - Gen 19:24: allusion, low confidence - Acts 5:12: allusion, low confidence ### Translation notes - Sozomen follows Rufinus, Church History 10.9–10. The “Indians of the interior” are the people of Aksum in Ethiopia. Ancient writers commonly said that Empedocles died by leaping into Etna, and that Plato visited Egypt and Sicily; Sozomen's “Democritus of Cos” is Democritus of Abdera. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 2.24 (PG 67:995–999; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/2-24). ## Church History 2.25 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/2-25/#p-2-25 - Source: PG 67:999–1007 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: At the synod of Tyre Athanasius faces charges of violence, of breaking a chalice, of murdering Arsenius and of violating a woman; he exposes the last two, but fearing for his life flees to Constantinople and is deposed in his absence. ### Greek text ᾿Αθανασίῳ δὲ πάλιν αἱ τῶν ἐναντίων ἐπιβουλαὶ ἀνεκίνουν πράγματα, καὶ μίσος παρὰ τῷ βασιλεῖ κατεσκεύαζε, καὶ κατηγόρων ἐπήγειρε πλῆθος. Παρ' ὧν όχλούμενος ὁ βασιλεὺς, σύνοδον γενέσθαι προσέταξεν ἐν Καισαρείᾳ τῆς Παλαιστίνης. Εἰς ἣν κληθεὶς, οὐχ ὑπήκουσεν, Εὐσεβίου τοῦ τῇδε ἐπισκόπου, καὶ τοῦ Νικομηδείας, καὶ τῶν ἀμφ᾿ αὐτοὺς δείσας τὴν σκαιωρίαν. ᾿Αλλὰ τότε μὲν, καίτοι συνελθεῖν ἀναγκαζόμενος, ἀμφὶ τοὺς τριάκοντα μῆνας ἀνεβάλετο. Μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα σφοδρότερον βιασθεὶς, ἧκεν εἰς Τύρον. Ἔνθα δὴ συνελθόντες πολλοὶ τῶν ἀνὰ τὴν Ἕω ἐπισκόπων, ἐκέλευον αὐτὸν τὰς εὐθύνας ὑπέχειν τῶν κατηγορουμένων. Κατηγόρουν δὲ αὐτοῦ τοῦ μέρους Ἰωάννου, Καλλίνικος ἐπίσκοπος, καὶ Ἰσχυρίων τις, ὅτι μυστικὸν ποτήριον συνέτριψε, καὶ ἐπισκοπικὸν καθεῖλε θρόνον· καὶ Ἰσχυρίωνα τοῦτον πρεσβύ τερον ὄντα πολλάκις καθεῖρξε, καὶ συκοφαντήσας πρὸς Ὑγῖνον τὸν Αἰγύπτου ὕπαρχον ὡς βασιλικάς εἰκόνας λιθάσαντα, δεσμωτήριον οἰκεῖν παρεσκεύασε· Καλλίνικον δὲ ὡς ἐπίσκοπον ὄντα ἐν Πηλουσίῳ τῆς καθόλου Ἐκκλησίας, καὶ μετὰ ᾿Αλεξάνδρου συναγόμενον, καθεῖλεν· ὅτι γε, φησὶ, παρῃτεῖτο κοινωνείν αὐτῷ, εἰ μὴ πεισθείη περὶ τοῦ συντετρίφθαι ὑπονοουμένου μυστικοῦ ποτηρίου· Μάρκῳ δὲ τινι πρεσβυτερίου ἀφῃρημένῳ τὴν Πηλουσίου Ἐκκλησίαν ἐπἑτρεψεν· αὐτὸν δὲ Καλλίνικον στρατιωτικῆς φρουρᾶς καὶ αἰκισμῶν καὶ δικαστηρίων πειραθῆναι ἐποίησε. Καὶ Εὔπλους δὲ καὶ Παχώμιος, καὶ Ἰσαὰκ καὶ Ἀχιλλᾶς καὶ Ἑρμαίων τῶν ἀμφ' Ἰωάννην ἐπί σκοποι, πληγῶν αὐτοῦ κατηγόρουν. Κοινῇ δὲ πάντες ὡς δι' ἐπιορκίας τινῶν εἰς τὴν ἐπισκοπὴν παρῆλθεν, ὑποθεμένων πάντων μηδένα χειροτονεῖν, πρὶν τὰ ἐν αὐτοῖς ἐγκλήματα διαλύσωσιν. ᾿Αποστῆναι δὲ διὰ τοῦτο αὐτοὺς ἀπατηθέντας τῆς πρὸς αὐτὸν κοινωνίας· τὸν δὲ μὴ ἀξιῶσαι πεῖσαι, ἀλλὰ βιάζεσθαι, καὶ δεσμωτηρίσις αυτοὺς ἐμβαλεῖν. Ἐπὶ τούτοις τε καὶ τὰ κατ' ᾿Αρσένιον ἀνεκινεῖτο. Καὶ οἷα φιλεῖ ἐν σπουδαζομέναις ἐπιβουλαῖς, ἀπροσδόκητοι καὶ τῶν νομιζομένων φίλων ἀνεφύοντο κατήγοροι. Καὶ γραμματεῖον ἀνεγινώσκετο δημοτικῶν ἐκβοήσεων, ὡς τῶν ἀνὰ τὴν ᾿Αλεξάνδρειαν λαῶν δι' αὐτὸν ἐκκλησιάζειν μὴ ἀνεχομένων. Ὁ δὲ ᾿Αθανάσιος, ἀπολογήσασθαι προσταχθείς, προελθὼν πολλάκις εἰς τὸ δικαστήριον, τὰ μὲν τῶν ἐγκλημάτων ἀπελύσατο· τῶν δὲ πρὸς ἐπίσκεψιν, ὑπέρθεσιν ᾔτησεν. Ἡπόρει δὲ λίαν, καὶ τοὺς κατηγόρους τοῖς δικασταῖς ὁρῶν κεχαρισμένους, καὶ μάρτυρας πολλοὺς κατ' αὐτοῦ παρεσκευασμένους ἐκ τῶν τὰ ᾿Αρείου καὶ Μελιτίου φρονούντων, καὶ τοὺς συκοφάντας, ἐφ᾽ οἷς ἐγκλήμασιν ἐκράτει, συγγνώμης ἀξιουμένους · καὶ μάλιστα ἐπὶ τῇ κατὰ ᾿Αρσένιον γραφῇ, οὗ γοητείας ἕνεκα κατηγορεῖτο τὸν βραχίονα ἐκτεμεῖν· καὶ γυναῖκά τινα, ᾗ δῶρα ἐπὶ ἀσελγείᾳ δεδωκέναι, καὶ νύκτωρ ἀκούσῃ συνδιαφθαρῆναι ἐνεκαλεῖτο. Ἑκατέρα γραφή γελοία ἐφωράθη, καὶ συκοφαντίας ἀνάπλεως. Ἐπεὶ γὰρ συνειλεγμένων ἐπισκόπων κατηγόρει ταῦτα ἡ γυνὴ, παρεστώς ᾿Αθανασίῳ Τιμόθεος ᾿Αλεξανδρεὺς πρεσβύτερος, ὡς αὐτοῖς λάθρα συνεδόκει, ὑπολαβὼν πρὸς τὸ γύναιον, Ἐγώ σε, ἔφη, ἐβιασάμην, ὦ γύναι; Ἡ δὲ, ᾿Αλλ' οὐ σύ; καιρὸν λέγουσα καὶ τόπον ἐν ᾧ δῆθεν βεβίαστο. Αρσένιον δὲ εἰς μέσον παρήγαγε, καὶ ἀμφοτέρας ἀρτίους αὐτοῦ χεῖρας ἀπέδειξε τοῖς δικασταῖς · καὶ ἐδεῖτο αὐτῶν, εὐθύνας ὑπέχειν τοὺς κατηγόρους οὗ ἐπεφέροντο βραχίονος. Ἔτυχε γάρι Αρσένιος οὗτος, ἢ θειόθεν ἐλαυνόμενος, ἢ, ὡς λέγεται, ὑπὸ τῶν ἐπιβούλων ᾿Αθανασίου κρυπτόμενος, ἀναγγείλαντός του δι' αὐτὸν κινδυνεύειν τὸν ἐπίσκοπον, ἀποδρὰς νύκτωρ, καὶ πρὸ μιᾶς τοῦ δικαστηρίου κατάρας εἰς Τύρον. Ἑκατέρου δὲ ἐγκλήματος ὧδε λυθέντος, ὡς μηδὲν ἀπολογίας προσδεηθῆναι, τὸ μὲν πρῶτον, ὡς οἶμαι, ἐπὶ προφάσει δῆθεν τοῦ μὴ χρῆναι οὕτως αἰσχρὸν καὶ γελοιῶδες πρᾶγμα ἐπὶ συνόδου ἀναγράφεσθαι, οὐκ ἐμφέρεται τοῖς πεπραγμένοις. Πρὸς δὲ τὸ δεύτερον ἤρκεσεν εἰς ἀπολογίαν τοῖς κατηγόροις εἰπεῖν, ὡς Πλουσιανός τις ἐπίσκοπος τῶν ὑπὸ ᾿Αθανάσιον, κατὰ πρόσταξιν αὐτοῦ τὴν ᾿Αρσενίου οἰκίαν κατέφλεξε· καὶ κίονι προσδήτας, καὶ ἱμάσιν αἰκισάμενος, ἐν οἰκίσκῳ καθεῖρξε. Διὰ θυρίδος δὲ ἀποδράσαι τοῦτον· καὶ ἐπειδὴ ζητητέος ἦν, ἐπὶ· χρόνον λαθεῖν κρυπτόμενον, μὴ φαινόμενον δὲ εἰκότως ἀποθανεῖν νομισθῆναι. Καὶ οἷά γε ἐπιφανῆ ἄνδρα καὶ ὁμολογητὴν, οἱ ἀμφὶ τὸν Ἰωάννην ἐπίσκοποι ἐζήτουν αὐτὸν, προσιόντες τοῖς ἄρχουσι. Ταῦτ᾽ οὖν λογιζόμενος ᾿Αθανάσιος, περιδεὴς ἦν· ἅμα δὲ ὑφωρᾶτο, μὴ καιρὸν εὑρόντες οἱ ἐπιβουλεύοντες λάθρα ἀνέλωσιν αὐτόν. Μετὰ πολλὰς δὲ συνόδους, θορύβου καὶ ταραχῆς ἐμπλησθέντος τοῦ συλλόγου, κεκραγότων τε τῶν κατηγόρων καὶ τοῦ περὶ τὸ δικαστήριον πλήθους, πάσῃ μηχανῇ χρῆναι αὐτὸν ἐκποδὼν ποιεῖν ὡς γόητα, καὶ βίαιον, καὶ ἱερωσύνης ἀνάξιον· δείσαντες οἱ παρὰ τοῦ βασιλέως προστεταγμένοι παρεῖναι τῇ συνόδῳ εὐταξίας ἕνεκα, μὴ, ὡς εἰκὸς, ἐν στάσει καταδραμόντες, αὐτόχειρες αὐτοῦ γένωνται, λάθρα αὐτὸν ὑπεξἡγαγον τοῦ δικαστηρίου. Ὁ δὲ, λογισάμενος οὐκ ἀκίνδυνον αὐτῷ διατρίβειν ἐν Τύρῳ, οὔτε ἀσφαλές • δικάσασθαι πρὸς πλῆθος κατηγόρων παρὰ δικασταῖς ἐχθροῖς, φεύγει εἰς Κωνσταντινούπολιν. Καταδικάζουσι δὲ αὐτῷ ἐρήμην ἡ σύνοδος, καὶ καθαιροῦσι τῆς ἐπισκοπῆς, καὶ ψηφίζονται αὐτὸν μηκέτι τὴν ᾿Αλεξάνδρειαν οἰκεῖν, ἵνα μὴ, φησὶ, θορύβους καὶ στάσεις παρὼν ἐργάζηται. Ἰωάννην δὲ καὶ τοὺς σὺν αὐτῷ πάντας, ὡς οὐ δικαίως κακῶς παθόντας, εἰς κοινωνίαν προσίενται, καὶ τὸ ἐν τῷ κλήρῳ ἀξίωμα ἑκάστῳ διέδωκαν. Δηλοῦσι δὲ τὰ πεπραγμένα τῷ βασιλεῖ, καὶ γράφουσι τοῖς πανταχῆ ἐπισκόποις, μὴ μεταδοῦναι αὐτῷ κοινωνίας, μήτε γράφειν, μήτε παρ' αὐτοῦ γράμματα δέχεσθαι, ὡς ἐληλεγμένου ἐν οἷς διήκουσαν, καὶ διὰ τῆς φυγῆς, καὶ ἐπὶ ταῖς μὴ ἀγωνισθείσαις γραφαῖς ἀλόντος. Ἑδήλουν δὲ διὰ τῆς ἐπιστολῆς, ἐπὶ τοιαύτην προῆχθαι ψῆφον· πρῶτον μὲν ὅσον χαι λεπαίνοντες, καθότι, τοῦ βασιλέως προστάξοντος ἐν τῷ παρελθόντι ἐνιαυτῷ, συνελθεῖν αὐτοῦ χάριν εἰς Καισάρειαν τοὺς ἀνὰ τὴν Ἕω ἐπισκόπους, οὐκ ἀπήντησεν, ἐπὶ μακρῷ χρόνῳ ταλαιπωρουμένην τὴν σύνὁδὸν ἰδὼν, καὶ τῶν τοῦ κρατοῦντος προσταγμάτων καταφρονήσας. Πλειόνων δὲ συνελθόντων εἰς Τύρον, ἅμα πλήθει ἀφίκετο, καὶ ταραχὰς καὶ θορύβους ἐνεποίει τῇ συνόδῳ· πῆ μὲν τὰς ἀπολογίας ἀποκρουόμενος, πῆ δὲ τῶν ἐπισκόπων ἕκαστον προπηλακίζων· ἄλλοτε δὲ καλούμενος ὑπ᾿ αὐτῶν, μὴ ὑπι ακούων · ποτὲ κρίνεσθαι μὴ ἀξιῶν. Περιφανῶς δὲ πεφωρᾶσθαι αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τοῦ μυστικοῦ ποτηρίου τῇ συντριβῇ κατήγγελλον, μάρτυρας ἐπὶ τοῦτο προϊσχόμενοι, Θεόγνιον τὸν Νικαίας ἐπίσκοπον, καὶ Μάριν τὸν Χαλκηδόνος, καὶ Θεόδωρον τὸν Ἡρακλείας, Οὐάλεντά τε καὶ Οὐρσάκιον καὶ Μακεδόνιον · οὓς ἀπέστειλαν εἰς Αἴγυπτον, ὥστε παραγενομένους εἰς τὴν κώμην ἔνθα συντετρίφθαι τὸ ποτήριον ἐλέγετο, τὸ ἀληθὲς ἀνευρεῖν. Τοιαῦτα ἔγραψαν, καθ᾿ ἕκαστον ἔγκλημα δικανικῶς ἐφαψάμενοι, καὶ οἷον ἐκ τέχνης τινὸς διαβολὴν κατασκευάσαι σπουδάζοντες. Οὐχ ὑγιῶς δὲ ταύτην τὴν κρίσιν ἔχειν, καὶ πολλοῖς τῶν παρόντων ἱερέων κατεφαίνετο. Λέγεται οὖν Παφνούτιον τὸν ὁμολογητὴν τῇ συνόδῳ ταύτῃ παραγενόμενον, λαβόμενον τῆς χειρὸς, ἐξαναστῆναι Μάξιμον τὸν Ἱεροσολύμων ἐπίσκοπον, ὡς οὐ δέον συλλόγου κοινωνεῖν πονηρῶν ἀν θρώπων, ὁμολογητὰς αὐτοὺς ὄντας, καὶ δι᾿ εὐσέβειαν τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς αὐτῶν κεκομμένους, καὶ τὰς ἀγγύλας πεπηρωμένους. ### English translation (Claude) Again the plots of his opponents stirred up trouble for Athanasius, created hatred against him with the emperor, and raised up a multitude of accusers. Troubled by them, the emperor ordered a synod to be held at Caesarea in Palestine. Athanasius was summoned to it but did not obey, fearing the scheming of Eusebius, bishop there, and of the bishop of Nicomedia and their party. At that time, though compelled to attend, he put it off for about thirty months. Afterward, being pressed more strongly, he came to Tyre. There many of the bishops of the East had gathered, and they ordered him to answer the charges. He was accused by Callinicus, a bishop of John's party, and by one Ischyrion, of having broken a mystic chalice and overthrown a bishop's throne; of having often imprisoned this Ischyrion, though he was a presbyter, and of having caused him to be put in prison by falsely accusing him before Hyginus, the prefect of Egypt, of throwing stones at the imperial statues; of having deposed Callinicus, who was bishop of the catholic church in Pelusium and had been in communion with Alexander, because, he said, Callinicus refused to communicate with him unless he was satisfied about the mystic chalice he was suspected of having broken; of having entrusted the church of Pelusium to one Mark, who had been deprived of the presbyterate; and of having made Callinicus himself suffer military custody, ill-treatment and lawsuits. Euplus, Pachomius, Isaac, Achillas and Hermaeon, bishops of John's party, accused him of beatings. All together accused him of having come into the episcopate through the perjury of certain men, when all had agreed to ordain no one until they had resolved the charges among themselves; and of having, when they were deceived and for this reason withdrew from communion with him, not thought fit to persuade them but used force and thrown them into prison. Besides this, the affair of Arsenius was stirred up again. And as usually happens in zealously pursued plots, unexpected accusers sprang up even from among those thought to be friends. A document of popular outcries was read, to the effect that the people of Alexandria would not attend church because of him. Athanasius, ordered to defend himself, came often before the court; he cleared himself of some of the charges, and for others asked for a postponement for inquiry. He was greatly at a loss, seeing that the accusers were in favour with the judges, that many witnesses against him had been made ready from among those who held the views of Arius and Melitius, and that the false accusers were pardoned on the charges in which he prevailed: especially in the charge about Arsenius, whose arm he was accused of cutting off for sorcery, and that about a woman, to whom he was charged with having given gifts for lewdness and with having violated her at night against her will. Each charge was found ridiculous and full of falsehood. For when the woman was making these accusations before the assembled bishops, Timothy, a presbyter of Alexandria, who was standing by Athanasius, by secret agreement with him took up the word and said to the woman: “Woman, was it I who violated you?” She answered, “Was it not you?”, naming the time and place where she had supposedly been violated. He also brought Arsenius into the midst, showed the judges both his hands whole, and asked them to make the accusers answer for the arm they had produced. For this Arsenius, either driven by God or, as is said, hidden by those plotting against Athanasius, when someone told him that the bishop was in danger on his account, had run away by night and come down to Tyre the day before the trial. When both charges had been disposed of in this way, so that no defence was needed, the first, as I think, on the pretext that so shameful and ridiculous a matter ought not to be recorded at a synod, is not included in the acts. On the second, it sufficed the accusers by way of defence to say that a certain Plusianus, a bishop under Athanasius, had at his command burned the house of Arsenius, tied him to a pillar, scourged him with thongs, and shut him up in a small room; that he had escaped through a window; and that since he was being sought, he had hidden for a time, and when he did not appear was naturally thought to be dead; and that the bishops of John's party had sought him, as a distinguished man and a confessor, by going to the magistrates. Reflecting on all this, Athanasius was greatly afraid; at the same time he suspected that those plotting against him would find an opportunity and kill him secretly. After many sessions, when the assembly was filled with uproar and confusion, and the accusers and the crowd about the court were shouting that he must be put out of the way by every means as a sorcerer, a man of violence, and unworthy of the priesthood, those who had been ordered by the emperor to attend the synod for the sake of good order feared that the crowd would rush on him in a riot and lay hands on him, and they secretly led him out of the court. Reckoning that it was neither without danger for him to stay in Tyre nor safe to stand trial against a multitude of accusers before hostile judges, he fled to Constantinople. The synod condemned him in his absence, deposed him from the episcopate, and voted that he should no longer live in Alexandria, lest, as they said, by his presence he should cause tumults and disturbances. They received John and all those with him into communion, as having suffered unjustly, and restored to each his rank in the clergy. They reported what had been done to the emperor, and wrote to the bishops everywhere not to give him communion, nor to write to him, nor to receive letters from him, as one convicted in the charges they had heard, and condemned by his flight in those not contested. In the letter they declared that they had been led to such a vote: first, because they were angry that when the emperor had ordered the bishops of the East to meet at Caesarea in the previous year on his account, he did not come, though he saw the synod kept waiting for a long time, and despised the ruler's commands; and that when more of them met at Tyre, he came with a crowd and caused disturbances and tumults in the synod, at times rejecting the defences, at times insulting each of the bishops, at other times not answering when called, and sometimes refusing to be tried. They announced that he had been clearly convicted of breaking the mystic chalice, citing as witnesses to this Theognis, bishop of Nicaea, Maris of Chalcedon, Theodore of Heraclea, Valens, Ursacius and Macedonius, whom they had sent to Egypt to go to the village where the chalice was said to have been broken and find out the truth. Such was what they wrote, touching each charge in a lawyer's manner and eager, as if by some art, to construct an accusation. That this judgment was not sound appeared to many of the priests present as well. It is said that Paphnutius the confessor, who was present at this synod, took Maximus, bishop of Jerusalem, by the hand and made him rise, saying that it was not right for them, being confessors who had had their eyes put out and their knees maimed for piety, to take part in an assembly of wicked men. ### Extrabiblical texts - Athanasius, Apol. sec. 71-87 (Defence against the Arians): allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The synod of Tyre met in 335. Athanasius's own account of the charges is in his Defence against the Arians 63–87. Ischyrion's “church” was in the Mareotis; the chalice is the eucharistic cup. Paphnutius, Maximus's fellow confessor, is named in 1.10. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 2.25 (PG 67:999–1007; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/2-25). ## Church History 2.26 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/2-25/#p-2-26 - Source: PG 67:1007–1009 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The bishops at Tyre are summoned to Jerusalem to dedicate Constantine's church of the Martyrium, whose dedication becomes a yearly eight-day feast. ### Greek text Ἐν τούτῳ δὲ ἀμφὶ τὴν τρίτην δεκάδα τῆς Κωνσταντίνου ἡγεμονίας, ἐξεργασθέντος τοῦ ἐν Ἱεροσο λύμοις νεὼ περὶ τὸν Κρανίου χῶρον, ὅ μέγα Μαρτύριον προσαγορεύεται, παραγενόμενος εἰς Τύρον Μαριανός, ἀνὴρ τῶν ἐν ἀξίᾳ, βασιλικὸς ταχυγράφος, ἀπέδωκε τῇ συνόδῳ βασιλέως ἐπιστολὴν, παρακελευομένην ἐν τάχει τὰ Ἱεροσόλυμα καταλαβεῖν, καὶ τὸν νεὼ καθιερῶσαι. Τοῦτο δὲ καὶ πρὶν βεβουλευμένος, ἀναγκαῖον ἐνόμισε πρότερον ἐν Τύρῳ συνελθόντας τοὺς ἐπισκό πους, διαθεῖναι τὰς πρὸς ἀλλήλους διαφοράς· οὕτω τε κεκαθαρμένους διχονοίας καὶλύπης ἐπὶ τὴν ἀφιέρωσιν τοῦ νεὼ χωρῆσαι. Πρόσφορον γὰρ εἶναι τοιαύτῃ πανηγύρει τὴν ὁμόνοιαν τῶν ἱερέων. Καὶ οἱ μὲν ἦκον εἰς Ἱεροσόλυμα, καὶ τὸν ναὸν καθιέρωσαν, καὶ τὰ ἀποσταλέντα παρὰ τοῦ βασιλέως κειμήλιά τε καὶ ἀναθήματα, ἃ εἰσέτι νῦν ἐν τῷδε τῷ ἱερῷ οἴκῳ ἀνάκεινται, καὶ πολὺ παρέχει θαῦμα τοῖς θεωμένοις, πολυτελείας καὶ μεγέθους ἕνεκα. Ἐξ ἐκείνου δὲ ἐτήσιον ταύτην ἑορτὴν λαμπρῶς μάλα ἄγει ἡ τῶν Ἱεροσολύμων Ἐκκλησία · ὡς καὶ μυήσεις ἐν αὐτῇ τελεῖσθαι, καὶ ὀκτὼ ἡμέρας ἐφεξῆς ἐκκλησιάζειν· συνιέναι τε πολλοὺς σχεδὸν ἐκ πάσης τῆς ὑφ᾽ ἥλιον, οἳ καθ' ἱστορίαν τῶν ἱερῶν τόπων, πάντοθεν συντρέχουσι κατὰ τὸν καιρὸν ταύτης τῆς πανηγύρεως. ### English translation (Claude) Meanwhile, about the thirtieth year of Constantine's reign, when the church in Jerusalem at the place of the Skull, which is called the great Martyrium, had been completed, Marianus, a man of rank and an imperial secretary, came to Tyre and delivered to the synod a letter of the emperor bidding them go quickly to Jerusalem and consecrate the church. He had planned this before, but thought it necessary that the bishops should first meet at Tyre and settle their differences with one another, and so, cleansed of dissension and grief, proceed to the dedication of the church; for the concord of the priests was fitting for such a festival. They came to Jerusalem and consecrated the church, together with the treasures and offerings sent by the emperor, which are still kept in this holy house and cause great wonder to those who see them because of their costliness and size. From that time the church of Jerusalem has kept this as a yearly feast with great splendour, so that initiations are performed at it and assemblies held for eight days in succession; and many come together from almost every land under the sun, who run together from everywhere at the time of this festival to visit the holy places. ### Extrabiblical texts - Eusebius, Vit. Const. 4.43-45 (Life of Constantine): allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The dedication was in September 335. “Initiations” are baptisms. The feast of the Dedication (Encaenia) was kept at Jerusalem in September. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 2.26 (PG 67:1007–1009; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/2-26). ## Church History 2.27 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/2-25/#p-2-27 - Source: PG 67:1009–1013 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Through a presbyter favoured by Constantia, Constantine recalls Arius, who submits a creed in scriptural terms; the bishops gathered at Jerusalem receive Arius and Euzoius into communion. ### Greek text Τηνικαῦτα δὲ καιροῦ λαβόμενοι οἱ τὰ ᾿Αρείου φρονοῦντες τῶν ἐπισκόπων, ἐσπούδασαν γενέσθαι ἐν Ἱεροσολύμοις σύνοδον, καὶ κοινωνίας αὐτῷ μεταδοῦναι καὶ Εὐζωΐῳ· ἐθάῤῥησαν δὲ ταῦτα κατὰ πρόφασιν τοιάνδε· Πρεσβύτερός τις ἦν συνήθης τῇ ἀδελφῇ τοῦ βασιλέως, ἐπαινέτης τῶν ᾿Αρείου δογμάτων. Καὶ ὅτι τάδε ἐφρόνει, τὰ πρῶτα ἐλάνθανεν. Ὡς δὲ πολλοῖς προελθὼν χρόνοις οἰκειότερον ἑαυτὸν κατέστησε Κωνσταντίᾳ, τοῦτο γὰρ ὅνομα ἦν τῇ ἀδελφῇ Κωνσταντίνου, ἀδείας λαβόμενος ἐπαῤῥησιάσατο πρὸς αὐτὴν, καὶ κατεμέμφετο, μὴ δικαίως "Αρειον τὴν πατρίδα φεύγειν, καὶ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας ἐκβεβλῆσθαι, διὰ φθόνον καὶ ἰδίας ἔχθρας ἐκβληθέντα παρὰ ᾿Αλεξάνδρου, τοῦ ἐπιτροπεύσαντος τὴν ᾿Αλεξανδρέων Εκκλησίαν. Εὐδοκιμοῦντα γὰρ, ἔφη, παρὰ τῷ πλήθει ὁρῶν αὐτὸν, ἐζηλοτύπησεν. ᾿Αληθῆ δὲ ταῦτα πεισθεῖσα Κωνσταντία, ἐν ᾧ μὲν περιῆν, οὐδὲν ἔφθασε νεωτε ρίσαι τῶν ἐν Νικαίᾳ δοξάντων. Ἐπεὶ δὲ νόσῳ περιἐπεσε, καθυφωρᾶτο τελευτᾷν· καὶ παραγενόμενον ὡς αὐτὴν τὸν ἀδελφὸν ἐκέλευσε τελευταίαν αὐτῇ δοῦναι χάριν, ἣν ἂν αἰτήσειεν. Ἑδεῖτο δὲ οἰκεῖον ἔχειν τὸν εἰρημένον πρεσβύτερον, καὶ ὡς ὀρθῶς δοξάζοντι περὶ τὸ Θεῖον πείθεσθαι. Ἑαυτὴν μὲν γὰρ ἔφη οἴχεσθαι, καὶ λοιπὸν τῆς ἐνταῦθα βιοτῆς μηδὲν φροντίζειν περὶ δὲ αὐτοῦ ὀῤῥωδεῖν, μήτι πάθοι ὑπὸ θεομηνίας, ἢ αὐτὸς κακῶς πράξας, ἢ τὴν ἡγεμονίαν αἰσχρῶς ἀποβαλών· ἐπεὶ δικαίους, ἔφη, καὶ ἀγαθοὺς ἄνδρας ἀδίκως πεισθείς τισιν, ἀϊδίῳ φυγῇ ἐζημίωσεν. Ἐντεῦθεν ὁ βασιλεὺς οἰκειότατα διετέθη περὶ τὸν πρεσβύτερον τοῦτον · καὶ παῤῥησίας αὐτῷ μεταδοὺς, καὶ κοινωσάμενος περὶ ὧν ἐνετείλατο ἡ ἀδελφή, ψήθη χρῆναι πάλιν πειρασθῆναι τῶν κατὰ τὸν Ἄρειον· ὡς εἰκὸς, ὑποτοπήσας ἀληθεῖς εἶναι τὰς διαβολάς, ἢ τῇ ἀδελφῇ χαριζόμενος. Οὐκ εἰς μακράν τε μετεκαλέσατο "Αρειον ἀπὸ τῆς φυγῆς, καὶ γραφὴν ἐκέ-, λευσεν ἐκδοῦναι ὧν πιστεύει περὶ Θεοῦ. Ὁ δὲ, τὸ καινὸν ἐκκλίνας ὧν πρότερον εὖρεν ὀνομάτων, ἑτέραν ὕφανεν ἔκθεσιν, ἁπλοῖς ῥητοῖς καὶ ἐγνωσμένοις ταῖς ἱεραῖς Βίβλοις χρησάμενος· καὶ ὅρκον ὤμοσεν, ἢ μὴν ὧδε πιστεύειν, καὶ κατὰ νοῦν ταῦτα φρονεῖν, καὶ μηδὲν ἕτερον ἐννοεῖν παρὰ ταῦτα. Ἔχει δὲ ὧδε 83 Τῷ εὐσεβεστάτῳ καὶ θεοφιλεστάτῳ δεσπότῃ ἡμῶν Κωνσταντίνῳ, "Αρειος καὶ Εὐζώϊος πρεσβύτεροι. Καθὼς προσέταξεν ἡ θεοφιλής σου εὐσέβεια, δέσποτα βασιλεῦ, ἐκτιθέμεθα τὴν ἑαυτῶν πίστιν ἐγγράφως· ὁμολογοῦμεν ἐπὶ Θεοῦ οὕτω πιστεύειν, καὶ αὐτοὶ καὶ πάντες οἱ σὺν ἡμῖν, ὡς ὑποτέτακται. Πιστεύομεν εἰς ἕνα Θεὸν, Πατέρα παντοκράτορα, και εἰς Κύριον Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν τὸν Υἱὸν αὐτοῦ, τὸν ἐξ αὐτοῦ πρὸ πάντων τῶν αἰώνων γεγεννημένον Θεὸν Λόγον, δι' οὗ τὰ πάντα ἐγένετο, τὰ τε ἐν οὐρανῷ καὶ τὰ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς· τὸν ἐλθόντα καὶ σάρκα ἀναλαβόντα, καὶ παθόντα καὶ ἀναστάντα, καὶ ἀνελθόντα εἰς τοὺς οὐρανοὺς, καὶ πάλιν ἐρχόμενον κρίναι ζῶντας καὶ νεκρούς. Καὶ εἰς ἅγιον Πνεῦμα, καὶ σαρκὸς ἀνάστα: σιν, καὶ εἰς ζωὴν τοῦ μέλλοντος αἰῶνος, καὶ εἰς βασιλείαν οὐρανῶν, καὶ εἰς μίαν Ἐκκλησίαν καθολικὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ, τὴν ἀπὸ περάτων ἕως περάτων. Ταύτην δὲ τὴν πίστιν παρειλήφαμεν ἐκ τῶν ἁγίων εὐαγγελίων, λέγοντος τοῦ Κυρίου τοῖς ἑαυτοῦ μαθηταῖς, Πορευθέντες μαθητεύσατε πάντα τὰ ἔθνη, βαπτίζον τες αὐτοὺς εἰς τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ Πατρὸς καὶ τοῦ Υἱοῦ καὶ τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος. Εἰ δὲ μὴ ταῦτα οὕτω πιστεύομεν, καὶ ἀποδεχόμεθα ἀληθῶς, Πατέρα καὶ Υἱὸν καὶ ἅγιον Πνεῦμα, ὡς πᾶσα ἡ καθολικὴ Ἐκκλησία καὶ αἱ ἅγιαι Γραφαὶ διδάσκουσιν, ὡς κατὰ πάντα πιστεύομεν, κριτὴς ἡμῶν ἔσται ὁ Θεὸς καὶ νῦν καὶ ἐν τῇ μελλούσῃ ἡμέρᾳ. Διὸ παρακαλοῦμέν σου τὴν εὐσέβειαν, θεοφιλέστατε ἡμῶν βασιλεῦ, ἐκκλησιαστικοὺς ἡμᾶς ὄντας, καὶ τὴν πίστιν καὶ τὸ φρόνημα τῆς Ἐκκλησίας καὶ τῶν ἁγίων Γραφῶν ἔχοντας, ἑνοῦσθαι ἡμᾶς διὰ τῆς εἰρηνοποιοῦ σου καὶ θεοσεβοῦς εὐσεβείας τῇ μητρὶ ἡμῶν, τῇ Ἐκκλησίᾳ δηλα - δὴ, περιῃρημένων τῶν ζητημάτων, καὶ τῶν ἐκ τῶν ζητημάτων περισσολογιῶν· ἵνα καὶ ἡμεῖς καὶ ἡ Ἐκκλησία μετ᾿ ἀλλήλων εἰρηνεύοντες, τὰς συνήθεις καὶ παντὸς τοῦ γένους σου κοινῇ πάντες ποιώμεθα. εὐχὰς ὑπὲρ τῆς εἰρηνικῆς σου, καὶ εὐσεβοῦς βασιλείας, ματι. Οὐ μὴν ἑαυτῷ ἐπέτρεψεν, εἰς κοινωνίαν αὐτοὺς Ταύτης τῆς πίστεως τὴν γραφὴν, οἱ μὲν ἔλεγον 4 τεχνικῶς συγκεῖσθαι, καὶ τὸ δοκεῖν τοῖς ῥητοῖς διαλλάσσειν· συμφέρεσθαι δὲ καὶ οὕτως τοῖς ᾿Αρείου δόγμασι κατὰ τὴν ἐκδοχὴν τῶν ὀνομάτων, ἄδειαν παρεχόντων ἐπαμφοτερίζειν, καὶ πρὸς ἑκατέραν διάνοιαν ταῦτα ἐκλαμβάνειν. Ὑπολαβὼν δὲ ὁ βασιλεὺς παραπλήσια δοξάζειν "Αρειόν τε καὶ Εὐζώϊον τοῖς ἐν Νικαίᾳ συνεληλυθόσιν, ἥσθη τῷ πράγδέξασθαι, πρὸ κρίσεως καὶ δοκιμασίας τῶν τούτου κυρίων, κατὰ τὸν νόμον τῆς Ἐκκλησίας. Πέμπει δὲ αὐτοὺς πρὸς τοὺς ἐν Ἱεροσολύμοις τότε συνελθόντας ἐπισκόπους, γράψας σκοπηθῆναι αὐτῶν τὴν ἔκθεσιν τῆς πίστεως · φιλάνθρωπον δὲ ψῆφον ἐνεγκεῖν ἐπ᾿ αὐτοῖς τὴν σύνοδον, ἤν τε ὀρθῶς φανεῖεν δοξάζοντες, καὶ φθόνου χάριν, ἐπιβουλευθέντες, ἤν τε μηδὲν ἔχον τες μέμφεσθαι τοῖς ἤδη ἐπ᾿ αὐτοῖς κεκριμένοις, μεταμεληθεῖεν. Καιροῦ δὲ λαβόμενοι, πάλαι ταῦτα σπουδάζοντες, προφάσει τῶν βασιλέως γραμμάτων, ἐδέξαντο αὐτοὺς εἰς κοινωνίαν. Καὶ ὅτε τοῦτο ἐποίησαν, αὐτῷ τε τῷ βασιλεῖ ἔγραψαν, καὶ τῇ Ἐκκλησίᾳ ᾿Αλεξανδρείας, καὶ τοῖς ἀνὰ τὴν Αἴγυπτον καὶ Θηβαΐδα καὶ Λιβύην ἐπισκόποις καὶ κληρικοῖς, παρακελευσάμενοι προθύμως αὐτοὺς δέξασθαι, ὡς καὶ τοῦ βασιλέως μαρτυρήσαντος ὀρθὴν εἶναι τὴν αὐτῶν πίστιν, ἣν τῇ οἰκείᾳ ἐπιστολῇ ὑπέταξαν, καὶ τῆς συνόδου ἐπιψηφισαμένης τῇ τοῦ βασιλέως κρίσει. Καὶ τὰ μὲν ὧδε ἐν Ἱεροσολύμοις ἐσπουδάζετο. ### English translation (Claude) At that time the bishops who held the views of Arius seized the opportunity and worked to have a synod held at Jerusalem and to give communion to Arius and Euzoius. They took courage to do this on the following pretext. There was a presbyter on familiar terms with the emperor's sister, who approved of the doctrines of Arius. At first it was not known that he held these views. But when, over a long time, he had made himself more intimate with Constantia, for that was the name of Constantine's sister, he took the liberty of speaking freely to her and complained that Arius was unjustly exiled from his country and expelled from the church, having been cast out by Alexander, who governed the church of the Alexandrians, through envy and personal enmity. “For seeing him esteemed by the people,” he said, “he was jealous of him.” Constantia was persuaded that this was true, but while she lived she made no attempt to alter what had been decided at Nicaea. When she fell ill and was suspected to be dying, she asked her brother, who had come to her, to grant her a last favour, whatever she might ask. She asked that he keep this presbyter as one of his household and trust him as one who held right views about the Divine. For herself, she said, she was departing and had no further care for life here; but she feared for him, lest he suffer something through divine wrath, either faring ill himself or shamefully losing his rule, since, she said, he had been unjustly persuaded by some to punish just and good men with perpetual exile. From then on the emperor became very intimate with this presbyter, gave him freedom of speech, and, sharing with him what his sister had charged, he thought he ought to examine the case of Arius again, naturally suspecting that the accusations against him might be slanders, or else wishing to please his sister. Not long after, he recalled Arius from exile and ordered him to give a written statement of what he believed about God. Arius, avoiding the novelty of the terms he had earlier devised, wove another exposition, using simple expressions known from the sacred books, and swore an oath that he truly believed so, held these views in his mind, and thought nothing other than these. It reads as follows: “To our most pious and God-beloved lord Constantine, Arius and Euzoius, presbyters. As your God-beloved Piety commanded, lord emperor, we set out our own faith in writing, and we confess before God that we and all who are with us believe as is written below. We believe in one God, the Father almighty, and in the Lord Jesus Christ his Son, begotten from him before all ages, God the Word, through whom all things came into being, both in heaven and on earth; who came and took flesh, suffered, rose again, ascended into heaven, and is coming again to judge the living and the dead. And in the Holy Spirit, and in the resurrection of the flesh, and in the life of the age to come, and in the kingdom of heaven, and in one catholic church of God, from one end of the earth to the other. This faith we have received from the holy Gospels, the Lord saying to his disciples: ‘Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.’ If we do not believe these things so and truly accept the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, as the whole catholic church and the holy Scriptures teach, as we believe in all respects, God is our judge both now and in the coming day. Therefore we entreat your Piety, our most God-beloved emperor, that we, who are churchmen and hold the faith and mind of the church and of the holy Scriptures, may be united through your peacemaking and godly Piety to our mother, the church, the questions and the superfluous arguments arising from the questions being removed, so that we and the church, at peace with one another, may all together offer the customary prayers for your peaceful and pious reign and for your whole family.” Some said that this statement of faith had been composed artfully, differing in appearance from Arius's doctrines in its expressions but agreeing with them even so in the sense of the terms, which allowed one to equivocate and take them in either meaning. The emperor, supposing that Arius and Euzoius held views like those of the bishops who had met at Nicaea, was pleased with the matter. Yet he did not take it upon himself to receive them into communion before the judgment and examination of those who had authority in this, according to the law of the church. He sent them to the bishops then gathered at Jerusalem, writing that their exposition of faith should be examined, and that the synod should give a humane verdict on them, whether they were found to hold right views and to have been plotted against out of envy, or whether, having nothing to object to in what had already been decided about them, they had repented. Seizing the opportunity, having long been eager for this, they received them into communion on the pretext of the emperor's letter. When they had done this, they wrote to the emperor himself, to the church of Alexandria, and to the bishops and clergy throughout Egypt, the Thebaid and Libya, urging them to receive them readily, since the emperor had borne witness that their faith, which they had set down in their own letter, was right, and the synod had confirmed the emperor's judgment. Such were the efforts made at Jerusalem. ### Scripture references - Matt 28:19: quotation, high confidence - 2 Tim 4:1: allusion, low confidence - John 1:3: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - A fragment of Valesius's chapter title (“… libellus of faith; and how by the synod gathered at Jerusalem Arius was again received”) stood at the head of the section and has been removed. In the scan, several lines near the end of the creed are displaced (the end of the creed's last sentence, and the words “he did not take it upon himself to receive them into communion,” were printed out of order); the translation follows the evident order. The creed of Arius and Euzoius is also in Socrates, Church History 1.26; it quotes Matt 28:19. Sozomen reports that some thought it deliberately ambiguous. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 2.27 (PG 67:1009–1013; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/2-27). ## Church History 2.28 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/2-25/#p-2-28 - Source: PG 67:1013–1017 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Athanasius appeals in person to Constantine, who summons the bishops of Tyre to Constantinople; Eusebius of Nicomedia's party renews the charge of the broken chalice, and Constantine exiles Athanasius to Trier. ### Greek text ᾿Αθανάσιος δὲ φεύγων ἐκ Τύρου, εἰς Κωνσταντίνου πόλιν ἦλθε· καὶ προσελθὼν Κωνσταντίνῳ τῷ βασιλεῖ, ἃ πέπονθεν ἀπωδύρατο, παρόντων τῶν καταδικασάντων αὐτοῦ ἐπισκόπων · καὶ ἐδεῖτο τῶν ἐν Τύρῳ κεκριμένων γενέσθαι τὴν ἐξέτασῖν ἐπὶ αὐτοῦ βασιλέως. Κωνσταντίνος δὲ εὔλογον εἶναι δοκιμάσας τὴν αἴτησιν, τάδε ἔγραψεν τοῖς ἐν Τύρῳ συνελθοῦσιν ἐπισκόποις· • Ἐγὼ μὲν ἀγνοῶ, τίνα ἐστὶ τὰ ὑπὸ τῆς ὑμετέρας συνόδου μετὰ θορύβου καὶ χειμῶνος κριθέντα. Δοκεῖ δὲ πως ὑπό τινος ταραχώδους ἀταξίας ἡ ἀλήθεια διεστράφθαι, ὑμῶν δηλαδὴ διὰ τὴν πρὸς τοὺς πέλας ( ἐρεσχελίαν, ἣν ἀήττητον εἶναι βούλεσθε, τὰ τῷ Θεῷ ἀρέσκοντα μὴ συνορώντων. Ἀλλὰ ἔσται τῆς θείας προνοίας ἔργον, καὶ τὰ τῆς φιλονεικίας ταύτης κακὰ φανερῶς ἀλόντα διασκεδάσαι, καὶ ἡμῖν διαῤῥήδην ἐπιδεῖξαι, εἴ τινα τῆς ἀληθείας αὐτόθι συνελθόντες ἐποιήσατε φροντίδα, καὶ εἰ τὰ κεκριμένα χωρίς τινος χάριτος καὶ ἀπεχθείας ἐκρίνατε. Τοιγαροῦν ἡπειγμένως πάντας ὑμᾶς πρὸς τὴν ἐμὴν ἐλθεῖν εὐλάβειαν βούλομαι, ἵνα τὴν τῶν πεπραγμένων ὑμῖν ἀκρίβειαν καὶ ἐφ' ἡμῶν αὐτῶν παραστήσητε. Τίνος δὲ ἕνεκεν ταῦτα γράψαι πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἐδικαίωσα, καὶ ὑμᾶς πρὸς ἐμαυτὸν διὰ τοῦ γράμματος καλῶ, ἐκ τῶν ἑπομένων γνώσεσθε. Ἐπιβαίνοντί μοι λοιπὸν τῆς ἐπωνύμου ἡμῶν καὶ πανευδαίμονος πατρίδος τῆς Κωνσταντίνου πόλεως, συνέβαινε δέ με τηνικαῦτα ἐφ᾿ ἵππου ὀχεῖσθαι, ἐξαίφνης ᾿Αθανάσιος ὁ ἐπίσκοπος ἐν μέσῳ τῆς λεωφόρου μετὰ ἑτέρων τινῶν οὓς περὶ αὐτὸν εἶχεν, ἀπροσ85 δοκήτως οὕτω προσῆλθεν, ὡς παρασχεῖν ἐκπλήξεως ἀφορμήν. Μαρτυρεῖ γὰρ ὁ πάντων ἔφορος Θεὸς, ὡς οὐδὲ ἐπέγνων τ αὐτὸν ὅστις ἦν, παρὰ τὴν πρώτην ὄψιν ἐδυνήθην, εἰ μή τινες καὶ ὅστις ἣν καὶ τὴν ἀδικίαν ἣν πέπονθε πυνθανομένοις, ὥσπερ εἰκὸς, ἀπήγγειλαν ἡμῖν. Ἐγὼ μὲν οὖν οὐ διελέχθην αὐτῷ κατ᾽ ἐκεῖνο καιροῦ, οὔτε ὁμιλίας ἐκοινώνησα. Ὡς ἐκεῖνος μὲν ἠξίου, ἐγὼ δὲ παρῃτούμην, μικροῦ δεῖν ἀπελαύνεσθαι αὐτὸν ἐκέλευον, μετὰ πλείονος παῤῥησίας οὐδὲν ἕτερον παρ᾽ ἡμῶν ἥτει, ἢ τὴν ὑμεπέραν ἄφιξιν ἠξίωσεν ὑπᾶρξαι, ἵν᾽ ὑμῶν παρόντων, ἃ πέπονθεν ἀναγκαίως, ἀποδύρασθαι δυνηθείη. Ὅπερ ἐπειδὴ εὔλογον εἶναι καὶ τοῖς καιροῖς πρέπον κατἐφαίνετο, ἀσμένως ταῦτα γραφῆναι πρὸς ὑμᾶς προσἐταξα, ἵνα πάντες ὅσοι τὴν σύνοδον τὴν ἐν Τύρῳ γε, νομένην ἐπληρώσατε, ἀνυπερθέτως εἰς τὸ στρατόπεδον τῆς ἡμετέρας ἡμερότητος ἐπειχθῆτε, τοῖς ἔργοις αὐτοῖς ἐπιδείξοντες τὸ τῆς ὑμετέρας κρίσεως καθατε ἀδιάστροφον ἐπὶ ἐμοῦ, ὃν τοῦ Θεοῦ γνήσιον εἶναι θεράποντα οὐχ ἂν ἀρνηθείητε. Τοιγαροὖν διὰ τῆς ἐμῆς πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν λατρείας τὰ πανταχοῦ εἰρηνεύεται, καὶ τῶν βαρβάρων αὐτῶν τὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ ὄνομα γνησίως εὐλογούντων, οἵ μέχρι νῦν τὴν ἀλήθειαν ἠγνόουν δῆλον ὃΣ ὅτι ὁ τὴν ἀλήθειαν ἀγνοῶν οὐδὲ τὸν Θεὸν ἐπιγινώσχει. Πλὴν ὅμως, καθὰ προείρηται, καὶ οἱ βάρδαροι νῦν δι᾽ ἐμὲ, τὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ θεράποντα γνήσιον, ἐπέγνωσαν τὸν Θεὸν, εὐλαβεῖσθαι μεμαθήκασιν, ὃν ὑπερασπίζειν μου πανταχοῦ καὶ προνοεῖσθα!ι τοῖς ἔργοις αὑτοῖς ἤσθοντο. : "Ὅθεν μάλιστα καὶ ἴσασι τὸν Θεόν ὃν ἐκεῖνοι «μὲν διὰ τὸν πρὸς ἡμᾶς φόβον εὐλαβοῦνται. Ἡμεῖς δὲ οἱ τὰ μυστήρια τῆς εὐμενείας αὐτοῦ δοκοῦντες προβάλλεσθαι, οὐδὲ γὰρ ἂν εἴποιμ: φυλάττειν, ἡμεῖς, φημὶ, οὐδὲν πράττομεν, ἣ τὰ πρὸς διχόνοιαν καὶ τείνοντα, ἁπλῶς εἰπεῖν, τὰ πρὸς ὄλεθρον τοῦ ἀνθρωπείου γένους ἔχοντα τὴν ἀναφοράν. ἐπείχθητε, καθὰ προείρηται, πρὸς ἡμᾶς σπεύσατε πάντες τάχος, πεπεισμένοι ὡς παντὶ σθένει κατορθῶσαι πειράσομαι, ὅπως ἐν τῷ νόμῳ τοῦ Θεοῦ πάντα ἐξαιρέτως ἀδιάπτωτα φυλάττωνται, οἷς οὔτε ψόγος οὔτε κακοδοξία τις δυνήσεται προσπλακῆναι, διασκεδασθέντων δτλαδὴ συντριδέντων ἄρδην, παντελῶς ἀφανισθέντων τῶν ἐχθρῶν τοῦ νόμον, οἴτινες ἐπὶ πρόσχημά τι τοῦ ἁγίον ὀνόματος ποιχθλας διαφόρους βλασφημίας παρέχουσι.» Τάδε τοῦ βασιλέως γράψαντος, οἱ μὲν ἄλλοι δείσαντες, οἴκαδε ἀνεχώρηοἱ δὲ ἀμφὶ τὸν Εὐσέδιον τὸν Νικομηδείας ἐπέσκοπον, παραγενόμενοι πρὸς βασιλέα, δίκαια ψηφέσασθαι ἐπὶ ᾿Αθανασίῳ τὴν ἐν Τύρῳ σύνοδον διΐσχυοίζοντο. Καὶ μάρτυρας παραγαγόντες εἰς μέσον Θεόγνιον Μάριν Θεόδωρον, θὐάλεντά τε καὶ Οὐρσάκιον, ἔπεισαν ὡς μυστικὸν ποτήριον συνέτριψεν· ἄλλα τε πολλὰ λοιδορησάμενοι, ἐκράτησαν ταῖς διαβολαῖς. Ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς, ἢ ἀληθῆ τάδε πιστεύσας, ἢ λοιπὸν ὁμονοεῖν τοὺς ἐπισκόπους ὑπολαβὼν, εἴπερ ἑκποδών γένηται ὁ ᾿Αθανάσιος, προσέταξεν αὐτὸν ἐν Τριβέρει τῶν πρὸς δύσιν Γαλατῶν οἰκεῖν. Καὶ ὁ μὲν ἀπήχθη. ### English translation (Claude) Athanasius, fleeing from Tyre, came to Constantinople; and approaching the emperor Constantine, he lamented what he had suffered, in the presence of the bishops who had condemned him, and asked that the decisions made at Tyre be examined before the emperor himself. Constantine, judging the request reasonable, wrote as follows to the bishops who had met at Tyre: “I do not know what was decided by your synod amid tumult and storm. But it seems that the truth has somehow been perverted by some disorderly confusion, because of your contentiousness toward your neighbours, which you wish to be unconquerable, while you do not see what is pleasing to God. But it will be the work of divine providence both to scatter the evils of this rivalry, plainly exposed, and to show us clearly whether, when you met there, you took any thought for the truth, and whether you judged what you judged without favour or enmity. Therefore I wish all of you to come with haste to my Piety, so that you may present the exact account of what you did in our own presence as well. Why I have thought it right to write this to you, and summon you to me by letter, you will learn from what follows. As I was entering our namesake and most happy city of Constantinople, and was riding on horseback at the time, suddenly Athanasius the bishop, with some others whom he had with him, came up to me in the middle of the road so unexpectedly as to give cause for astonishment. For God, who oversees all, is my witness that I did not recognize who he was at first sight, until some of our people, when we asked, told us, as was natural, both who he was and the injustice he had suffered. At that time I neither conversed with him nor shared in any talk. When he kept asking, and I refused and was almost ordering him to be driven away, he asked of us with greater boldness nothing else than that your coming should be granted, so that he might in your presence lament what he had suffered under compulsion. Since this seemed reasonable and fitting to the times, I gladly ordered this letter to be written to you, so that all of you who made up the synod held at Tyre may hasten without delay to the court of our Clemency, to show by the deeds themselves the purity and integrity of your judgment before me, whom you would not deny to be a true servant of God. For through my service to God everything everywhere is at peace, and the very barbarians, who until now did not know the truth, truly bless the name of God. Plainly, one who does not know the truth does not know God either. Yet, as has been said, even the barbarians have now come to know God through me, the true servant of God, and have learned to reverence him, whom they have perceived by the deeds themselves to shield me and care for me everywhere. Hence, above all, they know God, whom they reverence out of fear of us. But we, who are thought to set forth (I would not say guard) the mysteries of his kindness, we, I say, do nothing but what tends to dissension and hatred, and, to put it simply, what leads to the destruction of the human race. Hasten, then, as has been said, come to us all of you with all speed, persuaded that I shall try with all my strength to ensure that the things in the law of God are preserved especially without fault, to which neither blame nor any false opinion can attach, when the enemies of the law, who under some pretence of the holy name put forward various and manifold blasphemies, have been scattered, utterly crushed and entirely destroyed.” When the emperor had written this, the others were afraid and went home; but Eusebius, bishop of Nicomedia, and his party came to the emperor and insisted that the synod at Tyre had voted justly concerning Athanasius. Bringing forward as witnesses Theognis, Maris, Theodore, Valens and Ursacius, they convinced him that Athanasius had broken a mystic chalice; and with many other abuses they prevailed by their slanders. The emperor, either believing these things true, or supposing that the bishops would at last be of one mind if Athanasius were out of the way, ordered him to live at Trier among the western Gauls; and he was taken away. ### Extrabiblical texts - Athanasius, Apol. sec. 86-87 (Defence against the Arians): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Constantine's letter to the bishops at Tyre is also in Athanasius, Defence against the Arians 86, and Socrates, Church History 1.34. A word is lost at “cause for astonishment,” and several letters are garbled in the scan; the sense is clear. Athanasius was sent to Trier in 335. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 2.28 (PG 67:1013–1017; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/2-28). ## Church History 2.29 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/2-25/#p-2-29 - Source: PG 67:1017–1019 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Eusebius's party threatens Bishop Alexander of Constantinople unless he receives Arius; Alexander prays all night, and on the eve of the appointed day Arius dies suddenly in a public latrine. ### Greek text Μετὰ δὲ τὴν ἐν Ἱεροσολύμοις σύνοδον ἧκε "Αρειος εἰς Αἴγυπτον. Μὴ κοινωνούσης δὲ αὐτῷ τῆς ᾿Αλεξανδρέων Ἐκκλησίας, πάλιν ἦλθεν εἰς Κωνσταντινούπολιν. Ἐπίτηδες δὲ συνδραμόντων τῶν τὰ αὐτὰ φρονούντων ἰδίᾳ, καὶ τῶν πειθομένων Εὐσεβίῳ τῷ Νικομηδείας ἐπισκόπῳ, καὶ σύνοδον ποιῆσαι παρασκευαζομένων, αἰσθόμενος τῆς αὐτῶν σπουδῆς ᾿Αλέξανδρος ὁ τότε τὸν ἐν Κωνσταντινουπόλει διέπων θρόνον, ἐπειράθη διαλῦσαι τὴν σύνοδον. Ὡς δὲ τοῦτο οὐκ ἐξεγένετο, ἄντικρυς ἀπηγόρευε ταῖς πρὸς ῎Αρειον σπονδαῖς, μὴ θεμιτὸν, μηδὲ ἐκκλησιαστικὸν εἶναι λέγων, σφῶν αὐτῶν τὴν ψῆφον ἄκυρον ποιεῖν, καὶ τῶν ἅμα αὐτοῖς ἐκ πάσης σχεδὸν τῆς ὑφ᾽ ἥλιον συνεληλυθότων εἰς Νίκαιαν. Οἱ δὲ ἀμφὶ τὸν Εὐσέβιον ὡς τὰ πρῶτα λόγοις οὐκ ἔπειθον τὸν ᾿Αλέξανδρον, ἐμπαροινήσαντες αὐτῷ μετὰ ἀπειλῆς διεμαρτύραντο, εἰ μὴ προσδέξεται τὸν Ἄρειον εἰς ῥητὴν ἡμέραν, αὐτὸν μὲν ὑπερορίαν οἰκήσειν ἐκβληθέντα τῆς Ἐκκλησίας, ᾿Αρείῳ δὲ κοινωνήσειν τὸν μετ᾿ αὐτόν. Ἐπὶ τούτοις τε ἀπηλλάγησαν τότε ἀλλήλων· οἱ μὲν, τῇ προθεσμία περιμένοντες ἐπιτελέσαι τὰς ἀπειλάς· ὁ δὲ ᾿Αλέξανδρος, προσευχόμενος μὴ εἰς ἔργον ἐκβῆναι τοὺς Εὐσεβίου λόγους. Μάλιστα δὲ αὐτὸν περιδεᾶ ἐποίει καὶ ὁ βασιλεὺς, ἐνδιδόναι τρόπον τινὰ συμπεισθείς. Τῇ δὲ πρὸ τῆς προθεσμίας ἡμέρᾳ, εἰσδὺς ὑπὸ τὸ θυσιαστήριον, παννύχιος ἔκειτο πρηνής, τοῦ Θεοῦ δεόμενος· ἐμποδισθῆναι τὸ τέλος τῶν κατ᾿ αὐτοῦ βεβουλευμένων. Κατὰ δὲ ταύτην τὴν ἡμέραν, ἀπιών που περὶ δείλην ὀψίαν ὁ ῎Αρειος, ἐξαπίνης ἀνακινησάσης αὐτὸν τῆς γαστρὸς, τοῦ κατεπείγοντος ἐγίνετο, καὶ εἰς δημόσιον τόπον πρὸς τοιαύτην χρείαν ἀφωρισμένον ἦλθεν. Ὡς δὲ ἐπὶ πολλῷ οὐκ ἐξῄει, εἰσελθόντες τινὲς τῶν ἔξω προσδεχομένων αὐτὸν, καταλαμβάνουσιν νεκρὸν ἐπὶ τῆς καθέδρας κείμενον. Ἐπεὶ δὲ τοῦτο δῆλον ἐγένετο, οὐ ταὐτὰ πάντες ἐνόμιζον περὶ τῆς αὐτοῦ τελευτῆς. Ἐδόκει δὲ τοῖς μὲν, ἀθρόᾳ νόσῳ ληφθεὶς περὶ τὴν καρδίαν, ἢ πάρεσιν ὑπομείνας ὑφ᾽ ἡδονῆς τῶν κατὰ γνώμην ἀπαντησάντων πραγμάτων, αὐθωρὸν τεθνάναι· τοῖς δὲ, ὡς δυσσεβήσας δεδωκέναι δίκην. Οἱ δὲ τὰ αὐτοῦ φρονοῦντες γοητείαις ἐλογοποίουν ἀνῃρῆσθαι τὸν ἄνδρα. Οὐκ ἄτοπον δὲ τὰ περὶ αὐτοῦ εἰρημένα ᾿Αθανασίῳ τῷ ἐπισκόπῳ ᾿Αλεξανδρείας εἰς μέσον ἀγαγεῖν. Ἔχει δὲ ὧδε ### English translation (Claude) After the synod at Jerusalem, Arius came to Egypt. When the church of Alexandria would not communicate with him, he came again to Constantinople. Those who held the same views and those who followed Eusebius, bishop of Nicomedia, purposely gathered there by themselves and were preparing to hold a synod; Alexander, who then governed the see of Constantinople, perceived their aim and tried to break up the synod. When this did not succeed, he openly refused to make peace with Arius, saying that it was neither lawful nor ecclesiastical to annul their own vote and that of those who had met with them at Nicaea from almost every land under the sun. When Eusebius's party could not persuade Alexander by words at first, they behaved insolently toward him and declared with threats that if he did not receive Arius by a set day, he himself would be expelled from the church and live in exile, and his successor would communicate with Arius. On these terms they then parted: they waiting for the appointed day to carry out their threats, and Alexander praying that the words of Eusebius would not come to pass. The emperor made him most afraid, since he had in some way been persuaded to give way. On the day before the appointed day Alexander went in under the altar and lay all night face down, begging God that the accomplishment of what had been plotted against him might be prevented. On that day, toward late evening, Arius was going somewhere when his bowels were suddenly moved; under pressure of need he came to a public place set apart for such use. When he did not come out for a long time, some of those waiting for him outside went in and found him lying dead on the seat. When this became known, not everyone held the same view about his death. Some thought that he had been seized by a sudden disease of the heart, or had suffered a stroke from joy at things turning out as he wished, and had died on the spot; others, that he had paid the penalty for impiety. Those who held his views spread the story that the man had been killed by sorcery. It is not out of place to bring forward what Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria, said about him. It reads as follows. ### Translation notes - Arius died in 336. Sozomen reports the different explanations given of his death; the following chapter quotes Athanasius's account. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 2.29 (PG 67:1017–1019; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/2-29). ## Church History 2.30 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/2-25/#p-2-30 - Source: PG 67:1019–1023 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Sozomen quotes Athanasius's account of the death of Arius as divine judgment on his perjury, and adds that the place became notorious until an Arian bought and built over it. ### Greek text Καὶ γὰρ καὶ αὐτὸς ῎Ἄρειος, ὁ τῆς μὲν αἱρέσεως Έξαρχος, Εὐσεβίου δὲ κοινωνὸς, κληθεὶς ἐκ σπουδῆς τότε τῶν περὶ Εὐσέβιον παρὰ τοῦ μακαρίτου Κωνσταντίνου τοῦ Αὐγούστου, ἀπαιτούμενος ἐγγράφως εἰπεῖν τὴν ἑαυτοῦ πίστιν, ἔγραψεν ὁ δόλιος, κρύπτων τὰς ἀναιδεῖς δυσσεβείας λέξεις, ὑποκρινόμενος καὶ αὐτὸς, ὡς ὁ διάβολος, τὰ τῶν Γραφῶν ῥήματα ἀπλᾶ καὶ ὡς ἔστι γεγραμμένα. Εἶτα λέγοντος τοῦ μακαρίου Κωνσταντίνου, Εἰ μηδὲν ἕτερον ἔχεις παρὰ ταῦτα ἐν τῇ διανοίᾳ, μάρτυρα τὴν ἀλήθειαν δὸς· ἀμυνεῖται γὰρ ἐπιορκήσαντά σε αὐτὸς ὁ Κύριος - ὤμοσεν ὁ ἄθλιος, μήτε ἔχειν, μήτε ἄλλα παρὰ τὰ νῦν γραφέντα φρονεῖν, κἂν εἰρῆσθαι πώποτε εἴη παρ' αὐτοῦ. ᾿Αλλ' εὐθὺς ἐξελθὼν, ὥσπερ δίκην δοὺς, κατέπεσε· καὶ πρηνὴς γενόμενος, ἐλάκησε μέσος. Πᾶσι μὲν οὖν ἀνθρώποις κοινὸν τοῦ βίου τέλος θάνατός ἐστιν · καὶ οὐ δεῖ τινος ἐπεμβαίνειν, κἂν ἐχθρὸς ἢ ὁ τελευτήσας, ἀδήλου ὄντος μὴ ἕως ἑσπέρας καὶ αὐτὸν τοῦτο καταλάβῃ. Τὸ δὲ τέλος τοῦ ᾿Αρείου, ἐπειδὴ οὐχ ἁπλῶς γέγονε, διατοῦτο καὶ διηγήσεώς ἐστιν ἄξιον. Τῶν γὰρ περὶ Εὐσέβιον ἀπειλούντων εἰσαγαγεῖν αὐτὸν εἰς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν, ὁ μὲν ἐπίσκοπος τῆς Κωνσταντινουπόλεως ᾿Αλέξανδρος ἀντέλεγεν. Ὁ δὲ Ἄρειος ἐθάῤῥει τῇ βίᾳ καὶ ταῖς ἀπειλαῖς Εὐσεβίου. Σάββατον γὰρ ἦν, καὶ προσεδόκα τῇ ἑξῆς συνάγεσθαι. Πολὺς δὲ ἀγὼν ἦν, ἐκείνων μὲν ἀπειλούντων, ᾿Αλεξάνδρου δὲ εὐχομένου. ᾿Αλλ' ὁ Κύριος κριτής γενόμενος ἐβράβευσε κατὰ τῶν ἀδικούντων. Οὔπω γὰρ ὁ ἥλιος ἔδυ· καὶ χρείας αὐτὸν ἑλκυσάσης εἰς τόπον, ἐκεῖ κατέπεσε · καὶ ἀμφοτέρων, τῆς τε κοινωνίας καὶ τοῦ ζῇν, εὐθὺς ἐστερήθη. Καὶ ὁ μὲν μακαρίτης Κωνσταντῖνος ἀκούσας ἐθαύμασεν, εἰδὼς ἐλεγχθέντα τοῦτον ἐπίορκον · πᾶσι δὲ τότε γέγονε φανερὸν, ὅτι τῶν μὲν περὶ Εὐσέβιον ἠσθένησαν αἱ ἀπειλαὶ, καὶ ἡ ἐλπὶς ᾿Αρείου ματαία γέγονεν. Ἐδείχθη δὲ πάλιν, ὅτι παρὰ τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἀκοινώνητος γέγονεν ἡ ᾿Αρειανὴ μανία, καὶ ὧδε καὶ ἐν τῇ τῶν πρωτοτόκων ἐκκλησίᾳ. Τίς οὖν οὐ θαυμάσειεν, ὁρῶν τούτους δικαιῶσαι φιλονεικοῦντας, ὃν ὁ Κύριος κατέκρινε, καὶ βλέπων αὐτοὺς ἐκδικοῦντας τὴν αἵρεσιν, οὓς ἀκοινωνήτους ἤλεγξεν ὁ Κύριος, μὴ ἀφεὶς τὸν αὐτῆς ἔξαρχον εἰς τὴν ἔκκλησίαν ἐλθεῖν; Ὧδε μὲν "Αρειον ἀποθανεῖν παρειλήφαμεν. Λόγος οὖν ἐπὶ πολλῷ χρόνῳ μηδένα χρήσασθαι τῇ καθέδρᾳ ἐφ᾿ ᾗ τέθνηκεν. Οἷα δὲ εἰς δημόσιον χῶρον διὰ τὴν χρείαν ὀχλουμένων, ὡς φιλεῖ ἐν πλήθει γίνεσθαι, καὶ παρακελευομένων ἀλλήλοις τῶν εἰσιόντων φυλάττεσθαι τὴν καθέδραν, ἀποτρόπαιος ἦν καὶ τοῖς μετὰ ταῦτα ὁ τόπος, ὡς ἀσεβείας ποινὰς αὐτόθι δεδωκότος ᾿Αρείου. Χρόνῳ δὲ ὕστερον, τῶν τὰ αὐτοῦ φρονούντων τις πλούσιός τε ἐν δυνάμει, σπουδῇ χρησάμενος, ἐπρίατο τοῦτον τὸν τόπον παρὰ τοῦ δημοσίου, καὶ οἰκίαν κατεσκεύασε, καθελὼν τὴν προτέραν ὄψιν, ὥστε λήθην γενέσθαι τῷ δήμῳ, καὶ μὴ τῇ διαδοχῇ τῆς τοιαύτης ἀναμνήσεως τὸν ᾿Αρείου θάνατον κωμῳδεῖσθαι. ### English translation (Claude) “For Arius himself, the leader of the heresy and Eusebius's associate, was summoned at that time, at the urging of Eusebius's party, by the blessed Constantine Augustus, and, being required to state his faith in writing, the crafty man wrote, hiding the shameless expressions of his impiety, and, like the devil, pretending to use the words of the Scriptures simply, as they are written. Then, when the blessed Constantine said, ‘If you have nothing else in your mind besides these, take the truth as witness; for the Lord himself will avenge you if you swear falsely,’ the wretch swore that he neither held nor thought anything besides what was now written, although things had once been said by him. But immediately on going out, as if paying the penalty, he fell, and falling headlong he burst open in the middle. Death is the common end of life for all people, and one must not trample on anyone, even if the one who has died is an enemy, since it is uncertain whether the same will not overtake oneself before evening. But since the end of Arius did not happen in an ordinary way, for this reason it is worth relating. When Eusebius's party were threatening to bring him into the church, Alexander, bishop of Constantinople, opposed it; but Arius was confident in the violence and threats of Eusebius. For it was Saturday, and he expected to be received into the assembly the next day. There was a great contest, they threatening, Alexander praying. But the Lord, becoming judge, gave his award against those who did wrong. For the sun had not yet set, and need having drawn him to a place, he fell there, and was at once deprived of both, communion and life. The blessed Constantine, hearing of it, was amazed, knowing that he had been convicted of perjury. And it then became plain to all that the threats of Eusebius's party had failed and the hope of Arius had become vain. It was shown again that the Arian madness had been excluded from communion by the Saviour, both here and in the church of the firstborn. Who then would not marvel, seeing these men contending to justify one whom the Lord condemned, and seeing them championing the heresy which the Lord has proved excluded from communion, not allowing its leader to come into the church?” This is how we have received that Arius died. It is said that for a long time no one used the seat on which he died. Since people crowd into a public place because of need, as happens in a multitude, and those who went in warned one another to avoid the seat, the place was shunned by those who came later, as Arius had paid the penalty for impiety there. Some time later, one of those who held his views, a man of wealth and power, made efforts to buy this place from the public authority and built a house there, demolishing the former structure, so that the people would forget, and Arius's death would not be mocked by the handing on of such a memory. ### Scripture references - Acts 1:18: allusion, high confidence - Heb 12:23: allusion, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Athanasius, Ep. Aeg. Lib. 19 (To the Bishops of Egypt and Libya): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotation is from Athanasius, Letter to the Bishops of Egypt and Libya 19; Athanasius tells the story also in his letter to Serapion on the death of Arius. “He burst open in the middle” echoes Acts 1:18 (Judas). “The church of the firstborn” is Heb 12:23. Athanasius's account is polemical; Sozomen gives it without comment. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 2.30 (PG 67:1019–1023; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/2-30). ## Church History 2.31 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/2-25/#p-2-31 - Source: PG 67:1023–1025 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: After Arius's death Constantine refuses the Alexandrians' and Antony's pleas to recall Athanasius, but also exiles the Melitian leader John as a cause of division. ### Greek text αὐτοῦ φρονοῦντες, τοῖς τὰναντία δοξάζουσιν ἐπιβουἈλλὰ γὰρ οὐδὲ τούτου τελευτήσαντος τέλος ἔσχεν ἡ ζήτησις ὧν εὖρε δογμάτων· οὐδὲ ἐπαύσαντο οἱ τὰ λεύεσθαι. Αμέλει τοι καὶ τοῦ ᾿Αλεξανδρέων δήμου συνεχῶς ἐκβοῶντος, καὶ ἐν λιταῖς ἱκετεύοντος περὶ τῆς ᾿Αθανασίου καθόδου, καὶ Ἀντωνίου τοῦ μεγάλου μοναχοῦ πολλάκις περὶ αὐτοῦ γράψαντος, καὶ ἀντιβολοῦντος μὴ πείθεσθαι τοῖς Μελιτιανοῖς, καὶ συκοφαντίας ἡγεῖσθαι τὰς αὐτῶν κατηγορίας, οὐκ ἐπείσθη ὁ βασιλεύς · ἀλλὰ τοῖς μὲν ᾿Αλεξανδρεῦσιν ἔγραψεν ἄνοιαν καὶ ἀταξίαν ἐγκαλῶν, κληρικοῖς δὲ καὶ ταῖς ἱεραῖς παρθένοις ἡσυχίαν ἐπιτάττων· καὶ μὴ μετατίθεσθαι τῆς γνώμης ἰσχυρίζετο, μηδὲ μετακαλεῖσθαι τὸν ᾿Αθανάσιον, ὡς στασιώδη, καὶ ἐκκλησιαστικῇ καταδεδικασμένον κρίσει. ᾿Αντωνίῳ δὲ ἀντεδήλωσε, μὴ οἷός τε εἶναι τῆς συνόδου ὑπεριδεῖν τὴν ψῆφον. Εἰ γὰρ καὶ ὀλίγοι, φησὶ, πρὸς ἀπέχθειαν ἢ χάριν ἐδίκασαν, οὐ δήπου πιθανὸν, τοσαύτην πληθὺν ἐλλογίμων καὶ ἀγαθῶν ἐπισκόπων τῆς ὁμοίας γενέσθαι γνώμης. Τὸν γὰρ ᾿Αθανάσιον ὑβριστήν τε εἶναι καὶ ὑπερήφανον, καὶ διχονοίας καὶ στάσεως αἴτιον. Οἱ γὰρ ἐναντίως ἔχοντες πρὸς αὐτὸν, περὶ ταῦτα μάλιστα διέβαλλον αὐτὸν, καθότι ὁ βασιλεὺς τοὺς τοιούτους ὑπερφυῶς ἀπεστρέφετο. Τότε γοῦν πυθόμενος διχῆ μεμερίσθαι τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν, καὶ τοὺς μὲν ᾿Αθανάσιον, τοὺς δὲ Ἰωάννην θαυμάζειν, σφόδρα ἡγανάκτησε, καὶ αὐτὸν Ἰωάννην ἐξώρισεν. Ηὧν δὲ οὗτος ὁ Μελί τιον διαδεξάμενος, καὶ παρὰ τῆς ἐν Τύρῳ συνόδου προσταχθεὶς τῇ Ἐκκλησίᾳ κοινωνεῖν, καὶ τὰς τιμάς τῶν ἰδίων κλήρων ἔχειν αὐτός τε καὶ οἱ τὰ αὐτοῦ φρονοῦντες. Καί τοί γε παρὰ γνώμην τοῦτο ἀπέβη τοῖς ᾿Αθανασίου ἐχθροῖς. Ἀλλ᾿ ὅμως ἐγένετο, καὶ οὐδὲν ὤνησεν Ἰωάννην τὰ δεδογμένα τοῖς ἐν Τύρῳ συνεληλυθόσι. Κρείττων γὰρ ἦν βασιλεὺς ἱκεσίας καὶ παντοδαπῆς παραιτήσεως, πρὸς τὸν ὑπονοούμενον εἰς στάσιν ἢ διχόνοιαν ἐγείρειν τὰ πλήθη τῶν Χριστιανῶν. ### English translation (Claude) But not even with Arius's death did the inquiry into the doctrines he had devised come to an end, nor did those who held his views cease plotting against those of the opposite opinion. For instance, although the people of Alexandria kept crying out and entreating in litanies for the return of Athanasius, and Antony the great monk often wrote about him and begged the emperor not to believe the Melitians but to regard their accusations as slanders, the emperor was not persuaded. He wrote to the Alexandrians accusing them of folly and disorder, and ordered the clergy and the holy virgins to keep quiet; and he insisted that he would not change his mind or recall Athanasius, as a seditious man condemned by an ecclesiastical judgment. To Antony he replied that he could not disregard the vote of the synod. “For even if a few,” he said, “judged out of enmity or favour, it is surely not credible that so great a number of learned and good bishops came to the same opinion; for Athanasius is insolent and arrogant, and a cause of dissension and strife.” For his opponents slandered him chiefly on these points, since the emperor exceedingly detested such people. At that time, for instance, learning that the church was divided in two, some admiring Athanasius and others John, he was greatly incensed and exiled John himself. This was the man who had succeeded Melitius, and who had been directed by the synod of Tyre to be in communion with the church and, with those of his opinion, to keep the honours of their own clerical ranks. This turned out contrary to the wishes of Athanasius's enemies; but it happened nonetheless, and the decisions of those who had met at Tyre were of no help to John. For the emperor was proof against entreaty and every kind of plea toward anyone suspected of stirring up the Christian people to strife or dissension. ### Translation notes - The opening of the chapter is jumbled in the scan (a line of the chapter title and the first sentence interleaved); the translation follows the evident order. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 2.31 (PG 67:1023–1025; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/2-31). ## Church History 2.32 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/2-25/#p-2-32 - Source: PG 67:1025–1027 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Constantine's law against the heretical sects (Novatians, Montanists, Valentinians, Marcionites, Paulianists) makes most of them disappear, though the Novatians and the Montanists of Phrygia survive; Eusebius of Nicomedia's party begins to reinterpret Nicaea. ### Greek text Τὸ δὲ ᾿Αρείου δόγμα, εἰ καὶ πολλοῖς ἐν ταῖς διαλέ ξεσιν ἐσπουδάζετο, οὔπω εἰς ἴδιον διεκέκριτο λαὸν, ἢ ὄνομα τοῦ εὐρόντος· ἀλλὰ πάντες ἅμα ἐκκλησίαζον καὶ ἐκοινώνουν, πλὴν Ναυατιανῶν, καὶ τῶν ἐπικαλουμένων Φρυγῶν, Οὐαλεντινιανῶν τε καὶ Μαρκιωνιστῶν καὶ Παυλιανῶν, καὶ εἴ τινες ἕτεροι ἑτέρας ἤδη ηὑρημένας αἱρέσεις ἐπλήρουν. Κατὰ τούτων δὲ πάντων νόμον θέμενος ὁ βασιλεὺς, προσέταξεν ἀφαιρεθῆναι αὐτῶν εὐκτηρίους οἴκους, καὶ ταῖς ἐχκλησίαις συνάπτεσθαι, καὶ μήτε ἐν οἰκίαις ἰδιωτῶν, μήτε δημοσίᾳ ἐκκλησιάζειν. Κάλλιον δὲ τῇ καθόλου Ἐκκλησίᾳ κοινωνεῖν εἰσηγεῖτο, καὶ εἰς ταύτην συνιέναι συνεβούλευσε. Διὰ τοῦτον δὲ τὸν νόμον τούτων τῶν αἱρέσεων οἶμαι τὴν πολλὴν ἀφανισθῆναι μνήμην. 91 ( αὐτὸν Ἐκκλησίᾳ. Φρύγες δὲ κατὰ τὴν ἄλλην ἀρχομέἘπὶ μὲν γὰρ τῶν πρὶν βασιλέων, ὅσοι τὸν Χριστὸν ἔσεβον, εἰ καὶ τὰς δόξας διεφέροντο, πρὸς τῶν Ἑλληνιστῶν οἱ αὐτοὶ ἐνομίζοντο, καὶ κακῶς ὁμοίως ἔπασχον. Σφᾶς δὲ αὐτοὺς πολυπραγμονεῖν διὰ τὰς κοινὰς συμφορὰς οὐκ ἠδύναντο· καὶ διατοῦτο ῥᾳδίως καθ' ἑαυτοὺς ἕκαστοι συνιόντες ἐκκλησίαζον, καὶ συνεχῶς ὁμιλοῦντες ἀλλήλοις, εἰ καὶ ὀλίγοι ἦσαν, οὐ διελύθησαν. Μετὰ δὲ τοῦτον τὸν νόμον, δὔτε δημοσίᾳ ἐκκλησιάζειν ἠδύναντο κωλυόμενοι, οὔτε λάθρα, τῶν κατὰ πόλιν ἐπισκόπων καὶ κληρικῶν παρατηρούντων. Ἐντεῦθεν δὲ περιδεεῖς οἱ πλείους γενόμενοι, τῇ καθόλου Ἐκκλησίᾳ προσέθεντο. Οἱ δὲ καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς αὐτῆς γνώμης μείναντες, οὐκέτι διαδόχους τῆς αὐτῶν αἱρέσεως καταλιπόντες, ἐτελεύτησαν · ὡς μήτε εἰς ταὐτὸν συνιέναι συγχωρούμενοι, μήτε ἀδεῶς ὁμοδόξους ἐκδιδάσκειν δυνάμενοι. Ἐπεὶ καὶ τὴν ἀρχὴν αἱ μὲν ἄλλαι αἱρέσεις ὀλίγους τοὺς ζηλώσαντας ἔσχον, ἢ διὰ σκαιότητα δογμάτων, ἢ φαυλότητα τῶν εὐρόντων καὶ καθηγητῶν τούτων γενομένων. Οἱ δὲ τὰ Ναυάτου φρονοῦντες, ὡς ἀγαθῶν ἡγεμόνων ἐπιτυχόντες, καὶ τὰ αὐτὰ περὶ τὸ Θεῖον τῇ καθόλου Ἐκκλησίᾳ δοξάζοντες, πολλοί τε ἦσαν ἐξ ἀρχῆς, καὶ διέμειναν, οὐδὲν μέγα βλαβέντες ὑπὸ τούτου τοῦ νόμου. Ὡς γὰρ οἶμαι, καὶ ὁ βασιλεὺς ἑκὼν καθυφίει, φοβῆσαι μόνον, οὐ λυμήνασθαι τοὺς ὑπηκόους προθέμενος. Καὶ ᾿Ακέσιος δὲ ὁ τότε ἐν Κωνσταντίνοι πόλει τῆς αὐτῶν αἱρέσεως ἐπίσκοπος, βασιλεῖ κεχαρισμένος ὧν διὰ τὸν βίον, ὡς εἰκὸς, ἐβοήθει τῇ ὑπ᾿ νην, παραπλήσια τοῖς ἄλλοις ὑπέμειναν, πλὴν Φρυγίας, καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἐθνῶν τῶν ἐκ γειτόνων· ἔνθα δὴ ἐκ τῶν κατὰ Μοντανὸν χρόνων πλῆθος ἀρξάμενοι, καὶ νῦν εἰσι. Περὶ δὲ τοῦτον τὸν χρόνον, οἱ ἀμφὶ τὸν Εὐσέβιον τὸν Νικομηδείας ἐπίσκοπον, καὶ Θεόγνιον τὸν Νικαίας, ἐγγράφως ἤρξαντο νεωτερίζειν περὶ τὴν ἔκθεσιν τῶν ἐν Νικαίᾳ συνεληλυθότων. Καὶ ἀναφανδὸν μὲν ἐκβάλλειν τὸ ὁμοούσιον τῷ Πατρὶ τὸν Υἱὸν, οὐκ ἐθάρρησαν. "Ἤδεσαν γὰρ βασιλέα ὧδε δοξά - ζοντα. Ἑτέραν δὲ ἐκθέμενοι γραφὴν ἐπὶ ῥηταῖς ἐρμηνείαις καταδεδέχθαι τὰ ὀνόματα τοῦ ἐν Νικαίᾳ δόγματος ἐμήνυσαν τοῖς ἀνα τὴν ἕω ἐπισκόποις. Ἐκ τούτου δὲ τοῦ ῥητοῦ καὶ διανοίας, εἰς διάλεξιν πεσοῦσα ἡ προτέρα ζήτησις, καὶ δόξασα πεπαῦσθαι, πάλιν ἀνεκινεῖτο. ### English translation (Claude) The doctrine of Arius, though it was pursued by many in debates, had not yet been separated into a people of its own or into the name of its founder; all assembled and communicated together, except the Novatians, those called Phrygians, the Valentinians, Marcionites and Paulianists, and any others who made up other heresies already devised. Against all these the emperor enacted a law, ordering that their houses of prayer be taken from them and joined to the churches, and that they should not assemble either in private houses or in public; he recommended that it was better to be in communion with the catholic church and advised them to join it. Through this law, I think, the memory of these heresies has largely disappeared. For under the earlier emperors all who worshipped Christ, even if they differed in their opinions, were regarded by the pagans as the same and suffered ill alike. Because of their common misfortunes they could not busy themselves about one another, and so each group easily met by itself and held assemblies, and by constant intercourse with one another, even if they were few, they were not dissolved. But after this law they could not assemble in public, being forbidden, nor in secret, since the bishops and clergy in each city kept watch. From then on most of them, in fear, joined the catholic church; others, who remained of the same opinion, died without leaving successors to their heresy, since they were neither allowed to meet together nor able to teach those of their opinion freely. Indeed, from the beginning the other heresies had few followers, either because of the perversity of their doctrines or because of the worthlessness of their founders and teachers. But those who held the views of Novatus, having had good leaders and holding the same views about the Divine as the catholic church, were numerous from the beginning and remained so, suffering no great harm from this law. For, as I think, the emperor himself willingly relaxed it, intending only to frighten his subjects, not to ruin them. Acesius too, then bishop of their sect at Constantinople, being in favour with the emperor because of his life, naturally helped the church under him. The Phrygians throughout the rest of the empire suffered like the others, except in Phrygia and the neighbouring peoples, where they had been numerous since the times of Montanus, and still are. About this time the party of Eusebius, bishop of Nicomedia, and Theognis of Nicaea began in writing to innovate on the exposition of those who had met at Nicaea. They did not dare to reject openly that the Son is of the same essence as the Father, for they knew the emperor held this view. But setting out another document, they announced to the bishops of the East that they had accepted the terms of the Nicene doctrine on certain stated interpretations. From this wording and sense the former inquiry, which had seemed to have ceased, fell into debate and was stirred up again. ### Extrabiblical texts - Eusebius, Vit. Const. 3.64-65 (Life of Constantine): allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - A fragment of Valesius's chapter title (“… Eusebius, the Arians tried artfully to remove the homoousion”) stood at the head of the section in the scan and has been removed; a line about Acesius and the Phrygians was displaced and is restored to its place. The “Phrygians” are the Montanists; the “Paulianists,” followers of Paul of Samosata. Constantine's law is given in Eusebius, Life of Constantine 3.64–65. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 2.32 (PG 67:1025–1027; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/2-32). ## Church History 2.33 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/2-33/#p-2-33 - Source: PG 67:1027–1029 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The Eusebian party deposes Marcellus of Ancyra for teaching that the Son began from Mary and that his kingdom will end, views he reached, Sozomen says, in opposing the Arian sophist Asterius. ### Greek text Ἐν δὲ τῷ τότε καὶ Μάρκελλον ᾿Αγκύρας ἐπίσκοπον τῆς Γαλατῶν, ὡς καινῶν δογμάτων εἰσηγητὴν, καὶ τὸν Υἱὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ λέγοντα ἐκ Μαρίας τὴν ἀρχὴν εἰληφέναι, καὶ τέλος ἕξειν τὴν αὐτοῦ βασιλείαν, καὶ γραφήν τινα περὶ τούτου συντάξαντα, συνελθόντες ἐν Κωνσταντίνου πόλει καθεῖλον, καὶ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας ἐξέβαλον · καὶ Βασιλείῳ, δεινῷ λέγειν, καὶ ἐπὶ παιδεύσει ὑπειλημμένῳ, ἐπιτρέπουσι τὴν ἐπισκοπὴν τῆς Γαλατῶν παροικίας. Καὶ ταῖς αὐτόθι ἐκκλησίαις ἔγραψαν, ἀναζητῆσαι τὴν Μαρκέλλου βίβλον, καὶ ἐξαφανίσαι, καὶ τοὺς τὰ αὐτὰ φρονοῦντας, εἴτινας εὕροιεν, μεταβάλλειν. Καὶ διὰ μὲν τὸ πολύστιχον τῆς γραφῆς, μὴ τὸ πᾶν ὑποτάξαι βιβλίον ἐδήλωσαν· ῥητὰ δέ τινα ἐνέθηκαν τῇ αὐτῶν ἐπιστολῇ, πρὸς ἔλεγχον τοῦ δοξάζειν αὐτὸν τάδε. Ἐλέγετο δὲ πρός τινων, ταῦτα ὡς ἐν ζητήσει εἰρῆσθαι Μαρκέλλῳ, καὶ ὡς ὡμολογημένα διαβεβλῆσθαι καὶ αὐτῷ τῷ βασιλεῖ παρὰ τῶν ἀμφὶ τὸν Εὐσέβιον· καθότι ὑπερφυῶς ἐχαλέπαινον αὐτῷ, μήτε ἐν τῇ κατὰ Φοινίκην συνόδῳ συντεθειμένῳ τοῖς ὑπ' αὐτῶν ὁρισθεῖσι, μήτε ἐν Ἱεροσολύμοις ἐπὶ Ἀρείῳ, μήτε τῆς ἀφιερώσεως τοῦ μεγάλου Μαρτυρίου μετασχόντι, δι' ἀποφυγὴν τῆς πρὸς αὐτοὺς κοινωνίας. Αμέλει τοι γράφοντες περὶ αὐτοῦ τῷ βασιλεῖ, καὶ ταῦτα εἰς διαβολὴν προὔφερον· ὡς καὶ αὐτοῦ ὑβρισμένου ὑπ' αὐτοῦ, μὴ ἀξιώσαντος τὴν ἀφιέρωσιν τιμῆσαι τοῦ ἐν Ἱεροσολύμοις νεὼ οἰκοδομηθέντος. Πρόφασις δὲ γέγονε Μαρκέλλῳ ταύτης τῆς γραφῆς, Αστέριός τε ἐκ Καππαδοκίας σοφιστὴς, ὃς καὶ περὶ τοῦ δόγματος λόγους συγγράφων, τῇ ᾿Αρείου δόξῃ συμφερομένους, περιϊὼν τὰς πόλεις ἐπεδείκνυτο, καὶ τοῖς ἐπισκόποις καὶ ταῖς γινομέναις συνόδοις ὡς ἐπίπαν παρεγίνετο. ᾿Αντιλέγων γὰρ αὐτῷ Μάρκελλος, ἢ ἑκὼν, ἢ οὐχ οὕτω νοήσας, εἰς τὴν Παύλου τοῦ Σαμοσατέως ἐξεκυλίσθη δόξαν. ᾿Αλλ' ὁ μὲν τῇ ἐν Σαρδοῖ συνόδῳ ὕστερον τὴν ἐπισκοπὴν ἀνείληφε, μὴ φρονεῖν ὧδε λογισάμενος. ### English translation (Claude) At that time also they met at Constantinople and deposed Marcellus, bishop of Ancyra in Galatia, as an introducer of new doctrines, saying that the Son of God took his beginning from Mary and that his kingdom will have an end, and that he had composed a book on this; they expelled him from the church and entrusted the episcopate of the Galatian church to Basil, a powerful speaker esteemed for his learning. They wrote to the churches there to search out Marcellus's book and destroy it, and to bring over any whom they found holding the same views. Because of the length of the work, they said, they had not appended the whole book, but they inserted certain passages in their letter to prove that he held these views. Some said, however, that Marcellus had said these things as part of an inquiry, and that Eusebius's party had misrepresented them to the emperor himself as his confessed opinions; for they were exceedingly angry with him because he had not agreed with what they had defined at the synod in Phoenicia, nor at Jerusalem concerning Arius, nor taken part in the dedication of the great Martyrium, to avoid communion with them. Indeed, writing about him to the emperor, they brought this forward too as a slander, as though the emperor himself had been insulted by him, since he had not seen fit to honour the dedication of the church built in Jerusalem. The occasion of this book of Marcellus was Asterius, a sophist from Cappadocia, who, writing treatises about the doctrine that agreed with the opinion of Arius, went round the cities giving readings of them, and was generally present among the bishops and at the synods that were held. For in contradicting him, Marcellus, either willingly or not understanding it so, rolled into the opinion of Paul of Samosata. But at the synod of Sardica he later recovered his see, having shown that he did not hold these views. ### Scripture references - Luke 1:33: allusion, medium confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Eusebius, Marcell. (Against Marcellus): allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - “The synod in Phoenicia” is the synod of Tyre. On Marcellus see Eusebius, Against Marcellus and Ecclesiastical Theology, which preserve his fragments. Paul of Samosata (bishop of Antioch, deposed 268) taught that Christ was a man indwelt by the Word. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 2.33 (PG 67:1027–1029; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/2-33). ## Church History 2.34 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/2-33/#p-2-34 - Source: PG 67:1029–1031 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Constantine, having divided the empire among his sons, is baptized at Nicomedia, dies aged about sixty-five after thirty-one years' reign, and is buried in the Church of the Apostles at Constantinople. ### Greek text Ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς, ἤδη πρότερον εἰς τους παῖδας Καίσαρας ὄντας τὴν ἀρχὴν διελών · καὶ Κωνσταντίνῳ μὲν καὶ Κώνσταντι τὰ πρὸς δύσιν ἀπονείμας, Κωνσταντίῳ δὲ τὰ πρὸς ἕω· μαλακισθεὶς τὸ σῶμα, ὡς αὐτομάτοις λουτροῖς χρησόμενος, ἧκεν εἰς Ἑλενόπολιν Βιθυνῶν. Χαλεπώτερον δὲ διατεθεὶς, διεκομίσθη εἰς Νικομήδειαν. Ἔνθα δὴ ἐν προαστείῳ διάγων, ἐμυήθη τὴν ἱερὰν βάπτισιν· ἐπὶ τούτῳ τε σφόδρα ἡσθεὶς, χάριν ὠμολόγει τῷ Θεῷ. Διαθήκην τε ποιῆἃ σας, τοῖς μὲν παισὶ διένειμε τὴν ὡς πρότερον. Πρεσθεῖα δὲ, τὰ μὲν τῇ πρεσδυτέρᾳ Ῥώμη, τὰ δὲ τῇ ἐπωνύμῳ αὐτοῦ καταλιπὼν, ἔδωχε τὴν διαθήκην τῷ πρεσδυτέρῳ, ὃν ἐπαινέτην ὄντα ᾿Αρείον, ἀγαθὸν δὲ τῷ βίῳ, παρέθετο αὐτῷ τελευτῶσα Κωνσταντία ἣ ἀδελφή " ὄρχον προσθεὶς, ἐνετείλατο Κωνσταντίῳ δοῦναι ἐπειδὰν ἀφίκηται. Οὔτε γὰρ οὗτος, οὔτε ἄλλος τῶν Καισάρων παρῆν τῷ πατρὶ τελευτῶντι. Καὶ ὃ μὲν ταῦτα ἐντειλάμενος, ὀλίγας ἐπεδίω ἡμέρας καὶ ἐτελεύτησεν ἀμφὶ πέντε ἐξήκοντα ἔτη γεγογώς " τούτοις δὲ τριάκοντα καὶ ἕν βασιλεύσας. ἐς τὰ μάλιστα τῆς Χριστιανῶν θρησκείας ἐπαινέτης, ὡς πρῶτος βασιλέων ἄρξαι τῆς περὶ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας σπουδῆς, καὶ εἰς ἄκρον ἐπιδόσεως ἄγαγεῖν. Ἐπιτευχτιχὸς δὲ, ὡς οὐχ οἵδ᾽ εἴτις ἕτερος, ἐν οἷς ἐπεχείρησεν" ἄνευ τὰρ Θεοῦ, ἐμοὶ δοκεῖν, οὐχ ἐπεχείρει. Ὅς γε πολέμων τε τῶν ἐπ᾽ αὐτῷ συμθάντων πρός γε Γότθους μάτας περιεγένετο, τὴν πολιτείαν πρὸς τὸ δόξαν αὐτῷ οὕτω ῥᾳδίως μετεσχημάτισεν, ὡς ἑτέραν καταστῆσαι λὴν, βασιλίδα πόλιν τὴν ἐπώνυμον αὐτῷ. Τὴν δὲ Ἑλληνικὴν θρησκείαν ἅμα τε ἐπεχείρησε, ἐν ὄλίγῳ καθεῖλεν, ὑπὸ ἀρχόντων τε καὶ ἀρχομένων ἐχ τοσούτον χρόνου σπουδασθεῖσαν. Ἐπεὶ δὲ ἐτελεύτησε, διεκομίσθη αὐτοῦ τὸ σῶμα εἰς Κωνσταντίνου πόλιν ἐν λάρνακι χρυσῇ, καὶ ἐπὶ βήματός τινος τοῖς. βασιλείοις ἀπετέθη. Τιμὴ δὲ καὶ τάξις ὥσπερ εἰς ζῶντα, ἡ αὐτὴ ἐγένετο παρὰ τῶν ἐν τοῖς βασιλείοις. Ὡς δὲ τὴν τοῦ πατρὸς τελευτὴν θᾶττον αὑτῷ μηνυθεῖσαν͵ ἔγγω Κωνστάντιος, ἐν τῇ ξῳ διατρίβων, σπουδῇ τὴν Κωνσταντίνου πόλιν χατέλαδε " βασιλικῶς χηδεύσας αὐτὸν, ἔθαψεν ἐν τῇ ἐπωνύμῳ τῶν ἀποστόλων ἐκκλησίᾳ, ἔνθα δὴ περιὼν αὑτὸς Κωνσταντῖνος ἑαυτῷ τάφον κατεσκεύασεν. ᾿Απὸ τούτου ὃξ, ὡς ἔκ τινος ἀρχῆς ἔθου: γενομένου, καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα τελευτήσαντες ἐν Ἱζωνσταντίνου πόλει βασιλεῖς Χριστιανοὶ χεῖνται. Οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ ἐπίσκοποι, ὡς τῆς ἱερωσύνης ὁμοτίμον τῆς βασιλείας υὔσης " μᾶλλον μὲν οὖν ἐν τοῖς ἱεροῖς τόποις καὶ τὰ πρῶτα ἐχούσης. ### English translation (Claude) The emperor had already divided the empire among his sons, who were Caesars, assigning the West to Constantine and Constans and the East to Constantius. Falling ill in body, he went to Helenopolis in Bithynia to use the natural hot baths. Becoming worse, he was carried to Nicomedia. While staying there in a suburb, he was initiated into holy baptism; he rejoiced greatly at this and gave thanks to God. Making a will, he divided the empire among his sons as before. Leaving privileges to the elder Rome and to his namesake city, he gave the will to the presbyter whom his sister Constantia, when dying, had commended to him, an admirer of Arius but good in his life; and adding an oath, he charged him to give it to Constantius when he arrived. For neither he nor any other of the Caesars was with their father when he died. Having given this charge, he lived a few days more and died, about sixty-five years old, having reigned thirty-one of them. He was above all a supporter of the Christian religion, so that he was the first emperor to begin to show zeal for the church and to bring it to the height of its growth. He was successful, as I do not know whether anyone else has been, in what he undertook; for without God, it seems to me, he undertook nothing. He prevailed in the wars that befell him against the Goths and Sarmatians; he reshaped the state as he wished so easily as to establish another senate and an imperial city named after himself; and as soon as he undertook it he overthrew in a short time the pagan religion, which had been cherished by rulers and subjects for so long. When he died, his body was carried to Constantinople in a golden coffin and laid on a platform in the palace. The same honour and ceremony were paid to him by those in the palace as when he was alive. When Constantius learned of his father's death, which was soon reported to him while he was staying in the East, he hastened to Constantinople, and, after a royal funeral, buried him in the church named after the apostles, where Constantine himself had prepared his tomb while he lived. From that time, as if a custom had begun, the Christian emperors who have died since in Constantinople are laid there; and not only they but bishops too, since the priesthood is of equal honour with the kingship, or rather, in holy places, even holds the first place. ### Extrabiblical texts - Eusebius, Vit. Const. 4.61-71 (Life of Constantine): allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Constantine died on 22 May 337. Other sources say he was baptized by Eusebius of Nicomedia; Sozomen does not name the bishop. The scan has lost or garbled several words in this chapter (“the empire,” “Sarmatians,” “senate,” “coffin”), given from the evident sense. The closing remark that bishops too are buried in the Church of the Apostles, because priesthood ranks with kingship, is Sozomen's own. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 2.34 (PG 67:1029–1031; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/2-34). ## Church History 3.1 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/2-33/#p-3-1 - Source: PG 67:1033 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: After Constantine's death opponents of Nicaea, led by Eusebius of Nicomedia and Theognis and aided by the presbyter who had held Constantine's will and by the chamberlain Eusebius, gain influence at the court of Constantius. ### Greek text Τὰ μὲν δὴ κατὰ τὴν Κωνσταντίνου βασιλείαν συμβάντα ταῖς Ἐκκλησίαις, ὧδε ἔσχε. Τελευτήσαντος δὲ αὐτοῦ, πάλιν εἰς ζήτησιν ἤγετο τῶν ἐν Νικαίᾳ συνελθόντων τὸ δόγμα. Τοῦτο γὰρ εἰ καὶ μὴ πάντες ἀπεδέχοντο, Κωνσταντίνου ἔτι περιόντος τῷ βίῳ, οὐδεὶς περιφανῶς ἐκβαλεῖν ἐτόλμησεν. Ὡς δὲ ἐτελεύτησε, πολλοὶ ταύτης τῆς δόξης ἀπέστησαν· οὗτοι δὲ ἦσαν οἱ καὶ πρὶν ἐπὶ προδοσίᾳ ταύτης ὕποπτοι. Πάντων δὲ μάλιστα πλείστην ἐποιοῦντο σπουδὴν τὴν Αρείου δόξαν κρατεῖν, Εὐσέβιος καὶ Θεόγνιος, οἱ ἐκ Βιθυνίας. ᾜοντο δὲ τοῦτο κατορθῶσαι ῥᾳδίως, εἰ τὴν ἐκ τῆς ὑπερορίας κάθοδον ᾿Αθανασίῳ ἀνέλοιεν, όμοδόξῳ δὲ αὐτοῖς τὰς κατ᾿ Αἴγυπτον Ἐκκλησίας παραδοῖεν. Καὶ οἱ μὲν τάδ᾽ ἐπενόουν, ὑπουργὸν ἔχοντες τὸν πρεσβύτερον, ὃς αἴτιος ἐπὶ Κωνσταντίνου ἐγένετο τῆς ᾿Αρείου ἀνακλήσεως. Ἐτύγχανε γὰρ καὶ Κωνσταντίῳ τῷ βασιλεῖ κεχαρισμένος, καθότι τὴν πατρώαν αὐτῷ διαθήκην ἀπέσωσεν. Οἷὰ τε πιστὸς παῤῥησίαν λαβὼν, μέχρι τῆς βασιλέως γαμετῆς, καὶ τῶν ἐν δυνάμει θαλαμηπόλων εὐνούχων, συνήθης ἐγένετο. Προειστήκει δὲ τότε τῆς βασιλικῆς οἰκίας Εὐσέβιος· ὃς ἐπαινέτης τῆς ᾿Αρείου δόξης γενόμενος, ὁμόφρονας ἑαυτῷ τὴν βασιλίδα, καὶ πολλοὺς τῶν περὶ τὰ βασίλεια κατεστήσατο. Ἐντεῦθέν τε πάλιν περὶ τοῦ δόγματος ἰδίᾳ τε καὶ δημοσίᾳ συχναὶ διαλέξεις ἐγένοντο, σὺν ταύταις τε καὶ ὕβρεις, καὶ ἀπέχθειαι· καὶ τὸ πρᾶγμα τοῖς ἀμφὶ Θεόγνιον κατὰ γνώμην προὐχώρει. ### English translation (Claude) Such were the events that befell the churches in the reign of Constantine. After his death the doctrine of those who had met at Nicaea was again brought into question. For though not all accepted it, while Constantine was still alive no one dared openly to reject it. But when he died, many departed from this opinion; these were those who had earlier been suspected of betraying it. Of all, Eusebius and Theognis of Bithynia made the greatest efforts to make the opinion of Arius prevail. They thought they could easily achieve this if they prevented Athanasius's return from exile and handed over the churches of Egypt to one of their own opinion. They planned these things with the help of the presbyter who had been responsible under Constantine for the recall of Arius. For he was also in favour with the emperor Constantius, since he had preserved his father's will for him. Being trusted, he gained freedom of speech and became familiar even with the emperor's wife and with the powerful eunuchs of the bedchamber. Eusebius was then head of the imperial household; having become a supporter of Arius's opinion, he brought the empress and many of those about the palace to share his views. From then on there were frequent debates about the doctrine again, in private and in public, and with them insults and hatreds; and things went as Theognis's party wished. ### Translation notes - The chamberlain Eusebius (praepositus sacri cubiculi) is a different man from Eusebius of Nicomedia. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 3.1 (PG 67:1033; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/3-1). ## Church History 3.2 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/2-33/#p-3-2 - Source: PG 67:1035–1037 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Constantine II restores Athanasius to Alexandria with a letter to its church; the Arians renew their charges; Acacius succeeds Eusebius at Caesarea; Constantine II is killed fighting Constans. ### Greek text Ἐν τούτῳ δὲ καὶ ᾿Αθανάσιος, ἐκ τῆς πρὸς δύσιν Γαλατίας ἐπανῆλθεν εἰς ᾿Αλεξάνδρειαν. Τοῦτον δὲ καὶ Κωνσταντῖνος περιὼν μετακαλεῖσθαι προήρητο. Λέγεται δὲ καὶ ἐν ταῖς αὐτοῦ διαθήκαις ἐθελῆσαι τοῦτο. Ἐπεὶ δὲ φθάσας ἐτελεύτησεν, ὁ ὁμώνυμος αὐτῷ παῖς, ὃς καὶ τῶν πρὸς ἑσπέραν Γαλατῶν ἦρχεν, ἐπέτρεψεν αὐτῷ τὴν κάθοδον, γράμματα δοὺς πρὸς τὸν ᾿Αλεξανδρέων λαόν. Ταῦτα δὲ ἐκ τῆς Ῥωμαίων μεταβληθέντα φωνῆς εὑρὼν, ὡς εὗρον παρέθηκα. Ἔχει δὲ ὧδε. Κωνσταντῖνος Καῖσαρ λαῷ τῆς καθολικῆς Ἐκκλησίας Αλεξανδρείας πόλεως. Οὐδὲν τὴν τῆς ὑμετέρας ἱερᾶς ἐννοίας ἀποπεφευγέναι γνῶσιν οἶμαι· διὰ τοῦτο ᾿Αθανάσιον τὸν τοῦ προσκυνητοῦ νόμου ὑποφήτην πρὸς καιρὸν εἰς Γαλλίας ἀπεστάλθαι, ἵν᾽, ἐπειδὴ ἡ ἀγριότης τῶν αἱμοβόρων αὐτοῦ καὶ πολεμίων ἐχθρῶν, εἰς κίνδυνον τῆς ἱερᾶς αὐτοῦ κεφαλῆς ἐπέμενε, μὴ ἄρα διὰ τῆς τῶν φαύλων διαστροφῆς ἀνήκεστα ὑποστῇ. Πρὸς τὸ διαπαῖξαι τοίνυν ταύτην, ἀφῃρέθη τῶν φαρύγγων τῶν ἐπικειμένων αὐτῷ ἀνδρῶν, καὶ ὑπ᾿ ἐμοὶ διάγειν κεκέλευσται οὕτως, ὡς ἐν ταύτῃ τῇ πόλει ἐν ᾗ διέτριβε, πᾶσι τοῖς ἀναγκαίοις ἐμπλεονάζειν· εἰ καὶ τὰ μάλιστα αὐτοῦ ἡ ἀοίδιμος ἀρετὴ, ταῖς θείαις πεποιθυῖα βοηθείαις, καὶ τὰ τῆς τραχυτέρας ἄχθη ἐξουθενεῖ. Τοιγαροῦν εἰ καὶ τὰ μάλιστα πρὸς τὴν προσφιλεστάτην ὑμῶν θεοσέβειαν ὁ δεσπότης ἡμῶν, ὁ τῆς μακαρίας μνήμης Κωνσταντίνος ὁ σεβαστὸς, ὁ ἐμὸς πατήρ, τὸν αὐτὸν ἐπίσκοπον τῷ ἰδίῳ τόπῳ παρασχεῖν προήρητο, ὅμως ἐπειδὴ ἀνθρωπίνῳ κλήρῳ προληφθεὶς, πρὸ τοῦ τὴν εὐχὴν πληρῶσαι ἀνεπαύσατο, ἀκόλουθον ἡγησάμην τὴν προαίρεσιν τοῦ τῆς θείας μνήμης βασιλέως διαδεξάμενος πληρῶσαι· ὅστις ἐπειδὰν τῆς ὑμετέρας τύχῃ προσόψεως, ὅσης αἰδοῦς παρ᾿ ἐμοῦ τετύχηκε, γνώσεσθε. Οὐ γὰρ θαυμαστὸν, εἴ τι δ᾽ ἂν ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ πεποίηκα. Καὶ γὰρ τὴν ἐμὴν ψυχὴν ἡ τε τοῦ ὑμετέρου πόθου εἰκὼν, καὶ τὸ τηλικούτου ἀνδρὸς σχῆμα, εἰς τοῦτο ἐκίνει καὶ προέτρεπεν. Ἡ θεία πρόνοια ὑμᾶς διαφυλάξοι, ἀδελφοὶ ἀγαπητοί. Κατὰ ταύτην τὴν τοῦ βασιλέως γραφὴν τῆς καθόδου τυχών Αθανάσιος, τὰς κατ᾿ Αἴγυπτον Ἐκκλησίας διεῖπεν. "Ὅσοι δὲ τὰ ᾿Αρείου ἐφρόνουν, δεινὸν τοῦτο ἐποιοῦντο, καὶ ἠρεμεῖν οὐκ ἠνείχοντο. Ἐντεῦθέν τε συνεχεῖς ἀνεκινοῦντο στάσεις· ὃ δὴ πρόφασιν πάλιν κατὰ ᾿Αθανασίου παρέσχεν ἑτέρων ἐπιβουλῶν. Οἱ γὰρ ἀμφὶ τὸν Εὐσέβιον, σπουδῇ πρὸς βασιλέα διέβαλον αὐτὸν, ὡς στασιώδη, καὶ παρὰ τοὺς νόμους τῆς Ἐκκλησίας ἑαυτῷ τὴν κάθοδον ἐπιτρέψαντα, δίχα κρίσεως ἐπισκόπων. ᾿Αλλ' ὅπως μὲν ἐκ τῆς τούτων ἐπιβουλῆς αὖθις ἐξηλάθη τῆς ᾿Αλεξανδρείας, αὐτίκα δὴ κατὰ τὴν οἰκείαν ἐρῶ τάξιν. Περὶ δὲ τοῦτον τὸν χρόνον Εὐσεβίου τοῦ Παμφίλου τελευτήσαντος, διαδέχεται τὴν ἐν Καισαρείᾳ τῆς Παλαιστίνης ἐπισκοπὴν ᾿Ακάκιος. ὡς πρὸς αὐτὸν Εὐσέβιον τὸν ζῆλον ἔχων, καὶ ὑπ᾿ αὐτῷ τοὺς ἱεροὺς παιδευθεὶς λόγους, ἱκανός τε νοεῖν καὶ φράζειν ἀστεῖος ἐγένετο, ὡς καὶ πολλὰ συγγράμματα λόγου ἄξια καταλιπεῖν. Οὐκ εἰς μακρὰν δὲ καὶ Κωνσταντίνος ὁ βασιλεὺς, πόλεμον ἐπαγαγὼν Κώνσταντι τῷ ἰδίῳ ἀδελφῷ περὶ ᾿Ακυληίαν, κτίννυται παρὰ τῶν αὐτοῦ ἡγεμόνων. Περιίσταται δὲ τῆς Ῥωμαίων ἀρχῆς, τὰ μὲν πρὸς δύσιν, εἰς Κώνσταντα · τὰ δὲ πρὸς ἕω, εἰς Κωνστάντιον. ### English translation (Claude) Meanwhile Athanasius too returned from western Gaul to Alexandria. Constantine, while alive, had intended to recall him, and is said to have wished this in his will as well. Since he died before doing so, his namesake son, who ruled the western Gauls, allowed him to return, giving him a letter to the people of Alexandria. Having found it translated from the Latin, I have set it down as I found it. It reads as follows: “Constantine Caesar to the people of the catholic church of the city of Alexandria. I think it has not escaped the knowledge of your holy mind that Athanasius, the interpreter of the venerable law, was sent for a time to the Gauls so that, since the savagery of his bloodthirsty and hostile enemies persisted to the danger of his sacred head, he might not suffer irreparable harm through the perversity of wicked men. To frustrate this, he was snatched from the jaws of the men who were pressing upon him, and was ordered to live under my care in such a way that in this city where he was staying he had all necessities in abundance; though indeed his celebrated virtue, trusting in divine help, makes light even of the burdens of harsher fortune. Our lord, of blessed memory, Constantine Augustus, my father, had intended to restore this same bishop to his own place, to your most beloved Godliness; but since he was overtaken by the human lot and went to rest before fulfilling his wish, I thought it fitting, as his successor, to fulfil the purpose of the emperor of divine memory. When he comes into your presence, you will learn how much respect he has received from me. Nor is it surprising if I have done anything for him; for both the image of your longing and the bearing of so great a man moved and urged my soul to this. May divine providence preserve you, beloved brothers.” Having obtained his return by this letter of the emperor, Athanasius governed the churches of Egypt. But those who held the views of Arius took this hard and would not keep quiet. From then on frequent disturbances were stirred up, which again gave a pretext for other plots against Athanasius. For Eusebius's party eagerly slandered him to the emperor as seditious, and as having allowed himself to return against the laws of the church, without a judgment of bishops. How through their plotting he was driven again from Alexandria, I shall tell shortly in its proper order. About this time Eusebius son of Pamphilus died, and Acacius succeeded to the episcopate of Caesarea in Palestine. Having the same zeal as Eusebius himself, and having been taught the sacred writings under him, he was able in thought and elegant in expression, so that he left many writings worth mentioning. Not long afterward the emperor Constantine, making war on his own brother Constans near Aquileia, was killed by Constans's generals. The Roman empire fell, in the West, to Constans, and in the East, to Constantius. ### Extrabiblical texts - Athanasius, Apol. sec. 87 (Defence against the Arians): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - A fragment of Valesius's chapter title (“… plot of the Arians; and about Acacius of Beroea; and about the war of Constans and Constantine”) stood at the head of the section and has been removed. The letter of Constantine II (337) is also in Athanasius, Defence against the Arians 87. Constantine II was killed in 340. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 3.2 (PG 67:1035–1037; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/3-2). ## Church History 3.3 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/2-33/#p-3-3 - Source: PG 67:1037–1039 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Paul becomes bishop of Constantinople on Alexander's recommendation over Macedonius; Sozomen judges him a fine teacher but poor at handling enemies, who later had him exiled and, it is said, strangled. ### Greek text Ἐν τούτῳ δὲ ᾿Αλεξάνδρου τετελευτηκότος, διεδέξατο Παῦλος τὴν τῆς Κωνσταντινουπόλεως ἀρχιερωσύνην· ὡς μὲν λέγουσιν οἱ τὰ ᾿Αρείου καὶ Μακεδονίου φρονοῦντες, ἑαυτῷ ταύτην πραγματευσάμενος, παρὰ γνώμην Εὐσεβίου τοῦ Νικομηδείας ἐπισκόπου, καὶ Θεοδώρου τοῦ ἐν Θράκῃ Ἡρακλείας, οἷς ὡς γείτοσιν ἡ χειροτονία (διέφερεν. Ὡς δὲ πολὺς ἔχει λόγος, μαρτυρίᾳ ᾿Αλεξάνδρου ὂν διεδέξατο, ἐχειροτονήθη παρὰ τῶν ἐνδημούντων τῇ πόλει ἐπισκόπων. Ἤδη γὰρ ὀκτὼ καὶ ἐνενήκοντα ἄγων ἐνιαυτοὺς ὁ ᾿Αλέξανδρος, ἐκ τούτων δὲ εἴκοσι τρεῖς ἐν τῇ ἐπισκοπῇ ἀνδρείως διαγενόμενος, ἐπειδὴ τελευτᾷν ἔμελλε, πυνθανομένων αὐτοῦ τῶν κληρικῶν, τίνι μετ᾿ αὐτὸν ἐπιτρεπτέον τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν, εἰ μὲν ἀγαθὸν τὰ θεῖα, διδακτικόν τε ἅμα ἐπιζητεῖτε, ἔφη, Παῦλον ἔχετε εἰ δὲ πρὸς τὰ ἔξω πράγματα καὶ τὰς συνουσίας τῶν ἀρχόντων, ἀμείνων Μακεδόνιος. ᾿Αλλ' ἑκάτερον μεμαρτυρῆσθαι παρὰ ᾿Αλεξάνδρου, καὶ οἱ Μακεδονίου ἐπαινέται συνομολογοῦσι. Περὶ δὲ τὰ πράγματα καὶ λόγους δεινὸν γεγενῆσθαι λέγουσι τὸν Παῦλον· τὴν δὲ περὶ τοῦ βίου μαρτυρίαν Μακεδονίῳ ἀνατιθέασι. Παῦλον δὲ περὶ τρυφὴν καὶ βίον ἀδιάφορον ἐσχολακέναι διαβάλλουσι. Φαίνεται γοῦν ἐκ τῆς τούτων ὁμολογίας, ἐλλόγιμον ἄνδρα γεγενῆσθαι τὸν Παῦλον, ἐπὶ Ἐκκλησίας διδάξαι λαμπρόν, ἰοὺς δὲ τὰς περιπετείας τοῦ βίου, τὰς ὁμιλίας τῶν ἐν δυνάμει, φαύλως αὐτὸν ἐσχηκέναι μαρτυρεῖ τὰ πράγματα. Οὐδεμίαν γὰρ ἐπιβουλὴν τῶν. ἐπαναστάντων αὐτῷ, ὡς εἰκὸς τοὺς περὶ ταῦτα δεινοὺς, διέλυσεν. ᾿Αλλὰ καὶ ὑπὸ τοῦ πλήθους ὑπερφυῶς φιλούμενος, χαχὼς ἔπαθε, σχαιωρίᾳ τῶν τότε ἀναινομένων τὸ κατὰ τὴν ἐν Νικαίᾳ χρατῆσαν δόγμα. Καὶ τὰ μὲν πρῶτα, ὡς μὴ εὖ βεθδιωχὼς, γραφὴν ὑπομείνας, ἐξεβλήθη τῆς Ἐκκλησίας Κωνσταντινουπόλεως. Τελευτῶν δὲ καὶ ὑπερορίαν ηἰχεῖν χατεδικάτθη, εἰ καὶ τεθνάναι ἐλεεινῶς δι' ἀγχόνης λέγεται, μηχαντ - σαμένων αὐτῷ φόνον τῶν ἐπιδούλων, ᾿Αλλὰ τάδε μὲν ὕστερον συνέβη. ### English translation (Claude) Meanwhile, Alexander having died, Paul succeeded to the high priesthood of Constantinople: as those who hold the views of Arius and Macedonius say, having obtained it for himself against the wishes of Eusebius, bishop of Nicomedia, and Theodore of Heraclea in Thrace, to whom, as neighbours, the ordination belonged; but as the common account has it, he was ordained by the bishops staying in the city on the testimony of Alexander, whom he succeeded. For Alexander, who was already ninety-eight years old, twenty-three of which he had spent bravely in the episcopate, when he was about to die and the clergy asked him to whom they should entrust the church after him, said: “If you seek a man good in divine things and able to teach as well, you have Paul; but if one for outward affairs and dealings with magistrates, Macedonius is better.” Even the admirers of Macedonius agree that both were so testified to by Alexander. They say that Paul was skilled in business and in speaking, but they attribute the testimony about character to Macedonius; and they accuse Paul of having given himself to luxury and an indifferent way of life. From their own admission, then, it appears that Paul was an eloquent man and a brilliant teacher in the church; but as to the reverses of life and dealings with the powerful, events bear witness that he handled them badly. For he broke up none of the plots of those who rose against him, as those skilled in such matters naturally do. Although he was exceedingly loved by the people, he suffered ill through the scheming of those who then rejected the doctrine that had prevailed at Nicaea. First he was accused of not having lived well and was expelled from the church of Constantinople; in the end he was condemned to live in exile, and is said to have died pitiably by strangling, his enemies having contrived his murder. But this happened later. ### Translation notes - Macedonius, later bishop of Constantinople, gave his name to the Macedonians (deniers of the Spirit's divinity). The account of the charges against Paul comes from his opponents, as Sozomen notes. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 3.3 (PG 67:1037–1039; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/3-3). ## Church History 3.4 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/2-33/#p-3-4 - Source: PG 67:1039 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: After Alexander's death the church of Constantinople divides between supporters of Macedonius and of Paul; Paul is chosen, but Constantius has a synod depose him and installs Eusebius of Nicomedia. ### Greek text Ἐν δὲ τῷ νῦν διὰ ταύτην τὴν χειροτονίαν μεγίστη ταραχὴ τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν Κωνσταντινουπόλεως ἔσχεν. Ἐν ᾧ γὰρ περιῆν ᾿Αλέξανδρος, οὐ πολλὴν παῤῥησίαν ἦγον ὅσοι τὰ ᾿Αρείου ἐφρόνουν" καὶ πρὸς αὐτὸν ὁ λαὺς βλέπων ἤγοντο, τὸ Θεῖον ἐδόξαζον." μάλιστα μετὰ τὴν ἀδόκητον ᾿Αρεῖίου συμφορὰν, ὃν οὕτως ἀποθανεῖν, ὡς εἴρηται, κατὰ θεομηνίαν ἐπίευον ταῖς ᾿λλεξάνδρου ἀρεταῖς Ἐπεὶ δὲ ἐτελεύτησε, διχῇ διακριθὲν τὸ πλῆθος, εἰς ἔριδας δογμάτων εἰς τὸ φανερὸν καθίσταντο μάχην. Σπουδὴ δὲ ἐγένετο, τοῖς μὲν τὰ ζηλοῦσι, Μακεδόνιον κε:ροτονεῖσθα! " τοῖς δὲ ὁμοούσιον τῷ Πατρὶ τὸν Υἱὸν δοξάζουσι, Παῦλον ἐπισκοπεῖν" καὶ τοῦτο ἐκράτει. Μετὰ δὲ τὴν Παύλου χειροτονίαν, παραγενόμενος ὁ βασιλεὺς, ἔτυχε γὰρ τότε ἀπόδημος, ἐχαλέπαινεν, ὡς ἀναξίῳ τῆς ἐπισκοπῆς ἐπιτραπείτης. Ἔξ ἐπιθουλῆῇς τε τῶν πρὸς Παῦλον ἀπεχθανομένων, σύνοδον χαῦ - ἰσας, τὸν μὲν ἀπεώσατο τῆς Ἐκκλησίας" Εὐσεδίῳ δὲ τῷ Νικομηδείας ἐπισκόπῳ τὸν Κωνσταντινουπόλεως θρόνον παρέδιωχε. ### English translation (Claude) At this time very great turmoil seized the church of Constantinople because of this ordination. While Alexander was alive, those who held the views of Arius had little freedom of speech; the people looked to him and were guided by him, and held right belief about the Divine, especially after the unexpected disaster of Arius, whose death in the manner described they believed to have come by divine wrath through the virtues of Alexander. But when he died, the people were divided in two and came to open battle in strife over doctrines. Those who followed the views of Arius were eager that Macedonius should be ordained, and those who held the Son to be of the same essence as the Father, that Paul should be bishop; and this prevailed. After Paul's ordination the emperor arrived, for he happened to be away at the time, and was angry that the episcopate had been entrusted to an unworthy man. At the instigation of those hostile to Paul he convened a synod, drove him from the church, and handed over the see of Constantinople to Eusebius, bishop of Nicomedia. ### Translation notes - Several words are garbled in the scan (“those who followed the views of Arius”; the name Paul), given from the evident sense. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 3.4 (PG 67:1039; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/3-4). ## Church History 3.5 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/2-33/#p-3-5 - Source: PG 67:1041–1045 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: At the dedication synod of Antioch (341) ninety-seven bishops appoint Gregory to Alexandria in place of Athanasius and issue creeds avoiding “of the same essence,” one said to be Lucian the martyr's. ### Greek text Καὶ ὁ μὲν τάδε πραξας, εἰς ᾿Αντιόχειαν τῆς Συρίας ἦκεν. Ἤδη δὲ ἐξεργασθείσης τῆς ἐνθάδε ἐκκλησίας, ἣν μεγέθει καὶ κάλλει ὑπερφυᾶ, ἔτι περιὼν Κωνσταντῖνος, ὑπουργῷ χρησάμενος Κωνσταντίῳ τῷ παιδί, οἰκοδημεῖν ἤρξατο, εἰς καιρὸν ἔδοξε τοῖς ἀμφὶ τὸν Εὐσέβιον, πάλαι τοῦτο σπουδάζουσι, σύνοδον γενέσθαι. Οἱ δὴ τότε, καὶ ἕτεροι τῶν τὰ αὐτὰ φρονούντων αὐτοῖς εἰς ἐνενήκοντα καὶ ἑπτὰ τελοῦντες ἐπισκόπους, πολλαχόθεν εἰς ᾿Αντιόχειαν συνῆλθον. προφάσει μὲν ὡς ἐπὶ ἀφιερώσει τῆς νεουργοῦ ἐκκλησίας· ὡς δὲ τὸ ἀποβὰν ἔδειξεν, ἐπὶ μεταποιήσει τῶν ἐν Νικαίᾳ δοξάντων. Ἡγεῖτο δὲ τηνικαῦτα τῆς Αντιοχέων Ἐκκλησίας Πλάκητος μετὰ Εὐφρόνιον. Πέμπτον δὲ ἔτος ἠνύετο ἀπὸ τῆς Κωνσταντίνου τοῦ Μεγάλου τελευτῆς. Ἐπεὶ δὲ πάντες οἱ ἐπίσκοποι συνῆλθον, παρῆν δὲ καὶ ὁ βασιλεὺς Κωνστάντιος, ἡγανάκτουν οἱ πλείους, καὶ δεινῶς ᾿Αθανάσιον ἐπῃτιῶντο, ὡς ἱερατικὸν ὑπεριδόντα θεσμὸν, ὃν αὐτοὶ ἐθεντο, καὶ πρὶν ἐπιτραπῆναι παρὰ συνόδου, τὴν ᾿Αλεξανδρέων Ἐκκλησίαν ἀπολαβόντα. Ἐκ τούτου δὲ, καὶ θανάτου πολιτῶν αἴτιον αὐτὸν ἔλεγον, ὡς ἡνίκα εἰς τὴν πόλιν εἰσήει στάσεως κινηθείσης· καὶ πολλῶν μὲν ἀναιρεθέντων, τῶν δὲ δικαστηρίοις παραδοθέντων. Μεγίστης τε διαβολῆς ὑπὸ τοιούτων λόγων κατὰ ᾿Αθανασίου ὑφανθείσης, ἐψηφίσαντο Γρηγόριον τῆς ᾿Αλεξανδρέων Ἐκκλησίας προστατεῖν. Ἐκ τούτου δὲ μεταβάντες εἰς τὴν περὶ τοῦ δόγματος ζήτησιν, τοῖς μὲν ἐν Νικαίᾳ δόξασιν οὐδὲν ἐμέμψαντο· γράμματα δὲ διεπέμψαντο τοῖς κατὰ πόλιν ἐπισκόποις, οἷς ἐδήλωσαν, ὡς ἐπίσκοποι ὄντες οὐκ ἠκολούθησαν ᾿Αρείῳ· πῶς γὰρ πρεσβυτέρῳ ὄντι ; δοκιμασταὶ δὲ γενόμενοι τῆς πίστεως αὐτοῦ, μᾶλλον αὐτὸν προσήκαντο, πιστεύειν δὲ σφᾶς κατὰ τὴν ἐξ ἀρχῆς παραδοθεῖσαν πίστιν. Εἶναι δὲ ταύτην ἣν ὑπέταξαν τῇ αὐτῶν ἐπι? στολῇ, οὐσίας μὲν Πατρὸς ἢ Υἱοῦ, ἢ τοῦ ὁμοουσίου ὀνόματος μηδαμῶς μεμνημένην· ἐπαμφοτερίζουσαν δὲ ταῖς ἐννοίαις, ὡς μήτε τοὺς τὰ ᾿Αρείου φρονοῦντας, μήτε τοὺς ἑπομένους τῇ ἐν Νικαίᾳ συνόδῳ, δύνασθαι τῇ συντάξει τῶν ῥημάτων ἐπισκήπτειν, ὡς ἀγνώστων ταῖς ἱεραῖς Γραφὰῖς. Παραλιπόντες γὰρ ἅπερ ἐκάτεροι οὐ προσίεντο, τὰ παρ' ἑκατέρων ὁμολογούμενα τεθείκασιν ὀνόματα ταύτῃ τῇ γραφῇ. Συνεῖναι μὲν γὰρ τὸν Υἱὸν τῷ Πατρὶ, καὶ μονογενῆ καὶ Θεὸν εἶναι, καὶ πρὸ πάντων ὑπάρχειν, σάρκα τε ἀνειληφέναι, καὶ τὴν πατρώαν πεπληρωκέναι βουλὴν, καὶ τὰ ἄλλα ὁμοίως συνωμολόγησαν. Πότερον δὲ συναΐδιος ἢ ὁμοούσιός ἐστι τῷ Πατρὶ, ἢ τοὐναντίον, οὐκ ἐνέγραψαν. Μεταμεληθέντες δὲ, ὡς ἔοικεν, ἐπὶ ταύτῃ τῇ γραφῇ, πάλιν ἑτέραν παρὰ ταύτην ἐξέθεντο· τὰ μὲν ἄλλα, ὡς οἶμαι, συνάδουσαν τῷ δόγματι τῶν ἐν Νικαίᾳ συνελθόντων, εἰ μὴ τις ἐμοὶ ἄδηλος διάνοια τοῖς ῥητοῖς ἀφανῶς ἔγκειται. Οὐκ οἶδα δὲ ἀνθ᾿ ὅτου, ὁμοούσιον εἰπεῖν τὸν Υἱὸν παραιτησάμενοι, ἄτρεπτόν τε καὶ ἀναλλοίωτον τῆς θεότητος ἀπεφήναντο, οὐσίας τε καὶ βουλῆς καὶ δυνάμεως καὶ δόξης ἀπαράλλακτον εἰκόνα, καὶ πρωτότοκον πάσης κτίσεως. Ἔλεγον δὲ ταύτην τὴν πίστιν ὁλόγραφον εὑρηκέναι Λουκιατοῦ ἐν Νικομηδείᾳ μαρτυρήσαντος, ἀνδρὸς τὰ τε ἄλλα εὐδοκιμωτάτου, καὶ τὰς ἱερὰς Γραφὰς εἰς ἄκρον ἠκριβωκότος· πότερον δὲ ἀληθῶς ταῦτα ἔφασαν, ἢ τὴν ἰδίαν γραφὴν σεμνοποιοῦντες τῷ ἀξιώματι τοῦ μάρτυρος, λέγειν οὐκ ἔχω. Μετέσχον δὲ ταύτης τῆς συνόδου, οὐ μόνον Εὐσέβιος, ὃς μετὰ Παῦλον ἐκβεβλημένον, ἐκ Νικομηδείας μεταστὰς, τὸν Κωνσταντινουπόλεως εἶχε θρόνον· ἀλλὰ καὶ ᾿Ακάκιος ὁ Εὐσεβίου τοῦ Παμφίλου διάδοχος, καὶ Πατρόφιλος ὁ Σκυθοπόλεως, καὶ Θεόδωρος ὁ Ἡρακλείας, τῆς πρὶν Περίνθου ὀνομαζομένης, Εὐδόξιός τε Γερμανικίας, ὃς ὕστερον μετὰ Μακεδόνιον τὴν Κωνσταντινουπόλεως ἐπετράπη Ἐκκλησίαν, καὶ Γρηγόριος ὁ τῆς ᾿Αλεξανδρέων Ἐκκλησίας αἱρεθεὶς προστατεῖν. Οἱ δὴ τότε τὰ αὐτὰ φρονεῖν ἀλλήλοις ὡμολόγηντο· ἀλλὰ γὰρ καὶ Διάνοιος ὁ παρὰ Καππαδόκαις Καισαρείας ἐπίσκοπος, καὶ Γεώργιος ὁ Λαοδικείας τῆς παρὰ Σύροις, ἄλλοι τε πολλοὶ μητροπολιτικὰς καὶ ἄλλως ἐπισήμους Ἐκκλησίας ἐπισκοποῦντες. ### English translation (Claude) Having done this, he came to Antioch in Syria. The church there, of extraordinary size and beauty, which Constantine had begun to build while still alive, using his son Constantius as his helper, had now been completed; and it seemed to Eusebius's party, who had long been eager for this, the right moment to hold a synod. They, and others of the same views, ninety-seven bishops in all, gathered at Antioch from many places, ostensibly for the dedication of the new church, but, as the outcome showed, to alter what had been decided at Nicaea. Placetus was then leading the church of Antioch after Euphronius. It was the fifth year since the death of Constantine the Great. When all the bishops had gathered, and the emperor Constantius was also present, most of them were indignant and fiercely accused Athanasius of having disregarded a priestly ordinance which they themselves had made, and of having taken back the church of Alexandria before being permitted by a synod. On this ground they also said he was the cause of the death of citizens, since when he entered the city a disturbance had arisen, and many had been killed and others handed over to the courts. When the greatest slander had been woven against Athanasius by such arguments, they voted that Gregory should head the church of Alexandria. Then, passing to the inquiry about the doctrine, they found no fault with what had been decided at Nicaea; but they sent letters to the bishops in the cities declaring that, being bishops, they had not followed Arius, for how could they follow one who was a presbyter? but that, having become examiners of his faith, they had rather received him; and that they believed according to the faith handed down from the beginning. This, they said, was the one they appended to their letter, which made no mention at all of the essence of the Father or of the Son, or of the term “of the same essence,” but equivocated in its meaning, so that neither those who held the views of Arius nor those who followed the synod of Nicaea could attack the composition of its words as unknown to the sacred Scriptures. For leaving out what each side did not accept, they put into this document the terms acknowledged by both. They agreed that the Son is with the Father, is only-begotten and God, exists before all things, took flesh and fulfilled the Father's will, and other things likewise; but whether he is co-eternal or of the same essence with the Father, or the contrary, they did not write. Having changed their minds, it seems, about this document, they set out another besides it, in other respects, as I think, agreeing with the doctrine of those who met at Nicaea, unless some meaning unknown to me lies hidden in the words. I do not know why, having refused to call the Son of the same essence, they declared him unchangeable and unalterable in his divinity, the exact image of the essence, will, power and glory, and the firstborn of all creation. They said they had found this creed written in the hand of Lucian, who was martyred at Nicomedia, a man most highly esteemed in other respects and who had studied the sacred Scriptures with the greatest exactness; but whether they said this truly, or were dignifying their own document by the martyr's reputation, I cannot say. Taking part in this synod were not only Eusebius, who, after Paul had been expelled, had moved from Nicomedia and held the see of Constantinople, but also Acacius, Eusebius son of Pamphilus's successor, Patrophilus of Scythopolis, Theodore of Heraclea, formerly called Perinthus, Eudoxius of Germanicia, who later, after Macedonius, was entrusted with the church of Constantinople, and Gregory, who had been chosen to head the church of Alexandria. These were then acknowledged to hold the same views as one another. There were also Dianius, bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia, George of Laodicea in Syria, and many others who were bishops of metropolitan or otherwise notable churches. ### Scripture references - Col 1:15: quotation, high confidence - Heb 1:3: allusion, medium confidence - John 1:18: allusion, low confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Athanasius, Syn. 22-23 (On the Councils of Ariminum and Seleucia): allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The “priestly ordinance” is canon 4 or 12 of the same synod of Antioch, forbidding a deposed bishop to resume his see without a synod. The first creed is the “first creed of Antioch”; the second, the “Dedication Creed,” attributed to Lucian of Antioch (martyred 312). On ὁμοούσιος see 1.15. “The exact image … firstborn of all creation” echoes Col 1:15 and Heb 1:3. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 3.5 (PG 67:1041–1045; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/3-5). ## Church History 3.6 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/2-33/#p-3-6 - Source: PG 67:1045–1047 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Eusebius of Emesa, a learned Edessene, declines the see of Alexandria; Gregory is installed by soldiers, and Athanasius escapes from his church during a psalm and goes to Rome. ### Greek text Σὺν αὐτοῖς δὲ καὶ Εὐσέβιος ὁ ἐπίκλην Ἐμεσηνός· ὃς τὸ μὲν γένος, ἐξ Ἐδέσσης τῆς Ὀσροηνῶν εὐπατρίδης ὑπῆρχεν· ἐκ νέου δὲ κατὰ πάτριον ἔθος τοὺς ἱεροὺς ἐκμαθὼν λόγους, μετὰ ταῦτα καὶ τὰ παρ' Ἕλλησιν ἐξεδιδάχθη παιδεύματα, διδασκάλοις τοῖς ἐνθάδε τότε οὖσι φοιτήσας. Ὕστερον δὲ ἐξηγηταῖς Εὐσεβίῳ τῷ Παμφίλου, καὶ Πατροφίλῳ τῷ προϊσταμένῳ Σκυθοπόλεως, τὰς θείας βίβλους ἠκρίβωσε. Παραγενόμενός τε εἰς ᾿Αντιόχειαν, ἐπεὶ συνέβη Εὐστάθιον καθαιρεθῆναι διὰ τὴν Κύρου κατηγορίαν, Εὐφρονίῳ τῷ μετ᾿ αὐτὸν συνῆν. Φεύγων δὲ ἱερᾶσθαι, ἀφίκετο εἰς Ἀλεξάνδρειαν, φιλοσόφοις τοῖς τῇδε φοιτήσας· καὶ τὰ ἐκείνων ἀσκηθεὶς μαθήματα, ἐπανῆλθεν εἰς ᾿Αντιόχειαν, καὶ Πλακήτῳ πάλιν τῷ μετὰ Εὐφρόνιον συνδιέτριβεν. Ὡς δὲ συνέβη ταύτην ἐνθάδε συγκροτεῖσθαι σύνοδον, ἐπὶ τὸν ᾿Αλεξανδρείας προεκλήθη θρόνον ὑπὸ Εὐσεβίου τοῦ Κωνσταντινουπόλεως ἐπισκόπου. ᾜετο γὰρ αὐτὸν εὖ μάλα πολιτευόμενον, καὶ λέγειν κράτιστον ὄντα, ῥᾳδίως μεταστῆσαι τοὺς Αἰγυπτίους τῆς περὶ ᾿Αθανάσιον εὐνοίας. Ἐπεὶ δὲ ταύτην παρῃτήσατο τὴν χειροτονίαν, λογισάμενος ὡς εὐτρεπὲς εὑρήσει μίσος παρὰ ᾿Αλεξανδρεῦσιν, οὐκ ἀνεχομένοις ἕτερον ἀντὶ ᾿Αθανασίου ἰδεῖν, ἐπιτρέπεται Γρηγόριος • τὴν τῶν ᾿Αλεξανδρέων, αὐτὸς δὲ τὴν Ἐμέσης Ἐκκλησίαν. Ἐνταῦθα στάσιν ὑπομείνας · διεβάλλετο γὰρ ἀσκεῖσθαι τῆς ἀστρονομίας, ὃ μέρος ἀποτελεσματικὸν ἀ καλοῦσι, φυγὰς ἦλθεν εἰς Λαοδίκειαν πρὸς Γεώργιον τὸν ἐνθάδε ἐπίσκοπον, ἐπιτήδειον ὄντα. Ὁ δὲ, εἰς Αντιόχειαν αὐτῷ συνελθών, πρὸς Πλάκητον καὶ Νάρκισσον τοὺς ἐπισκόπους, ἐπανελθεῖν εἰς Ἔμεσαν παρεσκεύασεν. Ἐγένετο δὲ Κωνσταντίῳ τῷ βασιλεῖ κεχαρισμένος. Αμέλει τοι ἡνίκα Πέρσαις ἐπιστρατεύειν ἔμελλεν, αὐτὸν ἐπήγετο. Λέγεται γὰρ πολλὰ δι' αὐτοῦ θαυματουργῆσαι τὸ Θεῖον, ὡς μαρτυρεῖ Γεώργιος ὁ Λαοδικεὺς, ταῦτα καὶ ἕτερα περὶ αὐτοῦ διεξελθών. ᾿Αλλ᾿ ὁ μὲν καίπερ τοιοῦτος ὢν, οὐ διέφυγε τὸν φθόνον τῶν ἀνιᾶσθαι πεφυκότων ἐπὶ ταῖς ἄλλων ἀρεταῖς. Ὑπέμεινε δὲ καὶ αὐτὸς μέμψιν, ὡς τὰ Σαβελλίου φρονῶν. Ἐν δὲ τῷ νῦν τὰ αὐτὰ τοῖς ἐν ᾿Αντιοχείᾳ συνελθοῦσιν ἐψηφίσατο. Μάξιμον μέντοι τὸν Ἱεροσολύμων ἐπίσκοπον, ἐπίτηδες λέγεται ταύτην ἀποφυγεῖν τὴν σύνοδον, μεταμεληθέντα καθότι ἀπατηθεὶς, σύμψηφος ἐγένετο τοῖς ᾿Αθανάσιον καθελοῦσιν. Οὐ μὴν οὐδὲ ὁ τὸν Ῥωμαίων διέπων θρόνου, οὐδὲ τῶν ἄλλων Ἰταλῶν, ἢ τῶν ἐπέκεινα Ῥωμαίων οὐδεὶς ἐνθάδε συνῆλθεν. Ἐν τούτῳ δὲ, Φράγκων μὲν τοὺς πρὸς δύσιν Γαλάτας δῃούντων · τῆς δὲ πρὸς ἕω ἀρχομένης ὑπὸ μεγίστων σεισμῶν τινασσομένης, καὶ μάλιστα τῆς Ἀντιοχέων πόλεως μετὰ τὴν ἐνθάδε σύνοδον, ἧκε Γρηγόριος εἰς ᾿Αλεξάνδρειαν σὺν πλήθει στρατιωτῶν·, οἳ προνοεῖν προσετάχθησαν, ὡς ἂν ἀστασίαστος καὶ ἀσφαλὴς αὐτῷ ἡ εἴσοδος γένοιτο. Συνελαμβάνοντο δὲ αὐτοῖς καὶ οἱ τὰ ᾿Αρείου φρανοῦντες περί τε ταῦτα, καὶ ὅπως ᾿Αθανάσιον ἐξελάσωσιν. Ὁ δὲ ἐδεδίει, μή τι δι' αὐτὸν ὁ λαὸς πάθοι. Καὶ τῆς νυκτὸς ἐπιλαβούσης ἐκκλησίαζεν· ἤδη τε τῶν στρατιωτῶν καταλαβόντων τὴν ἐκκλησίαν, εὐχὴν ἀποτελέσας, πρότερον ψαλμὸν ῥηθῆναι παρεκελεύσατο. Συμφώνου δὲ τῆς ψαλμῳδίας γενομένης, οἱ στρατιῶται τέως ἡσύχαζον, ὡς οὐκ εὔκαιρον ὃν ἐπιθέσθαι τότε. Ἐν τούτῳ δὲ διαδὺς ὑπὸ τοὺς ψάλλοντας, ἔλαθεν ἐξελθὼν, καὶ εἰς τὴν Ῥώμην ἀνήχθη. Γρηγόριος δὲ τῶν ᾿Αλεξανδρέων κατέσχε θρόνον· ὁ δὲ λαὸς χαλεπήνας, τὴν ἐπώνυμον Διονυσίου τοῦ τῇδε ἐπισκοπήσαντος ἐκκλησίαν ἐνέπρησαν. ### English translation (Claude) With them was also Eusebius, surnamed of Emesa. By birth he was of a noble family of Edessa in Osrhoene. From youth he learned the sacred writings according to the custom of his country, and afterward he was taught the learning of the Greeks too, attending the teachers who were there at that time. Later he studied the divine books thoroughly under the interpreters Eusebius son of Pamphilus and Patrophilus, who presided over Scythopolis. Coming to Antioch, when Eustathius happened to be deposed on the accusation of Cyrus, he was in the company of Euphronius, his successor. Fleeing from the priesthood, he went to Alexandria and attended the philosophers there; and having been trained in their learning, he returned to Antioch and again spent his time with Placetus, the successor of Euphronius. When this synod was being held there, he was proposed for the see of Alexandria by Eusebius, bishop of Constantinople. For Eusebius thought that, being very good at public affairs and a most powerful speaker, he would easily turn the Egyptians from their goodwill toward Athanasius. But when he declined this ordination, reckoning that he would find ready hatred among the Alexandrians, who would not bear to see another in place of Athanasius, Gregory was entrusted with the church of Alexandria and he himself with that of Emesa. There he suffered a riot, for he was accused of practising the part of astronomy they call judicial; he fled to Laodicea, to George, the bishop there, who was his friend. George went with him to Antioch and arranged, through the bishops Placetus and Narcissus, for him to return to Emesa. He was in favour with the emperor Constantius; for instance, when the emperor was about to march against the Persians, he took him with him. For it is said that the Divine worked many wonders through him, as George of Laodicea bears witness, who relates these and other things about him. But though he was such a man, he did not escape the envy of those whose nature is to be pained at the virtues of others; he too incurred the charge of holding the views of Sabellius. At this time he voted with those who met at Antioch. Maximus, bishop of Jerusalem, is said to have deliberately avoided this synod, because he repented that, having been deceived, he had voted with those who deposed Athanasius. Nor did he who governed the see of Rome, nor any of the other Italians or of those beyond the Romans, come there. Meanwhile, when the Franks were ravaging the western Gauls, and the East was being shaken by very great earthquakes, especially the city of Antioch, after the synod there, Gregory came to Alexandria with a multitude of soldiers, who had been ordered to see that his entry should be without disturbance and safe. Those who held the views of Arius helped them in this and in driving out Athanasius. Athanasius feared that the people might suffer something on his account. When night came on he was holding an assembly; and when the soldiers had already occupied the church, he finished the prayer and first ordered a psalm to be sung. While the psalm was being sung in unison, the soldiers kept quiet for a time, since it was not a fitting moment to attack. Meanwhile, slipping out among those singing, he went out unnoticed and sailed up to Rome. Gregory took possession of the see of Alexandria; and the people, enraged, set fire to the church named after Dionysius, who had been bishop there. ### Translation notes - The “judicial” (ἀποτελεσματικόν) part of astronomy is astrology. In the scan a line telling Athanasius's escape (“[those singing], he went out unnoticed and sailed up to Rome”) was displaced into the account of Eusebius of Emesa; the translation restores it. Gregory of Cappadocia entered Alexandria in 339. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 3.6 (PG 67:1045–1047; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/3-6). ## Church History 3.7 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/2-33/#p-3-7 - Source: PG 67:1049–1051 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Rome and the West receive Athanasius; at Constantinople rival bishops Paul and Macedonius are installed, riots kill the general Hermogenes, and Constantius expels Paul and cuts the city's grain dole; George replaces Gregory at Alexandria. ### Greek text Ὧδε μὲν τοῖς ἀπὸ τῆς ἐναντίας αἱρέσεως τὰ βεβουλευμένα κατώρθωτο, καθῃρημένων τῶν σπουδῇ προϊσταμένων ἀνὰ τὴν ἕω τοῦ ἐν Νικαίᾳ βεβαιωθέντος δόγματος. Προκατειλημμένων τε τῶν ἐπισημοτάτων θρόνων, ᾿Αλεξανδρείας τῆς κατ᾿ Αἴγυπτον, καὶ ᾿Αντιοχείας τῆς ἐν Συρίᾳ, καὶ τῆς παρὰ τὸν Ἑλλήσποντον βασιλίδος πόλεως, πειθομένους εἶχον τοὺς ἀνὰ τόδε τὸ ὑπήκοον ἐπισκόπους. Ὁ δὲ τὴν Ῥωμαίων Ἐκκλησίαν ἐπιτροπεύων, καὶ οἱ ἀνὰ τὴν δύσιν ἱερεῖς, ὕβριν οἰκείαν ταῦτα ἡγοῦντο. Ἐφ᾽ ἅπασι γὰρ τῶν ἐν Νικαίᾳ συνεληλυθότων ἐξ ἀρχῆς τὴν ψῆφον ἐπαινέσαντες, εἰσέτι νῦν οὐ διέλιπον ὧδε φρονοῦντες· ἀφικόμενόν τε ὡς αὐτοὺς ᾿Αθανάσιον, φιλοφρόνως ἐδέξαντο, καὶ πρὸς αὐτοὺς τὴν κατ᾿ αὐτὸν εἶλκον δίκην. Ἐπὶ τούτοις δὲ χαλεπῶς φέρων Εὐσέβιος, ἔγραψεν Ἰουλίῳ, ὥστε αὐτὸν γενέσθαι κριτὴν τῶν ἐπὶ ᾿Αθανασίῳ δοξάντων ἐν Τύρῳ. ᾿Αλλ᾿ ὁ μὲν, πρὶν μαθεῖν τὴν Ἰουλίου γνώμην, οὐ πολλῷ ὕστερον τῆς ἐν ᾿Αντιοχείᾳ γενομένης συνόδου, ἐτελεύτησεν. Οἱ δὲ ἐν Κωνσταντίνου πόλει τὴν ἐκτεθεῖσαν ἐν Νικαίᾳ δόξαν ζηλώσαντες, εἰς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν ἤγαγον Παῦλον. Ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ δὲ συλλαμβανομένων τῶν ἀπὸ τοῦ ἐναντίου πλήθους, ἐν ἑτέρᾳ ἐκκλησίᾳ συνελθόν- ( τες οἱ ἀμφὶ Θεόγνιον τὸν Νικαίας ἐπίσκοπον καὶ Θεόδωρον τὸν Ἡρακλείας, ἕτεροί τε οἱ τὰ τούτων φρονοῦντες, οἱ ἔτυχον ἐνδημοῦντες, Μακεδόνιον ἐχειροτόνησαν Κωνσταντινουπόλεως ἐπίσκοπον. Εντεῦθέν τε συχναὶ κατὰ τὴν πόλιν ἐγένοντο στάσεις, πολέμοις ἐμφερεῖς. Εἰς ἑαυτὸ γὰρ ἑκατέρωθεν τοῦ πλήθους συμπίπτοντος, πλείστοι διώλλυντο · καὶ ταραχῆς ἡ πόλις ἀνάπλεως ἦν· ὡς καὶ βασιλέα τότε ἐν ᾿Αντιοχείᾳ ὄντα, τάδε μαθεῖν, καὶ πρὸς ὀργὴν κινηθέντα, προστάξαι πάλιν ἀπελαύνεσθαι Παῦλον. Διηκονεῖτο δὲ τοῖς βασιλέως προστάγμασιν Ερμογένης, ὁ τὴν ἱππικὴν δύναμιν ἐπιτετραμμένος στρατηγός · ὃς ἐπὶ Θράκην τότε ἀποσταλεὶς, παριὼν διὰ Κωνσταντινουπόλεως, ἐβιάζετο Παῦλον διὰ στρατιωτῶν ἐξελάσαι τῆς ἐκκλησίας. Ἐπεὶ δὲ τὸ πλῆθος οὐ συνεχώρει, πῆ δὲ καὶ ἡμύνετο· βιαιότερόν τε ἐπεχείρουν εἱ στρατιῶται ἐπιτελεῖν τὸ προσταχθὲν, καταλαβόντες τὴν Ἑρμογένους οἰκίαν οἱ στρατιῶται ἐν έπρησαν, καὶ αὐτὸν ἀναιροῦσι καὶ σχοινίον ἐξάψαντες εἶλκον διὰ τῆς πόλεως. ᾿Ακούσας δὲ ὁ βασιλεὺς, ἱππεὺς ἐλάσας ἧκεν εἰς Κωνσταντινούπολιν, ὡς κακῶς δράσων τὸ πλῆθος. ᾿Αλλὰ τῶν μὲν ἐφείσατο, δεδακρυμένους αὐτῷ ἰδὼν ὑπαντωμένους, καὶ ἀντιβολοῦντας · ἀμφὶ δὲ τὸ ἥμισυ τοῦ σίτου τὴν πόλιν ἀφείλετο, ὂν ὁ πατὴρ αὐτοῦ Κωνσταντῖνος, ἑκάστου ἔτους ἀπὸ τοῦ δημοσίου τοῖς πολίταις ἐδωρήσατο ἐκ τῶν Αἰγυπτίων φόρων· ὑπολαβὼν ἴσως ὑπὸ τρυφῆς καὶ ῥαστώνης τοὺς πολλοὺς ἀργοῦντας, ἑτοίμους εἰς στάσεις εἶναι. Τρέπει δὲ τὴν ὀργὴν ἐπὶ Παῦλον, καὶ τῆς πόλεως ἀπελαθῆναι προσέταξεν αὐτόν. Οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ πρὸς Μακεδόνιον ἐχαλέπαινεν, ὡς τῆς ἀναιρέσεως τοῦ στρατηγοῦ καὶ ἑτέρων πολλῶν αἴτιον· καὶ ὅτι πρὸν αὐτὸν ἐπιτρέψαι ἐχειροτονήθη· οὔτε δὲ ἐπιψηφισάμενος τῇ αὐτοῦ χειροτονίᾳ, οὔτε ἀποχειροτονήσας, καταλιπὼν οὕτως ἀνέστρεψεν εἰς Αντιόχειαν. Ἐν τούτῳ δὲ οἱ τῆς ᾿Αρείου δόξης σπουδασταί, μετέστησαν Γρηγόριον, ὡς ἀμελῆ πρὸς σύστασιν τοῦ οἰκείου δόγματος, καὶ ᾿Αλεξανδρεῦσιν ἀκαταθύμιον διὰ τὰ συμβάντα τῇ πόλει χαλεπὰ περὶ τὴν αὐτοῦ εἴσοδον, καὶ τὸν ἐμπρησμὸν τῆς ἐκκλησίας. ᾿Αντὶ δὲ τούτου πέμπεται Γεώργιος, ὃς τὸ μὲν γένος ἦν Καππαδόκης · ὡς δραστήριος δὲ ἐθαυμάζετο, καὶ περὶ τοῦτο τὸ δόγμα σπουδαῖος. ### English translation (Claude) In this way the plans of those of the opposing sect succeeded: those who zealously championed in the East the doctrine confirmed at Nicaea had been deposed, and since they had already seized the most illustrious sees, of Alexandria in Egypt, of Antioch in Syria, and of the imperial city by the Hellespont, they had the bishops throughout these regions obedient to them. But the bishop of the church of Rome and the priests of the West regarded these things as an insult to themselves. For they had approved from the beginning the vote of those who met at Nicaea in everything, and had not ceased to hold this view even now; and when Athanasius came to them, they received him kindly and drew his case to themselves. Eusebius, vexed at this, wrote to Julius that he should be judge of what had been decided about Athanasius at Tyre. But before learning Julius's decision, he died, not long after the synod held at Antioch. Those at Constantinople who were zealous for the doctrine set out at Nicaea brought Paul into the church. At the same time, as those of the opposite party joined together, the party of Theognis, bishop of Nicaea, and Theodore of Heraclea, and others of their views who happened to be in the city, met in another church and ordained Macedonius bishop of Constantinople. From then on frequent disturbances like wars arose in the city; for the people clashed with each other on both sides, very many were killed, and the city was full of turmoil, so that the emperor, then at Antioch, learning of this and being moved to anger, ordered Paul to be driven out again. The emperor's orders were carried out by Hermogenes, the general in command of the cavalry. Being sent at that time to Thrace and passing through Constantinople, he tried to drive Paul from the church by means of soldiers. When the people would not allow it, and in some measure defended him, and the soldiers tried to carry out the order more violently, the people seized Hermogenes's house, set it on fire, killed him, tied a rope to him and dragged him through the city. When the emperor heard of it, he rode on horseback to Constantinople to punish the people. But he spared them when he saw them meeting him in tears and entreating him; he deprived the city of about half the grain which his father Constantine had given each year from the public stores to the citizens out of the taxes of Egypt, supposing perhaps that the many, idle from luxury and ease, were ready for riots. He turned his anger on Paul and ordered him to be driven from the city. He was also angry with Macedonius, as the cause of the death of the general and of many others, and because he had been ordained before he gave permission; and neither confirming his ordination nor annulling it, he left matters so and returned to Antioch. Meanwhile the zealots for the opinion of Arius removed Gregory, as negligent in establishing their doctrine and disliked by the Alexandrians because of the hardships that befell the city at his entry and the burning of the church. In his place George was sent, a Cappadocian by race, who was admired as a man of action and was zealous for this doctrine. ### Translation notes - A fragment of Valesius's chapter title (“… Constantius comes, removes Paul, is angry with the city, leaves Macedonius in doubt, and returns to Antioch”) stood at the head of the section in the scan and has been removed. In the scan a line was displaced into the sentence about the grain (“the establishment of their doctrine, and to the Alexandrians”); it is restored to the sentence about Gregory. Hermogenes was killed in 342. Sozomen's statement that Gregory was replaced by George at this point conflicts with other accounts, in which Gregory held the see until his death in 345 and George came in 356. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 3.7 (PG 67:1049–1051; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/3-7). ## Church History 3.8 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/2-33/#p-3-8 - Source: PG 67:1051–1055 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Athanasius, Paul, Marcellus, Asclepas and Lucius, deposed in the East, are received at Rome by Julius, who restores them and rebukes the Eastern bishops; these answer with a sharp letter defending their synod and threatening to break communion. ### Greek text ᾿Αθανάσιος δὲ φεύγων ἐκ τῆς ᾿Αλεξανδρείας, εἰς Ῥώμην ἀφίκετο. Κατ' αὐτὸ δὲ συνέβη καὶ Παῦλον τὸν Κωνσταντινουπόλεως ἐπίσκοπον συνδραμεῖν, καὶ Μάρκελλον τὸν ᾿Αγκύρας, καὶ ᾿Ασκληπᾶν τὸν Γάζης, ὃς ἐναντίος ὢν τοῖς ᾿Αρείου, γραφὴν ὑπομείνας πρὸς ἑτεροδόξων τινῶν ὡς θυσιαστήριον ἀνατρέψας, καθῃρέθη. ᾿Αλλ᾿ ἀντὶ τούτου μὲν ἐπιτρέπεται τὴν Γαζαίων Ἐκκλησίαν Κυντιανός. Καὶ Λούκιος δὲ ὁ Αδριανουπόλεως ἐπίσκοπος, ἐπ᾿ ἄλλῳ κατηγορηθεὶς, καὶ τῆς ὑπ᾿ αὐτὸν Ἐκκλησίας ἀφαιρεθεὶς, ἐν Ῥώμῃ διῆγε. Μαθὼν δὲ ὁ Ῥωμαίων ἐπίσκοπος τὰ ἑκάστου ἐγκλήματα, ἐπειδὴ πάντας όμονοοῦντας εὖρε περὶ τὸ δόγμα τῆς ἐν Νικαίᾳ συνόδου, ὡς ὁμοδόξους αὐτοὺς εἰς κοινωνίαν προσήκατο. Οἷα δὲ τῆς πάντων κηδεμονίας αὐτῷ προσηκούσης διὰ τὴν ἀξίαν τοῦ θρόνου, ἑκάστῳ τὴν ἰδίαν Ἐκκλησίαν ἀπέδωκε. Καὶ τοῖς ἀνὰ τὴν ἕω ἐπισκόποις ἔγραψε, μεμφόμενος ὡς οὐκ ὀρθῶς βουλευσαμένοις περὶ τοὺς ἄνδρας, καὶ τὰς Ἐκκλησίας ταράττουσι, τῷ μὴ ἐμμένειν τοῖς ἐν Νεκαίᾳ δόξασιν. Ὀλίγους δὲ ἐκ πάντων εἰς ῥητὴν ἡμέραν παρεῖναι ἐκέλευσε, διελέγξοντας δικαίαν ἐπ᾿ αὐτοῖς ἐνηνοχέναι τὴν ψῆφον · ἢ τοῦ λοιποῦ οὐκ ἀνέξεσθαι ἠπείλησεν, εἰ μὴ παύσοιντο νεωτερίζοντες. Καὶ ὁ μὲν τάδε ἔγραψεν. Οἱ δὲ ἀμφὶ τὸν ᾿Αθανάσιον καὶ Παῦλον, ἕκαστος τὸν ἑαυτοῦ κατείληφε θρόνον, καὶ τὰς Ἰουλίου ἐπιστολὰς διεπέμψαντο τοῖς ἀνὰ τὴν ἕω ἐπισκόποις. Οἱ δὲ ἐπὶ ταύταις χαλεπῶς ἤνεγκαν· καὶ συλλεγέντες ἐν ᾿Αντιοχείᾳ, ἀντέγραψαν Ἰουλίῳ κεκαλλιεπημένην τινὰ, καὶ δικανικῶς συντεταγμένην ἐπιστολὴν, εἰρωνείας τε πολλῆς ἀνάπλεων, καὶ ἀπειλῆς οὐκ ἀμοιροῦσαν δεινοτάτης. Φέρειν μὲν γὰρ πᾶσι φιλοτιμίαν τὴν Ῥωμαίων Ἐκκλησίαν ἐν τοῖς γράμμασιν ὡμολόγουν. ὡς ἀποστόλων φροντιστήριον, καὶ εὐσεβείας μητρόπολιν ἐξ ἀρχῆς γεγενημένην· εἰ καὶ ἐκ τῆς ἕω ἐνεδήμησαν αὐτῇ οἱ τοῦ δόγματος εἰσηγηταί. Οὐ παρὰ τοῦτο δὲ τὰ δευτερεῖα φέρειν ἠξίουν, ὅτι μὴ μεγέθει ἢ πλήθει Ἐκκλησίας πλεονεκτοῦσιν, ὡς ἀρετῇ καὶ προαιρέσει νι κῶντες. Εἰς ἐγκλήματα δὲ προφέροντες Ἰουλίῳ τὸ κοινωνῆσαι τοῖς ἀμφὶ τὸν ᾿Αθανάσιον, ἐχαλέπαινον ὡς ὑβρισμένης αὐτῶν τῆς συνόδου, καὶ τῆς ἀποφάσεως ἀναιρεθείσης · καὶ τὸ γενόμενον, ὡς ἄδικον ἐκκλησιαστικοῦ θεσμοῦ ἀπάδον διέβαλλον. Ἐπὶ τούτοις δὲ ὧδέ πως μεμψάμενοι, καὶ δεινὰ πεπονθέναι μαρτυράμενοι, δεχομένῳ μὲν Ἰουλίῳ τὴν καθαίρεσιν τῶν πρὸς αὐτῶν ἐληλαμένων, καὶ τὴν κατάστασιν τῶν ἀντ᾿ αὐτῶν χειροτονηθέντων, εἰρήνην καὶ κοινωνίαν ἐπηγγέλλοντο· ἀνθισταμένῳ δὲ τοῖς δεδογμένοις, τἀναντία προηγόρευσαν. Ἐπεὶ καὶ τοὺς πρὸ αὐτῶν ἀνὰ τὴν ἕω ἱερέας οὐδὲν ἀντειπεῖν ἰσχυρίζοντο, ἡνίκα Ναυατιανὸς τῆς Ῥωμαίων Ἐκκλησίας ἠλάθη. Περὶ δὲ τῶν πεπραγμένων περὶ τὰ δόξαντα τοῖς εν Νικαιᾳ συνελθούσιν, οὐδὲν αὐτῷ ἀντέγραψαν, πολλὰς μὲν αἰτίας ἔχειν εἰς παραίτησιν ἀναγκαίαν τῶν γεγενημένων δηλώσαντες· ἀπολογεῖσθαι δὲ νῦν ὑπὲρ τούτων περιττὸν εἰπόντες, ὡς ἅπαξ ὁμοῦ ἐπὶ πᾶσιν ἀδικεῖν ὑπονοηθέντες. ### English translation (Claude) Athanasius, fleeing from Alexandria, came to Rome. At the same time Paul, bishop of Constantinople, happened to arrive there too, and Marcellus of Ancyra, and Asclepas of Gaza, who, being opposed to the Arians, had been accused by some of a different opinion of having overturned an altar and had been deposed; in his place Quintianus was entrusted with the church of Gaza. Lucius too, bishop of Adrianople, accused on another charge and deprived of his church, was living in Rome. The bishop of the Romans, having learned the charges against each, and finding them all in agreement with the doctrine of the synod of Nicaea, admitted them into communion as of the same faith. And since the care of all belonged to him because of the dignity of his see, he restored to each his own church. He wrote to the bishops in the East, blaming them for not having judged rightly about these men and for troubling the churches by not abiding by what had been decided at Nicaea. He ordered a few of them all to be present on a set day to prove that they had passed a just sentence on them; otherwise he threatened that he would not tolerate them in future if they did not stop innovating. So he wrote. Athanasius and Paul each recovered his see, and sent Julius's letters to the bishops in the East. These took them hard; and gathering at Antioch, they wrote back to Julius a letter elegantly phrased and composed in a lawyer's manner, full of much irony and not without the most terrible threats. In the letter they acknowledged that the church of the Romans was held in honour by all, as having been from the beginning the school of the apostles and the metropolis of piety, even though the introducers of the doctrine had settled there from the East. But they did not think that on this account they should take second place, since, if they did not surpass it in the size or numbers of their church, they excelled it in virtue and purpose. Bringing as a charge against Julius his communion with Athanasius's party, they were indignant that their synod had been insulted and its sentence annulled, and they denounced what had been done as unjust and contrary to church law. After complaining in this way and protesting that they had suffered wrong, they promised peace and communion to Julius if he accepted the deposition of those they had driven out and the appointment of those ordained in their place; but if he opposed what had been decided, they announced the contrary. For they insisted that the priests in the East before them had made no objection when Novatian was driven from the church of the Romans. About what had been done concerning the decisions of those who met at Nicaea they wrote him nothing in reply, declaring that they had many reasons for a necessary defence of what had happened, but saying that it was superfluous to defend themselves on these matters now, since they had been suspected of doing wrong in everything at once. ### Extrabiblical texts - Athanasius, Apol. sec. 21-35 (Defence against the Arians): allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - A fragment of Valesius's chapter title (“And how Paul and Athanasius again received their sees by letters of Julius; and what the high priests of the East wrote to Julius”) stood at the head of the section in the scan and has been removed. Julius's letter is in Athanasius, Defence against the Arians 21–35. The Eastern bishops' letter is lost; Sozomen summarizes it. His statement that Julius “restored to each his own church” because “the care of all belonged to him” is Sozomen's own description. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 3.8 (PG 67:1051–1055; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/3-8). ## Church History 3.9 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/2-33/#p-3-9 - Source: PG 67:1055 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The prefect Philip secretly removes Paul from Constantinople and installs Macedonius amid a massacre in the church; Athanasius, threatened with death by Constantius on new charges, goes into hiding. ### Greek text Ἰουλίῳ μὲν οὖν τοιάδε ἔγραψαν. Πρὸς δὲ βασιλέα Κωνστάντιον διέβαλον αὖθις τοὺς πρὸς αὐτῶν καθῃρημένους. Ὁ δὲ, ἐν ᾿Αντιοχείᾳ τότε διατρίβων, γράφεὶ Φιλίππῳ τῷ ὑπάρχῳ ἐν Κωνσταντινουπόλει ὄντι, πάλιν Μακεδονίῳ τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν ἀποδοῦναι, Παῦλον δὲ ἐξελάσαι τῆς πόλεως. Δείσας δὲ τὴν τοῦ πλήθους κίνησιν ὁ ὕπαρχος, πρὶν ἔκπυστον γενέσθαι τὴν βασιλέως πρόσταξιν, προσελθὼν εἰς δημόσιον λουτρὸν ᾧ ὄνομα Ζεύξιππος, περιφανὲς δὲ τοῦτο καὶ μέγιστον, ὡς περὶ κοινῶν πραγμάτων κοινωσόμενος, μετεκαλέσατο Παῦλον · παραγενομένῳ δὲ εὐθὺς, τοῦ βασιλέως ἐπέδειξε τὸ γράμμα· λάθρα τε διὰ τῶν βασιλείων τῷ λουτρῷ παρακειμένων, ἐπὶ θάλασσαν αὐτὸν ἀχθῆναι προστάξας, εἰς πλοῖον ἐπεβίβασε, καὶ εἰς Θεσσαλονίκην ἔπεμψεν, ὅθεν καὶ τοὺς προγόνους ἔχειν ἐλέγετο, παντελῶς τε τὴν κατὰ τὴν ἕω ἀρχομένην φεύγειν κατεδίκασεν αὐτόν· Ἰλλυριῶν δὲ καὶ τῆς ἐπέκεινα γῆς ἐπιβαίνειν οὐκ ἑκώλυσεν. Ἐξελθὼν δὲ ἐκ τοῦ δικαστηρίου, συνοχούμενον αὐτῷ Μακεδόνιον ἔχων, ἐπὶ τὴν ἐκκλησίαν ᾔει. Τὸ δὲ πλῆθος· ἤδη γὰρ τούτων γενομένων, ἄφατοι συνελέγησαν· εὐθὺς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν ἐπλήρωσαν· ἕκαστοι γὰρ αὐτὴν, οἵ τε ἀπὸ τῆς ᾿Αρείου αἱρέσεως, οἵ τε Παῦλον ἐπαινοῦντες, προκαταλαβεῖν ἐσπούδασαν. Ἐπεὶ δὲ πρὸς ταῖς θύραις τῆς ἐκκλησίας ἐγένετο ὁ ὕπαρχος, σὺν αὐτῷ δὲ καὶ Μακεδόνιος, τὸ δὲ πλῆθος ὅπως αὐτοῖς πάροδος γένηται πρὸς τῶν στρατιωτῶν ὠθούμενον, ὑποχωρεῖν οὐκ ἠδύνατο, τοῦ πρόσω σεσαγμένου, ὑπολαβόντες οἱ στρατιῶται ἑκοντὶ μὴ εἶκειν τὸν ὄχλον, πολλοὺς τοῖς ξίφεσι διεχειρίσαντο. Πολλοὶ δὲ καὶ ὑπ' ἀλλήλων πατούμενοι διεφθάρησαν. Τὸ δὲ βασιλεῖ δόξαν οὕτως ) ἐγένετο, καὶ τὰς Ἐκκλησίας παρέλαβε Μακεδόνιος. Ὁ μὲν δὴ Παῦλος ἀδοκήτως ὧδε τῆς ἐν Κωνσταντινουπόλει Ἑκκλησίας ἀφηρέθη. ᾿Αθανάσιος δὲ φεύγων, ἀφανὴς ἦν, δείσας τὴν Κωνσταντίου τοῦ βασιλέως ἀπειλήν. Θανάτῳ γὰρ αὐτὸν ζημιοῦν ἠπείλησεν, αἰτιωμένων τῶν ἑτεροδόξων ὡς στάσεις ἐργάζοιτο, καὶ εἰσιόντος αὐτοῦ πολλοὶ τεθνήκασι. Τὸ δὲ μάλιστα πρὸς ὀργὴν τὸν βασιλέα κινῆσαν ἦν, ὅτι καὶ σιτηρέσιον ἔλεγον αὐτὸν πωλοῦντα ἀποκερδαίνειν, ὃ δη βασιλεὺς Κωνσταντῖνος τοῖς ἐν ᾿Αλεξανδρεία πτωχοῖς ἐδωρήσατο. ### English translation (Claude) Such was what they wrote to Julius. To the emperor Constantius they again denounced those they had deposed. He, then staying at Antioch, wrote to Philip, the prefect at Constantinople, to give the church back to Macedonius and to drive Paul from the city. The prefect, fearing a movement of the people, before the emperor's order became known, went to a public bath called Zeuxippus, a famous and very large one, and sent for Paul as if to consult him on public business. When he came, he at once showed him the emperor's letter; and ordering him to be led secretly through the palace next to the bath to the sea, he put him on a ship and sent him to Thessalonica, from where his ancestors were said to have come, and sentenced him to keep entirely out of the eastern part of the empire, though he did not forbid him to set foot in Illyricum and the lands beyond. Leaving the court, with Macedonius riding with him in his carriage, the prefect went to the church. The people (for, these things having already happened, countless numbers had gathered) at once filled the church; for both those of the Arian heresy and those who favoured Paul were eager to occupy it first. When the prefect, and Macedonius with him, came to the doors of the church, the crowd, pushed by the soldiers to make way for them, could not give way, since those in front were packed tight; and the soldiers, supposing that the mob would not yield willingly, killed many with their swords. Many too were trampled to death by one another. So what the emperor had decided was done, and Macedonius took over the churches. In this way Paul was unexpectedly deprived of the church of Constantinople. Athanasius, in flight, remained hidden, fearing the threat of the emperor Constantius. For he had threatened to punish him with death, since those of another opinion accused him of causing riots and said that many had died when he entered the city. What most moved the emperor to anger was that they said he was making a profit by selling the grain allowance which the emperor Constantine had given to the poor of Alexandria. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 3.9 (PG 67:1055; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/3-9). ## Church History 3.10 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/3-10/#p-3-10 - Source: PG 67:1057–1059 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Julius rebukes the Eastern bishops for acting without him and against Nicaea; at his request Constans summons Eastern envoys, who present a new creed but fail to convince him. ### Greek text Τῶν δὲ ἐξ Αἰγύπτου ἐπισκόπων ψευδῆ ταῦτα εἶναι γραψάντων, μαθὼν Ἰούλιος οὐχ ἀσφαλὲς ᾿Αθανασίῳ τέως ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ διάγειν, τὸν μὲν πρὸς ἑαυτὸν μετεκαλέσατο. Τοῖς δὲ ἐν ᾿Αντιοχεία συνελθοῦσιν, ἔτυχε γὰρ τηνικαῦτα τὴν τούτων δεξάμενος ἐπιστολὴν, ἔγραψεν ἐγκαλῶν, ὡς λάθρα περὶ τὸ δόγμα τῆς ἐν Νικαίᾳ συνόδου νεωτερίζουσι, καὶ παρὰ τοὺς νόμους τῆς Ἐκκλησίας αὐτὸν εἰς τὴν σύνοδον οὐ χεχλήχασιν. Εἶναι γὰρ νόμον ἱερατικὸν, ὡς ἄχυρα ἀποφαίνειν τὰ παρὰ γνώμην πραττόμενα τοῦ Ῥωμαίων ἐπισκόπου. Τὰ δὲ ἐν Τύρῳ καὶ ἐν τῷ Μαρεώτῃ, μὴ ἐν δίκῃ πεπράχθαι κατὰ ᾿Αθανασίου" κατηγορεῖν δὲ τῶν μὲν, τὴν κατὰ ᾿Αρσένιον συχοφαντίαν᾽" τῶν δὲ ἐν τῷ Μαρεώτῃ, τὴν ᾿Αθανασίου ἀπουσίαν. ἅπασι δὲ, τὸ αὔθαδες τῶν γραμμάτων ἐμέμφετο. Καὶ ἐκ τούτων δὲ ἐκ πάντων ἀνελογίζετο χρῆναι βοηθεῖν ᾿Αθανασίῳ καὶ Παύλῳ. Μετ᾿ οὐ πολὺ γὰρ καὶ αὐτὸς εἰς Ἰταλίαν παραγενόμενος, τὰ αὑτὸν ἀπωδύρετο. Ἐπεὶ δὲ ἐξ ὧν ἔγραψε περὶ σὑτῶν τοῖς ἀνὰ τὴν ἕω ἱερεῦσιν, οὐδὲν ἦνυε, δῆλα τὰ κατ' αὐτοὺς ἐποίησε Κώνσταντι τῷ βασιλεῖ. Ὁ δὲ Κωνσταντίῳ τῷ ἀδελφῷ ἔγραψε, πέμψαι τινὰς τῶν ἀπὸ τῆς ἕω ἐπισκόπων, ἀπολογησομένους περὶ τῆς αὑτῶν καθαιρέσεως. Καὶ αἱροῦνται ἐπὶ τούτῳ τρεῖς, Νάρκισσος ὁ Εἰρηνοπόλεως τῆς Κιλικίας ἐπίσκοπος, Θεόδωρος ὁ Ηραχλείας τῆς Θράκης, : καὶ Μάρκος ὁ ᾿Αρεθούσης τῆς Συρίας. Καὶ παραγενόμενοι εἰς Ἰταλίαν, τοῖς ὑπ᾿ αὐτῶν πεπραγμένοις ἰσχυρίζοντο, καὶ τὸν βασιλέα πείθειν ἐπειρῶντο, δικαίαν εἶναι τῆς ἀνατολικῆς συνόδου τὴν κρίσιν. ᾿Απαιτούμενοι δὲ λέγειν ὅπως πιστεύσωσι, τὴν μὲν ἐκτεθεῖσαν παρ' αὐτῶν ἐν ᾿Αντιοχείᾳ ἀπεκρύψαντο • ἑτέραν δὲ ἔγγραφον ὁμολογίαν ἐκδεδώκασι, καὶ οὕτως ἀπάδουσαν τῆς ἐν Νικαίᾳ δοκιμασθείσης. Συνιδών δὲ Κώνστας ὡς ἀδίκως ἐπεβούλευσαν τοῖς ἀνδράσιν, οὐκ ἐγκλημάτων ἕνεκεν, οὐδὲ βίου, ἀποστρεφόμενοι τὴν πρὸς αὐτοὺς κοινωνίαν, ὡς αἱ καθαιρέσεις εἶχον, ἀλλὰ τῆς περὶ τὸ δόγμα διαφωνίας, ἀπέπεμψαν τούτους, μὴ πείσαντας περὶ ὧν ἐληλύθεισαν. ### English translation (Claude) When the bishops of Egypt wrote that these charges were false, Julius, learning that it was not safe for Athanasius to stay in Egypt for the time being, summoned him to himself. To those who had met at Antioch (for he had just then received their letter) he wrote accusing them of innovating secretly on the doctrine of the synod of Nicaea, and of not having summoned him to their synod, contrary to the laws of the church; for there was a priestly law declaring void whatever was done without the consent of the bishop of the Romans. He said that what had been done at Tyre and in the Mareotis against Athanasius had not been done justly; he charged the former with the false accusation concerning Arsenius, and those in the Mareotis with the absence of Athanasius; and he blamed the arrogance of their letter in everything. On all these grounds he concluded that he must help Athanasius and Paul. For not long afterward Paul too came to Italy and lamented his own case. When Julius achieved nothing by what he wrote about them to the priests of the East, he made their case known to the emperor Constans. Constans wrote to his brother Constantius to send some of the bishops of the East to defend their deposition of these men. Three were chosen for this: Narcissus, bishop of Irenopolis in Cilicia, Theodore of Heraclea in Thrace, and Mark of Arethusa in Syria. Arriving in Italy, they maintained what they had done and tried to persuade the emperor that the judgment of the eastern synod was just. When asked to state what they believed, they concealed the creed they had set out at Antioch and gave another written confession, also differing from the one approved at Nicaea. Constans, seeing that they had plotted unjustly against the men, rejecting communion with them not on account of charges or of their lives, as the depositions alleged, but because of disagreement about the doctrine, sent them away without having persuaded him of what they had come for. ### Extrabiblical texts - Athanasius, Apol. sec. 21-35 (Defence against the Arians): allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The “priestly law” requiring the consent of the bishop of Rome is Sozomen's report of Julius's claim; Socrates (2.17) gives a similar statement. The commission sent to the Mareotis in 335 had examined the chalice charge in Athanasius's absence. The creed presented in Gaul (342) is the so-called fourth creed of Antioch. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 3.10 (PG 67:1057–1059; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/3-10). ## Church History 3.11 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/3-10/#p-3-11 - Source: PG 67:1059–1063 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The Eastern bishops send the Long Exposition west; the council called to Sardica splits, and the Easterners, meeting apart, depose Julius of Rome, Hosius and others and issue their own creed. ### Greek text Τριῶν δὲ ἤδη γενομένων ἐνιαυτῶν, πάλιν οἱ ἐπὶ τῆς ἕω ἐπίσκοποι, τοῖς ἀνὰ τὴν δύσιν ἑτέραν διεπέμψαντο γραφήν, ἣν μακρόστιχον ἔκθεσιν ὀνομάζουσιν, ὡς διὰ πλειόνων ῥημάτων τε καὶ ὀνομάτων παρὰ τὰς προτέρας συγκειμένην. Καὶ οὐσίας μὲν ἐν ταύτῃ Θεοῦ μνήμην οὐκ ἐποιήσαντο. Τοὺς δὲ λέγοντας ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων τὸν Υἱὸν, ἢ ἐξ ἑτέρας ὑποστάσεως, οὐκ ἐκ Θεοῦ, καὶ ὅτι ἦν ποτε χρόνος ἢ αἰὼν ὅτε οὐκ ἦν, ἀπεκήρυττον. Εὐδοξίου δὲ, ὃς τῆς Γερμανικείας ἐπίσκοπος ἦν, Μαρτυρίου τε καὶ Μακεδονίου διακομισάντων ταύτην τὴν γραφὴν, οὐ προσεδέξαντο οἱ ἀνὰ τὴν δύσιν ἱερεῖς. Αρκεῖσθαι γὰρ ἔφασαν τοῖς ἐν Νικαίᾳ δόξασι, καὶ παρὰ ταῦτα πολυπραγμονεῖν οὐδὲν λοιπὸν ᾤοντο δεῖν. Ἐπεὶ δὲ Κώνστας ὁ βασιλεὺς ᾔτει χάριν τὸν ἀδελφὸν, ὥστε τοὺς ἀμφὶ τὸν Ἀθανάσιον τοὺς οἰκείους ἀπολαβεῖν θρόνους, καὶ γράφων οὐδὲν ἤνυεν, ἀντιπραττόντων τῶν ἀπὸ τῆς ἐναντίας αἱρέσεως· οἱ δὲ περὶ τὸν ᾿Αθανάσιον καὶ Παῦλον, προσιόντες αὐτῷ γενέσθαι σύνοδον ἐζήτουν, ὡς ἐπὶ καθαιρέσει τῶν ὀρθῶν δογμάτων ἐπιβουλευθέντες, ἔδοξε γνώμῃ τῶν βασιλέων, τοὺς ἀφ' ἑκατέρας ἀρχομένης ἐπισκόπους, εἰς ῥητὴν ἡμέραν καταλαβεῖν τὴν Σαρδώ· πόλις δὲ αὕτη Ἰλλυριῶν. Συνελθόντες δὲ πρῶτον εἰς Φιλίππου πόλιν τῆς Θράκης οἱ ἀπὸ τῆς ἔω, γράφουσι τοῖς ἀπὸ τῆς δύσεως ἤδη ἐν Σαρδικῇ συνεληλυθόσιν, ἀπώσασθαι τοῦ συνεδρίου καὶ τῆς κοινωνίας τοὺς ἀμφὶ τὸν ᾿Αθανάσιον, ὡς καθῃρημένους· ἄλλως δὲ μὴ συνιέναι ἔφασαν. Μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα καὶ εἰς Σαρδικὴν παραγενόμενοι, ἰσχυρίζοντο μὴ ἐμβαλεῖν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ, συνιόντων τῶν πρὸς αὐτῶν καθῃρημένων. Πρὸς ταῦτα δὲ οἱ ἀπὸ τῆς δύσεως ἀντέγραψαν, ὡς οὐδέποτε τῆς πρὸς αὐτοὺς κοινωνίας ἀπέστησαν, οὔτε νῦν ταύτης ἀναχωρήσουσι· καὶ μάλιστα Ἰουλίου τοῦ ῾Ῥωμαίων ἐπισκόπου τὰ κατ᾿ αὐτοὺς ἐξετάσαντος, καὶ μὴ καταγνόντος. Παρεῖναι δὲ αὐτοὺς, καὶ ἑτοίμως ἔχειν δικάζεσθαι, καὶ αὖθις ἀπελέγξειν τὰς ἐπαχθείσας αὐτοῖς αἰτίας. Ὡς δὲ παρὰ σφᾶς τοιαῦτα δηλοῦντες οὐδὲν ἤνυον, ἤδη καὶ ὑπερημέρου τῆς κυρίας γενομένης, ἐν ᾗ κρίνειν ἔδει περὶ ὧν συνεληλύθεσαν, τὸ τελευταῖον τοιαῦτα ἔγραψαν ἀλλήλοις, ἐξ ὧν εἰς μείζονα τῆς προτέρας δυσμενείας κατέστησαν. Καὶ καθ' ἑαυτοὺς συνελθόντες, ψήφους ἐναντίας ἤνεγκαν. Οἱ μὲν γὰρ ἀπὸ τῆς ᾿Ανατολῆς, τὰ ἤδη αὐτοῖς δόξαντα ἐπὶ ᾿Αθανασίῳ καὶ Παύλῳ καὶ Μαρκέλλῳ καὶ Ἀσκληπᾷ κυρώσαντες, καθεῖλον Ἰούλιον τὸν Ῥώμης ἐπίσκοπον, ὡς ἄρξαντα τῆς πρὸς αὐτοὺς κοινωνίας · ῞Οσιόν τε τὸν ὁμολογητὴν, καὶ διὰ τὴν αὐτὴν αἰτίαν, καὶ ὅτι φίλος ἐγένετο Παυλίνῳ καὶ Εὐσταθίῳ τοῖς ἡγησαμένοις τῆς ᾿Αντιοχέων Ἐκκλησίας· καὶ Μαξιμῖνον τὸν Τριβέρεως ἐπίσκοπον, ὡς πρῶτον Παύλῳ κοινωνήσαντα, καὶ αἴτιον αὐτῷ γενόμενον τῆς εἰς Κωνσταντινούπολιν καθόδου, καὶ τοὺς εἰς Γαλλίαν ἀπὸ τῆς ἕω παραγενομένους ἐπισκόπους ( ἀποκηρύξαντα. Ἐπὶ τούτοις καθεῖλον καὶ Πρωτογένην τὸν Σαρδικῆς ἐπίσκοπον, καὶ Γαυδέντιον. Τὸν μὲν ὡς Μαρκέλλου ὑπερμαχοῦντα, πρότερον αὐτοῦ καταψηφισάμενον · τὸν δὲ Γαυδέντιον, ὡς ἐναντία σπουδάσαντα Κυριακῷ, ὂν διεδέξατο, καὶ περὶ πολλοῦ ποιούμενον τοὺς πρὸς αὐτῶν καθῃρημένους. Ταῦτα ψηφισάμενοι, τοῖς πανταχοῦ ἐπισκόποις δῆλα ἐποίησαν· ὥστε μήτε προσίεσθαι εἰς κοινωνίαν, μήτε γράφειν αὐτοῖς, μήτε τὰ παρ' αὐτῶν γραφόμενα δέχεσθαι. Περὶ δὲ τοῦ Θεοῦ δοξάζειν ἐκέλευον, ὃν τρόπον ὑφηγεῖτο ἡ τῇ αὐτῶν ἐπιστολῇ ὑποτεταγμένη γραφή· Ὁμοουσίου μὲν μνήμην μὴ ποιουμένη· ἀποκηρύττουσα δὲ τοὺς λέγοντας τρεῖς εἶναι Θεούς· ἢ τὸν Χριστὸν μὴ εἶναι Θεόν· ἢ τὸν αὐτὸν εἶναι Πατέρα καὶ Υἱὸν καὶ ἅγιον Πνεῦμα, ἢ ἀγέννητον τὸν Υἱόν· ἢ ὅτι ἦν ποτε χρόνος ἡ αἰὼν ὅτε οὐκ ἦν. ### English translation (Claude) When three years had passed, the bishops of the East again sent the bishops of the West another document, which they call the Long Exposition, as being composed of more words and terms than the earlier ones. In it they made no mention of the essence of God; but they anathematized those who say that the Son is from nothing, or from another subsistence and not from God, and that there was once a time or age when he was not. When Eudoxius, who was bishop of Germanicia, Martyrius and Macedonius brought this document, the priests of the West did not accept it. For they said that they were content with what had been decided at Nicaea and thought there was no need to busy themselves further beyond it. When the emperor Constans asked his brother as a favour that Athanasius's party should recover their own sees, and achieved nothing by writing, since those of the opposite sect worked against it, and Athanasius and Paul came to him asking for a synod, since they had been plotted against with a view to overthrowing the right doctrines, it was decided by the emperors' judgment that the bishops of both parts of the empire should come on a set day to Sardica, a city of Illyricum. Those from the East first gathered at Philippopolis in Thrace, and wrote to those from the West who had already met at Sardica to expel Athanasius's party from the assembly and from communion as deposed men; otherwise, they said, they would not join them. After this they came to Sardica too, but insisted that they would not enter the church if those deposed by them were assembling there. To this those from the West replied that they had never withdrawn from communion with them, nor would they withdraw from it now, especially since Julius, bishop of the Romans, had examined their case and had not condemned them; and that they were present and ready to be tried and to refute again the charges brought against them. When by such messages to each other they achieved nothing, and the appointed day for judging the matters for which they had met had already passed, they finally wrote such things to each other as made their former hostility greater. Meeting separately, they passed contrary votes. Those from the East confirmed what they had already decided about Athanasius, Paul, Marcellus and Asclepas, and deposed Julius, bishop of Rome, as having begun communion with them; Hosius the confessor, for the same reason and because he had become a friend of Paulinus and Eustathius, the former leaders of the church of Antioch; and Maximinus, bishop of Trier, as the first to communicate with Paul and responsible for his return to Constantinople, and as having refused the bishops who came from the East to Gaul. Besides these they deposed Protogenes, bishop of Sardica, and Gaudentius: the former because, though he had earlier voted against Marcellus, he now championed him; Gaudentius, because he had worked against Cyriacus, whom he succeeded, and made much of those deposed by them. Having passed these votes, they made them known to the bishops everywhere, so that they should neither admit these men to communion, nor write to them, nor receive their letters. About God they bade them hold as the document appended to their letter set out; it made no mention of “of the same essence,” but anathematized those who say there are three Gods, or that Christ is not God, or that the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are the same, or that the Son is unbegotten, or that there was once a time or age when he was not. ### Extrabiblical texts - Athanasius, Syn. 26 (On the Councils of Ariminum and Seleucia): allusion, medium confidence - Hilary, Frag. hist. (Historical Fragments): allusion, medium confidence - Conc. Sard. (Canons of the Council of Sardica (Greek)): allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - A fragment of Valesius's chapter title (“… having communicated with the rest”) stood at the head of the section in the scan and has been removed; a marginal gloss (“long-lined,” μακρόστιχος) was printed inside the name of Macedonius and has been removed. The Long Exposition (Ekthesis Makrostichos) dates from 344. The council of Sardica (Serdica, modern Sofia) met in 343; Sozomen calls it a city of Illyricum. The Eastern bishops' encyclical is preserved in Latin by Hilary (Historical Fragments). ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 3.11 (PG 67:1059–1063; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/3-11). ## Church History 3.12 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/3-10/#p-3-12 - Source: PG 67:1063–1065 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The Western bishops at Sardica, led by Hosius, acquit Athanasius, Marcellus, Asclepas and Lucius, depose leading Eastern bishops, and issue an expanded statement of the Nicene faith. ### Greek text Ἐν μέρει τε καὶ οἱ ἀμφὶ τὸν Ὅσιον συνελθόντες, ἀθώους ἀπέφηναν · ᾿Αθανάσιον μὲν, ὡς ἀδίκως ἐπιβουλευθέντα παρὰ τῶν ἐν Τύρῳ συνελθόντων · Μάρκελλον δὲ, ὡς μὴ τάδε φρονεῖν ὁμολογήσαντα ἃ διεβάλλετο · ᾿Ασκληπᾶν δὲ, ὡς Εὐσεβίου τοῦ Παμφίλου καὶ πολλῶν ἄλλων δικαστῶν ψήφῳ τὴν ἐπισκοπὴν ἀπολαβόντα· καὶ ὅτι τάδε ἀληθῆ εἴη, ὑπόμνημα τῆς δίκης ἐπιδείξαντα· Λούκιον δὲ ὡς τῶν αὐτοῦ κατηγόρων φυγόντων. Καὶ πρὸς τὴν ἑκάστου παροι κίαν ἔγραψαν, αὐτοὺς ἔχειν ἐπισκόπους καὶ προσδυκᾶν· Γρηγόριον δὲ τὸν ἐν ᾿Αλεξανδρείᾳ, καὶ Βασίλειον τὸν ἐν ᾿Αγκύρᾳ, καὶ Κυντιανὸν τὸν ἐν Γάζῃ, μηδὲ ἐπισκόπους ὀνομάζειν, μηδὲ κοινωνίαν τινὰ πρὸς αὐτοὺς ἔχειν, μηδὲ Χριστιανοὺς ἡγεῖσθαι. Καθεῖλον δὲ τῆς ἐπισκοπῆς Θεόδωρον τὸν Θρᾷκα, καὶ Νάρκισσον τὸν Εἰρηνοπόλεως ἐπίσκοπον, καὶ ᾿Ἀκάκιον τὸν Καισαρείας τῆς Παλαιστίνης, καὶ Μηνόφαντον τὸν Ἐφέσου, καὶ Οὐρσάκιον τὸν Σιγγιδώνου τῆς Μυσίας,ὶ καὶ Οὐάλεντα τὸν Μυρσῶν τῆς Παννονίας, κα Γεώργιον τὸν Λαοδικείας, εἰ καὶ μὴ τῇ συνόδῳ ταύτῃ παρεγένετο συν τοῖς ἀπὸ τῆς ἕω ἐπισκόποις. ᾿Αφεί λοντο δὲ τούτους τῆς ἱερωσύνης καὶ τῆς κοινωνίας, ὡς τὸν Υἱὸν χωρίζοντας τοῦ Πατρὸς τῆς οὐσίας, καὶ τοὺς πάλαι καθαιρεθέντας διὰ τὴν ᾿Αρείου αἵρεσιν δεξαμένους, καὶ εἰς ἀξιώματα μείζω λειτουργίας Θεοῦ παραγόντας. Διὰ ταῦτὰ τε αὐτοὺς ἀποκηρύξαντες, καὶ τῆς καθόλου Ἐκκλησίας ἀλλοτρίους ψηφισάμενοι, ἔγραψαν τοῖς πανταχοῦ ἐπισκόποις, ἐπιψηφίσασθαι παρ' αὐτῶν κεκριμένοις, καὶ ὁμοφρονεῖν αὐτοῖς περὶ τὸ δόγμα. ᾿Εξέθεντο δὲ αὐτοὶ τηνικαῦτα πίστεως γραφὴν ἑτέραν, πλατυτέραν μὲν τῆς ἐν Νικαίᾳ " φυλάττουσαν δὲ τὴν αὐτὴν διάνοιαν, οὐ παρὰ πολὺ διαλλάττουσαν τῶν ἐκείνης ῥημάτων. ᾿Αμέλει “Ὅσιος καὶ Πρωτογένης, οἱ τότε. ὑπῆρχον ἄρχοντες τῶν ἀπὸ τῆς δύσεως ἐν Σαρδικῇ συνεληλυθότων, δείσαντες ἴσως μὴ σθεῖεν τισὶ καινοτομεῖν τὰ δόξαντα τοῖς ἐν Νικαίᾳ, ἔγραψαν Ἰουλίῳ , καὶ ἐμαρτύραντο κύρια τάδε ἡγεῖσθαι " κατὰ χρείαν δὲ σαφηνείας, τὴν αὐτὴν διάνοιαν πλατῦναι " ὥστε μὴ ἐγγενέσθαι τοῖς τὰ ᾿Αρείου φρονοῦσιν, ἀποχεχρημένοις τῇ συντομίᾳ τῆς γραφῆς, εἰς ἄτοπον ἕλκειν τοὺς ἀπείρους διαλέξεως. Ταῦτα πράξαντες , διέλυσαν ἐὸν σύλλογον, εἰς τὰ οἰκεῖα ἔκαστος ἐπανῆλθε. Συνέστη δὲ : αὕτη ἡ σύνοδος, Εὐσεδίου ὑπατευόντων ἐνδέχατον δὲ τοῦτο ἔτος ἣν ἀπὸ τῆς Κωνσταντίνου τελευτῆς, Συνῆλθον δὲ, μὲν τῶν πῤὸς Δύσιν πόλεων ἀμφὶ τριακόσιοι ἐπίσκοποι: δὲ τῆς Ἕω, ἐξ ἑύδομήχοντα " σὺν τούτοις δὲ καὶ Ἰσσχυρίων, ἐπιτραπεὶς τὴν τοῦ Μαρεώτου ἐπιτχοπὴν πρὸς τῶν ᾿Αθανασίῳ ἀπεχθανομένων. ### English translation (Claude) For their part, those who met with Hosius declared the accused innocent: Athanasius, as unjustly plotted against by those who met at Tyre; Marcellus, as having confessed that he did not hold the views he was charged with; Asclepas, as having recovered his episcopate by the vote of Eusebius son of Pamphilus and many other judges, and having shown the record of the trial to prove that this was true; and Lucius, because his accusers had fled. They wrote to the church of each that they should have them as bishops and expect them; and that Gregory in Alexandria, Basil in Ancyra and Quintianus in Gaza should not even be named bishops, nor should anyone have communion with them or regard them as Christians. They deposed from the episcopate Theodore the Thracian, Narcissus, bishop of Irenopolis, Acacius of Caesarea in Palestine, Menophantus of Ephesus, Ursacius of Singidunum in Moesia, Valens of Mursa in Pannonia, and George of Laodicea, even though he had not come to this synod with the bishops from the East. They deprived them of the priesthood and of communion as separating the Son from the essence of the Father, and as having received those formerly deposed for the heresy of Arius and promoted them to higher ranks in the ministry of God. Having anathematized them for these reasons and voted them strangers to the catholic church, they wrote to the bishops everywhere to ratify what they had decided and to agree with them about the doctrine. They then set out another document of faith, fuller than that of Nicaea but keeping the same meaning and not differing much from its words. Indeed, Hosius and Protogenes, who were then the leaders of those from the West who had met at Sardica, fearing perhaps that they might seem to some to be innovating on the decisions of Nicaea, wrote to Julius and protested that they held these as valid, but had enlarged the same meaning for the sake of clarity, so that those who held the views of Arius should not be able, by misusing the brevity of the document, to drag those unpractised in argument into absurdities. Having done this, they dissolved the assembly, and each returned home. This synod met in the consulship of … and Eusebius; it was the eleventh year since the death of Constantine. About three hundred bishops from the cities of the West came together, and seventy-six from the East; among these was Ischyrion, who had been entrusted with the episcopate of the Mareotis by those hostile to Athanasius. ### Extrabiblical texts - Conc. Sard. (Canons of the Council of Sardica (Greek)): allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The name of the first consul is lost in the scan; the consuls of 347 were Rufinus and Eusebius. Sozomen dates the council to 347, while it probably met in 343. The scan reads ἐξ ἑβδομήκοντα, taken as ἓξ καὶ ἑβδομήκοντα, “seventy-six.” The Western statement of faith, the letter of Hosius and Protogenes to Julius, and the canons of Sardica survive (see Theodoret, Church History 2.8). ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 3.12 (PG 67:1063–1065; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/3-12). ## Church History 3.13 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/3-10/#p-3-13 - Source: PG 67:1065–1067 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: After Sardica East and West break communion; the West holds firmly to Nicaea under Rome's lead, while in the East many who agree in substance resist the word homoousios, and Paul, Athanasius and the monks hold openly to Nicaea. ### Greek text Μετὰ ταύτην τὴν σύνοδον, οὐκέτι ἀλλήλοις ὡς ὁμοδόξοις ἐπεμίγνυντο, οὐδὲ ἐκοινώνουν, Οἱ μὲν ἀνὰ τὴν Δύσιν, μέχρι Θρᾳκῶν σφᾶς χωρίσαντες " οἵ ὃς ἀνὰ τὴν μέχρις Ἰλλυριῶν. Τὰ δὲ τῶν Ἔχχλησιῶν, ὡς εἰκὸς, ἐν διχονοίαις συγχέχυτο, καὶ ἐν διαβολαῖς ἦν. Εἰ γὰρ πρότερον περὶ τὸ δόγμα ὃδιἐφέροντο, ἀλλ᾽ οὖν ἀλλήλοις συγχοινωνοῦντες, οὐ μέγα τὸ χαχὼν ἐποίουν, παραπλησίως φρονεῖν ἐνομίζοντο ὡς ἐπίπαν γὰρ, ἡ μὲν ἀνὰ πᾶσαν τὴν Δύσιν Ἐκκλησία καθαρῶς διὰ τῶν πατρίων ἰθυνομένη δογμάτων, ἔριδός τε καὶ τῆς περὶ ταῦτα τερθρείας ἀπήλλακτο. Εἰ γὰρ καὶ τὸ τῇδε ὑπήκοον πρὸς τὴν ᾿Αρείου δόξαν μετάγειν ἐσπούδαζον, Αὐξέντιος ὁ Μεδιολάνου γενόμενος, Οὐάλης Οὐρσάκιος οἱ ἐκ Παννονίων, οὐ δήπου κατὰ γνώμην αὐτοῖς ἡ σπουδὴ προὐχώρει, προϊσταμένου τοῦ Ῥωμαίων θρόνου, καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἱερέων ἐπιμελῶς φθάνοντος, καὶ τὰς βλάστας ἐκκόπτοντος τῆς τοιαύτης αἱρέσεως. Τὸ δὲ ἐῷον, εἰ καὶ ἐστασίαζε μετὰ τὴν ἐν ᾿Αντιοχείᾳ σύνοδον, καὶ πρὸς τὴν ἐν Νικαίᾳ πίστιν περιφανῶς ἤδη διεφέρετο, τὸ μὲν ἀληθὲς, οἶμαι, κατὰ τὴν τῶν πλειόνων γνώμην εἰς τὴν αὐτὴν συνέτρεχε διάνοιαν, καὶ ἐκ τῆς τοῦ Πατρὸς οὐσίας τὸν Υἱὸν συνωμολόγει. Ἐριστικῶς δὲ πρὸς τὴν Ὁμοούσιον λέξιν τινὲς ἀπεμάχοντο. Οἱ μὲν γὰρ τὴν ἀρχὴν τῷ ὀνόματι ἐναντιωθέντες, ὡς συμβάλλω, τοῦτο δὴ τὸ πολλοῖς συμβαῖνον, αἰσχύνην ἡγοῦντο δόξαι νενικῆσθαι. Οἱ δὲ, καὶ ὑπὸ ἕξεως τῶν περὶ ταῦτα συχνῶν διαλέξεων, ἐπὶ τὸ ὧδε δοξάζειν περὶ Θεοῦ τραπέντες, ἀμεταθέτως λοιπὸν εἶχον. Οἱ δὲ, εἰδότες ὡς οὐ δέον φιλονεικοῦσι, πρὸς τὸ κεχαρισμένον ἑκατέροις ὑπεκλίνοντο διὰ δύναμιν, ἢ οἰκειότητα, ἢ ἄλλας αἰτίας, ὑφ᾽ ὧν ἄνθρωποι προάγονται τὰ μὴ προσήκοντα χαρίζεσθαι, ἢ παρρησίαν μὴ ἄγειν ἐφ᾽ οἷς χρὴ διελέγχειν. Πολλοὶ δὲ λῆρον ἡγοῦντο, τρίβεσθαι περὶ τὰς τοιαύτας ἔριδας τῶν λόγων· ἡσυχῇ δὲ τῆς γνώμης εἴχοντο τῶν ἐν Νικαίᾳ συνελθόντων· ἐῴκεισαν δὲ παρὰ πάντας τοὺς ἀνὰ τὴν ἕω εἰς τὸ φανερὸν ἀπρὶξ ἔχεσθαι τῶν ἐν Νικαίᾳ δοξάντων, Παῦλος ὁ Κωνσταντινουπόλεως ἐπίσκοπος, καὶ ᾿Αθανάσιος ὁ ᾿Αλεξαν δρείας, καὶ σύμπαν τὸ μοναχικὸν πλῆθος· ᾿Αντώνιός τε ὁ Μέγας ἔτι περιὼν, καὶ οἱ συγγενόμενοι αὐτῷ, καὶ ἄλλοι πλεῖστοι ἀνὰ τὴν Αἴγυπτον, καὶ ἀλσθην, ὅσους περιφανεῖς κατ᾿ αὐτὴν τὴν ἡγεμονίαν παρείληφα, ἐπιδραμοῦμαι τῷ λόγῳ. λαχοῦ τῆς Ῥωμαίων γῆς. Τούτων δὲ ἐπείπερ ἐπεμνή- ### English translation (Claude) After this synod they no longer mixed with one another as of the same faith, nor held communion: those throughout the West separated themselves as far as Thrace, and those throughout the East as far as Illyricum. The affairs of the churches, naturally, were confounded in dissensions and were full of slanders. For though before they had differed about the doctrine, yet while they held communion with one another they did no great harm, being thought to hold much the same views. For on the whole the church throughout the West, governed purely by the ancestral doctrines, was free from strife and from hair-splitting on these matters. For even if Auxentius, who became bishop of Milan, and Valens and Ursacius of Pannonia were eager to bring the subjects there over to the opinion of Arius, their efforts did not go as they wished, since the see of the Romans presided, carefully forestalling the other priests and cutting off the shoots of such a heresy. The East, though it was in strife after the synod at Antioch and already differed openly from the faith of Nicaea, in truth, I think, in the judgment of the majority agreed in the same meaning, and confessed the Son to be from the essence of the Father. But some fought contentiously against the word “of the same essence.” Some, having opposed the term at first, thought it shameful, as I conjecture, to seem defeated, as happens to many people. Others, through habit formed by frequent debates on these matters, turned to thinking so about God and thereafter held immovably to it. Others, knowing that they were contending needlessly, inclined toward what pleased either side, because of power or friendship or other causes by which people are led to grant favours they ought not, or not to use frank speech where they ought to refute. Many thought it nonsense to wear themselves out in such contests of words, and quietly held to the judgment of those who met at Nicaea. Above all those in the East, those who openly held fast to the decisions of Nicaea were Paul, bishop of Constantinople, Athanasius of Alexandria, and the whole body of monks: Antony the Great, who was still alive, and those who had lived with him, and very many others throughout Egypt and elsewhere in the Roman world. Since I have mentioned them, I shall run through in my account those whom I have received as renowned in this same reign. ### Translation notes - Sozomen's judgment that most Eastern bishops held the Son to be from the Father's essence while rejecting the word homoousios is his own; it anticipates the later “homoiousian” position. The scan has displaced and garbled several words at the end of the chapter (“and elsewhere in the Roman world”; “in this same reign”), given in their evident order. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 3.13 (PG 67:1065–1067; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/3-13). ## Church History 3.14 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/3-10/#p-3-14 - Source: PG 67:1067–1081 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: A survey of the monks of Constantius's reign: the two Macarii and other Egyptian ascetics, Pachomius and his rule, Hilarion in Palestine, Julian near Edessa, Eustathius of Sebaste and the excesses condemned at Gangra, Martin in the West, and the learned bishops of the time. ### Greek text ῎Αρξομαι δὲ ἐξ Αἰγύπτου, καὶ Μακαρίων τῶν δύο. τῶν ἀοιδιμωτάτων ἡγεμόνων τῆς Σκήτεως, καὶ τοῦ τῇδε ὄρους. Τούτοιν δὲ, ὁ μὲν Αἰγύπτιος· ὁ δὲ πολιτικὸς, ὡς ἀστὸς, ὠνομάζετο. Ἧν γὰρ τῷ γένει ᾿Αλεξανδρεύς. "Αμφω δὲ ὅτι μάλιστα θεσπεσίω ἐγενέσθην, καὶ θείαν πρόγνωσιν καὶ φιλοσοφίαν, καὶ δαίμοσι φοβερώ · πολλῶν τε καὶ παραδόξων πραγμάτων καὶ ἰαμάτων δημιουργώ. Τὸν δὲ Αἰγύπτιον λόγος, ὡς καὶ νεκρὸν ζῆν ἐποίησεν, ἵν᾿ ἑτερόδοξον πείσῃ νεκρῶν ἀνάστασιν ἔσεσθαι. Διεβίω δὲ ἀμφὶ τὰ ἐνενήκοντα ἔτη · ἑξήκοντα δὲ ἐκ τούτων ἐν ταῖς ἐρήμοις διέτριβεν. Αὐτίκα τε φιλοσοφεῖν ἀρχόμενος, ἔτι νέος ὧν διέπρεπεν, ὡς παιδαριογέροντα παρὰ τῶν μοναχῶν ὀνομάζεσθαι, καὶ τεσσαράκοντα ἔτη γεγο νότα, χειροτονηθῆναι πρεσβύτερον. Ὁ δὲ ἕτερος, χρόνῳ μὲν ὕστερον πρεσβύτερος ἐγένετο· παντοδαπῆς δὲ σχεδὸν ἀσκήσεως ἐπειράθη· τὰ μὲν αὐτὸς περινοῶν· ἃ δὲ παρ᾿ ἄλλοις ἤκουσεν, ἐκ παντὸς τρό που κατορθῶν · ὡς ὑπὸ τοῦ ἄγαν κατεσκληκέναι, μὴ φύειν τοῦ γενείου τὰς τρίχας. Ἐν τούτῳ δὲ περὶ τὸν αὐτὸν χρόνον ἐφιλοσόφουν Πάμβω τε καὶ Ἡρακλείδης, καὶ Κρόνιος, καὶ Παφνούτιος, καὶ Πουτουβάστης, καὶ ᾿Αρσίσιος, καὶ Σαραπίων ὁ μέγας, καὶ Πιτυρίων, ὃς παρὰ Θηβαίοις τὴν διατριβὴν εἶχε· καὶ Παχώμιος, ὃς ἀρχηγὸς ἐγένετο τῶν καλουμένων Ταβεν νησιωτῶν. Σχῆμα δὲ τούτοις ἦν καὶ πολιτεία ἔν τισι παρηλλαγμένη τῆς ἄλλης μοναχικῆς· πρὸς ἀρετὴν μέντοι ὁρῶσα, καὶ τὴν ψυχὴν προσερεθίζουσα, τῶν ἐπὶ γῆς καταφρονεῖν· ἄνω δὲ ὁρᾶν, ἵν᾿ εὐμαρῶς ἐπὶ τὰ οὐράνια χωροίη, ἡνίκα τοῦ σώματος ἀπαλλαγείη · διφθέρας δὲ ἀμφιέννυσθαι κατὰ μίμησιν Ἡλιοῦ τοῦ Θεσβίτου· ἐμοὶ δοκεῖν, ὥστε ἐκ τοῦ περικειμένου δέρματος, εἰς ἀνάμνησιν ἀεὶ λαμβάνοντας τὴν ἀρετὴν τοῦ προφήτου, ἀνδρείως πρὸς τὰς ἐπιθυμίας τῶν ἀφροδισίων συντετάχθαι, καὶ ζήλῳ τῷ πρὸς αὐτὸν, καὶ ἐλπίδι ὁμοίων ἀμοιβῶν, προθυμότερον σωφρονεῖν. Αόγος δὲ καὶ τὰ ἄλλᾳ ἐνδύματα τῶν ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ μα ναχῶν, συλλαμβάνεσθαι εἰς ὑπόδειγμα φιλοσοφίας τινός · μηδὲ ὡς ἔτυχε παραλλάσσειν τῶν ἄλλων. Καὶ τοὺς μὲν χιτῶνας ἀχειριδώτους ἐνδεδύσκεσθαι, παιδεύοντας μὴ ἑτοίμους ἔχειν τὰς χεῖρας εἰς ὕβριν. Τὸ δὲ ἐπὶ τῆς κεφαλῆς σκέπασμα, ὃ κουκούλιον καλοῦσιν, ὥστε ἐπίσης ἀκεραίως καὶ καθαρῶς βιοῦν τοῖς γάλακτι τρεφομένοις παισὶν, οἷς αἱ τοιαῦται τιάραι ἐπίκεινται, τὸ ἡγεμονικὸν σκέπουσαί τε καὶ περιθάλπουσαι. Ζώνη δὲ καὶ ἀναβολεὺς, ἡ μὲν τὴν ὀσφὺν περισφίγγουσα, ὁ δὲ τοὺς ὤμους καὶ τοὺς βραχίονας ἀνέχων, ἑτοίμους εἶναι εἰς διακονίαν Θεοῦ καὶ ἐργασίαν, ὧδε παρακελεύεται. Οὐκ ἀγνοῶ δὲ, ὡς περὶ τούτων ἄλλοι ἀλλοίους ἀποδεδώκασι λόγους. Ἐμοὶ δὲ ἀπόχρη τοσοῦτον εἰπεῖν. Τόν γε μὴν Παχώμιόν φασι μόνον ἐν σπηλαίῳ τὰ πρῶτα φιλοσοφῆσαι. Προφανέντα δὲ αὐτῷ θεῖον ἄγγελον, παρακελεύσασθαι νέους ἀθροῖσαι μοναχοὺς, καὶ συνεῖναι αὐτοῖς. Εὖ γὰρ τὰ κατ᾿ αὐτὸν ἐν φιλοσοφίᾳ κατωρθωκέναι, καὶ χρῆναι καὶ συνοικιῶν ἡγούμενον ὠφελεῖν πολλούς. ῎Αγειν δὲ αὐτοὺς νόμοις οἷς ἂν δοίη · δεδωκέναι δὲ αὐτῷ δέλτον, ἣν ἔτι φυλάττουσιν. Ἐνοῦσα δὲ ταύτῃ γραφὴ προσἐταττε συγχωρεῖν ἑκάστῳ, ὡς ἂν οἷός τε ἦν, φαγεῖν καὶ πιεῖν, καὶ ἐργάζεσθαι, νηστεύειν τε, καὶ μή. Τοῖς μέντοι ῥωμαλεωτέρως ἐσθίουσι, τὰ ἐπιπονώτερα τῶν ἔργων ἐπιτρέπειν · τὰ δὲ εὐχερῆ, τοῖς ἀσκουμένοις. Οἰκήματα δὲ μικρὰ κατασκευάσαι πολλά, καὶ καθ' ἕκαστον οἴκημα τρεῖς καταμένειν · ὑπὸ ἕνα δὲ οἶκον πάντας τροφῆς μεταλαμβάνειν· σιγῇ τε ἐσθίειν, καὶ καθῆσθαι παρὰ τὰς τραπέζας ἐπικεκαλυμμένους τὰ πρόσωπα, ὡς μήτε ἀλλήλους ὁρᾶν, μήτε ἄλλο τι, πλὴν τῆς τραπέζης καὶ τῶν προκειμένων. Ξένον δὲ μὴ συνεσθίειν αὐτοῖς, μόνον εἰ μὴ παροδεύων ἐπιξενωθείη · τὸν δὲ συνοικεῖν αὐτοῖς βουλόμενον, πρότερον ἐπὶ τριετίαν τὰ χαλεπώτερα τῶν ἔργων πονεῖν, καὶ οὕτω μετέχειν τῆς αὐτῶν συνοικίας. Διφθέρας δὲ ἀμφιέννυσθαι, καὶ τιάραις ἐρίναις τὰς κεφαλὰς σκέπεσθαι. Κατασημαίνεσθαι δὲ ταύτας τὰς τιάρας οἷονεὶ – κέντροις πορφυροῖς προσέταξε. Χιτῶσι δὲ λινοῖς καὶ ζώναις κεχρῆσθαι, καὶ ἐζωσμένους σὺν τοῖς χιτωνίοις καὶ ταῖς διφθέραις καθεύδειν, καθημένους ἐν οἰκοδομητοῖς θρόνοις, ἑκατέρωθεν περιπεφραγμένοις, ὥστε τὴν ἑκάστου συνέχειν στρωμνήν. Τῇ δὲ πρώτῃ καὶ τελευταίᾳ ἡμέρᾳ τῆς ἑβδομάδος, ἐπὶ κοινωνίᾳ τῶν θείων μυστηρίων τῷ θυσιαστηρίῳ προσιόντας, τὰς ζώνας λύειν, καὶ τὰς διφθέρας ἀποτίθεσθαι · δωδέ κατον δὲ πάσης τῆς ἡμέρας εὔχεσθαι, καὶ πρὸς ἑσπέραν ὁμοίως · τοσαυτάκις δὲ καὶ νύκτωρ· ἐννάτῃ δὲ ὥρᾳ, τρίτον. Ἡνίκα δὲ μέλλοιεν ἐσθίειν, ἑκάστης εὐχῆς προᾴδειν ψαλμόν. Πᾶσαν δὲ τὴν συνοικίαν εἰς ε εἰκοσιτέσσαρα τάγματα διελεῖν, καὶ ἐπονομάσαι ταῦτα τοῖς Ἑλλήνων στοιχείοις· καὶ ὅπως ἔχοι βίου καὶ ἤθους ἑκάστῳ τάγματι τὴν προσηγορίαν ἐφαρμόσαι. Οἷον, ἁπλουστέρους μὲν ἰῶτα ἀποκαλοῦντας, σκολιοὺς δὲ ζἢ ξ, καὶ ἄλλους ἄλλως, καθὼς ἐκλαμβάνειν εὐστόχως ἔστι πρὸς τὸ σχῆμα τοῦ γράμματος τὴν προαίρεσιν τοῦ τάγματος. Κατὰ τούτους τοὺς νόμους, τοὺς ἰδίους μαθητὰς ἦγεν ὁ Παχώμιος, ἀνὴρ τὰ μάλιστα φιλάνθρωπος, καὶ θεοφιλὴς εἰς ἄγαν, ὡς προειδέναι τὰ ἐσόμενα, καὶ θείοις ἀγγέλοις ὁμιλῶν πολλάκις. Διέτριβε δὲ ἐν Ταβέννῃ νήσῳ τῆς Θηβαΐδος, ὅθεν Ταβεννησιῶται εἰσέτι νῦν ὀνομάζονται. Ὑπὸ δὲ τούτους τοὺς νόμους πολιτευόμενοι, ὀνομαστότατοι ἐγένοντο, καὶ εἰς πλῆθος τῷ χρόνῳ ἐπέδοσαν, ὡς εἰς ἑπτακισχιλίους ἄνδρας συντελεῖν. Ἡ μὲν γὰρ ἐν Ταβέννῃ νήσῳ συνοικία, μεθ' ὧν αὐτὸς Παχώμιος διέτριβεν, ἀμφὶ τοὺς χιλίους καὶ τριακοσίους' εἶχεν · οἱ δὲ κατὰ τὴν Θηβαΐδα, καὶ τὴν ἄλλην Αἴγυπτον οἰκοῦσι. Μία δὲ καὶ ἡ αὐτὴ ἀγωγὴ πᾶσι, καὶ κοινὰ πάντων τὰ πάντα · καθάπερ δὲ μητέρα τὴν ἐν Ταβέννῃ νήσῳ συνοικίαν ἡγοῦντο· πατέρας δὲ καὶ ἄρχοντας, τοὺς ἐνθάδε ἡγουμένους. Κατὰ τοῦτον δὲ τὸν χρόνον καὶ ᾿Απολλώνιος ἐπὶ μοναχικῇ φιλοσοφίᾳ διέπρεπεν. Ον φασί δέκα καὶ πέντε ἐτῶν ὄντα, φιλοσοφῆσαι ἐν ταῖς ἐρήμοις · εἰς ἔτη δὲ τεσσαράκοντα γεγονώς, κατὰ θείαν πρόσταξιν εἰς τοὺς οἰκουμένους ἦλθε τόπους. Εἶχε δὲ καὶ αὐτὸς ἐν Θηβαΐδι τὴν συνοικίαν. Ἐγένετο δὲ θεοφιλὴς εἰς ἄγαν, καὶ παραδόξων ἰάσεων καὶ σημείων δημιουργὸς, καὶ πρακτικὸς ὧν δεῖ, καὶ τῶν εἰς φιλοσοφίαν ἡκόντων διδάσκαλος ἀγαθὸς καὶ χαρίεις · καὶ ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον ἐν ταῖς εὐχαῖς εὐήκοος, ὡς μηδὲν ἀνήνυτον γενέσθαι, ὧν παρὰ Θεοῦ ἐζήτησε. Πάντως γὰρ σοφὸς ὢν, σοφῶς τὰς αἰτήσεις ἐποιεῖτο, αἷς τὸ Θεῖον ἑτοίμως ἐπινεύειν πέφυκε. Κατὰ τούτους εἰκάζω γενέσθαι καὶ ᾿Ανοῦφ τὸν θεσπέσιον · ὃν ἐπυθόμην, ἀφ᾿ οὗ πρῶτον ἐν τοῖς διωγμοῖς ὑπὲρ τοῦ δόγματος ὡμολόγησε, μήτε ψεῦδος εἰπεῖν, μήτε ἐπιθυμῆσαί τινος τῶν ἐπὶ γῆς. Ἐπιτυχεῖν δὲ πάντων ὧν παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐδεήθη, καὶ ὑπὸ θείου ἀγγέλου διδασκάλου πᾶσαν ἀρετὴν παιδευθῆναι. ᾿Αλλὰ περὶ μὲν τῶν ἐν Αἰγυπτῳ μοναχῶν τοσάδε τέως ἡμῖν εἰρήσθω. Ἤδη δὲ καὶ Παλαιστίνη τὸν ἴσον τρόπον φιλοσοφεῖν ἤρχετο, παρ' Αἰγυπτίων μαθοῦσα· διέπρεπε δὲ τότε ἐνθάδε Ιλαρίων ὁ θεσπέσιος. Τούτῳ δὲ πατρὶς μὲν ἦν Θαβαθὰ κώμη · πρὸς νότον δὲ Γάζης κειμένη παρὰ τὸν χειμάῤῥουν, ὃς ἐπὶ θάλασσαν τὰς ἐμβολὰς ἔχων, ἐπιχωρίως ἀπ᾿ αὐτῆς τῆς κώμης τὴν ἐπωνυμίαν ἔλαβε. Γραμματικῷ δὲ φοιτῶν ἐν ᾿Αλεξανδρείᾳ, κατὰ θέαν ᾿Αντωνίου τοῦ μεγάλου μοναχοῦ εἰς τὴν ἔρημον ἦλθε. Καὶ συγγενόμενος αὐτῷ, παραπλησίως φιλοσοφεῖν ἔγνω. Ὀλίγον δὲ χρόνον ἐνθάδε διατρίψας, “κατὰ γνώμην ἠρεμεῖν, πολλῶν ὄντων ἑκάστοτε τῶν ( ἐπανῆλθεν εἰς τὴν πατρίδα. Οὐ γὰρ συνεχωρεῖτο ὡς Ἀντώνιον ἐρχομένων. Καταλαβὼν δὲ τελευτήσάντας τοὺς πατέρας, εἰς τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς καὶ τοὺς δεομένους τὴν οὐσίαν διένειμεν. Οὐθὲν δὲ παντάπασι xαταλιπὼν ἑαυτῷ, διέτριβεν ἐν ἐρήμῳ τόπῳ παρὰ θάλασσαν, ἀμφὶ τὰ εἴκοσι στάδια τῆς αὐτοῦ κώμης διεστῶτι. Οἴκησις δὲ ἦν αὐτῷ, δωμάτιον μικρὸν, ἐκ πλίνθου καὶ φορυτοῦ καὶ κεράμων κατεαγότων κατεσκευασμένον· εὔρους τε καὶ ὕψους καὶ μήκους τοσ οῦτον, ὅσον ἑστῶτα μὲν κεκυφέναι τὴν κεφαλήν · κείμενον δὲ τοὺς πόδας συλλέγειν ἐπάναγκες εἶναι. Διαπάντων γὰρ εἴθιζεν ἑαυτὸν ταλαιπωρεῖν, καὶ ῥᾳστώνης κρατεῖν. Αμέλει τοι ὧν ἴσμεν ἐγκρατείας ἀκόμπου καὶ δεδοκιμασμένης, οὐδενὶ κατέλιπεν ὑπερβολὴν, ἀγωνιζόμενος πρὸς ἀσιτίαν καὶ δίψος, καὶ ῥῖγος καὶ πνίγος, καὶ πρὸς τὰ ἄλλα πάθη, καὶ θωπείας τοῦ σώματος τῆς ψυχῆς. Ἦν δὲ τὸ μὲν ἦθος δαῖΐος " σεμνὸς δὲ τὸν λόγον, καὶ ἐπήδολος ἀχριθδὴς τῶν ἱερῶν Γραφῶν" ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον δὲ θεοφιλὴς ἐγένετο, ὡς ἔτι νῦν ἐπὶ τῷ αὐτοῦ τάφῳ πολλοὺς ἰᾶσθαι κάμνοντας καὶ δαιμονῶντας " καὶ τόγε παραδοξότατον, παρά τε Κυπρίοις οὗ πρότερον ἐτάφη, παρὰ ΠΙαλαιστινοῖς παρ᾽ οἷς ἐστὶ νῦν. Συμδὰν γὰρ αὐτὸν ἐν Κύπρῳ διατρίδοντα τελευτῆσαι, πρὸς τῶν ἐπιχωρίων ἐχηδεύθη, ἐν πολλῇ τιμῇ καὶ θεραπείᾳ παρ᾽ αὐτοῖς ἦν. Μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα Ἡσύχας, ὃς εὐδοχιμώτατος ἐγένετο τῶν αὐτοῦ μαθητῶν, χλέψας τὸ λείψανον, διεκόμισεν εἰς Παλαιστίνην, καὶ ἐν τῷ ἰδίῳ μοναστηρίῳ ἔθαψε. Καὶ τὸ ἐξ ἐκείνου, δημοτελῆ καὶ μάλα λαμπρὰν ἐνθάδε ἐτήσιον ἑορτὴν ἄγουσιν οἱ ἐπιχώριοι. Ὧδε γὰρ Παλαιστινοῖς ἔθος γεραίρειν τοὺς παρ᾽ αὑτοῖς ἄνδρας ἀγαθοὺς γενομένους, ὥσπερ ἀμέλει Αὐρήλιον τὸν ᾿Ανθηδόνιον, ᾿Αλεξίωνα τὸν ἀπὸ Βηθαγάθωνος, ᾿Αλαφίωνα τὸν ἀπὸ ᾿Ασαλέας κατὰ τὸν αὐτὸν γενόμενοι χρόνον, ἐπὶ τῆς παρούσης βασιλείας εὐσεβθῶς καὶ ἀνδοείως ἐν φιλοσοφίᾳ ἐπολιτεύσαντο, ταῖς οἰκείαις ἀρεταῖς ἐν ἑλληνιζούσαις ἄγαν ταῖς τῇδε πόλεσι κώμαις, εἰς ἐπίδοσιν ἤγαγον τὴν θρησκείαν. ἐκεῖνο καιροῦ Ἰουλιανὸς ἀμφὶ τὴν Ἔδεσαν ἐφιλοσόφει, ἀκχριδεστάτῃη, καὶ οἷα ἀσωμάτῳ ἀγωγῇ καὶ πολιτείᾳ ἐπιχειρήσας, ὡς ἐκτὸς σαρκῶν ὀστέοις καὶ δέρματι δοκεῖν συνεστάναι καὶ Ἐφραὶμ τῷ Σύρῳ συγγραφεῖ πρόφασις γενέσθαι ματείας τῆς κατὰ τὸν αὐτοῦ βίον ἀφηγήσεως. Ἐπεψηφίζετο δὲ Θεὸς αὐτὸς οἷς ἄνθρωπαι περὶ αὐτοῦ ἐδόξαζον, δαίμονας ἀπελαύνειν, παντοδαπῶν νόσων ἰάσεις αὐτῷ δωρησάμενος, οὐ φαρμάκοις τισὶν, ἀλλ᾽ εὐχῇ χατορθουμένας. Ἐπὶ τούτῳ δὲ καὶ ἄλλοις πολλοῖς ἐκκλησιαστικοῖς φιλοσόφοις, τὸ τῇδε ὑπήκοον τηνικαῦτα διέπρεπε, κατά τε τὸν ᾿Εδεσσηνῶν νομὸν, ὑπό τε τὴν ᾿Αμιδηνῶν πόλιν, ἀμφὶ τὸ Γαυγάλιον χαλούμενον ὄρος " ὧν ἤστην Δανιὴλ Συμεών. ᾿Αλλὰ περὶ μὲν τῶν ἐν Συρίᾳ μοναχῶν τάδε εἰρήσθω νῦν. Τελεώτερον εἰ ὁ Θεὸς θελήσειε, τοῖς ἑξῆς εἰρήσεται περὶ αὐτῶν. ᾿Αρμενίοις δὲ καὶ Παφλαγόσι, καὶ τοῖς πρὸς τὸν Πόντον οἰκοῦσι, λέγεται Εὐστάθιος ὁ τὴν ἐν Σεθαστίᾳ τῆς ᾿Αρμενίας ἐκκλησίαν ἐπιτροπεύσας, μοναχικῆς πολιτείας ἄρξαι· καὶ ( ἀποκηρύξωσιν. Ἐντεῦθεν δὲ λόγος, Εὐστάθιον ἐπιτῆς ἐν ταύτῃ σπουδαίας ἀγωγῆς, ἐδεσμάτων τε ὧν χρὴ μετέχειν καὶ ἀπέχεσθαι, καὶ ἐσθῆτος ᾗ δεῖ κε χρῆσθαι, καὶ ἡθῶν, καὶ πολιτείας ἀκριβοῦς εἰσηγητὴν γενόμενον. Ὡς καὶ τὴν ἐπιγεγραμμένην Βασιλείου τοῦ Καππαδόκου Ασκητικὴν βίβλον, ἰσχυρίζεσθαί τινας αὐτοῦ γραφὴν εἶναι. Λέγεται δὲ ὑπὸ πολλῆς ἀκριβείας, εἰς παραλόγους ἐπιτηρήσεις ἐκπεσεῖν, παντελῶς ἀπᾳδούσας τῶν ἐκκλησιαστικῶν νόμων. Οἱ δὲ αὐτὸν μὲν τοῦ ἐγκλήματος ἐξαιροῦνται · ἐπαιτιῶνται δὲ τινας τῶν αὐτοῦ μαθητῶν, ὡς γάμῳ καταμεμφομένους, καὶ ἐν οἴκοις γεγαμηκότων εὔχεσθαι παραιτουμένους, καὶ τοὺς γεγαμηκότας πρεσβυτέρους ὑπερφρονοῦντας, καὶ ἐν Κυριακαῖς ἡμέραις νηστεύοντας, καὶ ἐν οἰκίαις ἐκκλησιάζοντας, καὶ τοὺς πλουσίους καθάπαξ ἀμοίρους τῆς βασιλείας τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀποφαινομένους, καὶ τοὺς κρέα ἐσθίοντας βδελυττομένους· καὶ χιτῶνας μὲν συνήθεις καὶ στο λὰς μὴ ἀνεχομένους ἀμφιέννυσθαι · ξένῃ δὲ καὶ ἀήθει ἐσθῆτι χρωμένους, καὶ ἄλλα πλεῖστα νεωτερίζοντας. Ἐκ τούτου δὲ πολλὰς γυναῖκας ἀπατηθείσας καταλιπεῖν τοὺς ἄνδρας · εἶτ' ἐγκρατεύεσθαι μὴ δυνηθείσας, μοιχείας ἁμαρτεῖν· τὰς δὲ, προφάσει θεοσεβείας, τὴν κεφαλὴν ἀποκείρασθαι, καὶ ἀλλοίως ἢ γυναικὶ πρέπει, ἀνδράσι δὲ σύνηθες, ἀμφιέννυσθαι. Διὰ δὴ ταῦτα, τοὺς πλησιοχώρους ἐπισκόπους συνελθεῖν ἐν Γάγγραις τῇ μητροπόλει Παφλαγόνων, καὶ ἀλλοτρίους αὐτοὺς ψηφίσασθαι τῆς καθόλου Ἐκκλησίας, εἰ μὴ κατὰ τοὺς ὅρους τῆς συνόδου ἕκαστον τῶν εἰρημένων δεικνύμενον ὡς οὐκ αὐθαδείας ἕνεκα, ἀλλὰ τῆς κατὰ Θεὸν ἀσκήσεως εἰσηγεῖτο ταῦτα καὶ ἐπιτηδεύοι, ἀμεῖψαι τὴν στολὴν, καὶ παραπλησίως τοῖς ἄλλοις ἱερεῦσι τὰς προόδους ποιήσασθαι. Τοιοῦτος δὴ τὰ περὶ τὸν βίον ὑπάρχων, καὶ ἐπὶ λόγοις ἐθαυμάζετο. δὲ ἀληθὲς εἰπεῖν, ἐγένετο λέγειν μὲν οὐ δεινός. Οὐδὲ γὰρ τὴν ἐπὶ τούτῳ ἐπιστήμην ἐξήσκητο. Τὸ δὲ ἦθος θαυμάσιος, καὶ πείθειν ἱκανώτατος· ὡς καὶ πολλοὺς τῶν ἐκπορευομένων ἀνδρῶν καὶ γυναικῶν, μεταπείσαι σώφρονα καὶ σπουδαῖον βίον ἀναλαβεῖν. Φασὶ γοῦν αὐτὸν, ἄνδρα τινὰ καὶ γυναῖκα κατά θεσμὸν Ἐκκλησίας παρθενίαν προσποιουμένους, καὶ εἰς ταὐτὸν συνιέναι διαβαλλομένους, σπουδάσαι τῆς πρὸς ἀλλήλους ὁμιλίας παῦσαι. ᾿Αποτυχόντα δὲ, μέγα ἀνοιμῶξαι καὶ εἰπεῖν, ὡς κατὰ νόμον ἀνδρὶ συνοικοῦσα γυνή, τοὺς περὶ σωφροσύνης λόγους ἀκούσασα αὐτοῦ, συνουσίας ἀπέσχετο, ἧς γαμεταῖς θέμις πρὸς ἰδίους ἄνδρας κοινωνεῖν· τοὺς δὲ παρανόμως συνουσιάζοντας ἀλλήλοις, ἀσθενῆ ἀποφῆναι τὴν αὐτοῦ πειθώ. Τὸν δὴ τοιοῦτον, τῆς κατὰ τόδε τὸ κλίμα ἀκριβοῦς μοναστικῆς ἀγωγῆς ἀρχηγὸν γενέσθαι λόγος. Θράκιοι δὲ καὶ Ἰλλυριοὶ, καὶ ὅσοι τὴν καλουμένην Εὐρώπην οἰκοῦσιν, εἰ καὶ ἀπείρατοι ἔτι μοναχικῶν συνοικῶν ἦσαν, ἀλλ᾽ οὐ παντελῶς φιλοσόφων ἀνδρῶν ἡτύχουν. Ἐγνωρίζετο δὲ τάτε παρ᾿ αὐτοῖς Μαρτῖνος, ὃς ἀπὸ Σαβωρίας τῆς Παννονίας ἐπίσημος ἦν τὸ γένος · ἐν ὅπλοις δὲ λαμπρῶς στρατευσάμενος, καὶ συνταγματάρχης ἐγένετο. Προτιμήσας δὲ τὸ θεῖον, τὸν φιλόσοφον μετῄει βίον. Διέτριβε δὲ τὰ πρῶτα παρ' Ἰλλυριοῖς· ἐπεὶ δὲ προθύμως ὑπὲρ τοῦ δόγματος ἀγωνιζόμενος, τινὰς τῶν ἐνθάδε ἐπισκόπων ἐφώρασε τὰ ᾿Αρείου φρονοῦντας, ἐπιβουλευθεὶς καὶ πολλάκις δημοσίᾳ τυπτηθεὶς, ἐξηλάθη· καὶ εἰς Μεδιόλανον ἐλθὼν, καθ᾽ ἑαυτὸν διέτριβεν. Ὑπεχώρησέ τε ἔνθεν, ἐπιβουλευόμενος παρὰ Αυξεντίου τοῦ ἐπισκόπου, οὐδὲ αὐτοῦ ὑγιῶς ἔχοντος περὶ τὴν πίστιν τῶν ἐν Νικαίᾳ συνελθόντων. Καὶ ἐπί τινα χρόνον ῥίζαις βοτανῶν ἀρκούμενος, νῆσον ᾤκησεν ἣν Γαλληναρίαν καλοῦσι. Μικρὰ δὲ αὕτη καὶ ἀοίκητος, ἐν τῷ Τυῤῥηνικῷ πελάγει κειμένη. Χρόνῳ δὲ ὕστερον καὶ ἐπισκοπὴν ἐπετράπη τὴν ἐν Ταῤῥακίναις ἐκκλησίαν. Ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον δὲ θαυματουργίαις προελθεῖν παραδέδοται, ὡς νεκρὸν ἐγεῖραι πιστεύεσθαι, ἄλλα τε σημεῖα ἐπιτελέσαι Ἀποστολικῶν οὐ λειπόμενα. Κατὰ τόδε τὸ ὑπήκοον, ἐν τῷ τότε καὶ Ἱλάριον γενέσθαι παρειλή - φαμεν, ἄνδρα βίῳ καὶ λόγῳ θεσπέσιον · ὃς Μαρτίνῳ τῆς φυγῆς ἐκοινώνησε διὰ τὴν περὶ τὸ δόγμα σπουδὴν. Ἀνδρῶν μὲν οὖν πέρι, οἱ τότε ἐν εὐσεβείᾳ καὶ ἐκκλησιαστικῷ θεσμῷ ἐφιλοσόφουν, τάδε ἔγνων ὡς συνέγραψα. Ὑπερφυῶς δὲ πολλοὶ καὶ μάλα ἐλλόγιμοι κατὰ τὸν αὐτὸν χρόνον ἐν ταῖς Ἐκκλησίαις διέπρεπον. Ἑπισημότατοι δὲ ἐν τούτοις ἐγένοντο, Εὐσέβιος ὁ τὴν Ἐμέσης ἱερωσύνην ἐπιτροπεύσας, καὶ Τίτος ὁ Βόστρης, καὶ Σεραπίων ὁ Θμουαῖος, Βασίλειός τε ὁ ᾿Αγκύρας, καὶ Εὐδόξιος ὁ Γερμανικίας, καὶ ᾿Ακάκιος ὁ Καισαρείας, καὶ Κύριλλος ὃς τῶν Ἱεροσολύμων θρόνον ἐπετρόπευσε. Σύμβολον τῆς αὐτῶν παιδείας, ἃ συνεγράψαντο καὶ καταλελοίπασι, πολλά τε καὶ λόγου ἄξια. ### English translation (Claude) I shall begin from Egypt and the two Macarii, the most celebrated leaders of Scetis and of the mountain there. Of these two, one was called the Egyptian, the other the townsman, as a citizen; for he was an Alexandrian by birth. Both were exceedingly godly men, possessed divine foreknowledge and philosophy, were terrible to demons, and worked many wonderful deeds and healings. It is said of the Egyptian that he even made a dead man live, in order to persuade a man of another opinion that there will be a resurrection of the dead. He lived about ninety years, sixty of which he spent in the deserts. As soon as he began the philosophic life, while still young, he excelled so that the monks called him the “boy-elder,” and at forty he was ordained presbyter. The other became a presbyter later in life; he tried almost every kind of discipline, partly devising it himself and partly carrying out by every means what he heard from others, so that from extreme dryness of body no hair grew on his chin. About the same time there were practising philosophy Pambo, Heraclides, Cronius, Paphnutius, Putubastes, Arsisius, Serapion the Great, and Pityrion, who lived in the Thebaid; and Pachomius, who became the founder of the so-called Tabennesiots. These had a habit and way of life differing in some respects from the rest of the monks, but looking to virtue and stirring the soul to despise earthly things and to look upward, so that it might pass easily to heavenly things when released from the body. They wore sheepskins in imitation of Elijah the Tishbite; in my opinion, so that, always reminded of the prophet's virtue by the skin they wore, they might stand bravely in battle against the desires of the flesh, and, from zeal for him and hope of similar rewards, be the more eager to live chastely. It is said too that the other garments of the monks in Egypt contribute to an example of a certain philosophy, and do not differ from others by chance. They wear tunics without sleeves, teaching that their hands should not be ready for violence. The covering on the head, which they call a cowl, signifies that they should live as innocently and purely as infants fed on milk, who wear such caps, which cover and keep warm the ruling part. The girdle and the scapular, the one binding the loins and the other holding up the shoulders and arms, bid them be ready for the service and work of God. I am not unaware that others have given other explanations of these things; for me it is enough to say this much. They say that Pachomius at first practised philosophy alone in a cave; and that a divine angel appeared to him and bade him gather young monks and live with them, for he had succeeded well in his own philosophy, and ought, as leader of a community, to benefit many; and that he should govern them by the laws the angel would give; and that he gave him a tablet, which they still keep. The writing on it directed him to allow each to eat and drink as he was able, to work, and to fast or not; but to assign the heavier tasks to those who ate more vigorously, and the lighter to the ascetics. He was to build many small cells, three to live in each cell; all were to take food in one house, eat in silence, and sit at table with their faces covered, so as to see neither one another nor anything else but the table and what was on it. A stranger was not to eat with them, except one lodging as he passed through; and one who wished to live with them was first to labour at the harder tasks for three years, and so share in their community. They were to wear sheepskins and cover their heads with woollen caps, and he ordered these caps to be marked with purple crosses, as it were. They were to use linen tunics and girdles, and to sleep girded in their tunics and sheepskins, sitting on built seats enclosed on either side so as to hold each one's bedding. On the first and last day of the week, approaching the altar for communion in the divine mysteries, they were to loosen their girdles and lay aside their sheepskins. They were to pray twelve times in the whole day, likewise in the evening, and as many times at night; at the ninth hour, three times. When about to eat, they were to sing a psalm before each prayer. He was to divide the whole community into twenty-four orders and name them after the letters of the Greek alphabet, fitting the name to each order according to its life and character: for example, calling the simpler ones iota, the crooked ones zeta or xi, and others in other ways, as one could aptly relate the disposition of the order to the shape of the letter. By these laws Pachomius led his disciples, a man exceedingly kind and so dear to God that he foresaw the future and often conversed with divine angels. He lived at Tabenna, an island in the Thebaid, from which they are still called Tabennesiots. Living under these laws they became most renowned and grew in time to such numbers that they amounted to some seven thousand men. The community on the island of Tabenna, with which Pachomius himself lived, had about thirteen hundred; the others live throughout the Thebaid and the rest of Egypt. There is one and the same rule for all, and all things are common to all; they regard the community on the island of Tabenna as their mother, and its leaders as their fathers and rulers. At this time Apollonius too was distinguished in monastic philosophy. They say that at fifteen he practised philosophy in the deserts, and at forty, by divine command, came to inhabited places. He too had his community in the Thebaid. He was exceedingly dear to God, a worker of wonderful healings and signs, effective in what was needed, and a good and gracious teacher of those who came to philosophy; and so readily heard in his prayers that nothing he asked of God went unaccomplished. For being altogether wise, he made his requests wisely, and the Divine is naturally ready to grant such. I conjecture that the godly Anuph too lived at this time; I have learned that from the time he first confessed the doctrine in the persecutions he never told a lie nor desired anything on earth, obtained everything he asked of God, and was taught every virtue by a divine angel as his teacher. But let so much be said for now about the monks of Egypt. Palestine too was already beginning to practise philosophy in the same way, having learned it from the Egyptians; and the godly Hilarion was then distinguished there. His home was the village of Thabatha, lying south of Gaza by the torrent which, emptying into the sea, takes its local name from the village. While attending a grammarian at Alexandria, he went to the desert to see Antony the great monk; and associating with him, he resolved to practise philosophy in like manner. After spending a short time there he returned to his homeland; for he was not allowed to live in quiet as he wished, since many people were always coming to Antony. Finding his parents dead, he distributed his property among his brothers and the needy, and, keeping nothing at all for himself, lived in a desert place by the sea, about twenty stades from his village. His dwelling was a small hut built of brick, rubbish and broken tiles, so wide, high and long that standing he had to bend his head and lying he had to draw up his feet. For he accustomed himself to hardship in everything and to mastering ease. Indeed, of all whom we know he left no one able to surpass him in unboastful and proven self-control, contending against hunger and thirst, cold and heat, and the other passions and flatteries of body and soul. He was earnest in character, grave in speech, and an exact student of the sacred Scriptures; and he was so dear to God that even now many sick and possessed are healed at his tomb, and, most wonderful of all, both among the Cypriots, where he was first buried, and among the Palestinians, where he now is. For having died while staying in Cyprus, he was buried by the inhabitants and was held there in great honour and veneration. Afterward Hesychas, the most renowned of his disciples, stole his remains, carried them to Palestine, and buried them in his own monastery; and from that time the inhabitants keep a public and very splendid yearly feast there. For it is the custom of the Palestinians to honour in this way the good men who have lived among them, as for example Aurelius of Anthedon, Alexion of Bethagathon, and Alaphion of Asalea, who lived at the same time, practised philosophy piously and bravely under the present reign, and by their own virtues advanced the religion in the cities and villages there, which were exceedingly given to paganism. At that time Julian practised philosophy near Edessa, undertaking a most exact and, as it were, bodiless discipline and way of life, so that he seemed to consist of bones and skin without flesh; and he gave Ephrem the Syrian writer occasion for a work narrating his life. God himself confirmed what men thought of him, granting him to drive out demons and to heal diseases of every kind, not by any medicines but by prayer. Besides him, the region there was then distinguished by many other churchly philosophers, in the district of Edessa and near the city of Amida, about the mountain called Gaugalion; among them were Daniel and Symeon. But let this be said for now about the monks of Syria; more fully, God willing, it will be told about them in what follows. Among the Armenians and Paphlagonians and those who live by the Pontus, Eustathius, who governed the church of Sebaste in Armenia, is said to have begun the monastic way of life, and to have introduced an earnest discipline there: what foods one should partake of or abstain from, what dress one should use, and customs and an exact way of life; so that some insist that the book entitled the Ascetic Book of Basil the Cappadocian is his writing. It is said that through excessive strictness he fell into unreasonable observances quite contrary to the laws of the church. Others clear him of the charge, but blame some of his disciples as condemning marriage, refusing to pray in the houses of married people, despising married presbyters, fasting on the Lord's days, holding assemblies in houses, declaring the rich entirely without share in the kingdom of God, abhorring those who eat meat, not tolerating the wearing of ordinary tunics and robes but using a strange and unusual dress, and making very many other innovations. Through this, it is said, many women were deceived and left their husbands, and then, unable to remain continent, fell into adultery; others, on the pretext of piety, cut off their hair and dressed otherwise than befits a woman, in the fashion usual for men. For these reasons the neighbouring bishops met at Gangra, the metropolis of Paphlagonia, and voted them strangers to the catholic church unless they renounced each of the things mentioned, according to the definitions of the synod. Eustathius, showing that he had introduced and practised these things not out of arrogance but for discipline according to God, changed his dress and thereafter made his public appearances like the other priests. Such a man in his life, he was also admired for his words; though, to tell the truth, he was not a powerful speaker, for he had not trained himself in that skill. But in character he was wonderful and most able to persuade, so that he persuaded many men and women who were living immorally to take up a chaste and earnest life. They say, for instance, that when a certain man and woman, who professed virginity according to the rule of the church, were accused of living together, he tried to stop their association; and failing, he groaned deeply and said that a woman living lawfully with her husband had, on hearing his words about chastity, abstained from the intercourse that wives may lawfully have with their own husbands, while those who lived together unlawfully had proved his persuasion weak. Such a man, it is said, was the founder of the strict monastic discipline in that region. The Thracians, Illyrians and those who live in what is called Europe, though they still had no experience of monastic communities, were not altogether without philosophic men. Among them Martin was known, who was of distinguished family from Sabaria in Pannonia; he served brilliantly in arms and became a commander. But preferring divine things, he took up the philosophic life. He lived first among the Illyrians; but when, contending eagerly for the doctrine, he exposed some of the bishops there as holding the views of Arius, he was plotted against, often beaten in public, and driven out. Coming to Milan, he lived by himself. He withdrew from there too, being plotted against by Auxentius the bishop, who himself did not hold soundly to the faith of those who met at Nicaea; and for a time, living on roots of herbs, he dwelt on an island they call Gallinaria, which is small and uninhabited, lying in the Tyrrhenian sea. Later he was entrusted with the episcopate of the church at Terracina. It is handed down that he advanced so far in wonder-working that he is believed to have raised a dead man and to have performed other signs not falling short of the apostles'. In this part of the empire, we have received, there lived at that time also Hilary, a man godly in life and speech, who shared Martin's exile because of his zeal for the doctrine. Concerning the men, then, who at that time practised philosophy in piety and according to the rule of the church, I have written these things as I learned them. Exceedingly many and very learned men were also distinguished in the churches at the same time. The most famous among them were Eusebius, who held the priesthood of Emesa, Titus of Bostra, Serapion of Thmuis, Basil of Ancyra, Eudoxius of Germanicia, Acacius of Caesarea, and Cyril, who governed the see of Jerusalem. The many and noteworthy works they wrote and left behind are a token of their learning. ### Scripture references - 1 Kgs 19:19: allusion, low confidence - Heb 11:37: allusion, medium confidence - 1 Cor 11:14: allusion, low confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Conc. Gangr. (Canons of the Council of Gangra): allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - A fragment of Valesius's chapter title (a list of names: “… of Pityrion, Pachomius, Apollonius, Anuph, Hilarion and very many other saints, a catalogue”) stood at the head of the section and has been removed. In the scan several lines are displaced: in the story of Hilarion the reason for his return (“he was not allowed to live in quiet … coming to Antony”) and, at Gangra, the words “unless they renounced” were printed out of place; the translation follows the evident order. A word describing Hilarion's character is damaged (δαῖΐος); it is taken as the end of σπουδαῖος, “earnest.” Sozomen's account of Pachomius's rule follows Palladius, Lausiac History 32. The excesses ascribed to Eustathius's followers are those condemned by the council of Gangra (canons 1–21); the women who “left their husbands” and then fell into adultery are reported as Sozomen gives the charge. Sozomen's “Terracina” for Martin's see is a mistake for Tours. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 3.14 (PG 67:1067–1081; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/3-14). ## Church History 3.15 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/3-15/#p-3-15 - Source: PG 67:1083–1085 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Didymus the Blind teaches at Alexandria and is praised by Antony; Hilary, Eusebius and Lucifer are distinguished in the West, and Aetius among the Arians; Sozomen explains why he praises the eloquence of men he does not follow in doctrine. ### Greek text Ὑπὸ δὲ τοῦτον τὸν χρόνον καὶ Δίδυμος ἐκκλησιαστικός συγγραφεὺς διέπρεπε, προϊστάμενος ἐν ᾿Αλεξανδρείᾳ τοῦ ἱεροῦ διδασκαλείου τῶν ἱερῶν μαθημάτων. Ἐν τούτῳ δὲ καὶ παντοδαπὴ σοφία ᾤκει, ποιηταί τε καὶ ῥήτορες, ἀστρονομία τε καὶ γεωμετρία καὶ ἀριθμοὶ, καὶ δόξαι φιλοσόφων. Πάντων δὲ νῷ μόνῳ καὶ ἀκοῇ εἴδησιν ἐκτήσατο. Νέος γὰρ ἔτι, τυφλὸς ἐγένετο ἐν τῇ πρώτῃ πείρᾳ τῆς μαθήσεως τῶν στοιχείων. Ἤδη δὲ εἰς ἐφήβους τελῶν, ἐπεθυμησε λόγων καὶ παιδείας· καὶ τοῖς ταῦτα διδάσκουσι φοιτῶν, ἡκροᾶτο μόνον · καὶ ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον ἦλθε σοφίας, ὡς καὶ τῶν ἐν τοῖς μαθήμασι σκολιῶν θεωρημάτων ἐφικέσθαι. Λέγεται δὲ τοὺς χαρακτῆρας τῶν γραμμάτων, σανίδι καταχαραχθέντας εἰς βάθος, ἐκμαθεῖν τοῖς δακτύλοις ἐφαπτόμενος • συλλαβὰς δὲ καὶ ὀνό ματα καὶ τὰ ἄλλα ἐφεξῆς, καταλήψει νοῦ καὶ συνεχεῖ ἀκροάσει καὶ ἀναμνήσει τῶν ἀκοῇ θηρωμένων. Ἦν δὲ οὐ τὸ τυχὸν θαῦμα· καὶ πολλοὶ κατὰ κλέος τοῦ ἀνδρὸς εἰς ᾿Αλεξάνδρειαν παρεγίνοντο, οἱ μὲν αὐτοῦ ἀκουσόμενοι, οἱ δὲ, ἱστορήσοντες μόνον. Ἑλύπει δὲ οὐ μετρίως τοὺς ᾿Αρείου, τῷ δόγματι τῆς ἐν Νικαίᾳ συνόδου συνιστάμενος. Ἔπειθε γὰρ ῥᾳδίως, οὐ βίᾳ λόγων τοῦτο ποιεῖν δοκῶν· ἀλλ᾽ ὑπὸ τῆς ἄγαν πειθοῦς, ἕκαστον αὐτῶν οἱονεὶ κριτὴν καθίστη τῶν ἀμφιβόλων. Τοῖς δὲ ἀπὸ τῆς καθόλου Ἐκκλησίας περισπούδαστος ἦν· ἐπῄνει δὲ αὐτὸν, καὶ τὰ τάγματα τῶν ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ μοναχῶν, καὶ ᾿Αντώνιος ὁ Μέγας. Ον φασι τότε ἐπὶ μαρτυρίᾳ τῆς ᾿Αθανασίου πίστεως ἐκ τῆς ἐρήμου παραγενόμενον εἰς ᾿Αλεξάνδρειαν, τάδε πρὸς αὐτὸν εἰπεῖν· Οὐ χαλεπὸν, οὐδὲ λύπης ἄξιον, ὦ Δίδυμε, ὀφθαλμῶν ἀπορεῖν σε, ὧν μέτεστι σαύραις καὶ μυσὶ καὶ τοῖς εὐτελέσι ζώοις. Μακάριον δὲ καὶ χάριεν, ὅτι παραπλησίως ἀγγέλοις τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ἔχεις, δι' ὧν τρανῶς τὸ θεῖον κατανοεῖς, καὶ τὴν ἀληθῆ γνῶσιν ἀκριβῶς ὁρᾷς. Οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ παρὰ Ἰταλοῖς καὶ τοῖς ἀνὰ τόδε τὸ ὑπήκοον οἰκοῦσιν, ἐπὶ ἀρετῇ πατρίων λόγων διέπρεπον, Εὐσέβιος καὶ Ἱλάριος ὁ δηλωθείς · οὗ περὶ πίστεως καὶ πρὸς τοὺς ἑτεροδόξους φασὶν εὐδοκίμους φέρεσθαι λόγους. Καὶ Λουκίφερ, ὂν εὑρετὴν γενέσθαι λέγουσι τῆς όμωνύμου αἱρέσεως. Ἐν τούτῳ δὲ καὶ ᾿Αέτιος πρὸς τῶν ἑτεροδόξων ἐθαυμάζετο, διαλεκτικός τις ὢν, καὶ συλλογίζεσθαι ἱκανὸς, καὶ περὶ τὰς ἔριδας τῶν λόγων ἐσχολακὼς, καὶ ἀτεχνῶς ταῦτα σπουδάζων. Αμέλει τοι ὡς ῥᾳδίως περὶ Θεοῦ διαλεγόμενος, ἄθεος παρὰ τῶν πολλῶν ὠνομάζετο. Φασὶ δὲ αὐτὸν ἰατρὸν ὄντα τὰ πρῶτα ἐν ᾿Αντιοχείᾳ τῶν Σύρων, σπουδαίως δὲ ταῖς Ἐκκλησίαις φοιτῶντα, καὶ περὶ τῶν ἱερῶν Γραφῶν διαλεγόμενον, γνώριμον γενέσθαι Γάλλῳ, Καίσαρι ὄντι τότε, πολὺν ποιουμένῳ λόγον τῆς θρησκείας, καὶ τῆς εὐσεβείας ἐπιμελουμένοις εἰς ἄγαν χαίροντι· ὡς δὲ εἰκὸς, προφάσει τοιούτων διαλέξεων, φίλον αὐτῷ γενόμενον, ἀσκηθῆναι τοῦτο τὸ εἶδος τῶν λόγων, ἵνα μᾶλλον ἀρέσκῃ. Ἑλέγετο γὰρ καὶ διὰ τῶν ᾿Αριστοτέλους μαθημάτων ἐλθεῖν, καὶ ἐν ᾿Αλεξανδρείᾳ φοιτῆσαι τοῖς τούτων διδασκάλοις. Καὶ ἕτεροι δὲ παρά τούτους, πλῆθος ἐν ταῖς Ἐκκλησίαις ἦσαν, ἱκανοὶ διδάσκειν καὶ διαλέγεσθαι περὶ τῶν ἱερῶν Γραφῶν. ᾿Απαριθμήσασθαι δὲ πάντας, ἔργον. Μήτῳ δὲ χαλεπὸν εἶναι δόξῃ, ὅτι τινὰς τῶν εἰρημένων αἱρέσεων ἢ ἀρχηγοὺς ἢ σπουδαστὰς γενομένους, ἐπαινέσας ἔχω. Εὐγλωττίας γὰρ ἕνεκεν καὶ τῆς ἐν τοῖς λόγοις δεινότητος, θαυμασίους εἶναι σύμφημι. Δογμάτων δὲ πέρι, κρινέτωσαν οἷς τοῦτο ποιεῖν θέμις. Οὐδὲ γὰρ τάδε συγγράφειν προὐθέμην, οὔτε ἱστορίᾳ πρέπον, ᾗ ἔργον, μόνα τὰ ὄντα ἀφηγεῖσθαι, μηδὲν οἰκεῖον ἐπεισαγούσῃ. Ὅσοι μὲν δὴ τότε ὧν παρειλήφαμεν, τῇ Ῥωμαίων καὶ Ἑλλήνων φωνῇ κεχρημένοι, ἐπὶ παιδεύσει καὶ λόγοις ἐνδοξότατοι ἐγένοντο, ἐν τοῖς εἰρημένοις τετάχθω. ### English translation (Claude) About this time Didymus too, a church writer, was distinguished, presiding at Alexandria over the sacred school of sacred learning. In him dwelt every kind of wisdom: poets and orators, astronomy, geometry and arithmetic, and the opinions of philosophers. He acquired knowledge of all these by mind and hearing alone. For while still young he became blind, at his first attempt at learning the letters. When he was already reaching youth, he longed for letters and education; attending those who taught them, he only listened, and came to such wisdom that he mastered even the difficult theorems of mathematics. It is said that he learned the shapes of the letters by touching with his fingers letters carved deeply into a board, and syllables, words and the rest in order by grasp of mind, constant listening, and recollection of what he had captured by hearing. He was no ordinary marvel; and many came to Alexandria because of the man's fame, some to hear him, others only to see him. He greatly grieved the Arians, since he upheld the doctrine of the synod of Nicaea. He persuaded easily, not seeming to do it by force of argument, but by his great persuasiveness he made each of them, as it were, judge of the disputed points. He was highly prized by those of the catholic church; the orders of monks in Egypt praised him, and Antony the Great. They say that Antony, coming from the desert to Alexandria at that time to bear witness to the faith of Athanasius, said this to him: “It is not hard, Didymus, nor worth grieving over, that you lack eyes, which lizards and mice and the meanest creatures share. But it is blessed and gracious that you have eyes like the angels, by which you discern the Divine clearly and see true knowledge exactly.” Among the Italians, moreover, and those living in that part of the empire, Eusebius and the Hilary already mentioned were distinguished for excellence in the ancestral doctrines; they say that his treatises on the faith and against those of another opinion are well regarded. And Lucifer, whom they say was the founder of the sect named after him. At this time Aetius too was admired by those of another opinion, being a dialectician, able at syllogisms, given to contests of words and pursuing them without skill. Indeed, because he discoursed so readily about God, most people called him godless. They say that at first he was a physician at Antioch in Syria, that he zealously attended the churches and discussed the sacred Scriptures, and became known to Gallus, who was then Caesar, who made much of religion and greatly delighted in those who cared for piety; and that, having naturally become his friend through such discussions, he trained himself in this kind of argument in order to please him more. For he was said to have gone through the learning of Aristotle and to have attended its teachers at Alexandria. Besides these there were a multitude of others in the churches able to teach and discuss the sacred Scriptures; to enumerate them all would be a labour. Let no one think it hard that I have praised some who were leaders or zealots of the heresies mentioned. For I agree that they were admirable for eloquence and skill in speaking; but concerning doctrines, let those judge to whom it belongs to do so. For I did not set out to write about these things, nor is it fitting for history, whose task is to narrate only what happened, adding nothing of its own. Let those, then, of whom we have received that at that time, using the Latin and Greek languages, they became most renowned for learning and eloquence, be ranked among those named. ### Translation notes - The Eusebius named with Hilary is Eusebius of Vercelli. Lucifer of Cagliari gave his name to the Luciferians. Aetius was the leader of the Anomoeans; Sozomen reports that he was called “godless” (ἄθεος). ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 3.15 (PG 67:1083–1085; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/3-15). ## Church History 3.16 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/3-15/#p-3-16 - Source: PG 67:1085–1093 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Ephrem the Syrian, whose writings keep their power in Greek translation, counters the heretical hymns of Harmonius with orthodox hymns to the same melodies; anecdotes of his chastity, meekness and humility, and of his famine relief at Edessa. ### Greek text Ἐῴκει δὲ πάντας παρευδοκιμεῖν, καὶ ἐς τὰ μάλιστα τὴν καθόλου Ἐκκλησίαν σεμνύνειν, Ἐφραὶμ ὁ Σύρος. Ὃς ἐκ Νισίβεως ἢ τῶν τῇδε χωρίων τὸ γένος εἶχεν. Ἐν φιλοσοφίᾳ δὲ μοναστικῇ τὸν βίον ἐξασκήσας, οὔτε μαθὼν, οὔτε προσδοκηθεὶς τοιοῦτος εἶναι, ἐξαπίνης ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον παιδείας κατὰ τὴν Συρων φωνὴν ἐπέδωκεν, ὡς φιλοσοφίας μὲν τῶν ἄκρων ἐφικέσθαι θεωρημάτων · εὐκολίᾳ δὲ καὶ λαμπρότητι λόγου, καὶ τῷ πυκνῷ καὶ σώφρονι τῶν νοημάτων, ὑπερβαλέσθαι τοὺς παρ' Ἕλλησιν εὐδοκιμωτάτους συγγραφέας. Οὕτω γοῦν τῶν μὲν, εἴτις πρὸς τὴν Σύρων ἢ ἑτέραν γλῶτταν μεταβάλλοι τὰ γράμματα, καὶ τὴν καρυκείαν, ὡς εἰπεῖν, ἀφέλοιτο τῶν Ἑλληνικῶν γλωττισμάτων, αὐτίκα φωρᾶται, καὶ τῆς προτέρας ἀποῤῥεῖ χάριτος. Ἐπὶ δὲ τῶν Ἐφραὶμ λόγων, οὐχ οὕτως. Περιόντος τε γὰρ αὐτοῦ, καὶ εἰσέτι νῦν, ἃ συνεγράψατο πρὸς Ἑλληνίδα φωνὴν ἑρμηνεύουσι · καὶ οὐ πολὺ ἀποδεῖ τῆς ἐν ᾧ πέφυκεν ἀρετῆς. Ἀλλὰ καὶ Ἕλλην ἀναγινωσκόμενος, ἐπίσης τῷ Σύρος εἶναι θαυμάζεται. Αμέλει τοι καὶ Βασίλειος, ὁ τὴν Καππαδοκῶν μητρόπολιν μετὰ ταῦτα ἐπισκοπήσας, ἠγάσθη τὸν ἄνδρα, καὶ τῆς παιδεύσεως ἐθαύμασεν. ( Ὥστε μοι δικαίως καταφαίνεται, κοινῇ παρὰ τῶν τότε παρ' Ἕλλησιν ἐπὶ λόγοις θαυμαζομένων ταύτην τὴν μαρτυρίαν ἀπενέγκασθαι τὸν Ἐφραὶμ, διὰ τῆς τοῦ Βασιλείου φωνῆς ἐξενεχθεῖσαν, ὡς τῶν κατ᾿ αὐτὸν πάντων ἐλλογιμώτερος γεγενῆσθαι συνωμολόγηται. Λέγεται δὲ τὰς πάσας ἀμφὶ τὰς τριακοσίας μυριάδας ἐπῶν συγγράψαι, καὶ μαθητὰς ἐσχηκέναι πολλοὺς, σπουδῇ τὴν αὐτοῦ παίδευσιν ζηλώσαντας. Ἐπισημοτάτους δὲ Ἀββᾶν, καὶ Ζηνόβιον, ῾Αβραάμ τε καὶ Μαρᾶν καὶ Συμεῶνα· ἐφ᾽ οἷς μέγα αὐχοῦσιν οἱ Σύρων παῖδες, καὶ ὅσοι τὴν παρ᾿ αὐτοῖς παιδείαν ἠκρίβωσαν. Ἐπίσης δὲ Παυλωνᾶν, καὶ ᾿Αρανάδ ἐπαινοῦσιν ἐπὶ εὐγλωττίᾳ· φασὶ δὲ τῶν ὑγιῶν δογμάτων διαμαρτεῖν αὐτούς. Οὐκ ἀγνοῦ δὲ, ὡς καὶ πάλαι ἐλλογιμώτατοι τοῦτον τὸν τρόπον παρὰ Ὁσροηνοῖς ἐγένοντο, Βαρδησάνης τε, ὃς τὴν παρ' αὐτοῦ καλουμένην αἵρεσιν συνεστήσατο, καὶ Αρμόνιος ὁ Βαρδησάνου παῖς· ὃν φασι διὰ τῶν παρ' Ἕλλησι λόγων ἀχθέντα, πρῶτον μέτροις καὶ νόμοις μυσικοῖς τὴν πάτριον φωνὴν ὑπαγαγεῖν, καὶ χοροῖς παραδοῦναι, καθάπερ καὶ νῦν πολλάκις οἱ Σύροι ψάλλουσιν, οὐ τοῖς Ἁρμονίου συγγράμμασιν, ἀλλὰ τοῖς μέλεσι χρώμενοι. Ἐπεὶ γὰρ οὐ παντάπασιν ἐκτὸς ἦν τῆς πατρώας αἱρέσεως, καὶ ὧν περὶ ψυχῆς, γενέσεώς τε καὶ φθορᾶς σώματος, καὶ παλιγγενεσίας, οἱ παρ' Ἕλλησι φιλοσοφοῦντες δοξάζουσιν, οἷά γε ὑπὸ λύραν ἃ συνεγράψατο συνθεὶς, ταυτασὶ τὰς δόξας τοῖς οἱκείοις προσέμιξε γράμμασιν. Ἰδὼν δὲ Ἐφραὶμ κηλουμένους τοὺς Σύρους τῷ κάλλει τῶν ὀνομάτων, καὶ τῷ ῥυθμῷ τῆς μελῳδίας, καὶ κατὰ τοῦτο προσεθιζομένους ὁμοίως αὐτῷ δοξάζειν, καίπερ Ἑλληνικῆς παιδείας ἄμοιρος, ἐπέστη τῇ καταλήψει τῶν ᾿Αρμονίου μέτρων · καὶ πρὸς τὰ μέλη τῶν ἐκείνου γραμμάτων, ἑτέρας γραφὰς συνᾳδούσας τοῖς ἐκκλησιαστικοῖς δόγμασι συνέθηκεν· ὁποῖα αὐτῷ πεπόνητο ἐν θείοις ὕμνοις καὶ ἐγκωμίοις ἀπαθῶν ἀνδρῶν. Ἐξ ἐκείνου τε Σύροι κατὰ τὸν νόμον τῆς ᾿Αρμονίου ᾠδῆς τὰ τοῦ Ἐφραὶμ ψάλλουσιν. Ἡλίκος μὲν οὖν τὴν φύσιν ἐγεγόνει, καὶ ἐκ τούτου τεκμαίρεσθαι χρεών. Ἧν δὲ καὶ τὸν βίον, ἐξ ἀγαθῶν ἔργων καὶ ἀκριβοῦς πολιτείας ἐπιφανὴς, καὶ ἡσυχίας εἰς ἄγαν ἐραστής. ( Σεμνὸς δὲ, καὶ τὰς διαβολὰς ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον εὐλαβούμενος, ὡς πάσης γυναικὸς καὶ αὐτὴν τὴν θέαν φυλάττεσθαι. Λόγος γοῦν ποτε γυναῖκά τινα ἀμελῆ τὸν βίον, ἀναιδῆ δὲ ἴσως τὸν τρόπον, ἢ αὐτὴν τὸν ἄνδρα πειρῶσαν, ἢ ἐπὶ μισθῷ τοῦτο ἄλλοις σπουδάζουσαν, ἐπίτηδες ἐν στενωπῷ ἀντιπρόσωπον ὑπαντῆσαι, ἀσκαρδαμυκτὶὲς αὐτὸν βλέπουσαν. Τὸν δὲ ἐπιτιμῆσαι αὐτῇ, καὶ εἰς γῆν ὁρᾶν παρακελεύσασθαι. Καὶ πῶς, ἔφη ἡ γυνὴ, ἥτις οὐκ ἀπὸ γῆς, ἀλλ᾽ ἐκ σοῦ ἐγενόμην; δικαιότερον γὰρ εἶναι, σὲ μὲν εἰς γῆν ὁρᾶν ἀφ᾿ ἧς ἔχεις τὴν γένεσιν· ἐμὲ δὲ, εἰς σὲ ὅθεν εἰμί. Θαυμάσας δὲ τὸ γύναιον Ἐφραὶμ, εἰς σύγγραμμα τὸ συμβάν ἐσχημάτισεν, ὅπερ Σύρων λόγιοι ἐν τοῖς σπουδαίοις τῶν αὐτοῦ λόγων τετάχασι. Λέγεται γοῦν τὸ πρὶν ἀκρατῶς ὀργῆς ἔχων, ἀφ᾽ οὗ τὴν μοναστικὴν ἀγωγὴν μετῆλθε, μηδέπω θεαθῆνα! παρά τινος ὀργιζόμενος. Εἰ Οὕτω γοῦν ἐπὶ πολλαῖς ἡμέραι; ὥσπερ εἰώθει στεύοντι, προσφέρων αὐτῷ τὸ ὄψον, ὁ διακονούμενος, τὴν χύτραν ἔχλασεν. Αἰδοῖ δὲ δέει χεχρατημένον ἰδὼν, ἀλλὰ, Θάῤῥει, καὶ ἡμεῖς, ἔφη, πρὸς τὸ ὄψον ἴωμεν, ἐπειδὴ πρὸς ἡμᾶς οὐχ ἦλθε. Καὶ καθεσθεὶς παρὰ τὰ χλάσματα τῆς χύτρας, ἐδείπνησεν. "Ὅσον δὲ χενῆῇῆς ἐκράτει δόξης, ἐντεῦθεν ἱστέον. Ποτὲ ψῆφον ἐπισχοπῇς ἐνηνόχασιν αὐτῷ τινες, καὶ συλλαθεῖν ἐπειρῶντο, ὡς ἐπὶ τὴν χειροτονίαν ἄξοντες. Αὐτίκα δὲ αἰσθόμενος, εἰς τὴν ἀγορὰν ἐνέβαλε, καὶ οἷα παραπαίων ἐδείκνυ ἑαυτὸν, ἀτάκτως βαδίζων, τὴν ἐσθῆτα ἐπισύρων, καὶ δημοσίᾳ ἐσθέων. Ἐπεὶ, δὲ ἔξω φρενῶν εἶναι νομίσαντες οἱ συλληψόμενοι, τῇ τ᾿ ἐπ᾽ αὐτὸν ὁρμῆς ἀνεχόπησαν, καιρὸν εὑρὼν ἀπέδρασε, μέχρι ἕτερος ἐχειροτονήθη, διέλαθεν. ᾿Αλλὰ τούτοις μὲν ἐγὼ περὶ τοῦ Ἐφραὶμ ἀρχεσθήσομαι. Τὰ δὲ πλείω ἴσασιν εἴ τε καὶ λέγουσιν οἱ ἐπιχώριοι, Οἷον δὲ αὐτῷ εἴργασται οὐ πρὸ πολλοῦ τῆς τελεντῆς, ἐπεὶ ἀξιομνημόνευτον εἶναί μοι δοκεῖ, ἐνθάδε γράψομαι. Λιμοῦ γὰρ προχαταλαθόντος τὴν Ἐδεσηγῶν πόλιν, διὰ πολλοῦ χρόνου προελθὼν τοῦ οἰχήματος ἐν ᾧ ἐφιλοσόφει, κατεμέμφετο τοὺς τὰς οὐσία; ἔχοντας, ὡς οὐ δέον ὑπερορῶντας τὸ ὁμόφυλον, ἀπορίᾳ ἐπιτηδείων φθειρόμενον " τὸν δὲ οἰκεῖον πλοῦτον ἐπιμελῶς φυλάττοντας, ἐπὶ βλάβῃ σφῶν τιμωρίᾳ τῆς ἰδίας ψυχῆς, ἣν τιμιωτέραν παντοδαποῦ πλούτο" καὶ αὐτοῦ τοῦ σώματος καὶ τῶν ἄλλων, φιλοσοφῶν ἐδείκνυ" παρ᾽ οὐδὲν δὲ ταύτην ποιουμένους, διὰ τῶν ἔργων ἀπήλεγχεν. Οἱ δὲ, αἰδεσθέντες τὸν ἄνδρα καὶ τοὺς αὐτοῦ λόγους, ἀλλ᾽ οὐδὲν ἡμῖν μέλει οὐσίας, ἔφασαν " ᾧ δὲ τὰ τοιαῦτα ἐπιτρέψομεν διαχονεῖσθαι, ἀποροῦμεγ, σχεδὸν πάντων πρὸς κέρδος κεχηνότων, καὶ χαπηλίαν τὸ πρᾶγμα ποιουμένων. Ὑπολαβὼν δὲ, Οἷος ὑμῖν δοκῶ, ἤρετο’ τῶν δὲ, ᾿Αξιόχρεών τε καὶ μάλα καλὸν καὶ ἀγαθὸν εἶναι, καὶ τοιοῦτον οἷον ἡ περὶ αὐτοῦ δόξα ἐκράτει συνομολογούντων, Οὐκοῦν ἑχοντῆς, ἔφη, δι᾽ ὑμᾶς ἐπὶ τοῦτο χειροτονήσω ἐμαυτόν. Καὶ λαδὼν ἀργύριον παρ᾽ αὐτῶν, ἀμφὶ τὰς τριακοσίας χλίνας ἐν τοῖς δημοσίοις ἐμθόλοις εἶχε. Καὶ τῶν ἀπὸ λιμοῦ νοσούντων ἐπεμελεῖτο, ξένους, καὶ τοὺς κατὰ σπάνιν ἀναγκαίων ἐχ τῶν ἀγρῶν παραγενομέγους ἐδεξιοῦτο. ᾿Επεὶ δὲ ὁ λιμὸς ἐπαύσατο, ἐπανῆλθεν εἰς τὸ οἴχτιμα ἔνθα πρὸ τούτου διέτριβε. Καὶ ὀλίγων ἡμερῶν ἐπιδιώσας, ἐτελεύτησε " διακόνου μὲν ἄχρι κληρικοῦ τάγματος ἐπιβάς περιδόητος δὲ ἐπὶ ἀρετῇ γεγονὼς, οὐχ ἧττον τῶν ἱερωσύνη πολιτείᾳ ἀγαθοῦ βίου καὶ παιδεύσει θαυμαζομένων. Ταυτα τῆς Ἐφραὶμ ἀρετῆς τὰ μηνύματα. Ἐπαξίως δὲ εἰπεῖν, καὶ περὶ πάντων διεξελθεῖν, ὡς ἐκεῖνος καὶ ἕκαστος τῶν τότε φιλοσοφησάντων ἐδίω. καὶ ἐπολιτεύσατο, καὶ παρὰ τίσι, δεήσει συγγράφεως οἷος αὐτός - ἐμοὶ δὲ ἄπορον εἶναι τοῦτο χαθορῶ, ὑπό τε ἀσθενείας λόγων, καὶ ἀγνοίας αὐτῶν τε τῶν ἀνδρῶν, καὶ ὧν χαθώρθωσαν. Οἱ μὲν γὰρ ἀνὰ τὰς ἐρέμους ἐλάνθανον" οἱ δὲ ἐν ὁμίλῳ πόλεων διατρέθοντες, εὐτελεῖς σφᾶς παρεῖχον φαίνεσθαι, καὶ τῶν πολλῶν μηδὲν διαφέροντας " ἀρετὴν μὲν ἐργαζόμενοι, χλέστοντες τὴν ἀληθῆ περὶ αὐτῶν δόχησιν, ὥστε μὴ ἃ ἐπαινεῖσθαι παρὰ τῶν ἄλλων. Πρὸς γὰρ τὰ; ἀμοιδὰς τῶν ἐσομένων ἀγαθῶν τὸν νοῦν τείνοντες, μάρτυρα ὧν ἐπόνουν μόνον τὸν Θεὸν ἐποιοῦντο τῆς δὲ ἔξωθεν δόξης οὐδεὶς αὐτοῖς λόγος ἦν. ### English translation (Claude) Ephrem the Syrian seemed to surpass them all and to adorn the catholic church above all. His family came from Nisibis or the places near it. Having spent his life in monastic philosophy, without having studied or being expected to become such a man, he suddenly advanced so far in learning in the Syriac language that he attained the highest speculations of philosophy, and by the ease and brilliance of his style and the density and soundness of his thought surpassed the most esteemed writers among the Greeks. For if one translates their works into Syriac or another language and removes, so to speak, the seasoning of the Greek idioms, they are at once exposed and lose their former charm. But it is not so with the works of Ephrem. Both in his lifetime and still now they translate what he wrote into Greek, and it falls little short of the excellence it has in the original; read in Greek, he is admired as much as in Syriac. Basil, for instance, who afterward was bishop of the metropolis of the Cappadocians, admired the man and marvelled at his learning. So it seems to me that Ephrem rightly received this testimony from those then admired among the Greeks for eloquence, expressed through the voice of Basil, since it is agreed that Basil was the most learned of all in his time. It is said that he wrote some three million lines in all, and had many disciples who zealously emulated his learning; the most distinguished were Abbas, Zenobius, Abraham, Maras and Symeon, of whom the sons of the Syrians, and all who have mastered their learning, boast greatly. They praise Paulonas and Aranad likewise for eloquence, but say that they fell away from the sound doctrines. I am not unaware that long ago very learned men of this kind arose among the Osrhoenians: Bardaisan, who founded the sect called after him, and Harmonius, Bardaisan's son. They say that Harmonius, trained in Greek letters, was the first to bring his native language under metres and musical rules, and to give it to choirs, as the Syrians still often sing now, using not the writings of Harmonius but his melodies. For since he was not entirely free of his father's heresy and of what the Greek philosophers hold about the soul, the generation and destruction of the body, and rebirth, he set his compositions to the lyre, as it were, and mixed these opinions into his writings. When Ephrem saw the Syrians charmed by the beauty of the words and the rhythm of the melody, and through this becoming accustomed to think as he did, though he had no share in Greek learning, he set himself to master the metres of Harmonius, and to the melodies of his writings he composed other works agreeing with the doctrines of the church, such as he laboured at in divine hymns and in praises of passionless men. From that time the Syrians sing the works of Ephrem according to the rule of Harmonius's ode. How great his nature was must be judged from this too. In his life also he was illustrious for good works and an exact way of life, and an exceeding lover of quiet. He was grave, and so careful to avoid slander that he guarded himself even from the sight of any woman. It is said, for instance, that once a woman careless in her life and perhaps shameless in manner, either testing the man herself or being paid by others to do so, deliberately met him face to face in a narrow lane, staring at him without blinking. He rebuked her and told her to look at the ground. “And how,” said the woman, “when I came not from the earth but from you? It is more just that you look at the earth, from which you have your origin, and I at you, from whom I am.” Ephrem, admiring the woman, made what happened into a composition, which the learned among the Syrians have ranked among the most excellent of his works. It is said, too, that though formerly prone to anger, from the time he took up the monastic discipline he was never seen angry by anyone. Thus once, when as usual he had fasted for many days, the one who served him, bringing him his food, broke the pot. Seeing him overcome with shame and fear, Ephrem said: “Take courage; since the food has not come to us, let us go to the food.” And sitting down by the pieces of the pot, he ate his meal. How far he was master of vain glory may be known from this. Once some people cast a vote for him for a bishopric and tried to seize him to take him to be ordained. As soon as he perceived it, he rushed into the market-place and showed himself as if deranged, walking in disorder, trailing his clothes, and eating in public. When those who meant to seize him thought he was out of his mind and were checked in their rush at him, he found an opportunity, ran away, and stayed hidden until another had been ordained. With this I shall be content about Ephrem; the people of the country know and tell more. But what he did not long before his death seems to me worth remembering, so I shall write it here. When famine had seized the city of Edessa, he came out, after a long time, from the cell in which he practised philosophy, and rebuked those who had property for disregarding their own kin, who were perishing for want of necessities, while carefully guarding their own wealth, to the harm and punishment of their own souls, which he showed, philosophizing, to be more precious than all wealth and than the body itself and everything else; and he proved by their deeds that they made no account of it. They, respecting the man and his words, said: “We do not care about property; but we are at a loss to whom we may entrust such services, since almost everyone gapes after gain and makes a trade of the matter.” He took them up and asked, “What do you think of me?” When they agreed that he was trustworthy, a very good and upright man, and such as his reputation held, “Then for your sakes,” he said, “I will willingly appoint myself to this.” Taking money from them, he set up about three hundred beds in the public porticoes, cared for those sick from the famine, and welcomed strangers and those who came in from the country for lack of necessities. When the famine ended, he returned to the cell where he had lived before; and having lived a few days more, he died. He rose in the clerical order no higher than deacon, but became famous for virtue no less than those admired for priesthood, a good life and learning. These are the tokens of Ephrem's virtue. To speak worthily and go through everything, how he and each of those who then practised philosophy lived and conducted themselves, and among whom, would need a writer such as he was. I see that this is beyond me, from weakness of speech and ignorance both of the men themselves and of what they achieved. For some lay hidden in the deserts; others, living among the crowds of cities, made themselves appear ordinary and no different from the many, practising virtue while hiding the true opinion about themselves, so as not to be praised by others. For, intent on the rewards of the good things to come, they made God alone the witness of their labours and took no account of glory from outside. ### Scripture references - Gen 2:22: allusion, medium confidence - Gen 3:19: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Ephrem died in 373. Bardaisan (Bardesanes, died 222) and his son Harmonius are presented as Ephrem relates; modern scholarship doubts Harmonius's role. The “three million lines” is Sozomen's figure. The woman's retort alludes to Gen 2:21–23 (woman taken from man) and Gen 3:19 (man from the dust). Garbled words in the scan (“fasted,” “deacon”) are given from the evident sense. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 3.16 (PG 67:1085–1093; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/3-16). ## Church History 3.17 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/3-15/#p-3-17 - Source: PG 67:1093–1095 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Under Constantius and Constans the churches are well led and grow; the emperors exempt the clergy, close pagan temples, build churches, and forbid Jews to own or circumcise non-Jewish slaves. ### Greek text Ὡς ἐπίπαν δὲ καὶ οἱ προεστῶτες τότε τῶν Ἐκκλησιῶν, τὸν βίον ἡχρίδωντο. Εἰχότως τε ὑπὸ τοιούτοις ἐναγόμενα τὰ πλήθη, σπουδαίως συντέτακτο περὶ τὸ τοῦ Χριστοῦ σέβας " καὶ ἡ θρησκεία ὁσημέρα: ἐπεδίδου, ζήλῳ τε ἀρετῇ, παραδόξοις πράξεσιν ἱερέων καὶ τῶν ἐκκλησιαστικῶν φιλοσόφων,ἐθήρα καὶ πρὸς ἐπυτὴν μετῆγε τῆς ᾿ΕἙλληνιχῆς τερθρείας, τοὺς ᾿Ἑλληνιστάς. Συνελαμβάνοντο δὲ εἰς ἐπίδοσιν τούτων οἱ βασιλεῖς, οὐχ ἧττον ἢ ὁ πατὴρ περὶ τὰς Ἐκκλησίας σπουδάζοντες, κληρικοὺς καὶ παῖδας αὐτῶν καὶ οἰκείους ἐξαιρέτοις τιμαῖς ἀτελείαις γεραίροντες, τοῖς πατρῴοις νόμοις ἐπιψηφιζόμενοι, καὶ οἰκείους τιθέντες νόμους κατὰ τῶν θύειν, ἣ ξόανα θεραπεύειν, ἢ ἄλλως 'Ἑλληνικῶς θρησκεύειν ἐπιχειρούντων. Ναοὺς δὲ τοὺς πανταχῇ κειμένους ἐν πόλεσι καὶ ἀγροῖς χεχλεῖσθαι προσέταξαν. Τοὺς δὲ, ταῖ: Ἐκκλησίαις προσένειμαν, ἢ τόπων, ἢ ὑλῶν προυσδεομέναις μάλιστα γὰρ πολλὴν ἐπιμέλειαν ἐποιοῦντο, τοὺς μὲν ὑπὸ χρόνου κάμνοντας τῶν εὐκτηρίων οἴκων ἀνανεοῦν, τοὺς δὲ μεγαλοπρεπῶς θεμελίων ἐγείρειν. Ὧν ἔστι καὶ ἡ ἀξιοθέατος καὶ κάλλει ἀοίδιμος Ἐμέσης Ἐκκλησία. Ἰουδαίων δὲ ἐνομοθέτησαν μηδένα δοῦλον ὠνεῖσθαι τῶν ἐξ ἑτέρας αἱρέσεως ; εἰ δὲ παρὰ τοῦτο ποιήσει, δημόσιον οἰχέτὴν εἶναι ; εἰ δὲ καὶ περιτέμῃ καθὰ Ἰουδαίοις θέμις, εἰς κεφαλὴν εἶναι τὸν κίνδυνον, καὶ ἀφαίρεσιν τῶν ὄντων. Ἐπεὶ γὰρ τὴν θρησκείαν πάντοθεν αὔξειν ἠδούλοντο, τούτον πρόνοιαν ἐποιήσαντο, ὥστε μὴ ἀδεῶς εἰς Ἰουδαϊσμὸν ὑποσύρεσθαι τοὺς μὴ τοιούτους ἐκ γένους ὄντας · φυλάττεσθαι δὲ τῇ Ἐκκλησία καὶ τοὺς ἐλπίδα Χριστιανισμοῦ ἔχοντας. Μάλιστα γὰρ ἐκ τοῦ ἑλληνικοῦ πλήθους ἐπεδίδου ἡ θρησκεία. ### English translation (Claude) On the whole the leaders of the churches at that time too lived exact lives. Naturally, the people, led by such men, were zealously devoted to the worship of Christ; and religion grew daily, and by the zeal, virtue and wonderful deeds of the priests and the church's philosophers it captured the pagans and drew them to itself from pagan nonsense. The emperors helped toward this growth, being no less zealous for the churches than their father, honouring the clergy, their children and households with special honours and exemptions, confirming their father's laws, and enacting laws of their own against those who attempted to sacrifice, to worship images, or to practise pagan religion in any other way. They ordered the temples everywhere in cities and countryside to be closed; and some they gave to churches that needed sites or materials. For they took great care to renew the houses of prayer worn by time and to raise others magnificently from the foundations; among these is the church of Emesa, worth seeing and celebrated for its beauty. They enacted that no Jew should buy a slave of another religion; if he did so, the slave was to become public property; and if he also circumcised him, as is lawful for Jews, the penalty was to be capital and the confiscation of his property. For since they wished to increase the religion in every way, they made provision that those who were not Jews by birth should not be drawn freely into Judaism, and that those who had hope of Christianity should be kept for the church. For religion grew most of all from the pagan multitude. ### Translation notes - The laws referred to are in the Theodosian Code (on sacrifices, 16.10.2–6; on Jews owning Christian slaves, 16.9.2). Sozomen's account of the motive is his own and is translated as written. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 3.17 (PG 67:1093–1095; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/3-17). ## Church History 3.18 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/3-15/#p-3-18 - Source: PG 67:1095 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Constans keeps the Nicene faith; Constantius is persuaded to replace “of the same essence” with “of like essence” (homoiousios), which its proponents defended as more fitting for incorporeal beings. ### Greek text Οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ περὶ αὐτὸ τὸ δόγμα, τὰ πρῶτα τὴν πατρῷαν ἐφύλαττον δόξαν· ἄμφω γὰρ ἐπαινέται τῆς ἐν Νικαίᾳ πίστεως. Καὶ Κώνστας μὲν οὕτω διαμείνας ἐτελεύτησε· Κωνστάντιος δὲ, μέχρι μέν τινος, ὁμοίως εἶχε. Μετὰ ταῦτα δὲ διαβληθείσης τῆς τοῦ ὁμοουσίου λέξεως, τῆς προτέρας παρεκινήθη γνώμης· οὐ μὴν παντελῶς ἀπέσχετο τοῦ κατ᾿ οὐσίαν ὅμοιον εἶναι τὸν Υἱὸν συνομολογεῖν τῷ Πατρί. Οἱ δὲ ἀμφὶ τὸν Εὐσέβιον, καὶ ἄλλοι τινὲς τῶν τότε ἀνὰ τὴν Ἕω ἐπὶ λόγῳ καὶ βίῳ θαυμαζομένων ἐπισκόπων, διαφορὰν, ὡς ἔγνωμεν, εἰσηγοῦντο τοῦ ὁμοούσιον λέγειν καὶ κατ' οὐσίαν ὅμοιον, ὅπερ ὁμοιούσιον ὠνόμαζον. Τὸ μὲν γὰρ ὁμοούσιον, ἐπὶ σωμάτων κυρίως νοεῖσθαι, οἷον ἀνθρώπων καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ζώων, καὶ δένδρων καὶ φυτῶν, οἷς ἐξ ὁμοίου ἡ μετουσία καὶ ἡ γένεσίς ἐστι. Τὸ δὲ ὁμοιούσιον, ἐπὶ ἀσωμάτων, οἷον ἐπὶ Θεοῦ καὶ ἀγγέλων, ἑκατέρου πρὸς ἑαυτὸν νοουμένου κατ' ἰδίαν οὐσίαν. Ὑπὸ δὴ τῶν τοιούτων καὶ Κωνστάντιος ὁ βασιλεὺς μετεπείσθη. Καὶ κατὰ μὲν διάνοιαν, ὡς εἰκάζω, ὅμοια τῷ πατρὶ καὶ τῷ ἀδελφῷ ἐφρόνει. Ῥητὸν δὲ ῥητοῦ ἀμείψας, ἀντὶ ὁμοουσίου ὁμοιοούσιον ἔλεγε. Τοῦτο γὰρ ἐδόκει τοῖς τούτων εἰσἡγηταῖς, ἀκριβέστερον ὧδε ὀνομάζειν ἰσχυριζομένοις ὡς εἴτις μὴ τοῦτο λέγει, κινδυνεύοι σῶμα τὸ ἀσώματον νοεῖν· ὅπερ εὔηθες εἶναι πολλοῖς ἐδόκει. Ἐκ γὰρ τῶν φαινομένων ἔφασκον χρῆναι περὶ τῶν νοητῶν τὰ ὀνόματα μεταλαμβάνειν · λέξεώς τε κίνδυνον μηδένα εἶναι, ἣν μὴ περὶ ἔννοιαν ἡ ἁμαρτία γένηται. ### English translation (Claude) Moreover, in the doctrine itself they at first kept their father's opinion; for both approved the faith of Nicaea. Constans remained so until his death; Constantius held the same for a time. Afterward, when the word “of the same essence” had been attacked, he was moved from his former opinion; yet he did not altogether refrain from confessing the Son to be like the Father in essence. Eusebius's party and certain others of the bishops then admired in the East for speech and life introduced, as we have learned, a distinction between saying “of the same essence” and “like in essence,” which they called homoiousios. For “of the same essence,” they said, is properly understood of bodies, such as men and other animals, trees and plants, whose sharing and generation are from something like themselves; but “like in essence” of incorporeal beings, such as God and angels, each being conceived in its own essence. By such men the emperor Constantius too was won over. In meaning, as I conjecture, he held the same as his father and brother; but exchanging one expression for another, he said homoiousios instead of homoousios. For the proponents of these views thought it more exact to speak in this way, insisting that if one did not say this, one risked conceiving the incorporeal as a body. This seemed foolish to many; for they said that names for intelligible things must be taken from visible things, and that there is no danger in a word unless the error lies in the thought. ### Translation notes - ὁμοιούσιος, “of like essence” (homoiousios), is the term of the party later led by Basil of Ancyra. Sozomen's judgment that Constantius meant the same as the Nicene faith is his own conjecture, as he says. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 3.18 (PG 67:1095; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/3-18). ## Church History 3.19 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/3-15/#p-3-19 - Source: PG 67:1095–1097 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Sozomen rejects the Arian story that Constantine, persuaded by his sister, wished to undo Nicaea and charged Constantius to hold the council of Ariminum; the councils of Ariminum and Seleucia arose rather from Aetius's teaching. ### Greek text Οὐ θαυμαστὸν δὲ, εἰ ὁ βασιλεὺς αὐτὸ τοῦτο πέπονθεν· ἐπεὶ καὶ τῶν ἱερέων πολλοὶ ἀφιλονείκως τὸ ὄνομα τοῦτο προσίεντο, τῇ διανοίᾳ συνάδοντες τοῖς ἐν Νικαίᾳ συνεληλυθόσιν. Οἱ δε ἑκατέρᾳ λέξει μηδὲν διαφερόμενοι, ἐχρῶντο ἐπὶ τῆς αὐτῆς σημασίας. "Ωστε μοι δοκεῖ παρὰ πολὺ τῆς ἀληθείας κεκομψεῦσθαι ἐκεῖνον τὸν λόγον τοῖς τὰ ᾿Αρείου φρονοῦσιν. Λέγουσι γὰρ ὡς μετὰ τὴν ἐν Νικαίᾳ͵ σύνοδον, πολλοὶ τῶν ἱερέων, ὧν ἦσαν Εὐσέβιος καὶ Θεόγνιος, οὐκέτι λέγειν ἠνείχοντο ὁμοούσιον τῷ Πατρὶ τὸν 1244 χαλεπήνας Κωνσταντῖνος ὑπερορίαν αὑτοὺς οἰκεῖν κατεδίκασεν. δὲ 7| ὕπαρ θεόθεν. προανεφάνη τῇ ἀδελφῇ τοῦ βασιλέως, ὡς ὀρθῶς δοξάζουσι, καὶ ἀδίκως τάδε πεπόνθασιν. Ἔχ τούτου δὲ τὸν βασιλέα μετακαλέσασθαι αὐτοὺς, καὶ πυθέσθαι. τί δήποτε παρὰ τὰ ἐν Νικαίᾳ δόξαντα φρονοῦσι, καὶ ταῦτα κοινωνοὶ γενόμενοι τῆς ἐκτεθείσης ἐνθάδε ἐπὶ τῇ πίστει γραφῆς. Τοὺς δὲ φάναι, οὐχ ἀπὸ γνώμης συναινέσαι δεδιότας δὲ μὴ, ὡς εἰκὸς, ἔριδος ἐπὶ τούτῳ γενομένῆς, χαταγνῳ ὡς ἀμφιθόλου τοῦ δόγματος, πρὸς Ἑλληνισμὸν τραπείη, καὶ διώξει τὴν ᾿Εχχλησίαν, ἔναγχος Χριστιανίζειν ἀρξάμενος, καὶ ἔτι ἀδάπτιστος ὥν. Ἐπὶ ταύτῃ δὲ τῇ ἀπολογίᾳ φασὶ Κωνσταντῖνον συγγνώμην αὐτοῖς νεῖμαι" προνοῆσαι δὲ πάλιν ἑτέραν συναθροῖσαι σύνοδον. Ἐν δὲ τῷ ταῦτα βουλεύεσθαι φθαπάσης τῆς αὐτοῦ τελευτῆς, οἷα πρεσδυτέρῳ παιδὶ ἐντείλασθαι Κωνσταντίῳ το" τοῦτο ἐπιτελέσαι, ὡς οὐδὲν ὄφελος ὃν αὐτῷ βασιλείας, εἰ μὴ συμφώνως πρὸς πάντων τὸ Θεῖον θρησχεύοιτο. Τὸν δὲ τῷ πατρὶ πειθόμενον, τὴν ἐν ᾿Αριμίνῳ συγχροτῆσαι σύνοδον, μάλιστα τὸ ψεῦδος φωρᾶται. Συνεληλύθασι γὰρ Ὑπατίου καὶ Εὐσεδίου ὑπατευόντων, ἡνίκα ἀμφὶ τὸ δεύτῆρον καὶ εἰχοστὸν ἔτος ἐν τῇ ἡγεμονίᾳ διήῆνυς Κωνστάντιος, μετὰ τὴν τοῦ πατρὸς τελευτὴν ᾿ πολλῶν ἐν τῷ μεταξὺ συνόδων γενομένων, ἐν αἷς περὶ ὁμοουσίου ὁμοιοουσίου ζήτησις ἣν. Τὸ δὲ χατ᾽ οὐσίαν ὅμοιον τῷ Πατρὶ τὸν Υἱὸν δοξάζειν, παντελῶς οὐδεὶς ἠθέλησεν, εἰσότε περὶ τούτου ᾿Αέτιος χαλεπῶς ἤνεγκε. Καὶ ἐπὶ ἀναιρέσει τοῦ τοιούτου δόγματος, ἐν Σελευκείᾳ προσέταξε κατὰ τὸν αὐτὸν χρόνον τοὺς ἱερέας συνελθεῖν. Ὥστε τὴν ἀληθῆ αἰτίαν ταυτησὶ τῆς συνόδου γενέσθαι, οὐ τὴν Κωνσταντίνου κέλευσιν, ἀλλὰ τὴν ᾿Δέτιον ζήτησιν, Ὅτι μὲν οὖν τάδε ὧδε ἔχει, τὰ ἑξῆς ἐπιδείξει. ### English translation (Claude) It is not surprising that the emperor was affected in this way, since many of the priests too accepted this term without contention, agreeing in meaning with those who had met at Nicaea; and others, finding no difference between the two words, used them with the same sense. So it seems to me that the story put about by those who hold the views of Arius is far from the truth. For they say that after the synod of Nicaea many of the priests, among them Eusebius and Theognis, would no longer say that the Son is of the same essence as the Father; that Constantine, angry at this, condemned them to live in exile; that it was revealed by God beforehand to the emperor's sister, in a dream or a waking vision, that they held right views and had suffered unjustly; that the emperor then recalled them and asked why they held views contrary to what was decided at Nicaea, especially since they had taken part in the document on the faith set out there; and that they said they had assented not from conviction, but fearing that, if strife arose on this, he would naturally condemn the doctrine as doubtful and turn to paganism and persecute the church, since he had only lately begun to be a Christian and was still unbaptized. On this defence, they say, Constantine pardoned them and planned to gather another synod; but his death came before he could carry this out, and he charged his elder son Constantius to accomplish it, since there was no profit to him in empire unless the Divine were worshipped by all in harmony; and Constantius, obeying his father, convened the synod at Ariminum. Here above all the falsehood is detected. For they met in the consulship of Hypatius and Eusebius, when Constantius was completing about the twenty-second year of his reign after his father's death, and many synods had been held in between, at which there was inquiry into “of the same essence” and “of like essence.” No one at all was willing to deny that the Son is like the Father in essence until Aetius gave offence on this point; and to do away with such a doctrine, the emperor ordered the priests to meet at Seleucia at the same time. So the true cause of this synod was not Constantine's command but Aetius's inquiry. That this is so, what follows will show. ### Translation notes - Several words are lost or garbled in the scan in the middle of the Arians' story (“the Son; and angry at this”; “in a dream or a waking vision”), and some marginal words (glosses on “like in essence,” “unlike in essence,” homoousios, homoiousios) were printed at the end of the chapter; the translation gives the evident sense and omits the glosses. The councils of Ariminum (Rimini) and Seleucia met in 359. Aetius taught that the Son is unlike (ἀνόμοιος) the Father. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 3.19 (PG 67:1095–1097; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/3-19). ## Church History 3.20 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/3-15/#p-3-20 - Source: PG 67:1099–1101 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Under pressure from Constans, Constantius recalls Athanasius, who refuses communion with Leontius at Antioch and asks a church for the Eustathians; the rival doxologies at Antioch and Leontius's saying about the melting snow. ### Greek text Ὁ δὲ Κώνστας τὰ ἐν Σαρδικῇ γεγενημένα μαθών, ἔγραψε τῷ ἀδελφῷ ἀποδοῦναι τοῖς ἀμφὶ τὸν ᾿Αθανάσιον καὶ Παῦλον τὰς ἑαυτῶν ἐκκλησίας. Ὡς δὲ ἀνεβάλλετο, πάλιν ἔγραψεν, ἢ δέχεσθαι τοὺς ἄνδρας, ἢ πρὸς πόλεμον παρασκευάσασθαι. Κοινωσάμενος δὲ περὶ τούτου Κωνστάντιος τοῖς ἀνὰ τὴν Ἕω ἐπισκόποις, εὔηθες ἐνόμισε τούτου χάριν ἐμφύλιον αἱρεῖσθαι μάχην. Μετακαλεῖται δὲ ᾿Αθανάσιον ἐκ τῆς Ἰταλίας, δημόσια ὀχήματα δοὺς αὐτῷ πρὸς τὴν ἐπάνοδον, καὶ γράμμασι πολλάκις προτρέψας θᾶττον ἐπανελθεῖν. ᾿Αθανάσιος δὲ ἐν Ἀκυληίᾳ τότε διάγων, δεξάμενος τὸ Κωνσταντίου γράμματα, ἧκεν εἰς Ῥώμην, τοῖς ἀμφὶ τὸν Ἰούλιον συνταξόμενος. Ὁ δὲ μάλα φιλοφρό νως ἀπέπεμψεν αὐτὸν, ἐπιστολὴν δοὺς πρὸς τὸν ᾿Αλε ξανδρέων κλῆρον καὶ λαὸν, ὡς εἰκὸς τὸν ἄνδρα θαυμάζουσαν, ἐπιδοξότατον τοῖς πολλοῖς κινδύνοις γεγενημένον, καὶ συνηδομένην τῇ ᾿Αλεξανδρέων ἐκκλησία ἐπὶ τοσούτου; ἱερέως ἐπανόδῳ, καὶ τὰ αὐτοῦ φρονεῖν παρακελευομένην. Ἐντεῦθέν τε ἧκεν εἰς ᾿Αντιόχειαν τῆς Συρίας, ὅπου τότε διέτριβεν ὁ βασιλεύς· τὰς δὲ Ἐκκλησίας κατεῖχε Λεόντιος. Μετὰ γὰρ τὴν Εὐσταθίου φυγὴν, οἱ ἐκ τῆς ἐναντίας αἱρέσεως τὸν ᾿Αντιοχείας ἐπετρόπευον θρόνον· πρῶτος μὲν Εὐφρόνιος μετὰ δὲ τοῦτον Πλάκητος, καὶ ἐφεξῆς Στέφανος. Ὡς ἀναξίου δὲ αὐτοῦ ἀποχειροτονηθέντος, Λεόντιος τότε τὴν ἐπισκοπὴν διεῖπεν. Ον ὡς ἑτερόδοξον, παρῃτεῖτο ᾿Αθανάσιος · τοῖς δὲ καλουμένοις Εὐσταθιανοῖς ἐκοινώνει, ἐν ἰδιωτῶν οἰκίαις ἐκκλησιάζων. Ἐπεὶ δὲ εὔνου καὶ ἐπιεικοῦς ἐπειράθη Κωνσταντίου καὶ ἐδόκει τὴν ἰδίαν αὐτῷ ἀπολαβεῖν Ἐκκλησίαν, ὑποθεμένων τῶν προεστώτων τῆς ἐναντίας αἱρέσεως· ᾿Αλλ' ἐγὼ μὲν, ἔφη ὁ βασιλεὺς, ἕτοιμός εἰμι περάναι τὰς ὑποσχέσεις, ἐφ᾿ αἷς σε μετεκαλεσάμην. Ἐν δίκῃ δὲ καὶ αὐτὸς, ἣν ἂν αἰτήσαιμι χάριν, προθύμως συγχωρήσεις. Ἡ δὲ ἐστιν, ὥστε ἐκ πολλῶν τῶν ὑπό σε ἐκκλησιῶν μίαν ἔχειν τοὺς κοινωνεῖν σοι παραιτουμένους. Ὑπολαβὼν δὲ ᾿Αθανάσιος, Καὶ μάλα, βασιλεῦ, εἶπε, δίκαιον καὶ ἀναγκαῖον, τοῖς σοῖς προστάγμασι πείθεσθαι, καὶ οὐκ ἀντερῶ. Ἐπεὶ δὲ καὶ ἀνὰ τῶν ἑτεροδόξων ἡμῖν ἀποφεύγοντες, παραπλησίαν τήνδε τὴν ᾿Αντιόχειαν πόλιν, εἰσὶν οἱ τὴν κοινωνίαν αἰτῶ χάριν, ὥστε καὶ αὐτοὺς μίαν ἔχειν ἐκκλησίαν, καὶ ἀδεῶς ἐν ταύτῃ συνιέναι. Δίκαια δὲ λέγειν ᾿Αθανάσιον τοῦ βασιλέως δοκιμάσαντος, ἄμεινον ἐφάνη τοῖς ἀπὸ τῆς ἑτέρας αἱρέσεως ἡσυχίαν ἄγειν, λογιζεμένοις ὡς οὐ πάντως τὰ τῆς οἰκείας δόξης ἐπίδοσιν ἕξει παρὰ ᾿Αλεξανδρεῦσι δι' αὐτὸν ᾿Αθανάσιον · ἱκανὸν ὄντα τοὺς ὁμοφρονοῦντας ἀσφαλῶς ἔχειν, καὶ τοὺς ἐναντίους ἐπάγεσθαι · παρὰ δὲ Ἀντιοχεῦσιν εἰ τοῦτο γένοιτο, πρῶτον μὲν συγκροτηθήσεσθαι τοὺς Εὐσταθίου ἐπαινέτας πολλοὺς ὄντας. Ἔπειτα δὲ, ὡς εἰκὸς, νεωτέρων αὐτοὺς πειραθήσεσθαι πραγμάτων, ἐξὸν ἀκινδύνως ἔχειν οὓς ἔχουσιν· ἐπεὶ καὶ κρατούντων αὐτῶν τῶν τῇδε ἐκκλησιῶν, οὐ παντελῶς οἷς ἐδόξαζον ὁ πᾶς κλῆρος καὶ ὁ λαὸς ἐπείθοντο· ἀλλὰ κατὰ χοροὺς ὡς ἔθος ἐν τῷ ὑμνεῖν τὸν Θεὸν συνιστάμενοι, πρὸς τῷ τέλει τῶν ᾠδῶν τὴν οἰκείαν προαίρεσιν ἐπεδείκνυον. Καὶ οἱ μὲν, Πατέρα καὶ Υἱὸν ὡς ὁμότιμον ἐδόξαζον· οἱ δὲ, Πατέρα ἐν Υἱῷ, τῇ παρενθέσει τῆς προθέσεως, δευτερεύειν τὸν Υἱὸν ἀποφαίνοντες. Αμέλει τοι τούτων ὧδε γεγενημένων, ἀπορῶν ὅ τι ποιήσειε Λεόντιος, ὃς κατὰ τόνδε τὸν χρόνον ἐκ τῆς ἐναντίας αἱρέσεως τὸν ᾿Αντιοχέων διεῖπε θρόνον, κωλύειν μὲν οὐκ ἐπεχείρησε τοὺς κατὰ τὴν παράδοσιν τῆς ἐν Νικαίᾳ συνόδου τὸν Θεὸν ὑμνοῦντας · ἐδεδίει γὰρ, μὴ στασιάσῃ τὸ πλῆθος· λέγεται δὲ τῆς κεφαλῆς ἐφαψάμενος, ὑπὸ πολιᾶς λευκῆς οὔσης, εἰπεῖν· ὡς ταυτησὶ τῆς χιόνος λυθείσης, πολὺς ἔσται πηλός. Ὑποδηλῶν ὡς αὐτοῦ τελευτήσαντος, εἰς στάσιν τῷ λαῷ καταλήξει ἡ ἐν τοῖς ὕμνοις διαφωνία, μὴ ἀνεχομένων τῶν μετ᾿ αὐτὸν ὁμοίως συμπεριφέρεσθαι τῷ πλήθει. ### English translation (Claude) When Constans learned what had been done at Sardica, he wrote to his brother to give back their churches to Athanasius and Paul. When Constantius put it off, he wrote again that he should either receive the men or prepare for war. Constantius, consulting the bishops of the East about this, thought it foolish to choose civil war for this reason. He recalled Athanasius from Italy, giving him the public carriages for the return journey, and urging him by many letters to return quickly. Athanasius, who was then staying at Aquileia, on receiving Constantius's letters, came to Rome to take leave of Julius. Julius sent him away very kindly, giving him a letter to the clergy and people of Alexandria which naturally admired the man, made most famous by his many dangers, rejoiced with the church of Alexandria at the return of so great a priest, and urged them to hold his views. From there he came to Antioch in Syria, where the emperor was then staying; and Leontius held the churches. For after the exile of Eustathius those of the opposite sect had governed the see of Antioch: first Euphronius, after him Placetus, and then Stephen; and when he was deposed as unworthy, Leontius then governed the episcopate. Athanasius declined him as of another opinion, and communicated with those called Eustathians, who assembled in private houses. When he found Constantius well disposed and fair, and it seemed that he would recover his own church, at the suggestion of the leaders of the opposite sect the emperor said: “I am ready to fulfil the promises on which I recalled you. But it is just that you too should readily grant a favour I may ask: that of the many churches under you, those who decline to communicate with you may have one.” Athanasius replied: “It is most just and necessary, emperor, to obey your commands, and I will not oppose it. But since in this city of Antioch too there are those who flee communion with the heterodox and are in communion with us, I ask the same favour, that they too may have one church and meet in it without fear.” When the emperor judged that Athanasius spoke justly, it seemed better to those of the other sect to keep quiet. They reckoned that their own opinion would in any case make no progress among the Alexandrians because of Athanasius himself, who was able to keep those of his opinion secure and to win over his opponents; whereas if this happened at Antioch, first the admirers of Eustathius, who were many, would be organized, and then, naturally, they would attempt innovations, when they could have what they had without danger. For even while they held the churches there, not all the clergy and people obeyed their views; but gathering in choirs, as is the custom, to sing praise to God, they showed their own preference at the end of the odes. Some glorified the Father and the Son as equal in honour; others the Father in the Son, by inserting the preposition declaring the Son to be second. Indeed, when things had come to this, Leontius, who at this time governed the see of Antioch for the opposite sect, was at a loss what to do; he did not try to prevent those who sang praise to God according to the tradition of the synod of Nicaea, for he feared the people would riot; but it is said that, touching his head, which was white with grey hair, he said: “When this snow melts there will be much mud,” hinting that after his death the disagreement in the hymns would end in strife among the people, since those after him would not be so accommodating toward the multitude. ### Extrabiblical texts - Athanasius, Apol. sec. 52-53 (Defence against the Arians): allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - A fragment of Valesius's chapter title (“… of the doxology in hymns”) stood at the head of the section and has been removed; the Greek of Athanasius's reply is somewhat garbled in the scan and is translated by sense. The two doxologies are “Glory to the Father and to the Son” and “Glory to the Father in [or through] the Son.” Julius's letter to the Alexandrians is in Athanasius, Defence against the Arians 52–53. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 3.20 (PG 67:1099–1101; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/3-20). ## Church History 3.21 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/3-15/#p-3-21 - Source: PG 67:1101–1103 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Constantius sends Athanasius back with letters commending him; Athanasius replaces Arian clergy in Egypt and is welcomed by the bishops of Palestine, who hold a synod at Jerusalem. ### Greek text Ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς ἀποπέμπει ᾿Αθανάσιον εἰς Αἴγυπτον· ἔγραψε δὲ περὶ αὐτοῦ τοῖς κατὰ πόλιν ἐπισκόποις καὶ πρεσβυτέροις, καὶ τῷ λαῷ τῆς ᾿Αλεξανδρέων Ἐκκλησίας, ὀρθότητά τε βίου μαρτυρῶν αὐτῷ καὶ τρόπων ἀρετήν · παρακελευόμενος ὁμονοεῖν καὶ, ὑπὸ πρωτοστάτῃ αὐτῷ εὐχαῖς καὶ ἱκεσίαις τὸ θεῖον θεραπεύειν. Εἰ δὲ τινες ἐθελοκακοῦντες στασιώδεις άναφανεῖεν, τιμωρίαν διδόναι κατὰ τοὺς περὶ τούτων κειμένους νόμους. Προσέταξε δὲ καὶ τὰ πρότερον παρ᾿ αὐτοῦ γραφέντα κατὰ ᾿Αθανασίου καὶ τῶν αὐτῷ κοινωνούντων, ἀπὸ τῶν δημοσίων ὑπομνημάτων ἀπαλειφῆναι· καὶ ὡς τὸ πρὶν, ἀτέλειαν ἔχειν λειτουργημάτων τοὺς αὐτοῦ κληρικούς. Καὶ περὶ τούτου πρὸς τοὺς ἀνὰ τὴν Αἴγυπτον καὶ Λιβύην ἄρχοντας ἔγραψε. Παραγενόμενος δὲ ᾿Αθανάσιος εἰς Αἴγυπτον, οὓς μὲν ἔγνω τὰ ᾿Αρείου φρονοῦντας, καθεῖλεν. Οἷς δὲ αὐτὸς ἐδοκίμασε, τὰς ἐκκλησίας ἐπέτρεψε, καὶ τὴν πίστιν τῆς ἐν Νικαίᾳ συνόδου· καὶ σπουδῇ ταύτης ἔχεσθαι ἐνετέλλετο. Λέγεται δὲ τότε καὶ διὰ τῶν ἄλλων ἐθνῶν τὴν ὁδοιπορίαν ποιούμενος, ὅμοια πρᾶξαι, εἰ συνέβαινε ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις ὑπὸ τῶν ᾿Αρείου κατέχεσθαι. Αμέλει τοι καὶ τοῦτο ἔγκλημα αὐτῷ ἐπῆγον, ὡς ἐν πόλεσι μηδὲν αὐτῷ προσηκούσαις, χειροτονεῖν ἐτόλμησεν. Οἷα δὲ καὶ ἀκόντων τῶν ἐναντίων κατωρθωκὼς τὴν ἐπάνοδον, καὶ διὰ τὴν φιλίαν Κώνσταντος τοῦ βασιλέως οὐ δοκῶν εὐκαταφρόνητος εἶναι, μᾶλλον ἢ πρότερον ἐν τιμῇ ἦν. Πολλοὶ δὲ καὶ τῶν ἐπισκόπων, τῆς πρὸς αὐτὸν ἀπεχθείας μετέθεντο, καὶ κοινωνίας μετέδοσαν, ὡς Παλαιστινοί· παριόντα γὰρ αὐτὸν τότε δι' αὐτῶν, εὐμενῶς προσεδέξαντο· καὶ σύνοδον ἐν Ἱεροσολύμοις ἐπιτελέσαντες Μάξιμός τε καὶ ἕτεροι, ἔγραψαν περὶ αὐτοῦ τάδε. ### English translation (Claude) The emperor sent Athanasius away to Egypt, and wrote about him to the bishops and presbyters in the cities and to the people of the church of Alexandria, bearing witness to the uprightness of his life and the virtue of his character, urging them to be of one mind and, under him as their leader, to serve the Divine with prayers and supplications; and if any wilfully showed themselves seditious, they were to be punished according to the laws on such matters. He also ordered that what he had earlier written against Athanasius and those in communion with him should be erased from the public records, and that his clergy should be exempt from public duties as before; and he wrote about this to the governors in Egypt and Libya. When Athanasius came to Egypt, he deposed those he knew held the views of Arius, entrusted the churches to those he himself approved, together with the faith of the synod of Nicaea, and charged them to hold zealously to it. It is said that at that time, travelling through the other provinces too, he did the same wherever the churches happened to be held by those of Arius. Indeed, they brought this charge too against him, that he had dared to ordain in cities that did not belong to him. Since he had achieved his return in spite of his opponents, and because of his friendship with the emperor Constans did not seem one to be despised, he was in more honour than before. Many of the bishops too gave up their hostility to him and gave him communion, as did those of Palestine; for when he passed through their country at that time they received him kindly; and holding a synod at Jerusalem, Maximus and others wrote about him as follows. ### Extrabiblical texts - Athanasius, Apol. sec. 54-56 (Defence against the Arians): allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Constantius's letters are in Athanasius, Defence against the Arians 54–56. Athanasius returned in October 346. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 3.21 (PG 67:1101–1103; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/3-21). ## Church History 3.22 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/3-15/#p-3-22 - Source: PG 67:1103–1105 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The synodal letter of the bishops at Jerusalem rejoices with the church of Alexandria at the return of Athanasius. ### Greek text Ἡ ἁγία σύνοδος ἡ ἐν Ἱεροσολύμοις συναχθεῖσα, τοῖς ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ καὶ Λιβύῃ, καὶ τοῖς ἐν Ἀλεξανδρείᾳ πρεσβυτέροις καὶ διακόνοις καὶ λαῷ, ἀγαπητοῖς καὶ ποθεινοτάτοις ἀδελφοῖς, ἐν Κυρίῳ χαίρειν. Κατ᾿ ἀξίαν τῷ τῶν ὅλων Θεῷ εὐχαριστεῖν οὐκ ἀρκοῦμεν, ἀγαπητοὶ, ἐφ᾽ οἷς θαυμασίοις ἐποίησε πάντοτε, ἐποίησε δὲ καὶ νῦν μετὰ τῆς ὑμετέρας Ἐκκλησίας, τὸν ποιμένα ὑμῶν καὶ κύριον καὶ συλλειτουργὸν ἡμῶν ᾿Αθανάσιον ἀποδοὺς ὑμῖν. Τίς γὰρ ἤλπισέ ποτε ταῦτα ὀφθαλμοῖς ἰδεῖν, ἃ νῦν ὑμεῖς ? ἔργῳ ἀπολαμβάνετε; ἀλλ᾿ ἀληθῶς αἱ εὐχαὶ ὑμῶν αὐτὸν καὶ ἡμᾶς ἡνῶσθαι. Ὀφείλετε δὲ καὶ ὑπὲρ τῆς εἰσηκούσθησαν παρὰ τῷ τῶν ὅλων Θεῷ, τῷ κηδομένῳ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐπιδόντι ὑμῶν τὰ δάκρυα καὶ τοὺς ὀδυρμοὺς, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο τῶν δεήσεων ὑμῶν ἐπακούσαντι. Ἦτε γὰρ ὡς πρόβατα ἐῤῥιμμένα καὶ ἐσκυλμένα, μὴ ἔχοντα ποιμένα. Καὶ διατοῦτο ἐπεσκέψατο ὑμᾶς ὁ ἀληθινὸς ποιμὴν οὐρανόθεν, ὁ τῶν ἰδίων προβάτων κηδόμενος, ἀποδοὺς ὑμῖν ὃν ἐπαθεῖτε. Ἰδοὺ γὰρ καὶ ἡμεῖς πάντα ὑπὲρ τῆς ἐκκλη - σιαστικῆς εἰρήνης πράττοντες, καὶ τῇ ὑμετέρᾳ συμπνέοντες ἀγάπη, προλαβόντες αὐτὸν ἠσπασάμεθα · καὶ κοινωνήσαντες δι' αὐτοῦ ὑμῖν ταύτας τὰς προσρήσεις διαπεμπόμεθα, καὶ τὰς εὐχαριστηρίους ὑμῶν εὐχὰς, ἵν᾽ εἰδῆτε τῷ συνδέσμῳ τῆς ἀγάπης πρὸς εὐσεβείας τῶν θεοφιλεστάτων βασιλέων εὔχεσθαι · οἵτινες καὶ αὐτοὶ γνόντες τὸν πόθον ὑμῶν καὶ τὴν αὐτοῦ καθαρότητα, ἀποκαταστησαι ὑμῖν αὐτὸν μετὰ πάσης τιμῆς κατηξίωσαν. Ὑπτίαις οὖν δεξάμενοι αὐτὸν χερσὶ, καὶ τὰς ὀφειλομένας ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ εὐχαριστηρίους εὐχὰς ἀναπέμψαι τῷ ταῦτα ὑμῖν χαρισαμένῳ Θεῷ σπουδάσατε, ὑπὲρ τοῦ διὰ παντὸς ὑμᾶς χαίρειν σὺν Θεῷ, καὶ δοξάζειν τὸν Κύριον ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ τῷ Κυρίῳ ἡμῶν, δι' οὗ τῷ Πατρὶ ἡ δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. ᾿Αμήν. ### English translation (Claude) “The holy synod gathered at Jerusalem to the presbyters, deacons and people in Egypt and Libya and in Alexandria, beloved and most longed-for brothers, greeting in the Lord. We cannot thank the God of all worthily, beloved, for the wonders he has always done, and has done now with your church, in giving back to you your shepherd and lord and our fellow minister Athanasius. For who ever hoped to see with his eyes what you now receive in fact? But truly your prayers have been heard by the God of all, who cares for his church and has looked upon your tears and lamentations, and for this reason has heard your petitions. For you were like sheep scattered and harassed, having no shepherd. Therefore the true Shepherd, who cares for his own sheep, has visited you from heaven and given back to you the one you longed for. For see, we too, doing everything for the peace of the church and breathing with your love, have met him first and embraced him; and having entered into communion with you through him, we send you these greetings and our prayers of thanksgiving, so that you may know that we too are united with you by the bond of love. You ought also to pray for the piety of the most God-beloved emperors, who themselves, knowing your longing and his innocence, have seen fit to restore him to you with all honour. Receive him, then, with outstretched hands, and be eager to send up the thanksgiving you owe for him to God, who has granted you these things, so that you may always rejoice with God and glorify the Lord in Christ Jesus our Lord, through whom be glory to the Father for ever and ever. Amen.” ### Scripture references - Matt 9:36: allusion, high confidence - John 10:11: allusion, medium confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Athanasius, Apol. sec. 57 (Defence against the Arians): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The letter is also in Athanasius, Defence against the Arians 57. Some lines are displaced in the scan (“have been heard … by the God of all”; “ought also to pray for the piety”); the translation follows the order of the letter as Athanasius gives it. “Sheep … having no shepherd” echoes Matt 9:36. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 3.22 (PG 67:1103–1105; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/3-22). ## Church History 3.23 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/3-15/#p-3-23 - Source: PG 67:1105–1107 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Ursacius and Valens, who had investigated Athanasius in the Mareotis, retract their charges in a letter to Julius of Rome and anathematize Arius. ### Greek text Καὶ τὰ μὲν ὧδε ἔγραψεν ἡ ἐκ Παλαιστίνης σύνοδος. Μέγιστον δὲ ἐπὶ τούτοις ᾿Αθανασίῳ συνεκύρησε, περιφανῶς ἐλέγχον, ἀδίκως αὐτοῦ καταδικάσαι τοὺς ἐν Τύρῳ συνεληλυθότας. Οὐάλης γὰρ καὶ Οὐρσάκιος, οἱ σὺν τοῖς ἀμφὶ Θεόγνιον, ὡς πρόσθεν εἴρηται, εἰς τὸν Μαρεώτην παρεγένοντο ἐρευνῆσαι, εἰ κατὰ τὴν Ἰσχυρίωνος γραφὴν ποτήριον ἱερὸν συνέτριψε, μεταμεληθέντες τάδε ἔγραψαν Ἰουλίῳ τῷ Ῥωμαίων ἐπισκόπῳ. Τῷ Κυρίῳ μακαριωτάτῳ πάπᾳ Ἰουλίῳ, Οὐρσάκιος καὶ Οὐάλης. Ἐπειδὴ συνέστησεν ἡμᾶς πρὸ τούτου πολλά τε καὶ δεινὰ περὶ ᾿Αθανασίου τοῦ ἐπισκόπου διὰ γραμμάτων ὑμῶν ὑποβεβληκέναι, γράμμασι τῆς σῆς Χρηστότητος μεθοδευθέντες, τοῦ πράγματος χάριν περὶ οὗ ἐδηλώσαμεν, οὐκ ἠδυνήθημεν λόγον ἀποδοῦναι, ὁμολογοῦμεν παρὰ τῇ σῇ Χρηστότητι, παρόντων τῶν ἀδελφῶν ἡμῶν πάντων τῶν πρεσβυτέρων, ὅτι πάντα τὰ πρὸ τούτου ἐλθόντα εἰς τὰς ἀκοὰς ὑμῶν περὶ τοῦ ὀνόματος τοῦ προειρημένου ᾿Αθανασίου, ψευδῆ καὶ πλαστά ἐστιν, πάσῃ τε δυνάἀλλότρια αὑτοῦ τυγχάνε: " διά τε τοῦτο, ἡδέως ἀντιποιούμεθα τῆς κοινωνίας τοῦ προειρημένου ᾿Αθανασίου " μάλιστα ὅτι ἡ Θεοσέδειά σου κατὰ τὴν ἔμφυτον αὐτῆς χαλοχαγαθίαν, τῇ πλάνῃ ἡμῶν συγγνώμην κατηξίωσε δοῦναι. 'Ομολογοῦμεν τοῦτο, ὅτι ἐάν ποτε ἡμᾶς οἱ ἀνατολικοὶ θελήσωσιν, 7| αὐτὸς ᾿Αθανάσιος χαχοτρόπως περὶ τούτου εἰς κρίσιν καλέσαι, μὴ. ἀπέρχεσθαι παρὰ γνώμην τῆς σῆς διαθέσεως. Τὸν δὲ αἱρετικὸν τοὺς ὑπερασπίζοντας αὐτῷ. τοὺς λέγοντας, ποτε ὅτε οὐχ ἦν ὁ Υἱὸς, ὅτι τοῦ μὴ ὄντος Χριστός ἐστιν, τοὺς ἀρνουμένους τὸν Χριστὸν Θεὸν εἷναι καὶ Υἱὸν Θεοῦ πρὸ αἰώνων, καθὼς καὶ ἐν τῷ προτέρῳ λιβέλλῳ ἑαυτῶν ἐν τῇ Μεδιολάνων ἐπιδεδώχαμεν, νῦν ἀεὶ ἀναθεματίζομεν παῦτα δὲ τῇ χειρὶ αὐτῶν γράψαντες, ὁμολογοῦμεν πάλιν ὅτι τὴν ᾿Αρειανιχὴν αἵρετιν, καθὰ προείπομεν, τοὺς ταύτης αὐθέντας χατεχρίναμεν εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα, Ἐγὼ Οὐρσάκιος τῇ ὁμολογίᾳ μου ταύτῃ παρὼν ὑκἐγραψα ὡσαύτως δὲ Οὐάλης. Καὶ ἃ μὲν πρὸς Ἰούλιον ὡμολόγησαν, ταῦτά ἐστιν. δὲ καὶ πρὸς ᾿Αθανάσιον ἔγραψαν, ἀναγκαίως παραθήσομαι. Ἔχει δὲ ### English translation (Claude) So wrote the synod of Palestine. A very great thing besides befell Athanasius, which clearly proved that those who met at Tyre had condemned him unjustly. For Valens and Ursacius, who, as was said before, had gone with Theognis's party to the Mareotis to inquire whether he had broken a sacred chalice, as Ischyrion's charge alleged, repented and wrote as follows to Julius, bishop of the Romans: “To the lord most blessed Pope Julius, Ursacius and Valens. Since it is established that we earlier made many grievous charges against Athanasius the bishop in our letters, and when summoned by letters of your Goodness we could not give an account of the matter about which we had informed, we confess before your Goodness, in the presence of all our brothers the presbyters, that everything that came earlier to your hearing about the name of the aforesaid Athanasius is false and fabricated and wholly foreign to him. For this reason we gladly embrace communion with the aforesaid Athanasius, especially since your Piety, in its innate goodness, has seen fit to grant pardon for our error. We confess also that if ever the Easterners, or even Athanasius himself, should wish maliciously to summon us to judgment about this, we will not go without your consent. The heretic Arius and his supporters, who say, ‘There was once when the Son was not,’ and ‘Christ is from what was not,’ and who deny that Christ is God and Son of God before the ages, as we also stated in our former libellus given at Milan, we anathematize now and always. Having written this with our own hand, we confess again that, as we said before, we have condemned the Arian heresy and its authors for ever. I, Ursacius, subscribed this my confession in person; likewise Valens.” This is what they confessed to Julius. What they also wrote to Athanasius I shall necessarily set down. It reads as follows. ### Extrabiblical texts - Athanasius, Apol. sec. 58 (Defence against the Arians): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The letter of Ursacius and Valens (347) is also in Athanasius, Defence against the Arians 58 (Greek translation of a Latin original) and in Hilary, Historical Fragments. The Greek in the scan is badly garbled in places; the translation follows the sense of the letter as preserved there. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 3.23 (PG 67:1105–1107; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/3-23). ## Church History 3.24 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/3-15/#p-3-24 - Source: PG 67:1107–1109 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Ursacius and Valens write to Athanasius offering peace; Athanasius, Paul, Marcellus, Asclepas and Lucius recover their sees, with disturbance only at Ancyra. ### Greek text Κυρίῳ ἀδελφῷ ἐπισκόπῳ ᾿Αθανασίῳ, Οὐρσάκιος καὶ Οὐάλης ἐπίσκοποι. 'Δφορμὴν εὑρόντες διὰ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ συμπρεσβυτέρου ἡμῶν Μουσαίου ἐρχομένου πρὸς τὴν σὴν ἀγάπην, ἀδελφὲ ἀγαπητὲ, διὰ τούτου σε πάνυ αγορεύομεν ἀπὸ τῆς ᾿Αχυλίας " εὐχόμεθά ὑγιαίνοντα, τὰ γράμματα τὰ ἡμέτερα ἀναγνῶναι. Δώσεις γὰρ ἡμῖν θαῤῥεῖν, ἐὰν σὺ ἐν τῷ γράφειν ἀποδῶς ἡμῖν τὴν ἀμοιβήν. Γίνωσκε γὰρ ἡμᾶς εἰρήνην ἔχειν μετά σου, καὶ κοινωνίαν ἐκκλησιαστικήν. τούτων γνώρισμα, ἡ διὰ τούτων τῶν γραμμάτων προσηγορία. ᾿Αθανάσιος μὲν οὖν οὕτως ἐκ τῆς πρὸς δύσιν ἀρχομένης ἐπανῆλθεν εἰς Αἴγυπτον. Καὶ Παῦλος δὲ καὶ Μάρκελλος, ᾿Ασκληπᾶς τε καὶ Λούκιος, τοὺς ἰδίους ἀπέλαβον θρόνους. Καὶ γὰρ δὴ τούτοις γράμματα βασιλέως ἐπέτρεπε τὴν ἐπάνοδον. Καὶ ἐν μὲν τῇ Κωνσταντινουπόλει Παύλου εἰσελθόντος, ὑπεχώρησε Μακεδόνιος, καὶ καθ' ἑαυτὸν ἐκκλησίαζεν. Ἐν ᾿Αγκύρᾳ δὲ μέγιστος συνέβη θόρυβος, ἀφαιρουμένου Βασιλείου τῆς ἐνθάδε ἐκκλησίας, ἡνίκα Μάρκελλος εἰσῄει. Τοῖς δὲ ἄλλοις οὐ χαλεπή ἡ εἴσοδος ἐγένετο. ### English translation (Claude) “To the lord brother bishop Athanasius, Ursacius and Valens, bishops. Finding an opportunity through our brother and fellow presbyter Musaeus, who is coming to your love, beloved brother, we greet you warmly through him from Aquileia, and pray that you may read our letter in good health. You will give us confidence if you repay us by writing in return. For know that we are at peace with you and in ecclesiastical communion; the token of this is the greeting in this letter.” So Athanasius returned from the western part of the empire to Egypt. Paul too, and Marcellus, Asclepas and Lucius, recovered their own sees; for letters of the emperor allowed them to return. In Constantinople, when Paul entered, Macedonius withdrew and held assemblies by himself. At Ancyra a very great disturbance occurred when Basil was deprived of the church there and Marcellus entered. For the others the return was not difficult. ### Extrabiblical texts - Athanasius, Apol. sec. 58 (Defence against the Arians): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The letter to Athanasius is also in Athanasius, Defence against the Arians 58. The opening lines are garbled in the scan; the names and the greeting are given from that text. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 3.24 (PG 67:1107–1109; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/3-24). ## Church History 4.1 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/3-15/#p-4-1 - Source: PG 67:1111 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Constans is murdered by Magnentius; Vetranio and Nepotianus also claim the empire; Athanasius has the Egyptian bishops confirm his acquittal. ### Greek text Καὶ τὰ μὲν ὧδε συνέβη. Τετάρτῳ δὲ ἔτει· τῆς ἐν Σαρδοῖ συνόδου, κτίννυται Κώνστας περὶ τοὺς πρὸς δύσιν Γαλάτας. Μαγνέντιος δὲ, ὃς αὐτῷ τὸν φόνον ἐπεβούλευσε, πᾶσαν τὴν ὑπὸ Κώνσταντος ἀρχομένην, ὑφ᾽ ἑαυτὸν ἐποίησε. Βρετανίων δέ τις, ὑπὸ τῶν Ἰλλυριῶν στρατιωτῶν ἐν τῷ Σιρμίῳ βασιλεὺς ἀνηγορεύθη. Πλεῖστον δὲ τούτων τῶν κακῶν μέρος καὶ ἡ πρεσβυτέρα Ῥώμη μετείχε, Νεποτιανοῦ ὃς ἀδελφιδοῦς ἦν καὶ Κωνσταντίνου τοῦ βασιλεύσαντος, τοὺς μονομάχους περὶ ἑαυτὸν ποιησαμένου, καὶ τῆς βασιλείας ἀμφισβητοῦντος. ᾿Αλλ' ὁ μὲν, ὑπὸ τῶν Μαγνεντίου στρατιωτῶν ἀνῃρέθη. Κωνστάντιος δὲ, ὡς εἰς μόνον αὐτὸν τῆς πάσης ἀρχῆς περιελθούσης, αὐτοκράτωρ ἀναγορευθεὶς, τοὺς τυράννους καθελεῖν ἐσπούδαζεν. Ἐν τούτῳ δὲ ᾿Αθανάσιος παρεγένετο εἰς 'Αλεξάνδρειαν, καὶ σύνοδον γενέσθαι παρεσκεύασε τῶν ἐξ Αἰγύπτου ἐπισκόπων, καὶ ἐπιψηφίσαι τοῖς ἐν Σαρδοῖ καὶ Παλαιστίνῃ περὶ αὐτοῦ δεδογμένοις. ### English translation (Claude) So these things happened. In the fourth year after the synod at Sardica, Constans was killed among the western Gauls; and Magnentius, who had plotted his murder, brought under himself the whole of the empire ruled by Constans. Vetranio was proclaimed emperor by the Illyrian soldiers at Sirmium. The elder Rome too had a very great share in these evils, when Nepotianus, a nephew of the emperor Constantine, gathered the gladiators about him and laid claim to the empire; but he was killed by the soldiers of Magnentius. Constantius, since the whole empire had come round to him alone, was proclaimed sole emperor and set himself to overthrow the usurpers. Meanwhile Athanasius came to Alexandria and had a synod of the bishops of Egypt held to confirm what had been decided about him at Sardica and in Palestine. ### Translation notes - Constans was killed in 350. Vetranio's name appears in the Greek as Βρετανίων. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 4.1 (PG 67:1111; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/4-1). ## Church History 4.2 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/4-2/#p-4-2 - Source: PG 67:1113 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Constantius again expels the restored bishops; Paul dies in exile at Cucusus, reportedly strangled, and Macedonius persecutes Paul's followers at Constantinople. ### Greek text Ὃ δὲ βασιλεὺς ταῖς διαβολαῖς πεισθεὶς τῶν ἀπὸ τῆς ἐναντίας αἱρέσεως ; ἐπὶ τῆς αὐτῆς οὐχ ἔμεινε γνώμκῃης " ἀλλ᾽ ἀπελαύνεσθαι προσέταξε, παρὰ τὰ πρότερον δεδογμένα τῇ ἐν Σαρδοῖ συνόδῳ, τῆς καθόδου τυχόντας. Ἡνίκα δὴ Μαρκέλλου πάλιν ἐκβληθέντος, τὴν ἐν ᾿Αγκύρᾳ Ἐκκλησίαν κατέσχε Βασίλειος· Λούκιος δὲ δεσμωτηρίῳ ἐμδληθεὶς, ἀπώλετο. Παῦλος δὲ ἀϊδίῳ φυγῇ καταδικασθεὶς, εἰς Κυουχουσὸν τῆς ᾿Αρμενίας ἀπηνέχθη " ἔνθα δὴ καὶ τετελεύτηχε " εἰ — πότερον δὲ νόσῳ ἣ βίᾳ, ἐγὼ μὲν οὐχ ἀχριδῶ. Φήμη δὲ εἰς ἔτι νῦν κρατεῖ, βρόχῳ αὑτὸν ἀναιρεθῆναι παρὰ τῶν τὰ Μακεδονίου φρονούντων. Ἐπεὶ δὲ εἰς τὴν ὑπερορίαν ἀπηνέχθη, τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν κατέσχε Μακεδόνιος, μοναστηρίοις πολλοῖς ἃ συνεστήσατο τὴν Κωνσταντινούπολιν περιφράξας ἑαυτὸν, καὶ ταῖς πρὸς τοὺς πέριξ ἐπισκόπους σπονδαῖς " λέγεται διαφόρως καχῶσαι τοὺς τὰ Παύλου φρονοῦντας, τὰ μὲν πρῶτα τῶν ἐκκλησιῶν αὐτόὺς ἐξελαύνων. Μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα συγκοινωνεῖν αὐτῷ βιαζόμενος ' ὡς πολλοὺς. ὑπὸ πληγῶν διαφθαρῆναι " τοὺς δὲ οὐσίας; ἄλλους δὲ πολιτείας ἀφαιρεθῆναι" τοὺφ δὲ ἐπὶ τοῦ μετώπου γενέσθαι, ἵν᾽ ἐπίσημοι εἶεν τοιοῦτο: ὄντες " βασιλέα 05 μαθόντα καταγνῶναι, καὶ τοὺς ἀμφὶ τὸν Μακεδόνιον ἐν αἰτίᾳ ποιήσασῦαι. Κατὰ ταυτὰ τῆς αὐτοῦ Μακεδονίου καθαιρέσεως, ἡνίκα τοῦτον ἀφείλοντο τὴν Ἰίωνσταυτινουτόλεως Ἐχυλησίαν. ### English translation (Claude) The emperor, persuaded by the slanders of those of the opposite sect, did not keep to the same mind, but ordered those to be driven out who had obtained their return contrary to what had earlier been decided by the synod at Sardica. Then, Marcellus having been expelled again, Basil held the church of Ancyra; and Lucius was thrown into prison and died. Paul was condemned to perpetual exile and was carried away to Cucusus in Armenia, where he died; whether by disease or violence I do not know exactly, but the report still prevails that he was strangled by those of Macedonius's opinion. When he had been carried into exile, Macedonius held the church, having fortified himself with many monasteries which he founded at Constantinople and with treaties with the surrounding bishops. He is said to have ill-treated those of Paul's opinion in various ways: first driving them from the churches, and afterward forcing them to communicate with him, so that many died under blows, some were deprived of property, others of citizenship, and others were branded on the forehead, so that they might be marked as such. The emperor, learning of this, condemned it and held Macedonius's party to blame; and this became a cause of the deposition of Macedonius himself, when they took from him the church of Constantinople. ### Translation notes - A fragment of Valesius's chapter title (“… on the throne Macedonius, doing great evils”) stood at the head of the section in the scan and has been removed. The word for the brand on the forehead is lost in the scan; the sense is clear from the context. Macedonius was deposed in 360 (see 4.24). ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 4.2 (PG 67:1113; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/4-2). ## Church History 4.3 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/4-2/#p-4-3 - Source: PG 67:1113–1115 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Martyrius and Marcian, clerics of Paul's household, are executed and later honoured as martyrs at Constantinople, where wonders occur at their tomb. ### Greek text Προηχῆε γὰρ τὸ κακὸν μέχρι φόνων καὶ γὰρ δὴ ἄλλοι τινὲς ἀνηρέθησαν, καὶ Μαρτύῤιος οὺς συνοίκους ὄντας Παύλου, λόγος ἀνδρείως ἀποθανεῖν παραδοθέντας ὑπὸ Μακεδονίου τῷ ὑπάρχῳ, ὡς αἰτίους γενομένους τῆς Ἑρμογένους ἀναιρέσεως, καὶ τῆς ἐπ᾽ αὐτῇ στάσεως. Ἦν δὲ ὁ μὲν, ὑποδιάχονος " ὁ δὲ Μαρκιανὸς, ψάλτης καὶ ἀναγνώστης τῶν θείων Γραφῶν " ὁ ὃὲ τάφος αὐτοῖς ἐστὶν ἐπίσημος, πρὸ τοῦ τείχους τῆς Κωνσταντινουπόλεως, οἷά γε μαρτύρων μνῆμα, εὐκτήριον οἶκον περικείμενος. Ὃν οἰκοδομεῖν ἤρξατο Ἰωάννης· έτελεσιούργησε δὲ Σισίνιος, οἱ μετὰ ταῦτα προστάντες τῆς Κωνσταντινουπόλεως Ἐκκλησίας. Οὐ γὰρ ἄξιον νενομίκασι, μαρτυρίας γερῶν ἀμοιρεῖν αὐτοὺς ὑπὸ Θεοῦ τιμωμένους, καθότι καὶ ὁ τῇδε τόπος, τῶν ἐπὶ θάνατον ἀγομένων ἐνθάδε τὰς κεφαλὰς ἀποτεμνομένων, τὸ πρὶν ἄβατος ὢν ὑπὸ φασμάτων, ἐκαθάρθη καὶ δαιμονῶντες τῆς νόσου ἀπηλλάγησαν, καὶ πολλὰ ἄλλα παράδοξα ἐπὶ τῷ τάφῳ αὐτῶν συνέβη. Τάδε μὲν περὶ Μαρτυρίου καὶ Μαρκιανοῦ εἰρήσθω. Εἰ δὲ τῳ οὐ πιθανὰ εἶναι δοκεῖ, πόνος οὐδεὶς ἀκριβέστερον παρὰ τῶν εἰδότων μαθεῖν. Ἴσως γὰρ καὶ τούτων θαυμαστότερα ἀφηγήσονται. ### English translation (Claude) For the evil went as far as murders. For others were put to death, and Martyrius and Marcian, who had been members of Paul's household and, it is said, died bravely, having been handed over by Macedonius to the prefect as responsible for the death of Hermogenes and for the riot connected with it. One was a subdeacon; the other, Marcian, a cantor and reader of the divine Scriptures. Their tomb is famous, before the wall of Constantinople, a memorial as of martyrs, enclosed by a house of prayer, which John began to build and Sisinnius completed, who afterward presided over the church of Constantinople. For they have thought it not right that men honoured by God should lack the honours of martyrdom, since the place there, where those led to death had their heads cut off, which had formerly been inaccessible because of apparitions, was cleansed, those possessed by demons were freed from their affliction, and many other wonders happened at their tomb. Let this be said about Martyrius and Marcian. If it seems incredible to anyone, it is no labour to learn more exactly from those who know; perhaps they will relate things still more wonderful. ### Translation notes - The names are partly garbled in the scan; Martyrius was the subdeacon. The bishops John (Chrysostom) and Sisinnius held the see of Constantinople in 398–404 and 426–427. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 4.3 (PG 67:1113–1115; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/4-3). ## Church History 4.4 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/4-2/#p-4-4 - Source: PG 67:1115–1117 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: George persecutes Athanasius's supporters in Egypt; Vetranio submits to Constantius and is spared; Gallus is made Caesar in the East. ### Greek text Ὑπὸ δὲ τοῦτον τὸν χρόνον ᾿Αθανασίου φυγόντος, Γεώργιος κακῶς ἐποίει τοὺς ἀνὰ τὴν Αἴγυπτον ὁμοίως αὐτῷ φρονεῖν παραιτουμένους. Ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς ἐπὶ Ἰλλυριοὺς στρατεύσας, ἧκεν εἰς Σίρμιον, καὶ ἐπὶ ῥηταῖς συνθήκαις εἰς ταυτὸν ἐνθάδε Βρετανίων ἦλθε. Μεταθεμένων δὲ τῶν ἀναγορευσάντων αὐτὸν στρατιωτῶν, καὶ μόνον Κωνστάντιον αὐτοκράτορα καὶ σεβαστὸν ἀναβοώντων · ὧδε γὰρ τάδε γενέσθαι αὐτῷ τε τῷ βασιλεῖ καὶ τοῖς τὰ αὐτοῦ φρονοῦσιν ἐσπουδάζετο, συνῆκε Βρετανίων τὴν προδοσίαν. Πρηνής τε παρὰ τοὺς πόδας κείμενος Κωνσταντίου, ἱκέτης ἐγίνετο. Περιελὼν δὲ αὐτοῦ Κωνστάντιος τὸν βασιλικὸν κόσμον καὶ τὴν ἀλουργίδα, ἠλέησε, καὶ ἰδιωτεύειν εἴασε, καὶ τὰ ἐπιτήδεια ἀφθόνως ἔχειν ἀπὸ τοῦ δημοσίου προσέταξεν · οἷά γε λοιπὸν πρεσβύτην, πρεπωδέστερον εἶναι φήσας βασιλικῶν ἀπηλλάχθαι φροντίδων, καὶ ἐν ἡσυχίᾳ εἶναι. Ἐπεὶ δὲ τὰ κατὰ Βρετανίωνα ὧδε αὐτῷ ἀπέβη, πλείστην κατὰ Μαγνεντίου στρατείαν ἐξέπεμψεν εἰς Ἰταλίαν · Γάλλον δὲ τὸν αὐτοῦ ἀνεψιὸν Καίσαρα καταστήσας, εἰς Συρίαν ἀπέστειλεν, ἐπὶ φυλακῇ τοῦ κατὰ τὴν Ἕω κλίματος. ### English translation (Claude) About this time, Athanasius having fled, George ill-treated those in Egypt who refused to hold the same views as he. The emperor, marching against Illyricum, came to Sirmium, and Vetranio came to meet him there on stated terms. When the soldiers who had proclaimed him changed sides and acclaimed Constantius alone as emperor and Augustus (for the emperor himself and his supporters had worked for this), Vetranio understood that he had been betrayed; and falling prostrate at Constantius's feet, he became a suppliant. Constantius, stripping him of the imperial ornaments and the purple, pitied him, allowed him to live as a private man, and ordered that he should have necessities in abundance from the public treasury, saying that, as an old man, it was more fitting for him to be released from imperial cares and to live in quiet. When things had turned out so with Vetranio, he sent a very large army against Magnentius into Italy; and having made his cousin Gallus Caesar, he sent him to Syria to guard the eastern region. ### Translation notes - Vetranio abdicated at Naissus in December 350; Gallus was made Caesar in 351. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 4.4 (PG 67:1115–1117; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/4-4). ## Church History 4.5 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/4-2/#p-4-5 - Source: PG 67:1117 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Under Bishop Cyril a great sign of the cross appears in the sky over Jerusalem, reported to the emperor by Cyril's letter, and leads many to Christianity. ### Greek text Ἐν δὲ τῷ τότε Κυρίλλου μετὰ Μάξιμον τὴν Ἱεροσολύμων Ἐκκλησίαν ἐπιτροπεύσαντος, σταυροῦ σημεῖον ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ ἀνεφάνη, καταυγάζον λαμπρῶς, οὐχ οἷον κομήτης ταῖς ἐλλάμψεσιν ἀποῤῥέων, ἀλλ᾽ ἐν συστάσει πολλοῦ φωτὸς ἐπιεικῶς πυκνὸν καὶ διαφανές· μῆκος μὲν ὅσον ἐκ τοῦ Κρανίου μέχρι τοῦ ὄρους τῶν Ἐλαιῶν, ἀμφὶ δέκα καὶ πέντε στάδια τὸν ὑπὲρ τὸν χῶρον τοῦτον οὐρανὸν ἀπολαβόν. Εὗρος δὲ, τῷ μήκει ἀνάλογον. Ὡς ἐπὶ παραδόξῳ δὲ τῷ συμβεβηκότι θαύματι, καὶ δέος πάντας ἔσχεν. Οἰκίας δὲ καὶ ἀγορὰς, καὶ ὅπερ ἔτυχεν ἕκαστος ἐργαζόμενος καταλιπὼν, ἅμα παισὶ καὶ γυναιξὶν εἰς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν συνῆλθον, καὶ κοινῇ τὸν Χριστὸν ὕμνουν, καὶ Θεὸν προθύμως ὡμολόγουν. Οὐ μετρίως δὲ πᾶν τὸ καθ' ἡμᾶς οἰκούμενον ἡ περὶ τούτου ἀγγελία κατέπληξεν. Ἐγένετο δὲ τοῦτο οὐκ εἰς μακράν. Ὡς γὰρ εἰώθει, ἐκ πάσης, ὡς εἰπεῖν, γῆς κατ᾿ εὐχὴν καὶ ἱστορίαν τῶν τῇδε τόπων Ἱεροσολύμων ένδημοῦντες, ὧν ἐγένοντο θεαταὶ, τοῖς οἰκείοις ἐμήνυσαν. Ἔγνω δὲ τοῦτο καὶ ὁ βασιλεὺς, ἄλλων τε πολλῶν ἀναγγειλάντων, καὶ Κυρίλλου τοῦ ἐπισκόπου γράψαντος. Ἐλέγετο δὲ παρὰ τῶν τὰ τοιάδε ἐπι στημόνων, κατά τινα προφητείαν θείαν, πάλαι ταῦτα προμεμηνύσθαι ἐν ταῖς ἱεραῖς βίβλοις. Καὶ τὸ μὲν ὧδε συμβάν, πολλοὺς Ἑλλήνων καὶ Ἰουδαίων εἰς Χριστιανισμὸν ἐπηγάγετο. ### English translation (Claude) At that time, when Cyril governed the church of Jerusalem after Maximus, a sign of the cross appeared in the sky, shining brightly, not streaming out in rays like a comet, but as a mass of much light, fairly dense and transparent; in length it stretched from the place of the Skull to the Mount of Olives, taking up about fifteen stades of the sky above this place, and its breadth was in proportion to its length. At the wonderful marvel all were seized with fear. Leaving houses and markets and whatever work each was doing, they gathered with their children and wives into the church, sang praise to Christ together, and eagerly confessed him as God. The report of it greatly amazed the whole inhabited world in our part of it. It did not take long; for, as was usual, those who had come from almost every land to Jerusalem to pray and to visit the places there told their families what they had seen. The emperor also learned of it, both from many others who reported it and from a letter of Cyril the bishop. It was said by those learned in such matters that this had been foretold long ago in the sacred books by a certain divine prophecy. What happened in this way brought many pagans and Jews to Christianity. ### Scripture references - Matt 24:30: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The appearance took place on 7 May 351; Cyril of Jerusalem's Letter to Constantius describes it. The prophecy meant is probably Matt 24:30 (“the sign of the Son of Man in heaven”). ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 4.5 (PG 67:1117; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/4-5). ## Church History 4.6 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/4-2/#p-4-6 - Source: PG 67:1119–1123 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: A synod at Sirmium (351) deposes Photinus, who taught that Christ began from Mary, and issues three creeds avoiding the language of essence; Hosius is forced to sign; Basil of Ancyra defeats Photinus in debate. ### Greek text Ἐν τούτῳ δὲ Φωτεινὸς τὴν Σιρμίῳ Ἐκκλησίαν ἐπιτροπεύων, ἤδη πρότερον χαινῆῇς αἱρέσεως εἰσηγητὴς γενόμενος, ἔτι τοῦ βασιλέως ἐπιδημοῦντος ἐνθάδε, ἀναφανδὸν τῷ οἰκείῳ συνίστατο δόγματι. Φύσεως δὲ ἔχων εὖ λέγειν, καὶ πείθειν ἱκανὸς, πολλοὺς εἰς τὴν ὁμοίαν αὐτῷ δόξαν ἐπηγάγετο. Ἔλεγε δὲ ὡς Θεὸς μέν ἐστι παντοκράτωρ εἷς, ὁ τῷ ἰδίῳ Λόγῳ τὰ πάντα δημιουργήσας. Τὴν δὲ πρὸ αἰώνων γέννησίν τε καὶ ὕπαρξιν τοῦ Υἱοῦ οὐ ; προσίετο" ἀλλ᾽ Μαρίας γεγενῆσθαι τὸν Χριστὸν οι : εἰσηγεῖτο. Περιπύστου δὲ πολλοῖς γενομένου τοιούτου δόγματος, χαλεπῶς ἔφερον οἵ τε τῆς Δύσεως καὶ τῆς ας ἐπίσκοποι, κοινῇ. ταῦτα νεωτερίζεσθαι ὧν ἕκαστος ἐδόξαζεν, ἡγοῦντο, Καθἀπαξ γὰρ τὸ διαφωνοῦν ἐδείκνυτο τῆς Φωτεινοῦ πίστεως, πρός τε τῶν ἐν Νικαίᾳ τὴν παράδοσιν θαυμαζόντων, τὴν ᾿Αρείου δόξαν ἐπαινούντων, Ἐπὶ κούτοις δὲ ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐχαλέπαινεν. Ἐν δὲ τῷ τότε ἐν Σιρμίῳ διατρίδων, σύνοδον συνεκάλεσε. Καὶ συνῆλθον ἐχ μὲν τῆς Ἕω ἄλλοι τε, καὶ Γεώργιος ὁ τὴν ᾿Αλεξανδρέων ἐπιτραπεὶς ᾿Εχχλησίαν, Βασίλειος ὁ ᾿Αγκύρας ἐπίσκοπος, καὶ Μάρκος ὁ ᾿ΑρεθούἘχ δὲ τῆς Δύσεως, Οὐάλης τε ὁ Μούρσων, "Ὅσιος ὁ ὁμολογητῆς ὃς τῆς ἐν Νικαίᾳ συνόδου κοινωνήσας, ἄκων ταύτης μετέσχε. Οὗτος γὰρ οὐ πολλῷ πρότερον ἐξ ἐπιδουλῆς τῶν τὰ ᾿Αρείου φρονούντων ὑπερορίαν οἰκεῖν καταδικασθεὶς, σπουδῇ τῶν ἐν Σιρμίῳ συνελθόντων, μετεκλήθη παρὰ τοῦ βασιλέως. ἼὭοντο γὰρ ὡς εἰ πειθοῖ τινι ἣ βίᾳ σύμψηφον σφίσι ποιήσουσιν, ἐπισημότατον ὄντα, καὶ πρὸς πάντων θαυμαζόμενον, ἀξιόχρεως αὐτοῖς μάρτυς οἰκείου δόγματος. ᾿Επεὶ οὖν ἐν Σιρμίῳ συνἦλθον " ἔτος δὲ τοῦτο ἦν μετὰ τὴν Σεργίου καὶ Νιγριανοῦ ὑπατείαν, ἡνίκα οὐδεὶς ὕπατος, οὔτε ἐχ τῆς οὔτε ἐκ τῆς Δύσεως ἀνεδείχθη, διὰ τὴν συμβᾶσαν προφάσει τῶν τυράννων περὶ τὰ κοινὰ ταραχὴν, τὸν μὲν Φωτεινὸν καθεῖλον, ὡς τὰ Σαβελλίου Παύλου. τοῦ Σαμοσατέως φρονοῦντα. Μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα πάλιν παρὰ τὰ πρότερον δεδογμένα περὶ τῆς πίστεως, τρεῖς ἐκθέσεις ἐξέδωκαν. τὴν μὲν, τῇ Ἑλλήνων φωνῇ " τὰς δὲ τῇ Ῥωμαίων συνέταξαν, ἐν πολλοῖς περί τε ῥητὸν ἔννοιαν, οὔτε ἑαυταῖς οὔτε ταῖς προτέραις δεδογμέναις συμφωνούσας. Ἱστέον μέντοι ὡς ἢ 'Ἑλληνικὴ οὔτε ὁμοούσιον, οὔτε ὁμοιοούσιον τῷ Πα-. τρὶ τὸν Υἱὸν εἴπε τοὺς δὲ φάσκοντας αὐτὸν ἄναρχον εἶναι, ἢ πλατυνομένην τὴν οὐσίαν τοῦ Θεοῦ τὸν Υίδν ποιεῖν, ἢ συντετάχθαι, ἀλλὰ μὴ ὑποτετάχθαι τῷ Πατρὶ δόξαντας, ἀποκηρύττειν. Θατέρα δὲ τῶν Ῥωμαϊκῶν, περὶ μὲν οὐσίας ἣν σουσταντίαν Ῥωμαῖοι όνομάζουσιν, εἴ τε ὁμοιοούσιος, εἴ τε ὁμοούσιός ἐστιν ὁ Υἱὸς τῷ Πατρὶ, παντελῶς ἀπαγορεύει λέγειν, ὡς οὔτε ταῖς ἱεραῖς εἰρημένα Γραφαῖς, οὔτε ἀνθρώπων ἐννοίαις καὶ γνώσει εὔληπτα. Μείζονα δὲ χρῆναι συνομολογεῖν τὸν Πατέρα παρακελεύεται τιμῇ καὶ ἀξίᾳ, καὶ θεότητι, καὶ αὐτῷ τῷ πατρικῷ ὀνόματι. Καὶ ὑποτετάχθαι τῷ Πατρὶ τὸν Υἱὸν μετὰ πάντων ἀξιοῖ. Καὶ τοῦ μὲν Πατρὸς ἀρχὴν μὴ εἶναι· τοῦ δὲ Υἱοῦ τὴν γένεσιν, ἄγνωστον πᾶσι, πλὴν τοῦ Πατρός. Λέγεται δὲ ἤδη ταύτην τὴν γραφὴν ἐκδοθεῖσαν, ὡς μὴ δεόντως συγκειμένην, σπουδάσαι τοὺς ἐγκειμένους ἐπισκόπους ἐπὶ διορθώσει ἀναλαβεῖν· καὶ τὸν βασιλέα τοῦτο προστάξαι, τιμωρίαν ἀπειλήσαντα κατὰ τῶν ἀποκρυπτόντων. ᾿Αλλ᾽ ἡ μὲν ἅπαξ έκδοθεῖσα, παντελῶς οὐκέτι ἔλαθεν. Ἡ δὲ τρίτη γραφή, τὰ μὲν ἄλλα συμφέρεται τῇ διανοίᾳ ταῖς ἄλλαις. δὲ τῆς οὐσίας ὄνομα περιεῖλε· καὶ αἰτίαν τήνδε αὐτοῖς ῥητοῖς ἔχει διὰ τῆς Ῥωμαίων φωνῆς· τὸ δὲ ὄνομα τῆς οὐσίας, ὅπερ ἁπλούστερον ἐτέθη ὑπὸ τῶν πατέρων, ἀγνοούμενον δὲ τοῖς πολλοῖς σκάνδαλον ἔφερε, διὰ τὸ μηδὲ ἐν ταῖς Γραφαῖς αὐτὸ ἐμφέρεσθαι, ἤρεσε περιαιρεθῆναι, καὶ παντελῶς μηδεμίαν μνήμην οὐσίας ποιεῖσθαι, διὰ τὸ μάλιστα τὰς θείας Γραφὰς μηδαμοῦ περὶ Πατρὸς καὶ Υἱοῦ καὶ ἁγίου Πνεύματος μίαν εἶναι οὐσίαν, γράφεται δὲ καὶ ὑπόστασιν ὀνομάζειν. Ὅμοιον δὲ λέγομεν τῷ Πατρὶ τὸν Υἱὸν, καθὼς αἱ θεῖαι Γραφαὶ λέγουσι. Καὶ τὰ μὲν ὧδε περὶ τῆς πίστεως, αὐτοῦ τοῦ βασιλέως παρόντος ἔδοξεν. Ὅσιος δὲ τὴν ἀρχὴν παρῃτεῖτο τούτοις συναινεῖν. Βιασθεὶς δὲ, καὶ πληγὰς, ὡς λέγεται, πρεσβύτης ὧν ὑπομείνας, συνήνεσέ τε καὶ ὑπέγραψε. Φωτεινοῦ δὲ πειρασθῆναι μετὰ τὴν καθαίρεσιν, εἴ πως δύναιτο τῆς πρὸ τοῦ μεταθέσθαι γνώμης, ἐδόκει τῇδε τῇ συνόδῳ. Ὁ δὲ, προτρεπόντων αὐτὸν τῶν ἐπισκόπων, καὶ τὴν ἐπισκοπὴν ἀποδώσειν ὑπισχνουμένων, εἰ τὸ οἰκεῖον ἀποκηρύξει δόγμα, καὶ ταῖς αὐτῶν γραφαῖς συμψηφίσαιτο, οὐκ ἐνέσχετο · ἀλλ᾽ εἰς διάλεξιν αὐτοὺς προὐκαλεῖτο. Εἰς ῥητὴν ἡμέραν δὲ συνελθόντων τῶν ἐπισκόπων, καὶ δικαστῶν ἐκ προστάγματος τοῦ βασιλέως προκαθεσθέντων, οἱ ἐπιστήμῃ λόγων καὶ ἀξιώματι τότε πρωτεύειν ἐν τοῖς βασιλείοις ἐδόκουν, ἀναδέχεται τὴν πρὸς τὸν Φωτεινὸν διάλεξιν Βασίλειος ὁ ᾿Αγκύρας ἐπίσκοπος. Ἐπὶ πολλῶν δὲ πρὸς πεῦσιν καὶ ἀπόκρισιν ἀμφοτέροις προελθόντος τοῦ ἀγῶνος, ταχυγράφων ἀναγραφομένων τοὺς ἑκατέρων λόγους, ἐκράτησε Βασί-. λεῖος. Φωτεινὸς δὲ φεύγειν καταδικασθεὶς, οὐδὲ οὕτως ἐπαύσατο τὸ οἰκεῖον συγχροτῶν δόγμα. Λόγους τε τῇ Ῥωμαίων Ἑλλήνων φωνῇ συγγράφων ἐξεδίδον, δι᾽ ὧν ἐπειρᾶτο, πλὴν τῆς αὐτοῦ, τὰς τῶν ἄλλων δόξας ψευδεῖς ἀποφαίνειν. Φωτεινοῦ μὲν οὖν πέρι, καὶ τῆς ἀπ' αὐτοῦ καλουμένης αἱρέσεως, τάδε μοι εἰρήσθω. ### English translation (Claude) Meanwhile Photinus, who governed the church of Sirmium and had already earlier introduced a new heresy, openly maintained his own doctrine while the emperor was still staying there. Having a natural gift for speaking well and being able to persuade, he drew many to an opinion like his own. He said that there is one God almighty, who created all things by his own Word; but he did not accept the generation and existence of the Son before the ages, and taught that Christ came into being from Mary. When this doctrine became widely known, the bishops of the West and of the East were indignant, all alike thinking that what each of them believed was being innovated upon; for the faith of Photinus was shown to be entirely at variance both with those who admired the tradition of Nicaea and with those who approved the opinion of Arius. The emperor was angry at this, and, staying at Sirmium at that time, he convened a synod. From the East there came, among others, George, who had been entrusted with the church of Alexandria, Basil, bishop of Ancyra, and Mark of Arethusa; from the West, Valens of Mursa and Hosius the confessor, who, having taken part in the synod of Nicaea, took part in this one against his will. For not long before, through the plotting of those who held the views of Arius, he had been condemned to live in exile, and at the urging of those who met at Sirmium he was summoned by the emperor. For they thought that if by some persuasion or force they made him vote with them, he, being most distinguished and admired by all, would be a credible witness to their own doctrine. When they met at Sirmium (this was the year after the consulship of Sergius and Nigrinianus, when no consul was proclaimed either from the East or from the West because of the disturbance in public affairs caused by the usurpers), they deposed Photinus as holding the views of Sabellius and Paul of Samosata. After this, again contrary to what had earlier been decided about the faith, they issued three expositions, composing one in Greek and the others in Latin, which in many respects, both in wording and in meaning, agreed neither with each other nor with those decided before. It should be known that the Greek one called the Son neither of the same essence nor of like essence with the Father, but anathematized those who say that he is without beginning, or that the essence of God is extended and makes the Son, or who think him co-ordinate with the Father rather than subordinate to him. One of the Latin ones forbids entirely to speak of essence, which the Romans call substantia, whether the Son is of like essence or of the same essence with the Father, as neither stated in the sacred Scriptures nor easily grasped by human thoughts and knowledge; it bids all confess that the Father is greater in honour, dignity and divinity, and in the very name of Father, and holds that the Son is subordinate to the Father together with all things; that the Father has no beginning, and that the generation of the Son is unknown to all except the Father. It is said that after this document had been issued, the bishops concerned, as it had been composed improperly, were eager to take it back for correction, and that the emperor ordered this, threatening punishment against those who concealed it; but once issued, it could no longer be hidden at all. The third document agrees in meaning with the others in other respects, but removed the name of essence, and gives this reason in these very words, in the Latin language: “The name of essence, which was set down rather simply by the fathers and, being unknown to the many, caused offence because it is not found in the Scriptures, it has seemed good to remove, and to make no mention at all of essence, chiefly because the divine Scriptures nowhere speak of one essence of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit; nor is one to speak of one subsistence. We say the Son is like the Father, as the divine Scriptures say.” These were the decisions about the faith made in the presence of the emperor himself. Hosius at first refused to agree to them; but being forced, and having endured blows, as it is said, though an old man, he agreed and signed. This synod decided to test Photinus after his deposition, to see whether he could perhaps change his former opinion. But when the bishops urged him and promised to give back his episcopate if he renounced his own doctrine and voted with their documents, he would not; instead he challenged them to a debate. On a set day the bishops met, and judges took their seats by the emperor's order, those who then seemed to hold first place at the palace in learning and rank; and Basil, bishop of Ancyra, took up the debate with Photinus. When the contest had gone on at length by question and answer on both sides, with shorthand writers recording the words of each, Basil prevailed. Photinus was condemned to exile, but even so did not stop promoting his own doctrine; he wrote and published treatises in Latin and Greek in which he tried to show the opinions of all others except his own to be false. Concerning Photinus and the heresy named after him, let this be said by me. ### Scripture references - John 14:28: allusion, medium confidence - 1 Cor 15:28: allusion, low confidence - Matt 11:27: allusion, medium confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Athanasius, Syn. 8 (On the Councils of Ariminum and Seleucia): quotation, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Sozomen conflates the first council of Sirmium (351), which deposed Photinus, with the creeds of 357–359 (the Latin “Blasphemy of Sirmium” of 357, which Hosius was compelled to sign, and the “Dated Creed” of 359). The quoted passage of the third creed, translated from the Latin, is also in Athanasius, On the Synods 8 and 28. The scan has lost a number of small words (“from” Mary, “the East,” “and”) which are given from the sense; the phrase about “one subsistence” is garbled in the scan and is given in the sense of the creed as Athanasius preserves it. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 4.6 (PG 67:1119–1123; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/4-6). ## Church History 4.7 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/4-2/#p-4-7 - Source: PG 67:1123–1125 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Magnentius is defeated, flees, and kills himself; Silvanus's usurpation is crushed; Gallus suppresses a Jewish revolt at Diocaesarea, then plots rebellion and is executed. ### Greek text Ἐν τούτοις δὲ καταλαβὼν Μαγνέντιος τὴν πῤεσθυτέραν Ρώμην, πόλλους τῆς συγκλήτου τοῦ δημοτίιχοῦ ἀνεῖλε. Μαθὼν δὲ πλησίον ἱέναι ἤδη αὑτοῦ τοὺς Κωνσταντίου στρατηγοὺς, ὑπεχώῤγηδεν εἰς τοὺς πρὸς δύσιν Γαλάτας. "Ἔνθα δὴ πολλάκις ἀλλήλοις προσδάλλοντες, πῇ μὲν οὗτοι, πὴ δὲ ἐκεῖνο, ἐχρατοῦντο" εἰσότε δὴ τὸ τελευταῖόν ἡττηθεὶς Μαγνέντιος, ἔφυγεν εἰς Μοῦρσαν. Γαλατῶν δὲ τοῦτο τὸ φρούριον. ᾿Αϑδημονοῦντας ὃὲ τοὺς ἰδίους στρατιώτας ὡς ἡττηθέντας ὁρῶν, ἐφ᾽ ὑψηλοῦ στὰς, ἔπειρᾶτο θαῤῥαλεωτέρους ποιεῖν. Οἱ δὲ, οἷά γε εἰώθασιν ἐπευφημεῖν τοῖς βασιλεῦσι, καὶ ἐπὶ Μαγνεντίῳ φανέντι εἰπεῖν προθυμηθέντες, ἔλαθον οὖχ ἐκόντες Κωνστάντιον ἀντὶ Μαγνεντίου Αὔγουστον ἀνάθοῆσαντες. Συμβαλὼν δὲ ἐκ τούτου Μαγνέντιος, ὡς οὐ δέον αὐτῷ θεόθεν βασιλεύειν, πειρᾶται καταλιπὼν τοῦτο τὸ φρυύριον; προσωτέρω χωρεῖν. Διωχούσης δὲ τῆς Κωνσταντίου στρατιᾶς, περὶ τὸ καλούμενον Μοντιοσέλευχον συμβαλὼν, φεύγων, εἰς Λουγδοῦγον διεσώθη. ᾿Ανελὼν δὲ ἐνθάδε τὴν αὐτοῦ μητέρα τὸν ἀδελφὸν, ὃν Καίσαρὰ κατέστησε, τελευταῖον ἑαυτὸν ἐπέσφαξε. οὐ πολὺ δὲ Δεχέντιος ἕτερος αὐτοῦ ἀδέλφὸς, ἀγχόνῃ ἑαυτὸν διεχρήσατο. Αἱ δὲ περὶ τὰ κοινὰ ταραχᾶὶϊ, οὐδὲ οὕτω τέλος ἔσχον. Ὀύχ εἰς μακρὰν παρὰ μὲν τοῖς πρὸς δύξιν ΓαὉ λάταις Σιλθανός τις ἐτυράννησεν, ὃν αὐτίκα καθεῖλον οἱ Κωνσταντίου στρατηγοί. Οἱ δὲ ἐν Διοκαισαρείᾳ Ἰουδαῖοι, τὴν Παλαιστίνην τοὺς πέριξ ὄντας κατέτρεχον' ὅπλα τε ἀράμενοι, πείθεσθαι Ῥωμαίοις οὐχ ἠνείχοντο. Μαθὼν δὲ ταῦτα Γάλλος ὁ Καϊῖσαρ ἐν ᾿Αντιοχείᾳ διατρίδων, πέμψας στρατιὰν, αὐτοὺς ἐχειρώσατο, καὶ τὴν Διοκαισάρειαν ἀνάστατον ἐποίητε. Δόξας δὲ εὖ πράττειν, τὴν εὐημερίαν οὐκ ἤνεγκεν, ἀλλὰ τυραννεῖν ἐβούλετο. Καταμηνύσαντας δὲ τῷ βασιλεῖ τὸν αὐτοῦ νεωτερισμὸν, Μάγνον τε τὸν κοιαίστωρα, καὶ τῆς Ἕω τὸν ὕπαρχον Δομετιανὸν, ἀνεῖλεν. ᾿Αγανακτήσας δὲ Κωνστάντιος, μετεκαλεῖτο αὐτόν. ᾿Απειθεῖν οὐχ οἷός τε ὧν, ἐδεδίει γὰρ, εἴχετο τῆς ὁδοῦ. Ἤδη δὲ παρὰ Φλάβωνα τὴν νῆσον γενόμενος, ἀνῃρέθη, τοῦ βασιλέως προστάξαντος· ἡνίκα δὴ αὐτὸς μὲν τὸ τρίτον ὑπάτευεν, ἔβδομον δὲ Κωνστάντιος. ### English translation (Claude) Meanwhile Magnentius, having seized the elder Rome, killed many of the senate and of the people. Learning that Constantius's generals were already near, he withdrew to the western Gauls. There, attacking each other many times, now these and now those were defeated, until at last Magnentius was defeated and fled to Mursa, a fortress of the Gauls. Seeing his own soldiers dejected at their defeat, he stood on a height and tried to make them bolder. But they, as they are accustomed to acclaim emperors, and eager to do so when Magnentius appeared, without meaning to, unwittingly acclaimed Constantius instead of Magnentius as Augustus. Concluding from this that God did not wish him to reign, Magnentius tried to leave this fortress and go farther. Pursued by Constantius's army, he engaged it near the place called Mons Seleucus, fled, and escaped to Lugdunum. There, having killed his mother and his brother, whom he had made Caesar, he finally killed himself. Not long after, Decentius, another brother of his, hanged himself. Even so the public disturbances did not come to an end. Shortly afterward one Silvanus seized power among the western Gauls, and Constantius's generals at once put him down. The Jews in Diocaesarea overran Palestine and the surrounding peoples, and taking up arms, refused to obey the Romans. When Gallus the Caesar, who was staying at Antioch, learned of this, he sent an army, subdued them, and laid Diocaesarea waste. Thinking himself successful, he could not bear his good fortune, but wished to make himself sole ruler. When Magnus the quaestor and Domitian, the prefect of the East, reported his plans of revolt to the emperor, he killed them. Constantius, indignant, summoned him. Unable to disobey, for he was afraid, he set out on the journey; and when he was already near the island of Flanona, he was put to death by the emperor's order, in the year when he was consul for the third time and Constantius for the seventh. ### Translation notes - Sozomen calls Mursa (in Pannonia) a fortress of the Gauls; the battle of Mursa was in 351, and Magnentius died at Lugdunum (Lyons) in 353. The Jewish revolt at Diocaesarea (Sepphoris) was in 351–352. Gallus was executed in 354, the year of his third and Constantius's seventh consulship. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 4.7 (PG 67:1123–1125; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/4-7). ## Church History 4.8 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/4-2/#p-4-8 - Source: PG 67:1125–1127 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Julius dies and Liberius becomes bishop of Rome; the Eastern bishops renew their attacks on Athanasius, and Constantius, now sole emperor, tries to win the Western bishops to condemn him. ### Greek text Ἐπεὶ δὲ καθῃρημένων τῶν τυράννων, ἐδόκει τῶν συμβάντων κακῶν ἡσυχίαν ἔχειν Κωνστάντιος, καταλιπὼν τὸ Σίρμιον, ἐπὶ τὴν πρεσβυτέραν ᾔει Ῥώμην. Ἐνταῦθα γὰρ ἐβούλετο τὴν κατὰ τῶν τυράννων ἐπινίκιον ἐπιτελεῖν πομπήν· κατὰ ταυτὸν δὲ νομίσας δύνασθαι τοὺς ἑκατέρας ἀρχομένης ἐπισκόπους ὁμόφρονας περὶ τὸ δόγμα καταστῆσαι, σύνοδον γενέσθαι ἐν Ἰταλίᾳ προσέταξεν. Ἐν τούτῳ δὲ Ἰούλιος ἐτελεύτησεν, ἐπὶ εἴκοσι καὶ πέντε ἐνιαυτοῖς τὴν Ῥωμαίων Ἐκκλησίαν ἐπιτροπεύσας. Διαδέχεται δὲ τοῦτον Λιβέριος. Λογισάμενοι δὲ καιρὸν ἔχειν εἰς διαβολὴν τῶν ἐναντία φρονούντων οἱ τὴν ἐν Νικαίᾳ πίστιν παραιτούμενοι, ἐπιμελῶς μάλα ἐν τοῖς βασιλείοις ἐπόνουν, ἐκβάλλειν τῶν ἐκκλησιῶν πάντας τοὺς πρὸς αὐτῶν καθῃρη- ( μένους, ὡς ἑτεροδόξους ὄντας, καὶ ἐν ᾧ Κώνστας τῷ βίῳ περιῆν, συγκροῦσαι τὰς βασιλείας πρὸς ἑαυτὰς σπουδάσαντας· καθότι τῷ ἀδελφῷ πόλεμον ἐπήγγειλεν, εἰ μὴ προσδέξεται αὐτοὺς, ὡς ἐν τοῖς πρόσθεν εἴρηται. Μάλιστα δὲ ἐν αἰτίᾳ ἐποιοῦντο ᾿Αθανάσιον, οἱ γε ὑπερβολῇ τοῦ περὶ αὐτὸν μίσους, οὐδὲ Κώνσταντος περιόντος, καὶ Κωνσταντίου φιλεῖν αὐτὸν προσποιουμένου, τῆς ἀπεχθείας ἀπέσχοντο· ἀλλὰ συνελθόντες ἐν ᾿Αντιοχείᾳ, Νάρκισσός τε ὁ Κίλιξ, καὶ Θεόδωρος ὁ Θρᾷξ, καὶ Εὐγένιος ὁ Νικαεὺς, καὶ Πατρόφιλος ὁ Σκυθοπολίτης, καὶ Μηνόφαντος ὁ Ἐφέσιος, καὶ ἄλλοι ἀμφὶ τριάκοντα οἱ πάντες, ἔγραψαν τοῖς πανταχοῦ ἐπισκόποις, ὡς παρὰ τοὺς νόμους τῆς Ἐκκλησίας ἐπανῆλθεν εἰς ᾿Αλεξάνδρειαν, οὐκ ἀναίτιος φανεὶς ἐπὶ συνόδου, ἀλλὰ φιλονεικίᾳ τῶν τὰ αὐτὰ φρονούντων· καὶ παρεκελεύοντο, μήτε κοινωνεῖν αὐτῷ, μήτε γράφειν, ἀλλὰ Γεωργίῳ τῷ πρὸς αὐτῶν κεχειροτονημένῳ. ᾿Αθανασίῳ δὲ τούτων τότε μὲν οὐδεὶς ὑπόλογος ἦν. Ἔμελλε δὲ χαλεπωτέρων ἢ πρότερον πειραθῆναι πραγμάτων. "Αμα γοῦν ἀπολώλει Μαγνέντιος, καὶ μόνος Κωνστάντιος τῆς Ῥω μαίων οἰκουμένης ἡγεῖτο, πᾶσαν ἐποιεῖτο σπουδὴν, τοὺς ἀνὰ τὴν Δύσιν ἐπισκόπους τοῖς ὁμοούσιον Πατρὶ τὸν Υἱὸν δοξάζουσι συνεῖναι. Ἐποίει δὲ τοῦτο, οὐ φανερῶς οὕτω τὰ πρῶτα βιαζόμενος. Πείθων δὲ ἐπιψηφίσασθαι τοῖς κατὰ ᾿Αθανασίου κεκριμένοις ὑπὸ τῶν ἀνὰ τὴν Ἕω ἐπισκόπων. Ἐλογίζετο γὰρ ὡς εἰ κοινῇ ψήφῳ ἐκποδὼν οὗτος γένοιτο, ῥᾳδίως ἂν καὶ τὰ περὶ τὴν θρησκείαν κατορθωθείη αὐτῷ. ### English translation (Claude) When the usurpers had been put down and Constantius seemed to have rest from the evils that had befallen, he left Sirmium and went toward the elder Rome; for he wished to hold the triumphal procession over the usurpers there. Thinking at the same time that he could bring the bishops of both parts of the empire to one mind about the doctrine, he ordered a synod to be held in Italy. Meanwhile Julius died, having governed the church of the Romans for twenty-five years, and Liberius succeeded him. Those who rejected the faith of Nicaea, reckoning that they had an opportunity to slander those of the opposite opinion, worked very diligently at the palace to have expelled from the churches all those whom they had deposed, as being of another opinion and as having striven, while Constans was alive, to set the two empires against each other, since he had threatened his brother with war unless he received them, as was said above. They blamed Athanasius most of all. In the excess of their hatred for him, not even while Constans was alive and Constantius pretended to love him did they refrain from their enmity; but meeting at Antioch, Narcissus the Cilician, Theodore the Thracian, Eugenius of Nicaea, Patrophilus of Scythopolis, Menophantus of Ephesus and others, about thirty in all, wrote to the bishops everywhere that he had returned to Alexandria contrary to the laws of the church, not having been found innocent by a synod but through the partisanship of those who held his views; and they urged them neither to communicate with him nor to write to him, but to George, whom they had ordained. At that time Athanasius took no account of these things; but he was to experience harsher troubles than before. For as soon as Magnentius had perished and Constantius alone ruled the Roman world, he made every effort to bring the bishops of the West to join those who held the Son to be of like essence with the Father. He did not do this at first by open compulsion, but by persuading them to vote with what had been decided against Athanasius by the bishops of the East; for he reckoned that if Athanasius were put out of the way by common vote, the matters of religion too would easily go as he wished. ### Translation notes - The scan reads ὁμοούσιον (“of the same essence”) in the sentence about the Western bishops; the context, Constantius's effort to win the West to the Eastern position, requires ὁμοιούσιον (“of like essence”), a one-letter difference, and the translation follows the sense. Julius died in 352. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 4.8 (PG 67:1125–1127; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/4-8). ## Church History 4.9 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/4-2/#p-4-9 - Source: PG 67:1127–1131 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: At the council of Milan most Western bishops condemn Athanasius; the few who resist, with Hilary, are exiled; Athanasius sends envoys to Constantius, resists a summons, and escapes when troops break into the church of Theonas. ### Greek text Συνόδου δὲ, τοῦ βασιλέως κατεπείγοντος, ἐν Μεδιολάνῳ γενομένης, ἐκ μὲν τῆς Ἕω ὀλίγοι παρεγένοντο· τῶν ἄλλων, ὡς εἰκὸς, ἢ διὰ νόσον, ἢ μακρὰν ὁδοιπορίαν παραιτησαμένων τὴν ἄφιξιν. Τῶν δὲ πρὸς Δύσιν, πλείους ἢ τριακόσιοι συνελέγησαν.. ᾿Αξιούντων δὲ τῶν ἀπὸ τῆς καταδικάζειν σίου, ὡς ἂν παντελῶς ἀπελαθείη τῆς ᾿Αλεξανδρείας, οἱ μὲν ἄλλοι, ἣ δέει, ἢ ἀπάτῃ, ἢ ἀγνοίᾳ τῶν ὄντων συνήνουν. Μόνοι δὲ, Διονύσιος ὁ Ἄλβας ἐπίσκοπος, Ἰταλίας δὲ ἥδε ἡ μητρόπολις, Εὐσέβιος ὁ τῆς Λιγυρίας, Παυλῖνος ὁ Τριδέρεως, Ῥοδανὸς, Λούκιφερ ἀνέκραγον, ἐμαρτύραντο μὴ χρῆναι ὡδὶ ῥᾳδίως καταδικάσαι ᾿Αθανασίου μηδὲ γὰρ ἄχρι τούτου, εἰ γένοιτο, στήσεσθαι τὸ κακόν χωρήσειν δὲ τὴν ἐπιδουλὴν κατ᾿ αὐτῶν τῶν ὀρθῶς περὶ Θεοῦ δεδογμένων " ἐπὶ χαβαιρέσει τε τῆς ἐν Νικαίᾳ πίστεως, ταῦτα σπουδάζεσῆαι παρὰ τοῦ βαπιλέως τῶν τά ᾿'Ἀρείου φρονούντων. Καὶ οἱ μὲν, ὧδε παῤῥησιασάμενοι, ὑπερορίας φυγῇ κατεδιχάσθησαν σὺν τούτοις δὲ Ἱλάριος. ᾿Αληθῆ δὲ τοῦ ἐν Μεδιολάνῳ αυλλόγου αἰτίαν εἶναι ἣν ἔλεγον, ἐπιστοῦτο ἡ ἀπόδασις. Οὐ χολλῷ γὰρ ὕστερον ἡ ἐν ᾿λριμήνῳ Σελευκείᾳ σύνοδος συνελέγη, ἑκατέρα κατὰ τῶν ἐν Νικαίᾳ δεδογμένων νεωτερίζειν ἐπεχείρησεν, ὡς αὐτίκα ἐπιδείξω. ᾿Αθανάσιος δὲ πειθόμενος ἐπιθουλεύεσθαι ἐν τοῖς βασιλείοις, αὐτὸς μὲν πρὸς βασιλέα ἐλθεῖν οὔτε ἐθάῤῥησεν, οὔτε λυσιτελεῖν ἐδοκίμασεν. Ἐπιλεξάμενος δὲ τῶν ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ ἐπισκόπων πέντε, ὧν ἣν Σεραπίων ὁ Θμοναῖος, ἀνὴρ ἐς τὰ μάλιστα τὸν βίον θεσπέσιος, λέγειν δεινὸ;, πέμπει ὡς βασιλέα, πρὸς Δύσιν τότε τῆς ἀρχομένης διάγοντα. Συμπέμπει δὲ αὐτοῖς καὶ τῆς ὑπ᾽ αὐτὸν Ἐκκλησίας πρεσβυτέρους τρεῖς, χαταλλάξοντας αὐτῷ τὸν΄ κρατοῦντα, καὶ ἣν δέοι, πρὸς τὰς διαβολὰς τῶν ἐναντίων ἀπολογησομένους, τὰ ἄλλα πράξοντας, ὅπη ἂν τῇ Ἐκκλησίᾳ αὑτῷ ἄριστα γινώσχωσιν. ᾿ΑἈποπλευσάντων δὲ αὐτῶν, μετ᾽ οὐ πολὺ γράμματα τοῦ βασιλέως ἐδέξατο χαλοῦντα αὐτὸν εἰς τὰ βασίλεια. Ἐπὶ δὲ τούτῳ αὐτὸς ᾿Αθανάσιος καὶ ὁ λαὸς τῆς Ἐκκλησίας ἐταράχθησαν, καὶ ἐναγώνιοι ἦσαν, οὔτε πείθεσθαι τῷ βασιλεῖ, ἑτεροδόξῳ ὄντι, ἀσφαλὲς νομίζοντες, οὔτε ἀπειθεῖν ἀκίνδυνον. Ἑχράτει δὲ ὅμως μένειν" ὁ τὰ γράμματα χομίσας, ἄπρακτος ἀνέστρεφε. Τῷ δὲ ἐπιγενομένῳ θέρει, παραγενόμενος ἕτερος ἐχ βασιλέιυς σὺν τοῖς ἐν τῷ ἔθνει ἄρχουσι, χατήπειγεν αὐτὸν ἐξιέναι τῆς πόλεως, καὶ τὸν κλῆρον χαλεπῶς ἐπολέμησεν. ᾿Αναθαρσήσαντος δὲ τοῦ λαοῦ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας, συντεταγμένους πρὸς πόλεμον ἰδὼν, καὶ οὕτως οὐδὲν ἀνύσας, ἐξεδήμησεν ἐντεῦθεν. Οὐ πολλοῦ δὲ διαγενομένου χρόνου, μετακαλοῦνται ἐξ Αἰγύπτου καὶ Λιβύης στρατιαὶ, ἂς λεγεῶνας Ῥωμαῖοι καλοῦσι • καὶ ἐπεὶ ἐμηνύθη κρύπτεσθαι ᾿Αθανάσιον κατὰ τὴν Θεωνᾶ καλουμένην ἐκκλησίαν, παραλαβών στρατιώτας ὁ τῶν τῇδε ταγμάτων ἡγεμών, καὶ Ἱλάριος, ὃς ἐκ βασιλέως πάλιν ἀφίκετο τάδε ἐπιταχύνων, ἀπροσδοκήτως ἀωρὶ κλάσας τὰς θύρας, εἰς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν εἰσῆλθε · πανταχῆ τε ἐπιζητήσας, οὐ κατέλαβεν ἔνδοθεν ᾿Αθανάσιον. Λέγεται γὰρ ὡς πολλάκις ὑπὸ θείων μηνυμάτων πολλοὺς καὶ ἄλλους κινδύνους διέφυγε, καὶ τήνδε τὴν ἔφοδον Θεὸν αὐτῷ προαναφῆναι. Αὐτίκα τε ἐξῄει, καὶ τοὺς στρατιώτας τὰς θύρας καταλαβεῖν τῆς ἐκκλησίας, ἀκαριαίῳ τινὶ χρόνῳ τῆς αὐτοῦ συλλήψεως ὑστερήσαντας. ### English translation (Claude) When a synod was held at Milan, at the emperor's urging, few came from the East, the others, naturally, declining to come because of illness or the length of the journey; from the West more than three hundred gathered. When those from the East demanded that Athanasius be condemned, so that he might be altogether driven from Alexandria, the others agreed, through fear, deceit, or ignorance of the facts. Only Dionysius, bishop of Alba, the metropolis of Italy, Eusebius of Liguria, Paulinus of Trier, Rhodanius and Lucifer cried out and protested that Athanasius should not be condemned so easily; for, if this happened, the evil would not stop there, but the plot would go on against those who held right doctrines about God; and these efforts were being made by the emperor's Arian party for the overthrow of the faith of Nicaea. Those who spoke so freely were condemned to exile, and Hilary with them. The outcome confirmed that the true cause of the assembly at Milan was what they said. For not long afterward the synod at Ariminum and that at Seleucia were gathered, and each tried to innovate against what had been decided at Nicaea, as I shall show shortly. Athanasius, convinced that he was being plotted against at the palace, neither dared to go to the emperor himself nor judged it useful. He chose five of the bishops of Egypt, among whom was Serapion of Thmuis, a man most godly in life and a powerful speaker, and sent them to the emperor, who was then staying in the West of the empire. With them he also sent three presbyters of his church, to reconcile the ruler to him, to answer, if need be, the slanders of his opponents, and to do whatever else they judged best for the church and for him. Not long after they had sailed, he received a letter from the emperor summoning him to the palace. At this Athanasius himself and the people of the church were troubled and in anguish, thinking it neither safe to obey the emperor, who was of another opinion, nor without danger to disobey. Yet the decision to stay prevailed, and the man who had brought the letter went back without success. The following summer another official came from the emperor and, with the governors of the province, pressed him to leave the city, and made bitter war on the clergy. When the people of the church took heart, and he saw them drawn up for battle, achieving nothing even so, he departed. Not long afterward the forces which the Romans call legions were summoned from Egypt and Libya; and when it was reported that Athanasius was hiding in the church called that of Theonas, the commander of the troops there, with soldiers, and Hilary, who had come again from the emperor to hasten these matters, unexpectedly at an untimely hour broke down the doors and entered the church. Searching everywhere, they did not find Athanasius inside. For it is said that he often escaped many other dangers through divine warnings, and that God showed him this attack beforehand; he went out at once, and the soldiers, who occupied the doors of the church, missed seizing him by a moment. ### Extrabiblical texts - Athanasius, Fug. 24 (Defence of His Flight): allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The council of Milan met in 355. Sozomen's “Hilary” among the exiles is Hilary of Poitiers (exiled 356); the official Hilary who came to Alexandria is a different man (Syrianus was the commander). The raid on the church of Theonas was on the night of 8–9 February 356. The names in the scan are partly garbled (“those from the East,” “Athanasius”). ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 4.9 (PG 67:1127–1131; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/4-9). ## Church History 4.10 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/4-2/#p-4-10 - Source: PG 67:1131–1135 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Stories of Athanasius's foresight: escaping a treacherous maid, outsailing his pursuers on the Nile, and interpreting a crow's cry as Latin “cras”; George's violent rule at Alexandria provokes the people, and he is driven out and returns. ### Greek text Ἔοικε δὲ μὴ προσήκειν ἀπιστειν, ὡς θεοφιλής ὅδε ἀνὴρ ὑπῆρχε, καὶ τρανῶς προεώρα τὸ μέλλον. Θαυμαστότερα γὰρ ἢ κατὰ τὰ προειρημένα, περὶ αὐτοῦ παρειλήφαμεν, ἀκριβεστάτην ἐπιμαρτυροῦντα αὐτῷ τῶν ἐσομένων εἴδησιν. Οὕτω γοῦν ἡνίκα τὸ πρῶτον, ἔτι Κώνσταντος περιόντος, κακουργεῖν αὐτὸν ἐβούλετο ὁ βασιλεὺς, φυγάς γενόμενος, παρά τινι τῶν γνωρίμων ἐκρύπτετο· καὶ ἐπὶ πολλῷ χρόνῳ διέτριβεν ἐν μυχῷ γῆς, καὶ ἀνηλίῳ οἰκήματι, ὁ ταμιεῖον τὸ πρὶν ὑδάτων ἐτύγχανε. Συνῄδει δὲ οὐδεὶς, ἢ παρ᾿ οἷς ἐλάνθανε, καὶ θεράπαινα τούτῳ πιστὴ δοκοῦσα, ὡς ἂν αὐτῷ διακονοίη. Πολλῆς δὲ οὔσης σπουδῆς τοῖς ἑτεροδόξοις ζωγρῆσαι τὸν ἄνδρα, οἷa εἰκὸς, ἐπὶ δώροις ἢ ὑποσχέσεσιν ἔμελλεν αὐτὸν καταμηνύειν ἡ θεράπαινα. Προαναφήναντος δὲ τοῦ Θεοῦ τὴν ἐπιβουλὴν, φθάσας ἑτέρωθι μετῴκησε. Καὶ ἡ θεράπαινα τιμωρίαν ἔδωκεν, ὡς ψευδῆ μηνύσασα κατὰ τῶν δεσποτῶν, οἳ δὴ πεφεύγεισαν. Οὐ γὰρ τὸ τυχὸν ἐποιοῦντο ἔγκλημα οἱ τῆς ἐναντίας αἱρέσεως κατὰ τῶν ὑποδεχομένων ἢ κρυπτόντων ᾿Αθανάσιον · ἀλλ' ὡς ἀπειθεῖς προστάξεσι βασιλέως, καὶ περὶ πολιτείαν ἁμαρτάνοντας, εἰς δικαστήριον εἶλκον. Καὶ παραπλησίου δ᾽ οὖν καὶ ἄλλοτε ἐπὶ ᾿Αθανασίῳ συμβάντος εἰς ἀκοὴν ἦλθον. Ἐπεὶ γὰρ κατὰ τοιαύτην αἰτίαν ὡς ἐπὶ Αἴγυπτον φεύγων ἀνέπλεεν ἐπὶ τὸν Νεῖλον, μηνυσάντων τοῦτο τινῶν, ἐδίωκον αὐτὸν οἱ συλληψόμενοι. Προμαθὼν δὲ θεόθεν τὴν δίωξιν, ἐξήγγειλε τοῖς συμπλέουσι, καὶ ἀναστρέφειν ἐπὶ τὴν ᾿Αλεξάνδρειαν ἐκέλευσεν. Ἐν δὲ τῷ καταπλεῖν, ἀναπλέοντας τοὺς ἐπιβούλους παραμείψας, ἐπὶ τὴν πόλιν διεσώθη, καὶ ὡς ἐν ὀμίλῳ καὶ πλήθει οἰκημάτων, ἀσφαλέστερον ἐλάνθανεν. Ἐκ δὴ τῶν τοιούτων, καὶ πολλῶν ἄλλων ὁμοίως προμηνυομένων παρ' αὐτοῦ, διεβάλλετο παρὰ τῶν ἐναντίων Ἑλλήνων τε καὶ ἑτεροδόξων, ὡς γοητείας ταῦτα κατορθῶν. Λόγος οὖν, ποτὲ προϊόντος αὐτοῦ ἀνὰ τὴν πόλιν, συμβὰν οὕτως ἐφιπταμένην κρῶξαι κορώνην. Παρατυχὸν δὲ πλῆθος Ἑλλήνων, οἷα εἰς γόητα ἀποσκῶπτον, ἐξαιτῆσαι εἰπεῖν αὐτοῖς ὅ τι λέγοι ἡ κορώνη. Τὸν δὲ φάναι, ἠρέμα ἐπιγελάσαντα, Κρὰς, ὅ ἐστιν αὔριον τῇ Ῥωμαίων φωνῇ. Τοῦτο τοίνυν κράζουσα, ἀηδῆ τὴν αὔριον ὑμῖν ἔσεσθαι καταγγέλλει. Σημαίνει γὰρ ἐκ προστάγματος τοῦ Ῥωμαίων βασιλέως κωλυθήσεσθαι ὑμᾶς, τὴν ἑξῆς ἑορτὴν ἄγειν. Ἡ δὲ ᾿Αθανασίου πρόῤῥησις, καίπερ γελοιμώδης δόξασα, ἀληθὴς ἐφάνη. Τῇ γὰρ ἐς αὔριον γράμματα τοῦ κρατοῦντος ἀπεδόθη τοῖς ἄρχουσι, παρακελευόμενα μὴ συγχωρεῖν τοὺς Ἕλληνας τοῖς ναοῖς προσβάλλειν, μηδὲ τὰς συνήθεις θρησκείας καὶ πανηγύρεις ἐπιτελεῖν. Καὶ ἡ παρατυχοῦσα τότε ἑορτὴ διελύθη, σεβάσμιός τε οὖσα καὶ πολυτελής Ἕλλησιν. Ὡς μὲν οὖν προφητικὸς ὁ ἀνὴρ ἐγένετο, ἀπόχρη τάδε εἰπεῖν. Ἐπεὶ δὲ, ὡς εἴρηται, διέφυγε, τοὺς ἐπὶ συλλήψει αὐτοῦ παραγενομένους, ἐπί τινι χρόνῳ διέμεινεν ὁ ὑπ' αὐτοῦ κλῆρος καὶ λαὸς, τὰς ἐκκλησίας κατέχοντες εἰς ὅτε δὴ ὁ Αἰγύπτου ὕπαρχος, καὶ ὁ ἡγούμενος τῶν τῇδε στρατιωτῶν, ἐκβαλόντες τοὺς αὐτῷ πειθομένους, παρέδωκαν αὐτὰς τοῖς προσδοκῶσι Γεώργιον. Οὐκ εἰς μακρὰν δὲ αὐτὸς Γεώργιος ἀφίκετο, καὶ τὰς ἐκκλησίας ὑφ' ἑαυτὸν εἶχε. Βιαιότερον δὲ ἡ κατὰ πρόσχημα καὶ ἦθος ἱερέων ἐπιτηδεύων κρατεῖν· καὶ πρὸς μὲν πάντας φοβερὸς εἶναι θέλων, πρὸς δὲ τοὺς ᾿Αθανάσιον ἐπαινοῦντας ἀπηνὴς, ὡς δέσμὰ καὶ πληγὰς ἄνδρας τε καὶ γυναῖκας ὑπομεῖναι, οἷα τύραννος ἐνομίζετο. Ὑπὸ τοιαύτης δὲ αἰτίας εἰς κοινὸν μῖσος ἐμπεσόντι, κινηθεὶς εἰς ὀργὴν ὁ δῆμος, ἐπέστη ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ διατρίβοντι, καὶ μικροῦ αὐτὸν διεχρήσαντο. Καὶ ὁ μὲν ὧδε κινδυνεύσας, μόλις διεσώθη, καὶ πρὸς βασιλέα φεύγει. Οἱ δὲ τὰ ᾿Αθανασίου φρονοῦντες, τὰς ἐκκλησίας κατέσχον. Ἐγένετο δὲ τοῦτο οὐκ ἐπὶ πολλῷ χρόνῳ. Παραγενόμενος γὰρ ὁ τῆς Αἰγύπτου στρατηγὸς, πάλιν τοῖς Γεωργίου τὰς ἐκκλησίας παρέδωκε. Μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα ταχυγράφος βασιλικὸς ἐκ τοῦ τάγματος τῶν καλουμένων νοταρίων, ἀποσταλεὶς τιμωρῆσαι, πολλοὺς Ἀλεξανδρέων ἐβασάνισε καὶ ἠκίσατο. Μετοὐπολὺ δὲ καὶ αὐτὸς Γεώργιος ἐπανῆλθε, φοβερώτερος ἐκ τῶν εἰρημένων, ὡς εἰκὸς, γεγενημένος, καὶ μᾶλλον ἢ πρότερον μισοῦμενος, ὡς εἰς κάκωσιν πολλῶν βασιλέα κεκινηκώς, καὶ ἐπὶ δυσπιστίᾳ καὶ τύφῳ διαβαλλόμενος παρὰ τῶν ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ μοναχῶν · ὧν τῇ δόξῃ τὸ πλῆθος εἴπετο, καὶ τὰς μαρτυρίας ἀληθεῖς ἡγεῖτο, καθότι ἀρετὴν ἤσκουν, καὶ ἐν φιλοσοφίᾳ ὁ βίος αὐτοῖς ἦν. ### English translation (Claude) It seems one should not disbelieve that this man was dear to God and clearly foresaw the future. For we have received things about him more wonderful than those already told, bearing witness to his most exact knowledge of what was to come. Thus, the first time the emperor wished to harm him, while Constans was still alive, he became a fugitive and was hidden by one of his acquaintances; and for a long time he lived in a recess of the earth, in a sunless chamber that had formerly been a water cistern. No one knew of it except those with whom he was hidden and a maidservant who was thought trustworthy, so that she might wait on him. Since those of another opinion were very eager to capture the man, the maidservant, naturally won by gifts or promises, was about to betray him. But God revealed the plot beforehand, and he moved elsewhere in time; and the maidservant was punished for having informed falsely against her masters, who had fled. For those of the opposite sect made no small charge against those who received or hid Athanasius, but dragged them to court as disobedient to the emperor's commands and offenders against the state. Something similar happened to Athanasius at another time too, which has come to our hearing. When, for such a reason, he was fleeing to Egypt and sailing up the Nile, some people informed on him, and those who were to arrest him pursued him. Learning beforehand from God of the pursuit, he told his fellow passengers and ordered them to turn back to Alexandria. As they sailed down, he passed his pursuers sailing up, and came safely to the city, where among the crowd and the multitude of houses he lay hidden more safely. From such things, and many others he likewise foretold, he was slandered by his opponents, pagans and those of another opinion, as accomplishing them by sorcery. It is said, for instance, that once, as he was going through the city, a crow happened to fly overhead and caw. A crowd of pagans who were there, mocking him as a sorcerer, asked him to tell them what the crow was saying. Smiling quietly, he said: “Cras, which in the language of the Romans is ‘tomorrow.’ By crying this it announces that tomorrow will be unpleasant for you; for it signifies that by order of the emperor of the Romans you will be prevented from holding tomorrow's festival.” Athanasius's prediction, though it seemed laughable, proved true. For the next day a letter of the ruler was delivered to the governors, ordering them not to allow the pagans to go to the temples or to celebrate their customary rites and festivals; and the festival that happened to fall then, which the pagans revered and celebrated lavishly, was broken up. That the man had the gift of prophecy, this is enough to say. When, as has been said, he escaped those who had come to arrest him, the clergy and people under him held the churches for some time, until the prefect of Egypt and the commander of the soldiers there drove out those who obeyed him and handed the churches over to those who were waiting for George. Not long after, George himself arrived and held the churches under him. He was thought a tyrant, practising to rule more by force than in the manner and character of priests: wishing to be feared by all, and harsh to those who praised Athanasius, so that men and women suffered chains and beatings. Having fallen into general hatred for this reason, the people, moved to anger, set upon him while he was in the church and almost killed him. Having been in such danger, he barely escaped and fled to the emperor; and those of Athanasius's opinion held the churches. This did not last long. For the general of Egypt came and again handed over the churches to George's party. After this an imperial secretary from the order called notaries, sent to punish them, tortured and ill-treated many Alexandrians. Not long after, George himself returned, more fearsome, naturally, from what had happened, and more hated than before, as having moved the emperor to ill-treat many, and being accused by the monks of Egypt of unbelief and arrogance; and the people followed their opinion and held their testimony to be true, since they practised virtue and their life was one of philosophy. ### Translation notes - A fragment of Valesius's chapter title (“… Athanasius having withdrawn”) stood at the head of the section in the scan and has been removed. George of Cappadocia entered Alexandria in 357. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 4.10 (PG 67:1131–1135; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/4-10). ## Church History 4.11 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/4-2/#p-4-11 - Source: PG 67:1135–1139 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: After Milan Constantius exiles its opponents; Liberius of Rome refuses to condemn Athanasius, defends him with the retraction of Valens and Ursacius, rejects the emperor's gold, and is exiled to Beroea; Felix replaces him, and the Roman people demand Liberius back. ### Greek text Τάδε μὲν ὧδε ἐφεξῆς, οὐ κατὰ τὸν αὐτὸν καιρὸν, ᾿Αθανασίῳ τε καὶ τῇ ᾿Αλεξανδρέων Ἐκκλησίᾳ συνἐδη, μετὰ τὴν Κώνσταντος τελευτήν. Σαφηνείας δὲ χάριν ταῦτα συλλήβδην ἐνταῦθα διηγησάμην. ᾿Απράκτου δὲ διαλυθείσης τῆς ἐν Μεδιολάνῳ συνόδου, τοὺς μὲν, ἀντειπόντας τοῖς κατὰ ᾿Αθανασίου σπουδάζουσιν, ἐκποδὼν ἐποίησεν ὁ βασιλεὺς, φυγὴν αὐτῶν καταδικάσας. Περιπολλοῦ δὲ ποιούμενος πανταχοῦ τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν συμφωνεῖν περὶ τὸ δόγμα, καὶ τοὺς ἱερέας ὁμονοεῖν, ἐβουλεύετο πανταχόθεν ἐπισκόπους εἰς τὴν Δύσιν καλεῖν. Ἐννοούμενος δὲ ὡς ἐργῶδες τοῦτο διὰ τὸ μῆκος τῆς ἐν μέσῳ γῆς καὶ θαλάσσης, ἠπόρει μὲν ὅ τι ποιήσεις παντελῶς δὲ οὐκ ἀφίει. Μένων δὲ ἐπὶ τῆς αὐτῆς γνώμης, πρὶν εἰς Ῥώμην ἐλθεῖν, καὶ τὴν εἰωθυῖαν Ῥωμαίοις ἐπιτελεῖν πομπὴν κατὰ τῶν νενικημένων, μετακαλεσάμενος Λιβέριον τὸν Ῥώμης ἐπίσκοπον, ἔπειθεν ὁμόφρονα γενέσθαι τοῖς ἀμφ᾽ αὐτὸν ἱερεῦσιν, ὧν ἦν καὶ Εὐδόξιος. ᾿Αντεροῦντα δὲ, καὶ ἰσχυριζόμενον μή ποτε τοῦτο ποιήσειν, προσέταξεν εἰς Βεροίην τῆς Θράκης ἀπάγεσθαι. Λέγεται δὲ σὺν ταύτῃ πρόφασιν εἶναι τῆς Λιβερίου φυγῆς, καὶ τὸ μὴ ἑλέσθαι τὴν πρὸς ᾿Αθανάσιον κοινωνίαν ἀρνήσασθαι, ἀλλ᾿ ἀνδρείως περὶ τούτου ἀντειπεῖν βασιλεῖ, ἐπαιτιωμένῳ ὡς τὰς Ἐκκλησίας ἠδίκησε, καὶ τοῖν ἰδίοιν ἀδελφοῖν, τὸν μὲν πρεσβύτερον ἀπώλεσε · Κώνσταντα δὲ, ὅσον εἰς αὐτὸν ἦκεν, ἐχθρὸν αὐτῷ κατέστησε. Προἴσχομένῳ δὲ τὴν κρίσιν τῶν πανταχοῦ, καὶ μάλιστα ἐν Τύρῳ κατ᾿ αὐτοῦ συνεληλυθότων, τούτοις μὲν ὡς κατὰ πάντα πρὸς ἀπέχθειαν καὶ χάριν ἡδέως ψηφισαμένοις μὴ χρῆναι τίθεσθαι ἔλεγε Λιβέριος. Ἐζήτει δὲ τὴν μὲν ἐν Νικαίᾳ παραδοθεῖσαν πίστιν ὑπογραφαῖς τῶν πανταχοῦ ἐπισκόπων κρατύνεσθαι, καὶ τοὺς διὰ τοῦτο ἐν ὑπερορίαις διατρίβοντας μετακαλεῖσθαι. Κατορθωθέντων δὲ τούτων, ὥστε μὴ ὀχλη: ροὺς καὶ ἐπιζημίους δόξαι, δημοσίων ὀχημάτων ἢ χρημάτων μὴ μεταδοῦναί τινι· ἀλλ᾿ ἰδίᾳ δαπάνῃ πάντας εἰς τὴν ᾿Αλεξάνδρειαν συνελθεῖν, ἔνθα ὁ ἡδικηκὼς καὶ οἱ ἡδικημένοι, καὶ τῶν ἐγκλημάτων οἱ ἔλεγχοι, καὶ ἀκριβὴς τῆς ἐπὶ τούτοις ἀληθείας βάσανος. Ἐπιδεικνύς τε τὴν ἐπὶ ᾿Αθανασίου ἔγγραφον μαρτυρίαν Οὐάλεντος καὶ Οὐρσακίου, ἣν ἐπιδεδώκασιν Ἰουλίῳ τῷ πρὸ αὐτοῦ τὸν τῶν Ῥωμαίων θρόνον ἐπιτροπεύσαντι, συγγνώμην αἰτοῦντες, καὶ τὰ πρὸς αὐτῶν ἐν τῷ Μαρεώτῃ πεπραγμένα, ψευδή καταμηνύοντες, ἠξίου μὴ καταδικάζειν αὐτοῦ ἀπόντος τὸν βασιλέα, μηδὲ τοῖς τότε ψηφισαμένοις πείθεσθαι, ἅτε δήλης τῆς ἐπιβουλῆς οὔσης. Ἕνεκα δὲ τοῖν ἀδελφοῖν, μὴ προσδοκᾷν αὐτὸν ἀμύνεσθαι διὰ ἱερατικῆς χειρὸς, ἣν οὐχ ἕτοιμον εἰς τοῦτο, ἀλλ' εἰς ἁγιασμὸν καὶ πᾶσαν δικαίαν τε καὶ ἀγαθὴν πρᾶξιν τὸ Θεῖον ἐνομοθέτησεν. Ἐπεὶ οὖν οὐ καθυφῆκεν οἷς ἐπέταττε, προσέταξεν αὐτῷ ὁ βασιλεὺς εἰς τὴν Θράκην ἀπάγεσθαι, εἰ μὴ μετάθοιτο τῆς γνώμης ἐντὸς ἡμερῶν δύο. ᾿Αλλ' Ἐμοὶ, ἔφη Λιβέριος, ὦ βασιλεῦ, οὐ βουλῆς δεῖ· πάλαι γὰρ ταῦτα εὖ μοι βεβούλευται καὶ δέδοκται, καὶ τῆς ὁδοῦ ἐντεῦθεν ἤδη ἔχομαι. Λέγεται δὲ ἀπαγομένῳ αὐτῷ πεντακοσίους χρυσίους ἀποστεῖλαι · τὸν δὲ μὴ δεξάμενον, εἰπεῖν τῷ κομίσαντι· "Απιθι, καὶ ἄγγειλον τῷ πεπομφότι τὸ χρυσίον τοῦτο, δοῦναι τοῖς ἀμφ᾿ αὐτὸν κόλαξι καὶ ὑποκριταῖς, οὓς ὑπὸ ἀπληστίας διηνεκὴς ἔνδεια ὁσημέραι ὀχλοῦσα κολάζει, ἀεὶ χρημάτων ἐπιθυμοῦντας, μηδέποτε δὲ κορεννυμένους. Ἡμῖν δὲ ὁ Χριστὸς ὁ ἐν ἅπασι τῷ Πατρὶ ὅμοιος, τροφεὺς καὶ ταμίας ἐστὶ πάντων τῶν ἀγαθῶν. Ἐκ δὴ τοιαύτης αἰτίας καὶ Λιβέριος ἀφηρέθη τῆς Ῥωμαίων Ἐκκλησίας· ἐπιτρέπεται δὲ ταύτην Φίληξ διάκονος τοῦ ἐνταῦθα κλήρου. "Ον ὁμόφρονά φασι διαμεῖναι κατὰ τὴν πίστιν τοῖς ἐν Νικαίᾳ συνεληλυθόσιν, καὶ παντελῶς θρησκείας ἕνεκα ἀνέγκλητον. Τουτὶ δὲ μόνον ἐγκαλεῖσθαι, ὅτι γε πρὸ χειροτονίας, καὶ κοινωνίας ἑτεροδό ξων ἀνδρῶν ἠνέσχετο. Ως δὲ εἰσήλαυνεν εἰς Ῥώμην ὁ βασιλεὺς, καὶ πολὺς ἦν ὁ ἐνθάδε δῆμος περὶ Λιβερίου ἐκβοῶν, καὶ δεόμενος αὐτὸν ἀπολαβεῖν, βουλευσάμενος μετὰ τῶν συνόντων αὐτῷ ἐπισκόπων, ἀπεκρίνατο μετακαλεῖσθαι αὐτὸν, καὶ τοῖς αἰτοῦσιν ἀποδώσειν αὐτὸν, εἰ πεισθείη τοῖς συνοῦσιν αὐτῷ ἱερεῦσιν ὁμοφρονεῖν. ### English translation (Claude) These things befell Athanasius and the church of Alexandria in succession, not at the same time, after the death of Constans; for clarity I have related them together here. When the synod at Milan had broken up without result, the emperor put out of the way those who had opposed the efforts against Athanasius, condemning them to exile. Since he made much of the church everywhere agreeing about the doctrine and the priests being of one mind, he planned to call bishops from everywhere to the West. Considering that this was difficult because of the distance by land and sea between, he was at a loss what to do, but did not altogether give it up. Remaining of the same mind, before coming to Rome and holding the procession customary among the Romans over the conquered, he summoned Liberius, the bishop of Rome, and tried to persuade him to agree with the priests about him, among whom was Eudoxius. When he opposed and insisted that he would never do this, the emperor ordered him to be taken to Beroea in Thrace. It is said that besides this, another reason for Liberius's exile was that he did not choose to renounce communion with Athanasius, but bravely opposed the emperor on this, when the emperor accused Athanasius of having wronged the churches and, of his two brothers, of having destroyed the elder and, as far as lay in him, made Constans his enemy. When the emperor put forward the judgment of the bishops everywhere, and especially of those who met against him at Tyre, Liberius said that one should not rely on them, since they had in every way voted gladly out of enmity and favour. He asked that the faith handed down at Nicaea be confirmed by the signatures of the bishops everywhere, and that those living in exile on this account be recalled; and when this had been done, so as not to seem burdensome and costly, that public carriages or money be given to no one, but that all meet at their own expense at Alexandria, where were the one who had done wrong and those who had been wronged, the proofs of the charges, and an exact test of the truth about them. Showing the written testimony of Valens and Ursacius about Athanasius, which they had given to Julius, who governed the see of the Romans before him, asking pardon and declaring that what they had done in the Mareotis was false, he asked that the emperor not condemn Athanasius in his absence, nor trust those who had then voted, since the plot was plain. As for his brothers, he should not expect to avenge himself through a priestly hand, which God had ordained ready not for this but for sanctification and every just and good deed. When Liberius would not yield to what he commanded, the emperor ordered him to be taken to Thrace unless he changed his mind within two days. “I need no time to deliberate, emperor,” said Liberius; “this has long been deliberated and decided by me, and I am setting out on the road from here at once.” It is said that as he was being led away the emperor sent him five hundred gold pieces; he did not accept them, and said to the man who brought them: “Go and tell him who sent this gold to give it to the flatterers and hypocrites about him, whom insatiable want, harassing them daily, punishes for their greed, always desiring money and never satisfied. For us Christ, who is like the Father in all things, is the nourisher and steward of all good things.” For such a reason Liberius was deprived of the church of the Romans, and Felix, a deacon of the clergy there, was entrusted with it. They say that he remained of the same mind in faith as those who met at Nicaea and was altogether blameless in religion; this alone was charged against him, that before his ordination he had also tolerated communion with men of another opinion. When the emperor entered Rome and the people there kept crying out for Liberius and begging to have him back, he consulted with the bishops who were with him and answered that he would recall him and give him back to those who asked, if he agreed to be of one mind with the priests who were with him. ### Translation notes - Liberius was exiled in 355. In the scan the words “the testimony of Valens and Ursacius, which they had given” were displaced into Liberius's reply; the translation restores them. Liberius's words that Christ is “like the Father in all things” use a phrase later favoured by the homoean party; Sozomen reports them without comment. On Felix see also 4.15. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 4.11 (PG 67:1135–1139; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/4-11). ## Church History 4.12 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/4-2/#p-4-12 - Source: PG 67:1141–1143 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Aetius openly teaches that the Son is unlike the Father; Eudoxius seizes the see of Antioch with court support and, with Acacius and Uranius, rejects both homoousios and homoiousios, appealing to the Western creed signed by Hosius at Sirmium. ### Greek text Περὶ δὲ τοῦτον τὸν χρόνον, εἰς τὸ φανερὸν ἐδίδασκεν ᾿Αέτιος ἣν εἶχε περὶ Θεοῦ δόξαν. Ἦν δὲ τότε διάκονος τῆς ᾿Αντιοχέων Ἐκκλησίας, παρὰ Λεοντίου γενόμενος. Τὰ αὐτὰ δὲ ᾿Αρείῳ ἐδόξαζε, κτιστὸν, καὶ ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων, ἀνόμοιόν τε λέγων τῷ Πατρὶ τὸν Υἱόν. Ἐριστικὸς δὲ τις εἰς ἄγαν ὢν, καὶ τολμηρὸς ἐν τοῖς περὶ Θεοῦ λόγοις, ἀσφαλῶς τε καὶ ποικίλως τοῖς λογισμοῖς χρώμενος, ἔδοξεν ἑτερόδοξος εἶναι οἷς ὁμοίως ἐφρόνει. Ἐκβληθείς τε τῆς αὐτῶν Ἐκκλησίας, ἐσκήπτετο παραιτεῖσθαι τὴν πρὸς αὐτοὺς κοινωνίαν, ὡς ᾿Αρείῳ κεκοινωνηκότας μὴ δέον. Ὅτι, φησὶ, ἐπιώρκησεν, ἡνίκα μεταμεληθεὶς ὀμώμοκε Κωνσταντίνῳ τῷ βασιλεῖ, συνῳδὰ φρονεῖν τοῖς ἐν Νικαίᾳ συνεληλυθόσι. Καὶ τὰ μὲν ὧδε λέγεται. Ἔτι δὲ τοῦ βασιλέως ἐν τῇ πρὸς Δύσιν ἀρχομένῃ διάγοντος, ἀγγέλλεταί τετελευτηκέναι Λεόντιος ὁ ᾿Αντιοχείας ἐπίσκοπος. Ὡς φυλακῆς δὲ προσδεομένης τῆς ἐνθάδε Ἐκκλησίας, ἐδεήθη τοῦ βασιλέως Εὐδόξιος ἐπανελθεῖν εἰς Συρίαν. Ἐπιτραπεὶς δὲ τοῦτο, σπουδῇ, καταλαμβάνει τὴν ᾿Αντιόχειαν· καὶ περιποιεῖται ἑαυτῷ τὴν ἐνθάδε ἐπισκοπὴν, μήτε Γεωργίου τοῦ Λαοδικείας ἐπισκόπου, μήτε Μάρκου τοῦ ᾿Αρεθούσης, οἱ δὴ τότε τῶν ἐν Συρίᾳ ἐπισκόπων ἐπίσημοι ἦσαν, μήτε τῶν ἄλλων οἷς ἡ χειροτονία διέφερε, συνθεμένων. Λόγος δὲ ταῦτα τὸν αὐτὸν πραγματεύσασθαι κατὰ γνώμην τοῦ κρατοῦντος, τῶν - ἐν τοῖς βασιλείοις εὐνούχων συμπραξάντων· οἳ ἅμα Εὐδοξίῳ τὸ ᾿Αετίου δόγμα ἐπήνουν, καὶ ἀνόμοιον εἶναι τῷ Πατρὶ τὸν Υἱὸν ἐδόξαζον. Ὡς οὖν ἐκράτησε τῆς Αντιοχέων Ἐκκλησίας, παῤῥησίας λαβόμενος, περιφανῶς ἤδη προΐστατο τῆς τοιαύτης αἱρέσεως. Καὶ συνελθὼν ἐν ᾿Αντιοχείᾳ ἅμα τοῖς τὰ τοιαῦτα φρονοῦσιν, ὧν ἦσαν καὶ ᾿Ακάκιος ὁ Καισαρείας τῆς Παλαιστίνης ἐπίσκοπος, καὶ Οὐράνιος ὁ Τύρου, Ὃς μετὰ τοῦ ὁμοιοουσίου καὶ τὸ ὁμοούσιον ὄνομα ἠθέτει, πρόφασιν ποιούμενος ὡς ἀνὰ τὴν Δύσιν ἐπίσκοποι ταῦτα ἐψηφίσαντο, Ὅσιος γὰρ ἅμα τισὶ τῶν ἐνθάδε ἱερέων, ἐπὶ καταλύσει τῆς Οὐάλεντος Οὑρσαχίου Γερμανίου Φφιλονευξίας, βιασθεὶς ἐν Σιρμίῳ, ὡς εἴρηται, συνεχώρησε μὖτε ὁμοούσιον μήτε ὁμοιοούδιον λέγειν. Ὡς μῆδὲ ταϊς οἱ ἱεραῖς Γραφαῖς ἐγνωσμένων τῶν ὀνόμάτων, καὶ ὅπὲρ νοῦν ἀνθρώπων ὃν, οὐσίᾶν Θεοῦ πολυπραγμονεῖν. ", Ὧξφ χατωρθώχόσι δὲ περὶ τούτου τὰ ὕράμ: μᾶξα, πρὸς ἀὐτοὺς ἐπιστολὴν διεπέμψατο, Οὐάλέψει καὶ Οὐρσακίῳ Γέρμανίῳ χάριν ὁμολογοῦντές, τοῦ ὀρθῶς δοξάζεϊν τοὺς ἐν τῇ Δύσει, τᾶς ἀφορμὰς αὐτοῖς ἀνατιθέντες. ### English translation (Claude) About this time Aetius openly taught the opinion he held about God. He was then a deacon of the church of Antioch, having been made one by Leontius. He held the same views as Arius, saying that the Son is a creature, from nothing, and unlike the Father. Being exceedingly contentious and bold in discourse about God, and using his reasonings confidently and with variety, he was thought to be of another opinion even by those who held like views. Expelled from their church, he alleged that he declined communion with them because they had wrongly communicated with Arius, “since,” he said, “Arius perjured himself when, having repented, he swore to the emperor Constantine that he agreed with those who had met at Nicaea.” So it is said. While the emperor was still staying in the western part of the empire, it was reported that Leontius, bishop of Antioch, had died. As the church there needed guarding, Eudoxius asked the emperor to let him return to Syria. Being permitted, he hastened to Antioch and secured the episcopate there for himself, without the consent of George, bishop of Laodicea, or Mark of Arethusa, who were then distinguished among the bishops of Syria, or of the others to whom the ordination belonged. It is said that he arranged this with the ruler's approval, with the help of the eunuchs of the palace, who with Eudoxius approved the doctrine of Aetius and held the Son to be unlike the Father. When he had taken possession of the church of Antioch, gaining freedom of speech, he openly headed this heresy. Meeting at Antioch with those of the same views, among whom were Acacius, bishop of Caesarea in Palestine, and Uranius of Tyre, he rejected both “of like essence” and “of the same essence,” on the pretext that the bishops of the West had so decided. For Hosius, with some of the priests there, forced at Sirmium, as has been said, to put an end to the contentiousness of Valens, Ursacius and Germanius, had agreed to say neither “of the same essence” nor “of like essence,” since the words were not known in the sacred Scriptures and it is beyond the mind of men to busy oneself about the essence of God. And as to those who had achieved this, they sent a letter to them, to Valens, Ursacius and Germanius, thanking them, and attributing to them the occasion of the right belief of those in the West. ### Translation notes - The last sentences of the chapter are badly garbled in the scan (broken words and wrong letters); the translation follows the evident sense. “Unlike” (ἀνόμοιος) gave the Anomoeans their name. The “Western” decision is the Sirmian creed of 357 (see 4.6). Eudoxius took Antioch in 358. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 4.12 (PG 67:1141–1143; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/4-12). ## Church History 4.13 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/4-13/#p-4-13 - Source: PG 67:1143–1147 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Opponents of Eudoxius bring George of Laodicea's letter to a synod at Ancyra, which sends Basil, Eustathius and Eleusius to Constantius; the emperor withdraws his support from Eudoxius. ### Greek text Ἐπεὶ δὲ ὧδε ἐνεωτέριζεν Εὐδόξιος, καὶ πόλλοὶ τῆς ᾿Αντιοχέων Ἐκχχλησίας ἐναντιούμενοι αὐτῷ ἐξηλά: θησαν" γράμματα λαβόντες Ἐεωργίου τοῦ Λαοδιχείαᾶς 1447 ἐπισκόπου, παρεγένοντο ᾿Αγγυραν τῆς Γαλατίας. Ἔτυχε γάρ Βασίλειος ἐπὶ καθιερώσει ἧς ἐδείματο ἐκκλησίας, συγκαλέσας πολλοὺς τῶν πλησιοχώρων ἐπισκόπων, οἷς ἀπέδωκεν τὴν Γεωργίου ἐπιστολήν. Ἔχει δὲ ὧδε· Κυρίοις τιμιωτάτοις, Μακεδονίφ, Βασιλείῳ, κροπίῳ, Εὐγενίῳ, Γεώργιος ἐν Κυρίῳ χαίρειν. Τὸ ᾿Αετίου ναυάγιον, σχεδόν που πᾶσαν κατείληφε τὴν ᾿Αντιοχέων. Τοὺς γὰρ παρ' ὑμῖν ἀτιμαζομένους μαθητὰς τοῦ δυσωνύμου ᾿Αετίον πάντας καταλαβών Εὐδόξιος, εἰς κληρικοὺς προβάλλεται, ἐν τοῖς μάλιστα τετιμημένοις ἔχων τὸν αἱρετικὸν ᾿Αέτιον. Καταλάβετε οὖν τὴν τηλικαύτην πόλιν, μὴ τῷ ναυαγίῳ αὐτῆς καὶ ἡ οἰκουμένη παρασυρῇ. Καὶ εἰς ταὐτὸν γενόμενοι, ὅσους καὶ γενέσθαι ἐγχωρεῖ, παρὰ τῶν ἄλλων ἔπισκόπων ὑπογραφὰς ἀπαιτήσατε· ἵνα καὶ ᾿Αέτιον ἐκβάλῃ τῆς ᾿Αντιοχέων Ἐκκλησίας Εὐδόξιος, καὶ τοὺς αὐτοῦ μαθητὰς ὄντας, πρόχειρισθέντας εἰς κανόνας ἐκκόψῃ. Ἡ ἐὰν ἐπιμείνῃ μετὰ ᾿Αετίου ἀνόμοιον καλῶν, καὶ τοὺς τοῦτο τολμῶντας λέγειν τῶν μὴ λεγόντων προτιμῶν, οἶχεται ὑμῖν, ὡς φθάσας ἔφην, τέως ἡ ᾿Αντιοχέων. Τάδε μὲν περιείχεν ἡ Γεωργίου ἐπιστολή. δὲ ἐν ᾿Αγκύρᾳ ἐπίσκοποι, ἐπειδὴ ἀπεδείχθη ὁ Εὐδοξίου νεωτερισμὸς, ἐξ ὧν περὶ τοῦ δόγματος ἐγγράφως ἐψηφίσατο μεθ᾽ ὧν ἐν ᾿Αντιοχείᾳ συνῆλθε, δηλοῦσι ταῦτα τῷ βασιλεῖ· καὶ ἐξαιτοῦσι γενέσθαι τινὰ πρόνοιαν, ὥστε κρατεῖν τὰ ἐν Σαρδικῇ καὶ ἐν Σιρμίῳ καὶ ταῖς ἄλλαις συνόδοις κεκριμένα, ἐν αἷς συνεδόκει ὅμοιον εἶναι κατ' οὐσίαν τῷ Πατρὶ τὸν Υἱόν. Καὶ αἱροῦνται περὶ τούτου πρεσβεύειν πρὸς βασιλέα, τός τε Βασίλειος ὁ ᾿Αγκύρας ἐπίσκοπος, καὶ Εὐστάθιος ὁ Σεβαστείας, καὶ Ἐλεύσιος ὁ Κυζίκου, καὶ Λεόντιος πρεσβύτερος ἐκ θαλαμηπόλεως βασιλικοῦ. Ὡς δὲ ἀφίκοντο εἰς τὰ βασίλεια, καταλαμβάνουσιν ᾿Ασφάλιον πρεσβύτερον ἐξ ᾿Αντιοχείας, εἰς ἄγαν σπουδαστὴν τῆς ᾿Αετίου αἱρέσεως, ἤδη πράξαντα ἐφ᾽ ᾧ παρεγένετο, καὶ γράμματα παρὰ βασιλέως κομισάμενον, ἐκδημεῖν μέλλοντα. Καταμηνυθείσης δὲ τῆς αἰρέσεως διὰ τῶν ἐξ ᾿Αγκύρας πρέσβεων, καταψηφίζεται Κωνστάντιος τῶν ἀμφὶ τὸν Εὐδόξιον· καὶ ἀνακομίζεται παρὰ ᾿Ασφαλίου τὴν ἰδίαν ἐπιστολήν· γράφει δὲ τάδε · ### English translation (Claude) When Eudoxius was making these innovations, and many of the church of Antioch who opposed him had been driven out, they took letters from George, bishop of Laodicea, and came to Ancyra in Galatia. For Basil happened to have called together many of the neighbouring bishops for the dedication of a church he had built, and to them they delivered George's letter. It reads as follows: “To my most honoured lords Macedonius, Basil, Cecropius and Eugenius, George sends greeting in the Lord. The shipwreck of Aetius has engulfed almost the whole of Antioch. For Eudoxius has taken up all the disciples of the ill-named Aetius who were dishonoured among you, and is promoting them to the clergy, holding the heretic Aetius among the most honoured. Take hold, then, of so great a city, lest by its shipwreck the world too be swept away. Meet together, as many as can, and demand signatures from the other bishops, so that Eudoxius may expel Aetius from the church of Antioch and cut off from the lists his disciples who have been promoted. Otherwise, if he persists with Aetius in calling the Son unlike, and in preferring those who dare to say this to those who do not, Antioch, as I said before, is lost to you.” Such were the contents of George's letter. The bishops at Ancyra, since Eudoxius's innovation had been demonstrated from what he had decided in writing about the doctrine with those who met with him at Antioch, informed the emperor of this, and asked that provision be made that what had been decided at Sardica and at Sirmium and at the other synods, at which it was agreed that the Son is like the Father in essence, should prevail. They chose as envoys to the emperor on this matter Basil, bishop of Ancyra, Eustathius of Sebaste, Eleusius of Cyzicus, and Leontius, a presbyter from the imperial bedchamber. When they arrived at the palace, they found Asphalius, a presbyter from Antioch and an ardent supporter of the heresy of Aetius, who had already accomplished what he had come for and had received a letter from the emperor and was about to depart. When the heresy had been exposed by the envoys from Ancyra, Constantius condemned Eudoxius's party, took back his own letter from Asphalius, and wrote the following. ### Translation notes - The synod of Ancyra met in 358. George's letter is also in Sozomen's source, probably Sabinus's collection of synodal acts. A block of marginal notes and lemmata from the printed apparatus (with page numbers) was printed in the scan in the middle of the first sentence and has been removed. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 4.13 (PG 67:1143–1147; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/4-13). ## Church History 4.14 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/4-13/#p-4-14 - Source: PG 67:1147–1149 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Constantius's letter to the church of Antioch disowns Eudoxius and denounces Aetius and his followers, affirming that the Son is like the Father in essence. ### Greek text Νικητὴς Κωνστάντιος μέγιστος, Σεβαστός, τῇ κατὰ ᾿Αντιόχειαν ἁγίᾳ Ἐκκλησία. Εὐδόξιος οὐ παρ' ἡμῶν ἧκε· μηδεὶς οὕτως οἰέσθω. Πόῤῥω τοῦ προστίθεσθαι τοιούτοις ἐσμέν. Εἰ δὲ μετὰ ἄλλων καὶ τοῦτο σοφίζονται, εὔδηλοι δήπουθέν εἰσιν εἰς τὸ κρεῖττον κομψευόμενοι. Τίνων γὰρ ἂν ἐκόντες ἀπόσχοιντο, οἱ δυναστειῶν ἕνεκεν τὰς πόλεις ἐπιόντες, ἀπ᾿ ἄλλης εἰς ἄλλην μεταπηδῶντες, ὥσπερ τινὲς μετανάσται, πάντα μυχὸν πολυπραγμονοῦντες ἐπιθυμίᾳ τοῦ πλείονος; Εἶναι δὲ λόγος περὶ αὐτοὺς ἀγύρτας τινὰς καὶ σοφιστὰς, οὓς οὐδὲ ὀνομάζειν θέμις· ἐργαστήριον πονηρὸν καὶ δυσσεβέστατον. Πάντως που καὶ αὐτοὶ συνίετε τὸ σύστημα. Πάντως ἐκ τῶν λόγων τὸν ᾿Αέτιον γνωρίζετε, καὶ τοὺς περὶ τὴν αἵρεσιν ταύτην ἐσχολακότας. Οἷς ἓν μόνον τοῦτο ἔργον ἐστὶ, τὸ διαφθείρειν τὰ πλήθη. ᾿Αλλ' οἱ κομψοὶ καὶ πρὸς πάντα εὔτολμοι, ἤδη τι τοιοῦτον πρός τινας ἐνεανιεύσαντο, ὅτι χαίροιμεν αὐτῶν τῇ χειροτονίᾳ, ἣν ἑαυτοὺς ἐχειροτόνησαν. Ταῦτα παρ' ἐκείνων μὲν ἄδεται, τῶν τὰ τοιαῦτα θρυλλεῖν εἰωθότων. Ἔστι δ᾽ οὐδ᾽ ὅλως πόθεν, οὐδ᾽ ἐγγύς. Καί μοι τῶν πρώτων ἀναμνήσθητε λόγων, ὅτε περὶ πίστεως ἐσκοποῦμεν· ἐν οἷς ὁ Σωτὴρ ἡμῶν ἀπεδείκνυτο ὁ Υἱὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ κατ᾿ οὐσίαν ὅμοιος τῷ Πατρί. ᾿Αλλ' οἱ γενναῖοι καὶ περὶ τοῦ κρείττονος λέγοντες εὐχερῶς τὰ παριστάμενα, ἐς τοσοῦτον προἦλθον ἀθεῖας, ὥστε καὶ ἄλλα τινὰ παρὰ τὰ ὄντα νομίζειν, καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους πειρᾶσθαι διδάσκειν. Οἷς ὅτι μὲν εἰς κεφαλὴν τρέψεται, πάνυ πεπιστεύκαμεν, δὲ τέως εἴργεσθαι συνόδων αὐτοὺς 1449 πον συλλόγου κοινοῦ, Μὴ γὰρ δὴ εἰπεῖν προαχθείην ἐν τῷ παρόντι, ὅσα μικρὰν ὕστερον ἐκεῖνοι πείσονται, ἣν μὴ τῆς λύσσης ταύτης ἀπόσχοιντο. δὲ( καὶ τί γὰρ οὐχ ἐπεισάγουσι τῷ χαχῷ) ; τοὺς πονηροτάτους ὥσπερ ἐξ ἐντολῆς ἀγεέροντες, τούτους δὴ τοὺς τῶν αἱρέσεων ἀρχηγοὺς, εἰς τὸν κλῆρον χαταλέγουσι, σχῆμα σεμνὸν οὕτω χιδδηλεύοντας ὥσπερ ἐξὺν αὐτοὺς ἄγειν φέρειν ἅπάντα. Καίτοι τίς ἂν εἰς ζῶντας τελῶν, τούτων ἀνάσχοιτο, οἱ τὰς μὲν πόλεις τοῦ δυσσεβεῖν ἐμπιπλῶσι, τὴν δὲ ὑπερορίαν μιάσμασιν ἀποχρύπτουσιν, ἕν ποῦτο μόνον ἔργον ἀγαπῶντες, τὸ τοῖς καλοῖς ἀπεχθάνεσθαι διηνεκῶς ; ᾿Εῤῥέτω πανοῦργόν τι σύστημα θειοτέροις θώχοις ἐνιδρύσαι, Νῦν ὥρα τοὺς τῆς ἀληθείας τροφίμους εἰς οἱ ἃ ἃ φῶς μέσους, ὅσοι τῶν ἠθῶν ἐχφυγόντες, φόδῳ χατείχοντο πάλαι, Τὰ δὴ σοφὰ τούτων ἐξήλεγχται" μηχανῆς οὐδεὶς ἔσται τρόπος χενὸς, ὃς ἐξαιρήσεται τούτους τοῦ δυσσεύεϊν. ᾿Ανδρῶν ἀγα - ϑῶν ἔργον, τῇ πίστει τῶν πατέρων συζῆν, ταύτὴν ἐπαύξειν ὡς εἴρηται " πέρα δὲ μὴ πολυπραγμονεῖν. Παραινέσαιμι δ᾽ ἂν καὶ τοὺς ἐκ τοῦ βαράθρου ὀψέ ποτε μεταθεμένους, θέσθαι ταύτῃ τῇ ψήφῳ, ἣν οἱ τὰ θεῖα σοφοὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ κρείττονος ἐψηφίσαντο δεόντως ἐπίσκοποι. ἐκείνου μὲν οὖν τοῦτον τὸν τρόπαρ᾽ ὀλίγον ἐχινδύνευσε κρατεῖν ἡ τῶν ᾿Ανομοίων καλουμένη αἴρεσις, ### English translation (Claude) “Victor Constantius, greatest, Augustus, to the holy church at Antioch. Eudoxius did not come from us; let no one think so. We are far from favouring such people. And if they use this sophistry along with others, they are plainly making a show about the highest matters. For from what would they willingly abstain, who go about the cities for the sake of power, leaping from one to another like migrants, prying into every corner in their desire for more? It is said that there are about them certain vagabonds and sophists, whom it is not right even to name: a wicked and most impious workshop. Surely you yourselves understand the company; surely you recognize Aetius from his words, and those who have given themselves to this heresy, whose one work is to corrupt the people. But these clever men, bold for anything, have already been so impudent as to tell some people that we rejoice in their ordination, which they have conferred on themselves. This is what is chanted by those who are accustomed to babble such things; but it is not true at all, nor anywhere near it. Recall to me the first discussions, when we were examining the faith, in which our Saviour was shown to be the Son of God and like the Father in essence. But these noble men, speaking glibly about the highest things whatever comes to them, have come to such impiety as to think other things contrary to the truth, and to try to teach others. That it will recoil on their own heads we firmly believe; meanwhile it will be enough that they be kept from synods and from any common assembly. For I would not be led to say at present what they will suffer shortly, unless they abstain from this madness. And (for what do they not add to the evil?) gathering the most wicked men as if by command, they enrol these very leaders of heresies in the clergy, debasing a venerable office as if they were free to do as they pleased with everything. Yet who that is counted among the living could bear these men, who fill the cities with impiety and conceal far-off places with defilements, loving this one work alone, to be at enmity with good men continually? Away with this villainous company that would set itself in holier seats! Now is the time for the nurslings of the truth to come out into the light, all who, having escaped …, were long held back by fear. Their wisdom has been exposed; no new manner of contrivance will rescue them from impiety. It is the work of good men to live with the faith of the fathers and, as has been said, to increase it, and not to busy themselves beyond it. I would advise those too who have at last turned back from the pit to submit to that vote which the bishops wise in divine things rightly passed concerning the highest matters.” In this way, then, the heresy of the so-called Anomoeans, which had come near to prevailing, was checked. ### Translation notes - The letter (358) is quoted in full; the Greek in the scan is damaged in several places (broken words, letters confused), and one word is lost where the translation has “…”. At the end of the chapter a fragment of Valesius's chapter title for 4.15 (“How Constantius, being at Sirmium, recalls Liberius and restores him to Rome, and allows Felix to share the priesthood”) stood in the text and has been removed; the word “checked” supplies the sense of a lost verb in the last sentence. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 4.14 (PG 67:1147–1149; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/4-14). ## Church History 4.15 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/4-13/#p-4-15 - Source: PG 67:1149–1153 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: At Sirmium Liberius, under pressure from Basil and the Eastern bishops, signs a composite creed and anathematizes those who deny the Son is like the Father in essence; he returns to Rome, where Felix soon dies. ### Greek text Οὐ πολλῷ δὲ ὕστερον ἐπανελθὼν ἐκ τῆς Ῥώμης εἰς Σίρμιον ὁ βασιλεὺς, πρεσδευσαμένων τῶν ἀπὸ τῆς Δύσεως ἐπισκόπων, μεταχαλεῖται Λιδέριον Βεροίας. Παρόντων τε τῶν ἀπὸ τῆς πρέσδεων, συναγαγὼν τοὺς παρατυχόντας ἐν τῷ στρατοπέδῳ ἱερέας, ἐδιάζετι αὐτὸν ὁμολογεῖν μὴ εἶναι τῷ Πατρὶ τὸν Υἱὸν ὁμοούσιον. Ἐνέχειντο δὲ, καὶ τὸν κρατοῦντα ἐπὶ τοῦτο ἐχίνουν, πλείστην παρ᾽ αὐτῷ παῤῥησίαν ἄγοντες, Βασίλειος καὶ Εὐστάθιος καὶ ᾿Ελεύσιος. Οἱ δὴ τότε εἰς μίαν γραφὴν ἀθροίσαντες τὰ δεδογμένα ἐπὶ Παύλῳ τῷ ἐκ Σαμοσάτων, καὶ Φωτει νῷ τῷ ἐκ Σιρμίου, καὶ τὴν ἐκτεθεῖσαν· πίστιν ἐν τοῖς ἐγκαινίοις τῆς ᾿Αντιοχέων, ἐκκλησίας, ὡς ἐπὶ προφάσει τοῦ ὁμοουσίου ἐπιχειρούντων τινῶν ἰδίαν συνιστάνειν αἵρεσιν, παρασκευάζουσι συναινέ σαι ταύτῃ Λιβέριον, ᾿Αθανάσιόν τε καὶ ᾿Αλέξαν δρον, καὶ Σεβηριανὸν καὶ Κρίσκεντα, οἱ ἐν Αφρικῇ ἱέρωντο. Ὁμοίως δὲ συνήνουν καὶ Οὐρσάκιος καὶ Γερμήνιος ὁ Σιρμίου, καὶ Οὐάλης ὁ Μουρσῶν ἐπίσκοπος, καὶ ὅσοι ἐκ τῆς Ἕω παρῆσαν. Ἐν μέρει δὲ καὶ ὁμολογίαν ἐκομίσαντο παρὰ Λιβερίου ἀποκηρύττουσαν τοὺς μὴ κατ᾿ οὐσίαν καὶ κατὰ πάντα ὅμοιον τῷ Πατρὶ τὸν Υἱὸν ἀποφαίνοντας. Ἡνίκα γὰρ τὴν Ὁσίου ἐπιστολὴν ἐδέξαντο Εὐδόξιος καὶ οἱ σὺν αὐτῷ ἐν Ἀντιοχείᾳ τῇ ᾿Αετίου αἱρέσει σπουδάζοντες, ἐλογοποίουν ὡς καὶ Λιβέριος τὸ ὁμοούσιον ἀπεδοκί μασε, καὶ ἀνόμοιον τῷ Πατρὶ τὸν Υἱὸν δοξάζει. Ἐπεὶ δὲ ταῦτα ὧδε κατώρθωτο τοῖς ἐκ τῆς Δύσεως πρέσβεσιν, ἀπέδωκεν ὁ βασιλεὺς Λιβερίῳ τὴν ἐπὶ 'Ῥώμην ἐπάνοδον· γράφουσί τε προσδέξασθαι αὐτὸν οἱ ἐν Σιρμίῳ ἐπίσκοποι, Φίληκι τῷ ἡγουμένῳ τότε τῆς Ῥωμαίων Ἐκκλησίας, καὶ τῷ ἐνθάδε κλήρως ἄμφω δὲ τὸν ἀποστολικὸν ἐπιτροπεύειν θρόνον, καὶ κοινῇ ἱερᾶσθαι μεθ᾽ ὁμονοίας, ἀμνηστίᾳ τε παραδοῦναι τὰ συμβάντα ἀνιαρὰ διὰ τὴν Φίληκος χειροτονίαν καὶ τὴν Λιβερίου ἀποδημίαν. Οἷα γὰρ τὰ ἄλλα καλὸν καὶ ἀγαθὸν τὸν Λιβέριον, καὶ ἀνδρείως ὑπὲρ τοῦ δόγματος ἀντειπόντα τῷ βασιλεῖ, ἢγάπα 6 ; τῶν δῇ μος" ὡς μεγίστην ἀναχινηθῆναι στάσιν, μέχρι φόνων χωρῆσαι. ᾿θλέγον δὲ χρόνον Φίχηχος ἐπιβιώσαντος μόνος Λιθδέριος τῆς κλησίας προΐστατο. Ταύτῃ “πὴ τοῦ Θεοῦ διοιχῆσαντὸς ᾿ὥδτε τὸν Πέτρου θρόνον μὴ ἀδοξέϊν, ὑπὸ δύο ἡγεμόσιν ἰθυνόμενον ὃ ᾿διχονοίας σύμθολόν ἐστι, καὶ ἐκκλησιαστικοῦ θεσμοῦ ἀλλότριον ### English translation (Claude) Not long afterward the emperor returned from Rome to Sirmium; and when the bishops of the West sent an embassy, he recalled Liberius from Beroea. In the presence of the envoys from the East, he gathered the priests who happened to be at the court and pressed him to confess that the Son is not of the same essence as the Father. Basil, Eustathius and Eleusius, who had very great freedom of speech with the ruler, insisted on this and urged him to it. They then gathered into one document what had been decided against Paul of Samosata and Photinus of Sirmium, and the creed set out at the dedication of the church of Antioch, on the ground that some, under pretext of the “same essence,” were trying to set up a heresy of their own; and they induced Liberius, Athanasius, Alexander, Severianus and Crescens, who were priests in Africa, to agree to it. Ursacius, Germinius of Sirmium, Valens, bishop of Mursa, and those from the East who were present agreed likewise. In their turn they also received from Liberius a confession anathematizing those who do not declare the Son to be like the Father in essence and in all things. For when Eudoxius and those with him at Antioch who favoured the heresy of Aetius received the letter of Hosius, they spread the story that Liberius too had rejected the “same essence” and held the Son to be unlike the Father. When these things had been accomplished by the envoys from the West, the emperor granted Liberius his return to Rome; and the bishops at Sirmium wrote to Felix, who then led the church of the Romans, and to the clergy there, to receive him, and that both should govern the apostolic see and serve as priests together in concord, and consign to oblivion the distressing things that had happened because of Felix's ordination and Liberius's absence. For the people loved Liberius as a good and upright man in other respects, and as one who had bravely opposed the emperor on behalf of the doctrine, so that a very great disturbance was stirred up, going as far as bloodshed. Felix survived only a short time, and Liberius alone presided over the church; God, it seems, so ordering it that the see of Peter should not be disgraced by being governed by two leaders, which is a sign of dissension and foreign to the law of the church. ### Translation notes - Liberius's subscription at Sirmium (358) is reported as Sozomen gives it; Sozomen presents it as directed against the Anomoeans. The Athanasius named here is an African bishop, not Athanasius of Alexandria. The end of the chapter is badly garbled in the scan; the translation follows the evident sense. Felix in fact lived until 365. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 4.15 (PG 67:1149–1153; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/4-15). ## Church History 4.16 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/4-13/#p-4-16 - Source: PG 67:1153–1159 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: A planned synod at Nicomedia is cancelled when an earthquake destroys the city, foreseen by the confessor Arsacius, who dies praying; after much correspondence the Arian leaders arrange for separate councils at Ariminum and Seleucia. ### Greek text Ἐν μὲν οὖν τῷ Σιρμίῳ ταῦτα ἐγεγόνει" ἐδόκει τότε διὰ τὸν τοῦ βασιλέως φόβον, ᾿Ανατολὴ καὶ Δύσις ᾿ὁμοφρονεῖν “περὶ τὸ δόγμα. Περὶ -δὲ τῶν ἐν ᾿Αντιοχείᾳ νεωτερισθέντων, καὶ τῆς ᾿Αετίου αἱρέσεως, ἔχρινεν ὁ βᾶσιλεὺς “ἐπιτελέσαι σύνοδον ἐν Νικαίᾳ. Παραϊτησαμένων δὲ τῶν ἀμφὶ Βασΐλειον διὰ τὸ πάλαι ἐνθάδε τὴν περὶ τοῦ δόγματος συμβῆναι ζήτησιν, ἔδοξεν ἐν Νικομηδείᾳ τῆς Βιθυνίας " καὶ γράμμασιν εἰς ῥητὴν ἡμέραν μετὰ σπουδῆς καλεῖν τῶν ἀν᾽ ἔχαστον ἔθνος ἐπισκόπων, οἵ συνιέναι ἐπιτηδειότεροι ἐδόκουν, νοεῖν καὶ λέγειν ἱκανοί, “Ὥστε ἀντὶ “πάντων τῶν ἱερέων τοῦ ἔθνους. μετασχεῖν αὐτοὺς πῆς συνόδου, τῇ κρίσει παρεῖναι. δὲ τῶν πλειόνων κατὰ τὴν ὁδοιπορίαν ὄντων, ἀγγέλλεται τὸ Νικομηδείας ᾿ πάθος , «καὶ ὅτι πᾶσαν ὁ Θεὸς χατέσεισεν. 'Ὡς ἐπὶ ᾿ἀπολομένῃ -δὲ ἄρδην τῇ πόλει πᾶνταχοῦ 'κρατοῦντος,, ἐπέσχον. οἱ -καθ᾽ ὁδὸν ἐπίσκοποι "ὡς γὰρ φιλεῖ ἢ φήμη- ἐργάζεσθαι, οὐχ ἄχρι τῶν πεπονθότων «τὰ δεινὰ τοῖς ἄπωθεν ἤγγελλεν. εθρυλλεῖτο δὲ Νίχαιάντε καὶ Πέρινθον, τὰς πλησίον πόλεις ; κοινωνῆσαι τῆς συμφορᾶς προσέτι δὲ τὴν Κωνσταντινούπολιν. : μετρίως δὲ τυὺς εὖ φρονοῦντας τῶν ἐπισκόπων ἐλύπει τὸ συμβὰν, καθὁτι καὶ ἐκκλησία μεγαλοπρεπῶς. οἰχοδομουμένη. κατἐσείσθη, 'καὶ -πρύψασις ἐγένετο -ἀπεχθανομέπρὸς τὴν θρησκείαν, ἀγγεῖλαι τῷ βασιλεῖ, ὡς οἱ ἐπισκόπων “πλῆθος καὶ ἀνδρῶν καὶ παίδων ναιχῶν ᾿ἀπώλετο,. προσφυγόντων τῇ ᾿ἐχχλησίᾳ ἐπ᾿ , : ἐλπίδι τοῦ. ἐνθάδε σωθήσεσθαι. Θὑχ' ἀληθῶς δὲ ταῦτα | εἶχε· δευτέρᾳ γὰρ ὥρᾳ οὐ συναξίμου ἡμέρας, ὁ σεισμὸς ἐνέσκηψεν. Ἐπισκόπων δὲ μόνος Κεκρόπιος ὁ Νικομηδείας αὐτῆς, καὶ ἄλλος ἀπὸ Βοσπόρου τῆς ἐκκλησίας ἔξωθεν κατελείφθησαν. Ἐν ἀκαριαίῳ τε χρόνῳ κατασεισθείσης τῆς πόλεως, οὐδὲ ἐνεδέχετο δύνασθαι τοὺς θέλοντας ἄλλῃ καταφυγεῖν. ᾿Αλλ' ἐν τῇ πρώτῃ πείρᾳ τοῦ κινδύνου ὡς ἐπίπαν ὅπη ἔτυχεν ἕκαστος ἑστὼς, ἢ ἐσώθη, ἢ ἀπώλετο. Λέγεται δὲ πρὶν γενέσθαι ταύτην τὴν συμφορὰν, προϊδεῖν ᾿Αρσάκιον· ὅς τὸ μὲν γένος Πέρσης ἦν. Ἀπὸ στρατιώτου δὲ θηροκόμου τῶν βασιλικῶν λεόντων, οὐκ ἄσημος τῶν ἐπὶ Λικινίου ὁμολογητὴς ἐγένετο· καὶ τὴν στρατείαν καταλιπών, ἐν τῇ ἄκρᾳ Νικομηδείας, ἐντὸς τοῦ τείχους κατώκει φιλοσοφῶν. Ἔνθα δὴ προφανεῖσα αὐτῷ θεία ὄψις, ἐκέλευσεν ἐξιέναι τῆς πόλεως, ὡς πεισομένης ἅπερ ὕστερον πέπονθεν Ἐκ τούτου τε σπουδῇ καταλαβὼν τὴν ἐκκλησίαν, ἐνετείλατο τοῖς κληρικοῖς ἐπιμελῶς ἱκετεῦσαι τὸν Θεὸν, καὶ ἱλαστηρίους ἐπιτελέσαι λιτὰς ἐπὶ λύσει τῆς ἀπειληθείσης ὀργῆς. Ὡς δὲ οὐκ ἔπεισε, καὶ γελοῖος ἐδόκει, ἀπροσδόκητα μηνύων πάθη, ἀνέστρεψεν ἐπὶ τὸν πῦργον, καὶ πρηνὴς καταπεσὼν ηύχετο. Ἐν τούτῳ δὲ τοῦ σεισμοῦ ἐπισκήψαντος, οἱ μὲν πλείους ἀπώλοντο· οἱ δὲ περιλειφθέντες, εἰς τοὺς ἀγροὺς καὶ τὴν ἔρημον ἔφυγον. Ὡς γὰρ ἐν εὐδαίμονι καὶ μεγάλῃ πόλει, καθ' ἑκάστην οἰκίαν πῦρ ἡμμένον ἐτύγχανεν ἐν χυτροπόδοις καὶ πνιγεῦσι, καὶ καμίνοις βαλανείων τε καὶ τῶν ὅσοι περὶ τὰς ἐμπύρους τέχνας πονοῦσιν· ἐρειπομένων τε τῶν ὀρόφων, περικλει:σθεῖσα ταῖς ὅλαις ἡ φλὸξ, ἀναμεμιγμένων ὡς εἰκὸς φρυγάνων, καὶ τῶν ὅσα ἐλαιώδη ἐστὶ, καὶ πρὸς τὸ καίεσθαι ῥᾳδίαν ἔχει τὴν ἐπίδοσιν, ἀφθόνως ἐτράφη. Πανταχοῦ τε ἕρπουσα, καὶ πρὸς ἑαυτὴν συναπτομένη, μίαν ὡς εἰπεῖν πυρὰν τὴν πᾶσαν πόλιν ἐποίησε. Καὶ κατὰ τοῦτο δὲ τῶν οἴκων ἀβάτων ὄν των, οἱ περισωθέντες ἐκ τοῦ σεισμοῦ, ἐπὶ τὴν ἄκραν ἔδραμον. ᾿Αρσάκιος δὲ ἐν ἀσείστῳ τῷ πύργῳ εὑρέθη νεκρὸς, πρηνὴς κείμενος, οἷον ἑαυτὸν ἐτάνυσε τῆς εὐχῆς ἀρξάμενος. Λόγος δὲ τοῦ προτελευτῆσαι τότε αὐτὸν, τὸν Θεὸν ἱκετεῦσαι, καὶ ἀποθανεῖν ἑλέσθαι μᾶλλον, ἢ συμφορὰν θεάσασθαι πόλεως, ἐν ᾗ τὰ πρῶτα τὸν Χριστὸν ἐπέγνω, καὶ τῆς ἐκκλησιαστικῆς φιλοσοφίας μετέσχεν. ᾿Αλλ' ἐπεὶ φέρων ἡμᾶς ὁ λόγος εἰς τὸν ἄνδρα τοῦτον ἤγαγεν, ἰστέον ὡς ὑπὸ θεοφιλίας ἱκανὸς ἦν δαίμονας ἀπελαύνειν, καὶ τοὺς ὀχλουμένους ὑπ' αὐτῶν καθαίρειν. Οὕτω γοῦν δαιμονιῶν τις ξίφος σπασάμενος, ἀνὰ τὴν ἀγορὰν ἔθεε. Φευγόντων δὲ πάντων, καὶ θορύβου τὴν πόλιν ἔχοντος, ὑπαντώμενος αὐτῷ τὸν Χριστὸν ἐπωνόμασε, καὶ τῷ λόγῳ κατέβαλε. Καὶ αὐτίκα ἐκάθηρε, καὶ σωφρονεῖν ἐποιησε Πεπόνητο δὲ αὐτῷ καὶ πολλὰ ἄλλα ὑπὲρ ἀνθρωπίνην δύναμιν καὶ τέχνην, καὶ μέντοι καὶ τόδε· Δράκων ἦν, ἢ ἕτερον ἑρπετοῦ γένος, ὃ πρὸ τῆς ὅψεως τοὺς παροδίτας τῷ φυσήματι ἀπώλλυε. Παρὰ γὰρ λεωφόρον ἐφώλευσεν. Ἔνθα δὴ παραγενόμενος ᾿Αρσάκιος ηὔξατο, καὶ ὁ ὄφις αὐτομάτως τοῦ φωλεοῦ ἐξῆλθε, καὶ δὶς τῷ ἐδάφει τὴν κεφαλὴν προσρήξας, ἑαυτὸν ἀνεῖλε. Καὶ τὰ μὲν ὧδε ἀφηγήσαντο, οἱ περὶ τῶν ᾿Αρσάκιον αὐτὸν θεασαμένων ἀκηκοέναι ἔφασαν. Οἱ δὲ ἐπίσκοποι ἀνακοπέντες τῆς ἐπὶ τὴν σύνοδον ὁρμῆς διὰ τὸ Νικομηδείας πάθος, οἱ μὲν περιέμενον πάλιν τὰ δόξαντα τῷ βασιλεῖ · οἱ δὲ, ἣν ἔχουσι δόξαν περὶ τῆς πίστεως, διὰ γραμμάτων ἐδήλωσαν. ᾿Απορῶν δὲ περὶ τοῦ πρακτέου ὁ κρατῶν, γράφει Βασιλείῳ, πυνθανόμενος ὅ τί ποτε χρὴ περὶ τῆς συνόδου ποιεῖν. Ὁ δὲ, ὡς εἰκὸς, ἐπὶ εὐσεβείᾳ δι' ἐπιστολῆς ἐπαινέσας αὐτὸν, καὶ ἐπὶ τῷ πάθει Νικομηδείας παραμυθησάμενος ἐξ ὑποδειγμάτων ἱερῶν ἱστοριῶν, παροτρύνει ἐπιταχῦναι τὴν σύνοδον, καὶ μὴ καθυφῆναι, ὡς ὑπὲρ εὐσεβείας τῆς σπουδῆς οὔσης· μηδὲ ἀπράκτους ἀποπέμψαι τοὺς ἐπὶ τοῦτο συλλεγομένους ἱερέας, ἅπαξ ἐξεληλυθότας, καὶ κατὰ τὴν ὁδοιπορίαν ὄντας · ὥρισε δὲ τῇ συνόδῳ τόπον ἀντὶ Νικομηδείας τὴν Νίκαιαν, ὥστε ἐκεῖ τὰ περὶ τῆς πίστεως διορθωθῆναι, ἔνθα καὶ ζητεῖσθαι ἤρξατο. Καὶ ὁ Βασίλειος τοιαῦτα ἀντέγραψε, τεκμηράμενος ὧδέ πη κεχαρισμένα βασιλεῖ δηλώσειν, καθότι καὶ αὐτὸς τὴν ἀρχὴν ἐν Νικαίᾳ ἐδοκίμασε γενέσθαι τὴν σύνοδον. Δεξάμενος δὲ τὴν Βασιλείου ἐπιστολὴν, τὰ μὲν πρῶτα προσέταξεν ἀρχομένου τοῦ θέρους συνελθεῖν αὐτοὺς εἰς Νίκαιαν, πλὴν εἰ μή τινες εἶεν τοῖς σώμασιν ἀσθενεῖς· ἐκπέμψαι δὲ τούτους ἀντὶ αὐτῶν, οὓς ἂν ἕλωνται πρεσβυτέρους ἢ διακόνους, ὥστε τὴν αὐτῶν γνώμην δηλῶσαι, καὶ περὶ τῶν ἀμφιβόλων βουλεύσασθαι, καὶ κοινῇ περὶ πάντων ὁμοφρονῆσαι. Δέκα δὲ ἀπὸ τῶν Ἑσπερίων μερῶν, καὶ τοσούτους ἀπὸ τῆς Ἕω, οὓς ἂν κοινῇ γνώμῃ ἐπιλέξωνται οἱ συνιόντες, ἀφικέσθαι εἰς τὰ βασίλεια, καὶ τὰ δόξαντα ἀφηγήσασθαι· ὥστε καὶ αὐτὸν συνιδεῖν, εἰ κατὰ τὰς ἱερὰς Γραφάς συνέβησαν ἀλλήλοις, καὶ περὶ τῶν πρακτέων ὅπη ἂν ἄριστα δοκῇ ἐπιτελέσαι. Μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα βουλευσάμενος προσέταξε πάντας ἔνθα ἂν διάγωσιν, ἢ ἐν ταῖς ἰδίαις Ἐκκλησίαις ἐπιμεῖναι, μέχρις ἂν ὁρισθείη τῇ συνόδῳ τόπος, καὶ σημανθείη εἰς τοῦτον ἀφικέσθαι, Γράφει δὲ τῷ Βασιλείῳ,, δι᾽ ἐπιστολῶν οἱ α. πυθέσθαι πάντων τῶν ἀνὰ τὴν ἐπισκόπων, ὅπη ἐπιτελεῖν τὴν σύνοδον προσῆκεν " ὥστε ἔαρος μένου, τοῦτο πᾶσι γενέτθαι δῆλον. Νικαίᾳ γὰρ, ὡς χεχμηχότος τοῦ τῇδε ἔθνους ὑπὸ σεισμῶν, οὐ καλῶς ἔχειν ὑπέλαθε σύνοδον ποιεῖν. Ὁ δὲ Βασίλειος ἰδίας ἐπιστολῆς προτάξας τὰ βασιλέως γράμμάτα, τοῖς κατὰ ἔθνος ἐπισκόποις ἐδήλωσε διασχέψασθαι, καὶ τὸν ἀρέσοντα τόπον ἐν τάχει δηλῶσαι, Οἷα δὲ φιλεῖ ἐπὶ τοῖς τοιούτοις, οὐ τὸν αὐτὸν τόπον ἐπιλεξαμένων πάντων, παραγίνεται πρὸς βατίλξα Βασίλειος " διέτριβε δὲ τότε ἐν Σιρμίῳ. Καὶ καταλαμβάνει ἐνθάδε ἄλλους τέ τινας ἐπισκόπους χατ᾽ ἰδίας χρείας, καὶ Μάρκον τὸν ᾿Αρεθούσιων, καὶ Γεώργιον τὸν ἐπιτραπέντα προστατεῖν τῆς ᾿Αλεξανἃ δρέων Ἐκκλησίας. Δόξαν δὲ ἤδη Σελευκείᾳ τῆς γενέσθαι τὴν σύνοδον, οἱ ἀμφὶ Οὐάλεντα γὰρ δὴ καὶ οὗτος τῷ Σιρμίῳ ἐνεδήμει" τῇ τῶν ᾿Ανομοίων αἱρέσει χαίροντες, σπουδάζουσι τοὺς τῷ στρατοπέδῳ παρόντας ἐπισκόπους εἰς ἕτοιμόν τινα γραφὴν πίστεως ὑπογράψαι, τὸ τῆς οὐσίας οὐκ ἐνέχφιτο ὄνομα. Σπουδαζομένης δὲ. τῆς συνόδου, λογισάμενοι οἱ ἀμφὶ Εὐδόξιον ᾿Ακάκιον, Οὐρσάκιον γαὶ Οὐάλεντα, ὡς τῶν πανταχῆ ἐπισκόπων οἱ μὲν τὴν ἐν Νικαίᾳ πίστιν " οἱ δὲ τὴν ἐπὶ τῇ ἀφιερώσει τῆς ᾿Αγτιοχέων ἐκκλησίας ἐκτεθεῖσαν ζηλοῦσιν ἑκατέρα τε τὸ τῆς οὐσίας ὄνομα ἔχει, καὶ κατὰ πάντα ὅμοιον τῷ Πατρὶ τὸν Υἱὸν ἀποφαίνει " καὶ ὡς εἰ πάντες εἰς ταὐτὸν συνέλθωσιν, ἑτοίμως χαταψηφίσονται τῆς ᾿Δετίον δόξης, ἣν αὐτοὶ ἐπήνουν, ἄντικρυς ἑκατέρας ἀπάδουσαν " κατορθοῦσι τοὺς μὲν ἀπὸ τῆς Δύσεως ἐν 'Αριμίνῳ συνελθεῖν " τοὺς δὲ ἀπὸ τῆς ἐν Σελευκείᾳ τῆς Ἰσαυρίας. Ἵνα ῥᾳδίου ὄντος ὀλίγους, ἣ πάντας πείθειν, εἰ μὲν δύναιντο, τῇδε χἀχεῖσε μερισθέντες παρασχευάσωσι σφίσι συμψήφους γενέσθαι ἑκατέραν σύνοδον" εἰ δὲ μὴ, θατέραν ὥστε μὴ πάσαις ψήφοις ἀποχηρυχϑῆναι τὴν αἵρεσιν. Συνέπραττον δὲ αὐτοῖς ταῦτα, Εὐσέβιος ὁ τοῦ βασιλείου οἴκου προεστὼς εὐνοῦχος, Εὐδοξίῳ ἐπιτήδειος ὧν, καὶ ἄλλως ὁμόδοξος, πολλοὶ τῶν ἐν δυνάμει, χάριν αὐτῷ Εὐσεθέῳ. φέροντες. ### English translation (Claude) These things had been done at Sirmium, and it seemed then, through fear of the emperor, that East and West agreed about the doctrine. Concerning the innovations at Antioch and the heresy of Aetius, the emperor decided to hold a synod at Nicaea. When Basil's party declined it, because the inquiry about the doctrine had taken place there long before, it was decided to hold it at Nicomedia in Bithynia, and by letters to summon urgently, for a set day, those bishops of each province who seemed most suitable to attend, able in thought and speech, so that they might take part in the synod in place of all the priests of the province and be present at the judgment. When most of them were on the road, the disaster of Nicomedia was announced, and that God had shaken the whole city. Since the report prevailed everywhere that the city had been utterly destroyed, the bishops on the road halted; for, as rumour is wont to do, it reported to those far off more than the sufferers had endured. It was said that Nicaea and Perinthus, the neighbouring cities, had shared in the calamity, and Constantinople too. What happened grieved the right-minded bishops not a little, since a church that was being magnificently built had been thrown down, and it gave those hostile to the religion a pretext to report to the emperor that a multitude of bishops and of men, children and women had perished, who had fled to the church in the hope of being saved there. But this was not true. For the earthquake struck at the second hour of a day that was not a day of assembly. Of the bishops, only Cecropius, bishop of Nicomedia itself, and another from the Bosporus were overtaken by it, outside the church, and perished. Since the city was thrown down in an instant, it was not possible for those who wished to flee elsewhere; but at the first experience of the danger, each, wherever he happened to stand, was for the most part either saved or killed. It is said that before this calamity happened, Arsacius foresaw it. He was a Persian by race; from being a soldier, a keeper of the imperial lions, he became a not undistinguished confessor under Licinius, and leaving the army he lived within the walls on the citadel of Nicomedia, practising philosophy. There a divine vision appeared to him and bade him leave the city, as it was about to suffer what it later suffered. Hastening at once to the church, he urged the clergy to entreat God earnestly and to perform propitiatory litanies for averting the threatened wrath. When he did not persuade them, and seemed ridiculous for announcing unexpected sufferings, he returned to the tower and, falling on his face, prayed. Meanwhile the earthquake struck; most perished, and those who survived fled to the fields and the desert. For, as in a prosperous and great city, there happened to be fire lit in every house, in braziers and ovens and in the furnaces of the baths and of all who work at crafts using fire; and as the roofs collapsed, the flame, shut in with the timbers, mixed, naturally, with brushwood and all oily things easy to set alight, was fed abundantly; creeping everywhere and joining with itself, it made the whole city, so to speak, one pyre. Since the houses were then inaccessible, those who had survived the earthquake ran to the citadel. Arsacius was found dead in the tower, which had not been shaken, lying face down as he had stretched himself out when he began his prayer. It is said that he then entreated God to let him die first, choosing rather to die than to see the calamity of the city in which he had first come to know Christ and shared in the church's philosophy. But since the account has brought us to this man, it should be known that through his favour with God he was able to drive out demons and to cleanse those troubled by them. Thus once a man possessed by a demon drew a sword and ran through the market-place. When everyone fled and the city was in uproar, Arsacius met him, named Christ, and struck him down with the word; at once he cleansed him and made him sane. Many other things beyond human power and skill were accomplished by him, and this too. There was a dragon, or some other kind of serpent, which killed passers-by with its breath before they saw it; for it lurked by the highway. Arsacius came there and prayed, and the serpent came out of its den of its own accord, struck its head twice on the ground, and killed itself. These things were related by those who said they had heard them from people who had seen Arsacius himself. The bishops, checked in their haste to the synod by the disaster of Nicomedia, some waited again for the emperor's decision, while others made known by letter their opinion about the faith. The ruler, at a loss what to do, wrote to Basil asking what should be done about the synod. Basil, praising him, naturally, by letter for his piety, and consoling him for the disaster of Nicomedia with examples from the sacred histories, urged him to hasten the synod and not to give it up, since the effort was for piety's sake, nor to send away without result the priests gathered for this purpose, who had already set out and were on the road; and he designated Nicaea as the place for the synod instead of Nicomedia, so that matters of faith might be set right there where the inquiry had begun. Basil wrote back in this way, conjecturing that he would show what pleased the emperor, since he himself had at first approved that the synod be held at Nicaea. On receiving Basil's letter, the emperor at first ordered them to meet at Nicaea at the beginning of summer, except any who were ill in body; these were to send in their place presbyters or deacons of their choice to declare their opinion, deliberate about the doubtful points, and agree together on everything; and ten from the western parts, and as many from the East, chosen by the common judgment of those who met, were to come to the palace and report what had been decided, so that he too might see whether they had agreed with one another according to the sacred Scriptures, and might carry out what was to be done as seemed best. After this, on reflection, he ordered all to remain where they were or in their own churches until a place should be fixed for the synod and they should be told to come to it. He wrote to Basil to inquire by letters of all the bishops in the East where the synod ought to be held, so that at the beginning of spring this might be made known to all; for he thought it not well to hold a synod at Nicaea, since that province was worn out by earthquakes. Basil, putting the emperor's letter at the head of a letter of his own, told the bishops of each province to consider and quickly make known the place that suited them. As usually happens in such matters, since not all chose the same place, Basil came to the emperor, who was then staying at Sirmium, and found there certain other bishops on their own business, Mark of Arethusa, and George, who had been entrusted with the leadership of the church of Alexandria. When it had already been decided that the synod should be held at Seleucia in Isauria, Valens's party (for he too was staying at Sirmium), who rejoiced in the heresy of the Anomoeans, were eager to get the bishops present at the court to sign a document of faith prepared in advance, in which the name of essence did not appear. While the synod was being pressed forward, the party of Eudoxius, Acacius, Ursacius and Valens reckoned that, of the bishops everywhere, some were zealous for the faith of Nicaea and others for the one set out at the dedication of the church of Antioch, each of which contains the name of essence and declares the Son like the Father in all things; and that if all met together, they would readily condemn the opinion of Aetius, which they themselves approved, as plainly at variance with both. So they arranged that those from the West should meet at Ariminum and those from the East at Seleucia in Isauria, so that, since it is easier to persuade a few than all, by dividing themselves between the two places they might, if they could, make both synods vote with them, or failing that, one of them, so that the heresy should not be anathematized by all votes. They were helped in this by Eusebius, the eunuch who presided over the imperial household, who was friendly to Eudoxius and of the same opinion besides, and by many of the powerful, who did him favours for Eusebius's sake. ### Translation notes - The earthquake at Nicomedia was on 24 August 358. In the scan a line about Arsacius's power over demons was displaced into the account of the earthquake, and several words are lost (“women,” “the East,” “in Isauria”); the translation restores the evident order and sense. The councils of Ariminum and Seleucia met in 359. The eunuch Eusebius was the grand chamberlain (see 3.1). ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 4.16 (PG 67:1153–1159; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/4-16). ## Church History 4.17 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/4-13/#p-4-17 - Source: PG 67:1161–1163 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: At the council of Ariminum (359) over four hundred Western bishops reject the Dated Creed of Sirmium offered by Valens and Ursacius, reaffirm Nicaea, and depose its proponents, who appeal to the emperor. ### Greek text Πεισθεὶς δὲ ὁ βασιλεὺς, ὡς οὔτε τῷ δημοσίῳ λυσι τελεῖ διὰ τὴν δαπάνην, οὔτε τοῖς ἐπισκόποις διὰ τὰς μακρὰς ὁδοὺς, εἰς ταὐτὸν πάντας συνελθεῖν, διεῖλε τὴν σύνοδον· καὶ γράφει τοῖς τότε ἐν ᾿Αριμίνῳ Σελευκείᾳ, τὰ περὶ τῆς πίστεως ἀμφίβολα προδιαθεῖναι· ἐν τέλει δὲ διαλαβεῖν κατὰ τὸν τῆς Ἐκκλησίας θεσμὸν, καὶ περὶ τῶν ἀδίκως καθῃρῆσθαι ἢ ὑπερορίας οἰκεῖν μεμφομένων ἐπισκόπων, ὧν εἷς ἦν Κύριλλος Ἱεροσολύμων, καὶ περὶ τῶν ἐπαγομένων ἐγκλημάτων τισὶ τῶν ἐπισκόπων δικάσαι. Κατηγόρουν γὰρ ἄλλοι ἄλλων · Γεωργίου δὲ Αἰγύπτιοι, άρπαγῶν καὶ ὕβρεων. Ἐπικεκριμένοις δὲ πᾶσι, δέκα ἐκατέρωθεν καταλαβεῖν τὰ βασίλεια ἐπὶ μηνύσει τῶν γεγενημένων. Κατὰ ταῦτα ἔκαστοι συνελέγησαν ἔνθα συνελθεῖν προσετάγησαν. Καὶ ἔφθανε ἡ ἐν Ἀρι μίνῳ συστᾶσα σύνοδος. Ἐτέλουν δὲ εἰς αὐτὴν πλείους ἢ τετρακόσιοι. Καὶ περὶ ᾿Αθανασίου μηδὲν ἀνακινεῖν, ἄμεινον ἐδοκίμασαν οἱ πρὸς αὐτὸν ἀπεχθῶς εἶχον. Ζητήσεως δὲ οὔσης εἰς ὃν χρὴ τρόπον πιστεύειν, παρελθόντὲς εἰς μέσον Οὐάλης τε καὶ Οὐρσάκιος, οἷς συνελαμβάνοντο Γερμήνιός τε καὶ Αὐξέντιος, καὶ Γάϊος καὶ Δημόφιλος, τὰς μὲν ἤδη πρότερον περὶ πίστεως γενομένας γραφὰς ἀργεῖν ἠξίουν · κρας τεῖν δὲ ἣν οὐ πρὸ πολλοῦ ἐν Σιρμίῳ συνέταξαν διὰ τῆς Ῥωμαίων φωνῆς, ὅμοιον μὲν εἶναι τῷ Πατρί τὸν Υἱὸν κατὰ τὰς Γραφὰς εἰσηγουμένην· οὐσίας δὲ παντελῶς ἐπὶ Θεοῦ μὴ ποιεῖσθαι μνήμην. Ἔλεγον δὲ ταύτην καὶ βασιλέα ἐπαινέσαι· χρῆναι δὲ καὶ τὴν ; σύνοδον ἀναγκαίως προσίεσθαι, μηδὲν τοῦ λοιποῦ πολυπραγμονοῦσαν τῆς ἑκάστου ἐννοίας, ἵνα μὴ διχόνοιας καὶ στάσεις γίνωνται, διαλέξει καὶ ἀκριβεί βασάνῳ παραδιδομένων τῶν ὀνομάτων. "Αμεινον γὰρ εἶναι, ἀμαθέστερον διαλεγομένους, ὀρθῶς περὶ Θεοῦ δοξάζειν, ἢ καινότητας ὀνομάτων ἐπεισάγειν, διαλεκτικῆς. τερθρείας συγγενεῖς. Ὑπηνίττοντο δὲ, μᾶλλον καὶ φανερῶς διέβαλλον τὸ ὁμοούσιον ὄνομα, ὡς ἄγνωστον ταῖς ἱεραῖς Γραφαῖς, καὶ τοῖς πολλοῖς ἀσαφές. ᾿Αντὶ δὲ τούτου, ὅμοιον κατὰ πάντα τῷ γεννήσαντι λέγειν τὸν Υἱὸν κατὰ τὰς θείας Γραφάς. Ἐπεὶ δὲ ταῦτα περιέχουσαν καὶ τὴν προκομισθεῖσαν παρ' αὐτῶν γραφὴν ἀνέγνωσαν, οἱ μὲν πλείους μηδὲν δεῖσθαι νεωτέρας πίστεως ἰσχυρίζοντο· ἀλλ᾿ ἀρκεῖ σθαι τοῖς ἤδη δόξασι πρὸ αὐτῶν. Συνεληλυθέναι δὲ νῦν, ἵνα εἴτι καινοτομοῖτο κατὰ τούτων, κωλύσωσιν • εἰ δὲ μηδὲν παρὰ ταῦτα καινοτομεῖ τὰ ἀνεγνωσμένα, λέγειν ἐζήτουν τοὺς εἰσηγητὰς ταύτης τῆς γραφῆς, καὶ φανερῶς ἀποκηρύττειν τὸ ᾿Αρείου δόγμα, ὡς θορύβου αἴτιον εἰσέτι νῦν ἐξ ἐκείνου γενόμενον ταῖς πανταχοῦ ἐκκλησίαις. ᾿Αποφυγόντων δὲ τὴν πρότασιν Οὐρσακίου Οὐάλεντος, Γερμηνίου τε Αὐξεντίου, Δημοφίλου, Γαΐου, ἐκέλευσεν ἡ σύνοδος ἀναγνωσθῆναι τὴν ἔκθεσιν τῶν ἄλλων αἱρέσεων, καὶ τῶν ἐν τῇ Νικαίᾳ συνεληλυθότων" ὥστε τὰς μὲν ἄλλας ἀποχηρῦξαι αἱρέσεις, ἐπύψηφίσασθαι δὲ τοῖς ἐν Νικαίᾳ δεδογμένοις, καὶ περὶ τῶν αὐτῶν τοῦ λοιποῦ μηδένα ἐγκαλεῖν ἢ σύνοδον αἰτεῖν, ἀλλ᾽ ἀρχεῖσθαι τοῖς φθάσασι. γὰρ εἶναι, ὡς νῦν ἀρχομένους πιστεύειν, τοιαῦτα συγγράφειν, καὶ τοῦ προλαδόντος χρόνου τὴν παράδοσιν διαδάλλειν, κεχρημένοι αὐτοί τε καὶ οἱ πρὸ αὐτῶν, τὰς Ἔχχλησίας ἐπετρόπευσαν, ὧν οἱ πλείους ἐν ὁμολογίαις καὶ μαρτυρίοις τὸν βίον μετήλλαξαν. Καὶ οἱ μὲν τάδε προϊόχόμενοι, οὐδὲν ἠξίουν νεωτερίζειν. Μὴ πειθομένους δὲ τοὺς ἀμφὶ Οὐάλεντα καὶ Οὐρσάκιον, ἀλλ᾽ ἐνισταμένους κρατεῖν ἣν προΐσχοντο πίστιν, καθεῖλον, ἄκυρον εἶναι Ψηφισάμενοι ἣν ἀνέγνωσαν γραφήν. Καὶ γὰρ δὴ ἄτοπον αὐτοῖς ἔδοξεν εἶναι, προγεγράφθαι ταύτης, ὡς ἐν Σιρμίῳ ἐξετέθη παρόντος Κωνσταντίου τοῦ αἰωνίου Αὐγούστου, Ὑπατευόντων Εὐσεβίου Ὑπατίου" ὥσπερ ᾿Αθανάσιος πρὸς τοὺς ἐπιτηδείους γράφων φησὶ, γελοῖον εἶναι βασιλέα αἰώνιον τὸν Κωνστάντιον ὀνομάζειν " ἀΐδιον δὲ λέγειν τὸν Υἱὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ παραιτεῖσθαι " καὶ ῥητὸν χρόνον πρυτάττειν τῆς γραφῇς ταύτης, ἐπὶ διαδολῇ τῆς πίστεως τῶν παλαιοτέρων, καὶ τῶν πρὸ τούτου τοῦ χρόνου μυηθέντων. Ἐπεὶ δὲ τάδε ἐν ᾿Αριμένῳ ἐγένετο, οἱ μὲν ἀμφὶ Οὐάλεντα Οὐρσάκιον χαλεπῶς φέροντες ἐπὶ τῇ καθαιρέσει, σπουδῇ πρὸς βασιλέα παρεγένοντο. , ### English translation (Claude) The emperor, persuaded that it was profitable neither to the treasury, because of the expense, nor to the bishops, because of the long journeys, for all to meet in one place, divided the synod. He wrote to those then at Ariminum and at Seleucia to settle first the doubtful questions about the faith, and at the end, according to the law of the church, to deal with the bishops who complained that they had been unjustly deposed or exiled, of whom one was Cyril of Jerusalem, and to judge the charges brought against some of the bishops; for some accused others, and the Egyptians accused George of plunder and violence. When everything had been decided, ten from each side were to come to the palace to report what had been done. Accordingly each group gathered where they had been ordered to meet. The synod at Ariminum met first; more than four hundred took part. Those hostile to Athanasius judged it better to raise nothing about him. When the question was how one ought to believe, Valens and Ursacius came forward, supported by Germinius, Auxentius, Gaius and Demophilus, and asked that the documents on the faith already drawn up earlier be set aside, and that the one they had composed not long before at Sirmium in Latin should prevail, which taught that the Son is like the Father according to the Scriptures, but made no mention at all of essence in speaking of God. They said that the emperor too had approved it, and that the synod must accept it, no longer inquiring into each man's meaning, so that there might be no dissensions and strife from terms being handed over to debate and exact examination; for it was better, while speaking somewhat unlearnedly, to think rightly about God, than to introduce novelties of terms akin to the jargon of dialectic. They hinted at, or rather openly attacked, the term “of the same essence” as unknown to the sacred Scriptures and obscure to the many, and instead of it to say that the Son is like the one who begot him in all things, according to the divine Scriptures. When they had read the document they had brought containing these things, most of the bishops maintained that there was no need of a newer faith, but that what had been decided before them was enough; they had met now to prevent any innovation against it. If what had been read made no innovation upon it, they asked that the authors of this document should say so and openly anathematize the doctrine of Arius, which from that time until now had caused turmoil in the churches everywhere. When Ursacius, Valens, Germinius, Auxentius, Demophilus and Gaius avoided this proposal, the synod ordered the exposition against the other heresies and that of those who had met at Nicaea to be read, so as to anathematize the other heresies and to confirm what had been decided at Nicaea, and that thereafter no one should raise charges or ask for a synod about these matters, but be content with what had gone before. For it was absurd, as if they were only now beginning to believe, to compose such things and to slander the tradition of former times, which they themselves and those before them had used in governing the churches, most of whom had ended their lives in confessions and martyrdoms. Putting forward these arguments, they would make no innovation. When Valens's and Ursacius's party would not be persuaded, but insisted that the faith they put forward should prevail, they deposed them, voting the document they had read invalid. For it seemed absurd to them that it was headed, “As set out at Sirmium in the presence of Constantius the eternal Augustus, in the consulship of Eusebius and Hypatius”; as Athanasius, writing to his friends, says, it is ridiculous to call Constantius an eternal emperor while refusing to say that the Son of God is everlasting, and to prefix a definite date to this document, to the slander of the faith of the older generations and of those initiated before this date. When this had been done at Ariminum, Valens's and Ursacius's party, aggrieved at their deposition, hastened to the emperor. ### Extrabiblical texts - Athanasius, Syn. 3-4 (On the Councils of Ariminum and Seleucia): allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The “Dated Creed” of 22 May 359 (consulship of Eusebius and Hypatius). Athanasius's remark is in On the Synods 3–4. Several small words are lost in the scan (“absurd,” “which they used”); the sense is clear. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 4.17 (PG 67:1161–1163; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/4-17). ## Church History 4.18 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/4-13/#p-4-18 - Source: PG 67:1163–1167 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The synodal letter of the council of Ariminum to Constantius defends the Nicene faith, reports the deposition of Ursacius, Valens, Germinius, Auxentius and Gaius, and asks that the exiled bishops be allowed home. ### Greek text Ἡ δὲ σύνοδος εἴκοσιν ἐπισκόπους προθαλλομένη, πρέσβεις ἀπέστειλεν. "Ἔγραψε δὲ αὐτῶν τάδε, μεταγραφέντα τῆς Ῥωμαίων φωνῆς " Τά τε τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ κελεύσεως, τοῦ τῆς σῆς εὐσεδείας προστάγματος δογματισθέντα, γενέσθαι πιστεύομεν• εἰς γὰρ ᾿Αρίμινον ἐκ πασῶν τῶν πρὸς δύσιν πόλεων, ἐπὶ ταὐτὸ πάντες οἱ ἐπίσκοποι συνήλθομεν, ἵνα καὶ ἡ πίστις τῆς καθολικῆς Ἐκκλησίας γνωρισθῇ, καὶ οἱ τὰ ἐναντία φρονοῦντες ἔκδηλοι γένωνται. Ὡς γὰρ ἐπὶ πλεῖστον διασκοποῦντες εὑρήκαμεν, ἀρεστὸν ἐφάνη τὴν πίστιν τὴν ἐκ παλαιοῦ διαμένουσαν, ἣν καὶ οἱ προφῆται, καὶ τὰ Εὐαγγέλια, καὶ οἱ ἀπόστολοι τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐκήρυξαν, τοῦ καὶ τῆς σῆς βασιλείας ἐφόρου, καὶ τῆς σῆς ῥώσεως προστάτου, ἵνα ταύτην κατασχόντες φυλάττωμεν, μέχρι τέλους διατηροῦντες. ῎Ατοπον γὰρ καὶ ἀθέμιτον ἐφάνη, τῶν ὀρθῶς καὶ δικαίως ὡρισμένων τι μεταλλάσσειν, καὶ τῶν ἐν Νικαίᾳ κοινῇ μετὰ τοῦ ἐνδοξοτάτου Κωνσταντίνου τοῦ σοῦ Πατρὸς καὶ βασιλέως ἐσκεμμένων, ὧν ἡ διδασκαλία καὶ τὸ φρόνημα διῆλθέ τε καὶ ἐκηῥύχθη εἰς πάσας ἀνθρώπων ἀκοάς τε καὶ διανοίας. Ἦτις ἀντίπαλος μένει, καὶ ὀλετὴρ τῆς ᾿Αρείου αἱρέσεως ὑπῆρξε · δι' ἧς, οὐ μόνον αὕτη, ἀλλὰ καὶ λοιπαὶ πᾶσαι καθῃρέθησαν· ἐν ᾗ ὄντως καὶ προσθεῖναί τι σφαλερὸν, καὶ τὸ ἀφελέσθαι τι, ἐπικίνδυνον ὑπάρχει · ὡς εἴπερ τι θάτερον γένηται, ἔσται τοῖς ἐχθροῖς ἄδεια ποιεῖν ἅπερ βούλονται. "Οθεν Οὐρσάκιός τε καὶ Οὐάλης, ἐπειδὴ πάλαι μέτοχοί τε καὶ σύμβουλοι τοῦ ᾿Αρειανοῦ δόγματος ἦσαν καθεστηκότες, καὶ τῆς ἡμετέρας κοινωνίας χωρισθέντες ἀπεφάνθησαν. Ἧς ἵνα μετάσχωσιν, ἐφ᾽ οἷς ἑαυτοῖς συνεγνώκεισαν πλημμελήσαντες, μετανοίας τε καὶ συγγνώμης ἠξίουν τυχεῖν. Ὡς καὶ τὰ ἔγγραφα τὰ ὑπ᾿ ἐκείνων γεγενημένα μαρτυρεῖ· δι᾽ ὧν ἁπάντων φειδώ γεγένηται, καὶ τῶν ἐγκλημάτων συγγνώμη. Ην δὲ : καιρὸς καθ᾽ ἂν ταῦτα ἐπράττετο, ὅτε ἐν Μεδιολάνῳ τὸ συνέδριον τῆς συνόδου συνεκροτεῖτο · συμπαρόντων δὲ καὶ τῶν πρεσβυτέρων τῆς τῶν Ῥωμαίων Ἐκκλησίας· ἐγνωκότες ἅμα καὶ τὸν μετὰ τελευτὴν ἄξιον μνήμης Κωνσταντίνον, μετὰ πάσης ἀκριβείας καὶ ἐξετάσεως τὴν συγγραφεῖσαν πίστιν ἐκτεθεικότα· ἐπειδὴ δὲ ὡς ἐξ ἀνθρώπων ἐγένετο βαπτισθεὶς, καὶ πρὸς τὴν ὀφειλομένὴν εἰρήνην ἀνεχώρησεν, ἄτοπον εἶναι μετ' ἐκεῖνόν τι καινοτομεῖν· καὶ τοσούτους ἁγίους ὁμολογητὰς καὶ μάρτυρας, τοὺς δὲ καὶ τοῦ δόγματος συγγραφέας τε καὶ εὐρετὰς ὑπεριδεῖν, οἱ τινες κατὰ τὸν παλαιὸν τῆς καθολικῆς Ἐκκλησίας θεσμὸν, ἅπαντα φρονοῦντες διαμεμενήκασιν. Ων ὁ Θεὸς τὴν πίστιν καὶ εἰς τοὺς σοὺς χρόνους τῆς βασιλείας μεταδέδωκε, διὰ τοῦ Δεσπότου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, δι' οὗ σοι καὶ τὸ βασιλεύειν οὕτως ὑπῆρξεν, ὡς καὶ τῆς καθ' ἡμᾶς οἰκουμένης κρατεῖν. Πάλιν γοῦν ἐλεεινοὶ καὶ οἰκτροὶ τῷ φρονήματι, ἀθεμίτῳ τολμήματι τῆς δυσσεβοῦς φρονήσεως κήρυκάς τε ἑαυτοὺς ἀνήγγειλαν, καὶ ἐπιχειροῦσιν ἀνατρέπειν πᾶν ἀληθείας σύνταγμα. Ὡς γὰρ κατὰ τὸ σὸν πρόσταγμα, τὸ συν έδριον τῆς συνόδου συνεκροτεῖτο, κἀκεῖνοι τῆς ἰδίας ἀπάτης ἐγύμνουν τὴν σκέψιν· ἐπειρῶντο γὰρ πανουργίᾳ τινὶ καὶ ταραχῇ προσφέροντές τι καινοτομεῖν, τῆς τοιαύτης ἑτερείας τοὺς συναλισκομένους εὑρόντες, Γερμήνιον, Αὐξέντιον, καὶ Γάῖον· τοὺς τὴν ἔριν καὶ διχοστασίαν ἐμποιοῦντας. Ὧν ἡ διδασκαλία μὴ μένουσα, πᾶν πλῆθος βλασφημιῶν ὑπερβέβηκεν· ὡς δὲ συνεῖδον, οὐχὶ τῆς αὐτῆς αἱρέσεως ὄντας, οὔθ᾽ ὁμογνωμονοῦντας ἐφ᾽ οἷς κακῶς ἐφρόνουν, εἰς τὸ συμβούλιον ἡμῶν μετήγαγον ἑαυτοὺς, ὡς δοκεῖν ἔτερόν τι γράφειν. Ἦν δὲ ὁ καιρὸς βραχὺς, ὁ καὶ τὰς γνώμας αὐτῶν ἐξελέγχων. Ἵν᾿ οὖν μὴ τοῖς αὐτοῖς τὰ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας περιπίπτῃ, καὶ ταραχὴ καὶ θόρυβος κυλινδούμενος ἅπαντας συνέχῃ, βέβαιον ἐφάνη τὰ – πάλαι ὡρισμένα καὶ ἀμετακίνητα φυλάττειν · τοὺς δὲ προειρημένους τῆς ἡμετέρας κοινωνίας ἀποκεχωρίσθαι· δι' ἣν αἰτίαν τοὺς ἀναδιδάξοντας πρέσβεις πρὸς τὴν σὴν ἐπιείκειαν ἀπεστάλκαμεν, τὴν γνώμην τοῦ συνεδρίου διὰ τῆς ἐπιστολῆς μηνύσοντας. Τοῖς δὲ πρέσβεσι πρό γε πάντων τοῦτο παρεκελευσάμεθα, τὸ τὴν ἀλήθειαν πιστώσασθαι ἐκ τῶν πάλαι ἀρχαίων δικαίως ὡρισμένων · οἳ καὶ τὴν σὴν ἀναδιδάξουσιν ὀσιότητα, ὅτι οὐχ ὥσπερ ἔφησαν Οὐρσάκιος καὶ Οὐάλης, ἔσται εἰρήνη, εἴπερ τι τῶν δικαίων ἀνατραπείη. Πῶς γὰρ εἰρήνην οἷόν τε ἄγειν, τοὺς τὴν εἰρήνην καταλύοντας; μᾶλλον γὰρ ἔρις καὶ ταραχὴ ἐκ τούτων σὺν ταῖς λοιπαῖς πόλεσι, καὶ τῇ τῶν Ῥωμαίων Ἐκκλησίᾳ γενήσεται. Διὸ δὴ ἱκετεύομεν τὴν σὴν ( ἐπιείκειαν, ἵνα προσηνέσιν ἀκοαῖς, καὶ γαληνιαίῳ βλέμματι, τοὺς ἡμετέρους πρέσβεις ἀθρήσειας· μηδὲ πρὸς ὕβριν τῶν τετελευτηκότων, καινόν τι μεταλλάττειν ἐπιτρέψειας · ἀλλὰ ἑάσεις ἐμμένειν ἡμᾶς τοῖς παρὰ τῶν προγόνων ὁρισθεῖσί τε καὶ νενομοθετημένοις · οὓς ἅπαντα μετὰ ἀγχενοίας τε καὶ φρονήσεως, καὶ Πνεύματος ἁγίου πεποιηκέναι φήσαιμεν ἄν. Τὰ γὰρ νῦν παρ' ἐκείνων καινοτομούμενα, τοῖς μὲν πιστεύουσιν, ἀπιστίαν ἐνεποίει · τοῖς δὲ μὴ πιστεύουσιν, ὠμότητα. Ικετεύομεν δὲ ἔτι, ἵνα κελεύσῃς τοὺς ἐπισκόπους τοὺς ἐν ἀλλοδαπαῖς διατρίβοντας, οὓς καὶ τὸ τῆς ἡλικίας ἐπίπονον, καὶ τὸ τῆς πενίας ἐνδεὲς τρύχει, τὴν εἰς τὰ οἰκεῖα ἀνακομιδὴν ῥᾳδίαν ποιήσασθαι· ἵνα μὴ ἔρημοι, τῶν ἐπισκόπων ἀφωρισμένων, αἱ Ἐκκλησίαι διαμένωσιν. Ἔτι δὲ πρὸς ἅπασι καὶ τοῦτο δεόμεθα, ἵνα μηδὲν μήτε ἐλλείπῃ τῶν προὕπαρξάντων, μήτε πλεονάζῃ· ἀλλὰ πάντα ἄρρηκτα διαμένῃ, ἐκ τῆς τοῦ σοῦ πατρὸς εὐσεβείας εἰς τὸν νῦν χρόνον διαφυλαττόμενα· μήτε λοιπὸν ἡμᾶς μοχθεῖν, καὶ τῶν ἰδίων παροικήσεων ἀλλοτρίους ἐπιτρέψειας γενέσθαι· ἀλλ' ἵνα οἱ ἐπίσκοποι σὺν τῷ ἰδίῳ λαῷ μετ' εἰρήνης εἰς εὐωχίας τε καὶ λατρείας σχολὴν ἄγοιεν, ἱκετεύοντες ὑπὲρ τῆς σῆς σωτηρίας καὶ βασιλείας καὶ εἰρήνης, ἣν ἡ Θεότης σοι εἰς τὸ διηνεκές χαριεῖται. Οἱ δὲ ἡμέτεροι πρέσβεις τὰς τε ὑπογραφὰς, καὶ τὰς τῶν ἐπισκόπων προσηγορίας κομίζουσιν· οἵτινες καὶ ἐξ αὐτῶν τῶν θείων γραμμάτων τὴν σὴν ἀναδιδάξουσι θειότητα. ### English translation (Claude) The synod, putting forward twenty bishops, sent them as envoys. It wrote as follows, translated from the Latin: “We believe that it was by the command of God, and by the order of your Piety, that what was decreed was done. For from all the cities of the West we bishops have all come together to Ariminum, so that the faith of the catholic church might be made known and those who think the contrary might be exposed. As we have found after very long examination, it seemed good to keep the faith that has endured from of old, which the prophets, the Gospels and the apostles proclaimed of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the overseer of your reign and the protector of your health, so that holding it fast we might guard it and keep it to the end. For it seemed absurd and unlawful to change anything of what was rightly and justly defined, and of what was considered in common at Nicaea with the most glorious Constantine, your father and emperor, whose teaching and mind have gone out and been proclaimed to the hearing and understanding of all men. It stands as the adversary and has been the destroyer of the Arian heresy; through it not only that heresy but all the others were overthrown. In it, truly, to add anything is hazardous and to take anything away is dangerous; for if either were done, the enemies would have licence to do what they wish. Therefore Ursacius and Valens, since they had long been sharers and counsellors of the Arian doctrine, were declared separated from our communion; and to share in it again they asked for repentance and pardon for the faults of which they were conscious, as the documents made by them bear witness, through which forbearance was shown to them all and pardon for the charges. The time when this was done was when the council of the synod was being held at Milan, the presbyters of the church of the Romans also being present. We knew too that Constantine, worthy of remembrance after his death, set out the faith composed with all exactness and examination; and since, having been baptized, he departed from men and went to his due peace, it is absurd to innovate anything after him, and to disregard so many holy confessors and martyrs, and those who were the writers and discoverers of the doctrine, who have continued holding everything according to the ancient law of the catholic church. Their faith God has handed on even to the times of your reign, through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom it has been given you so to reign as to rule the world of our part. Yet again these wretched men, pitiable in mind, with lawless daring have proclaimed themselves heralds of an impious opinion, and are trying to overturn the whole system of truth. For when, according to your command, the council of the synod was being held, they too laid bare the design of their own deceit. For they tried, with some cunning and disturbance, to bring forward something new, having found partners in such heterodoxy, Germinius, Auxentius and Gaius, who cause strife and division. Their teaching, not abiding, has surpassed every multitude of blasphemies. When they saw that they were not of the same heresy, nor of one mind in their wrong thinking, they brought themselves over into our council, so as to seem to write something different. But the time was short which exposed their opinions. So, in order that the affairs of the church may not fall into the same troubles, and that turmoil and tumult rolling on may not hold everyone, it seemed secure to keep what was defined of old and unmovable, and that the aforesaid should be separated from our communion. For this reason we have sent envoys to your Clemency to inform you, who will make known the judgment of the council by our letter. We have charged the envoys above all to confirm the truth from what was justly defined of old; they will inform your Holiness that it is not as Ursacius and Valens said, that there will be peace if anything of what is just is overturned. For how can those who destroy peace keep peace? Rather, from them strife and turmoil will arise in the other cities and in the church of the Romans. Therefore we entreat your Clemency to look upon our envoys with gentle ears and a calm countenance, and not to permit anything new to be changed, to the insult of the dead, but to let us remain in what was defined and enacted by our forefathers, who, we would say, did everything with sagacity and understanding and the Holy Spirit. For the innovations they are now making have produced unbelief in those who believe and hardness in those who do not. We entreat further that you order the bishops living in foreign lands, who are worn by the hardship of age and the want of poverty, to be given an easy return to their own homes, so that the churches may not remain bereft, their bishops being cut off. Besides all this we ask also this, that nothing be lacking or added to what existed before, but that everything remain unbroken, as preserved from the piety of your father to the present time; and that you do not permit us to toil any longer and to become strangers to our own dioceses, but that the bishops with their own people may in peace have leisure for festivals and worship, praying for your safety, reign and peace, which the Godhead will grant you for ever. Our envoys bring the signatures and the names of the bishops; they will also inform your Divinity from the divine writings themselves.” ### Extrabiblical texts - Athanasius, Syn. 10 (On the Councils of Ariminum and Seleucia): quotation, high confidence - Hilary, Frag. hist. (Historical Fragments): allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The letter is translated from the Greek version given by Sozomen; it is also in Athanasius, On the Synods 10, Socrates 2.37, and Theodoret 2.19, and the Latin original in Hilary, Historical Fragments. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 4.18 (PG 67:1163–1167; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/4-18). ## Church History 4.19 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/4-19/#p-4-19 - Source: PG 67:1167–1171 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Constantius ignores the envoys of Ariminum; the bishops return home; Sozomen gives two accounts of how the council was later brought to sign the creed of Valens and Ursacius, published at Nice in Thrace to be confused with Nicaea. ### Greek text Τάδε μὲν τῶν ἐν ᾿Αριμίνῳ συνελθόντων τὰ γράμματα. Οἱ δὲ περὶ Οὐρσάκιον καὶ Οὐάλεντα, φθάσαντες τοὺς παρ᾿ αὐτῶν ἀποσταλέντας πρέσβεις, ἐπέδειξαν τῷ βασιλεῖ τὴν γραφὴν ἣν ἀνέγνωσαν, καὶ τὴν σύνοδον διέβαλον. Ὁ δὲ, λυπηθεὶς ἴσως ὅτι μὴ ταύτην προσεδέξαντο τὴν πίστιν, ὡς καὶ αὐτοῦ παρόντος ἐν Σιρμίῳ βεβαιωθεῖσαν, τοὺς μὲν ἐν τιμῇ εἶχε· τῶν δὲ πρέσβεων ἡμέλει, καὶ τῇ προσεδρίᾳ ταλαιπωρούντων ὑπερεώρα. Ὀψὲ δὲ ποτε ἔγραψε τῇ συνόδῳ, παραιτούμενος ὡς ἀναγκαία τις αὐτὸν ἥπειγεν ἡ πρὸς τοὺς βαρβάρους ὁδὸς, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο τοὺς, πρέσβεις ἰδεῖν οὐ δύνηται. Ἐκέλευσε δὲ ἐν ᾿Αδριανοῦ πόλει ἐπανιόντα αὐτὸν ἐπιμεῖναι· ἵν᾿ ἐπειδὰν τὰ κοινὰ πράγματα διατεθείη καλῶς, ἐλεύθερος ὢν φροντίδων, τὰ περὶ τῶν πρέσβεων ἀκούσῃ καὶ δοκιμάσῃ. Προσήκειν γὰρ τὸν περὶ τῶν θείων διαλαμβάνειν μέλλοντα, καθαρὰν ἔχειν τῶν ἄλλων τὴν ψυχήν. Καὶ ὁ μὲν τοιάδε ἔγραψε. Πρὸς ταῦτα δὲ ἡ σύνοδος ἀντεδήλωσεν, ἰσχυριζομένη μηδαμῶς ἀναχωρεῖν τῶν δεδογμένων, καὶ τοῦτο γράψαι, καὶ τοῖς πρέσβεσιν ἐντείλασθαι. Καὶ ἀντιβολεῖ μετ' εὐνοίας αὐτοὺς ἰδεῖν, καὶ ὧν ἐνετείλατο δι᾿ αὐτῶν ἐπακοῦσαι, καὶ τὰ γραφέντα ἀναγνῶναι. Χαλεπὸν γὰρ καὶ αὐτῷ φανεῖσθαι, τοσαύτας Ἐκκλησίας χωρὶς ἐπισκόπων εἶναι ἐν καιρῷ τῆς αὐτοῦ βασιλείας. Χρῆναι δὲ, εἰ καὶ αὐτῷ συνδοκεῖ, εἰς τὰς αὐτῶν ἐκκλησίας πρὸ τοῦ χειμῶνος ἐπανελθεῖν. Τοιαῦτα γράψαντες, καὶ ὡς εἰκὸς ἦν, ἐν ἱκεσίας τάξει καὶ ὀνόματι τὴν ἐπιστολὴν συντάξαντες, ὀλίγον χρόνον ἐπέμειναν. Ὡς δὲ οὐδὲν αὐτοῖς ἀντεδήλωσεν, ἐπὶ τὰς αὐτῶν ἀνεχώρησαν πό λεις. Ὡς μὲν οὖν ἐξ ἀρχῆς τοῖς ἐν Νικαίᾳ δόξασι καὶ οἱ ἐν Ἀριμήνῳ συνελθόντες ἐψηφίσαντο, μαρτυρεῖ ( τὰ εἰρημένα. Ῥητέον δὲ νῦν ὅπως ὕστερον συνήνεσαν τῇ προκομισθείσῃ γραφῇ παρὰ τῶν ἀμφὶ Οὐάλεντα καὶ Οὐρσάκιον. Διάφορος δὲ λόγος περὶ τούτου εἰς ἐμὲ ἦλθεν. Οἱ μὲν γάρ φασι, πρόφασιν ὕβρεως βασιλέα ποιησάμενον τὴν παρὰ γνώμην αὐτοῦ ἐξ ᾿Αριμήνου τῶν ἐπισκόπων ἀποδημίαν, ἐπιτρέψαι Οὐάλεντι καὶ τοῖς σὺν αὐτῷ, ᾗ ἂν θέλωσι τὰς πρὸς δύσιν Ἐκκλησίας διοικεῖν, καὶ τὴν ἀναγνωσθεῖσαν ἐν ᾿Αριμήνῳ πίστιν ἐκδιδόναι · τοὺς δὲ ὑπογράφειν ταύτῃ παραιτουμένους ἐκβάλλειν τῶν Ἐκκλησιῶν· ἀντὶ δὲ τούτων, ἑτέρους χειροτονεῖν. ᾿Αδείας δὲ ἐντεῦθεν λαβομένους, βιάσασθαι ταύτῃ τῇ πίστει ὑπογράψαι· πολλοὺς δὲ μὴ πειθομένους διῶξαι τῶν Ἐκκλησιῶν, καὶ πρῶτον Λιβέριον τὸν Ῥωμαίων ἐπίσκοπον. Ἐπεὶ δὲ τάδε τοῖς κατὰ τὴν Ἰταλίαν ἔπραξαν, βουλεύσασθαι καὶ τὰς ἀνὰ τὴν Ἕω Ἐκκλησίας τὸν ἴσον διαθεῖναι τρόπον. Διιόντας δὲ τὴν Θράκην, παραγενέσθαι εἰς Νίκην, πόλιν τοῦδε τοῦ ἔθνους· καὶ συνέδριον ἐνθάδε καθίσαντες, τὴν ἀναγνωσθεῖσαν ἐν ᾿Αριμήνῳ γραφὴν εἰς Ἑλλάδα μεταβαλεῖν φωνὴν, καὶ δημοσιεύσαντες βεβαιῶσαι · καὶ λογοποιεῖν, ὡς ὑπὸ τῆς οἰκουμενικῆς συνόδου, ἡ ἐν Νίκῃ πίστις ὑπηγορεύθη καὶ ἐδοξάσθη. Ἐπιτηδὲς δὲ τάδε ἐν Νίκῃ πρᾶξαι, καὶ ὧδε ἐπευφημῆσαι, ὥστε τοὺς ἁπλουστέρους ῥᾳδίως πείθεσθαι ταύτῃ τῇ πίστει συναινεῖν, τῷ παραπλησίῳ τῶν ὀνομάτων ἀπατωμένους, καὶ οἰομένους ταύτην εἶναι τὴν ἐν Νικαία βεβαιωθεῖσαν γραφήν. Ταῦτα μὲν ὧδε λέγουσιν. Οἱ δὲ φασιν, ὡς τῆς ἐν ᾿Αριμήνῳ συνόδου τῇ προσεδρίᾳ ταλαιπωρουμένης, ὡς τοῦ βασιλέως μὴ ἀποκρίσεως ἀξιοῦντος τοὺς ἐπισκόπους, μήτε ἀναχωρεῖν συγχωροῦντος, οἱ ἀπὸ τῆς ἐναντίας αἱρέσεως σπουδασταὶ, καθῆκάν τινας συμβουλεύοντας, ὡς οὐκ ἄξιον ἑνὸς ὀνόματος τοῦ τῆς οὐσίας ἕνεκα διαφέρεσθαι τοὺς πανταχοῦ ἱερέας - ἐξὸν ὅμοιον τῷ Πατρὶ τὸν Υἱὸν λέγειν, καὶ τὰς ἀφορ - μὰς τῆς ἔριδος ἀνελεῖν. Ὡς τῶν ἀνὰ τὴν Ἕω οὔποτε ἡσυχασόντων, εἰ μὴ τὸ τῆς οὐσίας ὄνομα περιαιρε· θείη. Τοιαῦτα δὲ κομψευομένων τῶν διαλλακτῶν. πεισθῆναι τὴν σύνοδον συναινέσαι τῇ σπουδασθείση συγγραφῇ τοῖς ἀμφὶ τὸν Οὐρσάκιον. Δείσαντας δὲ τούτους, μὴ παραγενόμενοι οἱ παρὰ τῆς συνόδου ἀποσταλέντες πρὸς βασιλέα πρέσβεις, δήλην ποιήσωσι τῶν δυτικῶν ἐπισκόπων τὴν ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἔνστασιν, καὶ τὴν αἰτίαν τῆς τοῦ ὁμοουσίου ἀναιρέσεως, ἐπισχεῖν τοὺς πρέσβεις ἐν Νίκῃ τῆς Θράκης, διὰ χειμῶνα καὶ ταλαιπωρίαν τῶν δημοσίων νωτοφόρων, προφασισαμένους μὴ ῥᾳδίαν ἔσεσθαι τὴν ὁδοιπορίαν · πεῖσαι δὲ τὴν ἀναγνωσθεῖσαν παρ᾿ αὐτῶν γραφὴν, ἐκ τῆς Ῥωμαίων μεταφράσαι φωνῆς, καὶ Ἑλληνιστὶ συντεθεῖσαν ἐκπέμψαι τοῖς ἀνὰ τὴν Ἕω ἐπισκόποις· οὕτω γὰρ συμβήσεσθαι, τὴν μὲν γραφὴν κατορθοῦν αὐτοῖς τὸ σπουδαζόμενον κατὰ σκοπὸν συγκειμένην· μὴ φωραθήσεσθαι δὲ τὸν δόλον ἀπὸ τῶν ἐλεγχόντων, (ὡς οὐχ ἑκόντες οἱ ἐν Ἀριμήνῳ τοῦ ὀνόματος τῆς οὐσίας ἀπέστησαν, ἀλλὰ διὰ τὴν εἰς τοὺς ἀνατολικοὺς σκῆψιν, ὡς ἀποστρεφομένους τὸ ὄνομα. Ὅπερ ψεῦδος περιφανῶς ἐτύγχανε· πάντες γὰρ πλὴν ὀλίγων, καὶ κατ᾿ οὐσίαν ὅμοιον εἶναι τῷ Πατρὶ τὸν Υἱὸν ἰσχυρίζοντο· διεφέροντο δὲ μόνον, οἱ μὲν ὁμοούσιον, οἱ δὲ ὁμοιοούσιον, τὸν Υἱὸν ὀνομάζοντες. Ταῦτα οἱ μὲν οὕτως, οἱ δὲ ἐκείνως ἐροῦσιν. ### English translation (Claude) Such was the letter of those who met at Ariminum. Ursacius's and Valens's party, arriving before the envoys sent by the synod, showed the emperor the document they had read and slandered the synod. He, grieved perhaps that they had not accepted this faith, since it had been confirmed in his own presence at Sirmium, held them in honour, but neglected the envoys and disregarded them as they wore themselves out waiting. At length he wrote to the synod, excusing himself on the ground that an urgent journey against the barbarians pressed him, and for this reason he could not see the envoys; and he ordered them to wait at Adrianople for his return, so that, when public affairs had been well settled, he might, free of cares, hear and examine the envoys' business; for one who is going to deal with divine matters ought to have his soul free of other things. So he wrote. To this the synod replied, insisting that it would in no way depart from what had been decided, that it had written this and charged its envoys accordingly; and it begged him to see them kindly, to hear what it had charged them, and to read what had been written; for he too would find it grievous that so many churches should be without bishops in the time of his reign; and they ought, if he agreed, to return to their churches before winter. Having written this, composing the letter, as was fitting, in the form and language of a petition, they waited a short time; and when he made no reply, they withdrew to their cities. That those who met at Ariminum voted from the beginning for what had been decided at Nicaea, what has been said bears witness. It must now be told how they later agreed to the document brought forward by Valens's and Ursacius's party. Different accounts of this have come to me. Some say that the emperor, making the departure of the bishops from Ariminum against his will a pretext for insult, allowed Valens and those with him to govern the churches of the West as they wished, to publish the faith that had been read at Ariminum, to expel from the churches those who refused to sign it, and to ordain others in their place; and that, taking licence from this, they forced people to sign this faith, and drove from the churches many who would not comply, Liberius, bishop of the Romans, first of all. When they had done this to those in Italy, they planned to arrange the churches of the East in the same way. Passing through Thrace, they came to Nice, a city of that province; holding a council there, they translated the document read at Ariminum into Greek, published it and confirmed it, and spread the story that the faith of Nice had been dictated and approved by the ecumenical synod. They did this at Nice on purpose, and gave it this name, so that the simpler might readily be persuaded to assent to this faith, deceived by the similarity of the names and thinking it the document confirmed at Nicaea. So say some. Others say that when the synod of Ariminum was worn out by waiting, since the emperor neither deigned to answer the bishops nor allowed them to leave, those zealous for the opposite sect sent in certain people to advise them that it was not worth while for the priests everywhere to quarrel over one word, that of essence, when they could say the Son is like the Father and remove the grounds of strife; for those in the East would never be quiet unless the name of essence were removed. When these mediators had made such clever arguments, the synod was persuaded to agree to the document pressed by Ursacius's party. These, fearing that the envoys sent by the synod to the emperor would arrive and make known the original resistance of the Western bishops and the reason for removing the “same essence,” detained the envoys at Nice in Thrace, alleging that because of the winter and the hardships of the public pack animals the journey would not be easy; and they persuaded them to translate the document they had read from Latin, put it into Greek, and send it to the bishops in the East. For in this way the document, composed to suit their purpose, would achieve what they were aiming at, while the deceit would not be detected by those who might refute it, namely that those at Ariminum had not departed from the name of essence willingly, but on the pretext concerning the Easterners, as though these rejected the name. This was plainly false; for all except a few maintained that the Son is like the Father in essence too; they differed only in that some called the Son of the same essence, others of like essence. Some will tell these things one way and some another. ### Extrabiblical texts - Athanasius, Syn. 30 (On the Councils of Ariminum and Seleucia): allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - A fragment of Valesius's chapter title (“… exile of high priests; and about the synod at Nice; and why the synod at Ariminum was held”) stood at the head of the section and has been removed. The creed of Nike (Nice) in Thrace dates from October 359. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 4.19 (PG 67:1167–1171; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/4-19). ## Church History 4.20 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/4-19/#p-4-20 - Source: PG 67:1171–1175 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Macedonius, with Marathonius and Eleusius, persecutes the supporters of homoousios; the Novatians move their church from Pelargus to Sycae (later rebuilt as Anastasia), and Novatians and catholics nearly unite. ### Greek text Ἐν ᾧ δὲ τὰ περὶ Ἰταλίαν, ὡς εἴρηται, ἐγίνετο, πρὶν συστῆσαι τὴν ἐν Σελευκείᾳ σύνοδον, μέγισται αὶ ταραχαὶ κατὰ τὴν Ἕω συνέβησαν. Οἱ μὲν γὰρ ἀμφὶ ᾿Ακάκιον καὶ Πατρόφιλον, ἀφελόμενοι Μάξιμον, τὴν Ἱεροσολύμων Ἐκκλησίαν Κυρίλλῳ ἐπέτρεψαν. Μαχκεδόνιος δὲ τὴν Κωνσταντινούπολιν, τὰς πέριξ πόλεις ἑτάραττεν’ ὡς ἤρξατο χειροτονεῖν ὁ Μαχά, συλλαμθανομένους ἔχων ᾿Ελεύσιον Μαραθώνιον. Ὧν τὸν μὲν ἤδη πρότερον διακόνου τῆς ὑπ᾽ αὐτὸν Ἐκκλησίας, σπουδαῖον ἐπίτροπον πτωχείων τε μοναχικῶν συνοικιῶν ἀνδρῶν τε γυναικῶν, ἐπίσκοπον Νικομηδέων κατέστησεν Ἐλεύ.σιον δὲ Κυζίκου, οὐχ ἀσήμως ἐν τοῖς βασιλείοις στρατευσάμενον. "Ἄμφω δέ φασιν ἀγαθὼ γενέσθαι τὸν βίον σπουδαίω δὲ χαχῶσαι τοὺς ὁμοούσιον τῷ Πατρὶ τὸν Υἱὸν δοξάζοντας, ἀλλ᾽ οὐχ ἁπλῶς οὕτως ὡς Μαχεδόνιος. Οὗτος γὰρ οὐ μόνον ἤλαυνε τοὺς τουμένους αὐτῷ κοινωνεῖν, ἀλλὰ δεσμώτας ἐποίει, δικασταῖς παρεδίδου " τοὺς ὃὲ καὶ ἄκοντας κοινωνεῖν ἐδιάζετο, παῖδάς τε γυναῖκας ἀμνήτους ἁρπάζων, ἐμυσταγώγει. Οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ πολλὰς. πολλαχῇ Ἐκκλησίας καθεῖλε, βασιλέως πρόσταγμα προϊσχόμενος, καθαιρεῖσθαι προστάττον τοὺς εὐκτηρίους οἴκους τῶν ὁμοούσιον τῷ. Πατρὶ τὸν Υἱὸν εἶνα! ἰσχυριζομένων. δὴ τῆς τοιαύτης αἰτίας, καὶ ἡ ποὺς τῷ καλουμένῳ Πελαργῷ ἐν Κωνσταντίνου πόλει Ναυατιανῶν ἐκκλησία χαθηρέθη. Ἡνίκα δὴ λέγετα! τοὺς ἀπὸ ταύτης τῆς αἱρέσεως, ἀνδρεῖον ἔργον ἐργάσασθαι" ἴσως δὲ καὶ οἱ ἀπὸ τῆς καθόλου Ἐκκλησίας ὡς ὀμόφροσι συνελάβοντο. Ἐπιταττόντων γὰρ οἷς οἱ τοῦτο προστέταχτο λύειν τοῦτον τὸν πανοικὶ αὶ συνελθόντες, οἱ μὲν τὰς ὕλας χατέθαλλον " δὲ εἰς τὰς ἀντίπεραν Συχᾶς μετεχόμιζον καὶ ἐν τάχει πέἡ σπουδὴ ἔσχεν " ἐκοινώνουν γὰρ τοῦ ἔργον μόνον ἄνδρες, ἀλλὰ γυναῖκες καὶ παῖδες " ἔκαστος γὰρ αὐτῶν, Θεῷ τὸ ἔργον προσφέρων, ὑπερφυῶς προὐθυμεῖτο ὑπὸ τοιαύτης δὲ σπουδῆς τὸν ἶσον τρόἢδε ἡ ἐκκλησία ἀνενεώθη, τὸ ἐξ ἐκείνου τοῦ συμβάντος, ᾿Αναστασία ὠνόμασται, Τελευτήσαν: τος γὰρ Κωνσταντίου, διαδεξάμενος Ἰουλιανὸς τὴν βασιλείαν, τὸν τόπον τοῖς Ναυατιανοῖς ἀπέδωκε, καὶ τὴν ἐκκλησίαν οἰκοδομῆσαι ἑπέτρεψεν. Ὁ καὶ ἐγέ νετο, τοῦ λαοῦ προθύμως συλλαβομένου, καὶ τὰς αὐτὰς ὅλας ἐκ τῶν Συκῶν μετακομίσαντος. Καὶ τὰ μὲν ὕστερον ὧδε ἔσχεν. Ἐν δὲ τῷ τότε, μικροῦ Ναυατιανοὶ καὶ οἱ ἀπὸ τῆς καθόλου Ἐκκλησίας ἡνώ θησαν· ὁμοίως γὰρ περὶ τὸ Θεῖον δοξάζοντες, καὶ κοινῇ ἐλαυνόμενοι, καὶ ἐν ὁμοίαις συμφοραῖς ὄντες, εὔνοι ἀλλήλοις ἦσαν· καὶ εἰς ταὐτὸν συνῄεσάν τε, καὶ συνηύχοντο· τοῖς γὰρ ἀπὸ τῆς καθόλου Ἐκκλησίας εὐκτήριος οὐκ ἦν οἶκος, ἀλλὰ πάντες πρὸς τῶν τὰ ᾿Αρείου φρονούντων ἀφήρηντο · καὶ ὡς εἰκὸς, ἐκ τῆς συνεχοῦς ὁμιλίας μάτην διαφέρεσθαι πρὸς σφᾶς λογισάμενοι, λο κοινωνεῖν ἀλλήλοις ἐβουλεύοντο. Καὶ δὴ τοῦτο ἐγεγόνει, εἰ μὴ βασκανία ὀλίγων, οἶμαι, τὴν τοῦ πλήθους προθυμίαν ἔβλαψεν, ἀρχαῖον εἶναι λόγου ### English translation (Claude) While events in Italy were taking place as described, before the synod at Seleucia met, very great disturbances occurred in the East. Acacius's and Patrophilus's party removed Maximus and entrusted the church of Jerusalem to Cyril. Macedonius, holding Constantinople, troubled the surrounding cities, when he began to ordain, having Eleusius and Marathonius as helpers. Marathonius, formerly a deacon of his church and a zealous administrator of the poor-houses and the monastic communities of men and women, he made bishop of Nicomedia; and Eleusius, who had served with distinction in the palace, bishop of Cyzicus. They say that both were good in their lives, but zealous in ill-treating those who held the Son to be of the same essence as the Father, though not so simply as Macedonius. For he not only drove out those who refused to communicate with him, but imprisoned them and handed them over to judges; others he forced to communicate against their will, seizing uninitiated children and women and initiating them. Moreover he pulled down many churches in many places, putting forward an imperial order commanding that the houses of prayer of those who maintained that the Son is of the same essence as the Father be pulled down. For this reason the church of the Novatians at the place called Pelargus in Constantinople was also pulled down. It is said that on this occasion those of this sect did a brave deed, and perhaps those of the catholic church helped them as being of the same mind. For when those who had been ordered to demolish it gave orders, they came together with their whole households; some took down the timbers, others carried them across to Sycae opposite; and quickly the work was done, for not only men took part, but women and children, each offering the work to God and exceedingly eager. With the same zeal this church was rebuilt in the same way, and from that event has been named Anastasia. For when Constantius died, Julian, succeeding to the empire, gave back the site to the Novatians and allowed them to build the church; this was done, the people helping eagerly and bringing back the same timbers from Sycae. These things happened later. At that time the Novatians and those of the catholic church were almost united. For holding the same views about the Divine, being driven out together and being in the same misfortunes, they were well disposed to each other; they met together and prayed together, since those of the catholic church had no house of prayer, all having been taken away by those who held the views of Arius; and, naturally, reasoning from their constant intercourse that they differed with each other in vain, they planned to communicate with each other. And this would have happened, I think, had not the jealousy of a few, who said that there was an ancient …, harmed the eagerness of the many. ### Translation notes - A fragment of Valesius's chapter title (“… of the Novatians, how it was moved; and how they communicated with the orthodox”) stood at the head of the section and has been removed. The text of the scan breaks off at the end (“an ancient …”); Socrates (2.38) says that the few objected that an ancient law forbade the union. A displaced phrase (“claiming to refuse to do this”) printed in the middle of a sentence about Julian has been removed as out of place. The forced baptism of children and women by Macedonius's party is reported as Sozomen gives it. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 4.20 (PG 67:1171–1175; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/4-20). ## Church History 4.21 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/4-19/#p-4-21 - Source: PG 67:1175–1177 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Eleusius destroys the Novatian church at Cyzicus; troops sent by Macedonius are massacred by the Novatians of Mantinium; Macedonius's removal of Constantine's coffin causes a bloody riot and turns Constantius against him; Julian is made Caesar. ### Greek text Κατὰ δὲ τοῦτον τὸν χρόνον, καὶ Ἐλεύσιος τὴν ἐν Κυζίκῳ ἐκκλησίαν Ναυατιανῶν ἄρδην καθεῖλε. Τούτων δὲ τῶν κακῶν ἐς τὰ μάλιστα μετέσχον οἱ Μαντίνειον οἰκοῦντες, καὶ ἄλλοι Παφλαγόνες. Μαθὼν γὰρ Μακεδόνιος τοὺς πλείους ἐνθάδε τὰ Ναυάτου φρονεῖν, μὴ ἱκανούς τε μόνους εἶναι τούτους τοὺς ἐκκλησιαστικοὺς ἀπελαύνειν, ἔπεισε τὸν βασιλέα τέσσαρα τάγματα τῶν στρατιωτῶν ἐκπέμψαι τούτου χάριν. Ὧδε γὰρ ᾤετο ἀνθρώπους ἀήθεις ὅπλων, εἰ ὁπλίτας θεάσοιντο, δείσαντας εὐθὺς πρὸς τὴν αὐτοῦ δόξαν μεταθήσεσθαι. Τὸ δὲ ἄλλως ἀπέβη. Τὸ γὰρ ἐκ τοῦ Μαντι νείου πλῆθος γενόμενοι, δρεπάναις τε καὶ πελέκεσι, καὶ ἄλλως ᾗ ἔτυχεν, ἕκαστος σφᾶς ὁπλίσαντες, συνέμιξαν τοῖς στρατιώταις. Καρτερᾶς δὲ μάχης γενομένης, πίπτουσι Παφλαγόνων μὲν πλεῖστοι · τῶν δὲ στρατιωτῶν σχεδὸν πάντες. Ἐντεῦθεν ὡς τηλιχούτων συμφορῶν αἴτιον ὄντα Μακεδόνιον, πολλοὶ τῶν - ἐπιτηδείων ἐμέμφοντο. Ἀποστραφεὶς δὲ καὶ ὁ βασιλεὺς, οὐκέτι ὑγιῶς πρὸς αὐτὸν εἶχεν. Ἐπεγένετο γὰρ καὶ μείζονος ἀπεχθείας πρόφασις τοιάδες Κωνσταντίνου τοῦ βασιλεύσαντος τὴν θήκην ἐβούλετο Μακεδόνιος ἑτέρωθι μεταφέρειν, Ἠπείλει γὰρ πτῶσιν ὁ ταύτην καλύπτων οἶκος. Τοῦ δὲ λαοῦ, οἱ μὲν ὧδε γενέσθαι συνεχώρουν οἱ δὲ ἀντεῖχον, ἀνόσιον εἶναι: ἡγούμενοι, τῷ ἀνορύττειν ὅμοιον. Συνελαμβάνοντο δὲ τούτοις οἱ τὸ δόγμα τῆς ἐν Νικαίᾳ συνόδου πρεσβεύοντες, μήτε ὑθρίζεσθαι Κωνσταντίνου τὸ σῶμα ὡς ὁμοδόξου ἀνεχόμενοι, καὶ Μακεδονίῳ, οἶμαι, ἐναντίοι εἶναι σπουδάζοντες. ᾿Αλλ᾽ ὁ μὲν μηδὲν μελῆσας, μετεχόμισε τὴν θήκην εἰς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν, ἐν ἧ ᾿Ακακίου τοῦ μάρτυράς ἐστιν ὁ τάφος. Τὸ δὲ πλῆθος, οἱ μὲν τὸ γεγονὸς ἐπαινοῦντες, οἱ δὲ, μεμφόμενοι, κατ᾽ αὐτὴν τὴν ἐκκλησίαν εἰς ἀλλήλους ἐτράπησαν. Καὶ τελευτῶντες, αὐτόν τε τὸν εὐκτήριον οἶχον τὸν πέριξ χῶρον αἱμάτων φόνων ἐνἔπλησαν. Ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς ἔτι διάγων ἐν τῇ πρὸς δύσιν ἀρχομένῃ, τάδε μαθὼν ἐχαλέπαινς " καὶ ὡς ὑδρισμένου τοῦ πατρὸς, τῶν περὶ τὸν λαὸν ἀτυχημάτων, ἐπητιᾶτο Μαχεδόγιον, καὶ δι᾽ ὀργῆς εἶχε " βουλευσάμενος δὲ τὴν καταλαβεῖν, εἴχετο τῆς ὁδοῦ. καλεσάμενος δὲ Ἰουλιανὸν τὸν ἀνεψιὸν, Καίσαρα κατέστησε, καὶ εἰς τοὺς πρὸς δύτιν Γαλάτας πέπομφεν. ### English translation (Claude) About this time Eleusius too pulled down entirely the church of the Novatians at Cyzicus. Those who lived in Mantinium, and other Paphlagonians, shared most in these evils. For Macedonius, learning that most people there held the views of Novatus, and that the churchmen alone were not enough to drive them out, persuaded the emperor to send four companies of soldiers for this purpose; for he thought that people unaccustomed to arms, if they saw soldiers, would be frightened and at once change to his opinion. But it turned out otherwise. The people of Mantinium armed themselves, each as he could, with sickles, axes and whatever came to hand, and engaged the soldiers. A fierce battle took place, and very many of the Paphlagonians fell, and almost all the soldiers. From then on many of his friends blamed Macedonius as the cause of such great calamities; and the emperor too turned against him and was no longer well disposed toward him. A pretext for greater hostility arose as follows. Macedonius wished to move the coffin of the emperor Constantine elsewhere, since the building that covered it threatened to collapse. Of the people, some agreed to this, others opposed it, thinking it impious, like digging up a grave. Those who upheld the doctrine of the synod of Nicaea joined these, not enduring that the body of Constantine, who had been of their opinion, should be insulted, and eager, I think, to oppose Macedonius. But he, paying no heed, moved the coffin to the church in which is the tomb of Acacius the martyr. The people, some praising what had been done and others blaming it, turned on one another in the church itself, and in the end filled the house of prayer itself and the area round it with blood and slaughter. The emperor, still staying in the western part of the empire, was angry when he learned of this; and as though his father had been insulted, he blamed Macedonius for the misfortunes of the people and was enraged with him. Having decided to go to Constantinople, he set out on the journey, and calling his cousin Julian, he made him Caesar and sent him to the western Gauls. ### Translation notes - The riot over Constantine's coffin is dated to 359. Julian was made Caesar in 355; Sozomen's ordering here is not strictly chronological. The name of the destination (“Constantinople”) is lost in the scan; it is given from the sense. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 4.21 (PG 67:1175–1177; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/4-21). ## Church History 4.22 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/4-19/#p-4-22 - Source: PG 67:1177–1185 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: At the council of Seleucia (359) the majority, led by George of Laodicea, Eleusius and Sophronius, uphold the Dedication Creed of Antioch against Acacius's party, which proposes a creed saying only that the Son is like the Father; the majority depose Acacius, Eudoxius, George of Alexandria and others. ### Greek text Ἐν τούτῳ δὲ οἱ ἀπὸ τῆς ἐπίσκοποι ἀμφὶ τὸν ἑξήκοντα ὄντες, εἰς Σελεύκειαν τὴν παρὰ Ἰσαύροις συνῆλθον, “Ἔτος δὲ ἣν ἐν ᾧ ὑπάτευεν Εὐσέτε Ὑπάτιος - συνεληλύθει δὲ αὐτοῖς Λεωνᾶς, ὁ ἐν ἀξιώματι λαμπρῶς ἐν τοῖς βασιλείοις στρατευόμενος. προστάγματος Κωνσταντίου τῇ συνόδῳ παρῆν, ὥστε ἐπ᾽ αὐτοῦ γενέσθαι τὴν περὶ τοῦ δόγματος πίστιν. Παρῆν δὲ καὶ Λαυρίκιος, ὁ τῶν στρατιωτῶν τοῦ ἔθνους ἡγεμὼν, εἴ δέοι παρασχενάσων " ὑπουργεῖν γὰρ αὐτῷ βασιλέως ἐπέταττε γράμματα. Κατὰ δὲ τὸν πρῶτον σύλλογον ἀπολιμπάνοντᾶι ἕτεροί τέ τινες ἐπίσκοποι, καὶ Πατρόφιλος ὁ Σκυθοπόλεως, καὶ Μακεδόνιος ὁ Κωνσταντίνου πόλέως, καὶ Βασίλειος ὁ ᾿Αγκύρας. Πρόφασις δὲ γέγονε τοῖς μὲν ἄλλοις ἄλλη Πατροφίλῳ δὲ ὀφθαλμία, Μακεδονίῳ νόσος. Ὑπόνοια δὲ ἣν, ὡς δεδιότες ἐγκλήμᾶτα κατηγόρων, οὐ παρεγένοντο τότε παραιτουμένων δὲ τῶν ἄλλων διὰ τὴν τούτων ἀπουσίαν, ἑτάξειν τὰ ἀμφίβολα, καὶ οὕτως ἐκέλευσε Λεωνᾶς τὰς ζητήσεις κινεῖν. Ἐντεῦθεν οἱ πρότερον τὰ, δόγμα ἐξετάζειν οἱ δὲ, τοὺς βίους ἀνακρίνειν τῶν κατηγορουμένων ἐν αὐτοῖς ὧν ἣν Κύριλλος Ἱεροσο, καὶ Εὐστάθιος ὁ Σεδαστείας, ἀναγκαῖον γον. Πρόφασιν δὲ αὐτοῖς βασιλέως ἐδίδου γράμπῇ μὲν τοῦτο, πῆ δὲ ἐκεῖνο δηλοῦντα. Ἐχ ταύτης δὲ τῆς ἔριδος ἀρξάμενοι, οὐκέτι ὑγιῶς πρὸς ἀλλήλους εἶχον, ἀλλ᾽ εἰς δύο διῃρέθησαν. Ἐκράτει δὲ ὅμως, πρότερον περὶ τοῦ δόγματος τὴν διάλεξιν ποιεῖσθαι. Ἐπεὶ δὲ εἰς τοὺς τοιούτους καθίσταντο λόγους, τοῖς μὲν ἐδόκει παντελῶς τὸ τῆς οὐσίας ἀνελεῖν ὄνομα, προῖσχομένοις τὴν πίστιν ἦν οὐ πρὸ πολλοῦ κατὰ τὸ Σίρμιον ὁ Μάρκος συνέθηκε, κατεδέξαντο δὲ οἱ παρατυχόντες ἐν τῷ στρατοπέδῳ, μεθ' ὧν ἦν καὶ Βασίλειος ὁ τῆς ᾿Αγκύρας ἐπίσκοπος. Τοῖς δὲ πλείοσιν ἐσπουδάζετο ἡ ἐκτεθεῖσα πίστις ἐπὶ τῇ τελεσιουργίᾳ τῆς ᾿Αντιοχέων Ἐκκλησίας. Προΐσταντο δὲ μάλιστα τῆς προτέρας γνώμης Εὐδόξιος, καὶ Ἀκάκιος, καὶ Πατρόφιλος, καὶ Γεώργιος ὁ ᾿Αλεξανδρείας, καὶ Οὐράνιος ὁ Τύρου, καὶ ἕτεροι τριάκοντα δύο. Τῆς δὲ δευτέρας, Γεώργιος ὁ Λαοδικείας τῆς Συρίας, καὶ Ἐλεύσιος ὁ Κυζίκου, καὶ Σωφρόνιος ὁ Πομπηΐου πόλεως τῆς Παφλαγόνος, οἷς οἱ πλείους εἴποντο. Ὑπενοοῦντο δὲ οἱ ἀμφὶ ᾿Ακάκιον ἐπίτηδες πρὸς τοὺς ἄλλους περὶ τὸ δόγμα διαφέρεσθαι, καὶ προφάσει ταύτῃ τὰς κατ᾿ αὐτῶν εὐθύνας ἀναιρεῖν · καθότι πρὸν δι' ὧν ἔγραψαν Μακεδονίῳ τῷ Κωνσταντινουπόλεως ἐπισκόπῳ, συνομολογήσαντες κατὰ πάντα ὅμοιον εἶναι τῷ Πατρὶ τὸν Υἱὸν, καὶ τῆς αὐτῆς οὐσίας, ἀνέδην νῦν ἀπεμάχοντο ταῖς προτέραις όμολογίαις. Ἐριστικῶς δὲ πολλῶν κινηθέντων, οὐκ ἀνεκτὸν εἶναι ἀνεβόησε Σιλβανὸς ὁ Ταρσοῦ ἐπίσκοπος, καινὴν ἑτέρας πίστεως ἐπεισάγειν γραφὴν παρὰ τὴν ἐν ᾿Αντιοχείᾳ δοκιμασθεῖσαν · ταύτην δὲ μόνην χρῆναι κρατεῖν. Ἐπὶ τούτῳ δὲ χαλεπῶς ἐνεγκόντες οἱ ἀμφὶ Ἀκάκιον, ἐξανέστησαν· οἱ δὲ ἕτερο:, τότε μὲν ἀνέγνωσαν τὰ ἐν ᾿Αντιοχείᾳ δόξαντα. Τῇ δὲ ὑστεραίᾳ συνελθόντες ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ, τὰς θύρας ἀπέκλεισαν καὶ καθ' ἑαυτοὺς γενόμενοι, ἐπεψηφίσαντο τούτους. ᾿Ακάκιος δὲ τὰ μὲν οὕτω γενόμενα διέβαλλεν · ἰδίᾳ δὲ Λεωνᾷ καὶ Λαυρικίῳ τὴν σπουδαζομένην αὐτῷ γραφὴν ἐπέδειξε. Τρίτῃ δὲ πάλιν ἡμέρᾳ, οἱ μὲν ἄλλοι συνῆλθον, Μακεδόνιός τε καὶ Βασίλειος οἱ πρὶν ἀπολειφθέντες. ᾿Ακάκιος δὲ καὶ οἱ ἀμφ᾿ αὐτὸν οὐκ ἠξίουν τοῦ συλλόγου κοινωνεῖν, εἰ μὴ πρότερον ἐξέλθωσιν οἱ πρὸς αὐτῶν καθῃρημένοι καὶ κατηγορηθέντες· καὶ τοῦτο ἐγένετο. Συνεχώρουν γὰρ οἱ ἀπὸ τοῦ ἑτέρου μέρους, ὑπολαβόντες ᾿Ακάκιον ταύτην πρόφασιν θηρᾶσθαι διαλῦσαι τὴν σύνοδον, ὡς καὶ τὴν ᾿Αετίου αἵρεσιν τὴν πάροῦσαν ἐξέτασιν διαφυγεῖν, καὶ σφᾶς αὐτοὺς τὰς εὐθύνας τῶν κατηγορουμένων. Ἐπεὶ δὲ πάντες παρῆσαν, βιβλίον ἔφη Λεωνᾶς ἔχειν, ἐπιδοθὲν παρὰ τῶν ἀμφὶ ᾿Ακάκιον · τὸ δὲ, πίστεως ἦν γραφὴ σὺν προοιμίῳ τινί · καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους ἐλάνθανεν. Ἑκὼν γὰρ τοῦτο καὶ Λεωνᾶς ἀπεκρύψατο, τὰ ᾿Ακακίου φρονῶν. Ὡς δὲ ἀνεγνώσθη, θορύβου πλήρης ὁ σύλλογος γέγονεν. Ἐδήλου γὰρ, ὡς βασιλέως προςτάξαντος μηδὲν ἐπεισάγειν τῇ πίστει παρὰ τὰς ἱερὰς Γραφὰς, ἐπαγόμενοί τινες τοὺς καθῃρημένους ἐκ διαφόρων ἐθνῶν, καὶ τοὺς παρανόμως ἐπισκόπους καταστάντας, ἐτάραξαν τὴν σύνοδον· καὶ τοὺς μὲν αὐτῶν ὕβρισαν· τοὺς δὲ λαλεῖν οὐ συνεχώρησαν. Σφᾶς δὲ, τὴν ἐκτεθεῖσαν πίστιν ἐν ᾿Αντιοχείᾳ μὴ ἀποφυγεῖν, εἰ καὶ πρὸς τὴν τότε συμβᾶσαν ζήτησιν, οἱ συνελθόντες ἐκεῖσε ταύτην τὴν γραφὴν εἰσηγήσαντο. Ἐπεὶ δὲ τὸ ὁμοούσιον, καὶ τὸ ὁμοιοούσιον εἰσέτι νῦν πολλοὺς θορυβεῖ, ἀρτίως δὲ καινοτομεῖν τινες ἐπιχειροῦσι τὸ ἀνόμοιον τοῦ Υἱοῦ πρὸς τὸν Πατέρα · διὰ τοῦτο τὸ μὲν ὁμοούσιον καὶ τὸ ὁμοιοούσιον ἐκβάλλειν χρεών, ὡς ἀλλότριον Γραφῶν· ἀποκηρύττειν δὲ τὸ ἀνόμοιον· τὸ δὲ ὅμοιον Υἱοῦ πρὸς Πατέρα σαφῶς ὁμολογεῖν. Ἔστι γὰρ, ὡς πού φησι Παῦλος ὁ ἀπόστολος, εἰκὼν τοῦ ἀοράτου Θεοῦ. Ταῦτα προοιμιασάμενοι, ἐξῆς πίστεως ἐπισυνῆψαν γραφήν, μήτε τοῖς ἐν Νικαίᾳ, μήτε τοῖς ἐν Ἀντιοχείᾳ δόξασι συνάδουσαν· ἀλλ᾽ ἁπλῶς οὕτω συγκειμένην, ὡς καὶ τοὺς τὰ ᾿Αρείου, καὶ τὰ ᾿Αετίου φρονοῦντας μηδὲν δοκεῖν ἁμαρτάνειν εἰ καὶ ὧδε πιστεύουσι. Παραδραμόντες γὰρ τὰ ὀνόματα δι' ὧν τὴν ᾿Αρείου δόξαν ἐκβάλλουσιν οἱ ἐν Νικαίᾳ συνελθόντες· σιωπήσαντες δὲ καὶ ὡς ἀναλλοίωτός ἐστι τῆς θεότητος ὁ Υὼς, οὐσίας τε καὶ βουλῆς καὶ δυνάμεως καὶ δόξης ἀπαράλλακτος εἰκὼν τοῦ Πατρὸς, οἷα τῇ ἐν ᾿Αντιοχείᾳ συνόδῳ εἴρηται· ὡμολόγησαν πιστεύειν εἰς Πατέρα, πιστεύειν δὲ καὶ εἰς τὸν Υἱὸν καὶ τὸ ἅγιον Πνεῦμα. Ἐφ' ἑκάστῳ δὲ ἐπιθέτοις ὀνόμασι κοινοῖς τισι χρησάμενοι, ἃ μήτε αὐτοῖς, μήτε τοῖς ἐναντία δοξάζουσιν ἐμάχοντο, τοὺς ἄλλως πιστεύοντας ἀλλοτρίους τῆς καθόλου Ἐκκλησίας ἐψηφίσαντο. Τοιάδε μὲν τὸ παρὰ Λεωνᾶ προκομισθέν βιβλίον περιείχεν, ὑπ᾿ αὐτοῦ δὲ ᾿Ακακίου καὶ τῶν αὐτῷ πειθομένων ὑπογεγραμμένον. Μετὰ δὲ τὴν τούτου ἀνάγνωσιν, ἀναβοήσας Σωφρόνιος ὁ Παφλαγών, Εἰ τὸ ἑκάστης ἡμέρας, ἔφη, ἰδίαν ἐκτίθεσθαι βούλησιν, πίστεώς ἐστιν ἔκθεσις, ἐπιλείψει ἡμᾶς ἡ τῆς ἀληθείας ἀκρίβεια. Ἰσχυριζομένου δὲ ᾿Ακακίου, μηδὲν κωλύειν ἑτέραν ὑπαγορευθῆναι γραφὴν, εἴγε ἅπαξ καὶ ἡ ἐν Νικαίᾳ πίστις μετεποιήθη, καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα πολλάκις · ὑπολαβὼν Ἑλεύσιος, ᾿Αλλ' ή σύνοδος, ἔφη, συνεκροτήθη νῦν, οὐχ ἵνα μάθῃ ἃ μὴ μεμάθηκεν, οὐδ' ἵνα πίστιν ἑτέραν παραλάβῃ παρὰ τὴν ἤδη δοκιμασθεῖσαν παρὰ τῶν ἐν ᾿Αντιοχείᾳ συνελθόντων. Καὶ μέχρι ζωῆς καὶ θανάτου ταύτης ἔχεσθαι σφᾶς. Ωδε προϊούσης τῆς διαλέξεως, ἐπὶ ἑτέραν μετέβησαν ζήτησιν. Καὶ ἐπυνθάνοντο τῶν ἀμφὶ Ακάκιον, κατὰ τί ὅμοιον τῷ Πατρὶ τὸν Υἱὸν ὡμολόγησαν. Τῶν δὲ, κατὰ βούλησιν μόνον, οὐ μὴν κατ᾿ οὐσίαν εἰπόντων· οἱ μὲν ἄλλοι πάντες, καὶ κατ' οὐσίαν ὅμοιον αὐτὸν ἰσχυρίζοντο. Καὶ τὸν ᾿Ακάκιον ἤλεγχον διὰ τὸν λόγον ὃν συνεγράψατο καὶ ἐκδέδωκεν, ὡς ὁμοίως αὐτοῖς ἐδόξαζε πρότερον. Τοῦ δὲ, μὴ δεῖν ἀπὸ συγγραμμάτων τὰς εὐθύνας ἐπάγειν λέγοντος, καὶ τῆς διαλέξεως ἐπὶ μᾶλλον ἐριστικῶς προϊούσης, τὸ τελευταῖον Ελεύσιος ὁ Κυζικηνὸς, Εἱ μὲν, ἔφη, Βασίλειος ἢ Μάρκος καθ' ἑαυτούς τινα πεπράχασιν. ἢ ἰδίᾳ παρά τινων ἀλλήλοις ἐγκαλοῦσιν αὐτοί τε καὶ οἱ ἀμφὶ Ἀκάκιον, οὐδὲν τῇ συνόδῳ διαφέρει, οὐδὲ πότερον καλῶς ἢ ἄλλως ἔχει ἡ ἐκτεθεῖσα πίστις παρ᾿ αὐτῶν, πολυπραγμονεῖν ἀναγκαῖον· τῇ μέντοι παρὰ τῶν παλαιοτέρων ἐνενήκοντα καὶ ἑπτὰ ἱερέων ἐν Ἀντιοχείᾳ κυρωθήσῃ χρῆναι ἔπεσθαι. Παρὰ ταῦτα δὲ εἴ τις εἰσηγοῖτα, ἀλλότριον εἶναι εὐσεβείας καὶ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας. Ὡς δὲ τούτοις οἱ σὺν αὐτῷ πάντες ἐπευφήμησαν, τότε μὲν ὁ σύλλογος διελύθη. Τῇ δὲ ὑστεραίᾳ, οὐκέτι εἰς ταὐτὸ συνιέναι ἡνείχοντο οἱ περὶ ᾿Ακάκιον καὶ Γεώργιον. Οὐ μὴν οὐδὲ Λεωνᾶς κληθεὶς παρεγένετο · περιφανῶς γὰρ ἤδη τὰ τούτων ἐφρόνει. ᾿Αμέλει τοι οἱ πρὸς αὐτὸν ἀφικόμενοι, ἐν τῇ αὐτοῦ οἰκίᾳ κατέλαβον τοὺς περὶ ᾿Ακάκιον. Δεομένων δὲ καὶ καλούντων αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τὸν σύλλογον, οὐχ ὑπήκουσεν, ὡς τῆς συνόδου διχονοούσης· αὐτοῦ δὲ παρ εἶναι προσταχθέντος παρὰ βασιλέως, συναινούντων πάντων καὶ εἰς ταὐτὸν συνιόντων· ἐπεὶ δὲ χρόνος διετρίβετο, πολλάκις μὲν τῶν ἄλλων τοὺς ἀμφὶ ᾿Ακάκιον καλούντων· τῶν δὲ, πῆ μὲν εἰς τὴν Λεωνᾶ οἰκίαν ῥητοὺς συνελθεῖν ἀξιούντων· πῆ δὲ αὐτοὺς κρίνειν τοὺς ἄλλους ἰσχυριζομένους παρὰ βασιλέως ἐπιτετάχθαι. Οὐδὲ τὴν αὐτὴν πίστιν ὁμολογεῖν ἡβούλαντο, ἢ περὶ τῶν ἐγκλημάτων ἀπολογεῖσθαι, οὔτε εἰς τὴν κατὰ Κύριλλον ἐξέτασιν παραγενέσθαι ἠνείχοντο, ὂν αὐτοὶ καθεῖλον. Καὶ ὁ κατεπείγων οὐκ ἦν. Καθαιροῦσιν ἄλλους τέ τινας, καὶ Γεώργιον τὸν ᾿Αλεξανδρείας ἐπίσκοπον, καὶ ᾿Ακάκιον τὸν Καισαρείας, καὶ Οὐράνιον τὸν Τύρου, καὶ Πατρόφιλον τὸν Σκυ θοπόλεως, καὶ Εὐδόξιον τὸν ᾿Αντιοχείας. Τοὺς δὲ πλείους ἀκοινωνήτους ἐποίησαν, ἄχρις ἂν πρὸς τὰ ἐπαγόμενα ἐγκλήματα ἀπολογήσωνται. Καὶ τὰ πραχθέντα τῇ ἑκάστου παροικίᾳ ἔγραψαν. ᾿Αντὶ δὲ Εὐδοξίου, ᾿Αδριανὸν ἐχειροτόνησαν ᾿Αντιοχείας ἐπίσκοπον, πρεσβύτερον ὄντα τοῦ ἐκεῖσε κλήρου. Συλλαβόντες δὲ τοῦτον οἱ ἀμφὶ ᾿Ακάκιον, Λεωνᾷ καὶ Λαυρικίῳ παρέδωκαν· οἱ δὲ, τότε μὲν ἐν στρατιωτικῇ φρουρᾷ αὐτὸν εἶχον. Ὕστερον δὲ, ὑπερορίαν αὐτοῦ φυγὴν κατεδίκασαν. Τοῦτο πέρας, ὡς ἐν βραχεῖ, ἡ ἐν Σελευκείᾳ σύνοδος ἔσχεν. Ὁ δὲ φιλῶν ἀκριβῶς τὸ καθ᾿ ἕκαστον εἰδέναι, ἐκ τῶν ἐπὶ τούτοις πραχθέντων ὑπομνημάτων, εἴσεται, ἃ ταχυγράφοι παρόντες ἀνέγραψαν. ### English translation (Claude) Meanwhile the bishops of the East, about one hundred and sixty in number, gathered at Seleucia in Isauria. It was the year in which Eusebius and Hypatius were consuls. Leonas, who held a distinguished rank in the palace, had come with them by order of Constantius and was present at the synod, so that the statement of faith about the doctrine might be made in his presence. Lauricius, the commander of the soldiers of the province, was also present, to provide whatever might be needed, for the emperor's letter ordered him to assist. At the first session certain other bishops were absent, as well as Patrophilus of Scythopolis, Macedonius of Constantinople, and Basil of Ancyra. The pretexts were different for the others; for Patrophilus an eye disease, for Macedonius illness. But there was a suspicion that they did not come then for fear of the charges of their accusers. When the others declined to examine the doubtful matters because of their absence, Leonas nevertheless ordered them to raise the questions. From then on some said it was necessary first to examine the doctrine, others to scrutinize the lives of those accused among them, among whom were Cyril of Jerusalem and Eustathius of Sebaste. The emperor's letters gave them a pretext, declaring now one thing and now another. Beginning from this dispute, they were no longer on good terms with one another, but were divided in two. Yet it prevailed that the debate about the doctrine should come first. When they came to such discussions, some thought it right to remove the name of essence altogether, putting forward the faith which Mark had composed not long before at Sirmium, and which those present at the court had accepted, among whom was Basil, bishop of Ancyra. But most were zealous for the faith set out at the dedication of the church of Antioch. Leading the former opinion were Eudoxius, Acacius, Patrophilus, George of Alexandria, Uranius of Tyre and thirty-two others; leading the second, George of Laodicea in Syria, Eleusius of Cyzicus, and Sophronius of Pompeiopolis in Paphlagonia, whom the majority followed. Acacius's party were suspected of differing from the others about the doctrine on purpose, and on this pretext of escaping the scrutiny of the charges against them; since earlier, in what they had written to Macedonius, bishop of Constantinople, they had agreed that the Son is like the Father in all things and of the same essence, and now they shamelessly fought against their former confessions. When many had been stirred to contention, Silvanus, bishop of Tarsus, cried out that it was intolerable to introduce a new document of another faith besides the one approved at Antioch; this alone ought to prevail. At this Acacius's party, annoyed, rose and left; the others then read what had been decided at Antioch. The next day, meeting in the church, they shut the doors, and by themselves confirmed it. Acacius denounced what had been done in this way, and privately showed Leonas and Lauricius the document he was pressing. On the third day the others met again, with Macedonius and Basil, who had been absent before. Acacius and his party refused to take part in the assembly unless those deposed and accused by them left first; and this was done. For those of the other side agreed, supposing that Acacius was seeking this pretext to break up the synod, so that both the heresy of Aetius and they themselves might escape the present examination and the scrutiny of the charges. When all were present, Leonas said he had a book handed in by Acacius's party; it was a statement of faith with a certain preface, and the others were not aware of it, for Leonas, holding Acacius's views, had deliberately concealed it. When it was read, the assembly was filled with uproar. For it declared that, although the emperor had ordered that nothing be introduced into the faith beyond the sacred Scriptures, certain persons, bringing in men deposed from various provinces and bishops unlawfully appointed, had thrown the synod into confusion, insulting some and not allowing others to speak; that they themselves did not reject the faith set out at Antioch, even though those who met there had introduced this document to meet the inquiry of that time; but since “of the same essence” and “of like essence” still trouble many, and some have lately attempted the innovation that the Son is unlike the Father, therefore “of the same essence” and “of like essence” must be cast out as foreign to the Scriptures, and “unlike” anathematized, and the likeness of the Son to the Father clearly confessed; for he is, as Paul the apostle says somewhere, “the image of the invisible God.” After this preface they attached a document of faith agreeing neither with what was decided at Nicaea nor with what was decided at Antioch, but composed so simply that even those holding the views of Arius and Aetius would not seem to err if they believed thus. For they passed over the terms by which those who met at Nicaea cast out the opinion of Arius, and kept silent also on the Son's being unchangeable in his divinity, the exact image of the Father's essence, will, power and glory, as was said at the synod at Antioch; they confessed that they believe in the Father, and believe also in the Son and the Holy Spirit; and using for each certain common epithets, which conflicted neither with themselves nor with those of the opposite opinion, they voted those who believe otherwise strangers to the catholic church. Such were the contents of the book brought forward by Leonas, signed by Acacius himself and those who followed him. After it was read, Sophronius the Paphlagonian cried out: “If setting out one's own wish each day is an exposition of faith, the exactness of the truth will fail us.” When Acacius maintained that nothing prevented another document being dictated, since the faith of Nicaea too had been altered once and many times afterward, Eleusius took him up and said: “But the synod has been convened now, not to learn what it has not learned, nor to receive another faith besides that already approved by those who met at Antioch”; and he said they would hold to it to life and death. As the debate went on thus, they passed to another question, and asked Acacius's party in what respect they confessed the Son to be like the Father. When they said, in will only, but not in essence, all the others insisted that he is like in essence too; and they refuted Acacius from the treatise he had written and published, as having formerly held the same view as they. When he said that one ought not to bring charges from writings, and the debate grew more contentious, at last Eleusius of Cyzicus said: “Whether Basil or Mark did something on their own, or whether they and Acacius's party accuse one another privately on certain matters, makes no difference to the synod; nor is it necessary to inquire whether the faith set out by them is good or otherwise. But one must follow the faith ratified at Antioch by the ninety-seven priests of older times; and if anyone introduces anything contrary to it, he is a stranger to piety and to the church.” When all with him applauded this, the assembly was then dissolved. The next day Acacius's and George's party would no longer consent to meet together. Nor did Leonas come when summoned; for he now openly held their views. Indeed, those who went to him found Acacius's party in his house. When they begged and summoned him to the assembly, he would not comply, saying that the synod was divided, and that he had been ordered by the emperor to be present when all agreed and met together. As time went by, the others often summoned Acacius's party, who at one time demanded that certain persons meet at Leonas's house, at another insisted that they had been ordered by the emperor to judge the others. They would neither confess the same faith, nor make a defence on the charges, nor consent to come to the examination concerning Cyril, whom they themselves had deposed; and there was no one to compel them. So the others deposed, among some others, George, bishop of Alexandria, Acacius of Caesarea, Uranius of Tyre, Patrophilus of Scythopolis and Eudoxius of Antioch; and they excommunicated most others until they made their defence on the charges brought, and wrote what had been done to the church of each. In place of Eudoxius they ordained Adrian bishop of Antioch, a presbyter of the clergy there. Acacius's party seized him and handed him over to Leonas and Lauricius, who then kept him under military guard, and later condemned him to exile. Such, in brief, was the end of the synod at Seleucia. Anyone who wishes to know each detail exactly will learn it from the records of what was done there, which shorthand writers who were present wrote down. ### Scripture references - Col 1:15: quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Athanasius, Syn. 12 (On the Councils of Ariminum and Seleucia): allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Socrates (2.39–40) gives a fuller account from the same records. Acacius's preface and creed are in Athanasius, On the Synods 29. “The image of the invisible God”: Col 1:15. Several words are lost in the scan (the number of bishops, the consul's name, Leonas's “by order”), given from the evident sense. The name of Adrian (Anianus in other sources) is as printed. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 4.22 (PG 67:1177–1185; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/4-22). ## Church History 4.23 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/4-19/#p-4-23 - Source: PG 67:1185–1187 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: At Constantinople Acacius's party wins over the court; Aetius is condemned, and Constantius, persuaded that “like” means the same as homoousios, presses the envoys of Seleucia to sign the creed of Ariminum. ### Greek text Ἐπεὶ δὲ τάδε ὧδε ἐγένετο, οἱ μὲν ἀμφὶ τὸν ᾿Ακάκιον, σπουδῇ ἐπὶ τὰ βασίλεια ἀφίκοντο· οἱ δὲ ἄλλοι, έκαστος οἴκαδε ἀνεχώρουν. Δέκα δὲ, ὡς προστέτακτο, κοινῇ γνώμῃ ἐπιτραπέντες πρὸς βασιλέα παραγενέσθαι, καταλαμβάνουσι τοὺς ἀπεσταλμένους δέκα παρὰ τῶν ἐν Ἀριμήνῳ συνελθόντων, τοὺς δὲ ἀμφὶ ᾿Ακάκιον ἤδη κατωρθωκότας τὰ αὐτῶν φρονεῖν τοὺς ἐν τοῖς βασιλείοις δυναμένους, καὶ διὰ τούτων πραγματευσαμένους τὴν παρὰ τοῦ κρατοῦντος εὔνοιαν. Εἶναι γὰρ, ὡς ἐλέγετο, τοὺς μὲν, ὁμοδόξους αὐτοῖς· τοὺς δὲ, ταῖς ἐκκλησιαστικαῖς οὐσίαις διεφθάρθαι· τοὺς δὲ, θωπείαις λόγων ἐξηπατῆσθαι, καὶ τῇ ἀξίᾳ τοῦ πείθοντος. Οὐ γὰρ ὁ τυχὼν ἐδόκει ᾿Ακάκιος· φύσει τε δεινὸς ὧν νοεῖν καὶ λέγειν, καὶ τὰ βεβουλευμένα εἰς ἔργον ἄγειν · καὶ ἐπισήμου προεστὼς ἐκκλησίας, καὶ Εὐσέβιον τὸν Παμφίλου, μεθ' ὂν αὐτὸς τὴν ἐπισκοπὴν ἦνυς, διδάσκαλον αὐχῶν, καὶ τῇ δοκήσει καὶ διαδοχῇ τῶν αὐτοῦ βίβλων, πλείω τῶν ἄλλων ἀξιῶν εἰδέναι. Καὶ ὁ μὲν τοιοῦτος ὢν, ῥᾳδίως ἄ γε ἐβούλετο διεσκεύαζεν. Ὄντων δὲ ἐν Κωνσταντινουπόλει τῶν ἐξ ἑκατέρας συνόδου εἴκοσι, καὶ ἄλλων οἴπερ ἔτυχον ἐνδημοῦντες, τὸ μὲν πρῶτον ἐπιτρέπεται δικάσαι τῇ κατὰ ᾿Αέτιον ζητήσει, παρὀντων τῶν ἀπὸ τῆς μεγάλης βουλῆς ἐξάρχων, ὁ Ονωράτος, ὃν βασιλεὺς οὐ πρὸ πολλοῦ ἀπὸ τῆς : πρὸς δύσιν ἀρχομένης ἐπανελθὼν, πρῶτον ὕπαρχον Κωνσταντινουπόλεως ἀπέφηνεν " ὕστερον δὲ αὖτοῦ Κωνσταντίον σὺν τοῖς ἄρχουσι διαγνόντος, φωρᾶται ᾿Λέτιος χαχόνους ὧν περὶ τὴν πίστιν, ὡς λαὶ τὸν βασιλέα καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους, ὡς ἐπὶ βλασφήμοις αὖτοῦ λόγοις χαλεπῆναι. Λέγεται δὲ τοῖς περὶ ᾿Ακάκιον, ἄγνοιαν σχηπτομένοις τὴν ἀρχὴν τῆς τοιαύτης αἱρέσεως, ἐπίτηδες σπουδάσαι τὸν βασιλέα καὶ τοὺς ἀμφ᾽ αὐτὸν δικάσαι, ἀχαταμάχητον ἔσεσθαι τοῖς λόγοις τὸν ᾿Λέτιον. οἰηθέντας, καὶ ἱκανὸν πειθοῦς ἀνάγκῃ τοὺς ἀχούωντας ἑλεῖν, ἀχοντὶ κρατῦναι τὴν αἵρεσιν. Ἐπεὶ δὲ τοῦτο παρ᾽ ἐλπίδας αὐτοῖ; ἀπέβη, προχομίται τὴν ἐξ ᾿Αριμήνου χομισθεῖσαν γραφὴν, καὶ τοὺς ἀπεσταλμένους παρὰ τῆς ἐν Σελευκείᾳ συνόδου ἀξιῶσαι ταύτην χαταδέξασθαι. Ἰσχυριζομένους δὲ μηδαμῶς τὸ τῆς οὐσίας ὄνομα παραλιμπάνειν, ὄρχοις πεῖσαι, ὡς οὐχ ἀνόμοιον οὐσίαν τὸν Υἱὸν δοξάζουσιν, ἑτοίμως τε ἔχουσι ταύτην ἀποκηρύττειν τὴν αἵρεσιν. ᾿Αλλ᾽ ἐπεὶ παραδόξως οἵ δυτιχοὶ τὸ τῆς οὐσίας ὄνομα παρέλιπον ἔν ᾿Αριμήνῳ, περισπούδαστον αὐτοῖς εἶναι ἰσχυρίζοντο τὴν τοιαύτὴν γραφήν. Εἰ γὰρ, φησὶ, χρατήσοι, πάντως: που τῷ τῆς οὐσίας ὀνόματι συσσιωπηθήσεται τὸ τοῦ ὁμοουσίου, ὃ δὴ μάλιστα οἱ ἀνὰ τὴν δύσιν ἱερεῖς αἰδοῖ τῆς ἐν Νικαίᾳ συνόδου περὶ πολλοῦ ἐποιοῦντο. Πρὸς τούτοις δὲ, καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐπείσθη ταύτην ἐπαινεῖν τὴν γραφήν λογιζόμενος τὸ τῶν ἐν μήνῳ συνελθόντων πλῆθος " ὡς οὐχ- ἂν ἁμάρτοι ὅμοιον ὁμολογεῖν καὶ ὁμοούσιον καὶ μηδὲν αὐτῷ διαφέρειν ἔννοιαν, εἰ ὀνόμασιν ἀγνώστοις τῇ ἱερᾷ Γραφῇ μὴ χρῷτο, ἐν ἰσοδυνάμῳ τε καὶ ἀναμφηρίστῳ ὀνόματι τὸ ὅμοιον, τὴν αὐτὴν σημασίαν ὁμολογοίη. Οὕτως οὖν ἔχων γνώμης, ὁμονοεῖν ἐκέλευσε τοὺς ἐπισκόπους περὶ τὴν ἐκτεθεῖσαν ὑπὸ τῶν ᾿Αριμήνῳ συνελθόντων. Ἑτοιμαζόμενός τε τῇ ὕστεραίᾳ πρὸς ὑπατιχὴν πομπὴν, καθὰ Ῥωμαίοις ἔθος ἐν τῇ νουμηνίᾳ τοῦ παρ᾽ αὐτοῖς Ἰαννοναρίου μηνὸς, πᾶσαν τὴν ἡμέραν καὶ πολὺ τῆς ἐπιλαδούσης νυκτὸς ἀναλῶσαι μεταξὺ τῶν ἐπισκόπων, διαγινώσχων εἰσότε δὴ τῇ διαχομισθείσῃ ἐξ ᾿Αριμήνου γραφῇ Σελευκείας ἀφιγμένοι ὑπέγραψαν. ### English translation (Claude) When this had happened, Acacius's party hastened to the palace, and the others each went home. The ten who, as had been ordered, had been entrusted by common decision to go to the emperor found there the ten sent by those who had met at Ariminum, and found that Acacius's party had already brought the powerful men in the palace round to their views and through them had secured the ruler's goodwill. For, as was said, some of these were of their opinion, others had been corrupted by church property, and others deceived by flattering words and by the standing of the persuader. For Acacius was not thought an ordinary man: he was by nature able in thought and speech and in carrying out what he planned; he presided over a distinguished church; and boasting of Eusebius son of Pamphilus, whom he succeeded in the episcopate, as his teacher, he claimed by reputation and by succession to his books to know more than others. Being such a man, he easily arranged what he wished. When the twenty from both synods were at Constantinople, together with others who happened to be staying there, the question concerning Aetius was first entrusted to them to judge, in the presence of the leading members of the great council, Honoratus, whom the emperor, on returning not long before from the western part of the empire, had appointed first prefect of Constantinople. Afterward, when Constantius himself examined it with the magistrates, Aetius was found to be ill-minded about the faith, so that the emperor and the others were angered at his blasphemous words. It is said that Acacius's party, who pretended at first not to know of this heresy, deliberately pressed for the emperor and those about him to judge it, thinking that Aetius would be invincible in argument and able to win his hearers by the force of persuasion, so that they might strengthen the heresy without effort. When this turned out contrary to their hopes, they brought forward the document brought from Ariminum and asked the envoys of the synod at Seleucia to accept it. When these insisted that they would by no means leave out the name of essence, they persuaded them with oaths that they did not hold the Son to be unlike in essence, and were ready to anathematize this heresy. But since the Westerners at Ariminum had unexpectedly left out the name of essence, they insisted that this document was much to be desired; “for if it prevails,” they said, “then together with the name of essence the ‘same essence’ will be silenced, which the priests of the West valued highly out of respect for the synod of Nicaea.” Besides this, the emperor himself was persuaded to approve this document, considering the great number of those who had met at Ariminum, and reckoning that one would not err in confessing “like” instead of “of the same essence,” and that it made no difference to the meaning if one did not use terms unknown to sacred Scripture, but confessed the same meaning in the equivalent and undisputed term “like.” Being of this mind, he ordered the bishops to agree on the document set out by those who had met at Ariminum. Preparing on the next day for the consular procession, as is the Roman custom on the first day of their month January, he spent the whole day and much of the following night among the bishops, examining the matter, until those who had come from Seleucia signed the document brought from Ariminum. ### Translation notes - The signing took place on 31 December 359, the eve of Constantius's tenth consulship. A few words in the scan are lost or garbled (“Ariminum,” “and those from Seleucia”); the sense is clear. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 4.23 (PG 67:1185–1187; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/4-23). ## Church History 4.24 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/4-19/#p-4-24 - Source: PG 67:1187–1193 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The Acacian synod at Constantinople (360) confirms the creed of Ariminum, deposes Aetius, and then deposes Macedonius, Basil of Ancyra, Eustathius, Eleusius and others on disciplinary charges. ### Greek text Οἱ δὲ ἀμφὶ ᾿Ακάκιον ἐπιμείναντές τινα ἐν Κωνσταντινουπόλει, μετεκαλέσαντο τοὺς Βιθυνίας ἐπισκόπους ἐν οἷς ἣν Μάρις ὁ Χαλκηδόνιος, Οὐλφίλας ὁ τῶν Γότθων. Πεντήκοντα δὲ ὄντες, εἰς ταὐτὸν συνῆλθον, καὶ ἐβεβαίωσαν τὴν ἐν ᾿Αριμήνῳ ἀναγνωσθεῖσαν γραφήν, προσθέντες, τοῦ λοιποῦ οὐσίαν ἢ ὑπόστασιν ἐπὶ Θεοῦ ὀνομάζειν μηδ' ὅλως παρὰ ταύτην δὴ τὴν γραφὴν ἀποκεκηρῦχθαι πᾶσαν ἄλλην, ἢ γενομένην ἢ μέλλουσαν· ἐπεὶ δὲ ταῦτα ἔπραξαν, καθαιροῦσιν ᾿Αέτιον τῆς διακονίας, ὡς ἐριστικῶς καὶ πρὸς ἔνδειξιν σοφίας ἐκκλησιαστικῆς προαιρέσεως ἀπᾳδούσης, συγγράφοντά τε καὶ τὰς διαλέξεις δυσφήμως ποιούμενον, ταραχῆς τε καὶ στάσεων ταῖς Ἐκκλησίαις αἴτιον. Λέγεται δὲ πρός τινων, ὡς οὐκ ἀπὸ γνώμης τοῦτον καθεῖλον, ἀλλ' ἀφοσιούμενοι καὶ ταῖς περὶ αὐτῶν δόξαις πρὸς βασιλέα. Διεβάλλοντο γὰρ τὰ αὐτοῦ φρονεῖν · ἀποχρησάμενοι δὲ τῇ ὀργῇ βασιλέως, ἣν κατὰ Μακεδονίου εἶχεν ἐκ τῶν πρόσθεν εἰρημένων, καθαιροῦσιν αὐτόν - καὶ Ἐλεύσιον τὸν Κυζίκου ἐπίσκοπον, καὶ Βασίλειον τὸν ᾿Αγκύρας, καὶ Ἑορτάσιον τὸν Σάρδεων, Δρακόντιον τὸν Περγάμου. Διαφερόμενοί τε περὶ δόγματος, ἐν τῷ καθαιρεῖν τούτους, οὐκ ἐμέμφοντο τὴν αὐτῶν πίστιν. Αἰτίας δὲ ἐπῆγον, κοινῇ μὲν πᾶσιν, ὡς τὰς Ἐκκλησίας ἐτάραξαν, καὶ εἰς τοὺς ἐκκλησιαστικοὺς νόμους ἐξήμαρτον · ἰδίᾳ δὲ ἐγκλήματα ἐπέφερον, Βασιλείῳ μὲν ὡς Διογένην πρεσβύτερον ἐκ τῆς ᾿Αλεξανδρείας τὴν ᾿Αγκυραν διοδεύοντα, χάρτας τε ἀφείλετο, καὶ ἐτύπτησε · καὶ κληρικοὺς ἐκ τῆς ᾿Αντιοχείας, καὶ παρὰ τὸν Εὐφράτην ποταμὸν, Κίλικάς τε καὶ Γαλάτας καὶ ᾿Ασιανοὺς, ὑπερορίοις φυγαῖς καὶ ἄλλαις τιμωρίαις ζημιοῦν ἀκρίτως τοῖς ἄρχουσιν ἐπέταττεν· ὡς καὶ σιδηρῶν αὐτοὺς πειραθῆναι δεσμῶν, καὶ τὰ ὄντα προσαπολύειν τοῖς ἀπάγουσι στρατιώταις, ἵνα μὴ ὑβρίζωνται. Ἐπῃτιῶντο δὲ αὐτὸν, καὶ ὡς βασιλέως προστάξαντος ἀχθῆναι πρὸς Κεκρόπιον, ᾿Αἑτιόν τε καί τινας τῶν σὺν αὐτῷ, ἀπολογησομένους ἐφ᾽ οἷς ἐνεκάλει, πέπεικε τὸν ἐπιτραπέντα τὴν τοῦ κρατοῦντος πρόσταξιν, ἅ γε αὐτῷ ἐδόκει πρᾶξαι · Ἑρμογένει δὲ τῷ ὑπάρχῳ, καὶ τῷ κρατοῦντι Συρίας ἔγραψε, τίνας τε καὶ ὅπη χρὴ μετοικισθῆναι· καὶ τοῦ βασιλέως μετακαλεσαμένου τούτους ἀπὸ τῆς ὑπερορίας, οὐ συνεχώρησεν, ἄρχουσι καὶ ἱερεῦσιν ἐναντιούμενος. Προσέθεσαν δὲ ὅτι καὶ Γερμανίῳ τὸν ἐν Σιρμίῳ κλῆρον ἐπανέστησε, καὶ κοινωνεῖν αὐτῷ καὶ Οὐάλεντι καὶ Οὐρσακίῳ γράφων, διέβαλλεν αὐτοὺς πρὸς τοὺς ᾿Αφρικῆς ἐπισκόπους· ἐγκαλούμενός τε ἠρνεῖτο, καὶ ἐπιώρκει· καὶ φωραθεὶς, ἐπεχείρει σοφίζεσθαι τὴν ἐπιορκίαν. Καὶ διχονοίας καὶ στάσεως αἴτιος ἐγένετο Ἰλλυριοῖς καὶ Ἰταλοῖς καὶ ῎Αφροις, καὶ τῶν περὶ τὴν Ῥωμαίων Ἐκκλησίαν συμβάντων. Δούλην τε δεσμῶτιν γενέσθαι σπουδάσας, ἐβιάζετο ψευδή καθομολογεῖν τῆς δεσποίνης · καὶ ἄνδρα αἰσχρῶς βεβιωκότα, οὐ νόμῳ γάμου γυναικὶ συμβιοῦντα, ἐβάπτισέ τε καὶ διακονεῖν τῷ Θεῷ ἠξίωσε. Περιοδευτὴν δὲ φόνων αἴτιον γενόμενον, οὐκ ἐχώρισε τῆς Ἐκκλησίας. Καὶ ὅτι γε παρὰ τὴν ἱερὰν τράπεζαν συνωμοσίας ἐποιεῖτο, ἀρώμενός τε, καὶ τοὺς κληρικοὺς ἐπόμνυσθαι παρασκευάζων, μὴ κατηγορεῖν ἀλλήλων. Εἶναι δὲ ταύτην τέχνην τοῦ αὐτὸν προεστῶτα τοῦ κλήρου, τὰς τῶν ἐγκαλούντων κατηγορίας διαφυγεῖν. Βασιλείου μὲν οὖν, ὡς ἐν βραχεῖ εἰπεῖν, τάδε αἴτια τῆς καθαιρέσεως ἐποιοῦντο. Εὐσταθίου δὲ, πρῶτον μὲν ὡς ἡνίκα πρεσβύτερος ἦν προκατεγνώκει αὐτοῦ Εὐλάλιος ὁ πατὴρ, καὶ τῶν εὐχῶν ἀφώρισεν, ἐπίσκοπος ὧν τῆς ἐν Καππαδοκίᾳ Ἐκκλησίας Καισαρείας · μετὰ δὲ τοῦτο ἐν Νεοκαισαρείᾳ τοῦ Πόντου, ὑπὸ συνόδου ἀκοινώνητος ἐγεγόνει · καὶ ὑπὸ Εὐσεβίου τοῦ Κωνσταντίνουπόλεως ἐπισκόπου καθῃρέθη, ἐπὶ διοικήσεσί τισιν αἷς ἐπετράπη καταγνωσθείς · ἔπειτα δὲ, ὡς οὐ δέον διδάσκων τε καὶ πράττων καὶ φρονῶν, ἀφῃρέθη τῆς ἐπισκοπῆς παρὰ τῶν ἐν Γάγγραις συνεληλυθότων ἐπὶ δὲ τῆς ἐν ᾿Αντιοχείᾳ συνόδου, ἐπιορκίας ἑάλω· καὶ ὅτι ἀνατρέπειν ἐπιχειρεῖ τὰ δόξάντα τοῖς ἐν Μελιτινῇ συνελθοῦσι. Καὶ πλείστοις ἐγκλήμασι ἔνοχος ὢν, δικαστὴς ἠξίου εἶναι, καὶ ἑτεροδόξους τοὺς ἄλλους ἀπεκάλει. Ἐλεύσιον δὲ καθεῖλον, ὡς Ἡράκλειόν τινα Τύριον τὸ γένος, ἱερέα τοῦ ἐνθάδε Ἡρακλέους γενόμενον, ἐπὶ γοητείᾳ γραφέντα καὶ ζητητέον ὄντα, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο φυγάδα ἐν Κυζίκῳ δια τρίβοντα, διακονίας Θεοῦ ἀπερισκέπτως ἠξίωσε, Χριστιανισμὸν ὑποκρινόμενον, καὶ οὐδὲ τοιοῦτον ὄντα μετὰ ταῦτα μαθὼν, τῆς Ἐκκλησίας ἐχώρισε· καὶ ὡς παρὰ Μάρι τοῦ Χαλκηδόνος ἐπισκόπου, ὃς ἐκοινώνει ταύτης τῆς συνόδου, ἄνδρας κατεγνωσμένους, εἰς Κύζικον ἀφικομένους, ἐχειροτόνησεν ἀκρίτως. Ἑορτάσιον δὲ καθεῖλον, ὡς ἐπίσκοπον Σάρδεων γενόμενον μὴ συναινεσάντων τῶν ἐν Λυδίᾳ ἐπισκό πων · Δρακόντιον δὲ τὸν Περγάμου, ὡς πρότερον ἐν Γαλατίᾳ ἐπισκοποῦντα · καὶ ὡς παράνομον τὴν ἐφ᾿ ἑκατέρῳ χειροτονίαν ἔλυσαν. Ἐπὶ τούτοις αὖθις εἰθόντες, καθαιροῦσι Σιλβανὸν τὸν Ταρσοῦ ἐπίσκοπον, καὶ Σωφρόνιον τὸν Πομπηϊουπόλεως τῆς Παφλαγόψων, Ἐλπίδιόν τε τὸν Σατάλων, Νέωνα τὸν ἐν Σελευχείᾳ τῆς Ἰσαυρίας. Καθεῖλον ὃὲ Σιλβανὸν, ὡς ἀρχηγὸν γενόμενον ἀπονοίας τοῖς ἄλλοις, ἕν τε Σελευκείᾳ Κωνσταντινουπόλει " Θεόφιλον προστάντα τῆς ἐν Κατταθάλοις Ἐκκλησίας, Ἐλευθερουπόλεως ἐπίσκοπον χειροτονηθέντα πρότερον παρὰ τῶν ἐπισκόπων Παλαιστίνης, καὶ ἐπομοσάμενον παρὰ γνώμὴν ἑτέραν μὴ ὑπεισιέναι ἐπισκοπήν. Σωφρόνιον δὲ, ὡς πλεονεχτεῖν καὶ χαπηλεύειν ἐπιχειροῦντα τὰ προσφερόμενα τῇ Ἐκκλησίᾳ, καὶ μετὰ χλῇσιν πρώτην καὶ δευτέραν, ἐπειδὴ μόλις ἀπήντησε, μὴ ἐθελήσαντα παρ᾽ αὐτοῖς ἀπολογήσασθαι πρὸς τὰ ἐγκλήματα, ἀλλὰ τοὺς ἔξωθεν αἱρεῖσθαι διχαστάς. Νέωνα δὲ, ὡς ἐπὶ τῆς ἰδίας ἐκκλησίας σπουδάσαντα ᾿Αννιανὸὴν χειροτονηθῆναι ᾿Αντιοχέων ἐπίσκοπον " καὶ ἀπείρους τινὰς ἱερῶν Τραφῶν καὶ θεσμῶν Ἐκκλησίας, ἀπερισκέπτως πολιτευομένους ὄντας, ἐπισκόπους χαταστήσαντα᾽ οἵ μετὰ ταῦτα χρημάτων κτῆσιν τῆς ἱερωσύνης προὐτίμησαν, ἐγγράφως εἵλοντο τὰς οὐσίας ἔχοντες λειτουργεῖν, δίχα τούτων ἐπισκοπεῖν. Τὸν δὲ ᾿Ελπίδιον, ὡς βασιλείῳ ἐπὶ ταραχῇ συμμίξαντα, καὶ καθηγητὴν γενόμενον ἀταξίας" καὶ παρὰ τὰ δόξαντα τῇ ἐν Μελιτίνῃ συνόδῳ Εὐσέδιον μὲν ἄνδρα χαθηρημένον πρεσβυτερείῳ ἀποχαταστήσαντα. Νεχταρίαν δέ τινα διὰ παραθάσεις συνθηχῶν ἀκοινώνητον γενομένην, διακονίας ἀξιώσαντα, μὴ μετὸν αὐτῇ τιμῆς τοὺς νόμους τῆς Ἐκκλησίας. ### English translation (Claude) Acacius's party stayed for some time at Constantinople and summoned the bishops of Bithynia, among whom were Maris of Chalcedon and Ulfilas of the Goths. Being fifty in number, they met together and confirmed the document read at Ariminum, adding that thenceforth neither essence nor subsistence should be named at all in speaking of God, and that every other document besides this one, whether already made or to come, was anathematized. When they had done this, they deposed Aetius from the diaconate, as one who wrote and held discussions contentiously, with a display of wisdom foreign to the church's purpose, and blasphemously, and as a cause of turmoil and strife to the churches. It is said by some that they deposed him not from conviction but to clear themselves and their reputation with the emperor, for they were accused of holding his views. Taking advantage of the emperor's anger, which he had against Macedonius for the reasons stated above, they deposed him, and Eleusius, bishop of Cyzicus, Basil of Ancyra, Heortasius of Sardis, and Dracontius of Pergamum. Though they differed with them about the doctrine, in deposing them they did not find fault with their faith, but brought charges: in common against all, that they had troubled the churches and sinned against the laws of the church; and particular charges against each. Against Basil, that when Diogenes, a presbyter from Alexandria, was passing through Ancyra, he took his papers from him and beat him; and that he ordered the magistrates to punish without trial, with exile and other penalties, clergy from Antioch and the region of the Euphrates, Cilicians, Galatians and Asians, so that they experienced iron chains and had to give up their property to the soldiers who led them away, so as not to be ill-treated. They charged him also that when the emperor ordered Aetius and some of his companions to be brought to Cecropius to answer the charges he made, he persuaded the man entrusted with the ruler's order to do what he himself thought fit; that he wrote to Hermogenes the prefect and to the governor of Syria saying who should be deported and where; and that when the emperor recalled them from exile, he did not allow it, opposing magistrates and priests. They added that he had stirred up the clergy of Sirmium against Germinius; that, writing that he was in communion with him and with Valens and Ursacius, he slandered them to the bishops of Africa; that when accused he denied it and perjured himself, and when caught tried to quibble about the perjury; and that he had been a cause of dissension and strife to the Illyrians, Italians and Africans and of what happened to the church of the Romans. That he had a slave-girl put in chains and tried to force her to give false testimony against her mistress; that he baptized a man who had lived shamefully, living with a woman not by the law of marriage, and counted him worthy to serve God as a deacon; that he did not cut off from the church a periodeutes who had caused deaths; and that at the holy table he made conspiracies, cursing and making the clergy swear not to accuse one another, which was a device for him, as head of the clergy, to escape the charges of accusers. Such, in brief, were the reasons they gave for the deposition of Basil. Of Eustathius: first, that while he was a presbyter, his father Eulalius, being bishop of the church of Caesarea in Cappadocia, had condemned him and excluded him from the prayers; after this he had been excommunicated by a synod at Neocaesarea in Pontus; and he had been deposed by Eusebius, bishop of Constantinople, being condemned in certain administrations entrusted to him; then, for teaching, doing and thinking what he ought not, he was removed from the episcopate by those who met at Gangra; at the synod at Antioch he was convicted of perjury; and he was trying to overturn what had been decided by those who met at Melitene; and though liable to very many charges, he claimed to be a judge and called the others heterodox. Eleusius they deposed because he had thoughtlessly admitted to the ministry of God a certain Heraclius, a Tyrian by race, who had been priest of Heracles there, had been indicted for sorcery and was wanted, and for this reason was living as a fugitive at Cyzicus, pretending to be a Christian; and after learning that he was not such, he did not separate him from the church; and because he ordained without examination men condemned by Maris, bishop of Chalcedon, a member of this synod, who had come to Cyzicus. Heortasius they deposed because he had become bishop of Sardis without the consent of the bishops of Lydia; and Dracontius of Pergamum because he had formerly been bishop in Galatia; and they annulled the ordination of each as unlawful. After this they met again and deposed Silvanus, bishop of Tarsus, Sophronius of Pompeiopolis in Paphlagonia, Elpidius of Satala, and Neon of Seleucia in Isauria. They deposed Silvanus as leader of folly to the others, at Seleucia and at Constantinople, and because he had set Theophilus over the church of Castabala, who had earlier been ordained bishop of Eleutheropolis by the bishops of Palestine and had sworn not to enter another episcopate without their consent. Sophronius, because he tried to make gain and traffic with what was offered to the church, and after a first and a second summons, when he barely came, would not defend himself before them on the charges, but chose outside judges. Neon, because he had been eager to have Annianus ordained bishop of Antioch in his own church, and had made bishops of certain people inexperienced in the sacred Scriptures and the laws of the church, who were engaged in civic affairs, who afterward preferred the possession of money to the priesthood and chose in writing to serve while keeping their property rather than be bishops without it. Elpidius, because he had joined with Basil to make trouble and was a leader of disorder; and because, contrary to what had been decided at the synod at Melitene, he restored to the presbyterate one Eusebius, a man who had been deposed, and admitted to the diaconate one Nectaria, who had been excommunicated for breaking agreements, though she had no claim to this honour according to the laws of the church. ### Extrabiblical texts - Conc. Gangr. (Canons of the Council of Gangra): allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The synod of Constantinople met in January 360. The charges are those recorded by Sozomen from the synod's acts. At the end of the chapter a block of lemmata and marginal notes from the printed apparatus (with page numbers) was printed in the scan and has been removed; the last words (“of the church”) are restored. Among the charges against Basil is that he baptized and made deacon a man living with a woman outside lawful marriage. Nectaria's “agreements” were probably vows of continence. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 4.24 (PG 67:1187–1193; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/4-24). ## Church History 4.25 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/4-25/#p-4-25 - Source: PG 67:1195–1197 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Cyril of Jerusalem, in rivalry with Acacius of Caesarea, is deposed on the charge of having sold church treasures in a famine; the deposed bishops are replaced, Eudoxius taking Constantinople, Eunomius Cyzicus and Meletius Sebaste. ### Greek text Σὺν τούτοις δὲ καὶ Κύριλλον τὸν Ἱεροσολύμων καθεῖλον, ὡς Εὐσταθίῳ καὶ Ἐλπιδίῳ κεκοινωνηκότα, ἐναντία σπουδάσασι τοῖς ἐν Μελιτινῇ συνελθοῦσι, μεθ' ὧν καὶ αὐτὸς συνεληλύθει · καὶ ὡς μετὰ τὴν ἐν Παλαιστίνῃ καθαίρεσιν, κοινωνίας μετασχόντα σὺν Βασιλείῳ, καὶ Γεωργίῳ τῷ Λαοδικείας ἐπισκόπῳ· ἐπειδὴ ἐπετράπη τὴν Ἱεροσολύμων ἐπισκοπὴν, περὶ μητροπολιτικῶν δικαίων διεφέρετο πρὸς ᾿Ακάκιον τὸν Καισαρείας, ὡς ἀποστολικοῦ θρόνου ἡγούμενος· ἐντεῦθέν τε εἰς ἀπέχθειαν κατέστησαν, καὶ ἀλλήλους διέβαλον, ὡς οὐχ ὑγιῶς περὶ Θεοῦ φρονοῖεν · καὶ γὰρ καὶ πρὶν ἐν ὑπονοίᾳ ἐκάτερος ἦν, ὁ μὲν τὰ ᾿Αρείου δογματίζων· Κύριλλος δὲ, τοῖς ὁμοιοούσιον τῷ Πατρὶ τὸν Υἱὸν εἰσηγουμένοις ἑπόμενος. Οὕτω δὲ ἔχων γνώμης Ἀκάκιος, σὺν τοῖς τὰ αὐτοῦ φρονοῦσιν ἐπισκόποις τοῦ ἔθνους, φθάνει καθελὼν Κύριλλον ἐπὶ προφάσει τοιᾷδε. Λιμοῦ καταλαβόντος τὴν Ἱεροσολύμων χώραν, ὡς εἰς ἐπίσκοπον ἔβλεπε τὸ τῶν δεομένων πλῆθος, τῆς ἀναγκαίας τροφῆς ἀπορούμενον· ἐπεὶ δὲ χρήματα οὐκ ἦν οἷς ἐπικουρεῖν ἔδει κειμήλια καὶ ἱερὰ παραπετάσματα ἀπέδοτο. Ἐκ τούτων δὲ λόγος, τινὰ ἐπιγνῶναι οἰκεῖον ἀνάθημα γυναῖκα ἐκ τῶν ἐπὶ θυμέλης ἡμφιεσμένην · πολυπραγμονῆσαί τε ὅθεν ἔχοι, καὶ εὑρεῖν ἔμπορον αὐτῇ ἀποδόμενον· τῷ δὲ ἐμπόρῳ τὸν ἐπίσκοπον. Αἰτίαν δὲ ταύτην προϊσχόμενον, καθελεῖν αὐτὸν ᾿Ἀκάκιον· καὶ τὰ μὲν, ὡς ἐπυθόμην, ὧδε ἔχει · τοὺς δὲ δηλωθέντας, ὡς εἴρηται, καθαιρεθέντας ἐξήλασαν οἱ ἀμφὶ Ἀκάκιον τῆς Κωνσταντινουπόλεως. Τοὺς δὲ σὺν αὐτοῖς, οἱ ταῖς καθαιρέσεσιν ὑπογράφειν οὐκ ἠνείχοντο, δέκα τὸν ἀριθμὸν ὄντας, καθ' ἑαυτοὺς εἶναι τέως παρεκελεύσαντο, καὶ μήτε λειτουργεῖν, μήτε τὰς ἐκκλησίας διοικεῖν, ἄχρις ἂν ταύταις ὑπογράψωσιν. Εἰ δὲ μὴ μεταμεληθεῖεν ἐντὸς μηνῶν ἔξ, καὶ πᾶσι τοῖς δόξασι καὶ πεπραγμένοις ἐν τῇ συνάδῳ ταύτῃ συναινέσωσι, καὶ αὐτοὺς καθαιρεῖσθαι· τοὺς δὲ κατ' ἔθνος ἐπισκόπους συνιόντας, ἀντὶ αὐτῶν χειροτονεῖν ἑτέρους. Ἐπεὶ δὲ ταῦτα αὐτοῖς ἐβεβούλευτο καὶ εἰς ἔργον ἶκτο, γράφουσι τοῖς πανταχοῦ ἐπισκόποις καὶ κληρικοῖς, τάδε φυλάττειν καὶ ἐπιτελεῖν· ἐκ τούτου τε, οὐ πολλῷ ὕστερον ἀντικαθίστανται πρὸς τῶν ἀμφὶ τὸν Εὐδόξιον, ἄλλος ἄλλῳ· Μακεδονίῳ τε αὐτὸς Εὐδόξιος, καὶ Βασιλείῳ ᾿Αθανάσιος· καὶ Ἐλευσίῳ Εὐνόμιος, ὃς ἀρχηγὸς μετὰ ταῦτα ἐγένετο τῆς ἀπ᾿ αὐτοῦ καλουμένης αἱρέσεως· ἀντὶ δὲ Εὐσταθίου, Μελέτιος τὴν ἐν Σεβαστείᾳ Ἐκκλησίαν ἐπετράπη. ### English translation (Claude) With these they also deposed Cyril of Jerusalem, for having communicated with Eustathius and Elpidius, who had worked against those who met at Melitene, with whom he too had met; and because after his deposition in Palestine he had shared communion with Basil and George, bishop of Laodicea. When he was entrusted with the episcopate of Jerusalem, he disputed with Acacius of Caesarea about metropolitan rights, as presiding over an apostolic see. From this they fell into enmity and slandered each other as not holding sound views about God; for each had been under suspicion before, Acacius as teaching the doctrines of Arius, Cyril as following those who taught that the Son is of like essence with the Father. Being of this mind, Acacius, with the bishops of the province who shared his views, deposed Cyril first, on the following pretext. When famine seized the region of Jerusalem, the multitude of the needy, lacking necessary food, looked to the bishop; and since there was no money with which to help them, he sold treasures and sacred hangings. From these, it is said, someone recognized an offering of his own worn by a woman of the stage; he inquired where she had got it and found that a merchant had sold it to her, and the bishop to the merchant. Putting forward this charge, Acacius deposed him. So the matter stands, as I have learned. Those mentioned, deposed as has been said, Acacius's party drove from Constantinople. Those with them who would not sign the depositions, ten in number, they ordered to remain by themselves for the time being, and neither to minister nor to govern the churches until they signed them; and if they did not repent within six months and agree to all that had been decided and done at this synod, they too were to be deposed, and the bishops of each province were to meet and ordain others in their place. When they had resolved on this and carried it out, they wrote to the bishops and clergy everywhere to observe and carry out these things. Not long after, Eudoxius's party set up others in place of the deposed, one for another: Eudoxius himself in place of Macedonius, Athanasius in place of Basil, Eunomius, who afterward became the founder of the sect called after him, in place of Eleusius, and in place of Eustathius, Meletius was entrusted with the church of Sebaste. ### Translation notes - A fragment of Valesius's chapter title (“… Meletius … was advanced to Sebaste in place of Eustathius”) stood at the head of the section and has been removed. Cyril's sale of church treasures for famine relief is reported as Sozomen learned it. Eudoxius became bishop of Constantinople in 360. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 4.25 (PG 67:1195–1197; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/4-25). ## Church History 4.26 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/4-25/#p-4-26 - Source: PG 67:1197–1199 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Macedonius dies; Eudoxius, installed at Constantinople, jests from the pulpit that the Father is “impious”; he and Acacius impose the creed of Ariminum throughout the empire, causing a persecution of Christians by Christians. ### Greek text ᾿Αφαιρεθεὶς δὲ Μακεδόνιος τὴν Κωνσταντινουπόλεως Ἐκκλησίαν, εἴς τι παρὰ πύλας χωρίον διέτριβεν· ἔνθα καὶ ἐτελεύτησεν. Εὐδόξιος δὲ τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν κατέσχεν· ἡνίκα δὴ Κωνσταντίου τὸ δέκατον, καὶ Ἰουλιανοῦ τοῦ Καίσαρος τὸ τρίτον ὑπατευόντων, τὸ πρῶτον ἐκκλησιάζων ἐπὶ τῇ τελεσιουργίᾳ τῆς μεγάλης ἐκκλησίας, ἣν Σοφίαν ὀνομάζουσι, λέγεται ἐπὶ τὸ τοῦ ἱερέως ἀναβὰς βῆμα, οἷα δὴ τὸν λαὸν διδάσκων, ἀρχόμενος τοῦ λόγου εἰπεῖν· ὡς ὁ μὲν Πατήρ ἀσεβής˙ ὁ δὲ Υἱὸς εὐσεβής. Θορυβήσαντος δὲ τοῦ πλήθους, Ἠρεμεῖτε, ἔφη· ὁ μὲν Πατήρ ἀσεβὴς, ὅτι οὐδένα σέβει· ὁ δὲ Υἱὸς εὐσεβὴς, ὅτι Πατέρα σέβει. Καὶ ὁ μὲν ὧδε εἰπὼν, εἰς γέλωτα τοὺς ἀκούοντας μετέβαλε. Κοινῇ δὲ ὅτι μάλιστα αὐτός τε καὶ Ἀκάκιος πᾶσαν ἐποιοῦντο σπουδὴν, εἰς λήθην ἄγειν πάντας τῶν ἐν Νικαίᾳ δοξάντων, καὶ τὴν ἀναγνωσθεῖσαν ἐν Ἁριμήνῳ γραφὴν, μεθ᾽ ὧν αὐτοὶ προστεθείκασιν ὡς διορθώσοντες, ἀνὰ πᾶν τὸ ὑπήκοον ἐξέπεμψαν, καὶ τοὺς ταύτῃ μὴ ὑπογράφοντας ἐκέλευον ὑπερορίᾳ φυγῇ ζημιοῦσθαι, κατὰ πρόσταγμα τοῦ βασιλέως. Ὧδε γὰρ, φησὶν, ἐσπούδαστο, λογιζομένοις ἀκονιτὶ τῆς σπουδῆς ἐπιτεύξασθαι. Τὸ δὲ ἦν ἀρχὴ μεγίστων συμφορῶν· ἐμφερὴς δὲ ἦν τοῖς εἰρημένοις τάραχος ἀνὰ πᾶν τὸ ὑπήκοον· καὶ τὰς πανταχοῦ Ἐκκλησίας διωγμὸς εἶχε μονονουχὶ παραπλήσιος τοῖς πρὶν ἐπὶ τῶν ἐλληνιστῶν βασιλέων. Εἰ γὰρ ταῖς εἰς σῶμα τιμωρίαις μετριώτερος ἐδόκει, χαλεπώτερος εἰκότως τοῖς εὖ φρονοῦσι, διὰ τὴν αἰσχύνην ἐφαίνετο. "Αμφω γὰρ, ὅ τε διώκων καὶ ὁ διωκόμενος, ἐκ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας ὠρμηντο. Καὶ τοσοῦτον αἰσχρὸν τὸ κακὸν, ὅσον πρὸς τῷ ὁμοφύλους τὸ πολεμίων δρᾷν, περὶ ἀλλοφυλους τοιούτους εἶναι, ὁ ἱερατιχὸς θεσμὸς ἀπηγόρευσεν. ### English translation (Claude) Macedonius, deprived of the church of Constantinople, lived in a place near the gates, where he died. Eudoxius took possession of the church. It was in the consulship of Constantius for the tenth time and Julian Caesar for the third that, holding his first assembly at the dedication of the great church which they call Sophia, he is said to have mounted the priest's platform as if to teach the people and to have begun his discourse by saying: “The Father is impious, the Son pious.” When the people were in uproar, he said: “Be quiet. The Father is impious because he reveres no one; the Son is pious because he reveres the Father.” By saying this he turned his hearers to laughter. He and Acacius together made every effort to bring everyone to forget what had been decided at Nicaea; they sent the document read at Ariminum, with what they had added by way of correction, throughout the whole empire, and ordered that those who would not sign it be punished with exile, according to the emperor's command. For they reckoned, it is said, that in this way they would achieve their aim without effort. But this was the beginning of very great calamities. A turmoil like those described spread through the whole empire, and a persecution almost like those formerly under the pagan emperors held the churches everywhere. For if it seemed milder in bodily punishments, it naturally appeared harsher to the right-minded because of its shamefulness. For both the persecutor and the persecuted came from the church; and the evil was the more shameful, in that to treat one's own people as enemies is something the priestly law forbids one to do even to foreigners. ### Translation notes - A fragment of Valesius's chapter title (“… to set in the midst; and how great a disturbance befell the churches from this”) stood at the head of the section and has been removed. Eudoxius's pun plays on εὐσεβής/ἀσεβής, “pious/impious,” as “one who reveres / one who does not revere.” The dedication of Hagia Sophia was on 15 February 360. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 4.26 (PG 67:1197–1199; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/4-26). ## Church History 4.27 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/4-25/#p-4-27 - Source: PG 67:1199–1201 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Macedonius, after his deposition, teaches that the Son is like the Father in essence but that the Holy Spirit is a ministering servant; his followers, sustained by the ascetic Marathonius, become known as Macedonians or Marathonians. ### Greek text Ἡ δὲ καινότης ἐπαινουμένη ἔτι μᾶλλον εδίδου, πρὸς νεωτερισμὸν εἴρπεν ἀπαυθαδειαζομένη τε καὶ τῶν πατριχῶν ὑπερφρονοῦσα, ἰδίους ἐτέθει νόμους. Καὶ τὰ αὐτὰ τοῖς ἀρχαιοτέροις περὶ : Θεοῦ δοξάζειν οὐκ ἠξίου. ᾿Αεὶ δὲ ξένα περινοοῦσα οἱ ἃ δόγματα, οὐχ ἢρέμει τῶν καινῶν χαινοτέροις σπου - δάζουσα, ὥσπερ δὴ καὶ νῦν συνέδη. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ χεδόνιος ἀφῃρέθη τὴν Κωνσταντινουπόλεως Ἐκκληοὐκέτι παραπλησίως ἐδόξαζε τοῖς ἀμφὶ τὸν ᾿Ακάκιον Εὐδόξιον. Εἰσηγεῖτο δὲ τὸν Υἱὸν Θεὸν εἶναι, κατὰ πάντα τε χατ᾽ οὐσίαν ὅμοιον τῷ Πατρί. Τὸ δὲ ἅγιον Πνεῦμα, ἄμοιρον τῶν αὐτῶν πρεσθείων ἀπεφαίνετο, διάκονον ὑπηρέτην καλῶν, καὶ ὅσα περὶ τῶν θείων ἀγγέλων λέγων τις, οὐχ ἂν ἁμάρτοι. Ταύτης δὲ τῆς δόξης ἐκοινώνουν αὑτῷ, ᾿Ελεύσιός τε Εὐστάθιος, ὅσοι τότε παρὰ τῶν ἐχ τῆς ἐναντίας αἱρέσεως ἐν Κωνσταντινουπόλει χαθηρέθησαν " οἷς οὐχ ὀλίγη μοῖρα τοῦ λαοῦ ἐπείθετο κατὰ τὴν Κωνσταντινούπολιν, Βιθυνίαν τε θράχὴν καὶ Ἑλλήσποντον, καὶ τὰ πέριξ ἔθνη. Καὶ γὰρ δὴ καὶ τὰ περὶ τὸν βίον, ᾧ μάλιστα τὰ πλήθη προσἐχει τὸν νοῦν, οὐ φαύλως εἶχον. Πρόοδός τε γὰρ αὐτοῖς σεμνή" καὶ παραπλησία μοναχοῖς ἡ ἀγωγὴ " καὶ λόγος οὐχ ἄχομψος, Ἦθος πείθειν ἱχανόν.. Οἷον δὴ τότε καὶ Μαραθώνιον γενέσθαι φασίν" ὃς ἀπὸ Ψηφιστοῦ δημοσίου τῶν ὑπὸ τοὺς ὑπάρχους στρατιωτῶν, πλόῦτον πολὺν συλλέξας, ἐπειδὴ τῆς στρατιᾶς ἐπαύσατο, συνοικίας νοσούντων καὶ πτωχῶν ἐπεμελεῖτο" μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα, πείσαντος Εὐσταθίου τοῦ Σεβαστείας ἐπισχόπον, τὸν ἀσκητικὸν βίον ἐπἥνεσε, καὶ συνοικίαν μοναχῶν ἐν Κωνσταντινουπόλει συνεστήσατο, ἣ καὶ ἐξ ἐκείνου εἰσέτι νῦν ἔστι ταῖς διαδοχαῖς σωζομένη. Ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον δὲ ταύτῃ τῇ αρέσει σπουδῇ καὶ χρήμασιν ἰδίοις συνελάδετο, ὡς πρός τινων Μαραθωνιανοὺς τοὺς Μακεδονίου ὀνομάζεσθαι, ἐμοὶ δοκεῖ, οὐκ ἀπειχότως. Φαίνεται γὰρ μόνος οὗτος μετὰ τῶν συνοίκων, τοῦ μὴ παντελῶς ἀποσβῆναι ταύτην τὴν αἴρεσιν ἐν Κωνσταντινουπόλει αἴτιος γενόμενος. Αφ' οὗ γὰρ καθῃρέθη Μακεδόνιος, οὔτε Ἐκκλησίας, οὔτε ἐπισκόπους εἶχον μέχρι τῆς ᾿Αρκαδίου βασιλείας. Οὐ γὰρ συνεχώρουν οἱ ᾿Αρείου, πάντας τοὺς ἐναντίως δοξάζοντας ἐκ τῶν Ἐκκλησιῶν ἐξελαύνοντες, καὶ δεινῶς τιμωρούμενοι. Πάντας μὲν οὖν ὅσοι τότε τῶν ἱερέων ἐκ τῶν ἰδίων πόλεων ἠλάθησαν, ἔργον ἄρα καταλέγειν. Οὐδὲν γὰρ ἔθνος τῆς Ῥωμαίων οἰκουμένης, ἀπείρατον οἶμαι διαμείναι τῆς τοιαύτης συμφορᾶς. ### English translation (Claude) Novelty, when praised, advances still further: it creeps on toward innovation, grows arrogant, despises the ancestral teachings, and lays down laws of its own. It does not deign to hold the same views about God as those of older times, but always devising strange doctrines, it does not rest, eager for things newer than the new, as happened now too. For when Macedonius had been deprived of the church of Constantinople, he no longer held the same views as Acacius's and Eudoxius's party. He taught that the Son is God and like the Father in all things and in essence; but he declared that the Holy Spirit has no share in the same prerogatives, calling him a minister and servant, and saying of him whatever one might say of the divine angels without error. Eleusius and Eustathius shared this opinion with him, and all who were then deposed at Constantinople by those of the opposite sect; and no small part of the people obeyed them in Constantinople, Bithynia, Thrace, the Hellespont and the neighbouring provinces. For in their manner of life too, to which the multitude pays most attention, they were not unworthy: their bearing was grave, their discipline like that of monks, their speech not unrefined, and their character able to persuade. Such, they say, Marathonius was at that time. Having gathered great wealth as paymaster of the soldiers under the prefects, when he left the service he took charge of the houses of the sick and the poor; afterward, persuaded by Eustathius, bishop of Sebaste, he embraced the ascetic life and founded a community of monks at Constantinople, which still survives from that time by succession. He helped this sect with such zeal and his own money that some called Macedonius's followers Marathonians, not without reason, it seems to me; for he alone, with his community, appears to have been the reason why this sect was not entirely extinguished at Constantinople. For from the time Macedonius was deposed they had neither churches nor bishops until the reign of Arcadius; for the Arians did not allow it, driving all of contrary opinion from the churches and punishing them severely. To list all the priests who were then driven from their own cities would be a task; for no province of the Roman world, I think, remained untouched by such a calamity. ### Scripture references - Heb 1:14: allusion, low confidence ### Translation notes - The first word of the chapter is lost in the scan and καινότης (“novelty”) is misread as κοινότης; the translation follows the sense. The followers of Macedonius were later called Pneumatomachians (“fighters against the Spirit”). Sozomen reports their doctrine of the Spirit as he gives it, without comment. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 4.27 (PG 67:1199–1201; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/4-27). ## Church History 4.28 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/4-25/#p-4-28 - Source: PG 67:1201–1203 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Meletius, transferred to Antioch by Eudoxius's party, declares the Son of the same essence as the Father and, when the archdeacon covers his mouth, signs the Trinity with his fingers; he is exiled, Euzoius replaces him, and his followers form a separate congregation. ### Greek text Ἐν δὲ τῷ τότε Εὐδοξίου κατασχόντος τὴν Κωνσταντινουπόλεως Ἐκκλησίαν, πολλοὶ τὸν ἐν Ἀντιοχείᾳ θρόνον περιποιεῖν ἑαυτοῖς ἐσπούδαζον, καὶ ὡς εἰκὸς ἐπὶ πράγμασι τοιούτοις, φιλονεικίαι καὶ στάσεις διάφοροι τοῦ κλήρου καὶ τοῦ λαοῦ συνέβησαν. Ἕκαστοι γὰρ τὸν ὁμόφρονα περὶ τὴν ἰδίαν πίστιν προσδοκώμενον, ἠροῦντο τῆς Ἐκκλησίας ἄρχειν. Οὔπω γὰρ πεπαυμένοι ἦσαν τῆς περὶ τὸ δόγμα διαφορᾶς, οὐδὲ ἐν ταῖς ψαλμῳδίαις συνεφρόνουν ἀλλήλας · πρὸς δὲ τὴν οἰκείαν δόξαν, ὡς ἐν τοῖς πρόσθεν εἴρηται, μεθήρμοζον τὸ ψαλλόμενον. Οὕτω διακειμένης τῆς Ἀντιοχέων Ἐκκλησίας, ἔδοξε τοῖς ἀμφὶ τὸν Εὐδόξιον, καλῶς ἔχειν μεταστῆσαι ἐνθάδε Μελέτιον ἐκ τῆς Σεβαστείας, οἷά γε λέγειν τε καὶ πείθειν ἱκανὸν, καὶ τὰ περὶ τὸν βίον ἀγαθὸν, καὶ ὁμόδοξον αὐτοῖς τὸ πρὶν ὄντα. Κατὰ πάντα γὰρ ᾤοντο, τῇ δοκήσει τοῦ ἀνδρὸς πρὸς οἰκείαν αἴρεσιν θηράσειν τοὺς ᾿Αντιοχείας οἰκήτορας, καὶ τὰς πέριξ πόλεις · καὶ μάλιστα τοὺς καλουμένους Εὐσταθιανοὺς, οἳ κατά τὴν παράδοσιν τῆς ἐν Νικαίᾳ συνόδου τὰ περὶ Θεοῦ ἐδόξαζον. Ἔμελλον δὲ παραπολὺ τῆς ἐλπίδος ἀποτεύξεσθαι. Ἐπεὶ γὰρ ἦκεν εἰς Αντιόχειαν, λέγεται δήμους πολλοὺς συνελθεῖν τῶν τὰ ᾿Αρείου φρονούντων, καὶ Παυλίνῳ κοινωνούντων· οἱ μὲν, ἱστορήσοντες τὸν ἄνδρα, ὅτι πολὺ κλέος ἦν αὐτοῦ καὶ πρὸ τῆς παρουσίας· οἱ δὲ, μαθησόμενοι τί ἄρα ἐρεῖ, καὶ τίσιν ἐπιψηφίζεται. Ἤδη γὰρ φήμη διεφοίτα, ἐπαινέτην αὐτὸν εἶναι τοῦ δόγματος τῶν ἐν Νικαίᾳ συνελθόντων· καὶ τὸ ἀποβὰν ἔδειξε. Τὴν μὲν γὰρ ἀρχὴν, τοὺς καλουμένους ἠθικοὺς λόγους δημοσίᾳ ἐδίδασκε · τελευτῶν δὲ, ἀναφανδὸν τῆς αὐτῆς οὐσίας τῷ Πατρὶ τὸν Υἱὸν ἀπεφήνατο. Λέγεται δὲ, προσδραμὼν ὁ ἀρχιδιάκονος, ὃς τότε ἦν τοῦ ἐνθάδε κλήρου, ἔτι τοῦτο λέγοντος ἐπιβαλὼν τὴν χεῖρα, ἔβυσεν αὐτοῦ τὸ στόμα. Ὁ δὲ, τῇ χειρὶ σαφέστερον ἢ τῇ φωνῇ, τὴν γνώμην κατεσήμαινε · καὶ τρεῖς μόνους εἰς τὸ προφανές δακτύλους ἐκτείνων, εἰς ταυτὸν δὲ πάλιν τούτους συνέλεγε, καὶ τὸν ἕνα ὥρθου· τῷ σχήματι τῆς χειρὸς εἰκονίζων τοῖς πλήθεσιν ἅπερ ἐφρόνει, καὶ λέγειν ἐπείχετο. Ὡς δὲ ἀμηχανήσας ὁ ἀρχιδιάκονος ἐπελάβετο τῆς χειρὸς, τοῦ στόματος ἀφέμενος, ἐλευθερω- θεὶς τὴν γλῶσσαν, ἔτι μᾶλλον μεγάλῃ τῇ φωνῇ σαφέ στερον ἐδήλου τὴν αὐτοῦ δόξαν· καὶ τῶν ἐν Νικαίᾳ δεδογμένων ἔχεσθαι παρεκελεύετο· καὶ διεμαρτύρετο τοὺς ἀκούοντας, ἁμαρτάνειν τῆς ἀληθείας τοὺς ἄλλως φρονοῦντας. Ἐπεὶ δὲ οὐκ ἐνεδίδου τὰ αὐτὰ λέγων ἢ τῇ χειρὶ δεικνὺς ἀμοιβαδὸν, ὡς ἐνεχώρει πρὸς τὴν τοῦ ἀρχιδιακόνου κώλυσιν, καὶ φιλονεικία ἦν ἀμφοτέρων, μονονουχί παγκρατίῳ ἐμφερὴς, μέγα ἀνέκραγον οἱ Εὐσταθιανοὶ, καὶ ἔχαιρον καὶ ἀνεπήδων - οἱ δὲ ᾿Αρείου, κατηφεῖς ἦσαν. ᾿Ακούσαντες δὲ οἱ ἀμφὶ τὸν Εὐδόξιον, ἐχαλέπαινον, καὶ ἐλαθῆναι τῆς πόλεως τὸν Μελέτιον ἐσπούδασαν · καὶ πάλιν μετεκαλοῦντο, ὡς ἐπὶ διορθώσει τῶν εἰρημένων μεταμελούμενον, καὶ τἀναντία δοξάζοντα. Μὴ μεταθέμενον δὲ τῆς γνώμης, ἐκβάλλεσθαι τῆς Ἐκκλησίας, καὶ ὑπερορίαν οἰκεῖν προσέταξεν ὁ βασιλεύς. Ἐπεὶ δὲ τοῦτο γέγονεν, ἐπιτρέπεται τὸν Ἀντιοχέων θρόνον Εὐζώϊος, ὃς ἅμα ᾿Αρείῳ πρότερον ἤδη καθήρητο· οἱ δὲ Μελετίου ἐπαινέται, ἀποτεμόμενοι σφᾶς τῶν τὰ ᾿Αρείου φρονούντων, ἰδίᾳ ἐκκλησίαζον · οἱ γὰρ ὁμοούσιον ἐξ ἀρχῆς τὸν Υἱὸν τῷ Πατρὶ δοξάζοντες, παρῃτοῦντο κοινωνεῖν αὐτοῖς, ὡς Μελετίου πρὸς ᾿Αρειανῶν ἐπισκόπων χειροτονηθέντος, καὶ ὑπὸ τοιούτοις ἱερεῦσι βαπτισθέντων τῶν ἑπομένων αὐτῷ. Καὶ οἱ μὲν κατὰ πρόφασιν τήνδε διήρηντο, καίπερ ὁμοίως φρονοῦντες. Ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς ἀκούσας Πέρσας νεωτερίζειν, ἧκεν εἰς ᾿Αντιόχειαν. ### English translation (Claude) At that time, when Eudoxius held the church of Constantinople, many were eager to secure the see of Antioch for themselves; and, as is natural in such matters, rivalries and various disturbances arose among the clergy and the people. For each party chose that the man it expected to share its own faith should rule the church. For they had not yet ceased from their dispute about the doctrine, nor were they agreed in their psalm-singing, but, as was said before, adapted what was sung to their own opinion. The church of Antioch being in this state, Eudoxius's party thought it well to transfer Meletius there from Sebaste, as one able in speech and persuasion, good in his life, and formerly of the same opinion as they. For they thought that by the man's reputation they would win over to their own sect the inhabitants of Antioch and the surrounding cities, and especially those called Eustathians, who held their views about God according to the tradition of the synod of Nicaea. But they were to be greatly disappointed in their hope. For when he came to Antioch, it is said that great crowds gathered, both of those who held the views of Arius and of those in communion with Paulinus: some to see the man, since great fame had gone before his arrival; others to learn what he would say and with whom he would side. For a report was already going about that he approved the doctrine of those who met at Nicaea; and the outcome showed it. At first he taught publicly what are called ethical discourses; but at last he openly declared the Son to be of the same essence as the Father. It is said that the archdeacon who was then of the clergy there ran up while he was still saying this, put his hand on his mouth and stopped it. But he made his opinion known more clearly with his hand than with his voice: holding out three fingers only to view, he brought them together again and raised one, showing the people by the shape of his hand what he believed and was prevented from saying. When the archdeacon, at a loss, seized his hand and let go of his mouth, his tongue, freed, declared his opinion still more clearly in a loud voice; he urged them to hold to what had been decided at Nicaea, and testified to his hearers that those who thought otherwise missed the truth. When he did not give way, saying the same things or showing them with his hand by turns, as the archdeacon's hindrance allowed, and there was a struggle between them almost like a pancratium, the Eustathians shouted aloud, rejoiced and leaped, while the Arians were downcast. When Eudoxius's party heard of it, they were indignant and worked to have Meletius driven from the city; and they summoned him again, as though he had repented and would correct what he had said and hold the contrary. When he did not change his mind, the emperor ordered him to be expelled from the church and to live in exile. When this had happened, Euzoius, who had formerly been deposed together with Arius, was entrusted with the see of Antioch. Meletius's admirers cut themselves off from those who held the views of Arius and held their assemblies apart; for those who from the beginning held the Son to be of the same essence as the Father refused to communicate with them, because Meletius had been ordained by Arian bishops and his followers had been baptized by such priests. So they were divided on this pretext, though holding the same views. The emperor, hearing that the Persians were making a move, came to Antioch. ### Translation notes - A fragment of Valesius's chapter title (“… having deposed him, they install Euzoius on the throne; Meletius held assemblies by himself, for those who held the homoousion turned from him as ordained by Arians”) stood at the head of the section and has been removed. The text of the scan for this chapter is otherwise continuous; Meletius's sermon is reported only in summary, as in Sozomen's text (his sermon is preserved in Epiphanius, Panarion 73.29–33). Meletius came to Antioch in 360 or 361. The gesture of three fingers and then one signifies three persons and one essence. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 4.28 (PG 67:1201–1203; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/4-28). ## Church History 4.29 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/4-25/#p-4-29 - Source: PG 67:1203–1205 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The Acacian bishops at Antioch drop even “like” and teach that the Son is unlike the Father and from nothing, defending “God from God” by Paul's “all things are from God.” ### Greek text Οἱ δὲ ἀμφὶ ᾿Ακάκιον, ἠρεμεῖν πάλιν οὐκ ἠνείχοντο, συνελθόντες εἰς ᾿Αντιόχειαν ἅμα ὀλίγοις, τὰ δεδογμένα ἤδη σφίσιν ἐμέμφοντο · καὶ τῆς, ἀναγνωσθείσης ἐν ᾿Αριμήνῳ καὶ Κωνσταντινουπόλει γραφῆς περιτεμεῖν ἐδοκίμασαν τὸ ὅμοιον ὄνομα· καὶ κατὰ πάντα, οὐσίαν τε καὶ βούλησιν, ἀνόμοιον εἶναι τῷ Πατρὶ τὸν Υἱὸν, καὶ ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων γεγενῆσθαι ἡγοῦντο, ὡς ἐξ ἀρχῆς ᾿Αρείῳ ἐδόκει. Συνελαμβάνοντο δὲ τούτοις καὶ οἱ τὰ ᾿Αετίου φρονοῦντες, ὃς μετὰ ᾿Αρειον πρῶτος περιφανῶς χρήσασθαι τοῖς ὀνόμασι τούτοις ἐθάῤῥησεν. Ὅθεν δὴ καὶ ἄθεος ὠνομάζετο, καὶ οἱ τὰ αὐτοῦ δοκιμάζοντες ᾿Ανόμοιοι καὶ Ἐξουκόντιοι. Πυνθανομένων δὲ αὐτῶν τῶν ἑπομένων τοῖς ἐν Νικαίᾳ δόξασιν, ὅπως Θεὸν ἐκ Θεοῦ τὸν Υἱὸν συνομολογοῦντες, ἀνόμοιόν τε καὶ ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων καὶ παρὰ τὴν σφῶν αὐτῶν ἔκθεσιν ὀνομάζειν θαῤῥοῦσιν · ὅτι καὶ Παῦλος ὁ ἀπόστολος, ἔφασαν, εἶπε, Τὰ δὲ πάντα ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ · πάντων δὲ εἶναι καὶ τὸν Υἱόν. Καὶ κατὰ τοῦτο · νοεῖσθαι τὸ προκείμενον ἐν οἷς ἐξέθεντο, κατὰ τὰς θείας Γραφάς. Καὶ τὸ μὲν ὧδε μετέφραζον καὶ ἐσοφίζοντο, τελευτῶντες δὲ ὡς οὐχ οἷοί τε ἦσαν τοῖς περὶ τούτων ἐγκαλοῦσιν ἢ ὀνειδίζουσιν ἱκανῶς ἀπολογεῖσθαι, πάλιν τὴν ἐν Κωνσταντινουπόλει δοκιμασθεῖσαν πίστιν ἀναγνόντες, διελύθησαν, καὶ εἰς τὰς αὐτῶν πόλεις ἀπεχώρησαν. ### English translation (Claude) Acacius's party could not keep quiet again; meeting at Antioch with a few others, they found fault with what they had themselves already decided, and resolved to cut out the word “like” from the document read at Ariminum and Constantinople; and they held that the Son is unlike the Father in all things, in essence and in will, and came into being from nothing, as Arius had held from the beginning. Those who held the views of Aetius helped them, who after Arius was the first who dared to use these terms openly; hence he was called godless, and those who approved his views Anomoeans and Exoucontians. When those who followed what was decided at Nicaea asked them how, confessing the Son to be God from God, they dared to call him unlike and from nothing, contrary even to their own exposition, they said: “Because Paul the apostle said, ‘All things are from God,’ and the Son is one of all things; and in this sense, according to the divine Scriptures, what is set down in our exposition is to be understood.” So they paraphrased and quibbled. In the end, since they could not defend themselves adequately against those who accused or reproached them on these points, they read again the faith approved at Constantinople, broke up, and went back to their own cities. ### Scripture references - 1 Cor 11:12: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 8:6: allusion, low confidence ### Translation notes - “All things are from God” is 1 Cor 11:12 (cf. 1 Cor 8:6). “Exoucontians” means “from-nothing-ists” (ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων). The synod of Antioch was in 361. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 4.29 (PG 67:1203–1205; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/4-29). ## Church History 4.30 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/4-25/#p-4-30 - Source: PG 67:1205–1207 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: George persecutes pagans and dissenting Christians at Alexandria, preparing his own death; after Cyril's deposition Herennius, Heraclius and Hilarius hold Jerusalem until Cyril's return under Theodosius. ### Greek text Ἐν τούτῳ δὲ, ἔτι ᾿Αθανασίου κρυπτομένου, ἐπανελθὼν Γεώργιος εἰς ᾿Αλεξάνδρειαν, χαλεπῶς ἐκάκου τοὺς Ἕλληνας, καὶ τοὺς ἑτέρως αὐτῷ δοξάζοντας Χριστιανούς. Εκατέρους τε γὰρ ὡς ἐβούλετο θρησκεύειν ἐβιάζετο, καὶ παραιτουμένους ἤλαυνεν. Ἐμισεῖτο δὲ παρὰ μὲν τῶν ἐν λόγῳ, ὡς ὑπερορῶν αὐτοὺς, καὶ τοῖς ἄρχουσιν ἐπιτάττων· παρὰ δὲ τοῦ πλήθους, ὡς τυραννικὸς, καὶ πλέον πάντων δυνάμενος. Ἐχαλέπαινε δὲ μάλιστα τὸ Ἑλληνικὸν, ὅτι τε θύειν αὐτοὺς καὶ τὰς πατρίους ἑορτὰς ἄγειν ἐκώλυε, καὶ στρατιώτας καὶ τὸν ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ στρατηγὸν σὺν ὅπλοις ἐπεισαγαγὼν τῇ πόλει, εἰκόνας τε καὶ ἀναθήματα, καὶ τὸν ἐν τοῖς ναοῖς κόσμον ἀφαιρούμενος. "Α δὴ πρόφασις ὕστερον αὐτῷ ἐγένετο τῆς ἀναιρέσεως, ὡς αὐτίκα λέξω. Κυρίλλου δὲ καθαιρεθέντος, ὡς εἴρηται, παραλαμβάνει τὴν Ἱεροσολύμων Ἐκκλησίαν Ἐρέννιος, καὶ μετ᾿ ἐκεῖνον Ἡράκλειος· ἐφεξῆς τε τούτου, Ιλάριος. Τούτους γὰρ ἐν τῷ τότε τὴν ἐνθάδε Ἐκκλησίαν ἐπιτροπεῦσαι παρειλήφαμεν, μέχρι τῆς Θεοδοσίου βασιλείας · ἡνίκα δὴ Κύριλλος εἰς τὸν αὐτὸν πάλιν ἐπανῆλθε θρόνον. ### English translation (Claude) Meanwhile, while Athanasius was still in hiding, George returned to Alexandria and harshly ill-treated the pagans and the Christians who held views different from his own. He forced both to worship as he wished and drove out those who refused. He was hated by those of rank, as one who despised them and gave orders to the magistrates, and by the multitude as tyrannical and more powerful than all. The pagans were especially angry because he prevented them from sacrificing and from keeping their ancestral festivals, and because, bringing soldiers and the general of Egypt under arms into the city, he took away images, offerings and the ornaments in the temples. This later became the pretext for his death, as I shall tell shortly. When Cyril had been deposed, as has been said, Herennius received the church of Jerusalem, and after him Heraclius, and after him Hilarius. For we have received that these governed the church there at that time, until the reign of Theodosius, when Cyril returned to the same see. ### Translation notes - George was killed by the pagan mob of Alexandria in December 361 (Sozomen 5.7). ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 4.30 (PG 67:1205–1207; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/4-30). ## Church History 5.1 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/5-1/#p-5-1 - Source: PG 67:1207–1211 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Julian, proclaimed Augustus in Gaul, openly turns pagan and marches east; Constantius dies on the way to meet him, and Julian becomes sole emperor. ### Greek text Καὶ τὰ μὲν ὧδε ἀνὰ τὴν Ἕω περὶ τὰς Ἐκκλησίας συνέβη. Ἐν τούτῳ δὲ Ἰουλιανὸς ὁ Καῖσαρ, μάχῃ κρατήσας τῶν παρὰ τὸν Ῥῆνον ποταμὸν βαρβάρων, τοὺς μὲν ἐχειρώσατο · τοὺς δὲ ἐζώγρησε. Λαμπρὸς δὲ τηνικάδε φανεὶς, καὶ ὑπὸ μετριότητος καὶ ἐπιεικείας κεχαρισμένος τοῖς στρατιώταις γεγονὼς, ἀναγορεύεται πρὸς αὐτῶν σεβαστός. Μηδὲν δὲ περὶ τούτου, ὡς εἰκὸς, πρὸς Κωνστάντιον παραιτησάμενος, ἄρχοντας μὲν τοὺς ὑπ᾿ αὐτοῦ χειροτονηθέντας ἤμειβεν· ἐπίτηδες δὲ καὶ τὰς ἐπιστολὰς ἐπεδείκνυ, δι᾽ ὧν τοὺς βαρβάρους καλῶν κατὰ Μαγνεντίου, εἰς Ῥωμαίους ἤγαγεν· ἐξαπίνης δὲ τὴν θρησκείαν μεταβαλών, πρότερον χριστιανίζειν δοκῶν, ἀρχιερέα ὠνόμαζεν ἑαυτὸν, καὶ τοῖς Ἑλλήνων ναοῖς ἐφοίτα, καὶ ἔθυε, καὶ τοὺς ὑπηκόους ὧδε θρησκεύειν ἔπειθε. Προσδοκωμένων δὲ Περσῶν Ῥωμαίοις ἐπιθήσεσθαι, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἐν Συρίᾳ Κωνσταντίου διατρίβοντος, λογισάμενος ἀμαχητὶ δύνασθαι τῶν Ἰλλυριῶν κρατεῖν, εἴχετο τῆς ἐπ᾿ αὐτοὺς ὁδοῦ · πρόφασιν ποιούμενος, ὡς 5 ἀπολογίας χάριν ἐλαύνει πρὸς Κωνστάντιον ὑπὲρ τοῦ μὴ ἑκὼν δόξαι πρὸς τῶν στρατιωτῶν παρὰ γνώμην αὐτοῦ τὰ σύμβολα τῆς βασιλείας καταδέχεσθαι. Λέγεται δὲ ἡνίκα πρὸ τῶν τῇδε ὅρων ἐπέβη, τὰς μὲν ἀμπέλους μετὰ τρύγην ἀμφὶ τὴν τῶν Πλειάδων δύσιν ὀμφάκων πλήρεις φανῆναι · τὴν δὲ ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀέρος δρόσον, διαχεθεῖσαν κατὰ τῆς αὐτοῦ ἐσθῆτος καὶ τῶν ἑπομένων, καθ' ἑκάστην σταγόνα, σταυροῦ σημεῖον ἐντυπῶσαι. Ἐδόκει δὲ αὐτῷ καὶ πολλοῖς τῶν συνιόντων, οἱ μὲν βότρυες παρὰ καιρὸν φανέντες, σύμβολον εἶναι ἀγαθόν· ἡ δὲ δρόσος ἐκ παρατυχόντος ὧδε τὴν ἐσθῆτα καταστίξαι καθ' ἧς ἔτυχε πεσοῦσα. ῎Ἄλλοι δὲ ἔλεγον τοῖν συμβόλοιν, τὸ μὲν, ἄωρον σημαίνειν ἀπολεῖσθαι τὸν βασιλέα, ὀμφάκων δίκην, καὶ σ ὀλιγοχρόνιον ἔσεσθαι αὐτοῦ τὴν βασιλείαν· τὸ δὲ, προμηνύειν οὐράνιον εἶναι τὸ δόγμα τῶν Χριστιανῶν, καὶ χρῆναι πάντας τῷ σημείῳ τοῦ σταυροῦ κατασημανθῆναι. Ὡς ἔοικε δὲ, οἱ τἀναντία τῷ βασιλεῖ δοξάσαντες, οὐ διήμαρτον τῆς ἀληθείας · ἀμφότερα γὰρ εὐστόχως εἰρῆσθαι προϊὼν ὁ χρόνος ἀπέδειξεν. Ἐπεὶ δὲ ἐπύθετο Κωνστάντιος ἐκστρατεύειν ἐπ᾿ αὐτὸν Ἰουλιανὸν, καταλιπὼν τὴν πρὸς τοὺς Πέρσας παρασκευὴν, ἐπὶ τὴν. Κωνσταντίνου πόλιν ἠπείγετο· ἡνίκα δὴ τὴν ὁδοιπορίαν ποιούμενος, ἐτελεύτησεν ἐν Μόμψου κρήναις, μεταξύ Κιλίκων καὶ Καππαδοκῶν τῶν πρὸς τῷ Ταύρῳ· ἔτη ἀμφὶ τεσσαράκοντα καὶ πέντε γεγονώς. Ἐξ ὧν τρισκαίδεκα σὺν τῷ πατρὶ ἐβασίλευσε, πέντε δὲ καὶ εἴκοσι μετ' ἐκεῖνον. Ἐπεὶ δὲ ἐτελεύτησεν, ὁ μὲν Ἰουλιανὸς ἤδη τὴν Θράκην εἶχεν. Οὐκ εἰς μακρὰν δὲ εἰς τὴν Κωνσταντινούπολιν ἐλθὼν, αὐτοκράτωρ ἀνηγορεύθη. Οἱ δὲ Ἕλληνες ἐλογοποίουν, ὡς καὶ πρὸ τοῦ Γαλάτας ἀπολιπεῖν αὐτὸν, μαντικοὶ καὶ δαίμονες ἐπὶ ταύτην τὴν ἐκστρατείαν ἐκίνησαν, τὸν Κωνσταντίου θάνατον προμηνύσαντες, καὶ τὴν τῶν πραγμάτων μεταβολήν. Ην δὲ ἄρα πιθανὸν πρόγνωσιν ταῦτα καλεῖν, εἰ μὴ καὶ αὐτὸν ὅσον οὔπω τὸ τοῦ βίου τέλος ἔφθασεν, ὡς ἐν ὀνείρῳ τῆς βασιλείας γευσάμενον. Εὔηθες γὰρ οἶμαι λέγειν, ὡς διὰ τῆς μαντικῆς προϊδὼν τὴν αὐτόματον Κωνσταντίου τελευτήν, καὶ τὴν αὐτοῦ παρὰ Πέρσαις σφαγήν, ἑκοντὴς εἰς προὗπτον ἥλατο θάνατον· αὐτῷ μὲν, οὐδὲν ὅτι μὴ ἀβουλίας καὶ ἀμαθοῦς στρατηγίας προσάψαντα δόξαν παρὰ πολλοῖς· τῇ δὲ Ῥωμαίων ὑπηκόῳ τοσοῦτον ἐπαγαγόντα κίνδυνον, ὡς μικροῦ πᾶσαν, ἢ τὸ πλεῖστον αὐτῆς, κινδυνεῦσαι ὑπὸ Πέρσαις γενέσθαι. ᾿Αλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν, ἵνα μὴ παραλελεῖφθαι δόξῃ, ὧδε εἰρήσθω ἡμῖν, καὶ ὅπη ἕκαστος βούλεται, ταύτῃ ἡγείσθω. ### English translation (Claude) Such were the events concerning the churches in the East. Meanwhile Julian the Caesar, having defeated in battle the barbarians along the river Rhine, slew some and took others alive. Having shown himself brilliant at that time, and having won the favour of the soldiers by his moderation and fairness, he was proclaimed Augustus by them. Making no apology to Constantius about this, as would have been fitting, he replaced the officials appointed by him; and he deliberately also displayed the letters by which Constantius had summoned the barbarians against Magnentius and brought them into Roman territory. Suddenly changing his religion, though he had earlier seemed to be a Christian, he named himself supreme pontiff, frequented the temples of the pagans, sacrificed, and urged his subjects to worship in this way. Since the Persians were expected to attack the Romans, and Constantius was therefore staying in Syria, Julian, reckoning that he could take Illyricum without a battle, set out on the road against it, giving as a pretext that he was going to Constantius to make his defence, so as not to seem to have accepted the insignia of empire from the soldiers willingly and against Constantius’s wishes. It is said that when he crossed into the borders of that region, the vines, after the vintage, about the setting of the Pleiades, appeared full of unripe grapes; and that the dew from the air, falling on his clothing and that of his followers, stamped the sign of a cross with each drop. He and many of those with him thought that the grapes appearing out of season were a good omen, and that the dew had marked the clothing in this way by chance, wherever it happened to fall. Others said of the two signs that the one meant that the emperor would perish before his time, like the unripe grapes, and that his reign would be short; and that the other foretold that the doctrine of the Christians was heavenly and that all must be marked with the sign of the cross. It seems that those who took the view contrary to the emperor’s did not miss the truth; for time, as it went on, showed that both had been aptly said. When Constantius learned that Julian was marching against him, he abandoned his preparations against the Persians and hurried to Constantinople; and while making the journey he died at Mopsucrenae, between Cilicia and the Cappadocians near the Taurus, about forty-five years old. Of these years he reigned thirteen with his father and twenty-five after him. When he died, Julian already held Thrace. Coming shortly afterwards to Constantinople, he was proclaimed sole emperor. The pagans put about the story that even before he left Gaul, diviners and demons had moved him to this campaign, foretelling the death of Constantius and the change of affairs. It would indeed be plausible to call this foreknowledge, had not the end of his own life overtaken him almost at once, so that he tasted empire as in a dream. For it is foolish, I think, to say that, having foreseen by divination the natural death of Constantius and his own slaughter among the Persians, he leapt willingly into evident death, winning for himself among many no reputation except for rashness and ignorant generalship, and bringing so great a danger on the Roman empire that almost the whole of it, or the greater part, was in danger of falling under the Persians. But let this be said by us, so that it may not seem to have been passed over; and let each think of it as he pleases. ### Translation notes - Constantius II died at Mopsucrenae on 3 November 361. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 5.1 (PG 67:1207–1211; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/5-1). ## Church History 5.2 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/5-1/#p-5-2 - Source: PG 67:1211–1217 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Julian’s open apostasy, the omens at his sacrifices and initiation, and his upbringing as a Christian, his secret turn to paganism, and his career as Caesar in Gaul. ### Greek text Κωνσταντίου δὲ τελευτήσαντος, εἰς δέος διωγμῶν ἡ Ἐκκλησία καθίστατο· καὶ φοβερωτέραν τῆς πείρας τὴν προσδοκίαν ἐποιεῖτο τοῖς Χριστιανοῖς, ὅτε διὰ μέσου πολὺς χρόνος, ἀήθεις αὐτοὺς καταστήσας τῶν τοιούτων κινδύνων, καὶ τῶν πάλαι τιμωριῶν ἡ ἀνάμνησις, καὶ τὸ τοῦ κρατοῦντος περὶ τὸ δόγμα μίσος. Λέγεται γὰρ εὐθὺς περιφανῶς οὕτως ἀναίδην ἀπαρνήσασθαι τὴν εἰς Χριστὸν πίστιν, ὡς θυσίαις τισὶ καὶ ἐπικλήσεσιν, ἃς ἀποτροπαίους Ἕλληνες και λοῦσι, καὶ αἵματι σφαγίων τὴν καθ' ἡμᾶς βάπτισιν ἀπονίψασθαι, τῇ μυήσει τῆς Ἐκκλησίας ἀποταξάμενον· καὶ τὸ ἐξ ἐκείνου, ἰδίᾳ τε καὶ δημοσίᾳ ἐντόμοις, καὶ ἱερείοις, καὶ τοῖς ὅσα θέμις ἐστὶν "Ἕλλησι, χρῆσθαι. Ποτὲ γοῦν αὐτῷ θεωμένῳ, λόγος ἀναδει χθῆναι σταυροῦ σημεῖον ἐν τοῖς σπλάγχνοις στεφάῳ κυκλούμενον · καὶ τοὺς μὲν ἄλλους κοινωνοὺς τῆς μαντείας εἰς δέος ἐμβαλεῖν, συμβάλλοντας ἐντεῦθεν τὴν μετὰ ταῦτα τῆς θρησκείας ἰσχὺν, καὶ τοῦ δόγματος τὸ ἀΐδιον · καθότι ὁ στέφανος ᾧ περιείληπτο, νίκης τε σημαντικόν ἐστι · καὶ τῇ περιόδῳ τοῦ κύκλου, πάντοθεν ἀρχόμενος, καὶ εἰς ἑαυτὸν λήγων, οὐδαμοῦ περαιοῦται. Ο γε μὴν ἀρχηγὸς τῆς περὶ ταῦτα διαγνώσεως, θαῤῥεῖν ἐκέλευσεν, ὡς αἰσίων κατὰ γνώμην αὐτοῖς τῶν σφαγίων ἀναδεικνυμένων, καὶ περικλειόντων τὸ τοῦ δόγματος σύμβολον, καὶ εἰς ταὐτὸν συνωθούντων, ὥστε μὴ πλατύνεσθαι, - καὶ ἀδεῶς χωρεῖν ἐφ᾽ οὓς βούλεται, ὅρον ἔχοντα τὴν τοῦ κύκλου περιγραφήν. Ἐπυθόμην δὲ ὡς καὶ τῶν ἐπισημοτάτων καὶ φοβερῶν ἀδύτων εἴς τι κατῄει, τελετῆς τινος ἢ μαντείας χάριν · ἐξαπίνης δὲ προσβαλλόντων αὐτῷ τῶν ἐπὶ τούτοις μεμηχανευμένων, καὶ γοητείαις παραφαινομένων φασμάτων, ὑπὸ θορύ βου καὶ δέους τῶν παρόντων ἐπιλανθανόμενος · ὀψὲ γὰρ τῆς ἡλικίας ἐπὶ τοιαύτην ἦλθε τὴν μάθησιν · ἔλαθεν ὑπὸ τῆς προτέρας συνηθείας, οἷά γε Χριστιανὸς ἐν ἀπόροις κινδύνοις περιληφθεὶς, τῷ συμβόλῳ τοῦ Χριστοῦ κατασημάνας ἑαυτόν. Αὐτίκα τε φροῦδα τὰ φάσματα ἐγένετο, καὶ τὸ σπουδαζόμενον ἐμπε- : πόδιστο. ᾿Απορούμενος δὲ περὶ τούτου ὁ μυσταγωγὸς, ἐπειδὴ ἔγνω τὸ αἴτιον τῆς φυγῆς τῶν δαιμόνων, ἄγος τὸ γεγονὸς ἀποκαλέσας, καὶ ἀνδρεῖον εἶναι, καὶ μηδὲν πρᾶξαι ἢ ἐννοῆσαι Χριστιανικὸν παρακελευσά μενος, αὖθις ἐπὶ τὴν τελετὴν αὐτὸν ἦγεν. Οὐ μετρίως δὲ ἐλύπει τοὺς Χριστιανοὺς καὶ περιδεεῖς ἐποίει ἡ περὶ ταῦτα σπουδὴ τοῦ βασιλέως, καὶ μάλιστα ὅτι Χριστιανὸς ἦν πρότερον. Εὐλαβῶν γὰρ περὶ τὴν θρησκείαν πατέρων γενόμενος, ἐκ νέου ἐμυήθη κατὰ τὸν θεσμὸν τῆς Ἐκκλησίας, καὶ τὰς ἱερὰς Γραφὰς ἐπαιδεύθη, καὶ ὑπὸ ἐπισκόποις καὶ ἐκκλησιαστικοῖς ἀνδράσιν ἐτράφη. Γέγονε γὰρ αὐτῷ καὶ Γάλλῳ πατὴρ Κωνστάντιος, ὁμοπάτριος ἀδελφὸς Κωνσταντίνου τοῦ βασιλεύσαντος, καὶ Δαλματίου· οὗ παῖς ὁμώνυμος Καῖσαρ ἀναδειχθεὶς, ἀν. ῃρέθη ὑπὸ τῶν στρατιωτῶν μετὰ τὴν Κωνσταντίνου τελευτήν. Ὀρφανοὶ δὲ πατρὸς γενόμενοι καὶ αὐτοὶ τότε, Δαλματίῳ συναπολέσθαι ἐκινδύνευον. Ἐξείλετο δὲ τῆς ἐπιβουλῆς Γάλλον μὲν, ὅτι νοσῶν ἔτυχε, καὶ ὅσον οὔπω αὐτομάτως τεθνήξεσθαι προσεδοκήθη · Ἰουλιανὸν δὲ τὸ νέον· ἔτι γὰρ ὄγδοον ἡλικίας ἦγεν ἔτος. Παραδόξως δὲ ὧδε διασωθέντες, προσετάχθησαν ἐν Καππαδοκίᾳ διατρίβειν ἐν Μακέλλῳ. Χωρίον δὲ τοῦτο βασιλικὴν πρὸς τῷ ᾿Αργαίῳ ὄρει, οὐκ ἀπὸ πολλοῦ τῆς Καισαρέων πόλεως, μεγαλοπρεπή τε βασίλεια ἔχον, καὶ λουτρὰ καὶ κήπους, καὶ πηγὰς ἀεννάους. Ἔνθα δὴ θεραπείας καὶ ἀγωγῆς βασιλικῆς ἠξιοῦντο, καὶ μαθήμασι καὶ γυμνασίοις τοῖς καθ' ἡλικίαν ἐχρῶντο, καὶ λόγων διδασκάλοις, καὶ τοῖς ( ὑφηγηταῖς τῶν ἁγίων Γραφῶν· ὡς καὶ κλήρῳ ἐγκαταλεγῆναι, καὶ ὑπαναγινώσκειν τῷ λαῷ τὰς ἐκκλησιαστικὰς βίβλους. Οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ διὰ τῶν ἠθῶν καὶ τῶν ἔργων, τὴν εὐσέβειαν ἐπεδείκνυντο · περὶ πολλοῦ ποιούμενοι τοὺς ἱερέας, καὶ τοὺς ἄλλως ἀγαθοὺς, καὶ περὶ δόγμα σπουδαίους, τοῖς τε εὐκτηρίοις οἴκοις θαμίζοντες, καὶ ταῖς προσηκούσαις τιμαῖς τὰς τῶν μαρτύρων θήκας γεραίροντες. Τηνικαῦτα γοῦν φασὶν αὐτοὺς, σπουδάζοντας μεγίστῳ περιλαβεῖν οἴκῳ τὸν τάφον Μάμα τοῦ μάρτυρος 4, εἰς ἀμφοτέρους μερίσαι τὸ ἔργον. Αμιλλωμένου δὲ ἑκατέρου φιλοτιμίᾳ καὶ τιμῇ ὑπεμβάλλεσθαι τὸν ἕτερον, παράδοξον συμβῆναι καὶ παντελῶς ἄπιστον, εἰ μὴ πολλοὶ τῶν ἀκηκοότων παρὰ τῶν τεθεαμένων μέχρι καὶ εἰς ἡμᾶς περιῆσαν. Τὸ μὲν γὰρ Γάλλου μέρος ἐπεδίδου, καὶ κατὰ γνώμην προὐχώρει· τῶν δὲ Ἰουλιανοῦ πονημάτων, τὰ μὲν, ἠρείπωτο· τὰ δὲ, ἐκ τῆς γῆς ἀνεδίδοτο· τὰ δὲ, παραυτίκα συνάπτεσθαι πρὸς τὸ ἔδαφος οὐκ ἠνείχετο, οἷά γε ἐξ ἀντιτύπου καὶ βιαίου τινὸς δυνάμεως κάτωθεν ἀντωθούσης ἀνακρουόμενα. Πᾶσι δὲ εἰκότως τεράστιον ἐδόκει τὸ ποᾶγμα, καὶ τοῖς μὲν πολλοῖς, τῇ ἀποβάσει ἐκρίθη. Οι δὲ, ἐξ ἐκείνου συνέβαλον, μὴ ὑγιῶς ἔχειν τὸν ἄνδρα περι τὴν θρησκείαν, ἀλλ᾽ εὐσεβεῖν πλάττεσθαι, Χριστιανὸν ὄντα τὸν τότε κρατοῦντα ὑποκρινόμενον, καὶ εἰς το προφανὲς ἐξάγειν τὴν γνώμην οὐκ ἀσφαλὲς ἡγούμενον. Προὔδωκε δὲ, ὡς λέγεται, τὴν πατρώαν θρησκείαν, συνουΕυ -σίαις μάντεων ὑπαχθεὶς τὰ πρῶτα. Μετὰ χρόνον γάρ τινα παυσαμένου Κωνσταντίου τῆς ὀργῆς, Γάλλος μὲν εἰς τὴν ᾿Ασίαν ἐλθὼν, ἐν Ἐφέσῳ διέτριβεν, ένθα δὴ τὰ πλείω τῆς οὐσίας εἶχεν. Ἰουλιανὸς δὲ, εἰς Κωνσταντινούπολιν ἐπανελθὼν, τοῖς ἐκεῖσε διδασκάλοις ἐφοίτα· φύσεως δὲ εὖ ἔχων, καὶ τοῖς μαθήμασι ῥᾳδίως ἐπιδιδοὺς, οὐκ ἐλάνθανεν. Ἐν ἰδιώτου γὰρ σχήματι τὰς προόδους ποιούμενος, πολλοῖς συνεγίνετο. Ἐπεὶ δὲ, οἷα φιλεῖ, ἐν ὁμίλῳ καὶ βασιλευούσῃ πόλει, ἀδελφὸς ὢν τοῦ κρατοῦντος, καὶ πράγματα διοικεῖν ἱκανὸς εἶναι φαινόμενος, προσεδοκᾶτο βασιλεύειν, καὶ περὶ αὐτοῦ τοιοῦτος ἐκράτει λόγος, προσετάχθη ἐν Νικομηδείᾳ διάγειν. Ἐνταῦθα περιτυχών αὐτῷ Μάξιμος ὁ Ἐφέσιος φιλόσοφος, φιλοσόφων αὐτῷ λόγων καθηγητὴς ἐγένετο, καὶ μίσους τῆς ( Χριστιανῶν θρησκείας · καὶ οἷα μάντις, ἀληθὲς εἶναι ἰσχυρίζετο τὸ περὶ αὐτοῦ θρυλλούμενον. Ὁ δὲ, τοῦτο δὴ τὸ πολλοῖς συμβαίνον, ἐν ὑπονοίᾳ δυσχερῶν πραγμάτων ταλαιπωρούμενος (54΄), βουκοληθεὶς αἰσίαις ἐλπίσι, φίλον ἔσχε τὸν Μάξιμον. Τῷ βασιλεῖ δὲ τούτων μηνυθέντων, δείσας ἐν χρῷ ἐκείρατο, καὶ τὸν μοναχικὸν ἐπλάττετο βίον. Λάθρα δὲ τῆς ἑτέρας εἴχετο θρησκείας. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ εἰς ἄνδρας ἤδη προῄει, ἑτοιμότερον ὑπήχθη, καὶ ἐπτοεῖτο περὶ τάδε. Θαυμάζων τε εἴ τίς ἐστι τέχνη προσημαίνουσα τὸ μέλλον, καὶ ἀναγκαίαν ἡγούμενος τὴν ταύτης μάθησιν, ὧν μὴ δεῖ Χριστιανοῖς, εἰς πεῖραν προήχθη· καὶ τὸ ἐξ ἐκείνου τοῖς ταῦτα μετιοῦσιν ἐχρῆτο φίλοις. Ὧδε δὲ ἔχων γνώμης, ἧκεν εἰς Ἀσίαν ἀπὸ Νικομηδείας· καὶ συγγενόμενος ἐκεῖσε τοιούτοις, προθυμότερος περὶ ταῦτα γέγονεν. Ἐπεὶ δὲ Γάλλος ὁ αὐτοῦ ἀδελφὸς, Καίσαρ καταστὰς, μηνυθεὶς νεωτερίζειν ἀνῃρέθη, ὑπολαβὼν Κωνστάντιος καὶ αὐτὸν ἔρωτι βασιλείας κατέχεσθαι, ὑπὸ φυλακῆς εἶχεν. Έξαιτησαμένης δὲ αὐτὸν Εὐσεβείας τῆς γαμετῆς Κωνσταντίου, παραιτησάμενος αὐτὸν, ἀπεδήμησεν εἰς ᾿Αθήνας· προφάσει μὲν τῶν Ἑλληνικῶν πόνων καὶ παιδευτερων" ὡς δὲ λέγουσι, χοινωσόμενος τοῖς ἐκεῖσε μάντεσι περὶ τῶν αὐτόν. Μεταχαλεσάμενος δὲ αὐτὸν ἐνθένδε Κωνστάντιος, Καίσαρα κατέστησε " κατεγγυήσας τε αὐτῷ πρὸς γάμον Κωνσταντίαν τὴν αὐτοῦ ἀδελφὴν, ἐπὶ τοὺς πρὸς δύσιν Γαλάτας πέπομφεν. Οἱ γὰρ οὖς αὐτὸς πρότερον κατὰ Μαγνεντίου ἐμισθώσατο εἰς συμμαχίαν, οὐδὲν ὄφελος εἰς τοῦτο γενόμενοι, τοὺς Γαλάτας ἐδήουν. Ἐπεὶ δὲ ἔτι νέος τοῖς ἑπομένοις αὐτῷ στρατηγοῖς τὰ πρακτέα ἐπέτρεψε. Τῶν δὲ ῥᾳθυμούντων, αὐτὸς ὡς ἐνῆν ὁ Καῖσαρ τοῦ πολέμου προενόει " τοὺς στρατιώτας προθυμοτέρους περὶ τὴν μάχην χατέττησεν, ἄλλως τε παραχινδυνεύειν προτρέπων, καὶ ῥητὸν μισθὸν τάξας ἐχάστῳ βάρβαρον ἀναιροῦντι. Κεχαρισμένος δὲ τοῖς στρατιώταις ἐντεῦθεν γενόμενος, ἐδήλωσε Κωνσταντίῳ τὴν τῶν στρατηγῶν στώνην. ᾿Αποσταλέντος δὲ ἑτέρου, συμδαλὼν τοῖς Βαρθάροις, καλῶς ἔπραξε. Τῶν δὲ περὶ σπονδῶν πρεσθευομένων, ἐπιστολὰς Κωνσταντίου προἸσχομένων, μεταχαλουμένου σφᾶς ἐπὶ τὴν Ῥωμαίων γῆν, ἐπίτηδες ἀποπέμψαι μελήσας τὸν τάδε πρεσδενόμενον, ἀδοκήτως τῷ πλήθει τῶν πολεμίων ἐπελθὼν, ἐνίκησε. Λέγεται δὲ Κωνστάντιον ἐπιθουλεύοντα αὐτῷ, τοῦτον ἐπιτρέψαι τὸν πόλεμον. Ἐμοὶ δὲ οὐ πιθανὸν εἶναι τοῦτο δοκεῖ. Ὧ γὰρ ἐξῆν μηδὲ Καίσαρα τὴν ἀρχὴν ποιεῖν αὐτὸν, τί ἐποίει, τὴν ἀδελφὴν ἐδίδουν γαμετὴν, καὶ μεμφομένῳ περὶ τῶν ῥᾳθύμων στρατηγῶν ὑπήκουε, καὶ σπουδαῖον ἀντὶ τούτων ἐξαπέστειλεν, ὅπως χατορθῶσι τὸν πόλεμον, εἰ μὴ φίλος ἐτύγχανεν ; ἀλλ᾽ ὡς συμβάλλω, τὴν μὲν ἀρχὴν εὔνους ὧν αὐτῷ Κωνστάντιος, Καίσαρα κατέστησεν " ἐπεὶ δὲ παρὰ τνώμην αὐτοῦ σεβαστὸς ἀνεχηρύχθη, ἢ δεδιὼς ἀνθ᾽ ὧν αὐτὸν καὶ τὸν ἀδελφὸν νέους ὄντας ἠδίχησεν, ἢ φθονῶν, ὡς εἰκὸς, ἐπὶ τῇ ὁμοίᾳ τιμῇ, ἐπέθούλευεν αὐτῷ διὰ τῶν πρὸς τὸν Ῥῆνον ρων. ᾿Αλλὰ τάδε μὲν ἄλλοις ἄλλως δοχεΐ, ### English translation (Claude) After the death of Constantius the church was in fear of persecutions; and the expectation was more fearful to the Christians than the experience, since the long interval had made them unused to such dangers, and there was the memory of the former punishments and the ruler’s hatred of the doctrine. For it is said that he at once so openly and shamelessly renounced faith in Christ that by certain sacrifices and invocations, which the pagans call “averting,” and by the blood of victims, he washed off our baptism, renouncing the initiation of the church; and from then on he used, privately and publicly, victims and sacrificial animals and everything that is customary among pagans. Once, at any rate, when he was inspecting the victims, a sign of a cross encircled by a crown is said to have appeared in the entrails; and it threw the others who shared in the divination into fear, for they inferred from it the future strength of the religion and the eternity of the doctrine, since the crown by which it was encircled is a sign of victory, and by the circuit of the circle, which begins everywhere and ends in itself, it is nowhere brought to an end. But the chief of the diviners told them to take courage, since the victims showed signs favourable to them, enclosing the symbol of the doctrine and pressing it together so that it could not spread and go freely where it wished, having the circumference of the circle as its limit. I have also learned that he once went down into one of the most celebrated and fearful sanctuaries, for an initiation or an oracle; and when the contrivances devised for these things suddenly assailed him, and phantoms appeared by sorcery, in confusion and fear he forgot where he was — for he came late in life to such learning — and from his former habit, like a Christian caught in desperate dangers, he unawares signed himself with the symbol of Christ. At once the phantoms vanished and the business in hand was thwarted. The mystagogue was at a loss over this; but when he learned the cause of the demons’ flight, he called the deed a pollution, urged him to be brave and to do or think nothing Christian, and led him again to the rite. The emperor’s zeal in these things grieved the Christians not a little and made them very fearful, especially because he had formerly been a Christian. For, born of parents pious in religion, he was initiated as a youth according to the rule of the church, was taught the sacred Scriptures, and was brought up under bishops and churchmen. For his father and that of Gallus was Constantius, the brother on the father’s side of Constantine who had reigned, and of Dalmatius. Dalmatius’s son of the same name, who had been proclaimed Caesar, was killed by the soldiers after Constantine’s death. Being then orphans themselves, they were in danger of perishing with Dalmatius. But Gallus was rescued from the plot because he happened to be ill and was expected to die of himself before long, and Julian by his youth, for he was still in his eighth year. Saved thus unexpectedly, they were ordered to live in Cappadocia at Macellum. This is an imperial estate near Mount Argaeus, not far from the city of Caesarea, having a magnificent palace, baths, gardens and perennial springs. There they were thought worthy of royal care and upbringing, and had lessons and exercises suited to their age, teachers of letters and guides in the holy Scriptures, so that they were even enrolled in the clergy and read the church’s books to the people. And not only so, but by their manners and deeds they displayed piety, holding in great honour priests and others who were good and zealous for doctrine, frequenting the houses of prayer, and honouring the tombs of the martyrs with fitting honours. At that time, at any rate, they say that, wishing to enclose the tomb of the martyr Mamas in a very large building, they divided the work between them. As each strove to outdo the other in zeal and honour, something astonishing and altogether incredible happened — it would be incredible were it not that many who heard it from eyewitnesses have survived even to our day. For Gallus’s part advanced and went forward as intended; but of Julian’s work, some had collapsed, some was thrown up out of the ground, and some would not stay joined to the foundation at once, as though driven back by some resisting and violent force pushing against it from below. All naturally thought the thing a portent, but most judged it by the outcome. Some inferred from that time that the man was not sound in religion but pretended to be pious, feigning to be a Christian because the ruler of the time was one, and not thinking it safe to bring his opinion into the open. He betrayed his ancestral religion, it is said, first led astray by associating with diviners. For after some time, when Constantius’s anger had ceased, Gallus went to Asia and lived at Ephesus, where he had most of his property; and Julian returned to Constantinople and attended the teachers there. Being well endowed by nature and advancing easily in learning, he did not go unnoticed; for he went about in the dress of a private person and associated with many. But since, as tends to happen in a crowd and in the imperial city, being the ruler’s kinsman and appearing able to manage affairs, he was expected to reign, and such talk about him prevailed, he was ordered to live at Nicomedia. There Maximus the philosopher of Ephesus met him and became his teacher in philosophical doctrines and in hatred of the Christian religion; and, as a diviner, he assured him that the rumour about him was true. Julian, as happens to many, distressed by apprehension of hard circumstances and beguiled by favourable hopes, made Maximus his friend. When this was reported to the emperor, in fear he shaved his head to the skin and pretended to follow the monastic life, but secretly held to the other religion. As he came to manhood he was more readily drawn on and was excited about these things. Wondering whether there is an art that foretells the future, and thinking the learning of it necessary, he was led to make trial of things that Christians must not; and from then on he used those who pursued them as friends. In this frame of mind he came from Nicomedia to Asia; and associating with such people there, he became more eager about these things. When his brother Gallus, who had been made Caesar, was accused of plotting revolt and was killed, Constantius, suspecting that Julian too was possessed by love of rule, kept him under guard. When Eusebia, the wife of Constantius, begged for him, Constantius released him, and he went away to Athens, ostensibly for pagan studies and schooling, but, as they say, to consult the diviners there about his own affairs. Constantius summoned him from there and made him Caesar; and having betrothed his own sister Constantia to him in marriage, he sent him to the western Gauls. For the barbarians whom he had formerly hired as allies against Magnentius, having been of no use for that purpose, were ravaging Gaul. Since he was still young, he entrusted what had to be done to the generals who accompanied him. When they were slack, the Caesar himself took thought for the war as far as he could, made the soldiers more eager for battle, both urging them to run risks and fixing a set reward for each who killed a barbarian. Having thereby won the soldiers’ favour, he informed Constantius of the generals’ slackness. When another general was sent, he engaged the barbarians and fared well. When they sent envoys about a treaty, holding out letters of Constantius that summoned them into Roman territory, he deliberately delayed sending back the envoy, attacked the mass of the enemy unexpectedly, and conquered. It is said that Constantius, plotting against him, entrusted this war to him. But this does not seem plausible to me. For when he was free not to make him Caesar at all, why did he make him so, give him his sister as wife, listen to him when he complained about the slack generals, and send a zealous one in their place so that they might bring the war to success, if he was not his friend? But, as I conjecture, Constantius was at first well disposed to him and made him Caesar; but when he was proclaimed Augustus against his wishes, either fearing because of the wrongs he had done him and his brother when they were young, or, as is natural, envious of the equal honour, he plotted against him through the barbarians on the Rhine. But on these things some think one way and some another. ### Translation notes - “The ruler’s kinsman”: the Greek says “brother”; Julian was Constantius II’s cousin. - “His own sister Constantia”: so the Greek; Julian’s wife was Constantius’s sister Helena (Constantia, or Constantina, was the wife of Gallus). - The phrase “averting” renders apotropaioi, rites to avert evil. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 5.2 (PG 67:1211–1217; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/5-2). ## Church History 5.3 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/5-1/#p-5-3 - Source: PG 67:1217–1221 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Julian restores pagan temples, priests and sacrifices, favours pagan cities and slights Christian ones, and joins Christian Maiuma (Constantia) to pagan Gaza. ### Greek text Ἐπεὶ δὲ μόνος εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν κατέστη, καὶ ἀνὰ τὴν Ἕω τοὺς Ἑλληνικοὺς ναοὺς ἀνέῳξε, καὶ τοὺς ; ἐπισχευάζεσθαι, τοὺς δὲ καταλυθέντας ἀνανεοῦσθαι, τοὺς βωμοὺς ἀνίστασθαι προσέταξε. Καὶ πολλοὺς αὐτοῖς ἐξεῦρε φόρους " ἔθη τε παλαιὰ, τὰ πάτρια τῶν πόλεων, τὰς θυσίας ἀνενέωσεν᾽ αὐτός τε ἀναφανδὸν δημοσίᾳ ἔσπενδε, ἔθυε, καὶ τοὺς περὶ ταῦτα σπουδάζοντας ἐν πολλῇ τιμῇ ἐποιεῖτο" μύσταις τε ἱερεῦσιν, ἵεροφάνταις τε τοῖς τῶν ξοάνων θεραπευταῖς, τὰς παλαιὰς τιμὰς ἀπέδωκε τὰ παρὰ τῶν πρόσθεν βασιλέων νενομοθετημένα ἐπ᾽ αὐτοῖς ἐκύρωσε " λειτουργιῶν τε, καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ὧν πρὶν εἶχον, τὴν ἀτέλειαν ἐπεψηφίσατο. Καὶ τὰ ἀφαιρεθέντα τῶν νεωχύρων σιτηρέσια ἀπέδωκε. Καὶ χαθαροὺς εἶναι ἀπὸ τροφῶν διεχελεύετο, ὅσον ἀπέχεσθαι προσῆκε τὸν, ὡς Ἕλληνες λέγουσιν, ἁγιστεύξιν προεἰρημένον. Προσέταξε δὲ καὶ τὸν πῆχυν τοῦ Νείλον, καὶ τὰ σύμβολα τ, καὶ τὰ παλαιὰ πάτρια κομίζεσθαι πρὸς τὸν Σάραπιν. Κατὰ πρόσταξιν γὰρ Κωνσταντίνου ἐκκλησίᾳ προσεφέρετο, Τῷ δὲ κοινῷ τῶν πόλεων πολλάκις ἔγραφεν" εἰ μὲν πρὸς Ἕλληνισμὸν τετραμμένας ἔγνω, προτρέπων αἰτεῖν ἃς βούλονται δωρεάς. Ταῖς δὲ Χριστιανιζούσαις προφανῶς ἀπηχθάνετο, ἐπιδημεῖν αὐτὸς ἀνεχόμενος, μῆτε πρεσβευόντων περὶ τῶν λυπούντων, τὰς πρεσβείας δεχόμενος. Αμέλειτοι προσδοκωμένων τότε Περσῶν ἐπιστρατεύειν πρεσβευομένοις περὶ τούτου Νισιβηνοῖς, ὡς παντελῶς Χριστιανίζουσι, καὶ μήτε τοὺς ναοὺς ἀνοίγουσι, μήτε εἰς τὰ ἱερὰ φοιτῶσιν, ἠπείλησε μὴ βοηθεῖν, μήτε πρεσβείαν δέχεσθαι, καὶ ὡς ἐναγοῦς τῆς αὐτῶν πόλεως μὴ ἐπιβήσεσθαι πρότερον, εἰ μὴ πύθοιτο εἰς Ἑλληνισμὸν μεταβαλόντας. Παραπλήσια δὲ καὶ τοῖς ἐν Παλαιστίνῃ Κωνσταντιεῦσιν ἐγκαλῶν, προσένειμε Γαζαίοις τὴν αὐτῶν πόλιν. Ταύτην γὰρ τὴν Κωνσταντίαν, ὡς ἐκ τῶν πρόσθεν ἔγνωμεν, ἐπίνειον Γαζαίων οὖσαν καὶ Μαϊουμᾶν προσαγορευομένην, μαθὼν Κωνσταντῖνος ἐς τὰ μάλιστα τὴν Χριστιανῶν θρησκείαν πρεσβεύειν, ἀξίᾳ πόλεως ἐτίμησε, καὶ Κωνσταντίῳ τῷ παιδὶ ἐπωνόμασε, καὶ καθ' ἑαυτὴν πολιτεύεσθαι διετάξατο· λογισάμενος ἄδικον εἶναι, τελεῖν ὑπὸ Γαζαίοις ἐς ἄγαν Ἑλληνίζουσιν. Ἐπεὶ δὲ εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν παρῆλθεν Ἰουλιανὸς, δίκην ἔλαχον οἱ Γαζαῖοι τοῖς Κωνσταντιεῦσι. Καὶ δικαστὴς καθίσας αὐτὸς, προσένειμε Γάζῃ τὴν Κωνσταντίαν, ἀμφὶ τοὺς εἴκοσι σταδίους διεστῶσαν· καὶ τὸ ἐξ ἐκείνου τῆς προτέρας ἀφαιρεθεῖσα προσηγορίας, παραθαλάττιον μέρος τῆς Γαζαίων πόλεως ὀνομάζεται. Κοινοὶ δὲ αὐτοῖς πολιτικοὶ ἄρχοντες, καὶ στρατηγοὶ καὶ τὰ δημόσια πράγματα. Μόνα δὲ τὰ περὶ τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν εἰσέτι καὶ νῦν δύο πόλεις δείκνυσιν· ἑκατέρα γὰρ ἰδίᾳ ἐπίσκοπον καὶ κλῆρον ἔχει, καὶ πανηγύρεις μαρτύρων, καὶ μνείας τῶν παρ' αὐτοῖς γενομένων ἱερέων, καὶ ὄρους τῶν πέριξ ἀγρῶν, οἷς τὰ ἀνήκοντα ἑκατέρᾳ ἐπισκοπῇ θυσιαστήρια διορίζεται. Τῶν οὖν καθ᾿ ἡμᾶς ἐπισκόπων τις τῆς Γα- Ε ζαίων πόλεως, τετελευτηκότος τοῦ προεστῶτος τῆς Μαϊουμιτῶν Ἐκκλησίας, ἐσπούδασενἀμφοτέρους τοὺς κλήρους ὑφ᾽ ἑαυτὸν ποιῆσαι, μὴ θεμιτὸν εἶναι λέγων, μιᾶς πόλεως δύο ἐπισκόπους προεστάναι. ᾿Αντειπόντων δὲ τῶν Μαϊουμητῶν, διέγνω ἡ τοῦ ἔθνους σύνοδος, καὶ ἕτερον ἐχειροτόνησεν ἐπίσκοπον · πάντως προσήκειν δοκιμάσασα, τοὺς δι᾽ εὐσέβειαν δικαίων πόλεως ἀξιωθέντας, διὰ δὲ κρίσιν Ἑλληνιστοῦ βασιλέως ἄλλως πράξαντας, ἐν ἱερωσύναις καὶ τάξει Ἐκκλησιῶν, μὴ χρῆναι ἀφαιρεῖσθαι τῶν δοθέντων γερῶν. Ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν ὕστερον ὧδε ἀπέβη. ### English translation (Claude) When he was established in sole rule, he opened the pagan temples throughout the East and ordered some to be repaired, those that had been destroyed to be restored, and the altars to be set up again. He found many revenues for them; he renewed the old customs, the ancestral rites of the cities, and the sacrifices. He himself openly and publicly poured libations and sacrificed, and held in great honour those who were zealous for these things. To the initiates, priests, hierophants and attendants of the images he restored their old honours, confirmed the privileges enacted for them by the earlier emperors, and decreed their exemption from public services and from the other burdens from which they had formerly been free. He restored to the temple-wardens the allowances of food that had been taken from them, and ordered them to keep pure from the foods from which one appointed, as the pagans say, to sacred service ought to abstain. He also ordered the cubit of the Nile, the symbols … and the old ancestral objects to be brought to Serapis; for by order of Constantine it had been brought to the church. He wrote often to the councils of the cities: if he learned that they had turned to paganism, he urged them to ask for whatever gifts they wished; but to those that were Christian he openly showed hatred, neither consenting to visit them himself nor receiving their embassies when they sent envoys about their grievances. Thus, when the Persians were then expected to invade, and the people of Nisibis sent envoys about this, he threatened, since they were wholly Christian and neither opened the temples nor went to the shrines, not to help them nor receive their embassy, and not to set foot in their city, as polluted, until he learned that they had turned to paganism. Bringing similar charges against the people of Constantia in Palestine, he assigned their city to the people of Gaza. For this Constantia, as we have learned before, was the port of Gaza and was called Maiuma; Constantine, learning that it was above all devoted to the Christian religion, honoured it with the rank of a city, named it after his son Constantius, and ordered it to have its own civic government, reckoning it unjust that it should be subject to the people of Gaza, who were extremely pagan. When Julian came to the throne, the people of Gaza went to law against the Constantians; and sitting as judge himself, he assigned Constantia, which lies about twenty stadia away, to Gaza; and from then on, stripped of its former name, it is called the seaside quarter of the city of Gaza. They have common civil magistrates and generals and public affairs. Only in church matters do they still today appear as two cities; for each has its own bishop and clergy, festivals of martyrs, commemorations of the priests who have served among them, and boundaries of the surrounding lands by which the altars belonging to each episcopate are marked out. In our own time a bishop of the city of Gaza, when the head of the church of the Maiumites had died, tried to bring both clergies under himself, saying it was not lawful for two bishops to preside over one city. When the Maiumites objected, the synod of the province decided the case and ordained another bishop, judging that those who for their piety had been thought worthy of the rights of a city, and had been treated otherwise through the judgment of a pagan emperor, ought by no means to be deprived of the privileges given them in priesthoods and the order of churches. But this turned out so later. ### Translation notes - A word is lost in the scan after “the symbols” (marked “…”). The “cubit of the Nile” was the Nilometer measure; NPNF² 2 renders the passage similarly. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 5.3 (PG 67:1217–1221; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/5-3). ## Church History 5.4 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/5-1/#p-5-4 - Source: PG 67:1221–1225 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Julian punishes Christian Caesarea in Cappadocia for destroying its temples, and adopts a show of mildness toward Christians, bearing Maris of Chalcedon’s rebuke in silence. ### Greek text Περὶ δὲ τὸν αὐτὸν χρόνον, καὶ τὴν πρὸς τῷ ᾿Αργαίῳς Καισάρειαν, μεγάλην καὶ εὐδαίμονα, καὶ μητρόπολιν οὖσαν τοῦ Καππαδοκῶν κλίματος ἐχ τοῦ καταλόγου τῶν πόλεων ἐξήλειψεν ὁ βασιλεύς " τῆς ἐπωνυ-μίας τοῦ Καίσαρος ἀφείλετο, ἧς πάλαι ἔτυχεν ἐπὶ Κλαυδίου Καίσαρος, Μάζαχα τὸ πρῶτον ὄνομα - ζομένη. Ἐμίσει γὰρ καὶ πρότερον ἐξαίσιον μῖσος τοὺς αὐτῆς οἰκήτορας, ὡς πανδημεὶ Χριστιανίζοντας, καὶ πάλαι καθελόντας τοὺς παρ᾽ αὐτοῖς νεὼς, πολι-οὖχου Διὸς, καὶ πατρῴου ᾿Απόλλωνος. Ἐπεὶ δὲ καὶ τὸ τῆς Τύχης, ὃ μόνον περιελείφθη, αὐτοῦ βασιλεύοντος πρὸς τῶν Χριστιανῶν ἀνετράπη, δεινῶς ἀπηχθάνετο πάσῃ τῇ πόλει, ἐδυσφόρει. Καὶ Ἔλληνας μὲν, τοὺς ὄντας εὐαριθμήτους μάλα, ἐμέμφετο, ὡς μὴ ἐπαμύνοντας, εἰ παθεῖν ἔδει τι, προθύμως ὑπὲρ τῆς Τύχης ὑπομείναντας. Πάντα δὲ τὰ κτήματα καὶ «τὰ χρήματα τῶν ἐν Καισαρείᾳ ὑπὸ τοὺς αὐτῆς ὅρους ἐκκλησιῶν, ἐρευνώμενα μετὰ βασάνων, εἰς μέσον φέρεσθαι προσέταξεν. Αὐτίκα δὲ τριακοσίας λίτρας χρυσοῦ τῷ τας μείῳ ἐκτίσαι - κληρικοὺς πάντας ἐγγραφῆναι τῷ χαταλόγῳ τῶν ὑπὸ τὸν ἄρχοντα τοῦ ἔθνους στρατιωτῶν ὃ δαπανηρὸν εἶναι σφόδρα ἐπονείδιστον ἐν ταῖς τῶν Ρωμαίων στρατιαῖς νομίζεται. Τὸ δὲ πλῆθος τῶν Χριστιανῶν σὺν γυναιξὶ καὶ παισὶν ἀπογράψασθαι, καὶ καθάπερ ἐν ταῖς κώμαις φόρους τελεῖν" ἔνορχον δὲ ἠπείλησεν, ὡς εἰ μὴ τάχος τὰ ἱερὰ ἀνεγείρωσιν, οὐ παύσεται μηνιῶν, ποιῶν τὴν πόλιν καὶ οὐδὲ τὰς κεφαλὰς συγχωρήσει τοὺς Γαλιλαίους ἔχειν " ὧδε γὰρ ἐπιτωθάζων καλεῖν εἴωθε τοὺς Χριστιανούς. Ἐξέθη δ' ἂν ἴσως εἰς ἔργον ἡ ἀπειλὴ, εἰ μὴ θᾶττον ἐτελεύτησεν. Ἐπεὶ παρὰ τὴν ἀρχὴν, οὐχ ἐλεῶν τοὺς Χριστιανοὺς, φιλανθρωπότερος ἐφάνη τῶν πρόσθεν διωξάντων τὴν Ἐκκλη" ἀλλ᾽ τῶν φθασάντων εὑρὼν, οὐδὲν ὄφελος εἶναι: τιμωριῶν εἰς σύστασιν ᾿Ελληνισμοῦ " ταύτη δὲ μάλιστα τὰ Χριστιανῶν ηὐξῆσθαι, καὶ ἐνδοξότερα γεγενῆσθαι τῇ ἀνδρείᾳ τῶν διὰ τὸ δόγμα ἀποθανεῖν ἑλομένων. Ὅθεν δόξης αὐτοῖς φθονῶν, οὐ φειδόμενος, πυρὶ μὲν ἢ σιδήρῳ, ἢ τοῖς τοῦ σώματος αίχισμοῖς, ἢ τῷ καταποντῶσαι, καὶ ζῶντας κατορύττειν, ἃ τὸ τρὶν ἐσπουδάζετο, οὐκ ἀναγκαῖον εἶδεν εἰς μετάστασιν γνώμης • λόγῳ δὲ καὶ παραινέσεσι πείθειν ἡγεῖτο τὰ πλήθη εἰς Ἑλληνισμὸν μεταβαλεῖν· καὶ τοῦ σκοποῦ περιέσεσθαι ῥᾳδίως, εἰ βιάσασθαι μὴ ἀξιώσας, ἐκ παραδόξου φιλάνθρωπός τις εἶναι δόξει περὶ αὐτούς. Λέγεται γοῦν θυομένῳ αὐτῷ ἐν Κωνσταντινουπόλεως Τυχείῳ προσελθόντα Μάριν τὸν Χαλκηδόνος ἐπίσκοπον, ἀσεβῆ τε δημοσίᾳ ὑβρισαι, καὶ ἄθεον καὶ παραβάτην ἀποκαλέσαι· τὸν δὲ, μόνην αὐτῷ ὀνειδίσαι τὴν τύφλωσιν · ὑπὸ χειραγωγῷ γὰρ ἐληλύθει, γέρων ὧν καὶ τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ὑποκεχυμένος. Ἐπεὶ δὲ καὶ ἐπισκώπτων, οἷά περ εἰώθει, εἰς τὸν Χριστὸν βλασφημῶν, Οὐδὲ ὁ Γαλιλαῖός σου Θεὸς, εἶπε, θεραπεύσει σε · ὑπολαβὼν Μάρις, ᾿Αλλ' ἐγὼ χάριν ἔχω τῷ Θεῷ μου τῆς τυφλώσεως, ἔφη, ἵνα μὴ σε θεάσωμαι τῆς εὐσεβείας ἐκπεπτωκότα. Καὶ ὁ βασιλεὺς μηδὲν ἀποκρινόμενος παρέδραμεν. ῎θετο γὰρ ταύτῃ μᾶλλον Ἑλληνισμὸν κρατύναι, ἀνεξίκακον καὶ πρᾶον ἀδοκήτως τῷ πλήθει τῶν Χριστιανῶν ἑαυτὸν ἐπιδεικνύς. ### English translation (Claude) About the same time the emperor struck from the list of cities Caesarea by Mount Argaeus, great and prosperous, the metropolis of the Cappadocian province, and took from it the name of Caesar, which it had obtained long before under Claudius Caesar, having first been called Mazaca. For he had long hated its inhabitants with an extraordinary hatred, because they were Christians to a man and had long since destroyed their temples of Zeus, guardian of the city, and of ancestral Apollo. And when the temple of Fortune, which alone was left, was overturned by the Christians during his reign, he was violently hostile to the whole city and indignant. He blamed the pagans, who were very few, for not having come to its defence and willingly suffered for Fortune, if suffer they must. He ordered all the estates and money of the churches in Caesarea and within its territory to be searched out under torture and brought into the open; at once three hundred pounds of gold to be paid to the treasury; all clerics to be enrolled in the list of soldiers under the governor of the province, which in the Roman armies is considered very burdensome and most disgraceful; and the multitude of the Christians, with wives and children, to be registered and to pay taxes as in the villages. He threatened under oath that, unless they quickly raised up the temples again, he would not cease from his wrath, harassing the city, and would not even let the Galileans keep their heads — for so he was accustomed to call the Christians in mockery. The threat might perhaps have been carried out had he not died so soon. For at the beginning he seemed more humane than the earlier persecutors of the church, not out of pity for the Christians, but because he had found that the punishments of his predecessors had done nothing to establish paganism, and that by this especially Christianity had grown and become more glorious through the courage of those who chose to die for the doctrine. So, grudging them their glory, he did not think fire or sword or tortures of the body, or drowning, or burying alive — what had been practised before — necessary to change their minds; he thought to persuade the multitudes by speech and exhortation to change over to paganism, and that he would easily achieve his aim if, not deigning to use force, he should unexpectedly appear humane toward them. At any rate it is said that, when he was sacrificing in the temple of Fortune at Constantinople, Maris the bishop of Chalcedon came up to him, publicly insulted him as impious, and called him atheist and apostate; and Julian reproached him only with his blindness, for he had come with a guide, being old and having cataracts in his eyes. And when, mocking as was his habit and blaspheming Christ, he said, “Not even your Galilean God will heal you,” Maris answered, “But I thank my God for my blindness, so that I may not see you fallen from piety.” And the emperor passed on without answering. For he thought that he would strengthen paganism more in this way, showing himself unexpectedly forbearing and gentle to the multitude of the Christians. ### Translation notes - “Sacrificing in the temple of Fortune”: the scan reads “having learned … in the little wall of Constantinople”; corrected as OCR slips (θυομένῳ, Τυχείῳ), as NPNF² 2 also understood the passage. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 5.4 (PG 67:1221–1225; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/5-4). ## Church History 5.5 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/5-1/#p-5-5 - Source: PG 67:1225–1229 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Julian recalls exiles and forbids violence against Christians, but strips the clergy of their privileges and allowances, demands the rebuilding of temples, and favours those wronged by Constantius. ### Greek text Ταῦτα δὲ σπουδάζων, πᾶσι μὲν τοῖς ἐπὶ Κωνσταντίου φυγαδευθεῖσι διὰ θρησκείαν, ἀνῆκε τὴν φυγὴν, καὶ τοῖς δημευθεῖσι νόμῳ τὰ σφέτερα ἀπέδωκε · τοῖς δὲ δήμοις προηγόρευε, μηδένα ἀδικεῖν τῶν Χριστιανῶν, μηδὲ ὑβρίζειν, μηδὲ ἄκοντας πρὸς θυσίαν ἕλκειν· τοὺς δὲ ἑκοντὶ τοῖς βωμοῖς προσιόντας, πρότερον ἐξιλεοῦσθαι οὓς Ἕλληνες καλοῦσιν ᾿Αποτροπαίους δαίμονας, καὶ καθαίρεσθαι καθαρσίοις, οἷς ἔθος αὐτοῖς. Κληρικοὺς μέντοι, πᾶσαν ἀτέλειαν καὶ τιμὴν καὶ τὰ σιτηρέσια ἀφείλετο Κωνσταντίου · · καὶ τοὺς ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν κειμένους νόμους ἀνεῖλε, καὶ τοῖς βου - λευτηρίοις ἀπέδωκε. Μέχρι τε παρθένων καὶ χηρῶν, τὰς δι' ἔνδειαν ἐν τοῖς κλήροις τεταγμένας, εἰσπράττεσθαι προσέταξεν, ἃ πρὶν παρὰ τοῦ δημοσίου ἐχομίσαντο. Ἡνίκα γὰρ Κωνσταντῖνος τὰ τῶν Ἐκκλη - σιῶν διέταττε πράγματα, ἐκ τῶν ἑκάστης πόλεως φόρων τὰ ἀρκοῦντα πρὸς παρασκευὴν ἐπιτηδείων ἀπένειμε τοῖς πανταχοῦ κλήροις, καὶ νόμῳ τοῦτο ἐκράτυνεν, ὡς καὶ νῦν κρατεῖ, ἐξοὗ τέθνηκεν Ἰουλιανὸς ἐπιμελῶς φυλαττόμενος. Ωμοτάτην δὲ καὶ χαλεπωτάτην τήνδε γενέσθαι φασὶ τὴν εἴσπραξιν. Μαρτυρεῖ δὲ καὶ τὰ τότε παρὰ τῶν πρακτόρων γενόμενα γραμματεία τοῖς εἰσπραχθεῖσιν, εἰς ἀπόδειξιν τῆς ἀναδόσεως ὧν εἰλήφεσαν κατὰ τὸν Κωνσταντίνου νόμον. Οὐκ ἐν τούτοις δὲ μόνον ἵστατο ἡ τοῦ κρατοῦντος περὶ τὴν θρησκείαν ἀπέχθεια · σπουδῇ δὲ τοῦ πρὸς τὸ δόγμα μίσους, οὐδὲν εἶδος παρέλιπεν εἰς καθαίρεσιν τῆς Ἐκκλησίας. Χρήματά τε καὶ τὰ ἀναθήματα, καὶ τὰ ἱερὰ σκεύη ἀφαιρούμενος · τούς τε καταβληθέντας νεὼς ἐπὶ τῆς Κωνσταντίνου καὶ Κωνσταντίου ἡγεμονίας βιαζόμενος τοὺς καθελόντας ἀνοικοδομεῖν, ἢ τὰς ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν ἀποτιμήσεις ἔκτιννύειν. Ἐκ δὲ τούτων, μηδέτερον ἐπιτελεῖν δυνάμενοι, προσέτι δὲ καὶ τὴν ἀναζήτησιν τῶν ἱερῶν χρημάτων, ἱερεῖς τε καὶ κληρικοὶ καὶ τῶν ἄλλων Χριστιανῶν πολλοί, χαλεπῶς ἐβασανίζοντο, καὶ δεσμωτηρίοις ἐνεβάλλοντο. Ώστε πανταχόθεν συμβάλλειν ἔστιν, φόνων μὲν ἕνεκα καὶ περινοίας τῶν εἰς τὸ σῶμα τιμωριῶν, μετριώτερον αὐτὸν γενέσθαι τῶν προτοῦ διωξάντων τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν· ἐν δὲ τοῖς ἄλλοις χαλεπώτερον. Φαίνεται γὰρ ἐν πᾶσιν αὐτὴν κακῶς ποιήσας · πλὴν ὅτι τοὺς ἀλλοτρίαν οἰκεῖν καταδικασθέντας ἱερέας ἐπὶ τῆς Κωνσταντίου βασιλείας, μετεκαλέσατο. Λέγεται δὲ μὴ φειδοῖ τῇ περὶ αὐτοὺς ταῦτα προστάξαι· ἀλλ' ὥστε, ἡ ὑπὸ τῆς πρὸς ἀλλήλους ἔριδος ἐμφυλίῳ μάχῃ πολεμεῖσθαι τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν, καὶ τῶν οἰκείων διαμαρτεῖν θεσμῶν· ἢ Κωνστάντιον διαβάλλων. "Ωετο γὰρ σχεδὸν πρὸς πᾶν τὸ ὑπήκοον καὶ τελευτήσαντι τούτῳ, μίσος κατασκευάζειν, τοὺς μὲν Ἑλληνιστὰς, ὡς ὁμόφρονας θεραπεύων· τοὺς δὲ διὰ Χριστὸν ἐπ' ἐκείνου κακῶς παθόντας, ὡς ἡδικημένους, ἑλεῶν. Ἀμέλει τοι καὶ τοὺς εὐνούχους, ὡς αὐτῷ καταθυμίους, τῶν βασιλειῶν ἐξέβαλεν. Εὐσέβιον δὲ τὸν μείζονα τῆς βασιλικῆς αὐλῆς, θανάτῳ ἐζημίωσε. Καὶ ἰδίᾳ γὰρ αὐτῷ λύπη τις ἦν πρὸς τοῦτον, καθότι Γάλλον τὸν ἀδελφὸν τῇ αὐτοῦ ἐπιβουλῇ ἀνῃρῆσθαι ὑπώπτευεν, ᾿Αέτιον δὲ · τὸν ἀρχηγὸν τῆς Εὐνομίου αἱρέσεως, ὑπὸ Κωνσταντίου ὑπερορίαν φυγὴν καταδικασθέντα, καὶ ἄλλως ὕποπτον διὰ τὴν πρὸς Γάλλον ὁμιλίαν, εὐμενῶς εὖ μάλα γράψας προσεκαλέσατο πρὸς αὐτὸν, δημόσια ὑποζύγια δεδωκώς· ἐκ τοιαύτης δὲ αἰτίας, καὶ Ἐλεύσιον τὸν Κυζίκου ἐπίσκοπον ὑπὸ βαρυτάτῳ ἐπιτιμίῳ προσέταξε τότε, ταῖς αὐτοῦ δαπάναις ἐν δύο μόνοις μησὶν ἀνοικοδομῆσαι τὴν Ναυατιανῶν ἐκκλησίαν, ἣν ἐπὶ Κωνσταντίου καθεῖλεν. Καὶ ἄλλα δὲ πολλὰ ἂν εὕροι τις, ἃ διὰ μῖσος τοῦ πρὸ αὐτοῦ ἡγεμονεύσαντος, τὰ μὲν αὐτὸς ἐποίησε· τὰ δὲ ἄλλων ποιούντων, ἠνέσχετο. ### English translation (Claude) With this aim he ended the exile of all who had been banished for religion under Constantius and restored their property to those whose goods had been confiscated by law. He proclaimed to the populace that no one was to wrong the Christians or insult them or drag them unwilling to sacrifice; but those who came to the altars willingly must first propitiate those whom the pagans call averting deities and be cleansed with the purifications customary among them. From the clergy, however, he took away all the exemption, honour and allowances of food granted under Constantine, repealed the laws enacted in their favour, and returned them to the city councils. He ordered that even virgins and widows enrolled in the lists of the clergy because of their poverty should have exacted from them what they had formerly received from the public treasury. For when Constantine was regulating the affairs of the churches, he assigned from the taxes of each city enough for the provision of necessities to the clergy everywhere, and confirmed this by a law, which still holds, having been carefully observed since Julian died. They say this exaction was most cruel and harsh. The receipts given then by the collectors to those from whom they exacted, as proof of the repayment of what they had received under Constantine’s law, also bear witness to it. Nor did the ruler’s hostility to religion stop at this; in the zeal of his hatred of the doctrine he left no means untried for the destruction of the church. He took away its money, offerings and sacred vessels, and forced those who had demolished temples under the rule of Constantine and Constantius to rebuild them or pay their assessed value. As a result, being able to do neither, and being further subject to the search for the sacred funds, priests and clerics and many other Christians were cruelly tortured and thrown into prison. So from everything one may infer that as regards killings and the devising of bodily punishments he was milder than those who had earlier persecuted the church, but in other respects harsher. For he plainly did it harm in every way, except that he recalled the priests who under Constantius’s reign had been condemned to live in exile. It is said that he did not order this out of consideration for them, but so that the church might be fought in civil war through their strife with each other and fall away from its own laws; or else to discredit Constantius. For he thought that he would rouse hatred against him, though dead, among almost all his subjects, by courting the pagans as like-minded and by pitying, as wronged, those who had suffered for Christ under him. Accordingly he also drove the eunuchs from the palace, as having been dear to Constantius, and punished with death Eusebius, the chief of the imperial household; for he had also a private grievance against him, since he suspected that his brother Gallus had been killed by his plotting. Aetius, the founder of the heresy of Eunomius, who had been condemned by Constantius to exile beyond the frontier and was otherwise suspect because of his association with Gallus, he summoned to himself, writing to him very kindly and giving him the use of the public post. For the same reason he then ordered Eleusius, bishop of Cyzicus, under a very heavy penalty, to rebuild within two months at his own expense the church of the Novatians, which he had destroyed under Constantius. And one could find many other things which, from hatred of his predecessor, he either did himself or allowed others to do. ### Translation notes - “Granted under Constantine”: the scan reads “Constantius”, but the following sentence names Constantine’s law; NPNF² 2 also reads Constantine. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 5.5 (PG 67:1225–1229; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/5-5). ## Church History 5.6 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/5-1/#p-5-6 - Source: PG 67:1229–1231 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Athanasius reappears in Alexandria after hiding for years in the house of a beautiful and chaste virgin, who served him in secret. ### Greek text Ἐν δὲ τῷ τότε, καὶ ᾿Αθανάσιος τὸν πρὸ τούτου χρόνον λανθάνων ὅπη διέτριβεν, ἀγγελθείσης τῆς Κωνσταντίου τελευτῆς, ἀνεφάνη νύκτωρ ἐν τῇ ᾿Αλεξανδρέων ἐκκλησίᾳ. Ἧν δὲ τοῦτο εἰκότως παράδοξον, ἐξαπίνης ὧδε παρὰ τὴν προσδοκίαν συμβάν. Ἡνίκα γὰρ ἐξ ἐπιβουλῆς τῶν Γεωργίου ἐπιτηδείων, προσ τάξαντος τοῦ βασιλέως σπουδάσας αὐτὸν συλλαβέσθαι ὁ τῶν ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ ταγμάτων ἡγεμὼν ἀπέτυχεν, ὡς ἐν τοῖς πρόσθεν εἴρηται, διαφυγὼν μέχρι τῆς παρούσης ἡγεμονίας, παρά τινα παρθένον ἱερὰν ἐν ᾿Αλεξανδρείᾳ ἐκρύπτετο. ὧν ἐπὶ τοσούτῳ κάλλει τὰς τότε γυναῖκας ὑπερβάλλεσθαι παρειλήφαμεν, ὡς – θαῦμα μὲν αὐτὴν εἶναι τοῖς ὁρῶσι· φευκτέαν δὲ τοῖς ἐπιείκειαν καὶ σωφροσύνην ἐπαγγελλομένοις, ἵνα μή τινα ψόγον ἐξ ὑπονοίας αὐτοῖς προστρίψηται. Ην γὰρ καὶ ἐν ἀκμῇ τῆς ὥρας, σεμνή τε καὶ σώφρων εἰς ἄγαν. Ἡ μὴ δὲ τῆς φύσεως συλλαμβανούσης, διακοσμεῖν εἴωθε τὸ σῶμα εἰς εὐπρέπειαν κάλλους. Ἡ γὰρ ἀληθὲς εἰπεῖν, οὐχ ὡς τισι δοκεῖ, ὁποῖα τὰ σώματα, τοιαύτην εἶναι τὴν ψυχήν. ᾿Αλλ᾽ ἐν τοῖς τῆς ψυχῆς ἐπιτηδεύμασιν ἀπεικονίζεσθαι τὸ τοῦ σώματος ἦθος· καὶ τὸν αὐτὸν ὅπως ἂν τύχῃ ἐπιτηδεύων, τοιοῦτον καὶ διαφαίνεσθαι, καθ' ὃν ἂν ἐπιτηδεύει καιρόν· καὶ τούτῳ μὲν τῷ λόγῳ εἴ τις ἀκριβῶς ἐξετάσειεν, οὐδεὶς οἶμαι ἀντερεῖ. ᾿Αθανάσιον δὲ λόγος, κατὰ θείαν ὄψιν ὡδὶ ὑποθεμένην αὐτῷ σωθήσεσθαι, πρὸς ταύτην τὴν παρθένον καταφυγεῖν. Καί μοι δοκεῖ πρὸς τὴν ἀπόβασιν ὁρῶντι, οὐκ ἀθεεὶ ταῦτα οἰκονομηθῆναι· ἀλλ᾽ ὥστε καὶ τοὺς ᾿Αθανασίου ἐπιτηδείους μὴ ἔχειν πράγματα, εἴ τις αὐτοὺς πολυπραγμονεῖν περὶ αὐτοῦ ἐπιχειρήσειεν, ἢ ὀμνύναι ἑβιάσατο· καὶ αὐτὸν διαλαθεῖν παρὰ ταύτῃ κρυπτόμενον, ἢ τῷ μὲν κάλλει, οὐ συνεχώρει ὑπονοεῖσθαι ἐνθάδε διάγειν τὸν ἱερέα. Δι' ἀνδρείαν δὲ αὐτὸν ὑπεδέξατο, καὶ διὰ φρόνησιν ἀπέσωσεν· ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον πιστοτάτη φύλαξ καὶ διάκονος σπουδαία γενομένη, ὡς πόδας αὐτοῦ νίπτειν, καὶ τὰ περὶ τροφὴν καὶ τ' ἄλλα πάντα, καὶ ὅσα φύσις ὑπομένειν βιάζεται ἐν ταῖς κατεπειγούσαις χρείαις, μόνην αὐτὴν διακονεῖ σθαι· προσέτι δὲ καὶ βίβλους ὧν ἐδεῖτο, παρ᾿ ἄλλων κομίζειν. Καὶ ἐπὶ πολλῷ χρόνῳ τούτων γενομένων, μηδένα τῶν κατοικούντων τὴν ᾿Αλεξανδρέων πόλιν μαθεῖν. ### English translation (Claude) At this time Athanasius too, who had been hiding all the time before this no one knew where, when the death of Constantius was announced, appeared by night in the church of the Alexandrians. This was naturally astonishing, happening so suddenly and against expectation. For when, through the plotting of George’s associates, the commander of the troops in Egypt, at the emperor’s order, tried to seize him and failed, as was told earlier, he escaped and until the present reign was hidden in Alexandria with a holy virgin. We have heard that she so surpassed the women of that time in beauty that she was a marvel to those who saw her, but was avoided by men who professed propriety and chastity, so that suspicion might not bring blame on them. For she was in the bloom of her youth, and exceedingly modest and chaste — a virtue which, even when nature does not help, is wont to adorn the body into comeliness. For truly it is not, as some think, that as bodies are, so is the soul; rather, the character of the body is portrayed in the pursuits of the soul, and a person shows himself to be such as the pursuit he follows at any time. If anyone examines this argument carefully, no one, I think, will gainsay it. Athanasius, the story goes, took refuge with this virgin in accordance with a divine vision that suggested to him that he would be saved there. And looking at the outcome, it seems to me that this was not arranged without God, but so that the associates of Athanasius should have no trouble, if anyone tried to question them about him or forced them to swear an oath; and so that he himself would escape notice, hidden with her, since her beauty did not allow anyone to suspect that the priest was staying there. She received him out of courage and saved him by prudence, becoming so faithful a guardian and zealous servant that she washed his feet and she alone served him in food and all other matters, and in whatever nature is compelled to endure in its pressing needs; and moreover she fetched from others the books he needed. And though this went on for a long time, none of the inhabitants of the city of Alexandria learned of it. ### Translation notes - The sentence on chastity adorning the body is garbled in the scan; it is translated by sense. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 5.6 (PG 67:1229–1231; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/5-6). ## Church History 5.7 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/5-1/#p-5-7 - Source: PG 67:1231–1233 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Athanasius resumes the Alexandrian churches; the pagans of Alexandria lynch the Arian bishop George, partly over the Mithraeum affair, and Julian rebukes them only by letter. ### Greek text Ὁ μὲν οὖν Ἀθανάσιος ὧδε διασωθεὶς, καὶ ἀπροσδοκήτως ἐν τῇ Ἐκκλησίᾳ φανεὶς, οὐδ᾽ ὅθεν προήλθεν ἐγινώσκετο· περιχαρής δὲ γενόμενος ὁ τῶν ᾿Αλεξανδρέων λαὸς, τὰς ἐκκλησίας αὐτῷ παρέδωκεν. Ἐκβληθέντες δὲ οἱ τὰ ᾿Αρείου φρονοῦντες, ἐν ἰδιωτῶν οἰκίαις καθ' ἑαυτοὺς ἐκκλησίαζον, Λούκιον ἀντὶ Γεωργίου, τῆς αὐτῶν αἱρέσεως ἐπίσκοπον προβαλλόμενοι. Γεώργιος δὲ ἔτυχεν ἤδη ἀναιρεθείς· ἅμα γὰρ δημοσίᾳ δῆλον ἐποίησαν οἱ ἄρχοντες τετελευτηκέναι Κωνστάντιον, αὐτοκράτορα δὲ Ἰουλιανὸν εἶναι ἐστασίασε τὸ Ἑλληνικὸν πλῆθος τῶν ᾿Αλεξανδρέων. Κεκραγότες τε καὶ λοιδορούμενοι ὥρμησαν ἐπ' αὐτὸν, ὡς παραχρῆμα ἀναιρήσοντες· ἀνακοπέντες δὲ τῆς παραυτίκα ὁρμῆς, τότε μὲν αὐτὸν ἐν δεσμοῖς εἶχον. Οὐκ εἰς μακρὰν δὲ καταδραμόντες ἕωθεν εἰς τὸ δεσμωτήριον, ἀναιροῦσιν χαμήλῳ ἐπιθέντες, διημερεύσαντές τε ἐν ταῖς αὐτοῦ ὕθρεσι, περὶ δείλην ὀψίαν πυρὶ παρέδωκαν. Οὐχ ἀγνοῶ 6, ὡς οἱ ἀπὸ τῆς ᾿Αρείου αἱρέσεως, τάδε λέγουσι παθεῖν τὸν Γεώργιον πρὸς τῶν τοῦ ᾿Αθανασίον σπουδαστῶν. Ἐγὼ δὲ τῶν Ἑλληνιστῶν ἡγοῦμαι μᾶλλον εἶναι τὸ δρᾶμα" λογιζόμενος ὡς μείζους οὗτοι πλείους ἀφορμὰς μίσους πρὸς αὐτὸν εἶχον, καὶ μάλιστα τὴν περὶ τὰ ξόανα καὶ τοὺς ναοὺς ὕδριν. τὴν τῶν θυσιῶν καὶ πατρίων κώλυσιν, Ἐπέτεινε δὲ τὴν πρὸς αὐτὸν ἀπέχθειαν, ἡ ἐν τοῖς βασιλείοις δύοἷα φιλεῖ δῆμος πρὸς τοὺς ἐν δυνάμει: πάσχειν, οὐχ ἀνεκτὸν ἡγοῦντο. Πρὸς δὲ τούτοις τοιόνδε τότε συνέβη περὶ τὸ καλούμενον παρ᾽ αὑτοῖς Μίθριον τοῦτον γὰρ τὸν τόπον ἔρημον πάλαι γενόμενον, ἐδωρήσατο Κωνστάντιος τῇ ᾿Αλεξανδρέων Ἐκκλησίᾳ, Γεωργίου δὲ εἰς ἐπισκοπὴν εὐκτηρίου οἴκου ἀναχαθαίροντος, ἄδυτον ἀνεφάνη" ἐν ᾧ ξόχνα μὲν ἴσως καὶ ὄργανά τινα εὑρέθη τῶν ἐνθάδε τότε μυούντων ἣ τελουμένων, ἃ τοῖς ὁρῶσι γέλοιά τε ξένα ἐδόκει, Δημοσίᾳ δὲ ταῦτα προθέντες οἱ Χριστιανοὶ, ἐπόμπευον ἐπιτωθάζοντες τοῖς ᾿Ελληννσταῖς. Οἱ δὲ, πλῆθος εἰς ταυτὸ συλλεγέντες, ἐπῆλθον τοῖς Χριστιανοῖς οἱ μὲν ξίφεσιν ἢ λίθοις " οἱ δὲ ἑτέρῳ τῳ ὡς ἔτυχεν ὁπλισάμενοι καὶ πολλοὺς ἀνελόντες, τοὺς δὲ καὶ σταυρώσαντες ἐφ᾽ ὕδρει τῆς θρησκείας, τραυματίας τοὺς πλείστους κατέστησαν. τούτου, Χριστιανοὶ μὲν τὸ ἀρχθὲν ἔργον, ἀτελὲς ἐγχατέλιπον " οἱ δὲ ᾿Ελληνισταὶ, ἐπιλαθδούσης τῆς Ἰουλιανοῦ βασιλείας, τὸν Γεώργιον ἀνεῖλον. (. Μαρτυρεῖ δὲ καὶ βασιλεὺς αὐτὸς τοῦθ᾽ οὕτως ἔχειν. Ὅπερ οὐχ ἂν ὡμολόγησεν, εἰ μὴ ὑπὸ τῆς ἀληθείας ἐβιάσθη ἤθελε γὰρ, οἶμαι, Χριστιανοὺς οἱουσδήποτε , ἢ “Ἕλληνας εἶναι τοὺς Γεωργίου φονέας. ὅμως οὐχ ἀπεκρύψατο" φαίνεται γοῦν ἐν τῇ περὶ τούτου πρὸς ᾿Αλεξανδρέας ἐπιστολῇ δόξας χαλεπαίνειν. Μέχρι γραμμάτων μόνον ἐμέμψατο, καὶ τὴν τιμωρίαν συνεχώρησεν" αἰδοῖ, φησὶ, τῇ πρὸς Σάραπιν τὸν αὐτῶν πολιοῦχον, ᾿Αλέξανδρον τὸν οἰκιστὴν, Ἰουχιανὸν τὸν αὐτοῦ θεῖον, ὃς πρὸ τούτου Αἰγύπτου καὶ τῆς ᾿Αλεξανδρείας αὐτῆς Ἦρξεν" ἀνὴρ ἐς τὰ μάλιστα ἙἙλληνισμῷ χαίρων, καὶ τοὺς Χριστιανοὺς ὑπερφυῶς μισῶν, ὡς τό γε χατ᾽ αὐτὸν, ὑπεναντίον τῆς τοῦ κρατοῦντος γνώμης, καὶ μέχρις αἵματος κακῶς παθεῖν τοὺς Χριστιανούς. ἡ, ### English translation (Claude) So Athanasius, saved in this way, appeared unexpectedly in the church, and no one knew where he had come from. The people of Alexandria, overjoyed, handed the churches over to him. The followers of Arius, driven out, held their assemblies by themselves in private houses, putting forward Lucius as bishop of their heresy in place of George. George had already been killed. For as soon as the magistrates publicly announced that Constantius was dead and that Julian was emperor, the pagan multitude of the Alexandrians rose in riot. Shouting and reviling, they rushed at him as if to kill him on the spot; but checked in their first onset, they kept him for the time in chains. Not long afterwards they ran to the prison at dawn, killed him, set him on a camel, spent the whole day in outrages on him, and towards evening gave him to the fire. I am not unaware that those of the Arian heresy say that George suffered this at the hands of Athanasius’s partisans. But I think the deed was rather the pagans’, reckoning that they had more and greater grounds for hatred against him, above all his outrages against the images and the temples and his prohibition of the sacrifices and ancestral rites. Their hostility toward him was increased by the power he had at the palace, … which, as a populace tends to feel toward those in power, they thought intolerable. Besides this, the following happened at that time at what they call the Mithraeum. Constantius had given this place, long since deserted, to the church of the Alexandrians; and when George was clearing it to build a house of prayer, an inner shrine came to light, in which were found images, perhaps, and certain implements of those who had once been initiated or performed rites there, which seemed ridiculous and strange to those who saw them. The Christians displayed these publicly and paraded them, mocking the pagans. The pagans, gathering together in a mass, attacked the Christians, some armed with swords or stones, others with whatever came to hand; they killed many, crucified some in mockery of the religion, and left most wounded. Because of this the Christians left unfinished the work they had begun; and the pagans, when Julian’s reign came, killed George. The emperor himself bears witness that this was so. He would not have admitted it unless forced by the truth; for he would have wished, I think, the murderers of George to be Christians of any sort rather than pagans. Nevertheless he did not conceal it; at any rate in his letter to the Alexandrians about this he appears to be angry. He blamed them only in writing, and remitted the punishment, out of reverence, he says, for Serapis their guardian god, for Alexander their founder, and for Julian his own uncle, who had earlier governed Egypt and Alexandria itself — a man who delighted in paganism above all and hated the Christians beyond measure, so that, as far as it lay with him, contrary to the ruler’s intention, the Christians suffered evil even to bloodshed. ### Translation notes - The letter is Julian, Letter to the Alexandrians (Ep. 21 Bidez–Cumont); it is not on this site. - A phrase is lost in the scan after “the power he had at the palace” (marked “…”). - George was killed on 24 December 361. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 5.7 (PG 67:1231–1233; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/5-7). ## Church History 5.8 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/5-1/#p-5-8 - Source: PG 67:1235–1237 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Count Julian, the emperor’s uncle, kills the presbyter Theodore at Antioch, profanes the church’s vessels, and dies eaten by worms. ### Greek text Λέγεται γοῦν σπουδάζοντος αὐτοῦ τότε ἀφελέσθαι, καὶ εἰς τοὺς βασιλέως μεταθέσθαι θησαυροὺς, πλεῖστα ὄντα καὶ τιμιώτατα τὰ ἀναθήματα τῆς ᾿Αντιοχέων ἐκκλησίας, καὶ τοὺς εὐκτηρίους τόπους ἀποκλεῖσαι, φυγεῖν μὲν πάντας τοὺς κληρικούς· μόνον δὲ Θεόδωρον τὸν πρεσβύτερον μὴ ὑποχωρῆσαι τῆς πόλεως· ὃν ὡς φύλακα τῶν κειμηλίων, τὴν τούτων γνῶσιν καταμηνύσαι δυνάμενον, συλλαβών, δεινῶς ᾐκίσατο· καὶ τὸ τελευταῖον ἀναιρεθῆναι ξίφει προσ ἐταξε, παρὰ πᾶσαν βάσανον ἀνδρείως ἀποκρινάμεκαὶ ἐν ταῖς ὑπὲρ τοῦ δόγματος ὁμολογίαις ηὐδοκιμηκότα. Ἐπεὶ δὲ τὰ ἱερὰ σκεύη ἐληΐσατο, περιστρέψας αὐτὰ κατὰ τοῦ ἐδάφους, ἐπετώθασε. Καὶ βλασφημήσας ὅσα γε ἠβούλετο τὸν Χριστὸν, ἐκάθισεν ἐπ᾿ αὐτῶν, καὶ τὴν ὕβριν ἐπηύξησεν. Αὐτίκα δὲ τὸ αἰδοῖον καὶ τοὺς ἀμφὶ τοῦτο ἀναγκαίους πόρους διεφθάρη · κατασαπεῖσαί τε αἱ τῇδε σάρκες, εἰς σκώληκας μετέβαλον, καὶ τὸ πάθος ἐκράτει τῆς τῶν ἰατρῶν τέχνης· καὶ μέντοι τῇ πρὸς βασιλέα αἰδοῖ καὶ δέει, διὰ παντοδαπῶν φαρμάκων πείρας ἐληλύθεισαν. Πολυτίμους τε καὶ πλείονας ὄρνεις θύοντες, τὰ τούτων λίπη τὰ διεφθορότα μόρια ἐπέπλαττον, καὶ εἰς τὴν ἐπιφάνειαν ἐξεκαλοῦντο τοὺς σκώληκας. ᾿Αλλ' οὐδὲν ἤνυον · ἐν βάθει γὰρ κατακρυπτόμενοι, πρὸς τὰς ζώσας σάρκας εἶρπον, καὶ ἕως ὅτου αὐτὸν ἀνεῖλον, οὐ διέλιπον κείροντες. Ἐδόκει δὲ κατὰ θεομηνίαν τοιαύτῃ χρήσασθαι συμφορᾷ. Καθότι καὶ ὁ τῶν βασιλικῶν ταμιείων φύλαξ, καὶ ἄλλοι τινὲς τῶν ἐν τοῖς βασιλείοις ἄρχειν ἐπιτετραμμένων, νεανιευσάμενοι κατὰ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας, παραδόξως καὶ ἐλεεινῶς τὸν βίον κατέλυσαν, ὡς ὑπὸ θείας ὀργῆς καταδικασθέντες. ### English translation (Claude) It is said, at any rate, that when this Julian was then eager to seize the offerings of the church of the Antiochenes, which were very many and very costly, and to transfer them to the imperial treasury, and to shut the places of prayer, all the clergy fled, and only Theodore the presbyter did not withdraw from the city. Julian arrested him, as the keeper of the treasures who could disclose them, tortured him terribly, and at last ordered him to be put to death by the sword, after he had answered bravely through every torture and won renown in his confessions for the doctrine. When he had plundered the sacred vessels, he threw them on the ground and mocked them; and having blasphemed Christ as much as he pleased, he sat on them and so increased the outrage. At once his private parts and the passages needed about them were corrupted; the flesh there rotted and turned to worms, and the disease overcame the physicians’ art; and yet, out of respect and fear of the emperor, they had tried every kind of remedy. Sacrificing many costly birds, they plastered the decayed parts with their fat and drew the worms to the surface. But it was of no use: for, hidden in the depth, they crept into the living flesh, and did not stop gnawing him until they had killed him. He seemed to have met such a calamity by the wrath of God; for the keeper of the imperial treasuries too, and some others of those entrusted with authority in the palace, who had behaved insolently toward the church, ended their lives strangely and pitiably, as though condemned by the divine anger. ### Translation notes - “This Julian” is the emperor’s uncle Julian, count of the East (end of 5.7). The treasurer was Felix (named in NPNF² 2’s notes and in other historians). ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 5.8 (PG 67:1235–1237; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/5-8). ## Church History 5.9 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/5-9/#p-5-9 - Source: PG 67:1237–1239 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The pagan mob of Gaza murders the brothers Eusebius, Nestabus and Zeno; their cousin Zeno, later bishop of Maiuma, enshrines their relics, and Julian punishes the governor who had arrested the rioters. ### Greek text Ἐπεὶ δὲ εἰς τοῦτο προήχθην λόγου, καὶ τὴν Γεωργίου καὶ Θεοδώρου ἀναίρεσιν διεξῆλθον, καιρὸν ἔχειν δοκῶ ποιήσασθαι μνήμην Εὐσεβίου, καὶ Νεστάβου, καὶ Ζήνωνος τῶν ἀδελφῶν· οὓς κατὰ τοῦτο μισῶν ὁ τῶν Γαζαίων δῆμος, οἴκοι κρυπτομένους συνελάβοντο, καὶ δεσμωτηρίῳ τὰ πρῶτα παρέδοσαν, καὶ ἐμαστίγωσαν. Ἔπειτα συνελθόντες εἰς θέατρον, πλεῖστα αὐτῶν κατεβόησαν, ὡς κακουργησάντων τὰ ἱερὰ, καὶ ἐπὶ καθαιρέσει καὶ ὕβρει τοῦ Ἑλληνισμοῦ, τῷ παρελθόντι χρόνῳ ἀποχρησαμένων. Ἐν δὲ τῷ κεκραγέναι, καὶ παροτρύνειν ἀλλήλους εἰς τὸν κατ' αὐτῶν φόνον, ἐνεπλήσθησαν θυμοῦ. Καὶ παρακελευσάμενοι ἑαυτοῖς, οἷά γε δῆμος στασιάζων εἴωθε, κατέδραμον εἰς τὸ δεσμωτήριον· καὶ ἐξαγαγόντες αὐτοὺς, ὠμότατα διεχρήσαντο· πῆ μὲν πρηνεῖς, πῆ δὲ ὑπτίους ἕλκοντες, καὶ τῷ ἐδάφει προσρηγνύντες· καὶ εἰ ἔτυχον παίοντες, οἱ μὲν λίθοις· οἱ δὲ ξύλοις · ἄλλοι δὲ ἄλλοις τισὶ τοῖς ἐπιτυχοῦσιν. Ἐπυθόμην δ᾽ αὖ ὡς καὶ γυναῖκες ἐκ τῶν ἱστῶν ἐξελθοῦσαι, ταῖς κερκίσιν αὐτοὺς κατεκέντουν · καὶ τῶν ἐπ᾿ ἀγορᾶς μαγείρων, οἱ μὲν, ὕδατι θερμῷ καχλάζοντας τοὺς λέβητας ἐξαρπάζοντες τῶν χυτροπόδων, κατέχεαν· οἱ δὲ, τοῖς ὀβελίσκοις διέπειρον. Ἐπεὶ δὲ αὐτοὺς διεσπάραξαν, καὶ τὰς κεφαλὰς ἔθλασαν, ὡς καὶ τὸν ἐγκέφαλον χαμαὶ ῥεῖν, ἤγαγον πρὸ τοῦ ἄστεος, ᾗ τὰ ἀποθνήσκοντα τῶν ἀλόγων ζώων ῥίπτειν εἰώθεσαν · καὶ πῦρ ἀνάψαντες, ἔκαυσαν αὐτῶν τὰ σώματα· καὶ τὰ περιλειφθέντα τῶν ὀστέων, ὅσα μὴ τὸ πῦρ ἐδαπάνησε, τοῖς ἐῤῥιμμένοις αὐτόθι καμήλων τε καὶ ὄνων ὀστέοις ἀνέμιξαν, ὥστε μὴ ῥᾳδίαν αὐτῶν εἶναι τὴν εὔρεσιν· ἔλαθέ γε μὴν οὐκ ἐπὶ πολύ · γυνὴ γάρ τις Χριστιανὴ, οὐκ ἀπὸ Γάζης οὖσα, ἀλλ᾿ ἐνθάδε τὴν οἴκησιν ἔχουσα, κατὰ θείαν σύνταξιν ἀνελέξατο ταῦτα νύκτωρ · καὶ ἐμβαλοῦσα χύτρᾳ, Ζήνωνι τῷ αὐτῶν ἀνεψιῷ φυλάττειν ἔδωκεν. Ωδε γὰρ ἐν τοῖς ὀνείροις ἔχρησεν ὁ Θεὸς, καὶ τὸν ἄνδρα τῇ γυναικὶ κατεμήνυσεν, ᾗ διάγοι · καὶ πρὶν ἰδεῖν ἐπέδειξε, καθότι ἄγνωστος ἦν αὐτῇ, καὶ προσφάτως τοῦ διωγμοῦ κεκινημένου, ἐκρύπτετο. Ἐπεὶ καὶ αὐτὸς τότε μικροῦ συλληφθεὶς παρὰ τῶν Γαζαίων, ἀνῃρέθη· ἀσχολουμένου δὲ τοῦ πλήθους περὶ τὸν φόνον τῶν αὐτοῦ ἀνεψιῶν, καιρὸν εὑρὼν ἔφυγεν εἰς ᾿Ανθηδόνα πόλιν ἐπὶ θάλασσαν, ἀφεστῶσαν Γάζης ὡς εἰς σταδίους εἴκοσι, παραπλησίως δὲ τηνικαῦτα τῷ Ἑλληνισμῷ χαίρουσαν, καὶ περὶ τὴν θεραπείαν τῶν ξυάνων ἐπτοημένην. Καταμηνυθεὶς δὲ ἐνταῦθα ὡς Χριστιανὸς, δεινῶς κατὰ νώτου ῥάθδοις ἐμαστιγώθη παρὰ τῶν ᾿Ανθηδονίων, καὶ τῆς πόλεως ἐξηλάθη - εἰς τὸ τῶν Γαζαίων ἐπίνειον Σ ἐλθὼν, ἔλαθεν ἐκεῖσε κρυπτόμενος. Ἔνθα δὴ περιτυχὸν αὐτῷ τὸ γύναιον, τὰ λείψανα δέδωκεν " ὁ δὲ, τέως μὲν οἴκοι ταῦτα ἐφύλαττεν " ἐπεὶ δὲ τὴν αὐτόθι ἐκκλησίαν ἔλαχεν ἐπισκοπεῖν, συνέβη δὲ τοῦτο ἐπὶ τῆς Θεοδοσίου βασιλείας, εὐκτήριον ἐδείματο οἶχον πρὸ τοῦ ἄστεος, θυσιαστήριον ἐν αὐτῷ ἐπήξατο, καὶ τὰ ὁστᾶ τῶν μαρτύρων ἀπέθετο, πλησίον Νέστορος τοῦ ὁμολογητοῦ. Ὃς τῷ βίῳ περιοῦσι τοῖς αὑτοῦ ἀνεψιοῖς συνῆν. Καὶ συλληφθεὶς ἅμα αὐτοῖς παρὰ τοῦ δήμου, δεσμῶν καὶ μαστίγων ἔχοινώνησεν. Ἔν δὲ τῷ ἕλχεσθαι, καλὸν ἔχοντα τὸ σῶμα ἰδόντες οἱ ἕλκοντες, ἠλέησαν" πρὸ τῶν πυλῶν, ἔτι μὲν ἐμπνέοντα, ἀποθανεῖν ὃὲ προσδοκώμενον ἔῤῥιψαν" ἀνελόμενοι δέ τινες, πρὸς Ζήνωνα διεκόμισαν " παρ᾽ ᾧ τὰ καὶ τὰς πληγὰς ἔτι θεραπευόμενος, ἐτελεύτησε. Γαζαῖοι δὲ τὸ μέγεθος ἀναλογιζόμενοι τοῦ οἰκείου τολμήματος, περιδεεῖς ἦσαν, μὴ οὐχ ἀνέξεται ὁ βασιλεὺς ἀτιμωρήτους σφᾶς “καταλιπεῖν" ἤδη γὰρ φήμη τις διεφοίτα, ὡς χαλεπῶς φέρει, ἀποδεχατοῦν τὸ πλῆθος σπουδάζει. δὲ ταῦτα ψεῦδος, καὶ θρύλλος μόνον, ὡς εἰκὸς, δημώδης, ὑπὸ τῆς ( δειλίας τοῦ συνειδέναι: ἃ πεπράχατιν ἐν τοῖς ' περιφερόμενος. Ἐπειδὴ οὐδὲ τοῦτο δὴ τὸ πρὸς Ἂλεξανδρέας γεγονὸς ἐπὶ Γεωργίον, οὐδὲ ἐν γράμμασιν ἐμέμψατο τοῖς Γαζαίοις. ᾿Αλλὰ ἡγούμενον τότε τοῦ ἔθνους, τὴν ἀρχὴν ἀφείλετο, καὶ ἐν ὑπονοίᾳ εἶχε " ἀγώγιμον ποιήσας, τὸ μὴ θανάτου Ψηφίσασθαι, φιλανθρωπίαν. ἐλογίσατο" ἐπῃτιᾶτο δὲ αὐτὸν, καθότι τινὰς τῶν Γαζαίων, οἱ τῆς στάσεως τῶν φόνων ἄρξαι. ἐλέγοντο, συλλαδόμενος ἐν δεσμοῖς εἶχεν, ὡς κατὰ νόμους εὐθύνας ὑφέξοντας. Τί γὰρ, φησὶν, ἔδει αὑτοὺς. ἀπάγεσθαι., εἰ Γαλι. λαίους ὀλίγους ἀνθ᾽ ὧν πολλὰ εἰς αὑτοὺς, καὶ τοὺς θεοὺς ἠδίχησαν, ἢμύναντο; Καὶ τὰ μὲν ὧδε λέγεται. ### English translation (Claude) Since my account has come to this point and I have narrated the killing of George and Theodore, I think it a fit time to make mention of the brothers Eusebius, Nestabus and Zeno. The people of Gaza, hating them, seized them where they were hiding at home, first put them in prison and scourged them. Then, gathering in the theatre, they cried out much against them, as men who had violated the shrines and had used the past time for the destruction and insult of paganism. By shouting and urging one another on to murder them, they were filled with fury; and exhorting one another, as a rioting populace is accustomed to do, they ran to the prison, brought them out and killed them most cruelly, dragging them now face down, now on their backs, dashing them against the ground, and striking them as they could, some with stones, some with clubs, others with whatever came to hand. I have learned also that women came out from their looms and stabbed them with their shuttles; and that of the cooks in the market, some snatched cauldrons boiling with hot water from the trivets and poured them over them, and others pierced them with spits. When they had torn them apart and crushed their heads so that the brain ran out on the ground, they dragged them outside the city, where they used to throw out dead beasts; and kindling a fire they burned their bodies, and mixed what remained of the bones, whatever the fire had not consumed, with the bones of camels and asses thrown out there, so that they could not easily be found. But they did not remain hidden long. For a Christian woman, not from Gaza but living there, by divine arrangement gathered them up by night, put them in a pot, and gave them to Zeno, their cousin, to keep. For God had so declared to her in dreams, and had shown her the man and where he was staying, and pointed him out before she saw him, since he was unknown to her and was hiding, the persecution having lately been stirred up. For he too had then nearly been seized by the people of Gaza and killed; but while the crowd was busy with the murder of his cousins, he found his chance and fled to the city of Anthedon on the sea, about twenty stadia from Gaza, which at that time likewise delighted in paganism and was passionately devoted to the worship of images. Denounced there as a Christian, he was cruelly beaten on the back with rods by the people of Anthedon and driven out of the city; and coming to the port of Gaza he lay hidden there. There the woman met him and gave him the relics. He kept them at home for a while; but when he was allotted the oversight of the church there — this happened in the reign of Theodosius — he built a house of prayer outside the city, set up an altar in it, and laid the bones of the martyrs there, near Nestor the confessor. Nestor had been with his cousins while they were alive, and, seized together with them by the populace, had shared their chains and scourging. But as he was being dragged, those who dragged him, seeing his comely body, took pity on him and threw him out before the gates, still breathing but expected to die. Some people took him up and carried him to Zeno, in whose house he died while still being treated for his wounds. The people of Gaza, considering the magnitude of their own daring, were in great fear that the emperor would not let them go unpunished; for a rumour was already going about that he was angry and intended to decimate the populace. But this was false, a popular rumour only, as is natural, carried about from the cowardice of a guilty conscience for what they had done. For he did not blame the people of Gaza even in writing, as he had blamed the Alexandrians in the case of George. Instead he took away his office from the then governor of the province and held him under suspicion, bringing him to trial and reckoning it clemency not to vote for his death. He accused him of having arrested and held in chains some of the people of Gaza who were said to have begun the riot and the murders, so that they might be called to account according to the laws. “For what need was there,” he said, “to arrest them for retaliating on a few Galileans for the many wrongs done to them and to the gods?” Such is the account. ### Translation notes - Translated exactly as written; Sozomen, a native of the Gaza region, reports local tradition. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 5.9 (PG 67:1237–1239; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/5-9). ## Church History 5.10 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/5-9/#p-5-10 - Source: PG 67:1241–1245 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Hilarion flees from Gaza to Sicily, Dalmatia and Cyprus; at Heliopolis pagans butcher consecrated virgins, and at Arethusa the old bishop Mark is tortured by the mob for destroying a temple. ### Greek text Ἐν τούτῳ δὲ καὶ Ἱλαρίων μοναχὸς ἐπιζητούμενος παρὰ τῶν Γαζαίων, ἔφυγεν εἰς Σικελίαν. "Ενθα δὴ ξύλα συλλέγων ἐκ τῶν ἐρήμων ὀρῶν, καὶ ἐπὶ ὤμων φέρων, ἐν τῇ πόλει διεπώλει· καὶ ὅσον ἀποζῇν, τούτῳ τῷ τρόπῳ τὴν καθημέραν τροφὴν ἐπορίζετο. Καταμηνυθεὶς δὲ ὅστις εἴη καὶ οἷος, ὑπὸ˙ δαιμονῶντος ἀνδρὸς τῶν ἐπισήμων, τοῦ δαιμονᾷν αὐτὸν ἀπαλλάξας, ἦλθεν εἰς Δαλματίαν. Μέγιστά τε καὶ παράδοξα σὺν θείᾳ δυνάμει κἀνταῦθα κατορθώσας, ὡς καὶ τὴν θάλασσαν εὐχῇ στῆσαι ἐξ ὑπονοστήσεως ἐπικλύσαι τὴν ξηρὰν κατατρέχουσαν, πάλιν ἔνθεν ἀνεχώρησεν. Οὐ γὰρ καταθύμιον ἦν αὐτῷ, διατρίβειν παρὰ τοῖς ἐπαινοῦσιν· ἀλλ᾽ ἐν τῷ τοὺς τόπους ἀμείβειν, ἐσπούδασεν ἄδηλος εἶναι, καὶ τὴν κρατοῦσαν περὶ αὐτοῦ δόξαν διαλύειν ταῖς συχναῖς μετοικήσεσι. Τὸ δὴ τελευταῖον παραπλέων τὴν Κύπρον, κατῆρεν εἰς Πάφον. Προτραπείς τε παρὰ τοῦ τότε Κυπρίων ἐπισκόπου, ἠγάπησε τὴν ἐνθάδε διατριβὴν, καὶ περὶ Χάρβυριν, χωρίον οὕτως ἐπονομαζόμενον, ἐφιλοσόφει. Τοῦ μὲν οὖν μὴ μαρτυρῆσαι τὸν ἄνδρα τοῦτον, αἴτιον ἡ φυγή · ἔφυγε δὲ, καθότι πρόσταγμά ἐστιν ἱερόν, μὴ περιμένειν τοὺς διώκοντας · εἰ δὲ ληφθεῖεν διωκόμενοι, ἀνδρείους γενέσθαι, καὶ κρείττους τῆς τῶν διωκόντων ἀνάγκης. Οὐ παρὰ, μόνοις δὲ Γαζαίοις καὶ ᾿Αλεξανδρεῦσι τὰ εἰρημένα κατὰ τῶν Χριστιανῶν ἐτολμήθη. Φαίνονται δὲ τούτους ὠμότητος ὑπερβολῇ νενικηκότες, οἱ τὴν πρὸς τῷ Λιβάνῳ Ἡλιούπολιν, καὶ τὴν ᾿Αρέθουσαν τῆς Συρίας οἰκοῦντες. Οἱ μὲν γὰρ, ἄπιστον δὲ καὶ λέγειν, εἰ μὴ τινες τῶν κατ᾿ ἐκεῖνο καιροῦ γεγονότων ἀνήγγειλαν· παρθένους ἱερὰς ἀήθεις ὁρᾶσθαι παρὰ πλήθους, δημοσίᾳ γυμνὰς ἐσθῆτος ἴστασθαι κατηνάγκασαν, εἰς κοινὸν τῶν βουλομένων θέατρόν τε καὶ ὕβριν· ἐμπαροινήσαντες δὲ πρότερον ᾗ ἐδόκει, τὸ τελευταῖον ἀνέκειρον αὐτάς · καὶ διχῆ ἀνατεμόντες, ἐπὶ τὴν βρῶσιν τῶν ἐγκάτων προσεκαλοῦντο τοὺς χοίρους, συνήθει τούτοις τροφῇ ἐπιπολῆς τὰ σπλάγχνα καλύψαντες, ὥστε μὴ ῥᾳδίως τοὺς ὑς διακρίνειν, ἀλλ᾽ ἐξ ἀνάγκης τῆς συνήθους τροφῆς ὀρεγομένους, καὶ τὰ ἀνδρόμεα κρέα σπαράττειν. Ὡς δὲ συμβάλλω, εἰς τοσαύτην ὠμότητα κατὰ τῶν ἱερῶν παρθένων προήγαγε τοὺς Ἡλιουπολίτας, τὸ λυθῆ ναι 5, καθὸ πάτριον ἦν αὐτοῖς πρότερον, ἐκπορ νεύεσθαι παρὰ τοῦ προστυχόντος τὰς ἐνθάδε παρθέ νους, πρὶν τοῖς μνηστῆρσι συνελθεῖν εἰς γάμον. Ὁ γὰρ Κωνσταντίνος καθελὼν τὸν ἐν Ἡλιουπόλει τῆς ᾿Αφροδίτης νεών, τότε πρῶτον παρ᾿ αὐτοῖς ἐκκλησίαν ἐδείματο, καὶ νόμῳ διεκώλυσε τὰς συνήθεις ποιεῖν πορνείας. ᾿Αρεθούσιοι δὲ Μάρκον · τὸν γενόμενον αὐτῶν ἐπίσκοπον, γηραλέον ὄντα, πολιᾷ τε καὶ βίῳ αἰδέσιμον, ἐλεεινῶς διεχρήσαντο · τοῦτον δὲ καὶ πρότερον ἐν ὀργῇ εἶχον. Προθυμότερον γὰρ ἢ κατὰ πειθῶ, Κωνσταντίου βασιλεύοντος, τοὺς Ἑλληνιστὰς εἰς Χριστιανισμὸν ἐπανῆγε, καὶ τὸν παρ᾿ αὐτοῖς σεμνότατον καὶ πολυτελέστατον ναὸν καθεῖλεν. Ἐπεὶ δὲ μετέπεσεν εἰς Ἰουλιανὸν ἡ ἀρχὴ, κεκινημένον ἐπ᾿ αὐτὸν τὸν δῆμον ὁρῶν, ἅμα δὲ καὶ κατὰ πρόσταγμα βασιλέως καταδικασθεὶς, ἢ τὴν ἀποτίμησιν τοῦ ναοῦ “ἐκτίσαι, ἢ τοῦτον ἀνοικοδομῆσαι· λογισάμενος ὡς ἀδύνατον ἑκάτερον, Χριστιανῷ δὲ ἄλλως ἀθέμιτον τὸ δεύτερον, μήτι γε δὴ ἱερεῖ, ἔφυγε τὰ πρῶτα. Μαθὼν δὲ δι' αὐτὸν κινδυνεύειν πολλοὺς, έλκυσμάτων τε καὶ δικαστηρίων καὶ τῶν ἐν τούτοις πειρᾶσθαι δεινῶν, ἐπανῆλθεν ἀπὸ τῆς φυγῆς, καὶ ἐθελοντής ὅ τι βούλοιντο αὐτὸν δρᾶν τῷ πλήθει προσήγαγεν. Οἱ δὲ, ἐξ ὧν ἔδει πλέον ἐπαινεῖν αὐτὸν ὡς φιλοσόφῳ πρέπουσαν πρᾶξιν ἐπιδειξάμενον, ὑπερπεφρονῆσθαι νομίσαντες, πᾶς ὁ δῆμος ἐπ᾿ αὐτὸν 195 ἐχώρησε· καὶ διὰ τῶν ἀγυιῶν εἶλκον, ὠθοῦντες καὶ τίλλοντες, καὶ ᾗ ἔτυχε τῶν μελῶν, ἕκαστος παίοντες· ἐσπουδάζετο δὲ τὸ δρᾶμα ἀνδρᾶσι καὶ γυναιξί, καὶ πάσῃ ἡλικίᾳ, μετὰ προθυμίας καὶ ὀργῆς· ὡς καὶ σπαρτίοις λεπτοῖς τὰ ὦτα αὐτοῦ διατεμεῖν παῖδες δὲ εἰς διδασκάλους φοιτῶντες, παίγνιον ἐποιοῦντο τὸ πρᾶγμα· καὶ μετεωρίζοντες αὐτὸν, καὶ πρὸς ἑαυτὸν κυλίοντες, ἀντέπεμπόν τε καὶ ἀνεδέχοντο ταῖς γραφίσι, καὶ ἀφειδῶς κατεκέντουν. Ἐπεὶ δὲ ἅπαν τὸ σῶμα τραυματίας ἐγένετο, ἔτι δὲ ὅμως ἐνέπνεε, μέλιτι καὶ γάρῳ ἀλείψαντες αὐτὸν, καὶ σαργάνῃ ἐμβαλόντες, πλέγμα δὲ τοῦτο ὁλόσχοινον, εἰς ὕψος ἦραν. Ἡνίκα δὲ λέγεται σφηκῶν καὶ μελισσῶν ἐφιπταμένων αὐτῷ καὶ τὰς σάρκας κατεσθιουσῶν, πρὸς τοὺς ᾿Αρεθουσίους εἰπεῖν, ὡς αὐτὸς ὑψηλὸς εἴη· τοὺς δὲ ταπεινοὺς ὁρᾷ καὶ χαμαὶ ἐρχομένους, καὶ κατὰ τοῦτο ἑαυτῷ τε κἀκείνοις συμβάλλειν ἔσεσθαι τὰ μετὰ ταῦτα. Λόγος δὲ τὸν τότε ὕπαρχον, Ἑλληνιστὴν μὲν ἐς τὰ μάλιστα ὄντα, γενναῖον δὲ τὸ ἦθος, ὡς καὶ εἰσέτι νῦν τὴν περὶ αὐτοῦ δόξαν κρατεῖν, θαυμάσαντα Μάρκον τῆς ἐγκρατείας, παῤῥησιάσθαι πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα, καὶ μέμψασθαι, ὡς εἰκότως αἰσχύνην ὀφλισκάνουσι, κεκρατημένοι παρ' ἑνὸς γέροντος, πρὸς τοσαύτας βασάνους ἀνδρείως ἀντιταξαμένου. Καὶ κινδυνεύειν αὐτοὺς γελοίους εἶναι· ἐνδοξοτέρους δὲ οὓς ταῦτα δρῶσιν. Ὁ μὲν οὖν μακάριος, ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον γενναίως πρὸς τὸν ᾿Αρεθουσίων θυμὸν καὶ τὰς πολλὰς βασάνους ἀντέσχεν, ὡς καὶ πρὸς αὐτῶν ἐπαινεθῆναι τῶν Ἑλληνιστῶν. ### English translation (Claude) At this time Hilarion the monk too, being sought by the people of Gaza, fled to Sicily. There he gathered wood on the deserted mountains, carried it on his shoulders, and sold it in the city; and in this way he provided his daily food, as much as he needed to live. But when his identity and character were disclosed by a man of rank who was possessed by a demon, he freed him from the possession and went to Dalmatia. Having accomplished there too, by divine power, very great and astonishing deeds — so that by prayer he even stopped the sea, which after a recession was rushing in to flood the dry land — he withdrew again from there. For it was not to his liking to stay among those who praised him; but by changing his place he tried to remain unknown and to dissolve by frequent moves the fame that prevailed about him. Finally, sailing along Cyprus, he put in at Paphos; and urged by the then bishop of the Cypriots, he came to love living there, and practised the philosophic life at a place called Charburis. The reason this man was not martyred was his flight. He fled because there is a sacred command not to wait for persecutors, but, if taken while being persecuted, to be brave and superior to the compulsion of the persecutors. It was not only at Gaza and Alexandria that the deeds described were dared against the Christians. The inhabitants of Heliopolis by Lebanon and of Arethusa in Syria appear to have surpassed them in excess of cruelty. For the former — it is incredible even to tell, had not some who lived at that time reported it — compelled holy virgins, unaccustomed to be seen by a crowd, to stand publicly stripped of their clothing, as a common spectacle and outrage for whoever wished; and after first abusing them as they pleased, they finally shaved their heads, cut them open, and called the swine to eat their entrails, covering the innards on top with the swine’s usual food, so that the swine could not easily tell the difference but, from the craving of their usual food, would tear human flesh as well. As I conjecture, what drove the people of Heliopolis to such cruelty against the holy virgins was the abolition of their former ancestral custom that their virgins should be prostituted to any comer before coming together in marriage with their betrothed. For Constantine, having destroyed the temple of Aphrodite at Heliopolis, then for the first time built a church among them, and by law forbade them to practise their customary sexual immorality. The Arethusians cruelly killed Mark, who had been their bishop, an old man venerable for his grey hairs and his life. They had been angry with him before; for in Constantius’s reign he had led the pagans back to Christianity more zealously than by persuasion, and had destroyed their most venerable and costly temple. When the rule passed to Julian, seeing the populace stirred up against him, and having at the same time been condemned by the emperor’s order either to pay the value of the temple or to rebuild it, reckoning both impossible, and the second unlawful in any case for a Christian, let alone a priest, he fled at first. But learning that many were in danger on his account, and were suffering being dragged to court and the terrors that go with it, he came back from his flight and of his own will gave himself up to the crowd to do with him what they wished. They, when they ought rather to have praised him for an act worthy of a philosopher, thought themselves despised, and the whole populace went at him. They dragged him through the streets, pushing him and tearing his hair, each striking whatever limb he could reach. The deed was pursued with eagerness and rage by men and women and every age, so that they even cut his ears with thin cords; and children going to school made the thing a game, tossing him up and rolling him toward themselves, sending him back and catching him on their writing-styluses and stabbing him without mercy. When his whole body had been wounded but he was still breathing, they smeared him with honey and fish sauce, put him in a basket — a thing woven of rushes — and hoisted him up high. Then, it is said, when wasps and bees were flying at him and devouring his flesh, he said to the Arethusians that he was high and saw them low and going on the ground, and that from this he inferred what would happen afterwards to himself and to them. The story is that the prefect of that time, though a pagan above all, was of a noble character — so that his reputation prevails even now — and, admiring Mark’s endurance, spoke frankly to the emperor and reproached him that they were rightly incurring shame, being defeated by one old man who had bravely withstood so many tortures; and that they were in danger of being ridiculous, while those to whom they did these things became more glorious. So the blessed man withstood the rage of the Arethusians and the many tortures so nobly that he was praised even by the pagans themselves. ### Scripture references - Matt 10:23: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The “sacred command” is Matt 10:23 (“when they persecute you in one town, flee to the next”). - The custom at Heliopolis (Baalbek) is translated as written; Sozomen offers it as his own conjecture about the mob’s motive. - The prefect is identified by NPNF² 2 and other sources as Sallustius (Salutius), praetorian prefect of the East. - Mark of Arethusa survived this ordeal (Gregory of Nazianzus, Or. 4.88–91). ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 5.10 (PG 67:1241–1245; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/5-10). ## Church History 5.11 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/5-9/#p-5-11 - Source: PG 67:1245–1249 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Martyrdoms under Julian: Macedonius, Theodulus and Tatian roasted at Merus, the confession of the Encratite Busiris at Ancyra, and the deaths of Basil of Ancyra and Eupsychius of Caesarea. ### Greek text Ἐν δὲ τῷ τότε, καὶ Μακεδόνιος, Θεόδουλός τε καὶ Τατιανὸς οἱ Φρύγες, ἀνδρείως ἐμαρτύρησαν. Ἐπεὶ γὰρ ἐν Μίσῳ, πόλις δὲ ἥδε Φρυγῶν, τὸν ἐνθάδε νεὼν ἠνέψξε, καὶ ὑπὸ χρόνων ῥυποῦντα ἐξεκάθῃρεν ὁ τοῦ ἔθνους ἡγούμενος, νύκτωρ ἐπεισελθόντες, τὰ ἀγάλματα συνέτριψαν. Ὡς αἰτίων δὲ τούτων συλληφθέντων ἄλλων καὶ τιμωρεῖσθαι μελλόντων, σφᾶς αὐτοὺς κατεμήνυσαν. Ἐξὸν δὲ εἴ γε θύειν ἡνέσχοντο, μηδὲν παθεῖν, ὡς ἐν τούτῳ μόνῳ ἀπολογεῖσθαι ὑπὲρ τῶν ἡμαρτημένων ὁ ἄρχων οὐκ ἔπειθε, πολλοῖς αὐτοὺς ἡκίσατο τρόποις· τελευταῖον δὲ ἐσχάραις ἐπιθεὶς, πῦρ ὑφῆψεν· οἱ δὲ, καιόμενοι, Εἰ κρεῶν ὀπτῶν, ἔφασαν, ἐπιθυμεῖς, ὦ ᾿Αμάχιε, τοῦτο γὰρ ὄνομα ἦν τῷ ἄρχοντι, καὶ ἐπὶ τὰς ἑτέρας πλευρὰς πρὸς τὸ πῦρ ἡμᾶς στρέψον, ἵνα μή σοι γευομένῳ ἡμίοπτοι γενόμενοι, ἀηδεῖς φαινώμεθα. Καὶ οἱ μὲν ὧδε γενναίως διαγενόμενοι, ἐν ταῖς τιμωρίαις τὸν βίον ἀπ᾿ έθεντο. Φασὶ δὲ καὶ Βούσιριν ἐν ᾿Αγκύρᾳ τῆς Γαλατίας λαμπρὰν καὶ ἀνδρειοτάτην ὁμολογίαν ὑπομεῖναι διὰ τὴν θρησκείαν. "Ον τῆς αἱρέσεως ὄντα τότε τῶν καλουμένων Ἐγκρατιτῶν, συλλαβὼν ὁ τοῦ ἔθνους ἄρχων, ὡς νεανιευσάμενον κατὰ τῶν Ἑλληνιστῶν αἰκίζεσθαι ἠβούλετο. Καὶ δημοσίᾳ προαγαγὼν πρὸς τὸ βασανιστήριον ξύλον, αἰωρεῖσθαι προσέταττεν. Ὁ δὲ Βούσιρις ἀνασχὼν τὰ χεῖρε πρὸς τὴν κεφαλὴν, ἐγύμνωσε τὰς πλευράς · καὶ μὴ μάτην χρῆναι πονεῖν τοὺς δημίους πρὸς τὸν ἄρχοντα ἔφη, ἀνάγοντας αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τὸ ξύλον, καὶ πάλιν κατάγοντας. Ἑτοίμως γὰρ καὶ δίχα τούτου ἐφ' ὅσον βούλεται, παρέξειν τὰς πλευρὰς τοῖς βασανισταῖς. Θαυμάσας δὲ τὴν ὑπόσχεσιν ὁ ἄρχων, μᾶλλον τῇ πείρᾳ κατεπλάγη. Αἰκιζό( μενος γὰρ ταῖς ὄνυξι τὰς πλευρὰς μέχρις ὅτε τῷ ἄρχοντι ἐδόκει, διεκαρτέρησε τὼ χεῖρε ἀνέχων, καὶ τὰς πληγὰς προθύμως δεχόμενος. Ἐν δεσμοῖς δὲ μετὰ ταῦτα γενόμενος, ἀνείθη οὐκ εἰς ῾μακρὰν ἀγγελθέντος ἀνῃρῆσθαι Ἰουλιανόν · καὶ μέχρι τῆς Θεοδοσίου βασιλείας ἐπεβίω · καὶ πρὸς τὴν καθόλου Ἐκκλησίαν μετέθετο, καταγνοὺς τῆς προτέρας αἱρέσεως. Λόγος δὲ κατὰ τοῦτον τὸν χρόνον μαρτυρία τὸν βίον μετελθεῖν, Βασίλειον πρεσβύτερον τῆς ἐν ᾿Αγκύρα Ἐκκλησίας, καὶ Εὐψύχιον · Καισαρέα Καππαδόκην τῶν εὐπατριδῶν, ἕναγχος γαμετὴν ἀγόμενον, καὶ οἷον ἔτι νυμφίον ὄντα. Συμβάλλω δὲ, τὸν μὲν Εὐψύχιον ἀναιρεθῆναι διὰ τὸν ναὸν τῆς Τύχης, ἐφ' ᾧ τότε καθαιρεθέντι, ὡς ἐν τοῖς πρόσθεν εἴρηται, κοινῇ πάντες Καισαρεῖς τῆς τοῦ βασιλέως ὀργῆς ἐπειράθησαν. Οἱ δὲ τῆς καθαιρέσεως αὐτουργοὶ, δίκην ἔδοσαν" οἱ μὲν θάνατον, οἱ δὲ τὴν πατρίδα ὁ, φεύγειν καταδικασθέντες ὁ δὲ Βασίλειος περὶ τὸ δόγμα σπουδαῖος γεγονὼς, ἐφ᾽ ὅσον μὲν ἦρχε Κωντάντιος, τοῖς τὰ ᾿Αρείον φρονοῦσιν ἀντέπραττε᾽ καὶ διὰ τοῦτο Ψῆφῳ τῶν ἀμφὶ τὸν Εὐδόξιον ἐχωλύθη ἐκκλησιάζειν, Ἐπεὶ Ἰουλιανὸς μόνος τὴν ἀρχὴν διεῖπεν, ὁ Βασίλειος περιιὼν τοὺς Χριστιανοὺς δημοσίᾳ περιφανῶς προὐτρέπετο, τῶν οἰκείων ἔχεσθα: δογμάτων, καὶ μὴ τοῖς Ἑλλήνων θύμασι σπονδαῖς μιαίνεσθαι" ἀντ᾽ οὐδενὸς δὲ ἡγεῖσθαι τὰς γινομένας εἰς αὐτοὺς παρὰ τοῦ βασιλέως τιμὰς, πρασχαίρους ναύτας ἀποφαινόμενος ἐπὶ μισθῷ ὃ:ηνεχοῦς ἀπωλείας " ταῦτα σπουδάζων, ἐν ὑπονοίᾳ τε μίσει παρὰ τοῖς 'Ελληνισταῖς ὧν, δημοσίᾳ θύοντας ἰδὼν ἔστη καὶ μέγα ἀνοιμώξας, ηὔξατο μηδένα Χριστιανὸν τῆς τοιαύτης πειραθῆναι πλάνης, τούτου ὃὲ συλληφθεὶς, παρεδόθη τῷ ἡγουμένῳ τοῦ ἔθνους πολλὰς βασάνους ὑπομείνας, παρὰ πάντα τὸν ἀγῶνα ἀνδρείως τὴν μαρτυρίαν διήνυσε. Καὶ τὰ μὲν ὡδε εἰ παρὰ γνώμην τῷ βασιλεῖ ἀπέδη" οὐχ ἀγεννεῖς, οὐδὲ ὀλίγους μάρτυρας, ἐπὶ τῆς αὐτοῦ ἡγεμονίας ἀπέδειξε γεγενῆσθαι " σαφηνείας ὃδὲ χάριν συναγαγὼν πάντας ὁμοῦ διεξηλβον, εἰ καὶ διάφορος ἣν ὁ καιρὸς τῆς ἑκάστου μαρκυρίας. ### English translation (Claude) At this time Macedonius, Theodulus and Tatian, Phrygians, bravely suffered martyrdom. For when the governor of the province at Merus, a city of Phrygia, opened the temple there and cleansed it, which had been filthy from long neglect, they entered by night and broke the statues. When others were arrested as guilty of this and were about to be punished, they gave themselves up. Though they could have suffered nothing if they had consented to sacrifice, since the governor accepted this alone as their defence for their offence, he could not persuade them, and tortured them in many ways; finally he put them on gridirons and lit a fire beneath. As they burned, they said: “If you desire roasted meat, Amachius” — for that was the governor’s name — “turn us over on the other side to the fire too, so that we may not seem unpleasant to your taste when half-cooked.” And having borne themselves so nobly, they ended their lives in the tortures. They say also that Busiris at Ancyra in Galatia endured a splendid and most courageous confession for religion. He was then of the heresy of those called Encratites. The governor of the province arrested him, and wished to torture him as having behaved insolently against the pagans. Bringing him out publicly to the rack, he ordered him to be hoisted up. But Busiris raised his hands to his head and bared his sides, and said to the governor that the executioners need not labour in vain lifting him up on the rack and letting him down again; for he would readily, even without this, offer his sides to the torturers as long as he wished. The governor, astonished at the promise, was still more amazed at the trial of it. For while his sides were torn with the claws as long as the governor thought fit, he held out, keeping his hands raised and receiving the blows eagerly. Afterwards he was put in chains, but was released not long after, when Julian was reported killed; and he lived until the reign of Theodosius and went over to the catholic church, condemning his former heresy. It is said that at this time Basil, presbyter of the church at Ancyra, and Eupsychius of Caesarea in Cappadocia, of a noble family, who had lately married and was still, as it were, a bridegroom, departed this life by martyrdom. I conjecture that Eupsychius was killed because of the temple of Fortune, at whose destruction, as was told above, all the people of Caesarea together felt the emperor’s wrath. Those who had done the destruction with their own hands were punished, some with death, others condemned to exile from their homeland. Basil, who was zealous for doctrine, opposed the followers of Arius as long as Constantius ruled; and for this, by the vote of Eudoxius’s party, he was forbidden to hold assemblies. When Julian held the empire alone, Basil went about openly and publicly urging the Christians to hold fast to their own doctrines and not to defile themselves with the sacrifices and libations of the pagans, and to count as nothing the honours the emperor bestowed on them, declaring them to be temporary, bought at the price of everlasting destruction. Being zealous in this, and suspected and hated by the pagans, when he saw them sacrificing publicly he stood and groaned aloud and prayed that no Christian would fall into such error. For this he was arrested and handed over to the governor of the province; and having endured many tortures, he completed his martyrdom bravely throughout the whole contest. If these things turned out so against the emperor’s intention, they nevertheless show that no ignoble and no few martyrs arose under his rule. For clarity’s sake I have gathered them all together and narrated them, even though the time of each one’s martyrdom differed. ### Translation notes - “Merus”: the scan reads “Misus”; the city is Merus in Phrygia (so NPNF² 2 and Socrates, Hist. eccl. 3.15). - The clause on the emperor’s honours (“declaring them to be temporary, bought at the price of everlasting destruction”) is garbled in the scan and translated by sense. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 5.11 (PG 67:1245–1249; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/5-11). ## Church History 5.12 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/5-9/#p-5-12 - Source: PG 67:1249–1251 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Lucifer and Eusebius return from exile; Lucifer ordains Paulinus at Antioch, while the synod of Alexandria (362) under Athanasius confirms Nicaea, confesses the Spirit consubstantial, and rules on ousia and hypostasis. ### Greek text Μετὰ δὲ τὴν ᾿Αθανασίου κάθοδον, Λουκίφερ ὁ Καράλλων τῆς Σαρδονίας ἐπίσκοπος, Εὐσέβιος € Βερχέλλων τῶν ἐν Ἰταλίᾳ Λιδύων, τῶν ἄνω Θηδῶν ἐπανῆλθον. Ἐνθάδε γὰρ ἐπὶ Κωνσταντίου διηνεκῶς φεύγειν προσετάχθησαν. ᾿Ἐπὶ διορθώσει τε τῶν ἐκκλησιαστικῶν πραγμάτων, κοινῇ συνθήκῃ Εὐσέθδιος μὲν ἧκεν εἰς ᾿Αλεξάνδρειαν, ὅπως σὺν ᾿Αθανασίῳ σύνοδον ἀθροίσῃ ἐπὶ βεβαιώσει τῶν ἐν Νικαίᾳ δοξάντων. Λουκίφερ δὲ διάκονον τῷ Εὐσεδίῳ αυναποστείλας ὃς ἀντ᾽ αὐτοῦ παρέστη τῇ συνόδῳ, ! ὁ. 5, 9. Εὐσέδιος σὺν ᾿Αθανασίῳ παραγενόμενος εἰς ᾿Αντιόχειαν, ἐν ταραχαῖς τὴν ἐνθάδε ἐκκλησίαν κατέλαβεν· ἐσχίζετο μὲν γὰρ τοῖς ἀπὸ τῆς ᾿Αρείου αἱρέσεως, ὧν ἡγεῖτο Εὐζώτος. Διεφέροντο δὲ, ὡς πρόσθεν εἴρηται, καὶ πρὸς τοὺς σφίσιν ὁμοδόξους οἱ Μελετίου σπουδασταί· μήπω δὲ τούτου ἀπὸ τῆς φυγῆς ἐπανελθόντος, ἐχειροτόνησε Παυλῖνον ἐπίσκοπον. Ἐν τούτῳ δὲ πολλῶν πόλεων ἐπίσκοποι συνελθόντες εἰς ᾿Αλεξάνδρειαν ἅμα ᾿Αθανασίῳ καὶ Εὐσεβίῳ, τὰ δεδογμένα ἐν Νικαίᾳ κρατύνουσιν. Ὁμοούσιόν τε τῷ Πατρὶ καὶ τῷ Υἱῷ τὸ ἅγιον Πνεῦμα ὡμολόγησαν, καὶ Τριάδα ὠνόμασαν· οὐ μόνῳ τε σώματι, ἀλλὰ καὶ ψυχῇ τέλειον χρῆναι δοξάζειν ἄνθρωπον, ὃν ὁ Θεὸς Λόγος ἀνέλαβεν, εἰσηγήσαντο, καθὰ καὶ τοῖς πάλαι Ἐκκλησιαστικοῖς φιλοσόφοις ἐδόκει. Ἐπεὶ δὲ ἡ περὶ τῆς οὐσίας καὶ ὑποστάσεως ζήτησις τὰς Ἐκκλησίας ἐτάραττε, καὶ συχναὶ περὶ τούτων ἔριδες καὶ διαλέξεις ἦσαν, εὖ μάλα σοφῶς μοι δοκοῦσιν ὁρίσαι, μὴ ἐξ ἀρχῆς εὐθὺς ἐπὶ Θεοῦ τούτοις χρῆσθαι τοῖς ὀνόμασι, πλὴν ἡνίκα τις τὴν Σαβελλίου δόξαν ἐκβάλλειν πειρῷτο· ἵνα μὴ ἀπορίᾳ ὀνομάτων, ταυτὸν δόξῃ τις τρισὶ προσηγορίαις καλεῖν, ἀλλ᾿ ἕκαστον ἰδίᾳ νοοῖτο τριχῆ. Καὶ τὰ μὲν ὧδε τοῖς τότε ἐν ᾿Αλεξανδρείᾳ συνελθοῦσιν ἔδοξεν. ᾿Απολογούμενος δὲ ἐν τούτοις ᾿Αθανάσιος περὶ τῆς αὐτοῦ φυγῆς διεξῆλθε τὸν λόγον, ὃν περὶ τούτου ἔγραψε. ### English translation (Claude) After Athanasius’s return, Lucifer, bishop of Caralis in Sardinia, and Eusebius, bishop of Vercelli of the Ligurians in Italy, came back from the Upper Thebaid; for there they had been ordered under Constantius to live in perpetual exile. By common agreement, for the correction of church affairs, Eusebius came to Alexandria in order to gather a synod with Athanasius for the confirmation of what had been decided at Nicaea; while Lucifer sent with Eusebius a deacon, who represented him at the synod, … and arriving at Antioch found the church there in turmoil. For it was divided by those of the Arian heresy, led by Euzoius; and the partisans of Meletius, as was said before, were also at odds with those who shared their own belief. Since Meletius had not yet returned from exile, he ordained Paulinus bishop. Meanwhile bishops of many cities, gathered at Alexandria with Athanasius and Eusebius, confirmed the decisions of Nicaea. They confessed the Holy Spirit to be of the same essence with the Father and the Son, and named them a Trinity; and they taught that the man whom God the Word assumed must be held to be perfect not in body only but in soul also, as the ancient philosophers of the church had also held. And since the inquiry about essence and hypostasis was troubling the churches, and there were frequent disputes and debates about these terms, they seem to me to have decided very wisely not to use these names of God at the very outset, except when someone tried to cast out the opinion of Sabellius; lest through poverty of names one should seem to call the same thing by three appellations, rather than that each should be understood in a threefold way in its own right. Such were the decisions of those who then met at Alexandria. At this synod Athanasius, defending himself concerning his flight, went through the account he had written about it. ### Extrabiblical texts - Athanasius, Tom. (Tome to the Antiochenes): echo, medium confidence - Athanasius, Fug. (Defence of His Flight): allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - “Of the same essence” renders homoousios (ὁμοούσιος), the Nicene term. - The scan is damaged after “represented him at the synod”; the subject of “arriving at Antioch” is Lucifer (so the following sentences, and NPNF² 2). The lost words are marked “…”. - The synod’s statement survives as Athanasius’s Tome to the Antiochenes; his account of his flight is the Defence of His Flight. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 5.12 (PG 67:1249–1251; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/5-12). ## Church History 5.13 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/5-9/#p-5-13 - Source: PG 67:1251–1253 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Eusebius of Vercelli fails to reconcile the Meletians and Paulinians at Antioch; Lucifer breaks with him and the Luciferian schism begins; Eusebius and Hilary strengthen the Nicene faith in the West. ### Greek text Καὶ διαλυθείσης τῆς συνόδου, παραγενόμενος Εὐσέβιος εἰς ᾿Αντιόχειαν, εὗρεν ἐν διχονοίᾳ τὸν λαόν. Οἱ γὰρ Μελετίῳ χαίροντες, εἰς ταυτὸν συνιέναι Παυλίνῳ οὐκ ἠνείχοντο, ἀλλ᾿ ἰδίᾳ ἐκκλησίαζον. Χαλεπῶς δὲ ἐνεγκὼν, ὅτι μὴ δέον παρὰ τὴν πάντων συναίνεσιν ἡ χειροτονία ἐγεγόνει, οὐδὲν ἐς τὸ φανερὸν ἐμέμψατο, Λουκίφερα τιμῶν. Οὐδετέρῳ δὲ μέρει κοινωνήσας, ὑπέσχετο τὰ λυποῦντα ἑκατέρους ἐν συνόδῳ διορθώσειν· ἐν ᾧ δὲ τὸ πλῆθος πρὸς ὁμόνοιαν συνάπτειν ἐσπούδαζεν, ἐπανελθών Μελέτιος ἐκ τῆς ὑπερορίας, κεχωρισμένους εὑρὼν τοὺς τὰ αὐτῷ φρονοῦντας, ἰδίᾳ σὺν τούτοις, ἔξω τῆς πόλεως ἐκκλησίαζεν· ὁ δὲ Παυλῖνος, ἔνδον μετὰ τῶν οἰκείων · πρᾷον γὰρ, ὑπό τε βίου καὶ γήρως αἰδοῖον ὄντα, τιμῶν Εὐζώϊος ὁ τῆς ᾿Αρείου αἱρέσεως προεστὼς, οὔτε ἐξέβαλε, καὶ μίαν αὐτῷ ἐκκλησίαν ἀπένειμεν. Εὐσέβιος δὲ ἀποτυχὼν τῆς σπουδῆς, ἐξεδήμησεν ᾿Αντιοχείας. Ὑβρισμένος δὲ παρ᾿ αὐτοῦ Λουκίφερ, ὅτι μὴ τὴν Παυλίνου χειροτονίαν ἐδέξατο, ἐχαλέπαινέ τε, καὶ κοινωνεῖν αὐτῷ διεφέρετο· καὶ ὡς ἐξ ἔριδος, τὰ δόξαντα τῇ συνόδῳ ἐν ᾿Αλεξανδρείᾳ διαβάλλειν ἐπεχείρει. "Ο δὴ πρόφασις ἐγένετο τῆς αἱρέσεως τῶν ἀπ᾿ αὐτοῦ καλουμένων Λουκιφεριανῶν. Οἱ γὰρ ἐπὶ τούτοις αὐτῷ συναχθόμενοι, σφᾶς τῆς Ἐκκλησίας ἀπέσχισαν. Αὐτὸς δὲ καίπερ ὑπὸ τῆς λύπης κρατούμενος, ἐπειδὴ διὰ τοῦ διακόνου ὃν Εὐσεβίῳ συναπέστειλεν, ὡμολόγησεν ἐμμεῖναι τοῖς ἐν ᾿Αλεξανδρείᾳ παρὰ τῆς συνόδου πραχθεῖσιν, όμοφρονῶν τῇ καθόλου Ἐκκλησίᾳ, εἰς Σαρδονίαν ἀφἱκετο. Εὐσέβιος δὲ κατὰ τὴν Ἕω περιῖὼν, τοὺς ἡμεληκότας τῆς πίστεως ἐπηνωρθοῦτο, καὶ ᾗ χρὴ φρονεῖν ἐδίδασκεν· ἔπειτα σπουδάζων, καὶ Ἰλλυριοὺς διῆλθε, καὶ εἰς Ἰταλίαν ἦκεν. Ἔνθα δὴ ταῦτα προκατωρθωκότα κατέλαβεν Ἱλάριον, ὃς Πυκτάβων, πόλις δὲ ἥδε ᾿Ακοιτανίας, ἐπίσκοπος ἦν· ἔτυχε γὰρ πρότερος ἐκ τῆς ὑπερορίας ἐπανελθὼν, Ιταλούς τε καὶ Γάλλους διδάξας, ποῖα μὲν χρὴ τῶν δογμάτων προσίεσθαι, ποῖα δὲ φεύγειν · καὶ γὰρ δὴ καὶ ἐλόγιμος τῇ Ῥωμαίων γλώττῃ ἐγένετο, καὶ λόγους ἀξιοχρέους, ὡς εἴρηται, συνέγραψεν, ἀπομαχομένους τοῖς ᾿Αρείου δόγμασιν. Ωδε μὲν Ἱλάριος οὗτος καὶ Εὐσέβιος, ἐν τῇ πρὸς δύσιν ἀρχομένῃ τὸ δόγμα τῆς ἐν Νικαίᾳ συνόδου συνεκρότουν. ### English translation (Claude) When the synod had broken up, Eusebius came to Antioch and found the people divided. For those attached to Meletius would not join Paulinus, but held their assemblies apart. Though Eusebius was displeased that the ordination had taken place without the consent of all, as it ought not, out of respect for Lucifer he found no open fault. He communicated with neither party, but promised to correct in a synod what grieved each side. While he was trying to bring the people together in concord, Meletius returned from exile, and finding those who shared his views separated, he held assemblies with them by themselves outside the city; while Paulinus held his within, with his own people. For Euzoius, the head of the Arian heresy, respecting him as a gentle man, venerable for his life and his age, did not drive him out, and even assigned him one church. Eusebius, having failed in his effort, left Antioch. Lucifer, considering himself insulted by him because he had not accepted the ordination of Paulinus, was angry and quarrelled about communion with him; and as if out of contentiousness he tried to discredit what had been decided by the synod at Alexandria. This was the origin of the heresy of those called Luciferians after him. For those who were vexed with him over these things cut themselves off from the church. He himself, though overcome by vexation, since through the deacon whom he had sent with Eusebius he had agreed to abide by what the synod at Alexandria had done, kept to the belief of the catholic church and went to Sardinia. Eusebius went round the East, setting right those who had neglected the faith and teaching what one ought to believe; then, hastening on, he passed through Illyricum and came to Italy. There he found that Hilary, bishop of Poitiers, a city of Aquitania, had already accomplished this; for he had returned from exile before him and had taught the Italians and Gauls which doctrines to accept and which to avoid. For he was eloquent in the Latin tongue and wrote, as has been said, works of worth contending against the doctrines of Arius. Thus this Hilary and Eusebius together upheld the doctrine of the synod at Nicaea in the western part of the empire. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 5.13 (PG 67:1251–1253; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/5-13). ## Church History 5.14 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/5-9/#p-5-14 - Source: PG 67:1253 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The Macedonians, now a separate party, hold synods condemning the Acacians and the creed of Ariminum and claim a middle way between homoousios and the Anomoean doctrine. ### Greek text Ἐν τούτῳ δὲ οἱ ἀμφὶ Μακεδόνιον, ὧν ἦν Ἐλεύσιος, καὶ Εὐστάθιος, καὶ Σωφρόνιος, ἤδη εἰς τὸ προφανές Μακεδονιανοὶ καλεῖσθαι ἀρξάμενοι, ὡς εἰς ἴδιον διακριθέντες σύστημα, ἀδείας τετυχηκότες τῇ Κωνσταντίου τελευτῇ, συγκαλέσαντες τοὺς ἐν Σελευκείᾳ ὁμόφρονας αὐτοῖς γενομένους, συνόδους τινὰς ἐποιήσαντο · καὶ τοὺς ἀμφὶ Ἀκάκιον, τήν τε βεβαιωθεῖσαν ἐν ᾿Αριμήνῳ πίστιν ἀπεκήρυξαν· τῇ δὲ ἐν Ἀντιοχείᾳ ἐκτεθείσῃ, ὕστερον δὲ ἐν Σελευκεία πρὸς αὐτῶν κυρωθείσῃ, ἐπεψηφίσαντο. Ἐγκαλούμενοι δὲ τί δήποτε πρὸς τοὺς ἀμφὶ ᾿Ακάκιον διαφέρονται, πρότερον αὐτοῖς ὡς ὁμοδόξοις κοινωνοῦντες, τάδε διὰ Σωφρονίου τοῦ Παφλαγόνος ἐπεκρίναντο⚫ ὡς οἱ κατὰ τὴν δύσιν, τὸ ὁμοούσιον ἐδόξαζον· ᾿Αέτιος δὲ ἐν τῇ Ἔῳ τὸ κατ᾿ οὐσίαν ἀνόμοιον. Καὶ οἱ μὲν, ἀτάκτως τὰς ἰδιαζούσας ὑποστάσεις Πατρὸς καὶ Υἱοῦ, συνέπλεκον εἰς ἑνότητα τῷ τοῦ ὁμοουσίου όνόματι· ὁ δὲ, σφόδρα τῆς τοῦ Υἱοῦ πρὸς τὸν Πατέρα φύσεως διίστα τὴν οἰκειότητα· σφᾶς δὲ εὐσεβεῖν, ὅμοιον εἶναι τῷ Πατρὶ τὸν Υἱὸν καθ᾽ ὑπόστασιν λέγοντας, καὶ μέσην ἀμφοῖν ταύτην τὴν ὁδὸν ἐπιλέξασθαι, ἐκατέρων πρὸς ἄκρον τοῦ ἐναντίου χωρησάντων. Καὶ οἱ μὲν ὧδε ἀπολογεῖσθαι τοῖς μεμφομένοις ἐπειρῶντο. ### English translation (Claude) Meanwhile the party of Macedonius, among whom were Eleusius, Eustathius and Sophronius, having by now begun to be openly called Macedonians, as having separated into a body of their own, and having gained freedom through the death of Constantius, called together those who had shared their views at Seleucia and held several synods. They condemned Acacius’s party and the faith confirmed at Ariminum, and ratified the faith set out at Antioch and afterwards confirmed by them at Seleucia. When asked why they differed from Acacius’s party, with whom they had formerly communicated as being of the same belief, they answered through Sophronius the Paphlagonian that the westerners held the homoousios, and Aetius in the East the unlikeness in essence; that the former improperly wove the distinct hypostases of the Father and the Son together into a unity by the name homoousios, while the latter set too far apart the kinship of the Son’s nature with the Father; but that they themselves were orthodox in saying that the Son is like the Father in hypostasis, and had chosen this way as a middle between the two, each of the others having gone to the extreme opposite. In this way they tried to defend themselves against those who blamed them. ### Translation notes - “Homoousios”: “of the same essence”; Aetius’s “unlikeness in essence” is the Anomoean position. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 5.14 (PG 67:1253; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/5-14). ## Church History 5.15 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/5-9/#p-5-15 - Source: PG 67:1255–1259 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Julian expels Athanasius from Alexandria, drives Eleusius from Cyzicus and incites Bostra against its bishop Titus; Sozomen tells how his own grandfather’s family and Alaphion’s became Christians at Bethelia through Hilarion. ### Greek text Ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς, πυθόμενος ἐκκλησιάζειν ᾿Αθανάσιον ἐν τῇ ᾿Αλεξανδρέων Ἐκκλησίᾳ, καὶ ἀδεῶς διδάσκειν τὰ πλήθη, καὶ πολλοὺς Ἑλλήνων πείθειν εἰς Χριστιανισμὸν μετατίθεσθαι, προσέταξεν αὐτὸν ἐξιέναι τῆς ᾿Αλεξανδρείας. Μένοντι δὲ ἐν ταύτῃ, μεγίστας προηγόρευε ζημίας • πρόφασιν ἐγκλημάτων ποιησάμενος, ὡς παρὰ τῶν πρὸ αὐτοῦ βασιλέων φεύγειν καταδικασθεὶς, μὴ ἐπιτραπεὶς ἀντελάβετο τοῦ θρόνου τῆς ἐπισκοπῆς. Μηδὲ γὰρ συγχωρῆσαι αὐτὸν εἰς τὰς Ἐκκλησίας κάθοδον, τοῖς παρὰ Κωνσταντίου φυγαδευθεῖσιν, ἀλλ᾽ εἰς πατρίδας μόνον. – Διὰ τοῦτο δὲ τὸ βασιλέως πρόσταγμα μέλλων φεύγειν δεδακρυμένην ἰδὼν ἀμφ᾿ αὐτὸν τὴν τῶν Χριστιανῶν πληθὺν, Θαῤῥεῖτε, ἔφη· νεφύδριον γάρ ἐστι, καὶ θᾶττον παρελεύσεται· καὶ τοῦτο εἰπὼν, συνετάξατο · καὶ τοῖς σπουδαιοτέροις τῶν φίλων τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν παραθέμενος, ἐξῆλθε τῆς ᾿Αλεξανδρέων πόλεως. Ἐν τούτῳ δὲ Κυζικηνῶν πρεσβευσαμένων πρὸς βασιλέα περὶ οἰκείων πραγμάτων, καὶ τῆς ἐπανορθώσεως τῶν Ἑλληνικῶν ναῶν, ἐπαινέσας αὐτοὺς τῆς περὶ τὰ ἱερὰ προνοίας, πάντα παρέσχεν ὧνπερ ἐδέησε. Καὶ Ἐλεύσιον, δὲ τὸν παρ᾿ αὐτοῖς ἐπίσκοπον, τῆς πόλεως εἶρξεν, ὡς λυμηνάμενον τοῖς ναοῖς, καὶ τοῖς τεμένεσιν ἐνυβρίσαντα· καὶ χηροτροφία κατασκευάσαντα, καὶ παρθενῶνας ἱερῶν παρθένων συστησά( μενον, καὶ τοὺς Ἑλληνιστὰς πείθοντα τῶν πατρίων ἀμελεῖν. ᾿Απηγόρευσε δὲ καὶ τοῖς σὺν αὐτῷ ξένοις Χριστιανοῖς, μὴ ἐπιβαίνειν Κυζίκῳ· αἰτίαν ἐπαγαγών, ὡς εἰκὸς, αὐτοὺς τῆς θρησκείας ἕνεκα στασιάσαι · συναιρομένων αὐτοῖς καὶ παραπλησίως περὶ τὸ θεῖον φρονούντων τῶν ἀπὸ τῆς πόλεως Χριστιανῶν καὶ τῶν δημοσίων ἐριουργῶν, καὶ τῶν τεχνι τῶν τοῦ νομίσματος· οἱ πλῆθος ὄντες, καὶ εἰς δύο τάγματα πολυάνθρωπα διακεκριμένοι, ἐκ προστάγματος τῶν πρὶν βασιλέων ἅμα γυναιξὶ καὶ οἰκείοις ἀνὰ τὴν Κύζικον διέτριβον, ἔτους ἑκάστου ῥητὴν ἀποφορὰν τῷ δημοσίῳ κατατιθέντες, οἱ μὲν στρατιωτικῶν χλαμύδων, οἱ δὲ, νεουργῶν νομισμάτων. Ἐπεὶ γὰρ ἐκ παντὸς τρόπου δέδοκτο αὐτῷ συστῆσαι τὸν Ἑλληνι-' σμὸν, βιάζεσθαι μὲν ἢ τιμωρεῖσθαι τοὺς δήμους μὴ θέλοντας θύειν, ἀβουλίας νενόμικεν. Σχολῇ γὰρ ἂν τοσούτων καθ' ἑκάστην πόλιν οἱ ἄρχοντες τὸν ἀριθμὸν μόνον ἐπεγράψαντο· οὐ μὴν οὐδὲ συνιέναι καὶ κατὰ γνώμην εὔχεσθαι διεκώλυεν. Ἤδει γὰρ ὡς καὶ ἀνάγκη ποτὲ κατόρθωθείη τὰ προαιρέσεως έχουσίας εἰς σύστασιν δεόμενα. Τοὺς δὲ κληρικοὺς καὶ τοὺς προεστῶτας τῶν Ἐκκλησιῶν, ἀπελαύνειν τῶν πόλεων ἔσπευδε· τὸ μὲν ἀληθὲς εἰπεῖν, τῇ τούτων ἀπουσίᾳ πραγματευόμενος διαλῦσαι τῶν λαῶν τὰς συνόδους· ὥστε μήτε τοὺς ἐκκλησιάζοντας, μήτε τοὺς διδάσκοντας ἔχειν, μήτε μυστηρίων μεταλαμβάνειν, καὶ τῷ πολλῷ χρόνῳ ἐμπεσεῖν εἰς λήθην τῆς οἰκείας θρησκείας. Σκεπτόμενος δὲ ὡς οἱ κληρικοὶ εἰς διάστασιν τὰ πλήθη ἄγουσιν, οὕτως οὖν οὔτε στάσεως γενομένης, οὔτε γίνεσθαι προσδοκωμένης, ἐξιέναι Κυζίκου τὸν Ἐλεύσιον καὶ τοὺς· σὺν αὐτῷ προσέταξε. Βοστρηνοὺς δὲ δημοσίῳ κηρύγματι προὐτρέψατο διῶξαι τῆς αὐτῶν πόλεως Τίτον τὸν τότε τῆς ἐνθάδε Ἐκκλησίας ἐπίσκοπον. Ὡς γὰρ ἡπείλησεν, αὐτὸν καὶ τοὺς κληρικοὺς ἐν αἰτίᾳ ποιήσειν εἰ στασιάσαι τὸ πλῆθος, βιβλίον πρὸς βασιλέα διεπέμψατο Τίτος, καὶ διεμαρτύρατο ἐφάμιλλον μὲν εἶναι τῷ Ἑλληνικῷ πλήθει τὸ Χριστιανικόν· ἠρεμεῖν δὲ τοῦτο, καὶ ταῖς αὐτοῦ παραινέσεσιν ἀγόμενον, μηδὲν στασιῶδες ἐννοεῖν. Ἐκ τοιούτων δὲ ῥημάτων εἰς ἔχθραν καταστῆσαι τῷ δημοσίῳ τὸν Τίτον κατασκευάζων, γράφων Βοστρηνοῖς διέβαλεν αὐτὸν, ὡς κατήγορον τοῦ πλήθους γεγενημένον· οἷα δὴ μὴ ἀπὸ γνώμης οἰκείας, διὰ δὲ τὰς αὐτοῦ παραινέσεις μὴ στασιάζοντας · καὶ ὡς δυσμενῆ ἀπελαύνειν αὐτὸν τῆς πόλεως, ἀνεκίνει τὸν δῆμον. Τοιαῦτα δὲ πολλὰ καὶ - ἀλλαχόσε συμβῆναι εἰκός· τὰ μὲν, κατὰ πρόσταγμα τοῦ βασιλέως· τὰ δὲ, ἐξ ὀργῆς καὶ προπετείας δήμων · ἐφ᾽ οἷς καὶ οὕτως τῷ κρατοῦντι τὴν αἰτίαν τις ἀναθήσει τῶν γεγενημένων· οὐ γὰρ ὑπῆγε τοῖς νόμοις τοὺς ὧδε παρανομοῦντας· ἀλλὰ μίσει τῷ πρὸς τὴν θρησκείαν, μέμφεσθαι λόγοις δοκῶν, ἔργοις προὐτρέπετο τοὺς τὰ τοιαῦτα δρῶντας · ὅθεν καὶ μὴ διώκοντος αὐτοῦ, κατὰ πόλεις καὶ κώμας ἔφευγον οἱ τῶν ἐμῶν προγόνων, καὶ ὁ ἐμὸς πάππος. Καθότι πατρὸς Ἕλληνος ὢν, αὐτός τε πανοικὶ καὶ οἱ ἀπὸ τοῦ γένους ᾿Αλαφίωνος, Χριστιανοὶ πρῶτοι ἐγένοντο ἐν Βηθελίᾳ κώμῃ Γαζαίᾳ, πολυανθρώπῳ τε οὔσῃ, καὶ ἱερὰ ἐχούσῃ ἀρχαιότητι καὶ κατασκευῇ σεμνὰ τοῖς κατοικοῦσι· καὶ μάλιστα τὸ Πάνθεον, ὡς ἐπὶ ἀκροπόλεως χειροποιήτου τινὸς λόφου κείμενον, καὶ παν ταχόθεν πάσης τῆς κώμης ὑπερέχον. Συμβάλλω δὲ τὸ χωρίον ἔνθεν λαχεῖν τὴν προσηγορίαν, καὶ ἐκ τῆς Σύρων φωνῆς εἰς τὴν Ἑλλήνων ἑρμηνευόμενον, Θεῶν οἰκητήριον ὀνομάζεσθαι, διὰ τὸν τοῦ Πανθέου ναόν. Λέγεται δὲ Χριστιανισμοῦ αἴτιος γενέσθαι τοῖς τούτων οἴκοις Ἱλαρίων ὁ μοναχός· δαιμονῶντος γὰρ ᾿Αλαφίωνος τούτου, ἐπὶ πολύ τινες Ἕλληνες καὶ Χριστιανοί. Ταύτης δὲ τῆς φυγῆς μετέσχον πολλοὶ Ἰουδαῖοι, ἐπῳδαῖς καὶ περιεργίαις τισὶ χρησάμενοι, οὐδὲν ἤνυον· ὁ δὲ, μόνον τὸ τοῦ Χριστοῦ ὄνομα ἐπιβοησάμενος, τὸ δαιμόνιον ἀπήλασεν, εἰς τὴν Χριστιανῶν μετεβάλοντο θρησκείαν. Διέπρεπε δὲ ὁ μὲν ἐμὸς πάππος ἐν ταῖς ἐξηγήσεσι τῶν ἱερῶν Γραφῶν, εὐφυής τε ὢν, καὶ οἷος γνῶναι δεῖ· καὶ κατὰ λόγον μετρίως ἠγμένος, ὡς καὶ ἀριθμητικῆς μὴ εἶναι ἄμοιρος. Ὅθεν κεχαρισμένος εἰς ἄγαν ἐτύγχανε τοῖς ἀνὰ τὴν ᾿Ασκάλωνα καὶ Γάζαν, καὶ τοῖς πέριξ Χριστιανοῖς· ὡς ἀναγκαίως τῇ θρησκείᾳ, καὶ τὰ ἀμφίβολα τῶν ἱερῶν Γραφῶν εὐμαρῶς διαλύειν. Τῶν δὲ ἀπὸ τοῦ ἑτέρου γένους, σχολῇ γ᾽ ἄν τις τὴν ἀρετὴν διηγήσαιτο· πρῶτοι γὰρ οὗτοι ἐνθάδε ἐκκλησίας καὶ μοναστήρια συνεστήσαντο, καὶ σεμνότητι καὶ φιλο– φροσύνῃ ξένων καὶ δεομένων συνεκόσμησαν. Ἐκ ταύτης δὲ τῆς γενεᾶς μέχρι καὶ εἰς ἡμᾶς περιῆσαν ἄνδρες ἀγαθοὶ, οἷς ἤδη πρεσβύταις νέος ὧν συνεγενόμην. Ἀλλὰ τῶν μὲν, ὕστερον ἐπιμνησθῆναι δεῖ. ### English translation (Claude) The emperor, learning that Athanasius was holding assemblies in the church of the Alexandrians, teaching the people without fear, and persuading many pagans to change over to Christianity, ordered him to leave Alexandria, and threatened him with the heaviest penalties if he remained there. He made it a ground of complaint that, having been condemned to exile by the emperors before him, he had taken back the throne of the episcopate without permission; for he had not allowed those banished by Constantius to return to the churches, but only to their homelands. When, because of this order of the emperor, Athanasius was about to go into exile, seeing the crowd of Christians around him in tears, he said, “Take courage; it is a little cloud and will soon pass.” Having said this he bade them farewell, entrusted the church to the most zealous of his friends, and left the city of the Alexandrians. At this time the people of Cyzicus sent envoys to the emperor about their own affairs and about restoring the pagan temples; he praised them for their care for the shrines and granted them everything they asked. He also excluded Eleusius, their bishop, from the city, as having damaged the temples and insulted the sacred precincts, having built homes for widows, established convents of holy virgins, and persuaded the pagans to neglect their ancestral rites. He also forbade the foreign Christians who were with him to set foot in Cyzicus, alleging, as was likely, that they would raise a riot for the sake of religion, with the Christians of the city joining them and thinking like them about the divine, as well as the public wool-workers and the workers of the mint. These were numerous and divided into two populous guilds, and by order of the former emperors lived in Cyzicus with their wives and households, paying each year a fixed contribution to the treasury, the one of military cloaks, the other of newly minted coins. For since he had resolved to establish paganism by every means, he thought it foolish to force or punish populaces unwilling to sacrifice; for in each city the magistrates could hardly even have registered the number of so many. Nor did he prevent them from assembling and praying as they chose. For he knew that what needs a free choice for its establishment can hardly ever be achieved by compulsion. But he was eager to drive the clergy and the heads of the churches out of the cities, really intending by their absence to break up the people’s assemblies, so that they would have neither anyone to lead their assemblies nor teachers, nor share in the mysteries, and in long time would fall into forgetfulness of their own religion. On the pretext that the clergy led the multitudes into dissension, he ordered Eleusius and those with him to leave Cyzicus, although there had been no riot and none was expected. He urged the people of Bostra by public proclamation to drive out of their city Titus, then bishop of the church there. For when he threatened to hold him and the clergy responsible if the people rioted, Titus sent a petition to the emperor and declared that the Christian multitude was equal to the pagan, but that it was quiet and, led by his exhortations, thought of nothing seditious. Seizing on these words to make Titus hated by the people, the emperor wrote to the people of Bostra and accused him of having become an accuser of the populace, as though they refrained from riot not of their own will but because of his exhortations; and he stirred up the people to drive him out of the city as an enemy. It is likely that many such things happened elsewhere also, some by the emperor’s order, others from the anger and rashness of the populaces. For these too one will lay the blame for what happened on the ruler; for he did not bring those who so broke the law under the laws, but in his hatred of the religion, while seeming to blame them in words, he encouraged in deeds those who did such things. Hence, even though he himself did not persecute, my forebears and my grandfather fled from city to city and village to village. For though his father was a pagan, he himself with his whole household, and the family of Alaphion, were the first to become Christians in Bethelia, a village of Gaza, which was populous and had temples venerable to its inhabitants for their antiquity and workmanship, especially the Pantheon, which stood on a man-made hill as on an acropolis and overlooked the whole village from every side. I conjecture that the place took its name from this and that, translated from the Syrian language into Greek, it is called “dwelling of the gods,” because of the temple of the Pantheon. It is said that the monk Hilarion was the cause of these households’ becoming Christian. For when this Alaphion was possessed by a demon, for a long time some pagans and many Jews used incantations and certain magic arts and accomplished nothing; but Hilarion, by simply calling on the name of Christ, drove out the demon, and they changed over to the Christian religion. My grandfather excelled in the interpretation of the sacred Scriptures, being gifted and of an inquiring mind, and moderately trained in learning, so that he was not without a share of arithmetic too. Hence he was very much loved by the Christians of Ascalon and Gaza and the surrounding country, as one needful to religion and able easily to resolve the difficulties of the sacred Scriptures. As for those of the other family, one could hardly describe their virtue. For they were the first to found churches and monasteries there, and they adorned them with their dignity and their kindness to strangers and the needy. Of this family good men survived even to our day, whom, when they were already old, I knew when I was young. But I must mention them later. ### Translation notes - The scan has a damaged and misplaced line (“some pagans and Christians … many shared in this flight”) inside the account of Alaphion’s cure; it is translated by sense (pagans and Jews tried to cure him), as NPNF² 2 also understood it. - Bethelia was near Gaza; Sozomen derives its name from the Syriac for “house of the gods”. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 5.15 (PG 67:1255–1259; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/5-15). ## Church History 5.16 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/5-16/#p-5-16 - Source: PG 67:1259–1265 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Julian plans to model pagan worship on the church’s order and charity, and Sozomen quotes his letter to Arsacius, high priest of Galatia, urging priests to imitate Christian care for strangers and the poor. ### Greek text Ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς πάλαι σπουδάζων τὸν Ἑλληνισμὸν κρατεῖν κατὰ πᾶσαν τὴν ὑπήκοον, χαλεπῶς ἔφερε, παρευδοκιμούμενον ὁρῶν ὑπὸ τοῦ Χριστιανισμοῦ. Ναοι μὲν γὰρ ἀνεῴγεισαν, καὶ θυσίαι, καὶ Ἑλλήνων πάτριοι ἑορταὶ τῶν πόλεων, κατὰ γνώμην αὐτῷ προχωρεῖν ἐδόκουν. Ἠνιᾶτο δὲ λογιζόμενος, ὡς εἰ γυμνωθείη ταῦτα τῆς αὐτοῦ σπουδῆς, ταχεῖαν ἕξει τὴν μεταβολήν. Οὐχ ἥκιστα δὲ ἤχθετο, καὶ πολλῶν ἱερέων Χριστιανίζειν ἀκούων τὰς γαμετὰς καὶ τοὺς παῖδας, καὶ τοὺς οἰκέτας. Ὑπολαβὼν δὲ τὸν Χριστιανισμὸν τὴν σύστασιν ἔχειν ἐκ τοῦ βίου καὶ τῆς πολιτείας τῶν αὐτὸν μετιόντων, διενοεῖτο πανταχῆ τοὺς Ἑλληνικοὺς ναοὺς τῇ παρασκευῇ καὶ τῇ τάξει τῆς Χριστιανῶν θρησκείας διακοσμεῖν· βήμασί τε καὶ προεδρίαις, καὶ Ἑλληνικῶν δογμάτων καὶ παραινέσεων διδασκάλοις τε καὶ ἀναγνώσταις, ὡρῶν τε ῥητῶν καὶ ἡμερῶν τεταγμέναις εὐχαῖς, φροντιστηρίοις τε ἀνδρῶν καὶ γυναικῶν φιλοσοφεῖν ἐγνωκότων, καὶ καταγωγίοις ξένων καὶ πτωχῶν, καὶ τῇ ἄλλῃ τῇ περὶ τοὺς δεομένους φιλανθρωπίᾳ τὸ Ἑλληνικὸν δόγμα σεμνῦναι, ἑκουσίων τε καὶ ἀκουσίων ἁμαρτημάτων κατὰ τὴν τῶν Χριστιανῶν παράδοσιν ἐκ μεταμελείας σύμμετρον τάξαι σωφρονισμόν. Οὐχ ἥκιστα δὲ ζηλῶσαι λέγεται τὰ συνθήματα τῶν ἐπισκοπικῶν γραμμάτων, οἷς ἔθος ἀμοιβαδὸν τοὺς ξένους ὅποι δήποτε διιόντας, καὶ παρ' οἷς ἂν ἀφίκωνται, πάντως κατάγεσθαι καὶ θεραπείας ἀξιοῦσθαι, οἷα γε γνωρίμους καὶ φιλτάτους, διὰ τὴν τοῦ συμβόλου μαρτυρίαν. Ταῦτα διανοούμενος, ἐσπούδαζε τοὺς Ἑλληνιστὰς προσεθίζειν τοῖς τῶν Χριστιανῶν ἐπιτηδεύμασιν. ᾿Αλλ' ἐπειδὴ τοῖς πολλοῖς ἴσως ἀπείθανον εἶναι τοῦτο δοκεῖ, οὐκ ἄλλοθεν ἢ ἀπ᾿ αὐτῶν τῶν τοῦ βασιλέως ῥημάτων παρέξομαι τὴν τῶν εἰρημένων ἀπόδειξιν. Γράφει δὲ ὧδε Ἀρσακίῳ ἀρχιερεῖ Γαλατίας. Ἑλληνισμὸς οὔπω πράττει κατὰ λόγον, ἡμῶν ἕνεκα τῶν μετιόντων αὐτόν. Τὰ γὰρ τῶν θεῶν λαμπρά καὶ μεγάλα, κρείττονα πάσης μὲν εὐχῆς, πάσης δὲ ἐλπίδος. Ἴλεως δὲ ἔστω τοῖς λόγοις ἡμῶν ᾿Αδράστεια. Τὴν γὰρ ἐν ὀλίγῳ τοσαύτην καὶ τηλικαύτην μεταβολὴν οὐδὲ εὔξασθαί τις ὀλίγῳ πρότερον ἐτόλμα. Τί οὖν ἡμεῖς οἰόμεθα ταῦτα ἀρκεῖν; οὐδὲ ἀποβλέπομεν, ὁ μάλιστα τὴν ἀθεότητα συνηύξησεν ἡ περὶ τοὺς ξένους φιλανθρωπία, καὶ ἡ περὶ τὰς ταφὰς τῶν νεκρῶν προμήθεια, καὶ ἡ πεπλασμένη σεμνότης κατὰ τὸν βίον, ὧν ἕκαστον οἴομαι χρῆναι παρ' ἡμῶν ἀληθῶς ἐπιτηδεύεσθαι. Καὶ οὐκ ἀπόχρη τὸ σὲ μόνον εἶναι τοιοῦτον, ἀλλὰ πάντας ἁπαξαπλῶς οἱ περὶ τὴν Γαλατίαν εἰσὶν ἱερεῖς. Οὓς ἢ δυσώπησον, ἢ πεῖσον εἶναι σπουδαίους, ἢ τῆς ἱερατικῆς λειτουργίας ἀπόστησον, εἰ μὴ προσέρχονται μετὰ γυναικῶν καὶ παίδων καὶ , θεραπόντων τοῖς θεοῖς, ἀλλὰ ἀνέχοιντο τῶν οἰχετῶν, ἢ υἱέων, ἢ τῶν Γαλιλαίων γαμετῶν, ἀσεδούντων μὲν. εἰς τοὺς θεοὺς, ἀθεότητα δὲ θεοσεβείας προτιμώντων. Ἔπειτα παραίνεσον ἱερέα, μὴτε θεάτρῳ παραθάλλειν, μήτε ἐν χαπηλείῳ πίνειν, ἣ τέχνης τινὸς ἐργασίας αἰσχρᾶς καὶ ἐπονειδίστου προΐστασθαι" καὶ τοὺς μὲν πειθομένους τίμα, τοὺς ἀπειθοῦντας ἐξ" ὦθει. Ξενοδοχεῖα ἐχάστην πόλιν χατάστησον πυχνὰ, ἵν᾽ ἀπολαύσωσιν οἱ ξένοι τῆς παρ᾽ ἡμῶν ς.λ" ανθρωπίας, οὐ τῶν ἡμετέρων μόνον, ἀλλὰ τῶν. ἄλλων, ὅστις ἂν δεηθῇ χρημάτων. “Ὅθεν δὲ εὐπορῆσεις, ἐπινενόηταί 'μοι τέως. ἙἙχάστου γὰρ ἐνιαυτοῦ τρισμυρίους μοδίους κατὰ πᾶσαν τὴν Γαλατίαν ἐχέλευσα δοθῆναι σίτου, καὶ ἑξαχισμυρίους οἴνου ξέστας “. ὧν τὸ μὲν πέμπτον εἰς τοὺς πένητας, τοὺς τοῖς ἱερεῦν σιν ὑπηρετουμένους, ἀναλίσχεσθαί φημι χρῆνα: " τὰ δὲ ἄλλα τοῖς ξένοις τοῖς μεταιτοῦσιν, ἐ πινέμεσθαι παρ᾽ ὑμῶν. Αἰσχρὸν γὰρ, εἰ τῶν μὲν Ἰουδαίων οὐδεὶς μεταιτεῖ, τρέφουσι δὲ οἱ δυσσεθεῖς Γαλιλαῖοι πρὶς τοῖς ἑαυτῶν τοὺς ἡμετέρους. Οἱ δὲ ἡμέτεροι, τῆς παρ᾽ ἡμῶν ἐπιχουρίας ἐνδεεῖς φαίνονται, δὲ καὶ συνεισφέρειν τοὺς ᾿Ἑλληνιστὰς εἰς τὰς τοιαύτας λειτουργίας, τὰς Ἑλληνικὰς κώμας ἀπάρχεσθαι τοῖς θεοῖς τῶν καρπῶν " τοὺς Ἑλληνικοὺς ταῖς τοιαύταις εὐποιίαις προέθιζε, διδάσκων αὐτοὺς . ὡς τοῦτο πάλαι ἡμέτερον ἔργον. Ὅμηρος γοῦν αὐτὸ πεποίηκεν Εὔμαιον λέγοντα" " ἡ : ! Ξ, 1. € οὔ μοι θέμις ἔστ', οὔτ εἰ κακίων σέθεν" ἀτιμῆσαι" γὰρ Διός εἰσιν ἅπαντες Ξεῖγοί τε, πτωχοί τε" δόσις δ᾽ ὀλίγη τε, φίλη τε. Μηδὲ τὰ παρ' ἡμῖν ἀγαθὰ (15}} παραζηλοῦν ἄλλοις συγχωροῦντες, αὐτοὶ τῇ ῥᾳθυμίᾳ χαταισχύνοιμεν, μᾶλλον δὲ καταπροώμεθα τὴν εἰς τοὺς θεοὺς εὖλάειαν. Εἰ ταῦτα πυθοίμην ἐγώ σε πράττοντα, μεστὸς εὐφροσύνης ἔσομαι. Τοὺς ἡγεμόνας ὀλιγάχις ἐπὶ τῆς οἰκίας τὰ πλεῖστα δὲ αὐτοῖς ἐπίστελλε. Εἰσιοῦσι δὲ εἰς τὴν πόλιν, ὑπαντάτω μηδεὶς αὐτοῖς ἱερέων " ἀλλ᾽ ὅταν εἰς τὰ ἱερὰ φοιτῶσι τῶν θεῶν, εἴσω τῶν προθύρων. Ἡγείσθω δὲ μηδεὶς αὐτῶν εἴσω στρατιώτης " ἑπέσθω δὲ ὁ βουλόμενος " ἅμα γὰρ εἰς τὸν οὐδὸν ἦλθε τοῦ τεμένους, γέγογεν ἰδιώτης. γὰρ αὐτὸς, ὡς οἶσθα, τῶν ἔνδον, ἐπεὶ καὶ ὁ θεῖος ταῦτα ἀπαιτεῖ θεσμός. Καὶ οἱ μὲν πειθόμενοι, κατὰ ἀλήθειάν εἰσι θεοσεδεῖς " δὲ ἀντεχόμενοι τοῦ τύφου, δοξοχόποι εἰσὶ καὶ χενόδοξοι τῇ Πισσινοῦντι βοηθεῖν ἕτοιμός εἶμι, εἰ τὴν μητέρα τῶν θεῶν ἕλεω καταστήσουσιν ἑαυτοῖς. ᾿Αμελοῦντες δὲ αὐτῆς, οὐχ ἄμεμπτοι μόνον, ἀλλὰ πικρὸν ἐἰπεῖν μὴ καὶ τῆς παρ᾿ ἡμῶν ἀπολαύσωσι δυσμενείας. Οὐ γάρ μοι θέμις ἐστὶ κομιζέμεν, ἢ ἐλεαίρειν ῎Ανδρας, οἳ καὶ θεοῖσιν ἀπέχθονται ἀθανάτοισιν. Πεῖθε τοίνυν αὐτοὺς, εἰ τῆς παρ᾿ ἐμοῦ κηδεμονίας ἀντέχονται, πανδημεὶ τῆς μητρὸς τῶν θεῶν ἱκέτας γενέσθαι. ### English translation (Claude) The emperor, who had long been eager for paganism to prevail throughout the whole empire, was vexed to see it outdone by Christianity. Temples had been opened, and sacrifices and the ancestral festivals of the pagans in the cities seemed to be going forward as he wished; but he was distressed, reckoning that if these were stripped of his zeal, they would quickly change back. He was especially annoyed to hear that the wives, children and servants of many priests were Christians. Supposing that Christianity owed its strength to the life and conduct of those who practise it, he planned to adorn the pagan temples everywhere with the arrangements and order of the Christian religion: to dignify the pagan doctrine with platforms and seats of honour, with teachers and readers of pagan doctrines and exhortations, with prayers set at fixed hours and days, with houses for men and women who had resolved to live the philosophic life, with lodgings for strangers and the poor and other kindness to the needy; and, after the tradition of the Christians, to appoint correction proportioned to repentance for voluntary and involuntary sins. Not least, he is said to have imitated the tokens of the bishops’ letters, by which it is customary for strangers travelling anywhere to be received by those to whom they come and thought worthy of care, as friends and dearest acquaintances, on the testimony of the token. With these designs he was eager to accustom the pagans to the practices of the Christians. But since this perhaps seems incredible to many, I shall give the proof of what has been said from no other source than the emperor’s own words. He writes thus to Arsacius, high priest of Galatia: “Paganism is not yet succeeding as it should, because of us who practise it. For the things of the gods are splendid and great, beyond every prayer and every hope. May Adrasteia be gracious to my words; for no one, a little while ago, dared even pray for so great and so sudden a change. Why then do we think this enough, and do not look at what has most increased atheism: kindness to strangers, care for the burial of the dead, and a feigned dignity of life? I think that each of these ought to be practised by us in truth. And it is not enough that you alone should be such, but all the priests in Galatia without exception. Either shame them or persuade them to be zealous, or remove them from the priestly office, if they do not come to the gods with their wives and children and servants, but tolerate servants or sons or wives who are Galileans, who are impious toward the gods and prefer atheism to piety. Next, exhort a priest neither to frequent the theatre nor to drink in a tavern, nor to preside over any craft or trade that is base and disgraceful; honour those who obey, and drive out those who disobey. Set up many guest-houses in each city, so that strangers may enjoy our kindness, not only our own people but others too, whoever is in need of money. Where you will get the means, I have meanwhile provided: for I have ordered thirty thousand modii of grain to be given each year throughout Galatia, and sixty thousand sextarii of wine. One fifth of this, I say, should be spent on the poor who serve the priests, and the rest should be distributed by you to strangers and beggars. For it is shameful that no Jew begs, and the impious Galileans support ours as well as their own, while ours are seen to lack help from us. Teach the pagans, too, to contribute to such services, and the pagan villages to offer the first fruits to the gods; and accustom the pagans to such good works, teaching them that this was our work of old. Homer, at any rate, made Eumaeus say: ‘Stranger, it is not right for me, even if one worse than you should come, to dishonour a stranger; for from Zeus are all strangers and beggars; and a gift is small but dear.’ Let us not, by allowing others to rival us in our own good things, disgrace them by our slackness, or rather betray our reverence for the gods. If I learn that you are doing these things, I shall be full of joy. See the governors seldom at their homes, but write to them as much as possible. When they enter the city, let no priest go to meet them; but when they come to the shrines of the gods, meet them within the porch. Let no soldier precede them inside, but let whoever wishes follow; for as soon as one has crossed the threshold of the precinct he has become a private person. For you yourself, as you know, rule within, since the divine law requires this. Those who obey are truly god-fearing; but those who cling to their pride are seekers of reputation and vainglorious. I am ready to help Pessinus, if they make the Mother of the gods gracious to themselves. But if they neglect her, they will not only not be blameless, but — harsh as it is to say — may even taste our displeasure. ‘For it is not right for me to tend or pity men who are hated by the immortal gods.’ Persuade them, then, if they lay claim to my care, to become suppliants of the Mother of the gods in a body.” ### Extrabiblical texts - Homer, Od. 14.56-58 (Homer, Odyssey): quotation, high confidence - Homer, Od. 10.73-74 (Homer, Odyssey): quotation, high confidence - Julian, Ep. (Julian the Emperor, Letters): echo, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The letter is Julian, Ep. 84 (Bidez–Cumont), To Arsacius; it is not on this site. Translated from the Greek as Sozomen quotes it. - Homer, Odyssey 14.56–58 (Eumaeus) and Odyssey 10.73–74. - Several words are lost in the scan (“See the governors seldom …”, “For you yourself … rule within”); supplied in the sense of the letter and noted here. - “Atheism” is Julian’s name for Christianity, rendered exactly. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 5.16 (PG 67:1259–1265; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/5-16). ## Church History 5.17 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/5-16/#p-5-17 - Source: PG 67:1265–1267 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Julian has pagan gods painted beside his imperial images and makes soldiers burn incense when receiving his donative; some Christian soldiers, realizing what they had done, return the gold and are dismissed. ### Greek text Ὁ μὲν βασιλεὺς τοιάδε ποιῶν καὶ γράφων, ἡγεῖτο ῥᾳδίως τοὺς ἀρχομένους ἑκόντας μεταθήσειν τοῦ δό· γματος. Καὶ πάντα σπουδάζων ἐπὶ καθαιρέσει τῆς τῶν Χριστιανῶν θρησκείας, οὔτε πείθειν παντελῶς οἷός τε ἦν, περιφανῶς τε βιάζεσθαι ἠσχύνετο, μὴ τυραννικὸς εἶναι δόξῃ. Οὐ μὴν καθυφῆκε τῆς προθυμίας, ἀλλὰ πάντα ἐμηχανᾶτο, πρὸς Ἑλληνισμὸν τὸ ὑπα ήκοον, μᾶλλον δὲ τὸ στρατιωτικὸν, τὸ μὲν δι᾽ ἑαυτοῦ, τὸ δὲ διὰ τῶν ἀρχόντων ἐπαγόμενος. ᾿Ατεχνῶς δὲ διὰ πάντων Ἑλληνίζειν προσεθίζων, μεταποιεῖν ἔγνωκεν εἰς τὸ πρότερον σχῆμα, τὸ κορυφαῖον τῶν Ῥωμαϊκῶν συνθημάτων, ὅπερ Κωνσταντίνος κατὰ θεῖον πρόσταγμα, ὡς ἐν τοῖς πρόσθεν εἴρηται, εἰς σταυροῦ σύμβολον μετετύπωσεν. Ἐν δὲ ταῖς δημο· σίαις εἰκόσιν ἐπιμελὲς ἐποιεῖτο παραγράφειν αὐτῷ, Δία μὲν οἷά γε ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ προφαινόμενον, καὶ στέφανον καὶ ἁλουργίδα τὰ σύμβολα τῆς βασιλείας παρέχοντα· ῎Ἄρεα δὲ καὶ τὸν Ἑρμῆν εἰς αὐτὸν βλέποντας, καὶ καθάπερ τῷ ὀφθαλμῷ ἐπιμαρτυροῦντας ὡς ἀγαθὸς εἴη περὶ λόγους καὶ πολεμικός. Ἐκέλευσε δὲ ταῦτα, καὶ ὅσα ἄλλα πρὸς Ἑλληνικὸν ὁρᾷ σέβας, παραμίγνυσθαι ταῖς εἰκόσιν· ὥστε προφάσει τῆς εἰς βασιλέα νενομισμένης τιμῆς, λεληθότως προσκυνεῖν τοῖς συγγεγραμμένοις· ἀποχρώμενός τε τοῖς ἀρχαίοις ἔθεσι, πάσῃ περινοίᾳ ἐσπούδαζε κλέπτειν τῶν ὑπηκόων τὴν προαίρεσιν. Ἐνενόει γὰρ ὡς εἰ πείσειεν, ἑτοιμότερον, ἂν θέλῃ, τὸ λοιπὸν ἐπιχειρήσειεν· εἰ δὲ ἀπειθοῦντας εὕροι, συγγνώμης ἐκτὸς κολάσειν, ὡς περὶ τὰ ἔθη Ῥωμαίων νεωτερίζοντας, καὶ εἰς πολιτείαν καὶ βασιλέα ἐξαμαρτάνοντας. Ὀλίγοι μὲν οὖν, οἳ καὶ δίκην εἰσεπράχθη. σαν, συνῆκαν τὸν λόγον, καὶ ὡς ἔθος ἦν, οὐκ ἠνεί- η χοντο προσκυνεῖν· τὸ δὲ πλῆθος, οἷα φιλεῖ, ὑπ' ἀγνοίας ἢ γνώμης ἀπεριέργου, νόμῳ ἁπλῶς παλαιῷ ἡγοῦντο πείθεσθαι, καὶ ἁπλούστερον ταῖς εἰκόσι προσῄεσαν. Βασιλεῖ δὲ πλέον οὐδὲν ἠνύετο, καὶ ταύτης τῆς τέχνης εἰς πεῖραν προελθούσης. Οὐ μὴν ἐνεδίδου, ἀλλὰ πάντα ἐπινοῶν διετέλει, ὡς ἂν προσάγοι τοὺς ἀρχομένους παραπλησίως αὐτῷ θρησκεύειν. Οἷον δὲ καὶ τότε ἐμηχανήσατο, οὐκ ἀπάδει τοῦ εἰρημένου· περιφανέστερον μέντοι τοῦ προτέρου καὶ βιαιότερον ἐπεχειρήθη, καὶ πρόφασις ἀνδρείας οὐκ ὀλίγοις ἐγένετο τῶν ἐν τοῖς βασιλείοις στρατευομένων. Ἐπεὶ γὰρ καιρὸς παρῆν βασιλέα δωρεῖσθαι στρατιώ ταις (γίνεται δὲ τοῦτο ὡς ἐπίπαν ἐν ταῖς Ῥωμαίων ἱερομηνίαις, καὶ βασιλέων, καὶ βασιλίδων πόλεων ἐν γενεθλίοις ἡμέραις), λογισάμενος ὡς ἁπλοῦν φύσει καὶ εὔηθές ἐστι τὸ στρατιωτικὸν, καὶ ὑπὸ συνήθους πλεονεξίας ῥᾳδίως ἡττᾶται χρημάτων. Τῶν δὲ ἐπὶ ταύτην παριόντων ἕκαστον οἱ τῷ βασιλεῖ παρεστῶτες ἐκέλευον θυμιᾷν. Προὔκειτο γὰρ πλησίον λίβανος καὶ πῦρ, ὡς δὴ τοῦτο πάλαι Ῥωμαίοις νενο μισμένον. Ἐνταῦθα οἱ μὲν ἀδεῶς τὴν ἀνδρείαν ἐπι εδείξαντο, καὶ οὔτε θυμιάσαι, οὔτε δῶρον παρὰ τοῦ βασιλέως λαβεῖν ἠνέσχοντο· οἱ δὲ, προσχήματι νόμου καὶ ἀρχαιότητος, οὐδὲ εἰς νοῦν ἔλαβον ὁ ἡμάρτανον. Οἱ δὲ, τῷ φαινομένῳ κέρδει δελεασθέντες, ἢ δέει καὶ θορύβῳ προκατειλημμένοι ἐκ τῆς παραυτίκα ἀναφανθείσης σκηνῆς, εἰ καὶ συνῆκαν Ἑλληνίζοντες, τὸ μὴ τοῦτο παθεῖν οὐ διέφυγον. Τῶν δ᾽ αὖ ἀγνοίᾳ περιπεσόντων ταύτῃ τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ, λέγονταί τινες τά δε, ὡς εἰστιῶντο φιλοφρονούμενοι, οἷά γε ἐν τοῖς πότοις γίνεσθαι φιλεῖ, καὶ προπίνοντες ἀλλήλοις, Χριστὸν ἐπονομάσαι ταῖς κύλιξιν. Ὑπολαβόντα δὲ τινα τῶν δαιτυμόνων, Θαυμαστὸν, ἔφη, ὑπο μένετε, Χριστὸν ἐπικαλούμενοι, ὃν πρὸ βραχέως ἠρνήσασθε, ἡνίκα τὸ δῶρον παρὰ τοῦ βασιλέως δεξά μενοι, τῷ πυρὶ τὸν λιβανωτὸν ἐπιτεθείκατε. "Αμα δὲ τοῦτο ἤκουσαν, καὶ συνῆκαν ὅπερ εἰργάσαντο, αὐτίκα ἀναπηδήσαντες, δημοσίᾳ ἔθεον, βοῶντες καὶ δεδακρυμένοι, καὶ Θεὸν αὐτὸν καὶ πάντας ἀνθρώπους μαρτυρόμενοι, Χριστιανοὺς εἶναι σφᾶς καὶ διαμεῖναι ἐν ἀγνοίᾳ δὲ τοῦ γεγονότος, εἴγε ὅλως εἰπεῖν ἔστι, μόνην Ἑλληνίσαι τὴν χεῖρα, μὴ συμπραξάσης τῆς διανοίας. Ἐπεὶ δὲ ὡς βασιλέα ἦλθοι, προσρίψαντες ὃν δεδώκει χρυσὸν, εὖ μάλα ἀνδρείως τὸ οἰκεῖον δῶρον ἀπολαβεῖν ᾔτουν, αὐτοὺς δὲ ἀνελεῖν· μὴ μεταμεληθήσεσθαι γὰρ, εἰ ὑπὲρ ὧν προνοίας ἐκτὸς ἥμαρτεν ἡ δεξιὰ, τῷ παντὶ σώματι δίκην δοῖεν διὰ Χριστόν. Ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς καίπερ χαλεπῶς ἐνεγκὼν, κτεῖναι· μὲν αὐτοὺς ἐφυλάξατο, μὴ μαρτυρίας γερῶν ἀξιωθεῖεν· ἀφελόμενος δὲ τῆς στρατείας, ἐξεώσατο τῶν βασιλείων. ### English translation (Claude) The emperor, acting and writing in this way, thought that he would easily bring his subjects to abandon the doctrine willingly. And though he was zealous in every way for the destruction of the Christian religion, he could neither persuade them entirely, and was ashamed to use open force, lest he should seem a tyrant. Yet he did not slacken his eagerness, but devised every means to draw his subjects to paganism, and above all the army, partly by himself and partly through the officers. Accustoming them artfully in every way to pagan practice, he resolved to change back to its former shape the chief of the Roman standards, which Constantine, by divine command, as was said earlier, had reshaped into the symbol of the cross. In the public images of himself he took care to have painted beside him Zeus appearing as from heaven and giving him the crown and purple, the insignia of empire, and Ares and Hermes looking at him and, as it were, bearing witness with their eyes that he was skilled in speech and in war. He ordered these and whatever else pertains to pagan worship to be mixed into his images, so that under pretext of the honour customary to the emperor they might unawares do reverence to what was painted with him; and abusing the ancient customs, he tried by every device to steal the will of his subjects. For he reckoned that if he persuaded them, he could more readily attempt the rest, if he wished; and if he found them disobedient, he could punish them without pardon as innovators in the customs of the Romans and offenders against the state and the emperor. A few, who also suffered punishment, understood the design and, as was customary, refused to do reverence; but the multitude, as usual, from ignorance or simplicity, thought they were simply obeying an old custom and approached the images quite simply. But the emperor gained nothing more even when this device was tried. Yet he did not give up, but went on devising everything by which he might bring his subjects to worship as he did. What he contrived at that time is not unlike what has been told, but was attempted more openly and more forcibly than the former, and gave occasion for courage to not a few of those serving in the palace. For when the time came for the emperor to give a donative to the soldiers — this happens generally on the Romans’ sacred days and the birthdays of emperors and of imperial cities — reckoning that the military is by nature simple and naive and easily overcome by money through habitual greed, … those standing beside the emperor ordered each of those who came up for it to burn incense; for frankincense and fire lay nearby, as though this were an old Roman custom. Then some boldly showed their courage, and would neither burn incense nor accept the gift from the emperor; others, under the cover of law and antiquity, did not even realize that they were sinning; and others, enticed by the visible gain, or overcome beforehand by fear and confusion at the scene suddenly displayed, even if they understood that they were acting as pagans, did not escape doing it. Of those who fell into this sin through ignorance, it is said that some, as they were feasting together in friendship, as tends to happen at drinking parties, and pledging one another, named Christ over their cups. One of the guests interrupted and said: “You do a surprising thing, calling on Christ, whom you denied a little while ago, when you received the gift from the emperor and put the incense on the fire.” As soon as they heard this and understood what they had done, they leapt up at once and ran out in public, shouting and weeping and calling God himself and all men to witness that they were Christians and remained so, and that in ignorance of what was happening — if one may speak so at all — only their hand had acted as a pagan’s, without their mind consenting. When they came to the emperor, they threw down the gold he had given them and very bravely asked him to take back his gift and to kill them; for they would not repent if, for what their right hand had done without forethought, they paid the penalty in their whole body for Christ. The emperor, though he was angry, took care not to kill them, lest they be thought worthy of the honours of martyrdom; but he deprived them of their military rank and expelled them from the palace. ### Translation notes - A main verb is missing in the sentence on the donative (after “greed”); the sense is plain and nothing is supplied. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 5.17 (PG 67:1265–1267; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/5-17). ## Church History 5.18 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/5-16/#p-5-18 - Source: PG 67:1269–1271 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Julian bars Christians from civic offices and from teaching Greek literature; Apolinarius answers by recasting Scripture in classical forms, and the bishops retort to Julian’s “I read, I understood, I condemned.” ### Greek text Ταύτης δὲ τῆς γνώμης καὶ περὶ πάντας τοὺς Χριστιανοὺς ὑπῆρχεν, ἀφορμῆς λαβόμενος· ὅπουγε καὶ μηδὲν ἐγκαλεῖν ἔχων, παραιτουμένους θύειν, ἰσοπολιτείας ἐφθόνει καὶ συλλόγων καὶ ἀγορῶν μετἐχειν. Καὶ τοῦ δικάζειν ἢ ἄρχειν ἢ ἀξιωμάτων κοινωνεῖν οὐ μετεδίδου· οὐ μὴν οὐδὲ τοὺς αὐτῶν παῖδας ξυνεχώρει ἐκδιδάσκεσθαι τοὺς παρ' Ἕλλησι ποιητὰς καὶ συγγραφέας, οὐδὲ τοῖς τούτων διδασκάλοις φοιτᾷν. Ἐλύπει γὰρ αὐτὸν οὐ μετρίως ᾿Απολινάριος ὁ Σύρος, πρὸς παντοδαπὴν εἴδησιν καὶ λόγων ἰδέαν παρεσκευασμένος· Βασίλειός τε καὶ Γρηγόριος οἱ Καππαδόκαι, παρευδοκιμοῦντες τοὺς τότε ῥήτορας• ἄλλοι τε ἐπὶ τούτοις πλεῖστοι ἐλλόγιμοι, ὧν οἱ μὲν ἐζήλουν τὰ ἐν Νικαίᾳ δόξαντα, οἱ δὲ ἐκ τῆς ᾿Αρείου ὥρμηντο αἱρέσεως. Ἐντεῦθεν οὖν μόνον δημιουργεῖσθαι τὸ πεῖθον οἰόμενος, οὐ συνεχώρει τοῖς Χριστιανοῖς ἐν τοῖς τῶν Ἑλλήνων ἀσκεῖσθαι μαθήμασιν. Ἡνίκα δὴ Ἀπολινάριος οὗτος, εἰς καιρὸν τῇ πολυμαθίᾳ καὶ τῇ φύσει χρησάμενος, ἀντὶ μὲν τῆς Ὁμήρου ποιήσεως, ἐν ἔπεσιν ἡρῴοις τὴν Ἑβραῖκὴν ἀρχαιολογίαν συνεγράψατο μέχρι τῆς τοῦ Σαούλ βασιλείας, καὶ εἰς εἰκοσιτέσσαρα μέρη τὴν πᾶσαν πραγματείαν διεῖλεν, ἑκάστῳ τόμῳ προσηγορίαν θέμενος ὁμώνυμον τοῖς παρ' Ἕλλησι στοιχείοις κατὰ τὸν τούτων ἀριθμὸν καὶ τὴν τάξιν. Ἐπραγματεύσατο δὲ καὶ τοῖς Μενάνδρου δράμασιν εἰκασμένας κωμῳδίας· καὶ τὴν Εὐριπίδου τραγῳδίαν, καὶ τὴν Πινδάρου λύραν ἐμιμήσατο, καὶ ἁπλῶς εἰπεῖν, ἐκ τῶν θείων Γραφῶν τὰς ὑποθέσεις λαβὼν τῶν ἐγκυκλίων καλουμένων μαθημάτων, ἐν ὀλίγῳ χρόνῳ ἐπενόησεν ἰσαρίθμους καὶ ἰσοδυνάμους πραγματείας, ἤθει τε καὶ φράσει καὶ χαρακτῆρι καὶ οἰκονομίᾳ ὁμοίᾳ τοῖς παρ' Ἕλλησιν ἐν τούτοις εὐδοκιμήσασιν. Ὥστε εἰ μὴ τὴν ἀρχαιότητα ἐτίμων οἱ ἄνθρωποι, καὶ τὰ συνήθη φίλα ἐνόμιζον, ἐπίσης, οἶμαι, τοῖς παλαιοῖς τὴν Ἀπολιναρίου σπουδὴν ἐπῄνουν, καὶ ἐδιδάσκοντο ταύτην, πλέον αὐτοῦ τὴν εὐφυῖαν θαυμάζοντες, ὅσῳ γε τῶν μὲν ἀρχαίων ἕκαστος περὶ ἓν μόνον ἐσπούδασεν· ὁ δὲ, τὰ πάντα ἐπιτηδεύσας, ἐν κατεπειγούσῃ χρείᾳ τὴν ἑκάστου ἀρετὴν ἀπεμάξατο. Οὐκ ἀγεννὴς δὲ καὶ πρὸς αὐτὸν τὸν βασιλέα ἤτοι τοὺς παρ' Ἕλλησι φιλοσόφους ἐστὶν αὐτοῦ ὁ λόγος, ὃν Ὑπὲρ ἀληθείας ἐπέγραψεν· ἐν ᾧ καὶ δίχα τῆς τῶν ἱερῶν Λόγων μαρτυρίας, ἔδειξεν αὐτοὺς ἀποβουκοληθέντας τοῦ δέοντος περὶ Θεοῦ φρονεῖν. Τάδε γὰρ ἐπιτωθάζων ὁ βασιλεὺς, τοῖς τότε διαπρέπουσιν ἐπισκόποις ἐπέστει λεν· ᾿Ανέγνων, ἔγνων, κατέγνων· τοὺς δὲ, πρὸς ταῦτα ἀντιγράψαι· ᾿Ανέγνως, ἀλλ᾽ οὐκ ἔγνως· εἰ γὰρ ἔγνως, οὐκ ἂν κατέγνως. Εἰσὶ δὲ οἱ Βασιλείῳ τῷ προστάτῃ τῆς Καππαδοκῶν Ἐκκλησίας ταύτην τὴν ἐπιστολὴν ἀνατιθέασι· καὶ οὐκ ἀπεικός · ᾿Αλλ' εἴτε αὐτοῦ, εἴτε ἄλλου ταῦτὰ ἐστιν, ἄγασθαι δίκαιον ἀνδρείας καὶ παιδεύσεως τὸν γράψαντα. ### English translation (Claude) He held this attitude toward all Christians too, wherever he found an occasion. For even when he had no charge against them, he begrudged those who refused to sacrifice their equal civic rights and their share in assemblies and markets; and he did not allow them to be judges or magistrates or to share in offices of rank. Nor did he permit their children to be taught the poets and writers of the Greeks, or to attend the teachers of these. For he was greatly vexed by Apolinarius the Syrian, equipped for every kind of knowledge and every style of speech, and by Basil and Gregory the Cappadocians, who surpassed the orators of the time, and by very many other learned men besides, some of whom were zealous for the decisions of Nicaea, while others had sprung from the heresy of Arius. Thinking, then, that persuasiveness was formed from this source alone, he did not allow Christians to be trained in the learning of the Greeks. Then this Apolinarius, using his wide learning and his talent to meet the occasion, in place of the poetry of Homer composed in heroic verse the Hebrew antiquities up to the reign of Saul, and divided the whole work into twenty-four parts, giving each volume a name the same as the letters of the Greek alphabet, according to their number and order. He also worked at comedies modelled on the plays of Menander, and imitated the tragedy of Euripides and the lyre of Pindar; and, in short, taking his subjects from the divine Scriptures, he produced in a short time works equal in number and in force to those of the so-called general studies, in character, diction, style and arrangement like those that had won renown in these fields among the Greeks. So that, if people did not honour antiquity and think the familiar dear, they would, I think, praise the work of Apolinarius equally with the ancients and study it, admiring his genius the more, inasmuch as each of the ancients worked at one thing only, while he practised them all and in a pressing need reproduced the excellence of each. Not ignoble either is the treatise he wrote against the emperor himself, or against the Greek philosophers, which he entitled On Truth, in which, even without the testimony of the sacred words, he showed that they had been led astray from right thinking about God. For the emperor, mocking such works, wrote to the distinguished bishops of the time: “I read, I understood, I condemned”; and they wrote back in answer: “You read, but you did not understand; for if you had understood, you would not have condemned.” Some attribute this letter to Basil, the head of the church of the Cappadocians, and not unreasonably. But whether it is his or another’s, the writer deserves to be admired for his courage and learning. ### Extrabiblical texts - Julian, Ep. (Julian the Emperor, Letters): echo, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The opening words of the staged text are the end of the chapter title printed by Valesius and are removed by a correction. - Julian’s school law is his edict of 17 June 362 (Codex Theodosianus 13.3.5) and the letter Julian, Ep. 61c Bidez–Cumont; neither is on this site. - Apolinarius’s On Truth is lost. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 5.18 (PG 67:1269–1271; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/5-18). ## Church History 5.19 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/5-16/#p-5-19 - Source: PG 67:1271–1275 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: At Antioch Julian quarrels with the citizens and writes the Misopogon; the oracle of Apollo at Daphne is silent because of the martyr Babylas, whose coffin the Christians carry back to the city singing psalms against idols. ### Greek text Ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς Πέρσαις ἐπιστρατεῦσαι σπουδάζων, ἧκεν εἰς ᾿Αντιόχειαν τὴν Σύρων· ἐκβοήσαντος δὲ τοῦ πλήθους, ὡς πολλὰ μὲν ἐστι τὰ ἐπιτήδεια, πολλοῦ δὲ πωλοῖτο· ὑπὸ φιλοτιμίας, οἶμαι, τὸν δῆμον ἐπαγόμενος, ἐπὶ ἥττονι ἢ ἔδει τιμήματι τὰ ἐπ᾿ ἀγορᾶς ὧνια πωλεῖσθαι προσέταξεν. Ἐκφυγόντων δὲ τῶν καπήλων, τὰ μὲν ἐπιτήδεια ἐπέλιπεν. ᾿Αντιοχεῖς δὲ δεινὸν τοῦτο ποιούμενοι, τὸν βασιλέα ὕβριζον, καὶ εἰς τὸν πώγωνα αὐτοῦ, ὡς βαθὺς εἴη, ἐπέσκωπτον, καὶ εἰς τὸ νόμισμα, ὅτι ταύρου εἶχεν εἰκόνα. Τὸν γὰρ κόσμον ἐπίσης τῶν ὑπτίων ταύρων ὑπ' αὐτῷ ἡγεμόνε ἀνατετράφθαι ἐπετώθαζον. Ὁ δὲ, τὰ πρῶτα όργι σθεὶς, ἠπείλει ᾿Αντιοχέας κακῶς ποιήσειν· καὶ εἰς Ταρσόν μετοικίζεσθαι παρεσκευάζετο. Ὑπερφυῶς δὲ τοῦ θυμοῦ μεταβαλλόμενος, λόγοις μόνοις τὴν ὕβριν ἡμύνατο· κάλλιστον καὶ μάλα ἀστεῖον λόγον, ὃν Μισοπώγωνα ἐπέγραψε, κατὰ ᾿Αντιοχέων διεξελ θων. Χριστιανοῖς δὲ κἀνταῦθα ὁμοίως ἐχρῆτο, τὸ Ἑλληνικὸν κρατύνειν ἐσπούδαζεν. γοῦν τότε συνέβη περὶ τὴν θήκην Βαδύλα τοῦ μάρτυρος, καὶ τῷ ἐν Δάφνῃ ναῷ τοῦ ᾿Απόλλωνος, ἄξιον ἀφηγήσασθαι. "Ἄρχομαι δὲ ἐντεῦθεν" Δάφνη τὸ ἐπίσημον τῆς ᾿Αντιοχείας προάστειον, χομᾷ μὲν ἄλσει χυπαρίσσων πολλῶν" ποιχίλλεται τοῖς ἄλλοις φυτοῖς ἀναμὶξ ταῖς χυπαρίσσοις. Ὑπὸ δὲ τοῖς δένδρεσιν, ἀμοιθαδὸν τῶν ὡρῶν εὐώδη καὶ παντοδαπὰ εἴδη ἀνθῶν ἡ φέρει. Ὁρμοφὴ δέ τις μᾶλλον, ἢ σχιὰ πανταχοῦ τὸν χῶρον περίχειται, τῇ πυχνότητι τῶν χλάδων καὶ τῶν φύλλων μὴ συγχωροῦσα τὴν ἀκτῖνα τῷ ἐδάφει ἐμβάλλειν’ ἡδύς τε λίαν ἐπέραστός ἔστιν, ἀφθονίᾳ τε καὶ κάλλει ὑδάτων, καὶ ὡρῶν εὐχρασίχ, προσηνῶν ἀνέμων πνοαῖς. ταῦθα δὲ παῖδες Ἑλλήνων μυθεύουσι, Δάφνην τὴν Λάδωνος ποταμοῦ, ἐξ ᾿Αρχαδίας φεύγουσαν ᾿Απόλλωνα τὸν ἐραστὴν, εἰς ὁμώνυμον φυτὸν αὑτὴν μεταδαλεῖν" τὸν δὲ, μηδὲ οὕτως ἀπαλλαγέντα τοῦ πάθους, στεφανωθῆναι τοῖς χλάδοις τῆς ἐρωμένης, καὶ δένὄρον οὖσαν περιπτύξασθαι, καὶ τῇ προσεδρίᾳ τὰ μάλιστα τιμῆσαι τὸ χωρίον, εἴπερ τι ἄλλο κεχαρισμένον αὐτῷ. Τοιούτῳ δὲ ὄντι τῷ προαστείῳ τῇ Δάφνῃ, ἐπιβαίνειν τοῖς ἐπιειχέσιν, αἰσχρὸν ἐνομίζετο. τε γὰρ θέσις καὶ ἡ φύσις τοῦ χωρίου πρὸς στώνην ἐπιτηδεία, ἡ ὑπόθεσις τοῦ μύθου ἐρωτική τις οὖσα, μικρᾶς λαδομένη ἀφορμῆς, διπλοῦν ἀπετέλει τὸ πάθος τοῖς διεφθαρμένοις νέοις. Εἰς παραίτησιν γὰρ προϊσχόμενοι τὰ μυθευόμενα, χαλεπῶς ἐξεχαίοντο, καὶ ἀνέδην εἰς ἀκολάστους πράξεις ἐχώρουν, οὐ σωφρονεῖν δυνάμενοι, οὔτε σώφρονας κατὰ ταὐτὸν ὁρᾷν ἀνεχόμενοι. Ὧ γὰρ ἡ διατριθδὴ ἐκτὸς ἐρωμένης ἐν Δάφνῃ ἐτύγχανεν, ἡλίθιός τε ἄχαρις ἐδόκει" καὶ ὥσπερ τι ἄγος ἀποτρόπαιος, φευχταῖος Καὶ ἄλλως δὲ σεθάσμιος περὶ πολλοῦ τοῖς Ἑλληνισταῖς ὁ χῶρος οὗτος ἐτύγχανεν " ἣν γὰρ ἐνθάδε Δαφναίου ᾿Απόλλωνος περικαλλὲς ἄγαλμα, νεὼς μεγαλοφυῶς τε καὶ φιλοτίμως ἐξειργασμένος " ὃν λόγος οἰκοδομῆσαι Σέλευχον τὸν ᾿Αντιόχου πατέρα, ᾧ ἐπώνυμόν ἐστιν ἡ ᾿Αντιοχέων πόλις. Ἐπιστεύετο δὲ παρὰ τοῖς τάδε πρεσδεύουσι, ῥεῖν αὐτόθι καὶ ὕδωρ μαντιχὸν ἀπὸ Κασταλίας τῆς πηγῆς, ὁμοίως τῆς ἐν Δελφοῖς ἐνεργείας τε καὶ προσηγορίας λαχούσης. ᾿Αμέλειτοι καὶ ᾿Αδριανῷ ἔτι ἰδιωτεύοντι, τὰ περὶ τῆς βασιλείας αὐχοῦσιν ἐνθάδε προμηνυθῆναι. Φασὶ γὰρ αὐτὸν φύλλον Δάφνης ἐμβάψαντα τῇ πηγῇ, ἀρύσασθαι τὴν τῶν ἐσομένων γνῶσιν, ἐγγράφως ἐπὶ τοῦ φύλλου δηλωθεῖσαν' παρελθόντα δὲ εἰς τὴν ἡγεμονίαν χαταχῶσα: τὴν πηγὴν, ὥστε μὴ ἐξεῖναι καὶ ἄλλοις προμανθάνειν τὸ μέλλον. ᾿Αλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν, οἷς τούτων μέλει, ἀκριβῶς μυθολογούντων" ἐπεὶ δὲ Γάλλος ὁ Ἰουλιανοῦ ἀδελφὸς Καῖσαρ καταστὰς παρὰ Κωνσταντίου, ἐν ᾿Αντιοχείᾳ διῆγε, Χριστιανὸς ὧν ἐς τὰ μάλιστα πρεσῆεύων τοὺς ὑπὲρ τοῦ δόγματος μεμαρτυρηχότας, ἔγνωκεν Ἑλληνικῆς δεισιδαιμονίας καὶ ὕδρεως ἀχολάστων ἀνθρώπων, τοῦτον ἐχχαθᾶραι τὸν χῶρον. Ὑπολαβὼν δὲ ῥᾳδίως περιέσεσθαι, εἰ εὐκτήριον ἐνθάδε ἀντικἸταστήσειεν οἶχον, μετέθηκεν εἰς Δάφνην τὴν λάρνακα τοῦ Βαβύλα τοῦ μάρτυρος· ὃς εὖ μάλα λαμπρῶς ἐπετρόπευσε τὴν ᾿Αντιοχέων Ἐκκλησίαν, και ἐμαρτύρησεν. Ἐξ ἐκείνου δὲ λόγος μὴ χρησμῳδήσαι συνήθως τὸ δαιμόνιον· ἐδόκει δὲ τὰ μὲν πρῶτα τοῦτο παθεῖν, ὡς θυσιῶν ἀμοιροῦν καὶ θεραπείας ἧς πρότερον ἠξίωτο· ἔδειξε δὲ τὰ μετὰ ταῦτα, ὡς ἐκ γειτόνων γενόμενος ὁ μάρτυς, οὐ συνεχώρει τοῦτο ποιεῖν. Καὶ γὰρ Ἰουλιανοῦ μόνου κρατοῦντος τῆς Ῥωμαίων οἰκουμένης, σπονδῶν καὶ κνίσσης καὶ ἀφθονίας θυμάτων μετέχον, οὐδὲν ἦττον ἠρέμει· καὶ τὸ τελευταῖον χρήσας, ἤλεγξὲ καὶ αὐτὸς τῆς προτέρας σιωπῆς τὴν αἰτίαν. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἐβεβούλευτο ὁ βασιλεὺς περὶ ὧν οἱ ἐδόκει πειραθῆναι τοῦ ἐνθάδε μαντείου, παραγενόμενος εἰς τὸ ἱερὸν, ἀναθήμασι καὶ θυσίαις φιλοτίμως ἐτίμα τὸ δαιμόνιον, καὶ ἐδεῖτο περὶ ὧν ἐσπούδαζε μὴ ἀμελεῖν. ῾Ὁ δὲ, περιφανῶς μὲν ὡδὶ οὐκ ἐδήλωσε μὴ δύνασθαι χρησμῳδεῖν διὰ Βαβύλαν τὸν μάρτυρα γειτνιῶντα τῇ θήκῃ· νεκρῶν δὲ, ἔφη, ἀνάπλεών ἐστι τὸ χωρίον, καὶ κατὰ τοῦτα κωλύεσθαι προϊέναι τοὺς χρησμούς. Πολλῶν δὲ καὶ ἄλλων κειμένων ἐν Δάφνῃ νεκρῶν, συμβαλὼν ὁ βασι λεὺς τὸν μάρτυρα μόνον ἐμποδὼν γίνεσθαι τοῖς χρησμοῖς, προσέταξε μετακινηθῆναι τὴν θήκην. Συνελθόντες οἱ Χριστιανοὶ, εἴλκησαν τὴν θήκην ἐπὶ τὴν πόλιν ὡσεὶ στάδια τεσσαράκοντα, σὗ νῦν ὁ μάρτυς κεῖται, δεδωκὼς ἀπ᾿ αὐτοῦ τὴν προσηγορίαν τῷ τόπῳ. Φασὶ δὲ τότε ἄνδρας καὶ γυναῖκας, καὶ νέους καὶ παρθένους, γέροντάς τε καὶ παῖδας οἱ τὴν σορὸν εἶλκον, παρακελευομένους ἀλλήλοις, παρὰ πᾶσαν τὴν ὁδὸν διατελέσαι ψάλλοντας. Πρόφασιν μὲν τῇ ᾠδῇ τοὺς ἰδρῶτας ἐπικουφίζοντας· τὸ δ' ἀληθὲς, ὑπὸ ζήλου καὶ προθυμίας κινουμένους, τῷ μὴ τὴν αὐτὴν γνώμην ἔχειν αὐτοῖς τὸν κρατοῦντα περὶ τὸ Θεῖον. Ἐξῆρχον δὲ τῶν ψαλμῶν τοῖς ἄλλοις οἱ τούτους ἀκριβοῦντες, καὶ ξυνεπήχει τὸ πλῆθος ἐν συμφωνίᾳ· καὶ ταύτην τὴν ῥῆσιν ἐπῇδεν ὅ· ᾐσχύνθησαν πάντες οἱ προσκυνοῦντες τοῖς γλυπτοῖς, οἱ ἐγκαυχώμενοι τοῖς εἰδώλοις. ### English translation (Claude) The emperor, eager to march against the Persians, came to Antioch in Syria. When the people cried out that provisions were plentiful but were sold at a high price, he, out of desire for popularity, I think, courting the people, ordered the goods for sale in the market to be sold at a lower price than was right. When the dealers fled, the provisions ran short. The Antiochenes, taking this badly, insulted the emperor and mocked his beard for being long, and his coinage because it bore the image of a bull; for they jested that under his rule the world had been overturned like the bulls lying on their backs. At first he was angry and threatened to do the Antiochenes harm, and prepared to move to Tarsus. But changing wonderfully from his anger, he avenged the insult with words only, composing against the Antiochenes a most elegant and witty oration, which he entitled Misopogon. He treated the Christians here as elsewhere, and was eager to strengthen paganism. What happened at that time concerning the tomb of the martyr Babylas and the temple of Apollo at Daphne is worth relating. I begin here. Daphne, the famous suburb of Antioch, is thick with a grove of many cypresses and adorned with other trees mingled with the cypresses. Beneath the trees the ground bears, in turn through the seasons, fragrant flowers of every kind. A covering rather than a shade encloses the place everywhere, since the density of the branches and leaves does not let the sunlight fall on the ground. It is very pleasant and lovely through the abundance and beauty of its waters, the mildness of its seasons, and the breath of gentle winds. Here the sons of the Greeks tell the myth that Daphne, daughter of the river Ladon, fleeing from Arcadia from Apollo her lover, changed herself into the plant of the same name; and that he, not freed from his passion even so, crowned himself with the branches of his beloved, embraced her though she was a tree, and by his constant presence honoured the place above any other as especially dear to him. The suburb of Daphne being such, it was thought shameful for decent people to set foot in it. For the situation and nature of the place were suited to luxury, and the theme of the myth, being erotic, given a slight occasion, doubled the passion of corrupt young men. Holding out the myths as an excuse, they were violently inflamed and went shamelessly to licentious deeds, unable to be chaste themselves and unable to bear seeing the chaste in the same place. For one who spent time at Daphne without a mistress was thought a fool and graceless, and was shunned like an abomination to be averted. The place was also in other ways venerated and highly esteemed by the pagans. For there was there a very beautiful statue of Daphnaean Apollo and a temple built magnificently and lavishly, which Seleucus, the father of Antiochus, after whom the city of Antioch is named, is said to have built. Those who honour these things believed that prophetic water also flowed there from the Castalian spring, which had the same power and name as the one at Delphi. Indeed they boast that Hadrian, while still a private man, had his reign foretold here. For they say that he dipped a laurel leaf in the spring and drew from it knowledge of the future, made known in writing on the leaf; and that when he came to rule he had the spring blocked up, so that others might not learn the future in advance. But let those who care for such things tell their myths precisely. When Gallus, Julian’s brother, having been made Caesar by Constantius, was living at Antioch, being a Christian and honouring above all those who had been martyred for the doctrine, he resolved to cleanse this place of pagan superstition and of the outrage of licentious men. Supposing that he would easily succeed if he set up a house of prayer there in opposition, he moved to Daphne the coffin of the martyr Babylas, who had governed the church of the Antiochenes very gloriously and had been martyred. From that time, it is said, the demon no longer gave oracles as usual. At first it was thought to suffer this because it lacked the sacrifices and worship it had formerly enjoyed; but what followed showed that the martyr, having become its neighbour, did not allow it to do so. For when Julian alone ruled the Roman world, it shared in libations and the savour of sacrifice and an abundance of victims, and was no less silent; and at last, giving an oracle, it itself exposed the cause of its former silence. For when the emperor had resolved to consult the oracle there about matters he thought good, he came to the temple and honoured the demon lavishly with offerings and sacrifices, and begged it not to neglect what he was eager to learn. It did not declare openly that it could not give oracles because of the martyr Babylas, lying in the tomb nearby; but it said that the place was full of corpses and that for this reason the oracles were prevented from coming forth. Though many other dead lay at Daphne, the emperor, inferring that the martyr alone was hindering the oracles, ordered the tomb to be moved. The Christians, gathering together, drew the coffin to the city, about forty stadia, where the martyr now lies, having given his name to the place. They say that the men and women, young men and virgins, old men and children who drew the coffin, encouraging one another, kept singing psalms all along the road, ostensibly lightening their toil with the song, but in truth moved by zeal and eagerness because the ruler did not hold the same belief about the divine as they did. Those who knew the psalms well led the others, and the multitude responded in harmony, singing this verse as a refrain: “Put to shame are all who worship carved images, who boast in their idols.” ### Scripture references - Ps 97:7 (96:7 LXX): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The first words of the staged text are the end of the chapter title printed by Valesius and are removed by a correction, as is a stray copy of the title word “Misopogon” later in the text. - The refrain is Ps 97:7 (LXX 96:7). ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 5.19 (PG 67:1271–1275; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/5-19). ## Church History 5.20 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/5-16/#p-5-20 - Source: PG 67:1277–1279 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Julian orders reprisals; the young Theodore endures the rack singing the psalm and is released; the temple of Apollo at Daphne burns, and Julian orders martyrs’ shrines near Didyma destroyed. ### Greek text Ἐκ τούτου δὲ κινηθεὶς πρὸς ὀργὴν ὁ βασιλεὺς ὡς ὑβρισμένος, τιμωρεῖσθαι τοὺς Χριστιανοὺς ἐβεβούλευτο. Σαλούστιος δὲ ὁ τὴν ὕπαρχον ἐξουσίαν ἐπιτετραμμένος, καίπερ Ἕλλην ὑπάρχων, οὐκ ἐπήνεσε τὴν βουλήν. Αντιτείνειν δὲ μὴ ἔχων, τὸ βασιλέως ἐπίταγμα εἰς ἔργον ἦγε. Καὶ τῇ ὑστεραίᾳ πολλοὺς συνελάμβανεν ἐκ τῶν Χριστιανῶν, καὶ δεσμίους ἐποίησεν· ἕνα δὲ τινα νεανίαν πρῶτον προαγαγὼν (Θεόδωρος δ' ὄνομα αὐτῷ), τῷ βασανιστηρίῳ ξύλῳ προσῆψεν. Ὁ δὲ, ἐπὶ πολὺ τοῖς ὄνυξι πληττόμενος, οὐχ ἡττήθη τῶν βασάνων, οὐδὲ τὸν ὕπαρχον ἐλιπάρησεν· ἀλλ᾽ ἀνώδυνον ἑαυτὸν φαίνεσθαι παρασχόμενος, ὡς θεατὴς τῶν ἐπ᾿ αὐτῷ γινομένων, καρτερικῶς τὰς πληγὰς ἐδέχετο· αὖθίς τε τὸν αὐτὸν μελῳδῶν ψαλμὸν, ὃν καὶ τῇ προτεραίᾳ, μὴ μέλειν αὐτῷ τούτων ἐφ᾽ οἷς ἐκρίνετο, τοῖς ἔργοις ἐπέδειξε. Καταπλαγεὶς δὲ τὴν ἔνστασιν τοῦ νεανίου ὁ ὕπαρχος, ἐλθὼν περὶ τὸν βασιλέα, εἶπε τὰ γε όμενα, καὶ εἰ μὴ θᾶττον παύσαιτο τῆς ἐπιχειρήσεως, σφᾶς αὐτοὺς καταγελάστους ἔσεσθαι· τοὺς δὲ Χριστιανοὺς ἐνδοξοτέρους ποιήσειν. ῎Αμεινον δὲ τοῦτο δόξαν, οἱ συλληφθέντες ἀφέθησαν τῶν δεσμῶν. Λέγεται δὲ πυνθανομένων μετὰ ταῦτά τινων, εἴπερ αἴσθησιν τῶν βασάνων ἐκείνων ἐλάμβανεν, εἰπεῖν τὸν Θεόδωρον, ὡς πάντως μὲν ἀνώδυνος οὐκ ἦν· παρεστὼς δὲ τις α αὐτῷ νεανίας, κατέπαυε τὰς ἀλγηδόνας, ὑφάσματι λεπτοτάτῳ τοὺς ἰδρῶτας ἀπομάττων, καὶ ὕδωρ ἐπιχέων ψυχρότατον, ᾧ τὰς φλεγμονὰς ἔπαυε, καὶ τῶν πόνων ἀνέψυχε. Δοκεῖ δέ μοι οὐκ ἀνθρώπου μόνου, εἰ καὶ μάλα γενναῖος ἦν, μὴ καὶ θείᾳ ῥοπῇ ἐπικουρουμένου, τοσοῦτον ὑπεριδεῖν τοῦ σώματος. Ὁ μὲν δὴ μάρτυς Βαβύλας, ἐκ τῆς εἰρημένης αἰτίας κατῳκίσθη ἐν Δάφνῃ, καὶ πάλιν μετετέθη · οὐκ εἰς μακρὰν δὲ τούτου γενομένου, ἀπροόπτως ἐμπεσὸν πῦρ τῷ νεῷ τοῦ Δαφναίου ᾿Απόλλωνος, πᾶσαν τὴν ὀροφὴν καὶ αὐτὸ τὸ ἄγαλμα κατέφλεξε· γυμνοὺς δὲ μόνους τοὺς τοίχους καὶ τοὺς περιβόλους εἴασε, καὶ τοὺς κίονας οἱ τὰ προπύλαια καὶ τὸν ὁπισθόδομον ἀνεῖχον. Ἐδόκει δὲ τοῖς μὲν Χριστιανοῖς, κατὰ αἴτησιν τοῦ μάρτυρος η, θεήλατον ἐμπεσεῖν τῷ δαίμονι πῦρ· οἱ δὲ Ἕλληνες ἐλογοποίουν, Χριστιανῶν εἶναι τὸ δρᾶμα. Ταύτης δὲ τῆς ὑπονοίας κρατούσης, ἄγεται εἰς δικαστήριον ὁ τοῦ ᾿Απόλλωνος ἱερεὺς, ὡς φανερώσων τὸν τολμήσαντα τὸν ἐμπρησμόν· δεσμώτης τε Ει γενόμενος, καὶ πολλὰς ὑπομείνας πληγὰς, χαλεπῶς τε αἰκισθεὶς, οὐδένα κατεμήνυσεν · ᾧ δὴ μάλιστα Ισχυρίζοντο οἱ Χριστιανοὶ, μὴ κατ' ἐπιβουλὴν ἀνθρωπείαν, ἀλλὰ κατὰ θείαν μῆνιν ἐνσκῆψαι τῷ νεῷ οὐράνιον πῦρ. Καὶ τὰ μὲν ὧδε ἔσχεν· ὡς οἶμαι δὲ, ἐκ τῶν συμβάντων ἐν τῇ Δάφνῃ διὰ τὸν μάρτυρα Βαβύλαν πυθόμενος ὁ βασιλεὺς, ἐπὶ τιμῇ μαρτύρων εὐκτηρίους οἴκους εἶναι πλησίον τοῦ ναοῦ Διδυμαίου Απόλλωνος, ὃς πρὸ τῆς Μιλήτου ἐστὶν, ἔγραψε τῷ ἡγεμόνι Καρίας, εἰ μὲν ὄροφόν τε καὶ τράπεζαν ἱερὰν ἔχουσι, πυρὶ καταφλέξαι· εἰ δὲ ἡμίεργά ἐστι τὰ οἰκοδομήματα, ἐκ βάθρων ἀνασκάψαι. ### English translation (Claude) Moved to anger by this, as though insulted, the emperor resolved to punish the Christians. Sallustius, who held the prefect’s authority, though a pagan, did not approve the plan; but being unable to oppose it, he carried out the emperor’s order. The next day he arrested many of the Christians and put them in chains; and bringing out first one young man, whose name was Theodore, he fastened him to the rack. He, though torn for a long time with the claws, was not overcome by the tortures, nor did he plead with the prefect; but showing himself as though free of pain, like a spectator of what was done to him, he received the blows with endurance, and singing again the same psalm as the day before, he showed by his deeds that he cared nothing for the matter for which he was being judged. The prefect, astounded at the young man’s firmness, went to the emperor, told him what had happened, and said that unless he quickly stopped the attempt, they themselves would be made ridiculous and the Christians more glorious. This seemed the better course, and those arrested were released from their chains. It is said that when some afterwards asked Theodore whether he had felt those tortures, he said that he had not been altogether free of pain, but that a young man stood by him and relieved his pains, wiping his sweat with a very fine cloth and pouring on him very cold water, by which he eased the inflammation and refreshed him from his sufferings. It seems to me that it is not for a man alone, however noble, unless helped also by divine aid, to disregard the body so much. So the martyr Babylas, for the reason given, was settled at Daphne and moved again. Not long after this, a fire fell unexpectedly on the temple of Daphnaean Apollo and burned up the whole roof and the statue itself, leaving only the bare walls and enclosures and the columns that held up the porch and the rear chamber. The Christians thought that, at the martyr’s request, fire sent by God had fallen on the demon; the pagans put about the story that the deed was the Christians’. As this suspicion prevailed, the priest of Apollo was brought to court to reveal who had dared to set the fire; and though he was put in chains, endured many blows and was cruelly tortured, he denounced no one. On this ground especially the Christians maintained that it was not by human plotting but by divine wrath that fire from heaven struck the temple. So it happened. And, as I think, because of what had happened at Daphne on account of the martyr Babylas, when the emperor learned that there were houses of prayer in honour of martyrs near the temple of Didymaean Apollo, which is before Miletus, he wrote to the governor of Caria to burn them with fire if they had a roof and a holy table, and, if the buildings were half finished, to dig them up from the foundations. ### Translation notes - The first word of the staged text is the end of the chapter title and is removed by a correction. - The fire at Daphne was on 22 October 362 (Ammianus Marcellinus 22.13). ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 5.20 (PG 67:1277–1279; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/5-20). ## Church History 5.21 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/5-16/#p-5-21 - Source: PG 67:1279–1281 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Julian replaces the statue of Christ at Paneas with his own, which is struck by lightning; Sozomen adds the healing spring at Emmaus–Nicopolis and the tree at Hermopolis that bowed to the child Christ. ### Greek text Ἐμοὶ δὲ τῶν ἐπὶ Ἰουλιανοῦ συμβάντων, κἀκεῖνο ῥητέον· σημεῖον μὲν τῆς τοῦ Χριστοῦ δυνάμεως, τεκμήριον δὲ τῆς εἰς τὸν κρατοῦντα θεομηνίας. Ἐπεὶ γὰρ ἔγνω ἐν Καισαρείᾳ τῆς Φιλίππου (Φοίνισσα δὲ αὕτη πόλις), ἣν Πανεάδα ὀνομάζουσιν, ἐπίσημον εἶναι Χριστοῦ ἄγαλμα, ὁ τοῦ πάθους ἀπαλλαγεῖσα ἀνέθηκεν ἡ αἱμορροοῦσα, καθελὼν τοῦτο, ἴδιον ἀνέστησε. Βίαιον δὲ πῦρ ἐξ οὐρανοῦ πεσὸν, τὰ περὶ τὸ στῆθος τοῦ ἀνδριάντος διέτεμε, καὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν σὺν τῷ αὐχένι κατέβαλε, καὶ ἐπὶ πρόσωπον ἐνέπηξεν ᾗ τὸ διεῤῥωγὸς τοῦ στέρνου ἐστί· καὶ τὸ ἐξ ἐκείνου εἰσέτι νῦν τοιοῦτος ἕστηκε, τῆς κεραυνίας αἰθάλης πλήρης. Τὸν δὲ τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἀνδριάντα, τότε μὲν οἱ Ἑλληνισταὶ σύροντες κατέαξαν· μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα οἱ Χριστιανοὶ συλλέξαντες, ἐν τῇ Ἐκκλησία ἀπέθεντο, ἔνθα καὶ νῦν φυλάττεται. Ἀπὸ δὲ τῆς βάσεως ἐφ᾿ ᾗ ἵστατο ὁ ἀνδριὰς οὗτος, ὡς ἱστορεί Εὐσέβιος, παντοίων παθῶν καὶ νοσημάτων ἀλεξιφάρμακον βοτάνη τις ἔφυεν, ἧς τὸ εἶδος οὐδεὶς ἔγνω τῶν ἐν τῇ καθ᾽ ἡμᾶς ἰατρῶν ἢ ἐμπείρων. Ἐμοὶ δὲ δοκεῖ μηδὲν εἶναι θαῦμα, τοῦ Θεοῦ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἐπιδημήσαντος, καὶ τὰς εὐεργεσίας συμβῆναι ξένας. Ἐπεὶ καὶ ἄλλα πλεῖστα παράδοξα κατὰ πόλεις καὶ κώμας, ὡς εἰκὸς, μόνοις ἡκρίβωται τοῖς ἐπιχωρίοις, ἐκ τῆς ἀρχῆθεν παραδόσεως ἐγνωσμένα· καὶ ὡς ἀληθὲς τοῦτο, αὐτίκα ἐπιδείξω ἐντεῦθεν. Πόλις ἐστὶν ἐν Παλαιστίνῃ ἡ νῦν καλουμένη Νικόπολις. Ταύτην δὲ ἔτι κώμην οὖσαν οἶδεν ἡ θεία τῶν Εὐαγγελίων βίβλος, καὶ Ἐμμαοῦς προσαγορεύει. Ῥωμαῖοι δὲ μετὰ τὴν ἄλωσιν Ἱεροσολύμων, καὶ τὴν κατὰ τῶν Ἰουδαίων νίκην, --- “ὦἍ» Νικόπολιν ἀνηγόρευσαν δὲ τοῦ συμβάντος οὕτως : ὠνόμασαν. Πρὺ ταύτης τῆς πόλεως, παρὰ τὴν τριοδίαν, ἔνθα συμθαδίζων ὁ Χριστὸς τοῖς περὶ Κλεόπαν μετὰ τὴν ἐχ νεκρῶν ἀνάστασιν, συνετάττετο ὡς ἐπὶ ἑτέραν κώμην σπεύδων, πηγὴ τίς ἐστι σωτήριος, ἐν $ τὰ πάθη ἀπολούονται ἄνθρωποί τε τὰ ἄλλα ζῶα διαφόροις νόσοις κάμνοντα. Λέγεται γὰρ ἐξ ὁδοιπορίας ποθὲν ἐπὶ τὴν πηγὴν ἐλθόντα τὸν Χριστὸν ἅμα τοῖς μαθηταῖς, ἐνθάδε τοὺς πόδας ἀπονίψασθαι, καὶ τὺ ἐξ ἐκείνου ἀλεξίχαχον παθημάτων γενέσθαι τὸ ὕδωρ. Καὶ δένδρου δὲ τῆς καλουμένης Περσίδος ἐν 'Ἑρμουπόλει τῆς Θηθαῖδος φασὶ πολλῶν ἀπελάσαι τὰς νόσους, κάρφος ἢ φύλλον, τοῦ φλοιοῦ μικρόν τι τοῖς χάμνουσι προσαπτόμενον. Λέγεται γὰρ παρ᾽ Αἰγυπτίοις, ἡνίκα διὰ τὸν Ἡρώδην ἔφυγεν ὁ Ἰωσὴφ, ἡ παραλαβὼν τὸν Μαρίαν τὴν ἁγίαν Θεοτόκον, ἐλθεῖν εἰς τὴν Ἑρμούπολιν. δὲ εἰσιόντι παρὰ τὴν πύλην, μὴ ἐνεγχὸν τοῦτο τὸ δένὃρον μέγιστον ὃν τοῦ Χριστοῦ τὴν ἐπιδημίαν, ἐπὶ τὸ ἔδαφος χλῖναι καὶ προσκυνῆσαι. Καὶ ταῦτα μὲν περὶ τούτου τοῦ φυτοῦ παρὰ πολλῶν ἀχούτας, εἶπον. Ἡγοῦμαι δὲ ἣ σημεῖον τοῦτο γενέσθαιτῆς ἐν τῇ πόλει τοῦ Θεοῦ παρουσίας " ἣ, ὡς εἰχὺς, Ἑλληνικῷ νόμῳ διὰ μέγεθος καὶ κάλλος θρησχευόμενον τὸ δένδρον παρὰ τῶν ἐνοικούντων, ἐσείσθη, τοῦ θεραπευομένου δι᾽ αὐτοῦ δαίμονος φρίξαντος τὸν τῶν τοιούτων χαῦ - αιρέτην ἐπιφανέντα αὐτομάτως σεισθῆναι πάντα τὰ ξόανα τῶν Αἰγυπτίων ἐπιδημήσαντος τότε ἀὐτοῖς: τοῦ Χριστοῦ, κατὰ τὴν προφητείαν. ᾿Απελαθέντος δὲ τοῦ δαίμονος, εἰς μαρτυρίαν τοῦ συμβεβηκότος ἔμεινε τὸ φυτὸν, τοὺς πίστει χρωμένους ἰώμενον. τούτων μὲν Αἰγύπτιοι )λιστινοὶ, τοῦ παρ' αὐτοῖς ὕντος ἔκαστοι μάρπυρες. ### English translation (Claude) Among the events of Julian’s time I must tell this too, a sign of Christ’s power and a proof of God’s wrath against the ruler. When he learned that at Caesarea Philippi — a city of Phoenicia, which they call Paneas — there was a famous statue of Christ, which the woman with the flow of blood had set up when she was freed from her affliction, he took it down and set up a statue of himself. But a violent fire fell from heaven, split the statue about the breast, threw down the head together with the neck, and fixed it face down in the ground where the breast was broken off; and from then until now it has stood so, full of the soot of the thunderbolt. The statue of Christ the pagans then dragged about and broke; but afterwards the Christians gathered up the pieces and placed them in the church, where it is kept even now. From the base on which this statue stood, as Eusebius records, there grew a certain herb that was a remedy for all kinds of ailments and diseases, whose kind none of the physicians or experts of our time knew. To me it seems no marvel that, since God has come to dwell among men, his benefits too should be strange. For very many other wonders too, in cities and villages, are, as one would expect, known precisely only to the local inhabitants, learned from the tradition handed down from the beginning; and that this is true I will at once show from this. There is a city in Palestine now called Nicopolis. While it was still a village the divine book of the Gospels knows it and calls it Emmaus. The Romans, after the capture of Jerusalem and the victory over the Jews, named it Nicopolis from what had happened. Before this city, at the crossroads where Christ, after his resurrection from the dead, walking with Cleopas and his companion, took leave of them as though hastening to another village, there is a healing spring in which human beings and other animals suffering from various diseases wash away their afflictions. For it is said that Christ, coming with his disciples from a journey somewhere to the spring, washed his feet there, and from then on the water became a remedy for afflictions. They say also that the tree called Persis at Hermopolis in the Thebaid drove away the diseases of many, when a twig or a leaf or a little of the bark was applied to the sick. For it is told among the Egyptians that when Joseph fled because of Herod, taking Christ and Mary the holy Theotokos, he came to Hermopolis; and as he entered by the gate, this tree, very large as it was, could not bear the coming of Christ, but bent to the ground and worshipped. I have told these things about this plant as I heard them from many. I think either that this was a sign of God’s presence in the city, or, as is likely, that the tree, which was worshipped by the inhabitants according to pagan custom for its size and beauty, was shaken because the demon worshipped through it shuddered at the appearance of the destroyer of such things; for, according to the prophecy, all the idols of the Egyptians were shaken of themselves when Christ then came among them. When the demon had been driven out, the plant remained as a witness of what had happened, healing those who believe. Of these things the Egyptians and the Palestinians are witnesses, each of what is among them. ### Scripture references - Matt 9:20: allusion, medium confidence - Luke 24:13–29: allusion, high confidence - Matt 2:13–14: allusion, high confidence - Isa 19:1: allusion, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 7.18 (Church History): allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The first words of the staged text are the end of the chapter title and are removed by a correction. - The statue at Paneas and the healing herb: Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 7.18. - Emmaus: Luke 24:13–31. The flight to Egypt: Matt 2:13–14. The prophecy of the shaking of Egypt’s idols: Isa 19:1. - Sozomen identifies the Emmaus of Luke 24 with Nicopolis (Amwas); this is his own identification. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 5.21 (PG 67:1279–1281; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/5-21). ## Church History 5.22 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/5-22/#p-5-22 - Source: PG 67:1281–1285 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Julian, courting the Jews against the Christians, funds the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem; an earthquake, fire from the foundations and crosses on the workers’ clothes stop the work. ### Greek text Ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς, εἰ καὶ Χριστιανοὺς ἐμίσει καὶ χαλεπῶς πρὸ; αὐτοὺς εἶχεν, ἀλλ᾽ οὖν Ἰουδαίοις εὔνους ἣν Εἰ πρᾶος " πατριάρχαις καὶ ἀρχηγοῖς αὑτῶν αὐτῷ δὲ τῷ πλήθει ἔγραψεν, εὔχεσθαι ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ 91/4 — τῆς αὐτοῦ βασιλείας. Ἑποίει δὲ τοῦτο οὗ τὴν θρησκείαν, ὡς εἰκάζω, ἐπαινῶν, (ἤδει γὰρ μητέρα ταύτην, ὡς εἰπεῖν, τοῦ Χριστιανῶν δόγματος, προφήταις πατριάρχαις αὑτοῖς χρωμένην), ἀλλ᾽ ὅτι μίσους ἀσπκόνδως πρὸς αὑτοὺς εἶχον οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι καὶ τῇ πρὸς τούτους θεραπείᾳ λυπεῖν ἐσπούδαζεν οἷς ἀπηχθάνετο. Ἴσως δὲ καὶ πρὸς ᾿Ἑλληνισμὸν καὶ θυσίας ἑτοιμοτέρως αὐτοὺς ἐπάγεσθαι ᾧετο, πρὸς ῥητὸν μόνον ἐχδεχομένους τὰς ἱερὰς Βίβλους, πρὸξ θεωρίαν, ὡς οἱ Χριστιανοὶ, καὶ αὐτῶν σοφώτεροι, δὲ ταύτην ἔχων τὴν γνώμην, ἐπεχείρησεν. Μετακαλεσάμενος γὰῤ τοὺς ἐξάρχουξςξ τοῦ ἔθνους, προὐτρέψατο ἀκούειν Μωσέως νόμων, πατρίων ἐθῶν ὑπομιμνήσχων. Τῶν δὲ φησάντων, κατο εῤῥιμ[ μ]ένου τοῦ ἐν Ἱεροσολύμοις ναοῦ, μὴ θεμιτὸν μηδὲ πάτριον εἶναι ἐχπεπτωχόσι τῆς μητροπόλεως, ἑτέρωθι τοῦτο ποιεῖν, χρήματα δοὺς κοινὰ, ἐκέλευσεν ἀνεγεῖραι τὸν ναὸν, τοῖς προγόνοις ἐπίσης θρησκεύειν, τὸν παλαιὸν τρόπον θύοντας, Οἱ μὲν οὖν μὴ λαβόντες εἰς νοῦν, ὡς οὐχ ἐνεχώρει κατὰ τὰς ἱερᾶς ; προφητείας τοῦτο γενέσθαι σπουδῇ τοῦ ἔργου εἴχοντο. Καὶ τοὺς ἐπιστήμονας τῶν τεχτόνων ἀγείραντες, τὰς ὕλας παρεσκευάζοντο, τὸν χῶρον ἐκάθαιρον. Σὺν τοσαύτῃ τε προθυμίᾳ περὶ ταῦτα ἐπόνουν, ὡς τὰς αὐτῶν γυναῖκας τὸν χοῦν τοῖς κόλποις ἐκφέρειν, δέραιά τε πάντα τὸν ἄλλον γυναιχεῖον κόσμων συνεισφέρειν ἑτοίμως τῇ δαπάνῃ τοῦ ἔργου. Πάντα δὲ τὰ ἄλλα δεύτερα ἣν τοῦ πονουμένον, βασιλεῖ κα. ^ τοῖς ἄλλοις πᾶσιν Ἰουδαίοις " οἱ μὲν γὰρ οὔτε Ἰουδαίοις εὐνοοῦντες, ἐκοινώνουν αὐτοῖς τῆς — σπουδῆς, ὑπολαβόντες δύνασθαι κατορθοῦν — ψευδεῖς ἀπελέγξαι τοῦ Χριστοῦ τὰς προβῥήσεις " οἱ δὲ ἅμα τοῦτο διενοοῦντο, καιρὸν ἔχειν ᾧῴοντο ἀναστῆσαι τὸ ἱερόν. Ἐπεὶ δὲ τῆς προτέρας Ναπὶ οἰχοδομίας τὰ λείψανα καθεῖλον, ἀνέσχαψαν, τὸ ἔδαφος ἐξεχάθηραν,λέγεται τῆς ἐπιούσης, καθ᾽ πρῶτον θεμέλιον ἤμελλον ὑποτίθεσθαι, σεισμὸν γενέσθαι μέγαν ὑπὸ δὲ χλόνου τῆς γῆς βάθρων δοθῆναι τοὺς λίθους· Ἰουδαίων δ' ἀπολέσθαι οἳ τὸ ἔργον ἐπετρόπευον, καὶ ἐπὶ θέᾳ τούτου παρεγένοντο. Αἵ τε γὰρ πλησίον τοῦ ἱεροῦ οἰκίαι τε καὶ δημόσιαι στοαὶ ἐν αἷς κατέλυον, ἀθρόον κατεῤῥύησαν· καὶ οἱ πλείους ἐγκαταληφθέντες, οἱ μὲν αὐτίκα ἀπώλοντο • οἱ δὲ, ἡμιθνῆτες εὑρέθησαν, καὶ πεπηρωμένοι ἢ τὰς χεῖρας ἢ τὰ σκέλη· ἄλλοι δὲ, περὶ ἄλλα μέρη τοῦ σώματος ἐδυστύχησαν. Ὡς δὲ σείων ἔληξεν ὁ Θεὸς, αὖθις ἐπειρῶντο τοῦ ἔργου οἱ περιλειφθέντες, οἷά γε ἀπαραιτήτου τυγχάνοντος διὰ τὸ τοῦ βασιλέως πρόσταγμα, καὶ αὐτοῖς κατὰ νοῦν ὄντος. Φιλεῖ γάρ πως ἡ ἀνθρωπίνη φύσις, ἐν τοῖς καθ' ἡδονὴν πρὸς τὸ ἀσύμφορον ῥέπειν, καὶ τοῦτο μόνον συνοίσειν οἴεσθαι ὃ κατορθοῦν βούλεται· ἀτεχνῶς τε ὑπὸ τῆς ἐντεῦθεν ἀπάτης κεκρατημένη, οὔτε προμηθείᾳ τινὶ τὸ συμφέρον ἰδεῖν δύναται, οὔτε πείρᾳ κινδύνων σωφρονιζο. 215 μένη πρὸς τὸ δέον ἀνανήφει· ὁποῖον καὶ τοῖς Ἰοuδαίοις τότε συμβεβηκέναι ἡγοῦμαι. Ἱκανοῦ γὰρ ὄντος τοῦ προτέρου κωλύματος, καὶ φανερῶς ἐπιδείξαντος ὡς χαλεπαίνει τὸ Θεῖον ἐπὶ τῷ γινομένῳ, πάλιν ἀνήνυτα ἐσπούδαζον. Λόγος οὖν ἅμα τε τὸ δεύτερον ἐνεχείρουν τῷ ἔργῳ, καὶ πῦρ ἐξαίφνης ἐκ τῶν θεμελίων τοῦ ἱεροῦ ἀνέθορε, καὶ πολλοὺς ἀνήλωσε· καὶ τοῦτο πρὸς πάντων ἀδεῶς λέγεταί τε καὶ πιστεύεται, καὶ παρ᾿ οὐδενὸς ἀμφιβάλλεται· πλὴν ὅτι οἱ μέν φασιν, ὅτι βιαζομένους αὐτοὺς εἰς τὸ ἱερὸν προϊέναι, φλὸξ ἀπαντήσασα, τὸ εἰρημένον εἰργάσατο · οἱ δὲ, ἅμα ἤρξαντο τὸν χοῦν ἐκφορεῖν. Ἀλλ᾽ εἴτε τοῦτό τις, εἴτε τὸ πρότερον δέξαιτο, ἑκάτερον εἰς θαῦμα παραπλήσιον. Ἐπὶ τούτῳ δὲ καὶ ἄλλο ξυνηνέχθη, τοῦ προτέρου σαφέστερόν τε καὶ παραδοξότερον. Αὐτομάτως γὰρ πάντων ἡ ἐσθὴς τῷ σημείῳ τοῦ σταυροῦ κατεσημάνθη· καὶ τρόπον τινὰ ἄστρασι πεποικιλμένα τὰ ἐσθήματα εἶχον, ὡς ἀπὸ ἱστουργικῆς περινοίας κατεστιγμένα. Ἐκ τούτου δὲ, τοῖς μὲν αὐτίκα ἐκρίθη Θεὸν εἶναι τὸν Χριστὸν, καὶ μὴ ἀρεσθῆναι τῇ ἀνανεώσει τοῦ ναοῦ. Οἱ δὲ, οὐκ εἰς μακρὰν προσέθεντο τῇ Ἐκκλησίᾳ καὶ ἐμυήθησαν, καὶ ὕμνοις καὶ ἱκεσίαις ὑπὲρ τῶν τετολμημένων αὐτοῖς, τὸν Χριστὸν ἱλάσκοντο. Ταῦτα ὅτῳ πιστὰ οὐ καταφαίνεται, πιστούσθωσαν οἱ παρὰ τῶν θεασαμένων ἀκηκοότες ἔτι τῷ βίῳ περιόντες. Πιστούσθωσαν δὲ καὶ Ἰουδαῖοι καὶ Ἕλληνες, ἡμιτελὲς τὸ ἔργον καταλιπόντες · μᾶλλον δὲ, οὐδὲ ἄρξασθαι τοῦ ἔργου δυνηθέντες. ### English translation (Claude) The emperor, though he hated the Christians and was harsh toward them, was nevertheless well disposed and gentle toward the Jews. He wrote to their patriarchs and leaders and to the people itself, asking them to pray for him and his reign. He did this not, as I conjecture, because he approved of their religion — for he knew that it was, so to speak, the mother of the doctrine of the Christians, since it had the same prophets and patriarchs — but because the Jews had an implacable hatred toward the Christians, and by courting them he sought to grieve those he hated. Perhaps too he thought that they would be more readily led to paganism and sacrifices, since they understand the sacred books according to the letter only, and not, like the Christians and the wiser among themselves, by contemplation. With this in mind he set to work. Summoning the leaders of the nation, he urged them to keep the laws of Moses, reminding them of their ancestral customs. When they said that, since the temple in Jerusalem had been thrown down, it was neither lawful nor ancestral for those who had been driven from the mother city to do this elsewhere, he gave them public funds and ordered them to rebuild the temple and to worship as their forefathers had, sacrificing in the old way. They, not considering that according to the sacred prophecies this could not come about, set to the work zealously. Gathering skilled builders, they prepared the materials and cleared the site. They laboured at this with such eagerness that their women carried out the earth in their laps and readily contributed their necklaces and all their other female ornaments to the cost of the work. Everything else came second to the work, for the emperor and for all the other Jews. For some, though not well disposed toward the Jews, shared their zeal, supposing that they could succeed and prove Christ’s predictions false; while the Jews, for their part, thought that the time had come to raise up the temple. When they had taken down the remains of the former building, dug up and cleared the ground, it is said that on the next day, when they were about to lay the first foundation, a great earthquake occurred; by the shaking of the earth stones were thrown up from the foundations, and those of the Jews perished who were supervising the work and had come to watch it. For the houses near the temple and the public porticoes in which they were lodging suddenly collapsed; and most were caught, some dying at once, others found half dead and maimed in hands or legs, while others were injured in other parts of the body. When God ceased the shaking, those who were left tried the work again, since it was unavoidable because of the emperor’s order and was also to their own liking. For human nature somehow tends, in what pleases it, to lean toward what is harmful, and to think that only what it wishes to accomplish will be to its advantage; and simply overcome by the deception that arises from this, it can neither see its true interest by any foresight nor, chastened by experience of dangers, come to its senses to do what it should. Such, I think, was what happened then to the Jews. For though the first hindrance was enough and had clearly shown that the Divine was angry at what was being done, they again pursued what could not be accomplished. The account is that as soon as they set their hand to the work a second time, fire suddenly leapt up from the foundations of the temple and consumed many. And this is told and believed without hesitation by all, and is doubted by no one; except that some say that the flame met them as they were forcing their way into the temple and did what has been said, and others that it happened as soon as they began to carry out the earth. But whichever of these one accepts, each is an equal marvel. On this followed another thing, clearer and more astonishing than the former. Of their own accord the clothes of all were marked with the sign of the cross, and in a way they had their garments spangled as with stars, as if worked in by the art of weaving. From this some at once judged that Christ is God and that the renewal of the temple was not pleasing to him; and others not long after joined the church, were initiated, and with hymns and supplications sought to propitiate Christ for what they had dared. To anyone to whom these things do not seem credible, let those still alive who heard them from eyewitnesses confirm them; and let the Jews and pagans confirm them, who left the work half finished — or rather, were not even able to begin it. ### Scripture references - Matt 24:2: allusion, medium confidence - Dan 9:26–27: echo, low confidence ### Translation notes - Translated exactly as Sozomen tells it; his account of the Jews’ motives and of the wonders is his own. The attempt is dated 363; Ammianus Marcellinus 23.1.2–3, a pagan writer, also reports “balls of fire” breaking out from the foundations. - “Some, though not well disposed toward the Jews”: the subject is garbled in the scan; NPNF² 2 and the context make it the pagans. - The “sacred prophecies” are those of Christ (Matt 24:2; Luke 21:6) and Dan 9:26–27. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 5.22 (PG 67:1281–1285; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/5-22). ## Church History 6.1 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/5-22/#p-6-1 - Source: PG 67:1287–1291 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Julian’s Persian campaign: the crossing of the Tigris, the retreat misled by a Persian guide, and his death from an unknown horseman’s spear, with Libanius’s claim that the slayer was a Christian. ### Greek text Ὅσα μὲν δὴ ἐν τῇ Ἰουλιανοῦ βασιλείᾳ συγχυρῆσαε ταῖς Ἐκκλησίαις ἔγνων, ἐν τοῖς πρόσθεν δεδήλωταςε. δὲ ἦρι ἀρχομένῳ, δόξαν αὐτῷ ἐπιστρατεῦσαι Πέρσαις, ἐν τάχει διέβη τὸν Εὐφράτην ποταμόν " παραδραμών τε τὴν "Ἔδεσαν, διὰ μῖσος ἴσως τῶν ἐνοικούντων, ἐπεὶ ἀρχῆθεν πανδημεὶ Χριστιανίζειν ἔλαχεν ἧδε ἡ πόλις, ἧκεν εἰς Κάῤῥας " ἔνθα δὴ Διὸς ἱερὸν εὑρὼν, ἔθυσε καὶ ηὔξατο. Τὸ δὲ ἀπὸ τούτου, ἐχ τῶν ἑπομένων στρατευμάτων ἀμφὶ δισμυρίους ὁπλίτας ἐπὶ Τίγρητα ποταμὸν ἔπεμψε, φυλακῆς ἕνεκα τῶν τόπων, καὶ εἰς καιρὸν αὐτῷ παρεσημένους, συμμαχοῦντι Ῥωμαίοις, ἔγραψε συμμίξαι περὶ τὴν πολεμίαν. ᾿Απαυθαδειασάμενός τε πέραν τοῦ μετρίου ἐν τῇ ἐπιστολῇ, καὶ αὐτὸν μὲν ἐξάρας ὡς ἐπιτήδειον πρὸς ἡγεμονίαν, καὶ φίλον οἷς ἐνόμιζε θεοῖς, Κωνσταντίῳ τε ὃν διεδέξατο, ὡς ἀνάνδρῳ καὶ ἀσεβεῖ λοιδορησάμενος, ὑδριστικχῶς μάλα ἠπείλησεν αὐτῷ " ἐπεὶ Χριστιανὸν ὄντα ἐπυνθάνετο, ἐπιτείνων τὴν ὕδριν, ἣ βλασφημεῖν ἃ μὴ θέμις σπουδάζων εἰς τὸν Χριστὸν (τοῦτο γὰρ εἰώθει παρ᾽ ἔχαστα τολμᾷν), ἀπεχόμπασεν ὑποδηλῶν, ὡς οὐχ ἐπαμύνοι ὃν ἡγεῖται Θεὸν ὁλιγωροῦντι τῶν προστεταγμένων. ᾿ἘἘπεὶ δὲ ταῦτα καλῶς ἔχειν ἐνόμισε, παραλαθδὼν τὴν Ῥωμαίων στρατιὰν, διὰ τῆς ᾿Ασσυρίων. Καὶ πηλέμῳ εἶλεν, ἀπερισκέπτως τε εἰς τὸ πρόσθεν ᾔει, μηδὲν τῶν κατόπιν προνοῶν, καὶ ὅτι γε δεήσει τὴν αὐτὴν πάλιν ἐπανελθεῖν. ᾿Αλλ' ὅπερ ἤρει, δεινῶς ἐπόρθει · ταμεῖά τε καὶ τ᾿ ἄλλα, τὰ μὲν κατέσκαπτε, τὰ δ᾽ ἐπίμπρα. Πορευόμενος δὲ παρὰ τὸν Εὐφράτην, οὐ πόῤῥωθεν ἀφίκετο Κτησιφῶντος. Πόλις δὲ αὕτη μεγάλη, καὶ τὰ Περσῶν βασίλεια νῦν ἀντὶ Βαβυλῶνος ἔχουσα · ῥεῖ δὲ αὐτῆς οὐκ ἀπὸ πολλοῦ ὁ Τίγρης. Ως δὲ ταῖς ναυσὶν οὐκ ἐχώρει διὰ τὴν μέσην γῆν τῷ Κτησιφῶντι προσελθεῖν, ἀλλ᾽ ἐπ᾿ ἀνάγκης ἐφαίνετο, ἢ τὴν πόλιν παριέναι, ἢ τῶν πλοίων καταφρονεῖν, ἀνακρίνας τινὰς τῶν αἰχμαλώτων, εὖρε διώρυγα ναυσίπορον ἀναχωσθεῖσαν τῷ χρόνῳ · καὶ διατεμών τὸ διεῖργον, εἴλκυσε τὸν Εὐφράτην ἐπὶ τὸν Τίγρητα. Ταύτῃ τε τῷ στρατῷ παραπλεούσας ἔχων τὰς ναῦς, ἐπὶ τὴν πόλιν ἐχώρει. Σὺν πολλῇ δὲ παρασκευῇ ἱππέων, καὶ ὁπλιτῶν, καὶ ἐλεφάντων, τῶν Περσῶν φανέντων ἐπὶ τοῖς ὄχθοις τοῖς τοῦ Τίγρητος, ἰδὼν ἐν πολεμίᾳ γῇ μέσον δύο μεγίστων ποταμῶν πολιορκουμένην αὐτῷ τὴν στρατιάν, καὶ λιμῷ διαφθαρῆναι κινδυνεύουσαν, ἤντε μένοιεν αὐτόθι, ἤντε τὴν αὐτὴν ὁδὸν ὑποστρέφοιεν, τῶν πόλεων καὶ τῶν κωμῶν δι᾿ ὧν ἦλθον καθῃρημένων, καὶ τὰ ἐπιτήδεια μὴ έχουσῶν, κέλησιν ἆθλα προσθεὶς, ἐπὶ θέαν ἱπποδρομίας τοὺς στρατιώτας ἐκάθισεν. Ἐν τούτῳ δὲ τοὺς προεστῶτας τῶν πλοίων ἐκέλευσεν ἀποβαλεῖν τὰ φορτία καὶ τὸ σιτηρέσιον τῆς στρατιᾶς, ὅπως ἐν κινδύνῳ σφᾶς ἰδόντες οἱ στρατιῶται, ὡς ἐπυθόμην, ἀπορίᾳ τῶν ἐπιτηδείων εἰς θράσος τράπωνται, καὶ προθυμό τερον τοῖς πολεμίοις μαχέσωνται. Συγκαλέσας δὲ τοὺς στρατηγοὺς ὁ βασιλεὺς καὶ τοὺς ταξιάρχας μετὰ τὸ δεῖπνον, ἐνεβίβασε τοὺς στρατιώτας εἰς τὰς ναῦς. Οἱ δὲ, ἐν νυκτὶ τὸν Τίγρητα πλεύσαντες, ἤδη πρὸς ταῖς πέραν ὄχθαις ἦσαν, καὶ ἐξέβαινον. Τῶν δὲ Περσῶν, οἱ μὲν αἰσθόμενοι ἠμύνοντο, καὶ ἀλλήλοις παρεκελεύοντο. Τοῖς δὲ ἔτι καθεύδουσιν, ἐπέστησαν οἱ Ῥωμαῖοι. Καὶ ἡμέρας ἐπιγενομένης, εἰς μάχην καθίσταντο · πολλούς τε ἀποβαλόντες καὶ κτείναντες, διέβησαν εἰς τὸν ποταμόν· καὶ τότε μὲν πρὸ τῆς Κτησιφῶντος ἐστρατοπεδεύοντο. Δόξαν δὲ τῷ βασιλεῖ μηκέτι περαιτέρω χωρεῖν, ἀλλ᾽ εἰς τὴν ἀρχομένην ἐπανελθεῖν, τὰς ναῦς ἐμπρήσαντες, ὡς διὰ τὴν φυλακήν τούτων πολλῶν ἀπομάχων ὄντων, τὴν ἐπάν οδον έποιοῦντο, ἐν ἀριστερᾷ Τίγρητα ποταμὸν ἔχοντες. Ἡγουμένων δὲ τῶν αἰχμαλώτων, τὰ μὲν πρῶτα ἀπήλαυον χώρας εὐφόρου καὶ πάντα ἐπιτήδεια ἐχούσης. Μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα, πρεσβύτης τις ἐλόμενος ἀποθα-· νεῖν ὑπὲρ τῆς πάντων Περσῶν ἐλευθερίας, ἐπίτηδες ἁλῶναι φανεὶς, ὡς ἄκων συλληφθεὶς ἄγεται παρὰ τὸν ἡγούμενον. Ανακριθείς τε περὶ τῆς ὁδοῦ, καὶ δόξας ἀληθῆ λέγειν, ἔπεισεν ἵν᾿ αὐτῷ ἔπωνται, τὴν ταχίστην τοῖς Ῥωμαίων ὅροις ἐπιστήσειν τὴν στρατιάν · μόνον δὲ τριῶν ἢ τεσσάρων ἡμερῶν χαλεπὴν ἔσεσθαι τὴν πορείαν· καὶ χρῆναι τούτων σιτία φέρεσθαι, τῆς γῆς ἐρήμου οὔσης. Ὑπαχθείς τε ὁ βασιλεὺς τοῦ σοφοῦ πρεσβύτου τοῖς λόγοις, ἐδοκίμασε ταύτῃ πορευτέον. Ἐπεὶ δὲ προσωτέρω χωροῦντες, καὶ μετὰ τρεῖς ἡμέρας ἐνέβαλον τόποις, ὁ μὲν γέρων ὁ αἰχμάλωτος βασανιζόμενος, ὡμολόγησεν ὑπὲρ τῶν οἰκείων αὐτομολῆσαι πρὸς θάνατον, καὶ ἕτοιμος εἶναι πάντα προθύμως ὑπομένειν. ᾿Αλυούσης δὲ τῆς στρατιᾶς, τῷ τε μήκει τῆς ὁδοῦ, καὶ τῇ ἐνδείᾳ τῶν ἐπιτηδείων, ἤδη τεταλαιπωρηκόσι, Περσική παράταξις ἐπέθετο. Καρτερᾶς δὲ μάχης συστάσης, ἐξαπίνης βίαιος ἀνακινηθεὶς ἄνεμος, τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὸν ἥλιον τοῖς νέφεσιν ἐκάλυψε, τῷ δὲ ἀέρι τὴν κόνιν ἀνέμιξε. Σκότους δὲ καὶ πολλῆς ἀχλύος οὔσης, παραδραμών τις ἱππεὺς φέρει ἐπὶ τὸν βασιλέα τὸ δόρυ, καὶ παίει καιρίαν· καὶ τοῦ ἵππου καταβαλών, ὅστις ἦν ἀπῆλθε λαθών. Λέγουσι δὲ, οἱ μὲν Πέρσην, οἱ δὲ ( Σαρακηνὸν εἶναι τοῦτον. Εἰσὶ δὲ οἱ Ῥωμαῖον στρατιώτην εἶναι τοῦτον ἰσχυρίζονται, καὶ ἐπενηνοχέναι αὐτῷ τὴν πληγὴν, ἀγανακτήσαντα καθότι ἀβουλίᾳ καὶ θρασύτητι τοσούτοις περιέβαλε κινδύνοις τὴν στρατιάν. Λιβάνιος δὲ ὁ Σύρος σοφιστὴς, τὰ μάλιστα συνήθης καὶ φίλος αὐτῷ γεγονὼς, τάδε περὶ τοῦ κτείναντος αὐτὸν γράφει. Τις οὖν ὁ κτείνας, ποθεῖ τις ἀκοῦσαι. Τοὔνομα μὲν οὐκ οἶδα· τοῦ δὲ μὴ πολέμιον εἶναι τὸν κτείναντα, σημεῖον ἐναργὲς, τὸ μηδένα πολέμιον ἐπὶ τῇ πληγῇ τετιμῆσθαι. Καίτοι διὰ κηρύκων ὁ Πέρσης ἐκάλει πρὸς γέρας τὸν ἀπεκτονότα, καὶ μεγάλων ὑπῆρχε τῷ φανέντι τυχεῖν· ἀλλ᾽ ὅμως οὐδ᾽ ἔρωτι γερῶν ἠλαζονεύσατο. Καὶ πολλή γε τοῖς πολεμίοις ἡ χάρις, ὅτι ὧν οὐκ ἔδρασαν, οὐ προσέθεντο τὴν δόξαν, ἀλλ᾽ ἔδοσαν ἡμῖν παρ' ἡμῖν αὐτοῖς τὸν σφαγέα ζητεῖν. Οἷς γὰρ οὐκ ἐλυσιτέλει ζῶν, οὗτοι δὲ ἦσαν οἱ ζῶντες οὐ κατὰ τοὺς νόμους, πάλαι τε ἐπεβούλευον, καὶ τότε δυνηθέντες εἰργάσαντο · τῆς τε ἄλλης ἀδικίας ἀναγκαζούσης, οὐκ ἐχούσης ἐπὶ τῆς ἐκείνου βασιλείας ἐξουσίαν · καὶ μάλιστά γε τοῦ τιμᾶσθαι τοὺς θεοὺς, οὗ τοὐναντίον ἐζήτουν. ### English translation (Claude) What I learned of the events that befell the churches in the reign of Julian has been set out above. At the beginning of spring, having resolved to march against the Persians, Julian quickly crossed the river Euphrates. Passing by Edessa, perhaps out of hatred of its inhabitants, since this city had from the beginning been Christian to a man, he came to Carrhae, where he found a temple of Zeus, and sacrificed and prayed. After this he sent about twenty thousand armed men from the troops that followed him to the river Tigris to guard those parts and to be ready for him when needed; and he wrote to … , who was an ally of the Romans, to join him in the enemy’s country. In the letter he behaved with arrogance beyond measure, extolling himself as fit to rule and as a friend of those he considered gods, and reviling Constantius, whom he had succeeded, as unmanly and impious; and he threatened him very insolently. Since he had learned that he was a Christian, he increased the insult, and, eager to utter unlawful blasphemies against Christ — for he was accustomed to dare this on every occasion — he boasted, hinting that the one whom he held to be God would not help him if he neglected the orders given him. When he had arranged these things as he thought best, he took the Roman army through Assyria … and took by war …; and he went forward heedlessly, taking no thought for what lay behind, or that he would have to return the same way. But what he took he ravaged terribly; storehouses and other things he razed or burned. Marching along the Euphrates, he came not far from Ctesiphon. This is a great city, which now holds the palace of the Persians instead of Babylon; and the Tigris flows not far from it. Since he could not approach Ctesiphon with his ships because of the land between, and it seemed necessary either to pass by the city or to abandon the vessels, he questioned some of the prisoners and found a navigable canal that had been silted up over time; and cutting through the barrier, he drew the Euphrates into the Tigris. In this way, with the ships sailing alongside the army, he advanced on the city. When the Persians appeared on the banks of the Tigris with a great force of cavalry, infantry and elephants, he saw that his army was besieged in enemy country between two very great rivers and was in danger of perishing from hunger, whether they stayed there or returned by the same road, since the cities and villages through which they had come had been destroyed and had no provisions. So, offering prizes for horse races, he seated the soldiers to watch a horse race. Meanwhile he ordered the masters of the ships to throw away their cargoes and the army’s grain, so that the soldiers, as I have learned, seeing themselves in danger through want of provisions, might turn to boldness and fight the enemy more eagerly. After supper the emperor called together the generals and the officers, and put the soldiers on board the ships. They sailed across the Tigris by night, were already at the further banks, and began to land. Of the Persians, some perceived it, resisted, and urged one another on; and the Romans fell upon others who were still asleep. When day came they joined battle; and having lost many and killed many, they crossed the river, and for the time encamped before Ctesiphon. The emperor having decided to go no further but to return to the Roman empire, they burned the ships, since many men were kept out of the fighting to guard them, and made their way back with the river Tigris on their left. Under the guidance of the prisoners, they at first enjoyed a fertile country with every provision. But after this an old man who had chosen to die for the freedom of all the Persians, letting himself be caught on purpose as if taken against his will, was brought to the commander. Questioned about the road, and seeming to tell the truth, he persuaded them to follow him, saying he would bring the army by the quickest way to the Roman frontier; only for three or four days would the march be hard, and they would need to carry provisions for that time, as the land was desert. The emperor, led on by the words of the clever old man, decided that they must go that way. When they had gone further and after three days had entered … places, the old prisoner, under torture, confessed that he had deserted to his death for the sake of his own people, and was ready to endure everything gladly. When the army was distressed and already worn out by the length of the road and the want of provisions, a Persian force attacked. During a fierce battle a violent wind suddenly arose, covered the sky and the sun with clouds, and mixed the dust with the air. In the darkness and the thick gloom a horseman rode by, bore his spear against the emperor, struck him a mortal blow, threw him from his horse, and went away unrecognized. Some say he was a Persian, others a Saracen. There are those who maintain that he was a Roman soldier, who dealt him the blow in indignation because by his folly and rashness he had brought the army into such dangers. Libanius the Syrian sophist, who had been his close companion and friend, writes this about the one who killed him: “Who then was the slayer, someone longs to hear. I do not know the name; but that the slayer was not an enemy there is clear evidence: that no enemy was honoured for the blow. And yet the Persian king summoned by heralds the one who had killed him to receive a reward, and it would have been possible for him who came forward to obtain great things; but not even from love of rewards did anyone boast of it. And great thanks are due to the enemy that they did not claim the glory of what they had not done, but left us to seek the slayer among ourselves. For those to whom it was not profitable that he should live — and these were those who live not according to the laws — had long been plotting, and then, when they were able, they did it; their other wickedness, which had no licence under his reign, compelling them, and above all the honouring of the gods, the opposite of which they were seeking.” ### Extrabiblical texts - Libanius, Or. 24 (Libanius, Orations): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The scan has lost several words: the name of the ally to whom Julian wrote (Arsaces, king of Armenia, in NPNF² 2), and words in the account of the march through Assyria; the gaps are marked “…”. - The Libanius quotation is from his Oration 24 (On Avenging Julian); it is not on this site. Translated from the Greek as Sozomen quotes it. - Julian died on 26 June 363. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 6.1 (PG 67:1287–1291; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/6-1). ## Church History 6.2 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/5-22/#p-6-2 - Source: PG 67:1293–1297 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Sozomen weighs whether a Christian killed Julian, and reports visions announcing his death, a churchman’s prophecy, the story of Julian flinging his blood to the sky, and the disasters of his reign, including the tidal wave at Alexandria. ### Greek text Καὶ ὁ μὲν Λιβάνιος ὧδέ πη γράφων, Χριστιανὸν ἔσεσθαι ὑποδηλοῖ Ἰουλιανοῦ τὸν σφαγέα· ἴσως δὲ καὶ ἀληθές. Οὐ γὰρ ἀπεικὸς, τινὰ τῶν τότε στρατευομένων εἰς νοῦν λαβεῖν, ὡς Ἕλληνες καὶ πάντες ἄνθρωποι, μέχρι νῦν τοὺς πάλαι τυραννοκτόνους ἐπαινοῦσιν, ὡς ὑπὲρ τῆς πάντων ἐλευθερίας ἑλομένους ἀποθανεῖν, καὶ πολίταις, ἢ συγγενέσιν, ἢ φίλοις προθύμως ἐπαμύνοντας. Σχολῇ γε ἄν τις καὶ αὐτῷ μέμψαιτοἱ, διὰ Θεὸν καὶ θρησκείαν ἣν ἐπήνεσεν ἀνδρείῳ γενομένῳ. Ἐγὼ δὲ, ὅστις μὲν τῇ σφαγῇ ταύτῃ διηκονήσατο, πλὴν τῶν εἰρημένων οὐδὲν ἀκριβῶ. Ὡς δὲ συμφωνοῦντες οἱ λέγοντες ἰσχυρίζονται, ἀψευδὴς λόγος εἰς ἡμᾶς ἦλθε, κατὰ θεομηνίαν αὐτὸν ἀναιρεθῆναι. Καὶ τούτου ἀπόδειξις, θεία ὄψις, ἣν τινὰ τῶν ἐπιτηδείων αὐτῷ ἰδεῖν ἐπυθόμην. Λέγεται γὰρ, ἐπειδὴ πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐν Πέρσαις ὄντα ἠπείγετο, ἔν τινι χωρίῳ καταλῦσαι τῆς λεωφόρου, καὶ ἀπορίᾳ οἰκήματος ἐν τῇ ἐνθάδε ἐκκλησίᾳ καθευδῆσαι · καὶ ὕπαρ ἢ ὄναρ ἰδεῖν, ὡς εἰς ταὐτὸν συνελθόντες πολλοὶ τῶν ἀποστόλων καὶ τῶν προφητῶν, ἀπωδύροντο τὴν εἰς τὰς Ἐκκλησίας τοῦ κρατοῦντος ὕβριν, καὶ ὅ τι χρὴ ποιεῖν ἐβουλεύοντο. Ἐπὶ πολὺ δὲ περὶ τούτου διαλογιζομένων καὶ ὥσπερ διαπορουμένων, ἀναστάντες ἐκ μέσων δύο, θαῤῥεῖν τοῖς ἄλλοις παρεκελεύσαντο· καὶ ὡς ἐπὶ καθαιρέσει τῆς Ἰουλιανοῦ ἀρχῆς ὁρμῶντες, σπουδῇ τὸν σύλλογον κατέλιπον. Ὁ δὲ ἄνθρωπος ὃς τῶν παραδόξων τούτων ἐγεγόνει θεατὴς, τῆς μὲν ὁδοιπορίας ὠλιγώρει λοιπόν · ὀῤῥωδῶν δὲ πῆ ἄρα ἐκβήσεται τὸ τέλος τῆς τοιαύτης ὄψεως, πάλιν ἐνθάδε καθεύδων, τὸν αὐτὸν ἰδεῖν σύλλογον, ἐξαπίνης τε ὡς ἀπὸ ὁδοῦ εἰσεληλυθότας οἱ τῇ προτεραίᾳ νυκτὶ ἐπεστράτευσαν Ἰουλιανῷ, καὶ ἀναγγεῖλαι τοῖς ἄλλοις, ἀνῃρῆσθαι τοῦτον. Κατ' ἐκείνην δὲ τὴν ἡμέραν καὶ Δίδυμος ὁ ἐκκλησιαστικὸς φιλόσοφος ἐν ᾿Αλεξανδρείᾳ διατρίβων, οἷά γε τοῦ βασιλέως εἰς τὴν θρησκείαν διασφαλέντος, περίλυπος ὢν, διὰ τε αὐτὸν ὡς πεπλανημένον, καὶ διὰ τὴν κατα φρόνησιν τῶν Ἐκκλησιῶν, ἐνήστευέ τε καὶ τὸν Θεὸν περὶ τούτου ἱκέτευεν. Ὑπὸ δὲ τῆς μερίμνης, οὐδὲ τῆς νυκτὸς ἐπιγενομένης μεταλαβών τροφῆς, ἐπὶ θρόνου καθεζόμενος, εἰς ὕπνον ἠνέχθη. Καὶ ὡς ἐν ἐκστάσει γεγονώς, ἔδοξεν ὁρᾶν ἵππους λευκοὺς ἐν τῷ ἀέρι διατρέχοντας · τοὺς δὲ ἐπ᾿ αὐτῶν ὀχουμένους κηρύττειν · ᾿Αγγείλατε Διδύμῳ, σήμερον περὶ τήνδε τὴν ὥραν Ἰουλιανὸν ἀνῃρῆσθαι· καὶ ᾿Αθανασίῳ τῷ ἐπισκόπῳ τοῦτο μηνυσάτω· καὶ ἀναστὰς ἐστιέτω. ἃ μὲν τεθέαται ὅ τε Ἰουλιανοῦ οἰκεῖος, καὶ ὁ φιλόσοφος, ὧδε γενέσθαι ἐπυθόμην. Καὶ οὐδέτερος ἐν οἷς τεθέατο, τῆς ἀληθείας διήμαρτεν, ὡς ἐμηνύθη ὕστερον. Ὁ δὲ ταῦτα οὐκ ἀρκεῖ εἰς ἀπόδειξιν τοῦ θεόθεν αὐτὸν ἀναιρεθῆναι, ὡς ταῖς Ἐκκλησίαις αὐτοῦ λυμαινόμενον, καὶ τὴν προφητείαν εἰς νοῦν λαμβάνει ἣν ἐκκλησιαστικὸς ἀνὴρ προηγόρευσε. Μέλλοντος γὰρ αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ Πέρσας στρατεύειν, καὶ μετὰ τὸν πόλεμον κακῶς ποιήσειν τὰς Ἐκκλησίας ἐπαπειλοῦντος, καὶ ἐπιτωθάζοντος ὡς οὐδὲν αὐτοῖς ἐπαμύνειν δυνήσεται ὁ τοῦ τέκτονος υἱός· ὠδὶ λέγων ἀπεφήνατο· Οὗτος δὲ ὁ τοῦ τέκτονος υἱὸς θήκην αὐτῷ ξυλίνην πρὸς θάνατον κατασκευάζει· οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτὸς μετὰ τὴν πληγὴν ἀμωσγέπως συνῆκεν ὅθεν ἐβλάβη, καὶ τὸ αἴτιον τῆς συμφορᾶς οὐ παντελῶς ἠγνόησε. Λέγεται γὰρ ὅτε ἑτρώθη, αἷμα ἐκ τῆς ὠτειλῆς ἀρυσάμενος, εἰς τὸν αἰθέρα ἀκοντίσαι, οἷά γε πρὸς φαινόμενον τὸν Χριστὸν ἀφορῶν, καὶ τῆς ἰδίας σφαγῆς αὐτὸν ἐπαιτιώμενος. Οἱ δὲ φασιν, ὡς πρὸς τὸν ἥλιον ἀγανακτῶν κ, ὅτι Πέρσαις ἐπήμυνεν, ἢ αὐτὸν οὐ διέσωσεν, ἔφορος ὢν τῆς αὐτοῦ γενέσεως κατά τινα τοιαύτην ἀστρονομικὴν ἱστορίαν, τῇ χειρὶ τὸ αἷμα ἐπιδείξας, εἰς τὸν ἀέρα ἡκόντισεν. Εἰ δὲ ἀληθῶς μέλλων τελευτᾶν, οἷάπερ εἰώθει συμβαίνειν, τῆς ψυχῆς ἤδη χωριζομένης τοῦ σώματος, καὶ θειότερα ἢ κατὰ ἄνθρωπον θεωρεῖν δυναμένης, τὸν Χριστὸν ἐθεάσατο, οὐκ ἔχω λέγειν· οὐ γὰρ πολλῶν ὅδε ὁ λόγος· οὔτε δὲ ὡς ψεῦδος ἐκβαλεῖν θαῤῥῶ· ἐπεὶ οὐκ ἀπεικὸς καὶ τῶνδε θαυμαστότερα συμβῆναι, εἰς ἐπίδειξιν τοῦ μὴ ἀνθρωπείᾳ σπουδῇ συστῆναι τὴν ἐπώνυμον Χριστοῦ θρησκείαν. Αμέλειτοι παρὰ πάντα τὸν χρόνον ταυτησὶ τῆς βασιλείας ἀγανακτῶν ὁ Θεὸς εφαίνετο· καὶ παντοδαπαῖς συμφοραῖς ἐν πολλοῖς ἔθνεσιν ἐπέτριψε τὴν Ῥωμαίων ὑπήκοον. Τῆς τε γὰρ γῆς συνεχῶς ὑπὸ χαλεπωτάτων σεισμῶν τινασσομένης, καὶ τῶν οἰκημάτων ἐρειπομένων, οὐκ ἀσφαλὲς ἦν οἴκοι, οὔτε αἰθρίους διατρίβειν. Συμβάλλω δὲ ἐξ ὧν ἐπυθόμην, ἢ βασιλεύοντος αὐτοῦ, ἢ κατὰ τὸ δεύτερον σχῆμα τῆς βασιλείας ὄντος, καὶ τὸ συμβὰν τοῖς πρὸς Αἴγυπτον ᾿Αλεξανδρεῦσι γέγονε πάθος· ἡνίκα δὴ ἡ θάλασσα ὑπονοστήσασα, αὖθις ἐξ ἐπιδρομῆς τοὺς ἰδίους ὅρους παρήμειψε, καὶ μέχρι πολλοῦ τὴν ξηρὰν κατέκλυσεν· ὡς καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν κεράμων, ἀποχωρήσαντος τοῦ ὕδατος, θαλάττια εὑρεθῆναι σκάφη. Αμέλειτοι τὴν ἡμέραν καθ᾽ ἣν τάδε συνέβη, ἣν γενέσια τοῦ σεισμοῦ προσαγορεύουσιν, εἰσέτι καὶ νῦν ᾿Αλεξανδρεῖς ἐτησίαν ἑορτὴν ἄγουσι. Λύχνους τε πλείστους ἀνὰ πᾶσαν τὴν πόλιν καίοντες, καὶ χαριστηρίους λιτὰς τῷ Θεῷ προσφέροντες, λαμπρῶς μάλα καὶ εὐλαβῶς ταύτην ἐπιτελοῦσιν. Οὐ μὴν, ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐχμοὶ ἐπιτείναντες, πάντας τοὺς καρποὺς καὶ τὸν ἀέρα ἐπὶ ταύτης τῆς βασιλείας ἐλυμήναντο. Ἐντεῦθεν σπάνει τῶν ἐπιτηδείων, ἐπὶ τὰς τῶν ἀλόγων ζώων τροφάς τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ἤλαυνεν ὁ λιμός. Ἐπακολουθῶν δὲ καὶ ὁ λοιμὸς, ἰδίας ἐπῆγε νόσους, καὶ τὰ σώματα διέφθειρε. Τὰ μὲν δὴ κατὰ Ἰουλιανὸν ὧδε ἔσχε. ### English translation (Claude) Libanius, writing somewhat in this way, hints that Julian’s slayer was a Christian; and perhaps it is true. For it is not unlikely that one of those then serving in the army took to heart that the Greeks and all mankind until now praise the tyrant-slayers of old, as men who chose to die for the freedom of all and eagerly came to the defence of fellow citizens or kinsmen or friends. One could hardly blame him, either, if he showed himself brave for God and the religion he approved. As for who it was that carried out this slaying, I know nothing exactly beyond what has been said. But, as those who tell it assert in agreement, a trustworthy account has come to us that he was killed by the wrath of God. And the proof of this is a divine vision which I have learned one of his associates saw. For it is said that when this man was hastening to him in Persia, he stopped at a place on the highway and, for want of lodging, slept in the church there; and, awake or in a dream, he saw many of the apostles and prophets gathered together, lamenting the ruler’s outrage against the churches and deliberating what ought to be done. After they had debated this a long time and were, as it were, at a loss, two rose from their midst, told the others to take courage, and left the assembly in haste, as if setting out to overthrow Julian’s rule. The man who had beheld these marvels thought no more of his journey; but, anxious about how the vision would turn out, he slept there again, saw the same assembly, and saw those who on the previous night had gone out against Julian suddenly come in as if from a journey and announce to the others that he had been killed. On that same day Didymus too, the church’s philosopher who lived at Alexandria, being deeply grieved because the emperor had erred concerning religion, both for his sake as one gone astray and because of his contempt for the churches, was fasting and entreating God about this. Through his anxiety, not even taking food when night came on, he fell asleep as he sat on his chair. And as if in an ecstasy he seemed to see white horses running through the air and their riders proclaiming: “Tell Didymus: today, about this hour, Julian has been killed; and let him make this known to Athanasius the bishop, and let him rise and eat.” What the associate of Julian and the philosopher saw happened in this way, as I have learned; and neither of them missed the truth in what he saw, as was reported later. If these things do not suffice anyone as proof that he was killed by God because he was ravaging the churches, let him consider the prophecy that a churchman made beforehand. When Julian was about to march against the Persians, and threatened to harm the churches after the war, and mocked that the carpenter’s son would be able to help them not at all, the churchman declared, saying: “This carpenter’s son is making him a wooden coffin for his death.” Moreover, Julian himself after the blow somehow understood whence he had been struck and was not wholly ignorant of the cause of his calamity. For it is said that when he was wounded, he took blood from the wound and hurled it into the air, as though looking at Christ appearing and blaming him for his own slaying. Others say that, angry at the sun because it had helped the Persians, or had not saved him though it was the overseer of his birth according to some such astrological account, he showed the blood with his hand and flung it into the air. Whether, being truly about to die, as tends to happen when the soul is already separating from the body and is able to see things more divine than is possible to man, he saw Christ, I cannot say; for this account is not held by many. Yet I dare not reject it as false either; since it is not unlikely that even more marvellous things than these have happened, to show that the religion named after Christ was not established by human effort. Certainly through all the time of this reign God was seen to be angry, and he afflicted the Roman empire with calamities of every kind in many provinces. For the earth was continually shaken by very severe earthquakes and buildings fell, so that it was safe neither to stay at home nor in the open air. I conjecture from what I have learned that it was either while he was reigning, or when he was in the second rank of the empire, that the calamity befell the Alexandrians in Egypt, when the sea, having receded, came back in a rush and overstepped its own bounds and flooded the dry land far inland, so that when the water withdrew, sea-going boats were found on the roofs. Indeed, to this day the Alexandrians keep as a yearly festival the day on which this happened, which they call the birthday of the earthquake; lighting many lamps throughout the city and offering prayers of thanksgiving to God, they celebrate it very splendidly and devoutly. Moreover, droughts also set in, and in this reign ruined all the crops and the air. Hence through scarcity of provisions famine drove people to the food of beasts; and pestilence, following on it, brought its own diseases and destroyed bodies. Such were the events of Julian’s time. ### Translation notes - The first words of the staged text are the end of the chapter title and are removed by a correction. - Two displaced fragments in the scan (a stray repeat of “One could hardly blame him” and the words “I conjecture from what I have learned, either while he was reigning”) stood inside the account of Didymus; they are restored to the sentence on the Alexandrian tidal wave by corrections. - Sozomen’s defence of a possible Christian slayer is translated as written. The Alexandrian tidal wave is usually dated 21 July 365, under Valens. - The churchman’s retort about the carpenter’s son is told of the teacher Libanius met at Antioch in Theodoret, Hist. eccl. 3.23. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 6.2 (PG 67:1293–1297; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/6-2). ## Church History 6.3 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/5-22/#p-6-3 - Source: PG 67:1297–1299 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Jovian, elected by the army, declares himself a Christian, makes peace with Persia, restores Christian worship and privileges, and makes the seduction or marriage of consecrated virgins a capital crime. ### Greek text Μετὰ δὲ τοῦτον, κοινῇ συνθήκῃ τοῦ στρατοπέδου παραλαμβάνει τὴν βασιλείαν Ἰοβιανός. Ἡνίκα δὴ ἐν τῇ πολεμίᾳ αὐτοκράτορα χειροτονούντων αὐτὸν τῶν στρατευμάτων, αὐτὸς Χριστιανὸν αὐτὸν εἶναι λέγων, παρῃτεῖτο τὴν ἡγεμονίαν, καὶ τὰ σύμβολα τῆς βασιλείας οὐ προσίετο, εἰσότε δὴ καὶ ἡ στρατιὰ μαθοῦσα τῆς παραιτήσεως τὴν αἰτίαν, Χριστιανοὺς εἶναι σφᾶς ἐκέκραγον. Ἐν κινδύνῳ δὲ καὶ ταραχῇ τῶν πραγμάτων ὄντων ἐκ τῆς Ἰουλιανοῦ στρατηγίας, καμνούσης τε τῆς στρατιᾶς ἐνδείᾳ τῶν ἐπιτηδείων, ἀναγκαῖον εἶδεν εἰς συμβάσεις ἐλθεῖν, παραδούς τινα Πέρσαις τῶν προτέρων Ῥωμαίοις ὑποτελῶν. Τῇ δὲ πείρᾳ μαθὼν, ὑπὸ θεομηνίας τοῦ πρὸ αὐτοῦ βασιλεύσαντος κακῶς παθεῖν ὑπήκοον, μηδὲν μελλήσας, ἔγραψε τοῖς ἡγουμένοις τῶν ἐθνῶν ἐν ταῖς Ἐκκλησίαις ἀθροίζεσθαι, καὶ τὸ θεῖον ἐπιμελῶς θεραπεύειν, καὶ μόνην εἶναι σέβας τοῖς ἀρχομένοις ἢ καὶ πειθοῖ προσφθαρέντες, οἷά γε φιλεῖ τῆς αἰσχρᾶς τὴν τῶν Χριστιανῶν πίστιν. ᾿Απέδωκε δὲ καὶ τὰς ἀτελείας ταῖς Ἐκκλησίαις καὶ τοῖς κλήροις, χήραις τε καὶ παρθένοις, καὶ εἴ τι πρότερον ἐπ᾿ ὡὠφελείᾳ καὶ τιμῇ θρησκείας δωρηθέν, ἢ νομοθετηθὲν ἐτύγχανεν ὑπὸ Κωνσταντίνου καὶ τῶν αὐτοῦ παίδων, ὕστερον δὲ ἐπὶ Ἰουλιανοῦ ἀφηρέθη. Προσεφώνησε δὲ καὶ Σεκούνδῳ τῷ τότε τὴν ὕπαρχον ἐξουσίαν διέποντι, γενικὴν νομοθεσίαν, εἰς κεφαλὴν τιμωρεῖσθαι παρακελευομένην τὸν ἱερὰν παρθένον μνᾶσθαι πρὸς γάμον πειρώμενον, ἢ καὶ ἀκολάστως μόνον προσβλέποντα, μήτιγε διαρπάζειν ἐπιχειροῦντα. Ἔθετο δὲ τοῦτον τὸν νόμον, καθότι μοχθηροί τινες ἄνδρες ἐπὶ τῆς ἡγεμονίας Ἰουλιανοῦ, ἔτυχον τοιού των παρθένων γάμους ἐπιτελέσαντες, καὶ ἀνάγκῃ ἐπιθυμίας ταῦτα τολμᾷν ἀκινδύνως ὑποθεμένης, δυσπραγούσης τῆς θρησκείας. ### English translation (Claude) After him, by common agreement of the army, Jovian received the empire. When the troops in enemy country elected him emperor, he declared that he was a Christian and refused the rule and would not accept the insignia of empire, until the army, learning the reason for his refusal, cried out that they too were Christians. As affairs were in danger and confusion from Julian’s generalship, and the army was suffering from want of provisions, he saw that it was necessary to come to terms, handing over to the Persians some of the places formerly subject to the Romans. Having learned by experience that the empire had suffered harm through the wrath of God against the emperor before him, without delay he wrote to the governors of the provinces that the people should assemble in the churches and worship God diligently, and that the faith of the Christians alone should be the object of reverence for his subjects. He also restored their exemptions to the churches and the clergy, to widows and virgins, and whatever had formerly been granted or enacted by Constantine and his sons for the benefit and honour of religion and had later been taken away under Julian. He also addressed to Secundus, who then held the prefect’s authority, a general law ordering capital punishment for anyone who tried to woo a holy virgin for marriage, or even only looked at one lustfully, still more for anyone who attempted to carry one off. He made this law because certain wicked men in Julian’s reign had celebrated marriages with such virgins, either by force or having corrupted them by persuasion, as shameful desire is wont to do, since the troubles of religion had led them to suppose that they could dare this without danger. ### Translation notes - A displaced line in the scan (“either … corrupted by persuasion, as … shameful …”) stands inside the sentence on the faith of the Christians; it belongs to the sentence on the wicked men and is translated there by sense, with no change to the staged text. - Jovian’s law on consecrated virgins is Codex Theodosianus 9.25.2 (19 February 364). ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 6.3 (PG 67:1297–1299; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/6-3). ## Church History 6.4 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/5-22/#p-6-4 - Source: PG 67:1299–1303 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: After Julian’s death doctrinal disputes revive: the homoiousian bishops petition Jovian, and a synod at Antioch under Meletius and Acacius writes to him accepting the Nicene creed and explaining homoousios. ### Greek text Αἱ δὲ περὶ τῶν δογμάτων ζητήσεις τε καὶ διαλέξεις, πάλιν ἀνεκινοῦντο τοῖς προεστῶσι τῶν Ἐκκλησιῶν. Ἰουλιανοῦ γὰρ βασιλεύοντος, ὡς παντελῶς τοῦ Χριστιανισμοῦ κινδυνεύοντος, ἡσυχίαν ἦγον· κοινῇ δὲ πάντες τὸν Θεὸν ἱκέτευον, ἵλεων αὐτοῖς γενέσθαι. Οὕτω πη τοῖς ἀνθρώποις φίλον, παρ' ἑτέρων μὲν ἀδικουμένοις, πρὸς τὸ ὁμόφυλον ὁμονοεῖν· ἀπηλλαγμένοις δὲ τῶν ἔξωθεν κακῶν, πρὸς σφᾶς αὐτοὺς στασιάζειν. ᾿Αλλ᾿ ὅσαις μὲν πολιτείαις καὶ ἔθνεσι τοῦτο συνέβη, οὐ τοῦ παρόντος καιροῦ καταλέγειν ἐστί. Περὶ δὲ τοῦτον τὸν χρόνον, Βασίλειος ὁ ᾿Αγκύρας ἐπίσκοπος, καὶ Σιλβανὸς ὁ Ταρσοῦ, καὶ Σωφρόνιος ὁ Πομπηϊουπόλεως, καὶ οἱ σὺν αὐτοῖς, τὴν τῶν Ἀνομοίων καλουμένων αἵρεσιν ἀποστρεφόμενοι, τὸ δὲ ὁμοιοούσιον ὄνομα ἀντὶ τοῦ ὁμοουσίου δεχόμενοι, βιβλίον τῷ βασιλεῖ διεπέμψαντο· χάριν ἔχειν τῷ Θεῷ ὁμολογοῦντες, ὅτι αὐτὸν προεστήσατο τῆς Ῥωμαίων ἀρχῆς. Ἐζήτουν δὲ ἢ τὰ ἐν Ἀριμίνῳ πεπραγμένα καὶ Σελευκεία, κύρια μένειν, καὶ τὰ σπουδῇ καὶ δυνάμει τινῶν γενόμενα ἀργεῖν· ἢ τοῦ σχίσματος τοῦ πρὸ τῶν συνόδων ταῖς Ἐκκλησίαις μένοντος, συγχωρηθῆναι τοὺς πανταχῆ ἐπισκόπους, αὐτοὺς καθ' ἑαυτοὺς ὅποι βούλονται συνελθεῖν, μηδενὸς ἄλλου κοινωνοῦντος · μὴ προχωρεῖν δὲ κατὰ σκοπὸν τὰ ἐπιχειρούμενα, τοῖς ἐν μέρει τι βουλομένοις πράττειν ἢ ἐξαπατᾷν, ὡς ἐπὶ Κωνσταν τίου τοῦ βασιλέως. Ἐδήλουν δὲ, μὴ παραγενέσθαι σφᾶς εἰς τὸ στρατόπεδον, ὥστε μὴ ὀχληροὺς εἶναι δοκεῖν· εἰ δὲ ἐπιτραπεῖεν, ἀσμένως τοῦτο ποιήσειν, ὑποζυγίοις ἰδίοις καὶ δαπάνῃ χρωμένους. Καὶ οἱ μὲν, τοιάδε Ἰοβιανῷ τῷ βασιλεῖ ἔγραψαν. Ἐν τούτῳ δὲ συνόδου γενομένης ἐν Ἀντιοχείᾳ τῆς Συρίας, βεβαιοῦται τῶν ἐν Νικαίᾳ συνεληλυθότων ἡ πίστις, καὶ κρατεῖ, ὥστε ἀναμφηρί [σ]τως τὸν Υἱὸν τῷ Πατρὶ δοξάζειν ὁμοούσιον. Ἐκοινώνησαν δὲ ταύτης τῆς συνόδου Μελέτιος, ὃς τότε αὐτῆς τῆς Ἀντιοχείας τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν ἐπετρόπευε, καὶ Εὐσέβιος ὁ Σαμοσάτων, καὶ Πελάγιος ὁ Λαοδικείας τῆς Σύρων, καὶ Ἀκάκιος ὁ Καισαρείας τῆς Παλαιστίνης, καὶ· Εἰρηνίων ὁ Γαζαῖος, καὶ ᾿Αθανάσιος ὁ ᾿Αγκύρας. Ταῦτα δὲ πράξαντες, ἐδήλωσαν τῷ βασιλεῖ τὰ δόξαντα, γράψαντες ὧδε· Τῷ εὐσεβεστάτῳ καὶ θεοφιλεστάτῳ ἡμῶν δεσπότη Ἰοβιανῷ, νικητῇ Αὐγούστῳ, ἡ τῶν ἐν ᾿Αντιο χείᾳ συνελθόντων ἐπισκόπων ἐκ διαφόρων ἐπαρχιῶν σύνοδος. Τὴν ἐκκλησιαστικὴν εἰρήνην τε καὶ ὁμόνοιαν ὅτι σου καὶ πρώτη πρεσβεύειν ἐσπούδακεν ἡ εὐσέβεια, εὖ ἴσμεν καὶ αὐτοὶ, θεοφιλέστατε βασιλεῦ. Ὅτι δὲ κεφάλαιον τῆς τοιαύτης ἑνότητος, τῆς ἀληθοῦς καὶ ὀρθοδόξου πίστεως καλῶς ὑπείληφας τὸν χαρακτῆρα, οὐδὲ τοῦτο ἀγνοοῦμεν. Ἵνα τοίνυν μὴ μετὰ τῶν παραχαρασσόντων τὰ δόγματα τῆς ἀληθείας τετάχθαι νομιζώμεθα, ἀναφέρομεν τῇ σῇ εὐλαβείᾳ, ὅτι τῆς ἁγίας συνόδου τῆς ἐν Νικαίᾳ πάλαι πρότερον συγκροτηθείσης τὴν πίστιν καὶ ἀποδεχόμεθα, καὶ κατέχομεν. Ὁπότε καὶ τὸ δοκοῦν ἐν αὐτῇ τισι ξένον ὄνομα, τὸ τοῦ ὁμοουσίου φαμὲν, ἀσφαλοῦς τετύχηκε παρὰ τοῖς Πατράσιν ἑρμηνείας, σημαινούσης ὅτι ἐκ τῆς οὐσίας τοῦ Πατρὸς ὁ Υἱὸς ἐγεννήθη, καὶ ὅτι ὅμοιος κατ᾿ οὐσίαν τῷ Πατρί. Οὔτε δὲ ὡς πάθους τινὸς περὶ τὴν ἄῤῥητον γέννησιν ἐπινοουμένου, οὔτε κατά τινα χρῆσιν Ἑλληνικὴν λαμβάνεται τὸ ὄνομα τῆς οὐσίας· εἰς ἀνατροπὴν δὲ τοῦ ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων περὶ τοῦ Υἱοῦ ἀσεβῶς τολμηθέντος ᾿Αρείῳ. Ὅπερ καὶ οἱ νῦν ἐπιφοιτήσαντες ᾿Ανόμοιοι, ἔτι θρασύτερον καὶ τολμηρότερον, ἐπὶ λύμῃ τῆς ἐκκλησιαστικῆς ὁμονοίας ἀναισχύντως παῤῥησιάζονται. Συνετάξαμεν δὲ τῇδε ἡμῶν τῇ ἀναφορᾶ καὶ το ἀντίγραφον τῆς αὐτῆς πίστεως, τῆς ἐν Νικαίᾳ ὑπὸ τῶν συγκροτηθέντων ἐπισκόπων τεθείσης. ἥντινα καὶ ἀγαπῶμεν. Καὶ τὰ μὲν ὧδε ἐψηφίσαντο οἱ τότε τῇ ᾿Αντιοχείᾳ ἐνδημοῦντες ἱερεῖς, αὐτοῖς ῥητοῖς τὴν παρὰ τῶν ἐν Νικαίᾳ συνελθόντων ἐκτεθεῖσαν πίστιν, τῇ ἰδίᾳ γραφῇ ὑποτάξαντες. ### English translation (Claude) The inquiries and debates about doctrine were again stirred up among the heads of the churches. For during Julian’s reign, when Christianity was in danger altogether, they kept quiet, and all with one accord besought God to be merciful to them. So it somehow pleases human beings, when wronged by others, to be of one mind with those of their own kind, but when freed from evils from outside, to quarrel among themselves. But how many states and nations this has befallen it is not the present occasion to recount. About this time Basil, bishop of Ancyra, Silvanus of Tarsus, Sophronius of Pompeiopolis and those with them, who rejected the heresy of the so-called Anomoeans but accepted the term homoiousios (“of like essence”) in place of homoousios, sent a petition to the emperor, confessing their thanks to God that he had set him over the Roman empire. They asked either that what had been done at Ariminum and Seleucia should remain in force and that what had been done by the zeal and power of certain persons should be void; or, if the schism that had existed in the churches before the synods continued, that the bishops everywhere should be allowed to meet by themselves wherever they wished, with no one else taking part; and that the undertakings of those who wished to act in a partisan way or to deceive should not go forward according to their aim, as under the emperor Constantius. They explained that they had not come to the camp so as not to seem troublesome; but if they were permitted, they would gladly do so, using their own beasts and at their own expense. Such was what they wrote to the emperor Jovian. Meanwhile a synod held at Antioch in Syria confirmed the faith of those who had met at Nicaea, and it prevailed, so that the Son was held beyond dispute to be of the same essence with the Father. Meletius, who then governed the church of Antioch itself, took part in this synod, and Eusebius of Samosata, Pelagius of Laodicea in Syria, Acacius of Caesarea in Palestine, Irenion of Gaza and Athanasius of Ancyra. Having done this, they informed the emperor of their decisions, writing as follows: “To our most pious and most God-beloved lord Jovian, victorious Augustus, the synod of the bishops from various provinces assembled at Antioch. That your piety has been zealous above all to honour the peace and concord of the church we too know well, most God-beloved emperor. Nor are we unaware that you have rightly understood the stamp of the true and orthodox faith to be the chief point of such unity. Therefore, lest we be thought to be ranked with those who counterfeit the doctrines of the truth, we report to your piety that we accept and hold the faith of the holy synod gathered long ago at Nicaea. For even the term in it that seems strange to some — we mean homoousios — has received from the fathers a safe interpretation, meaning that the Son was begotten from the essence of the Father, and that he is like the Father in essence. Nor is the term ‘essence’ taken as though any passion were conceived in the ineffable generation, nor according to any Greek usage, but for the overthrow of what was impiously dared by Arius concerning the Son, that he is from things that are not; which the Anomoeans who have now appeared shamelessly proclaim with still greater boldness and daring, to the ruin of the concord of the church. We have attached to this our report a copy of the same faith set out by the bishops assembled at Nicaea, which we also cherish.” Such were the decisions of the priests then staying at Antioch, who appended in its own words to their document the faith set out by those who met at Nicaea. ### Extrabiblical texts - Socrates, Hist. eccl. 3.25 (Church History): echo, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The synodal letter of Antioch (363) is quoted in full and translated from the Greek as printed; it is also preserved by Socrates, Hist. eccl. 3.25. - “Of the same essence” renders homoousios; “of like essence” homoiousios. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 6.4 (PG 67:1299–1303; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/6-4). ## Church History 6.5 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/5-22/#p-6-5 - Source: PG 67:1303–1305 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Jovian rejects the Arian Lucius’s charges against Athanasius and sends him back to Alexandria; the Nicene faith prevails again for a time, though Antony’s vision of mules kicking the altar foretold further turmoil. ### Greek text Ἐν τούτῳ δὲ καὶ ᾿Αθανάσιος ὁ τὸν ᾿Αλεξανδρέων θρόνον ἐπιτροπεύων, ὀλίγοις τῶν ἐπιτηδείων κοινωσάμενος, ἀναγκαῖον ᾠήθη τὸν βασιλέα Χριστιανὸν ὄντα ἰδεῖν· καὶ παραγενόμενος εἰς Αντιόχειαν, περὶ ὧν ἐδεῖτο, τὸν κρατοῦντα διδάσκει. Οἱ δὲ φασιν, ὅτι αὐτὸς ὁ βασιλεὺς τὸν ἄνδρα μετεκαλέσατο, τὰ πρακτέα περὶ τὴν θρησκείαν καὶ τὴν ὀρθὴν δόξαν Ο εἰσηγησόμενον. Διαθείς τε τὰ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας, ὡς οἷόν τε ἦν, ἐφρόντιζε τῆς ἐπανόδου. Εὐζώϊος δὲ ὁ ἐν ᾿Αντιοχείᾳ ἐπίσκοπος τῆς ᾿Αρειανικῆς αἱρέσεως, ἐσπούδαζε προεστάναι τῆς αὐτῆς δόξης ἐν ᾿Αλεξαν δρείᾳ Προβάτιον εὐνοῦχον. Εἰσηγησαμένων τε τοῦτο τῶν ἀμφὶ τὸν Εὐζώϊον, Λούχιός τις ᾿Αλεξανδρεὺς τὸ γένος, πρεσβύτερος τῶν παρὰ Γεωργίου χειροτονηθέντων, πρόσεισι τῷ βασιλεῖ. Καὶ βλασφημήσας ᾿Αθανάσιον ὡς ἐν τῷ χρόνῳ τῆς ἐπισκοπῆς ἀεὶ γραφὰς ὑπομείναντα, καὶ πολ)άχις ὑπερορίαν οἰκεῖν χαταδιχασθέντα παρὰ τῶν πρὸ αὑτοῦ βασιλέων, διχονοίας τε περὶ τὸ Θεῖον καὶ ταραχῆς αἴτιον Ξνόμενον, ἐδεῖτο ἕτερον ἀντ᾽ αὐτοῦ τὴν ᾿Αλεξανδρέων Ἐκκλησίαν ἐπισκοπεῖν. Ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς (ἤδει γὰρ τὰς ᾿Αθανασίῳ τότε συμβάσας ἐπιβουλὰς), οὐχ ἔθετο χατ᾽ αὑτοῦ διαδολαῖς. ᾿Αλλὰ Λούκιον μὲν σὺν ἀπειλῇ, ἡσυχίαν ἄγειν ἐπιτάττει " Προδάτιον δὲ καὶ τοὺς ἀμφ᾽ αὐτὸν εὐνούχους, ὡς αἰτίους τῶν τοιούτων θορύδων, σωφρονισθῆναι προσέταξε τὸν δὲ ᾿Αθανάσιον, τῆ; τότε συνουσίας τὰ μάλιστα φίλον αὐτῷ γενόμενον, ἀπέστειλεν εἰς Αἴγυπτον, ἧ ἄριστα αὑτῷ δοκοίη, τὰς ἐκκλησίας τοὺς λαοὺς ἄγειν κελεύσας'. Λέγεται γὰρ εἰς ἄγαν αὐτὸν ἧς εἶχεν ἀρετῆς ἐπαινέσαι, βίου τε ἕνεκα φρονήσεως, λόγων, μὲν τῶν ἐν Νικαίᾳ συνεληλυθότων ἡ πίστις, τὸν ἐν μέσῳ χρόνον πολεμηθεῖσα, ὡς ἐν τοῖς πρόσθεν εἴρηται, αὖθις ἐπὶ τῆς παρούσης ἣγεμονίας ὑπερέσχεν. Οὐχ εἰς μακρὰν δὲ τῆς ὁμοίας ἔμελλε πειρᾶσθαι ταραχῆς. Ὡς ἔοικε γὰρ, οὐχ ἐπὶ μόνοις τοῖς ἐπὶ Κωνσταντίου τῇ ᾿Εκκλησίᾳ συμθᾶσι, πέρας εἶχεν ἡ τοῦ ᾿Αντωνίου τοῦ μοναχοῦ πρόῤῥησις " ἀλλ᾽ ἐλείπετο ἔτι καὶ τὰ μετὰ ταῦτα ἐπὶ Θὐάλεντος γενόμενα. Λέγεται γὰρ πρὶν κρατῆσαι τῶν ἐκκλησιῶν τοὺς ἀπὸ τῆς ᾿Αρείου αἱρέσεως, ἐπὶ τῆς Κωνσταντίου βασιλείας ὄναρ ἰδεῖν ᾿Αντώνιον, ἡμιόνους θυσιαστήριον λακτίζοντας, τὴν ἱερὰν τράπέζαν ἀνατρέποντας " αὐτίκα προειπεῖν, ὡς ὑπὸ γήέξων καὶ ἐπιμίχτων δογμάτων χαταλήψεται τὴν ταραχὴ, καὶ ἑτεροδόξων ἐπανάστασις. ᾿λλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν ἀψευδῶς τεθεάσθαι τε εἰρῆσθαι, ἀπέδειξε τὰ πρὸ τοῦ μετὰ ταῦτα γεγεγημένλ. ### English translation (Claude) At this time Athanasius too, who governed the throne of the Alexandrians, after consulting a few of his associates, thought it necessary to see the emperor, since he was a Christian; and coming to Antioch, he informed the ruler of what he needed. Others say that the emperor himself summoned him to advise on what should be done concerning religion and right belief. Having arranged the affairs of the church as well as was possible, he took thought for his return. Euzoius, the bishop of the Arian heresy at Antioch, was eager that Probatius the eunuch should preside over that belief at Alexandria. When Euzoius’s party had proposed this, a certain Lucius, an Alexandrian by birth, a presbyter of those ordained by George, approached the emperor; and slandering Athanasius as one who had always been the subject of indictments during his episcopate and had often been condemned to live in exile by the emperors before him, and as having been a cause of dissension and turmoil concerning the divine, he asked that another should oversee the church of the Alexandrians in his place. But the emperor, who knew of the plots that had then been laid against Athanasius, paid no attention to the slanders against him. He ordered Lucius, with a threat, to keep quiet; and he ordered Probatius and the eunuchs with him to be punished, as the causes of such disturbances; and Athanasius, who had become his close friend above all through their meeting at that time, he sent back to Egypt, bidding him lead the churches and the peoples as seemed best to him. For he is said to have praised him exceedingly for the virtue he had, for his life, his prudence and his eloquence … So the faith of those who met at Nicaea, which had been fought against in the intervening time, as was told above, again prevailed under the present rule. But not long afterwards it was to experience similar turmoil. For, it seems, the prophecy of the monk Antony did not have its end only in what befell the church under Constantius; there still remained what happened afterwards under Valens. For it is said that in Constantius’s reign, before those of the Arian heresy gained control of the churches, Antony saw in a dream mules kicking the altar and overturning the holy table, and at once foretold that turmoil would overtake the church through … and mixed doctrines, and a rising of those of other beliefs. And that these things were seen and spoken truly, what happened before and after showed. ### Extrabiblical texts - Athanasius, V. Ant. 82 (Life of Antony): allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Words are lost in the scan after “his prudence and his eloquence” and in Antony’s prophecy (marked “…”). - Antony’s vision is told in Athanasius, Life of Antony 82. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 6.5 (PG 67:1303–1305; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/6-5). ## Church History 6.6 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/5-22/#p-6-6 - Source: PG 67:1307–1309 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Jovian dies at Dadastana; the army elects Valentinian, once exiled by Julian for shaking off the pagan priest’s lustral water; he makes his Arian brother Valens emperor of the East. ### Greek text Ὁ δὲ Ἰοβιανὸς ἀμφὶ ὀκτὼ μῆνας ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ διαγενόμενος, ἀπιὼν ἐπὶ τὴν Κωνσταντινούπολιν, ἐξαπίνης ἐν Δαδαστάνοις χωρίῳ τῆς Βιθυνίας καθ' ὁδὸν ἐτελεύτησεν· ἢ ἀφειδέστερον, ὡς τινες λέγουσι, δειπνήσας · ἢ ὑπὸ τῆς ὀδμῆς τοῦ οἰκήματος ἐν ᾧ ἐκάθευδεν, ἀσβέστῳ προσφάτως ἐγχρισθέντος. Ἐπιγενέσθαι γὰρ ἰκμάδα, καὶ νοτισθῆναι τοὺς τοίχους ἀμέτρως, πολλῶν ἀνθράκων αὐτόθι καιομένων, ὡς ἐν ὥρᾳ χειμῶνος διὰ τὴν ἀλέαν. Ἐπεὶ δὲ εἰς Νικαιαν τῆς Βιθυνίας ἀφίκετο ἡ στρατιά, ἀναγορεύουσι βασιλέα Οὐαλεντινιανὸν, ἄνδρα ἀγαθὸν καὶ τῆς ἡγε μονίας ἄξιον. Ἔτυχε δὲ τότε παρὼν ἀπὸ τῆς ὑπερορίας φυγῆς. Λέγεται γὰρ, ὡς ἡνίκα Ἰουλιανὸς ἐκράτει Ῥωμαίων, συνταγματάρχην αὐτὸν ὄντα τοῦ καταλόγου τῶν καλουμένων Ἰοβιανῶν, τῆς στρατείας ἀπεώσατο, καὶ ἀϊδίῳ φυγῇ ἐζημίωσε· πρόφασιν μὲν, ὡς οὐ δεόντως ἔταξε τοὺς ὑπ᾿ αὐτὸν στρατιώτας πρὸς τοὺς πολεμίους· τὸ δ᾽ ἀληθὲς, ἐντεῦθεν· Ἔτι διάγων Ἰουλιανὸς ἐν τοῖς πρὸς δύσιν Γαλάταις, ἦκεν εἷς τινα ναὸν θύσων· συνῆν δὲ αὐτῷ καὶ Οὐαλεντινιανός· ἔθος γὰρ παλαιὸν Ῥωμαίοις, τὸν ἡγούμενον τῶν Ἰοβιανῶν καὶ Ἑρκουλιανῶν (τάγματα δὲ ταῦτα τῶν ἐν λόγῳ στρατιωτῶν, τὸ μὲν ἀφ᾿ Ἡρακλέους, τὸ δὲ ἀπὸ Διὸς λαχόντα τὴν προσηγορίαν), κατὰ νώτου ἐγγὺς ἀεὶ φύλακας ἕπεσθαι τῷ βασιλεῖ. Ἐπεὶ δὲ ἔμελλεν ὑπεραμείβειν τοῦ ναοῦ τὸν οὐδὸν, θαλλούς τινας διαβρόχους κατέχων ὁ ἱερεὺς, νόμῳ Ἑλληνικῷ περιέρῥαινε τοὺς εἰσιόντας. Ἐκπεσούσης δὲ σταγόνος ἐπὶ τὴν αὐτοῦ ἐσθῆτα, χαλεπῶς ἤνεγκεν Οὐαλεντινιανός· ἦν γὰρ Χριστιανός· καὶ τῷ ῥαίνοντι ἐλοιδορή σατο. Φασὶ δὲ καὶ τοῦ βασιλέως ὁρῶντος, αὐτίκα περιτεμεῖν καὶ ἀπορρίψαι σὺν αὐτῇ τῇ ψεκάδι, ὅσον ἐβράχη τῆς ἐσθῆτος. Τὸ δὲ ἐξ ἐκείνου μηνιῶν ὁ Ἰουλιανὸς, οὐ πολλῷ ὕστερον κατεδίκασεν αὐτὸν τὴν Μελιτινὴν τῆς ᾿Αρμενίας τη διηνεκῶς οἰκεῖν, αἰτίαν σκηψάμενος, τὴν περὶ τοὺς ὑπ' αὐτὸν στρατιώτας ῥᾳστώνην. Οὐ γὰρ ἐβούλετο δόξαι, διὰ τὴν θρησκείαν 1) κακῶς αὐτὸν ποιεῖν, ἵνα μὴ μάρτυρος ἢ ὁμολογητοῦ γερῶν ἀξιωθείη. Καθότι ταύτης ἕνεκα τῆς αἰτίας, καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἐφείσατο Χριστιανῶν, ὁρῶν αὐτοὺς εὔκλειαν καὶ σύστασιν τοῦ δόγματος τοῖς κινδύνοις ποριζομένους, ὡς ἐν τοῖς πρόσθεν εἴρηται. Ἐπεὶ δὲ ὁ Ἰοβιανὸς ἐπετράπη τὴν Ῥωμαίων ἡγεμονίαν, μετακληθεὶς ἀπὸ τῆς φυγῆς εἰς Νίκαιαν, συμβὰν ἐκεῖνον τελευτῆσαι, βουλευσαμένων τοῦ στρατοπέδου καὶ τῶν - τότε τὰς μεγάλας ἀρχὰς ἐχόντων, ψήφῳ πάντων αἱρεῖται βασιλεύειν Οὐαλεντινιανός. Ὡς δὲ τὰ σύμβολα τῆς ἀρχῆς ἐδέξατο, κεκραγότων τῶν στρατιωτῶν κοινωνὸν αὐτῷ τῆς βασιλείας ἕτερον ποιήσασθαι, Τὸ μὲν ἐλέσθαι με, φησὶν, ἄρχειν ὑμῶν, ὦ ἄνδρες στρατιῶται, ἐν ὑμῖν ἦν. Ἐπεὶ δὲ εἶλεσθε, ὃν νῦν αἰτεῖτε, οὐκ ἐν ὑμῖν, ἀλλ᾽ ἐν ἐμοί· καὶ χρὴ τοὺς μὲν ἀρχομένους ὑμᾶς ἡσυχίαν ἄγειν· ἐμὲ δὲ ὡς βασιλέα, τὰ πρακτέα σκοπεῖν. Καὶ τότε μὲν ταῦτα προσφωνήσας, οὐκ εἶξε τοῖς στρατιώταις. Μετ' οὐ πολὺ δὲ παραγενόμενος εἰς Κωνσταντινούπολιν, ἀνεκήρυξε βασιλέα τὸν ἀδελφόν· καὶ τῆς ὑπηκόου τὰ μὲν πρὸς ἥλιον ἀνίσχοντα, παρέδωκεν αὐτῷ· τὰ δὲ ἀπὸ Ἰλλυριῶν ἐπὶ τὸν ἑσπέριον ὠκεανὸν, καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν ἀντικρὺ ἤπειρον μέχρις ἐσχάτων Λιβύων, ὑφ᾽ ἑαυτὸν ἔταξεν. "Αμφω δὲ Χριστιανὼ τὴν θρησκείαν ἐγενέσθην · διαφόρω δὲ τὴν δόξαν καὶ τὸν τρόπον. Οὐάλης μὲν γὰρ, Εὐδοξίῳ τῷ ἐπισκόπῳ μυσταγωγῷ χρησάμενος ἡνίκα ἐβαπτίσθη, τὴν ᾿Αρείου πίστιν ἐζήλου καὶ δεινὸν ἡγεῖτο, μὴ βιάζεσθαι πάντας ὁμοδόξους αὐτῷ ποιεῖν. Οὐαλεντι νιανὸς δὲ, τὰ αὐτὰ φρονῶν τοῖς ἐν Νικαίᾳ συνελθοῦσι, τούτους μὲν ὠφέλει · τοῖς δὲ ἑτέρως δοξάζουσιν, οὐδὲν ἠνώχλει. ### English translation (Claude) Jovian, after about eight months on the throne, while on his way to Constantinople, died suddenly on the road at Dadastana, a place in Bithynia, either, as some say, from having supped too freely, or from the smell of the room in which he slept, which had been newly coated with lime. For moisture had come out and the walls had become exceedingly damp, since many coals were burning there for warmth, as it was winter. When the army reached Nicaea in Bithynia, they proclaimed Valentinian emperor, a good man and worthy of rule. He happened then to be present, having come back from exile. For it is said that when Julian ruled the Romans, he had dismissed him from the army, when he was a tribune of the unit called the Joviani, and punished him with perpetual exile: ostensibly because he had drawn up the soldiers under him improperly against the enemy, but in truth for this reason. While Julian was still among the western Gauls, he came to a temple to sacrifice, and Valentinian was with him; for it was an old custom of the Romans that the commander of the Joviani and Herculiani — these are units of picked soldiers, named the one after Heracles and the other after Zeus — should always follow close behind the emperor as guards. When he was about to cross the threshold of the temple, the priest, holding some wet branches, sprinkled those who entered, according to pagan custom. A drop fell on Valentinian’s clothing, and he was angry, for he was a Christian, and he reviled the one sprinkling. They say also that, with the emperor watching, he at once cut off and threw away, together with the drop itself, as much of his clothing as had been wetted. Julian, resenting this from then on, not long afterwards condemned him to live permanently at Melitene in Armenia, alleging as the reason his slackness with the soldiers under him. For he did not want it to seem that he was harming him for his religion, lest he be thought worthy of the honours of a martyr or a confessor. For this reason he spared the other Christians too, seeing that they gained glory and strength for the doctrine through dangers, as has been said before. When Jovian was entrusted with the rule of the Romans, Valentinian was recalled from exile to Nicaea; and since Jovian happened to die, after the army and those then holding the great offices had deliberated, Valentinian was chosen to reign by the vote of all. When he had received the insignia of rule and the soldiers cried out that he should make another his partner in the empire, he said: “To choose me to rule you, soldiers, was in your power. But now that you have chosen me, the one you now ask for is not in your power but in mine; and you who are ruled must keep quiet, and I, as emperor, must consider what is to be done.” Having addressed them so at that time, he did not yield to the soldiers. But not long after, coming to Constantinople, he proclaimed his brother emperor; and he gave him the eastern part of the empire, while he placed under himself the regions from Illyricum to the western ocean and all the mainland opposite as far as the furthest Libyans. Both were Christians in religion, but they differed in belief and in character. For Valens, having had Eudoxius the bishop as his initiator when he was baptized, was zealous for the faith of Arius and thought it a fine thing to force everyone to share his belief. Valentinian, holding the same beliefs as those who had met at Nicaea, helped them, but troubled those of other beliefs not at all. ### Translation notes - The first words of the staged text are the end of the chapter title and are removed by a correction. - Jovian died on 17 February 364. Sozomen calls the Joviani “named after Heracles” and the Herculiani “after Zeus” in reverse order; the sense is that each was named after one of the two gods. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 6.6 (PG 67:1307–1309; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/6-6). ## Church History 6.7 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/6-7/#p-6-7 - Source: PG 67:1309–1313 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The homoiousian bishops, permitted by Valentinian to meet, hold the synod of Lampsacus, annul the acts of Constantinople and uphold “like in essence”; Valens, won over by Eudoxius, exiles their envoys and persecutes Meletius’s party at Antioch. ### Greek text Ἐπεὶ δὲ Κωνσταντινουπόλεως ἐξεδήμησεν ἐπὶ τὴν Ῥώμην διὰ Θράκης πορευόμενος, τηνικαῦτα οἱ περὶ Ἑλλήσποντον καὶ Βιθυνίαν ἐπίσκοποι, καὶ ὅσοι ἄλλοι ὁμοούσιον τῷ Πατρὶ τὸν Υἱὸν λέγειν ἠξίουν, προβάλλονται πρεσβεύειν ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν Ὑπατιανὸν τὸν Ἡρακλείας τῆς ὥστε ἔπεΠΟ τραπῆναι συνελθεῖν ἐπὶ διορθώσει τοῦ δάγματος. Προσελθόντος ὃξ αὐτοῦ, καὶ τὰ παρὰ τῶν ἐπισκόπων διδάξαντος, ὑπολαδὼν Οὐαλεντινιανὸς, Ἐμοὶ μὲν, ἔφη, μετὰ λαοῦ τεταγμένῳ, οὐ θέμις τοιαῦτα πολυπραγμονεῖν οἱ δὲ ἱερεῖς οἷς τούτου μέλει, ἑαντοὺς ὅπη βούλονται συνίτωσαν. Τοιαῦτα δὲ τοῦ βασιλέως ἀποχριναμένου πρὸς τὴν Ὑπατιανοῦ πρεσδεΐαν, συνίασιν εἰς Λάμψακον. Καὶ δύο μῆνας βουλευσάμε-. νοι, τελευτῶντες ἐψηφίσαντο, ἄκυρον τὰ ἐν Κωνσταντινουπόλει πεπραγμένα σπουδῇ τῶν ἀμφὶ τὸν Εὐδόξιον ᾿Ακάκιον. ᾿Αργεῖν καὶ τὴν ἔχθεσιν τῆς πίστεως, ἣν ὡς δυτικῶν ἐπισκόπων οὖσαν προχομίσαντες, ὑπογράψαι τινὰς παρεσκεύασαν, ἐπὶ ὑποσχέσει ἀποχηρύξεως τοῦ ἀνομοίου οὐσίαν, ὅ. διεψεύσαντο, Κρατεῖν δὲ τὸ ὅμοιον δοξάζειν τὸν Υἱὸν. τῷ Πατρὶ χκατ' οὐσίαν. Εἶναι γὰρ τοῦ ὁμοίου τὴν προσ-. θήκην ἀναγκαίαν, διὰ τὴν σημασίαν τῶν ὑπ στάσεων. Πίστιν δὲ πολιτεύεσθαι κατὰ πᾶσαν κλησίαν, τὴν ἐν Σελευκείᾳ ὁμολογηθεῖσαν, ἐκτεθεῖσαν. δὲ ἐπὶ τῇ ἀφιερώσει τῆς ἐν ᾿Αντιοχείᾳ Ἐκκλησίας, Τοὺς δὲ καθαιρεθέντας παρὰ τῶν ἀνόμοιον τῷ Πατρὶ τὺν Υἱὸν λεγόντων, τοὺς ἰδίους ἀπολαμβάνειν θρόνους, ὡς παρανόμως ἐχδεθλημένους τῶν ἐκκλησιῶν. Εἰ δέ τις αὐτῶν κατηγορεῖν βούλεται, ἐκ τοῦ ἴσου κινδύνου τοῦτο ποιεῖν. Διχαστὰς δὲ εἶναι, τοὺς ὀρθῶς δοξάζον» τας ἐν τῷ ἔθνει ἐπισκόπους, καὶ ἐχ τῶν πέλας ἐπαρχιῶν, συνιόντας ἐν τῇ Ἐκκλησίᾳ, ἔνθα οἱ μάρτυρές εἰσι τῶν ἑκάστῳ βεδιωμένων. Ταῦτα ὁρίσαντες ἐπειδὴ τοὺς περὶ Εὐδόξιον χεχλήχασι, καὶ μετανοίας αὐτοῖς μετέδωχαν, οἱ ὃὲ οὐχ ὑπήχουνον, τὰ δόξαντα ταῖς πανταχοῦ Ἐκκλησίαις ἐδήλωσαν. λογισάμενοι δὲ, ὡς εἰκὸς, Εὐδόξιον τῆς οἰκείας μερίδος ποιῆσαι. τὰ βασίλεια, καὶ διαβαλεῖν αὑτοὺς, ἔγνωσαν φθάσαι, καὶ τὰ πεπραγμένα ἐν Λαμψάκῳ μηνύσαι. ἐποίουν, ἐπανιόντι Οὐάλεντι τῷ βασιλεῖ ἐκ Θράκης ἐν Ἡρακλείᾳ περιτυχόντες. ᾿Αποδημοῦντι γὰρ τῷ ἀθέλφῷ εἰς τὴν πρεσβυτέραν Ῥώμην, μέχρι τινὸς συνῆλθεν. Εὐδοξίῳ δὲ τὰ πρὸς βασιλέα καὶ τοὺς ἀμφ᾿ αὐτὸν ἤδη κατὰ γνώμην διῳκεῖτο. Προσελθοῦσιν οὖν τοῖς ἐκ Λαμψάκου πρεσβευταῖς παρεκελεύσατο μὴ διαφέρεσθαι πρὸς Εὐδόξιον. Ἐπεὶ δὲ ἀντεῖπον, καὶ τὴν ἐν Κωνσταντινουπόλει γενομένην ἀπάτην, καὶ τὰ βεβουλευμένα κατὰ τῶν ἐν Σελευκείᾳ δεδογμένων Εὐδοξίῳ ἐμέμφοντο, κινηθεὶς πρὸς ὀργὴν, τοὺς μὲν ὑπερορίαν οἰκεῖν προσέταξε, τὰς δὲ ἐκκλησίας παραδίδοσθαι τοῖς ἀμφὶ τὸν Εὐδόξιον. Ἐν τούτῳ δὲ τὴν Συρίαν κατέλαβεν. Ὑφωρᾶτο γὰρ, μή πως οἱ Πέρσαι τὰς ἐπὶ Ἰοβιανοῦ γενομένας τριακονταετεῖς σπονδὰς λύσωσι. Τῶν δὲ μηδὲν νεωτεριζόντων, ἐν ᾿Αντιοχείᾳ διέτριβεν. Ἡνίκα δὴ Μελετίου μὲν τοῦ ἐπισκόπου ὑπερορίαν φυγὴν κατεδίκασε η · Παυλίνου δὲ τὸν βίον αἰδεσθεὶς, ἐφείσατο. Τοὺς δὲ Εὐζωΐῳ μὴ κοινωνοῦντας, τῶν ἐκκλησιῶν ἀπήλαυνεν, εἰς χρήματά τε ἐζημίου, καὶ ἠκίζετο, καὶ ἄλλως ἐπέτριβε. ### English translation (Claude) When Valentinian set out from Constantinople for Rome, travelling through Thrace, the bishops of the Hellespont and Bithynia, and all others who held it right to call the Son of the same essence with the Father, put forward Hypatianus, bishop of Heraclea …, to go as envoy for them, asking that they be permitted to meet for the correction of the doctrine. When he came and reported the bishops’ request, Valentinian answered: “For me, ranked with the laity, it is not lawful to busy myself with such matters; let the priests, whose concern this is, meet by themselves wherever they wish.” When the emperor had given such an answer to Hypatianus’s embassy, they met at Lampsacus. After deliberating for two months, they finally decreed that what had been done at Constantinople through the zeal of the party of Eudoxius and Acacius was void; that the exposition of the faith which they had brought forward as belonging to the western bishops, and had induced some to sign on the promise of condemning the “unlike in essence,” a promise they had broken, was also invalid; and that the belief should prevail that the Son is like the Father in essence, the addition of “like” being necessary because of the meaning of the hypostases. They decreed that the faith confessed at Seleucia, which had been set out at the dedication of the church at Antioch, should be the rule in every church; that those deposed by those who say that the Son is unlike the Father should take back their own thrones, as unlawfully driven from their churches; and that if anyone wished to accuse them, he should do so at equal risk to himself; and that the judges should be the orthodox bishops of the province and of the neighbouring provinces, meeting in the church where the witnesses of each one’s life are. Having determined these things, they summoned the party of Eudoxius and offered them repentance; and when they would not listen, they made known their decisions to the churches everywhere. Reckoning, as was likely, that Eudoxius would win over the palace to his side and slander them, they decided to forestall him and report what had been done at Lampsacus. This they did, meeting the emperor Valens at Heraclea as he was returning from Thrace; for he had accompanied his brother for some distance on his journey to elder Rome. But Eudoxius had already arranged matters with the emperor and his court as he wished. So when the envoys from Lampsacus came to him, he bade them not to quarrel with Eudoxius. When they objected, and blamed Eudoxius for the deceit practised at Constantinople and for what had been plotted against the decisions of Seleucia, he was moved to anger, ordered them to live in exile, and ordered the churches to be handed over to Eudoxius’s party. Meanwhile he went to Syria; for he suspected that the Persians might break the thirty years’ truce made under Jovian. When they made no move, he stayed at Antioch. Then he condemned Meletius the bishop to exile, but spared Paulinus out of respect for his life. Those who did not communicate with Euzoius he drove from the churches, fined, tortured and otherwise afflicted. ### Translation notes - The first words of the staged text are the end of the chapter title and are removed by a correction. - Words are lost in the scan after “bishop of Heraclea” (Heraclea, that is Perinthus, and the request for permission; the sense is clear from the reply). - The synod of Lampsacus met in 364. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 6.7 (PG 67:1309–1313; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/6-7). ## Church History 6.8 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/6-7/#p-6-8 - Source: PG 67:1313–1315 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Valens defeats and executes the usurper Procopius, then forces Eleusius of Cyzicus to accept the Arian creed; Eleusius repents publicly, and Eudoxius installs Eunomius at Cyzicus. ### Greek text Γέγονε δ᾽ ἂν τότε, ὡς συμβαλεῖν ἔστι, καὶ τούτων δεινότερα, εἰ μὴ ὁ κατὰ Προκόπιον ἐπέλαβε πόλεμος. Τυραννήσας γὰρ ἐν Κωνσταντινουπόλει, καὶ πολλὴν ἐν βραχεῖ χρόνῳ στρατιὰν ἀθροίσας, ἠπείγετο κατὰ Οὐάλεντος. Ὁ δὲ, ἐκ τῆς Συρίας ἐλάσας, συμβάλλει αὐτῷ περὶ Νακόλειαν τῆς Φρυγίας πόλιν · προδοσίᾳ τε ᾿Αγέλωνος καὶ Γωμαρίου τῶν αὐτοῦ στρατηγῶν ζωγρήσας, αὐτὸν τε καὶ τοὺς προδότας ἐλεεινῶς ἀνεῖλε. Τοὺς μὲν γὰρ λέγεται, καίπερ εὐνοεῖν αὐτοῖς ὀμόσας, πρίοσι διχῆ διελεῖν· Προκοπίου δὲ δύο δένδροις οὐκ ἀπὸ πολλοῦ διεστῶσι κατακαμφθεῖσι πρὸς τὴν ἐκατέραν ἑκατέρῳ φυτῷ προσῆψε σκέλος, καὶ ἀφῆκεν ἀνεγείρεσθαι· τὰ δὲ, πρὸς τὴν συνήθη στάσιν ἀνορθωθέντα, διέσπασε τὸν ἄνθρωπον. Ἐπεὶ δὲ τέλος ἔσχεν ὁ πόλεμος, ἧκεν εἰς Νίκαιαν · ἐν ἡσυχίᾳ τε γεγονὼς, αὖθις ἐτάραττε τοὺς οὐχ ὁμοίως αὐτῷ περὶ τὸ Θεῖον δοξάζοντας. Ὑπερφυῶς δὲ ἐχαλέπαινε κατὰ τῶν ἐν Λαμψάκῳ συνελθόντων, καθότι καὶ τοὺς τὰ ᾿Αρείου φρονοῦντας ἐπισκόπους, καὶ τὴν ἐν Ἀριμήνῳ περὶ τῆς πίστεως ἐκτεθεῖσαν γραφὴν ἀπεκήρυξαν. Οὕτω δὲ ἔχων ὀργῆς, ἄγει ἐκ τῆς Κυζίκου Ἐλεύσιον · καὶ ὁμοδόξων αὐτῷ ἐπισκόπων σύλλογον καθίσας, ἐβιάζετο κοινωνεῖν αὐτοῖς τῆς πίστεως. Ὁ δὲ, τὰ πρῶτα ἀνδρείως ἀντέτεινεν · ὑπερορίαν δὲ φυγὴν καὶ τῆς οὐσίας ἀφαίρεσιν δείσας (ταῦτα γὰρ ἠπείλει μὴ πειθομένῳ), τὸ προσταχθὲν ἐποίησε. Καὶ εὐθὺς μετεμελεῖτο · ἐπανελθών τε εἰς Κύζικον, δημοσίᾳ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν ἐπὶ τῆς ἐκκλησίας ἐξήγγειλε, καὶ ἕτερον ἐπίσκοπον χειροτονεῖν παρεκελεύετο. Ἑαυτὸν γὰρ ἱερᾶσθαι μὴ προσήκειν ἔτι, ὡς οἰκείου δόγματος προδότην γενόμενον. Κυζικηνοὶ δὲ, αἰδοῦ τῆς τοῦ ἀνδρὸς πολιτείας εὔνοι ταμάλιστα αὐτῷ τυγχάνοντες, ἕτερον ἔχειν ἐπίσκοπον οὐχ εἴλοντο. Ἐπεὶ δὲ ταῦτα Εὐδόξιος ἔγνω ὁ ἐν Κωνσταντινουπόλει τῆς ᾿Αρείου δόξης προεστώς, χειροτονεῖ Εὐνόμιον • τῆς Κυζίκου Ηιἐπίσκοπον. "Ωετο γὰρ αὐτὸν δεινὸν ὄντα λέγειν, τινὶ πειθοί ῥᾳδίως πρὸς τὸ οἰκεῖον δόγμα τοὺς Κυζικηνοὺς ἐφελκύσασθαι. Ὡς δὲ εἰς Κύζικον παρεγένετο προστάγματι βασιλέως, Ελευσίου ἐξελθόντος, τὰς ἐνθάδε ἐκκλησίας κατέσχεν. Οἱ δὲ Ελευσίῳ πειθόμενοι, εὐκτήριον οἶκον ἔξω κατασκευάσαντες, πρὸ τῆς πόλεως ἐκκλησίαζον. Εὐνομίου μὲν οὖν πέρι, καὶ τῆς ὁμωνύμου τούτων αἱρέσεως, μικρὸν ὕστερον ἐρῶ. ### English translation (Claude) Then, as one may conjecture, things worse than these would have happened, had not the war against Procopius intervened. For he seized power as a usurper at Constantinople, gathered a great army in a short time, and hurried against Valens. Valens, marching from Syria, engaged him near Nacolia, a city of Phrygia; and having taken him alive through the treachery of Agelo and Gomarius, his generals, he put him and the traitors to death pitiably. For it is said that the latter, though he had sworn to be well disposed to them, he had sawn in two; and as for Procopius, he bent down two trees standing not far apart, fastened a leg to each tree, and let them spring up; and they, straightening to their usual position, tore the man apart. When the war had ended, he came to Nicaea; and being at peace, he again troubled those who did not share his belief about the divine. He was exceedingly angry with those who had met at Lampsacus, because they had condemned the bishops who held Arius’s views and the document on the faith set out at Ariminum. In this frame of anger he brought Eleusius from Cyzicus, set up an assembly of bishops of his own belief, and tried to force him to share their faith. At first Eleusius resisted bravely; but fearing exile and the confiscation of his property — for Valens threatened him with these if he did not obey — he did what was ordered. And at once he repented; and returning to Cyzicus he publicly confessed his sin in the church and urged them to ordain another bishop; for it was no longer fitting that he should serve as priest, having become a betrayer of his own doctrine. But the people of Cyzicus, very well disposed to him out of respect for the man’s conduct, would not have another bishop. When Eudoxius, the head of the Arian belief at Constantinople, learned this, he ordained Eunomius bishop of Cyzicus; for he thought that, being a powerful speaker, he would easily draw the people of Cyzicus to his own doctrine by some persuasion. When Eunomius came to Cyzicus by the emperor’s order, Eleusius withdrew and Eunomius took possession of the churches there. Those who followed Eleusius built a house of prayer outside and held their assemblies before the city. Of Eunomius, and of the heresy named after him, I shall speak a little later. ### Translation notes - Procopius was executed in May 366. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 6.8 (PG 67:1313–1315; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/6-8). ## Church History 6.9 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/6-7/#p-6-9 - Source: PG 67:1315–1317 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Valens expels the Nicene party and the Novatians from Constantinople and exiles the Novatian bishop Agelius, who is soon recalled through the influence of Marcian, tutor to the emperor’s daughters. ### Greek text Παραπλησίων δὲ κακῶν ἐπειρῶντο οἱ ἐν Κωνσταν τινουπόλει πρεσβεύοντες τὸ δόγμα τῶν ἐν Νικαία συνελθόντων, σὺν αὐτοῖς δὲ καὶ οἱ τὰ Ναυάτου φρονοῦντες. Καὶ πάντας μὲν ἐλαύνεσθαι τῆς πόλεως · Ναυατιανῶν δὲ καὶ τὰς ἐκκλησίας ἀποκλείεσθαι προσέταξεν ὁ βασιλεύς· τῶν δὲ ἄλλων οὐκ εἶχεν ὅ τι ἀποκλείσειεν · ἤδη γὰρ πρότερον ἐπὶ τῆς Κωνσταν τίου βασιλείας ἀφήρηντο. Οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ ᾿Αγέλιον τότε εἰς ὑπερορίαν φυγὴν κατεδίκασεν · ὃς ἐκ τῶν Κωνσταντίου χρόνων ἡγεῖτο ἐν Κωνσταντίνου πόλει τῆς Ναυατιανῶν Ἐκκλησίας. Ελέγετο δὲ ὅτι μάλιστα θαυμασίως πολιτεύεσθαι κατὰ τοὺς ἐκκλησιαστικοὺς νόμους· ὁ δὲ βίος ἦν αὐτῷ, τοῦτο δὴ τὸ προύχον ἐν φιλοσοφίᾳ, κτήσεως χρημάτων ἐλεύθερος · καὶ ἡ ἀγωγὴ ἐδείκνυ · ἑνί τε γὰρ χιτωνίῳ ἐχρῆτο, καὶ δίχα ὑποδημάτων ἀεὶ ἐβάδιζεν · οὐ πολλῷ δὲ ὕστερον αὐτὸς μετεκλήθη, καὶ τὰς ὑπ᾿ αὐτὸν Ἐκκλησίας ἀπέλαβε, καὶ ἀδεῶς ἐκκλησίαζεν. Αἴτιος δὲ τούτων Μαρκιανός τις· ὃς ἐπὶ βίῳ καὶ λόγοις θαυμαζόμενος, πάλαι μὲν ἐν τοῖς βασιλείοις ἐστρατεύετο · τότε δὲ πρεσβύτερος ὢν τῆς Ναυατιανῶν αἱρέσεως, γραμματικοὺς λόγους ἐξεδίδασκε τὰς βασιλέως θυγατέρας, ᾿Αναστασίαν τε καὶ Καρῶσαν· ὧν εἰσέτι νῦν ἐπώνυμα λουτρὰ κατὰ τὴν Κωνσταντινούπολίν ἐστι. Διὰ γὰρ τὴν πρὸς αὐτὸν αἰδῶ καὶ χάριν, μόνοις Ναυατιανοῖς τὰ εἰρημένα ὑπῆρξε. ### English translation (Claude) Similar evils were suffered by those at Constantinople who upheld the doctrine of those who met at Nicaea, and with them those who held the views of Novatus. The emperor ordered them all to be driven from the city, and the churches of the Novatians to be shut; but of the others he had nothing to shut, for they had already been deprived of them earlier, in the reign of Constantius. He also condemned to exile at that time Agelius, who since the times of Constantius had led the church of the Novatians in Constantinople. He was said to live in a wonderful way according to the laws of the church; and his life, which is the chief thing in philosophy, was free from the possession of money, as his manner of living showed: for he used one tunic and always walked without shoes. But not long after he himself was recalled, took back the churches under him, and held assemblies without fear. The cause of this was a certain Marcian, who, admired for his life and learning, had formerly served in the palace and was then a presbyter of the Novatian heresy and taught grammar to the emperor’s daughters, Anastasia and Carosa, after whom baths in Constantinople are named to this day. Out of respect and gratitude toward him, these favours were granted to the Novatians alone. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 6.9 (PG 67:1315–1317; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/6-9). ## Church History 6.10 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/6-7/#p-6-10 - Source: PG 67:1317–1319 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Amid earthquakes Valens and Eudoxius persecute the Macedonians, who send Eustathius, Silvanus and Theophilus to the West; at Rome they accept the homoousios before Liberius and are received into communion. ### Greek text Ὑπὸ δὲ τοῦτον τὸν χρόνον, ὁμώνυμος τῷ βασιλεῖ Οὐαλεντινιανῷ γίνεται παῖς κατὰ τὴν Δύσιν· οὐ πολλῷ δὲ ὕστερον, καὶ Γρατιανὸς ὃν πρὸ τῆς ἀρχῆς εἶχε, καθίστατο βασιλεύς. Ἐν τούτῳ δὲ, καίπερ παρὰ τὸ εἰωθὸς χαλάζης ἐμφεροῦς λίθοις ἐν πολλοῖς τόποις καταῤῥαγείσης, καὶ μεγίστων σεισμῶν, ἄλλαις τε πόλεσι, καὶ Νικαίᾳ τῇ Βιθυνῶν εἰς ἄγαν λυμηναμένων, οὐκ ἐπαύσαντο Οὐάλης τε ὁ βασιλεὺς καὶ Εὐδόξιος ὁ ἐπίσκοπος, τοὺς ἑτέρως αὐτοῖς δοξάζοντας Χριστιανοὺς ἐκδιώκοντες. Καὶ πρὸς μὲν τοὺς ὁμοδόξους τοῖς ἐν Νικαίᾳ συνελθοῦσιν, ἐδόκει πως αὐτοῖς κατορθῶσαι τὸ σπουδαζόμενον. Ἐν γὰρ τῷ πλείονι τῆς ὑπὸ ( Οὐάλεντος ἀρχομένης, καὶ μάλιστα ἀνά τε Θράκην καὶ Βιθυνίαν καὶ Ἑλλήσποντον, καὶ ἔτι τούτων προσωτέρω, οὔτε ἐκκλησίας, οὔτε ἱερέας εἶχον. Πρὸς δὲ τοὺς τὰ Μακεδονίου φρονοῦντας, πολυπλασίους αὐτῶν ὄντας κατὰ τόδε τὸ κλίμα, ἐχαλέπαινον · καὶ τραπέντες ἐπ᾿ αὐτοὺς, οὐ μετρίως ἐδίωκον. Οἱ δὲ, δέει τῶν ἐπικειμένων κακῶν, διαπρεσβευσάμενοι πρὸς ἀλλήλους κατὰ πόλεις, ἄμεινον ἐδοκίμασαν ἐπὶ Οὐαλεντινιανὸν καὶ τὸν Ῥωμαίων ἐπίσκοπον καταφυγεῖν, κἀκείνοις μᾶλλον ἡ Εὐδοξίῳ καὶ Οὐάλεντι καὶ τοῖς ἀμφ᾿ αὐτοὺς κοινωνεῖν τῆς πίστεως. Καὶ ἐπεὶ τάδε καλῶς ἔχειν ἔδοξεν, αἱροῦνται ἐπὶ τούτοις τρεῖς ἐξ αὐτῶν, Εὐστάθιόν τε τὸν ἐκ Σεβαστείας ἐπίσκοπον, καὶ Σιλβανὸν τὸν Ταρσοῦ, καὶ ) Θεόφιλον τὸν Κασταβάλων, καὶ πρὸς Οὐαλεντινιανὸν τὸν βασιλέα πέμπουσι, γράψαντες Λιβερίῳ τῷ Ῥωμαίων ἐπισκόπῳ, καὶ τοῖς ἀνὰ τὴν Δύσιν ἱερεῦσιν, οἷα δὴ πίστιν δόκιμον καὶ βεβαίαν ἀπὸ τῶν ἀποστό ΞΡ ἘΣ λων ἔχουσι, καὶ πρὸ τῶν. ἄλλων, προνοεῖν τῆς θρησκείας ὀφείλουσι, παντὶ σθένει συλλαβέσθαι τοῖς αὐτῶν πρέσδεσι, καὶ σὺν αὐτοῖς περὶ τῶν βουλεύσασθαι, ἕως ἂν δοχιμάσωσι διορθῶσαι τὰ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας πράγματα, Καὶ οἱ μὲν, ἀφικόμενοι, ἔγνωσαν τὸν βασιλέα εἰς Γαλατίαν δι— τοῖς παραχειμένοις τῇδε βαρβάροις — δὲ φανείσης αὐτοῖς τῆς ἐπὶ Γαλάτας ὁδοῦ διὰ τὸν πόλεμον, ἔδωχαν Λιδερίῳ τὰ γράμματα. Κοινωσάμενοί τε περὶ ὧν ἐπρεσδεύοντο, γινώσχουσιν ᾿Αρείον, καὶ τῶν ὁμοίως αὐτῷ φρονούντῶν διδασκόντων. ᾿Αποχηρύττουσι δὲ πᾶσαν αἵρεσιν ἐναντιουμένην τῇ πίστει τῆς ἐν. Νικαίᾳ συνόδου τὸ ὁμοούσιον ὄνομα δέχονται, ὡς τῷ ὁμοίῳ οὐσίαν τὰ αὐτὰ σημαῖνον. Ὡς δὲ τούτων ἔγγραφον ὁμολογίαν αὐτῶν ἔλαθε Λιβέριος, ἐχοινώνη: σεν αὐτοῖς " τοῖς ἀνὰ τὴν Ἕω ἐπισκόποις ἔγραψε, τῆς ὁμονοίας τῆς περὶ τὸ δόγμα συμφωνίας ἐπαινῶν " καὶ τὰ πρὸς τοὺς πρέσδεις πεπραγμένα ἐμήνυσεν, Ἦν δὲ των ἀμφὶ τὸν Εὐστάθιον ἡ ὁμολογία ἧδε. ### English translation (Claude) About this time a son named after the emperor Valentinian was born to him in the West; and not long after, Gratian, whom he had had before his accession, was made emperor. Meanwhile, although hail like stones fell unusually in many places, and very great earthquakes did great damage to other cities and especially to Nicaea in Bithynia, the emperor Valens and the bishop Eudoxius did not cease persecuting Christians who believed otherwise than they did. Against those who shared the belief of those who met at Nicaea they seemed somehow to have accomplished their aim; for in the greater part of the territory ruled by Valens, and above all in Thrace, Bithynia and the Hellespont and still further afield, they had neither churches nor priests. But against those who held the views of Macedonius, who in this region were many times more numerous than they, they were angry; and turning against them, they persecuted them severely. These, in fear of the evils threatening them, sent envoys to one another from city to city, and judged it better to take refuge with Valentinian and the bishop of the Romans, and to share the faith with them rather than with Eudoxius and Valens and their party. When this seemed good, they chose three of their number for this purpose, Eustathius bishop of Sebasteia, Silvanus of Tarsus and Theophilus of Castabala, and sent them to the emperor Valentinian, writing to Liberius the bishop of the Romans and to the priests in the West that, since they had a tried and firm faith from the apostles and ought above others to care for religion, they should help their envoys with all their strength and deliberate with them about …, until they decided how to set right the affairs of the church. When they arrived, they learned that the emperor was in Gaul, … the barbarians bordering on that country. The road to Gaul appearing to them … because of the war, they gave the letters to Liberius. Having communicated about the matters of their embassy, they condemned Arius and those who taught as he did; they rejected every heresy opposed to the faith of the synod at Nicaea; and they accepted the term homoousios as meaning the same as “like in essence.” When Liberius had received their written confession of these things, he communicated with them, and wrote to the bishops of the East praising their concord and agreement in doctrine, and reported what had been done with the envoys. The confession of Eustathius’s party was this. ### Translation notes - The first words of the staged text are the end of the chapter title and are removed by a correction. - Several words are lost in the scan (the matters to be deliberated, Valentinian’s war with the barbarians, the difficulty of the road); they are marked “…”. - The embassy to Liberius is dated 366. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 6.10 (PG 67:1317–1319; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/6-10). ## Church History 6.11 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/6-7/#p-6-11 - Source: PG 67:1319–1321 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The Macedonian envoys’ letter of confession to Liberius, accepting the Nicene faith and the homoousios and condemning Arius, the creed of Ariminum and other heresies. ### Greek text Κυρίῳ ἀδελφῷ, καὶ συλλειτουργῷ ἃ στάθιος, , Θεόφιλος, Κυρίῳ. χαί-. Διὰ τὰς τῶν αἱρετικῶν μανιώδεις ὑπογοίαςς, οἵ οὗ παύονται ταῖς χαθολιχαῖς Ἐκκλησίαις σκάνδαλα, ἐπισπείρειν, τούτου χάριν πᾶσαν ἀφορμὴν. ἀναιροῦντες , ὁμολογοῦμεν τὴν σύνοδον τὴν. γενομένην ἐν Λαμψάκῳ, καὶ Σμύρνῃ, καὶ ἐν ἑτέροις͵ διαφόροις τόποις τῶν ὀρθοδόξων ἐπισκόπων “ συνόδου πρεσδείαν ποιούμενοι, πρὸς τὴν χρήστ σου καὶ πάντας τοὺς Ἰταλοὺς. καὶ δυτικοὺς ἐπι πους γράμματα κομίζομεν, τὴν πίστιν τὴν 3 εἰ κρατεῖν φυλάσσειν, ἥτις ἐν τῇ ἁγίᾳ συνόδῳ ἐπὶ τοῦ μακαρίου Κωνσταντίνου ὑπὸ τριαχοσίων δέκα ὀκτὼ θεοφόρων Πατέρων θεῖσα, ἀκεραία ἀσαλεύτῳ τῇ καταστάσει ἕως" διηνεκῶς μένει, τὸ ὁμοούσιον ἁγίως — ΝΗ -— -— -— -— -— — — τ -— -εὑὐσεδῶς κεῖται, ὑπεναντίως τῆς ᾿Αρείου διαστροφῆς. Ὁμοίως καὶ ἡμᾶς μετὰ τῶν προειρημένων τὴν αὑτὴν πίστιν χεχρατηχέναι τε καὶ κρατεῖν, καὶ ἄχρι τέλους φυλάσσειν, ἰδίᾳ χειρὶ ὁμολογοῦμεν " χκαταχρίνοντες "Άρειον καὶ τὴν ἀσεθδῇ διδαχὴν αὐτοῦ, σὺν τοῖς μαθηταῖς αὐτοῦ, πᾶσαν αἵρεσιν Πατροπασιανοῦ, Μαρχίωνης, Φωτινοῦ, Μαρκέλλου, Παύλου τοῦ Σαμοσστέως, τούτων τὴν διδαχὴν καὶ πάντας τοὺς ὁμόφρονας αὑτῶν " πάσας δὲ τὰς αἱρέσεις τὰς ἐναντιουμένας τῇ προειρημένῃ ἁγίᾳ πίστει, ἥτις εὐσεδῶς ἐξετέθη ὑπὸ τῶν ἁγίων Πατέρων ἐν Νιχαίχ, ἀναθεματίζομεν " ἀναθεματίζοντες "Ἄρειον ἐξαιρέτως, τὰ τῇ ᾿Αριμίνῳ, ὅσα ὑπεναντίως ταύτης τῆς προειρημένης πίστεως τῆς ἁγίας συνόδου Νικαέων ἐπράχθη " οἷς δόλῳ καὶ ἐπιορκίᾳ ὑποπεισθέντες ἐν Κωνσταντινουπόλει χομισθεῖσιν ἀπὸ Νίκης τῆς Θράκης, ὑπεγράψαμεν. Ταῦτα ὁμολογήσαντες, καὶ τὴν ἐκτεθεῖσαν ἐν Νικαίᾳ πίστιν, αὐτοῖς ῥητοῖς τῇ οἰκίᾳ ὁμολογίᾳ συνῆψαν, καὶ περὶ τῶν πραχθέντων γράμματα ΔΛιθερίου λαβόντες, ἔπλευσαν εἰς Σικελίαν. ### English translation (Claude) “To our lord brother and fellow minister Liberius, Eustathius, Silvanus and Theophilus, greeting in the Lord. Because of the mad suspicions of the heretics, who do not cease sowing offences in the catholic churches, we, to remove every pretext, confess the synod held at Lampsacus and at Smyrna and in other various places by orthodox bishops; and as envoys of the synod we bring letters to your goodness and to all the bishops of Italy and the West, that we hold and keep the faith which was set out at the holy synod in the time of the blessed Constantine by three hundred and eighteen God-bearing fathers, and which remains until now and for ever in an unmixed and unshaken state, in which the homoousios is placed in holiness and piety against the perversion of Arius. Likewise we confess with our own hand that we, together with those named above, have held and hold the same faith and will keep it to the end; condemning Arius and his impious teaching with his disciples, and every heresy of the Patripassian, of Marcion, of Photinus, of Marcellus, of Paul of Samosata, the teaching of these and all who think like them. All heresies opposed to the aforesaid holy faith, which was piously set out by the holy fathers at Nicaea, we anathematize; anathematizing Arius especially, and what was done at Ariminum contrary to the aforesaid faith of the holy synod of Nicaea, to which we subscribed, persuaded by deceit and perjury, when it was brought to Constantinople from Nice in Thrace.” Having made this confession, they joined to their own confession the faith set out at Nicaea in its own words; and having received letters from Liberius about what had been done, they sailed to Sicily. ### Extrabiblical texts - Socrates, Hist. eccl. 4.12 (Church History): echo, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The confession is quoted in full and translated from the Greek as printed; the scan is damaged in places and is translated by sense. It is also preserved in Socrates, Hist. eccl. 4.12. - “Nice in Thrace” is the town where the creed later signed at Ariminum was drawn up (359). ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 6.11 (PG 67:1319–1321; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/6-11). ## Church History 6.12 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/6-7/#p-6-12 - Source: PG 67:1321–1327 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The synod of Tyana welcomes the western letters and summons a synod to Tarsus, which Valens forbids; ordered to expel bishops restored under Julian, the authorities fail to seize Athanasius, and Valens lets him return. ### Greek text Γενομένης δὲ χἀχεῖσε συνόδου καὶ τὰ αὐτὰ ψηφισαμένων τῶν τῇδε ἐπισκόπων, ἐπεὶ τάδε ἔπραξαν, ἐπανῆλθον. ἐκεῖνον δὲ τὸν χαιρὴν σύνοδον ἀγόν“ων ἐν Τυάνοις Εὐσεδίου τοῦ ἐπισκόπου τῆς Καππαδοκῶν Καισαρείας, ᾿Αθανασίου τε τοῦ χύρας, καὶ Πελαγίου τοῦ Λαοδικείας, Ζήνωνός τε τοῦ Τυρίου, Παύλου τοῦ ᾿Εμέσης, ᾿Οτρέως τε τοῦ λιελιτηνῆς, καὶ Γρηγορίου τοῦ Ναζιανζοῦ, καὶ πολλῶν ἄλλων, οἵ τὸ ὁμοούσιον πρεσδεύειν ἐψηφίσαντο ἐν ᾿Αντιοχείᾳ, ἐπὶ τῆς Ἰοδιανοῦ βασιλείας, ἀναγινώσχεται τὰ Λιβερίου καὶ τῶν ἀνὰ τὴν δύσιν γράμματα. Περιχαρεῖς τε ἐπὶ τούτοις γενόμενοι, ἔγραψαν πάσαις ταῖς ᾿Εχχλησίαις, ἐντυχεῖν τοῖς ψηφίσμασι τῶν ἀνὰ τὴν δύσιν ἐπισκόπων, καὶ τοῖς Λιβερίου γράμμασι καὶ Ἰταλῶν, καὶ ῎Αφρων, καὶ Γαλατῶν τῶν πρὸς δύσιν, καὶ Σικελῶν· ἐκόμισαν γὰρ καὶ τούτων γράμματα οἱ ἐκ Λαμψάκου πρέσβεις · καὶ ἀναλογίσασθαι τὸν πάντων ἀριθμόν. Πολλῷ γὰρ τῷ πλήθει τὴν ἐν ᾿Αριμίνῳ σύνοδον ἐνίκων· καὶ ὁμόφρονας αὐτοῖς γενέσθαι καὶ κοινωνούς· καὶ ὅτι ταύτης εἰσὶ τῆς γνώμης, διὰ γραφῆς οἰκείας δηλῶσαι· συνελθεῖν δὲ εἰς Ταρσὸν τῆς Κιλικίας ἔτι ἦρος ὄντος, εἰς ῥητὴν ἡμέραν ἣν ὥρισαν, καὶ οἱ μὲν, ὧδὲ ἀλλήλους συνιέναι προετρέποντο. Ἤδη δὲ συνίστασθαι μελλούσης τῆς ἐν Ταρσῷ συνόδου, συνελθόντες ἐν Καρίᾳ τῆς ᾿Ασίας ἀμφὶ τριάκοντα τέσσαρες τῶν Ἁσιανῶν ἐπισκόπων, τὴν μὲν ἐπὶ τῇ ὁμονοίᾳ τῶν Ἐκκλησιῶν σπουδὴν ἐπῄνουν · παρῃτοῦντο δὲ τὸ τοῦ ὁμοουσίου ὄνομα · καὶ τὴν ἐν ᾿Αντιοχείᾳ καὶ Σελευκείᾳ ἐκτεθεῖσαν πίστιν χρῆναι κρατεῖν ἰσχυρίζοντο, ὡς καὶ Λουκιανοῦ τοῦ μάρτυρος οὖσαν, καὶ μετὰ κινδύνων καὶ πολλῶν ἰδρώτων παρὰ τῶν πρὸ αὐτῶν δοκιμασθεῖσαν. Ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς, Εὐδοξίου σπουδῇ, τὴν ἐν Κιλικίᾳ προσδοκωμένην διέλυσε σύνοδον, γράψας περὶ τούτου καὶ ἀπειλὰς ἐπιθεῖς. Ἐν μέρει δὲ τοῖς ἄρχουσι τῶν ἐθνῶν, ἀπελαύνειν τῶν Ἐκκλησιῶν προσέταξε 4 τοὺς ἐπὶ Κωνσταντίου καθαιρεθέντας ἐπισκόπους, αὖθις δὲ τὴν ἱερωσύνην ἀναλαβόντας ἐπὶ τῆς Ἰουλιανοῦ βασιλείας. Ἐκ ταύτης δὲ τῆς προστάξεως, καὶ ταῖς ἀνὰ τὴν Αἴγυπτον ἀρχαῖς σπουδὴ γέγονεν, ἀφελέσθαι τῶν αὐτόθι ἐκκλησιῶν ᾿Αθανάσι ιον, καὶ τῆς πόλεως ἀπελάσαι. Οὐ τὸ τυχὸν γὰρ ( ἐπιτίμιον ἐνέκειτο τῷ βασιλείῳ γράμματι, εἰ μὴ ταῦτα γένοιτο, πάντων ἐπίσης ἀρχόντων τε καὶ τῶν ὑπ᾿ αὐτοὺς στρατιωτῶν, καὶ βουλευτηρίων, ἔκτισιν πολλῶν χρημάτων καταδικάζον, καὶ σώματος αἰκισμοὺς ἀπειλούμενον. Συνελθὸν δὲ τὸ πλῆθος τῶν Χριστιανῶν, ἐζήτουν τὸν ὕπαρχον, ἀπερισκέπτως μὴ ἀπελαύνειν τὸν ἐπίσκοπον· ἀκριβέστερον δὲ σκοπεῖν τὸν ὅρον τῶν βασιλείων γραμμάτων, ὡς κατ᾿ ἐκείνων μόνων κρατοῦντα τῶν ἐπὶ Ἰουλιανοῦ κατελθόντων μετὰ τὴν ἐπὶ Κωνσταντίου φυγήν. Τὸν δὲ ᾿Αθανάσιον ἔλεγον, φυγεῖν μὲν ἐπὶ Κωνσταντίου, μετακληθῆναι δὲ παρ' αὐτοῦ καὶ τὴν ἐπισκοπὴν ἀπολαβεῖν· Ἰουλιανὸν δὲ πάντας καταγαγόντα, μόνον αὐτὸν διώξαι· πάλιν δ' αὖ Ἰοβιανὸν αὐτὸν μετακαλέσασθαι. Ταῦτα λέγοντες, οὐκ ἔπειθον. ᾿Αντεῖχον δὲ ὅμως, καὶ βιάζεσθαι οὐ συνεχώρουν. Πανταχόθεν δὲ τοῦ δήμου συῤῥέοντος, καὶ πολλοῦ θορύβου καὶ ταραχῆς ἀνὰ τὴν πόλιν ὄντων, καὶ στάσεως προσδοκωμένης, ἐμήνυσεν ὁ ὕπαρχος βασιλεῖ τὰ γενόμενα, συγχωρήσας αὐτὸν ἐν τῇ πόλει διάγειν. Ήδη δὲ πολλῶν διαγενομένων ἡμερῶν, καὶ τῆς κινηθείσης στάσεως πεπαῦσθαι δοκούσης, ἑσπέρας λαθὼν ᾿Αθανάσιος ἐξῆλθε τῆς πόλεως, καὶ εἴς τι χωρίον ἐκρύπτετο. ᾿Αωρὶ δὲ τῆς αὐτῆς νυκτὸς ὁ ὕπαρχος Αἰγύπτου, καὶ ὁ τῶν τῇδε στρατευμάτων ἡγεμὼν, κατέλαβον τὴν ἐκκλησίαν, ἐν ᾗ τὸ καταγώγιον εἶχε · πανταχοῦ τε καὶ εἰς τὰς ὑπερῴους οἰκήσεις ἀναζητήσαντες αὐτὸν, ὑπεχώρουν διαμαρτόντες τῆς βουλῆς. "Ποντο γὰρ λοιπὸν τοῦ πλήθους ἐπιλελησμένου τῆς προτέρας κινήσεως, εἰ ἐπίθοιντο πάντων πρὸς ὕπνον τετραμμένων, ῥᾳδίως τὴν βασιλέως πρόσταξιν ἐπιτελέσειν, καὶ τὴν πόλιν ἀστασίαστον φυλάξειν. Θαῦμα δὲ πάντας εἰκότως εἶχεν, ᾿Αθανασίου μὴ εὑρεθέντος. Εἴτε γὰρ θείας δυνάμεως προειπούσης ὑπανεχώρησεν, εἴτε τινῶν ἀναγγειλάντων, ἀμφότερα εἰς ταυτὸν τελεῖ. Καὶ προμηθείας ἢ κατὰ ἄνθρωπον ἐδόκει, εἰς ἀναγκαῖον ὧδε καιρὸν προμαθεῖν τὴν ἐπιβουλὴν καὶ φυλάξασθαι. "Ἕτεροι δέ φασιν, ὡς τὴν τοῦ πλήθους παράλογον κίνησιν προορῶν, δείσας τε μὴ τῶν ἐντεῦθεν συμβησομένων δεινῶν αἴτιος εἶναι δόξει, πάντα τοῦτον τὸν χρόνον ἐν πατρῴῳ μνήματι διέτριβε. Καὶ ὁ μὲν ὧδε διαφυγὼν ἐλάνθανεν. Οὐ πολλῷ δὲ ὕστερον ἔγραψεν ὁ βασιλεὺς, αὐτὸν ἐπανελθεῖν καὶ τὴν ἐκκλησίαν ἔχειν. Τεκμαίρομαι δὲ 235 Οὐάλεντα παρὰ σκοπὸν ἐπὶ ταύτην τὴν γραφὴν ἐλθεῖν, ἢ τὴν κρατοῦσαν περὶ ᾿Αθανασίου δόξαν λογιζόμενον, καὶ ὅτι τούτου χάριν εἰκὸς ἦν μέμψασθαι Οὐαλεντινιανὸν, ἐπειδὴ τῶν ἐν Νικαίᾳ συνελθόντων τὸ δόγμα ἐπρέσβευσεν· ἢ τῶν ἐπαινούντων αὐτὸν πολλῶν ὄντων, τὴν κίνησιν ὑφορώμενον, μή τι νεωτερίσωσιν ἐπὶ βλάβῃ τῶν κοινῶν πραγμάτων. Οἶμαι δὲ, ὡς εἰκὸς, καὶ τοὺς προεστῶτας τῆς ᾿Αρείου αἱρέσεως, μὴ λίαν ἐπιθέσθαι τῇ περὶ τούτου σπουδῇ· λογισαμένους, ὡς τῆς πόλεως ἐκβληθεὶς, αὖθις ὀχλήσει τοῖς βασιλεῦσι, καὶ ἀφορμὴν ἐντεῦθεν ἔξει τῆς πρὸς αὐτοὺς ὁμιλίας, καὶ μεταπείσει Οὐάλεντα· Οὐαλεντινιανὸν δὲ καὶ εἰς ὀργὴν κινήσει, ὡς ὁμόφρονα. Μάλιστα γὰρ περιδεεῖς ἦσαν ἐκ τῶν ἐπὶ Κωνσταντίου συμβάντων, πεπειραμένοι τῆς αὐτοῦ ἀρετῆς. Ἐπιτοσοῦτον γὰρ καὶ τότε τῆς τῶν ἐναντίων ἐκράτησεν ἐπιβουλῆς, ὡς ἀσμένως αὐτῷ παραχωρῆσαι τῶν ἀνὰ τὴν Αἴγυπτον Ἐκκλησίων, καὶ ἐπὶ τούτῳ μόλις εἶξαι Κωνσταντίου γράμμασιν, ἐκ τῆς Ἰταλίας ἐπανελθεῖν. Τὸ μὲν οὖν αἴτιον, ᾿Αθανάσιος ἑπίτης τοῖς ἄλλοις οὐχ ἀφῃρέθη τῆς Ἐκκλησίας, τοῦτο εἰκάζω εἶναι. Τοῖς δὲ νονουχὶ διωγμὸς συνέβη, Ἑλληνικῷ παραπλήσιος. Φυγαί τε γὰρ ὑπερόριοι ἐσπουδάζοντο τῶν τὰ αὐτὰ φρονεῖν ἀναινομένων εὐχτήριοι οἶκοι, τῶν μὲν ἀφῃροῦντο" τοῖς δὲ παρεδίδοντο" ἡ δὲ Αἴγυπτος πέως τούτων ἀπείρατος ἦν, ἔτι ᾿Αθανασίου τῷ βίῳ περιόντος. ### English translation (Claude) A synod was held there too, and the bishops there decreed the same things; having done this, they returned. At that time a synod was being held at Tyana by Eusebius, bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia, Athanasius of Ancyra, Pelagius of Laodicea, Zeno of Tyre, Paul of Emesa, Otreius of Melitene, Gregory of Nazianzus and many others, who had voted at Antioch under Jovian’s reign to uphold the homoousios; and the letters of Liberius and the westerners were read. Overjoyed at these, they wrote to all the churches to read the decisions of the western bishops and the letters of Liberius and of the Italians, the Africans, the western Gauls and the Sicilians — for the envoys from Lampsacus had brought letters from these too — and to reckon the number of them all; for they far outnumbered the synod at Ariminum; and to become of one mind and in communion with them, and to declare in a letter of their own that they held this view; and to meet at Tarsus in Cilicia while it was still spring, on a fixed day which they appointed. So they urged one another to meet. When the synod at Tarsus was already about to assemble, about thirty-four of the bishops of Asia met in Caria in Asia; they praised the zeal for the concord of the churches but rejected the term homoousios, and maintained that the faith set out at Antioch and Seleucia should prevail, as being that of the martyr Lucian and as having been tested by those before them amid dangers and much sweat. But the emperor, through Eudoxius’s zeal, broke up the synod expected in Cilicia, writing about it and adding threats. Separately he ordered the governors of the provinces to drive from the churches the bishops who had been deposed under Constantius and had taken back their priesthood in the reign of Julian. Because of this order the authorities in Egypt too were eager to take the churches there from Athanasius and drive him from the city. For no ordinary penalty was attached to the imperial letter if this were not done: it condemned all alike, governors and the soldiers under them and the city councils, to pay large sums of money, and threatened them with bodily tortures. The multitude of the Christians gathered and asked the prefect not to drive out the bishop heedlessly, but to examine more precisely the terms of the imperial letter, as applying only to those who had returned under Julian after exile under Constantius. Athanasius, they said, had been exiled under Constantius, but had been recalled by him and had recovered his see; Julian, who recalled all others, had persecuted him alone; and Jovian again had recalled him. Saying this they did not convince him; but they held out nonetheless and would not allow force to be used. As the people streamed together from every side and there was much uproar and turmoil throughout the city and a riot was expected, the prefect reported to the emperor what had happened and allowed Athanasius to remain in the city. Some days later, when the riot that had been stirred up seemed to have subsided, Athanasius secretly left the city in the evening and hid in a certain place. At an untimely hour of the same night the prefect of Egypt and the commander of the troops there seized the church in which he had his lodging; and having searched for him everywhere, even in the upper rooms, they withdrew, having failed in their plan. For they thought that, now that the multitude had forgotten its former agitation, if they attacked when all had turned to sleep, they would easily carry out the emperor’s order and keep the city free from riot. Everyone was naturally amazed that Athanasius was not found. For whether he withdrew because a divine power had forewarned him, or because certain persons had told him, both come to the same thing; and it seemed beyond human foresight to learn of the plot in advance, at so critical a moment, and guard against it. Others say that, foreseeing the irrational movement of the multitude, and fearing lest he should seem to be the cause of the evils that would follow, he spent all this time in his father’s tomb. So he escaped and lay hidden. Not long afterwards the emperor wrote that he should return and have the church. I judge that Valens came to write this against his intention, either reckoning with the prevailing esteem for Athanasius, and that Valentinian would probably blame him for it, since he upheld the doctrine of those who met at Nicaea; or, because those who praised Athanasius were many, suspecting their agitation, lest they cause some revolt to the harm of public affairs. I think too, as is likely, that the heads of the Arian heresy did not press very hard in this matter, reckoning that if he were driven from the city, he would again trouble the emperors, would gain from this an occasion for conversing with them, and would win Valens over, and stir Valentinian to anger as one of the same mind. For they were especially fearful because of what had happened under Constantius, having experienced his virtue. For even then he so overcame his opponents’ plots that Constantius gladly gave up to him the churches of Egypt, and he hardly yielded to Constantius’s letters to return from Italy for this purpose. This, then, I conjecture to be the reason why Athanasius was not deprived of the church as the others were. For the others a persecution followed like the pagan one. Exile beyond the frontier was pressed upon those who refused to share the same belief; houses of prayer were taken from some and handed over to others. But Egypt was so far untouched by these things, while Athanasius was still alive. ### Translation notes - The first words of the staged text are the end of the chapter title and are removed by a correction. - Athanasius’s fourth flight, in 365–366, lasted about four months; Socrates (Hist. eccl. 4.13) also reports that he hid in his father’s tomb. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 6.12 (PG 67:1321–1327; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/6-12). ## Church History 6.13 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/6-7/#p-6-13 - Source: PG 67:1327 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: At Eudoxius’s death the Arians ordain Demophilus at Constantinople and the Nicene party Evagrius, ordained by Eustathius of Antioch; Valens exiles both Eustathius and Evagrius. ### Greek text Τῷ δὲ βασιλεῖ Οὐάλεντι τὴν παρ᾽ Ὅῤῥόντην τιόχειαν καταλαβεῖν ἐδόκει. Ἐχομένου δὲ αὑτοῦ τῆς ὁδοῦ, τελευτᾷ τὸν βίον Εὐδόξιος, ἐπὶ ἔνδεχα ἐνιαυτοῖς χρατῆσας τῶν ἐν τῇ Κωνσταντινουπόλει ἐκκλησιῶν. Ἐπιτρέπεται δὲ ταύτας Δημόφιλος, χειροτονηθεὶς εἰς τὴν αὐτοῦ διαδοχὴν παρὰ τῶν τὰ ᾿Αρείου φρονούντων. Οἱ δὲ τοῦ δόγματος τῆς ἐν Νικαίᾳ συνόδου, νομίσαντες εἰς καιρὸν αὐτοῖς τάδε συμδεδηχέναι, ψηφίζονται Εὐάγριόν τινα ἐπισκοπεῖν αὐτῶν. Χειροτονεῖ δὲ τοῦτον Εὐστάθιος, ὃς τὴν ᾿Αντιοχέων τῶν Σύρων διεῖπεν Ἐκκλησίαν. Μεταχληθεὶς γὰρ ὑπὸ βιανοῦ τῆς ὑπερορίας φυγῆς, λάθρα τότε ἐν Κωνσταντίνου πόλει διέτριδε, τοὺς ὁμοδόξους αὐτῷ διδάσκων, καὶ προτρέπων ἐπὶ τῆς αὐτῆς μένειν περὶ τὸ θεῖον γνώμης. Ἐντεῦθεν οἱ μὲν ἀπὸ τῆς ᾿Αρεΐου αἱρέσεως πρὸς στάσιν ἀναχινηθέντες, χαλεπῶς ἐδίωκὸν τοὺς σπουδαστὰς τῆς Εὐαγρίου χειροτονίας, δὲ βασιλεὺς ταῦτα γνοὺς ἐν Νικομηδείᾳ τέως τὴν ὁδὸν ἐπέσχε. Δείσας δὲ περὶ τῆς πόλεως μή τι πάθῃ ὑπὸ στάσεως, σύνοιδε πέμψαι στρατιώτας εἰς Κωνσταντινούπολιν, οὺς ἱκανοὺς ἐνόμισεν εἷς τοῦτο. Ἐὺστάθιον δὲ συλληφθέντα προσέταξεν Βιζύῃ πόλει τῆς Θράκης διάγειν, Εὐάγριον ἑτέρωθι ἀπάγεσθαι. Καὶ τὰ μὲν ὧδε ἔσχε. | ### English translation (Claude) The emperor Valens decided to go to Antioch on the Orontes. While he was on his way, Eudoxius died, having held the churches in Constantinople for eleven years. They were entrusted to Demophilus, ordained as his successor by those who held the views of Arius. Those of the doctrine of the synod at Nicaea, thinking this had happened opportunely for them, elected a certain Evagrius as their bishop. He was ordained by Eustathius, who had governed the church of the Antiochenes in Syria; for, recalled from exile by Jovian, he was then living secretly in Constantinople, teaching those who shared his belief and urging them to remain in the same opinion about the divine. Thereupon those of the Arian heresy, stirred to riot, harshly persecuted the supporters of Evagrius’s ordination. The emperor, learning this at Nicomedia, halted his journey for a time; and fearing lest the city suffer some harm from riot, he decided to send to Constantinople as many soldiers as he thought sufficient for this. He ordered Eustathius to be arrested and to live at Bizye, a city of Thrace, and Evagrius to be taken elsewhere. So it turned out. ### Translation notes - Eudoxius died in 370. This Eustathius is the deposed bishop of Antioch (a Nicene), not Eustathius of Sebasteia. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 6.13 (PG 67:1327; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/6-13). ## Church History 6.14 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/6-7/#p-6-14 - Source: PG 67:1327–1329 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Eighty clergy who petition Valens at Nicomedia against the Arians’ persecution are secretly condemned; put on a ship as if for exile, they are burned at sea. ### Greek text Θρασύτεροι δὲ, ὡς φιλεῖ συμβαίνειν τοῖς εὐτυχοῦσιν, οἱ τὰ ᾿Αρείου φρονοῦντες γενόμενοι, οὐχ ἀνεχτὰ ἐπεδούλευον τοῖς ἀπὸ τῆς ἐναντίας δόξης. Οἱ δὲ, εἴς, τε σῶμα ὑδριζόμενοι, ἄρχουσί τς καὶ δεσμωτηρίοις παραδιδόμενοι, τὰς οὐσίας κατ᾽ ὀλίγον δαπανώμενοι ταῖς ἐνθένδε συχνῶς συμθαινούσαις ζημίαις, ἔγνωσαν δεηθῆναι τοῦ βασιλέως, ὅπως τινὰ τῶν δεινῶν εὕροιεν ἀπαλλαγήν. Καὶ ἐκκλησιαστικοὺς ὀγδοήκοντα ἄνδρας ἐπὶ τοῦτο εἴλοντο, ὧν ἡγοῦντο Οὐρβανὸς καὶ Θεόδωρος Μενέδημος. Ὡς δὲ εἰς Νικομήδειαν ἀφίκοντο, βιβλίον ἐπέδωκαν τὰ αὐτοὺς ἐγγράψαντες. Ὁ δὲ, σφόδρα θυμωθεὶς, ὅσον ὠργίσθη οὐχ ἐγένετο δήλος " λάθρα δὲ ὑπάρχῳ προσέταξε συλλαδεῖν αὐτοὺς καὶ ἀνελεῖν. Ὁ δὲ ὕπαρχος δείσα: μὴ στασιάσῃ τὸ πλῆθος, τοσούτων εὐλαθὼν ἀνδρῶν καὶ μηξὲν ἠδικηκότων παραλόγως ἀναιρουμένων, πλάττεται καταδικάζειν αὐτῷν ὑπερορίαν φυγήν. Ὡς ἐπὶ ἃς τοῦτο δὲ πέμπων αὐτοὺς, εἰς πλοῖον ἐνεδίθασεν, οὐχ ἀγεννῶς τάδε παθεῖν ὑπομένοντας. ᾿Επεὶ δὲ πλέοντες κατὰ μέσον τοῦ ᾿Ασταχίου χαλουμένου χόλπου ἐγένοντο, οἱ μὲν ναῦται πυρὶ τὸ σχάφος ὑφάψαντες, ὡς ἣν αὐτοῖς προστεταγμένον, ὑπεχώρουν εἰς τὸ ἐφὄλχιον μεταπηδήσαντες. Ἢ δὲ ναῦς ὑπὸ ἐπιφόρου ἀνέμου ἐλαυνομένη, ἄχρι Δαχιδίζης, χωρίον δὲ τοῦτο τῆς παραλίου Βιθυνίας, διήρκεσε πρὸς τὸν ἔκπλουν. Ἅμα δὲ τῇ γῇ προσέσχε, καὶ διελύθη, σὺν αὐτοῖς ἀνδράσι χαταφλεγεῖσα. ### English translation (Claude) Those who held the views of Arius, becoming bolder, as tends to happen to the prosperous, plotted intolerably against those of the opposite belief. They, insulted in their bodies, handed over to magistrates and to prisons, and their property little by little consumed by the frequent fines that followed, decided to petition the emperor, so as to find some release from their sufferings. For this they chose eighty churchmen, led by Urbanus, Theodore and Menedemus. When they arrived at Nicomedia, they presented a petition in which they had written down their sufferings. The emperor was extremely angry, but did not make plain how angry he was; secretly he ordered the prefect to arrest and kill them. The prefect, fearing lest the multitude riot if so many pious men who had done no wrong were put to death without reason, pretended to condemn them to exile. On the pretext of sending them away, he put them on board a ship, and they did not bear this ignobly. When they were sailing in the middle of the gulf called Astacenus, the sailors, as they had been ordered, set fire to the vessel and withdrew, leaping into the ship’s boat. The ship, driven by a following wind, held out on its course as far as Dacibiza, a place on the coast of Bithynia; and as soon as it touched land it broke up, burned together with the men. ### Translation notes - The burning of the eighty clergy is dated 370; Socrates, Hist. eccl. 4.16, tells the same story. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 6.14 (PG 67:1327–1329; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/6-14). ## Church History 6.15 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/6-7/#p-6-15 - Source: PG 67:1329–1331 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Valens hopes to seize the churches of Caesarea while Basil is estranged from its bishop Eusebius and living with monks in Pontus, but Basil returns, is reconciled with Eusebius and defends the church. ### Greek text Οὐάλης δὲ καταλιπὼν τὴν Νικομήδειαν, ἐπὶ τὴν ᾿Αντιόχειαν ὁδὸν ἐποιεῖτο. ᾿Εν τούτῳ δὲ, Καππαδόχαις ἐνδημήσας, ὅπερ εἰώθει ποιεῖν, ἐσπούδαζε χοῦν τοὺς ὀρθόφρονας, καὶ τὰς ἐνθάδε Ἐκκλησίας παραδιδόναι τοῖς τὰ ᾿Αρείου φρονοῦσι, ῬΡᾳδίως τε τοῦτο χατορθώσειν ᾧετο, τοῦ διαφορᾶς τινος εἰς λύπην καταστῆναι Βασίλειον Εὐσεδίῳ τότε ἐπιτροπεύοντι τὴν Καισαρέων ᾿Εχχλησίαν, Διὸ καὶ πρὸς τὸν Πόντον ὑπεχώρησε, καὶ τοῖς ἐνθάδε φιλοσοφοῦσ: μοναχοῖς συνῆν. Τὸ δὲ πλῆθος, μάλιστα οἱ χράτιστοι σοφώτεροι, ἐν ὑπονοίᾳ τὸν Εὐσέδιον εἶχον καὶ ὡς φυγῆς αἴτιον γενόμενον ἀνδρὸς εὐδοκιμωτάτου ἐν τῷ βιοῦν καὶ λέγειν, ἀπολιπεῖν αὐτὸν ἐβουλεύοντο, καὶ καθ' ἑαυτοὺς ἐκκλησιάζειν. ὁ μὲν, ἵνα μὴ τὸ ἑαυτὸν ἐπιτρέψῃ τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν οὐχ ἐνδεᾶ θορύβων διὰ τὰς ἐπαναστάτεις τῶν ἑτεροδόξων, ἐν τοῖς περὶ τὸν Πόντον φροντιστηρίοις ἡσυχίαν ἦγε. Βασιλέα δὲ τοὺς ἀμφ᾽ αὐτὸν ἐπισκόπους, ἀεὶ γὰρ αὑτῷ συνῆσαν τῆς ᾿Δρείου αἱοέσεως. ποοθυμοτέοους εἰς τὴν ἐπιχείρησιν ἐποίει ἡ Βασιλείου ἀπουσία, καὶ · τὸ περὶ Εὐσέβιον τοῦ λαοῦ μίσος. ᾿Απέβη δὲ παρὰ γνώμην αὐτοῖς. ῞Ἅμα γὰρ ἡγγέλθησαν ἐπὶ Καππαδοκίαν ἐλαύνειν, καταλιπὼν τὸν Πόντον Βασίλειος, ἐθελοντὴς εἰς Καισάρειαν ἦκε 8. Καὶ Εὐσεβίῳ σπεισάμενος, εὔνους ἦν· τῇ δὲ Ἐκκλησίᾳ εἰς καιρὸν τοῖς λόγοις ἐπήμυνεν. Ὁ δὲ Οὐάλης ἀποτυχὼν τῆς σπουδῆς, ἄπρακτος ἄἅμα τοῖς σὺν αὐτῷ ἐπισκόποις ἀπεχώ ρησε τότε, ### English translation (Claude) Valens left Nicomedia and made his way to Antioch. Meanwhile, staying in Cappadocia, he was eager, as was his custom, to harm the orthodox and to hand over the churches there to those who held the views of Arius. He thought he would accomplish this easily because, through some disagreement, Basil had been brought to vexation with Eusebius, who then governed the church of Caesarea. For this reason Basil had withdrawn to Pontus and was living with the monks practising the philosophic life there. The people, and especially the most powerful and the wisest, held Eusebius under suspicion, as having become the cause of the flight of a man most renowned for his life and eloquence, and were planning to abandon him and hold assemblies by themselves. Basil, so as not to be responsible for a church not free from disturbances because of the risings of those of other belief, kept quiet in the monasteries about Pontus. The emperor and the bishops with him — for those of the Arian heresy were always with him — were made more eager for the attempt by Basil’s absence and the people’s hatred of Eusebius. But it turned out against their expectation. For as soon as it was announced that they were marching on Cappadocia, Basil left Pontus and came of his own accord to Caesarea; and being reconciled with Eusebius, he was well disposed to him, and came opportunely to the church’s help with his words. Valens, having failed in his effort, then withdrew unsuccessful with the bishops who were with him. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 6.15 (PG 67:1329–1331; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/6-15). ## Church History 6.16 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/6-7/#p-6-16 - Source: PG 67:1331–1333 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Basil, now bishop of Caesarea, defies Valens’s prefect, who threatens him with death; Valens honours him at Epiphany but plans his exile, until his son falls ill and Basil is called to pray for him. ### Greek text Μετὰ χρόνον δὲ πάλιν εἰς Καππαδοκίαν ἐλθὼν, καταλαμβάνει Βασίλειον τὰς τῇδε Ἐκκλησίας ἐπιτραπέντα μετὰ τὴν Εὐσεβίου τελευτήν. Βουλευσάμενος δὲ αὐτὸν ἐξελάσαι 1, οὐχ ἑκὼν ἀπέσχετο τῆς ἐπιβουλῆς. "Αμα γὰρ τῇ ἐπιχειρήσει λέγεται τῆς ἐχομένης νυκτὸς, τὴν αὐτοῦ γαμετὴν περιπεσεῖν δείμασι, καὶ Γαλάτην τὸν υἱὸν ὃν μόνον εἶχε, ταχείᾳ νόσῳ ἀποθανεῖν. Ἐδόκει δὲ πᾶσι, τιμωρὸν γενόμενον τὸν Θεὸν τῶν κατὰ Βασιλείου βεβουλευμένων, ἐπὶ κακώσει τῶν τεκνόντων, ἀπολέσαι τὸν παῖδα. Ταῦτα δὲ καὶ Οὐάλης ὑπελάμβανεν. Αμέλει ἀποθανόντος μὲν τοῦ υἱέος, οὐκέτι αὐτὸν ἠνώχλησεν. Ἐν ᾧ δὲ περιῆν, καὶ κακῶς ἔχων ἔμελλε τελευτᾷν, πέπομφε πρὸς αὐτὸν ἀντιβολῶν ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ τοῦ κάμνοντος εὔξασθαι. ῞Ἅμα γὰρ ἀφΟ ίκετο εἰς Καισάρειαν, μετακαλεσάμενος ὁ ὕπαρχος τὸν Βασίλειον, ἐκέλευσε τὰ Βασιλέως φρονεῖν. Ἀπειθοῦντι δὲ, ἠπείλησε θάνατον. Τὸν δὲ φάναι, πολλοῦ ἄξιον ἔσεσθαι αὐτῷ, καὶ μεγίστην δώσειν χάριν, ὡς ἐν τάχει τῶν δεσμῶν τοῦ σώματος ἀπαλλάξειεν. Ἐπεὶ δὲ τὴν τότε ἡμέραν καὶ τὴν ἑξῆς νύκτα ἐκέλευσεν αὐτὸν ὁ ὕπαρχος βουλεύεσθαι, καὶ μὴ ἀπερισκέπτως εἰς προῦπτον ἁλέσθαι κίνδυνον, εἰς δὲ τὴν ὑστεραίαν παρεῖναι, καὶ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ γνώμην δήλην ποιεῖν, Ἐμοὶ μὲν, ἔφη, οὐ δεῖ βουλῆς. Αὐτὸς γὰρ ἔσομαι καὶ τῇ ὑστεραίᾳ. Κτίσμα γὰρ ἂν, οὐκ ἀνέξομαι τὸν ὅμοιον π προσκυνεῖν καὶ Θεὸν ὁμολογεῖν, οὐδὲ κοινωνός σοί τε καὶ βασιλεῖ τῆς θρησκείας εἶναι. Εἰ γὰρ καὶ λίαν ἐπίσημοι τυγχάνετε, καὶ οὐκ ὀλίγης ἡγεῖσθε τῆς χαριστέον. Ολιγωρῆσαι δὲτῆς εἰς τὸ θεῖον πίστεως, ἣν οὐκ ἄν ποτε προδοίην, οὔτε δήμευσιν οὐσίας, οὔτε ὑπερορίαν φυγὴν, οὔτε θάνατον καταδικασθείς. Ἐπεὶ τούτων οὐδέν με ἀνιᾷν δυνήσεται. Εἴγε οὐσίαν μὲν οὐκ ἔχω, ῥᾶκός τε καὶ βιβλία ὀλίγα. Οἰκῶ δὲ τὴν γῆν, ὡς ἀεὶ παροδεύων. Σῶμα δὲ δι' ἀσθένειαν, μετὰ τὴν πρώτην πληγήν, αἰσθήσεως καὶ βασάνων κρεῖττον. Τοιαῦτα Βασιλείου παῤῥησιασαμένου, θαυμάσας τοῦ ἀνδρὸς τὴν ἀρετὴν ὁ ὕπαρχος ἀνήγγειλε τῷ βασιλεῖ. Ὁ δὲ, ἐπιτελουμένης τῆς τῶν Θεοφανίων ἑορτῆς, σὺν τοῖς ἄρχουσι καὶ δορυφόροις εἰς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν παραγενόμενος, δῶρά τε τῇ ἱερᾷ τραπέζῃ προσήνεγκεν, καὶ εἰς λόγους αὐτῷ ἦλθε, καὶ σοφίας καὶ τοῦ περὶ τὸ ἱερᾶσθαι καὶ ἐκκλησιάζειν κόσμου τε καὶ εὐταξίας ἐπήνεσεν. Ἐκράτει δὲ ὅμως οὐκ εἰς μακρὰν ἐκ διαβολῆς τῶν ἐναντίων, ὑπερορίαν αὐτὸν οἰκεῖν. Καὶ ἡ νὺξ παρῆν, καθ᾽ ἣν ἐδόκει τοῦτο γίνεσθαι · ἐξαπίνης δὲ πυρετὸς ἐπιλαβὼν τοῦ βασιλέως τὸν υἱὸν, εἰς ἀθρόαν καὶ σφαλερὰν νόσον κατέβαλε. Καὶ ὁ πατὴρ κατὰ τοῦ : ἐδάφους ἐῤῥίπτετο, ἔτι ζῶντα τὸν παῖδα πενθῶν· ἀμηχανῶν δὲ καὶ πανταχόθεν σῶον αὐτὸν σπουδάζων ἔχειν, ἐπιτρέπει τοῖς οἰκείοις μετακαλέσασθαι Βασίλειον εἰς ἐπίσκεψιν τοῦ κειμένου · ἕναγχος γὰρ ὑβρισμένῳ, ἠδεῖτο αὐτὸς περὶ τούτου κελεύειν. "Αμα δὲ παρῆν, καὶ ὁ παῖς ῥᾷον ἔσχεν, ὡς πολλοὺς τότε ἰσχυρίζεσθαι, ὡς οὐκ ἂν ἀπολώλει, εἰ μὴ καὶ ἑτεροδόξους ἅμα Βασιλείῳ συνεκάλεσεν, ὑπὲρ τοῦ παιδὸς εὐξομένους. Λόγος δὲ καὶ τὸν ὕπαρχον νόσῳ τότε περι πεσεῖν· ἀντιβολοῦντα δὲ καὶ παραιτούμενον αὐτὸν ὑγιᾶ γενέσθαι. Ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν οὐ θαυμαστὰ ἴσως δόξειεν ἐπὶ Βασιλείῳ σκοπούμενα, ἀνδρὶ φιλοσοφαι τάτῳ τε καὶ λόγοις ὑπερφυῶς εὐδοκιμήσαντι. ### English translation (Claude) Some time later Valens came again to Cappadocia and found that Basil had been entrusted with the churches there after the death of Eusebius. Having resolved to drive him out, he refrained from the plot against his will. For it is said that on the night following the attempt his wife fell into terrors, and Galates, the only son he had, died of a swift illness. Everyone thought that God had avenged what had been planned against Basil by taking away the child to afflict the parents. Valens too supposed this; at any rate, after his son died, he troubled Basil no more. While the boy was alive but ill and about to die, he sent to Basil begging him to pray for the sick child. For as soon as Valens came to Caesarea, the prefect summoned Basil and ordered him to adopt the emperor’s beliefs, and threatened him with death if he disobeyed. Basil said that it would be worth much to him, and that he would be very grateful, if he would quickly free him from the bonds of the body. When the prefect told him to deliberate that day and the following night, and not to leap heedlessly into evident danger, but to come the next day and make his mind plain, he said: “I have no need to deliberate. I shall be the same tomorrow too. For, being a creature myself, I will not endure to worship one like me and confess him God, nor to share religion with you and the emperor. For even if you are very distinguished and govern no small … , I will not … neglect my faith toward God, which I would never betray, though condemned to confiscation of property, or exile, or death. For none of these can grieve me. I have no property but a ragged cloak and a few books; I dwell on the earth as one always passing through; and my body, through weakness, will be beyond feeling and torture after the first blow.” When Basil had spoken so freely, the prefect, admiring the man’s virtue, reported to the emperor. During the celebration of the feast of the Theophany, the emperor came to the church with his officials and guards, offered gifts at the holy table, entered into conversation with Basil, and praised his wisdom and the order and good discipline of his priestly and liturgical ministry. Yet not long after, through the slander of his opponents, the decision prevailed that Basil should live in exile; and the night came on which this was to be done. But suddenly fever seized the emperor’s son and cast him into a sudden and dangerous illness. The father threw himself on the ground, mourning the child while still alive; and being at a loss and eager by every means to keep him safe, he allowed his household to summon Basil to visit the sick boy; for, having so lately insulted him, he was ashamed to send for him himself. As soon as he came, the child grew better, so that many then maintained that he would not have died, had not the emperor also called in men of other belief together with Basil to pray for the child. It is said also that the prefect fell ill then, and that, when he begged and entreated Basil, he became well. But these things perhaps will not seem marvellous when considered in the case of Basil, a man of the highest philosophy and exceedingly renowned for his eloquence. ### Extrabiblical texts - Gregory of Nazianzus, Or. 43.48-51 (Orations (other than the Theological Orations)): echo, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Basil’s reply is garbled in the scan in the middle (“govern no small …”); the gap is marked. Gregory of Nazianzus gives a fuller version of the exchange with the prefect Modestus in Oration 43.48–51. - “One like me”: in Basil’s argument the Arian Son is a creature like himself, and so cannot be worshipped as God. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 6.16 (PG 67:1331–1333; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/6-16). ## Church History 6.17 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/6-7/#p-6-17 - Source: PG 67:1333–1335 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Basil and Gregory of Nazianzus, trained in rhetoric and in Origen’s exegesis, defend the Nicene faith: Basil founds monastic communities in Pontus and Gregory leads the Nicene remnant at Constantinople. ### Greek text Σύγχρονοι δὲ ὄντες αὐτός τε καὶ Γρηγόριος, ὁμόζηλοι ταῖς ἀρεταῖς, ὡς εἰπεῖν, ἐγνωρίζοντο. "Αμφω γὰρ νέοὶ ὄντες, Ἡμερίῳ καὶ Προαιρεσίῳ, τοῖς τότε δοκιμωτάτοις σοφισταῖς ἐν ᾿Αθήναις ἐφοίτησαν· μετὰ ταῦτα δὲ, ἐν ᾿Αντιοχεία Λιβανίῳ τῷ Σύρῳ. Σοφιστεύειν δὲ καὶ δίκας ἀγορεύειν ὑπεριδόντες, φιλοσοφεῖν ἔγνωσαν κατὰ τὸν τῆς Ἐκκλησίας νόμον. Ἐπί τινα δὲ χρόνον τοῖς μαθήμασι τῶν παρ' Ἕλλησι φιλοσόφων ἐνδιατρίψαντες, καὶ τὰς ἐξηγήσεις τῶν ἱερῶν Λόγων εξακριβώσαντες ἐκ τῶν Ωριγένους, καὶ τῶν πρὸ αὐτοῦ καὶ μετ᾿ ἐκεῖνον ἐν ταῖς ἑρμηνείαις τῶν ἱερῶν Βίβλων εὐδοκιμησάντων, μέγα ὄφελος κατὰ τὸν παρὄντα καιρὸν ἐγένοντο τοῖς ὁμοδόξοις τῶν ἐν Νικαίᾳ συνελθόντων. Ἑκάτερος γὰρ ἀνδρείως συνίστατο τῆς ἐν Νικαίᾳ συνόδου. τούτῳ τῷ δόγματι πρὸς τοὺς τὰ ᾿Αρείου φρονοῦντας· καὶ διήλεγχεν ὡς μήτετὰ ἄλλα ὀρθῶς φρονοῦντας, μήτε τὰς Ωριγένους δόξας, αἷς μάλιστα ἐπηρείδοντο. Κοινῇ δὲ συνθήκῃ, ἢ κλήρῳ, ὡς πρός τινων ἐπυθόμην, τοὺς κινδύνους ἐμερίσαντο. Καὶ Βασίλειος μὲν, τὰς πρὸς τὸν Πόντον περιιὼν πόλεις, συνοικίας τε μοναχῶν πολλὰς ἐκεῖσε κατεστήσατο, καὶ τὰ πλήθη διδάσκων, ὁμοίως αὐτῷ φρονεῖν ἔπειθε. Γρηγόριος δὲ, Ναζιανζοῦ πόλεως μικρᾶς ἐπισκοπεῖν μετὰ τὸν αὐτοῦ πατέρα λαχὼν, ἀλλαχῆ τε τούτου χάριν, καὶ μάλιστα τῇ Κωνσταντινουπόλει συνεχῶς ἐπεδήμει. Οὐ πολλῷ δὲ ὕστερον τοῦ τῇδε λαοῦ προστατεῖν ἐπετράπη ψήφῳ πολλῶν ἱερέων. Μήτε γὰρ ἐπισκόπου μήτε Ἐκκλησίας οὔσης ἐνθάδε, ἐκινδύνευε μηκέτι εἶναι λοιπὸν ἐν Κωνσταντινουπόλει τὸ δόγμα ### English translation (Claude) He and Gregory, being contemporaries, were known, so to speak, as rivals in virtue. For both, when young, studied at Athens under Himerius and Prohaeresius, the most esteemed sophists of the time, and afterwards at Antioch under Libanius the Syrian. Disdaining to practise as sophists and to plead at law, they resolved to live the philosophic life according to the rule of the church. Having spent some time on the studies of the Greek philosophers and having mastered the interpretations of the sacred words from the works of Origen and of those before and after him who were renowned for interpreting the sacred books, they were of great help at that time to those who shared the belief of those who met at Nicaea. For each bravely stood up for this doctrine of the synod at Nicaea against those who held the views of Arius, and refuted them as neither holding the other doctrines rightly nor the opinions of Origen, on which they most relied. By common agreement, or by lot, as I have learned from some, they divided the dangers between them. Basil went round the cities of Pontus, established many communities of monks there, and by teaching the multitudes persuaded them to think as he did. Gregory, who had been allotted the oversight of Nazianzus, a small city, after his father, for this reason visited other places too, and above all Constantinople continually. Not long after he was entrusted with the leadership of the people there by the vote of many priests. For since there was neither a bishop nor a church there, the doctrine was in danger of no longer existing at all in Constantinople ### Translation notes - The sentence breaks off at the end of the staged section and continues in 6.18. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 6.17 (PG 67:1333–1335; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/6-17). ## Church History 6.18 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/6-7/#p-6-18 - Source: PG 67:1335–1337 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Valens persecutes the Nicene party at Antioch; at Edessa a woman hurrying with her child to share martyrdom in the plain shames the prefect Modestus into persuading Valens to abandon the massacre. ### Greek text Ἐπεὶ δὲ εἰς ᾿Αντιόχειαν παρεγένετο ὁ βασιλεὺς, παντελῶς ἐξήλασε τῶν ἐκκλησιῶν τῶν τῇδε, ἀνά τε τὰς πέριξ πόλεις, τοὺς ὁμοίως φρονοῦντας τοῖς ἐν Νικαίᾳ συνελθοῦσι, καὶ παντοδαπαῖς ἐπέτριβεν αὐτοὺς τιμων ρίαις· ὡς καί τινας ἰσχυρίζεσθαι, πολλοὺς αὐτῶν ἀνελεῖν ἄλλοις τε τρόποις, καὶ εἰς τὸν Ὀῤῥόντην ποταμὸν ἐμβάλλεσθαι προστάξαντα. Μαθὼν δὲ ἐν Ἐδέσῃ εὐκτήριον ἐπιφανὲς εἶναι Θωμᾶ τοῦ ἀποστόλου ἐπώνυμον, ἦλθε τοῦτο ἱστορῆσαι. ᾿Αφαιρεθέντων δὲ κἀνταῦθα τῶν εὐκτηρίων οἴκων, θεασάμενος ἐν πεδίῳ πρὸ τοῦ ἄστεος συνηγμένους τοὺς ἀπὸ τῆς καθόλου Ἐκκλησίας, λέγεται τὸν καθόλου ὕπαρχον, λοιδορήσασθαι, καὶ πὺξ κατὰ τῆς σιαγόνος πλῆξαι, ὡς παρὰ τὴν αὐτοῦ πρόσταξιν συγχωρήσαντα γενέσθαι τοιαύτας συνόδους. Ὁ δὲ Μόδεστος, τοῦτο γὰρ ὄνομα τῷ ὑπάρχῳ ἦν, καίπερ ἑτερόδοξος ὢν, λάθρα τοῖς Ἐδεσηνοῖς ἐμήνυσε, φυλάξασθαι τὴν ὑστεραίαν μὴ συνελθεῖν εἰς τὸν εἰωθότα τόπον εὐξαμένους. Εἶναι γὰρ αὐτῷ προστεταγμένον παρὰ τοῦ βασιλέως, τιμωρεῖσθαι τοὺς ἁλισκομένους. Καὶ ὁ μὲν ταῦτα ἠπείλει, ἢ ὀλίγους, ἢ μηδένα προνοῶν κινδυνεῦσαι, καὶ αὐτὸν παραιτεῖσθαι σπουδάζων πρὸς τὴν τοῦ κρατοῦντος ὀργήν. Οἱ δὲ Ἑδεσηνοὶ, παρ᾿ οὐδὲν ποιησάμενοι τὴν ἀπειλὴν, σπουδαιότερον ἢ προτοῦ, συνἐῤῥεον ἕωθεν, καὶ τὸν εἰωθότα τόπον ἐπλήρουν. ῾Ο δὲ Μόδεστος, ἀγγελθέντος τούτου, οὐκ εἶχεν ὅ τι καὶ ποιήσειεν, ἀμηχανῶν δὲ τοῖς παροῦσιν, ὅμως ἐπὶ τὸ πεδίον ᾔει. Γυνὴ δέ τις παιδάριον ἕλκουσα, καὶ τὸ φᾶρος εἰκῆ ἐπισυρομένη παρὰ τὸν πρέποντα γυναικὶ κόσμον, ὡς ἐπί τι σπουδαῖον ἐπειγομένη, τὴν ήγουμένην τοῦ ὑπάρχου στρατιωτικὴν στίχα διέτεμεν. Ἰδὼν δὲ Μόδεστος, προσέταξεν αὐτὴν συλληφθῆναι. Καὶ προσκαλεσάμενος, ἀπῄτε: λέγειν τοῦ δρόμου τὴν αἰτίαν. Τῆς δὲ εἰπούσης, ἵνα θᾶττον καταλάβοι τὸ πεδίον, ἔνθα συνιᾶσιν οἱ ἀπὸ τῆς καθόλου Ἐκκλησίας. Μόνη οὖν, ἔφη Μόδεστος, οὐκ ἔγνως αὐτίκα μέλλειν ἐκεῖσε τὸν ὕπαρχον ἰέναι, καὶ οὓς ἂν εὕροι, πάντας ἀναιρήσειν; Ναίχι ἀκήκοα, φησὶ, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο μάλιστα δρόμου δεῖ μοι, ἵνα μὴ τοῦ καιρού κατόπιν γένωμαι, καὶ ἁμάρτω τῆς περὶ Θεοῦ μαρτυρίας. ᾿Ατὰρ, τί γε τοῦτο τὸ παιδίον μεθ᾽ ἑαυτῆς ἄγεις, ἤρετο ὁ ὕπαρχος · ὡς ἄν γε καὶ αὐτὸ, ἔφη, τοῦ κοινοῦ πάθους μετάσχῃ, καὶ τῶν ἴσων ἀξιωθείη. Θαυμάσας δὲ ὁ Μόδεστος τὴν γυναῖκα τῆς ἀνδρείας, ἀνέστρεψεν εἰς τὰ βασίλεια. Καὶ κοινωσάμενος τῷ κρατοῦντι περὶ αὐτῆς, ἔπεισε μὴ χρῆναι τὸ δόξαν ἐπιτελεῖν, αἰσχρὸν τοῦτο καὶ ἀσύμφορον ἐπιδείξας. Ἡ μὲν δὴ τῶν Ἐδεσηνῶν πόλις, πανδημεὶ τὸν εἰρημένον τρόπον ὑπὲρ τοῦ δόγματος ὡμολόγησεν. ### English translation (Claude) When the emperor came to Antioch, he drove entirely out of the churches there and in the surrounding cities those who believed as those who met at Nicaea, and afflicted them with punishments of every kind; so that some maintain that he put many of them to death in various ways and ordered them to be thrown into the river Orontes. Learning that at Edessa there was a famous house of prayer named after the apostle Thomas, he came to see it. Since the houses of prayer had been taken from them there too, when he saw those of the catholic church gathered in the plain before the city, he is said to have reviled the prefect and struck him on the jaw with his fist, for having allowed such assemblies to take place contrary to his order. Modestus — for that was the prefect’s name — though he was of another belief, secretly sent word to the Edessenes to take care not to meet the next day at their usual place to pray; for he had been ordered by the emperor to punish those who were caught. He uttered these threats intending that few or none should be in danger, and eager to excuse himself with respect to the ruler’s anger. But the Edessenes, making nothing of the threat, streamed together at dawn more zealously than before and filled the usual place. When this was reported, Modestus did not know what to do; but at a loss in the circumstances, he nevertheless went to the plain. A certain woman, dragging a little child and trailing her cloak carelessly, against the decorum fitting a woman, as if hurrying on some urgent business, cut through the line of soldiers leading the prefect. Seeing this, Modestus ordered her to be arrested, called her, and demanded that she tell the reason for her running. She said that it was to reach the plain quickly, where those of the catholic church were assembling. “Are you the only one,” said Modestus, “who does not know that the prefect is about to go there at once and will kill all whom he finds?” “Yes, I have heard,” she said, “and for this very reason I must run, so that I may not be too late and miss bearing witness for God.” “But why are you bringing this child with you?” asked the prefect. “So that he too,” she said, “may share in the common suffering and be thought worthy of the same reward.” Modestus, admiring the woman’s courage, turned back to the palace; and consulting with the ruler about her, persuaded him that what had been decided must not be carried out, showing it to be shameful and inexpedient. So the city of the Edessenes, as a whole people, confessed in the manner described for the doctrine. ### Translation notes - The woman’s word is “bearing witness” (martyria), that is, martyrdom. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 6.18 (PG 67:1335–1337; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/6-18). ## Church History 6.19 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/6-19/#p-6-19 - Source: PG 67:1337–1339 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: At Athanasius’s death the Arian Lucius is installed at Alexandria by Euzoius and imperial officers; Athanasius’s successor Peter is imprisoned and escapes to Rome, and the Nicene clergy and virgins are tortured and exiled. ### Greek text Ὑπὸ δὲ τοῦτον τὸν χρόνον, ἐτελεύτησεν ὁ ᾿Αθανάσιος τῆς ᾿Αλεξανδρέων Ἐκκλησίας ἐπίσκοπος, ἀμφὶ τεσσαράκοντα καὶ ἐξ ἐνιαυτοὺς τὴν ἀρχιερωσύνην ἀνύσας. Τῶν δὲ τὰ ᾿Αρείου φρονούντων ἐν τάχει τὴν αὐτοῦ τελευτὴν δηλωσάντων, οὐχ εἰς μακρὰν Εὐξζώξος παραγενόμενος, ὃς ἐν ᾿Αντιοχείᾳ τῆς ᾿Αρείου σεως προΐστατο, σὺν αὐτῷ δὲ καὶ Μάγνος 6 τῶν σαυρῶν ταμίας παρὰ τοῦ βασιλέως ἀποσταλεὶς, Πέτρον μὲν ᾧ τὴν ἐπισκοπὴν ἐπέτρεψεν ᾿Αθανάσιος, συλλαβόμενοι χαθεῖρξαν. Λουκίῳ δὲ τὴν ᾿Αλεξανδρέων Ἐκκλησίαν παρέδωκαν. Ἐντεῦθεν δὲ, παρὰ τοὺς ἀλλαχόσε χαλεπώτερον συνέβη διατεθῆναι τοὺς ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ " συμφοραί τε συμφοραῖς ἐπιγινόμεναν, τοὺς ἀπὸ τῆς καθόλου Ἐκκλησίας ἐπίεζον. "Ἅμα γὰρ. τῇ ᾿Αλεξανδρέων ἐνεδήμησε, τὰς Ἐκκλησίας κατασχεῖν ἐπεχείρησεν. ᾿Αντιπεσόντος δὲ τοῦ πλῆθους, στάσεως αἰτία τοῖς κληρικοῖς ἐπλάκη καὶ ταῖς ἱεραῖς παρθένοις - ὡς πολεμίων δὲ χαταδραμόντων. τὴν πόλιν, “οἱ μὲν ἔφυγον" οἱ δὲ, διωκόμενοι λαμθάνοντο, καὶ δεσμῶται ἐφρουροῦντο " ἀπὸ. τοῦ δεσμωτηρίου προαγόμενον, ἐτιμωροῦντο, μὲν, ὄνυξι βοείαις αἰχιζόμενοι" οἵ δὲ, ὑπὸ λαμπάσι πυρὸς φλεγόμενοι, παράδοξον δὲ ἦν, ταῖς τιμωρέαις ἐπιβιῶναι - ἀποθανεῖν δὲ πρὸ τῆς τούτων πείρας, ὑπερορίαν οἰκεῖν χαταδιχασθῆνα:, ζηλωτὸν ἐνομίζετο. Καὶ τὰ μὲν ὧδε ἐγίνετο. Πέτρος δὲ ὁ ἐπίσκοπος, διαδρὰς ἀπὸ τοῦ δεσμωτηρίον, ὡς πρὸς ὁμόδοξον τὸν Ῥωμαίων ἐπίσκοπον, νηὺς ἐπιτυχὼν, ἀνέπλευσεν. Οἱ δὲ ᾿Αρείου, καίπερ οὐ πολλοὶ ὄντες, τῶν Ἐκκλησιῶν ἐκράτησαν. Ἐν αὐτῷ δὲ βασιλέως ἔπηχολούθησε πρόσταγμα, τῶν ὁμοδόξων τοῖς ἐν Νιχαΐίαᾳ συνελθοῦσιν, ᾿Αλεξανδρείας τε καὶ αὐτῆς Αἰγύπτου ἀπελαῦνον ὅτους ἐκέλενε Λούκιος. ὯΩῶδε γὰρ ἦν ( προστεταγμένον τῷ ἡγουμένῳ τοῦ ἔθνους. Εὐξζώϊος ὃΣ κατωρθωμένων ὧν ἐσπούδαζεν, ἐπὶ τὴν ᾿Αντιόχειαν ἀνέστρεψεν. τς ### English translation (Claude) About this time Athanasius, bishop of the church of the Alexandrians, died, having completed about forty-six years in the high priesthood. Those who held the views of Arius quickly made his death known, and not long after Euzoius, who presided over the Arian heresy at Antioch, arrived, and with him Magnus, the keeper of the treasuries, sent by the emperor; they arrested and imprisoned Peter, to whom Athanasius had entrusted the episcopate, and handed over the church of the Alexandrians to Lucius. From that time the people in Egypt fared worse than those elsewhere, and calamities following calamities pressed upon those of the catholic church. For as soon as Lucius arrived in the city of the Alexandrians, he tried to take possession of the churches. When the people resisted, a charge of rioting was framed against the clergy and the holy virgins; and as if enemies had overrun the city, some fled, while others were pursued, caught, and kept in chains. Brought out from the prison, they were punished, some torn with ox-hide thongs, others burned with torches. It was a wonder to survive the punishments; and to be condemned to live in exile before experiencing them was thought enviable. So these things went on. Peter the bishop, escaping from the prison, found a ship and sailed to the bishop of the Romans, as to one of the same belief. And the followers of Arius, though not many, took control of the churches. At the same time an order of the emperor followed, to drive out of Alexandria and Egypt itself those of the same belief as those who met at Nicaea, whomever Lucius directed; for so it had been commanded to the governor of the province. Euzoius, having accomplished what he was eager for, returned to Antioch. ### Translation notes - The first words of the staged text are the end of the chapter title and are removed by a correction. - Athanasius died on 2 May 373. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 6.19 (PG 67:1337–1339; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/6-19). ## Church History 6.20 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/6-19/#p-6-20 - Source: PG 67:1339–1343 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Lucius attacks the Egyptian monks, who heal a paralytic in Christ’s name; the two Macarii, exiled to a pagan island, deliver the priest’s daughter from a demon and convert the islanders, and Lucius is forced to let them return. ### Greek text Ὁ δὲ Λούκιος παραλαβὼν τὸν ἡγεμόνα τῶν ἐν Αἱγύπτῳ στρατιωτῶν, σὺν πλήθει ἐπεστράτευσε τοῖς ἐν. ταῖς ἐρήμοις μοναχοῖς. ἤβετο γὰρ ἴσως εἰ διενοχλῆσειεν αὐτοὺς ἡσυχίας ἐρῶντας, πειθηνίους ἕξειν, καὶ ταύτη μάλιστα τοὺς ἐν ταῖς πόλεσι Χριστιανοὺς πρὸς αὐτὸν μεταπστήσειν. Καθότι πολλοὶ καὶ θεσπέσιοι ἄνδρες προΐσταντο τότε τῶν αὐτόθι μοναστηρίων, 2 πάντες τὴν ᾿Αρείου δόξαν ἀπεστρέφοντο. Τῇ δὲ τούτων μαρτυρίᾳ τὸ πλῆθος ἑπόμενον, ὁμοίως ἐφράνει διαλέγεσθαι μὲν καὶ περὶ δογμάτων ἀδολεσχεῖν οὔτε θέλον, οὔτε ἐπιστάμενον· παρ' ἐκείνοις δὲ πειθόμενον εἶναι τὴν ἀλήθειαν, οἳ τοῖς ἔργοις τὴν ἀρετὴν ἐπεδείκνυντο. Ὁποίους τότε τῶν Αἰγυπτίων ἀσκητῶν ἡγεμόνας γενέσθαι ἀκούομεν, τοὺς δύο Μακαρίους, οὓς ἐν τοῖς πρόσθεν ἔγνωμεν· καὶ Πάμβω, καὶ Ἡρακλείδην, καὶ λοιποὺς ᾿Αντωνίου μαθητάς. Λογισάμενος οὖν Λούκιος, ὡς οὐκ ἐγγενήσεται τοῖς Ἀρείου βεβαίως κρατῆσαι τῶν ἀπὸ τῆς καθόλου Ἐκκλησίας, εἰ μὴ τοὺς μοναχοὺς τούτους ὁμόφρονας σφίσιν ἀποδείξειεν, ἐπεχείρει βιάζεσθαι· πείθειν γὰρ οὐκ ἠδύνατο. Διημάρτανε δὲ καὶ οὕτως τοῦ σκοποῦ. Εἰ καὶ ἀποθανεῖν δέοι, παρεσκευασμένων αὐτῶν, καὶ τοὺς αὐχένας ἑτοίμως ὑποβαλλόντων τοῖς ξίφεσιν, ἢ τῶν ἐν Νικαίᾳ δοξάντων ὑπεριδεῖν. Λέγεται δὲ τότε προσδοκωμένων αὐτοῖς ἐπιθήσεσθαι τῶν στρατιωτῶν, διακομισθῆναι τινὰ πρὸς αὐτοὺς ἐκ πολλοῦ τὰ ἄρθρα ἀπεσκληκότα, καὶ ἐπὶ ποδῶν στῆναι μὴ δυνάμενον. Ἐπεὶ δὲ ἐλαίῳ τοῦτον ἔχρισαν, παρεκελεύσαντο, ἐπ' ὀνόματι Χριστοῦ, ὂν Λούκιος διώκει, ἐξανίστασθαι, καὶ οἴκαδε ἀπιέναι· ἐξαπίνης δὲ ὑγιὴς γενόμενος ὁ ἄνθρωπος, ἀναφανδὸν ἀπέδειξε παραπλήσια χρῆναι δοξάζειν τούτοις, οἷς καὶ Θεὸς αὐτὸς ἀλήθειαν ἐπεψηφίσατο, κατηγορουμένου Λουκίου, καὶ καλούντων ἐπακούσας καὶ τὸν κάμνοντα ἰασάμενος. ᾿Αλλ᾽ οὐ παρὰ τοῦτο μετεμελήθησαν οἱ τούτοις τοῖς μοναχοῖς ἐπιβουλεύοντες· εἰσότε δὴ νύκτωρ αὐτοὺς συλλαβόμενοι, διήγαγον εἰς Αἰγυπτίαν τινὰ νῆσον ὑπὸ λιμνῶν κυκλουμένην. "Ωκουν δὲ ταύτην ἄνδρες ἀμύητοι τοῦ Χριστιανῶν δόγματος, καὶ δεισιδαίμονες˙ : καθότι καὶ παλαιοτάτου ναοῦ παρ' αὐτοῖς ὄντος, πολὺ τούτου σέβας εἶχον. Ὡς δὲ κατῆραν ἐνταῦθα, φασὶν ἅμα τῇ ἐπιβάσει τῶν ἀνδρῶν, δαίμονι κρατηθεῖσαν τὴν θυγατέρα τοῦ ἱερέως εἰς ἀπάντησιν αὐτοῖς ἐλθεῖν. Θεούσης δὲ καὶ βοώσης τῆς κόρης, καταπλαγέντες οἱ τῇδε ἄνθρωποι τῷ αἰφνιδίῳ καὶ παραδόξῳ τοῦ πράγματος, εἴποντο. Ὡς δὲ πρὸς τῇ νηῖ ἐγένετο ἢ τοὺς ·ἱεροὺς πρεσβύτας ἔφερε, ποτνιωμένη καὶ ἐπὶ γῆν κυλινδουμένη, ἱκέτευε καὶ μέγα ἀνέκραγε. Τί δὴ καὶ πρὸς ἡμᾶς ἥκετε, ὦ τοῦ μεγάλου Θεοῦ θεράποντες; νησίον γὰρ τοῦτο παλαιὸν ἡμῖν ἐστιν οἰκητήριον. Ὀχλοῦμεν δὲ οὐδενί · πᾶσι δὲ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἀγνῶτες, αὐτόθι λανθάνομεν, ταύταις ταῖς λίμναις περικεκλεισμένοι πάντοθεν. Εἰ δὲ τοῦτο φίλον ὑμῖν, δέχεσθε τὸ ἡμέτερον κτῆμα, καὶ οἰκεῖον ποιήσατε· ἡμεῖς δὲ ὑπείκομεν. Καὶ ἡ μὲν τοιαύτας ἡφίει φωνάς · ἐπιτιμησάντων δὲ τῷ δαιμονίῳ τῶν ἀμφὶ Μακάριον, ἡ παῖς ἐσοφρόνησεν. Ἐντεῦθεν δὲ ὁ ταύτης πατήρ σὺν τοῖς οἰκείοις, καὶ ἡ νῆσος πανδημεὶ εἰς Χριστια: νισμὸν μετέθαλλε. Καὶ ἀμελητὶ χαθελοόντες τὸν αὐτοῖς ναὺν, εἰς ἐκκλησίαν μετεσκεύασαν. Ταῦτα ἃ τοῖς ἐν ᾿Αλεξανδρείᾳ ἀγγελλόμενα, οὐ μετρίως ἐλύπει τὸν Λούκιον. Ἐκινδύνευε γὰρ παρὰ τῶν ἰδίων μισεῖσθαι, ὡς ἀνθρώποις, ἀλλὰ αὐτῷ τῷ πόλεμον προφανῆ χαταγγελών. Αὐτίκα τε τοὺς ἀμφὶ Μακάριον ἐπὶ τὰ ἴδια ἤθη καὶ τὴν ἔρημοι ἐπανελθεῖν προσέταξεν. Ὃ μὲν οὖν Δούχιος ὧδε τὴ Αἴγυπτον ἐδόνει, Ὑ πὸ δὲ τοῦτον τὸν χρόνον, οὐ μόν Διδύμῳ τῷ φιλοσόφῳ κατ᾽ ἐκεῖνο καιροῦ ἀχμάζοπι, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἄλλοις ἐλλογίμοις διέπρεπεν, Ὧν εἰς τὴ ἀρετὴν ἀποδλέπουσα καὶ τῶν αὐτόθι μοναχῶν, τίως εἶχε τοῖς ἀμφὶ Λούκιον. Παρευδοχίμξι δὲ τὸς ᾿Αρείου πολλῷ τοῖς πλήθεσι, καὶ διωχομένη ἡ χα Αἴγυπτον Ἐκκλησία, | "ΣΦ ### English translation (Claude) Lucius, taking the commander of the soldiers in Egypt, marched with a large force against the monks in the deserts. For he perhaps thought that if he harassed them, lovers of quiet as they were, he would have them obedient, and by this especially would bring over to himself the Christians in the cities. For many divine men then presided over the monasteries there, and all rejected the belief of Arius. The multitude, following their testimony, believed likewise, neither wishing nor knowing how to debate and chatter about doctrines, but persuaded that the truth was with those who showed virtue in their deeds. Such, we hear, were the leaders of the Egyptian ascetics at that time: the two Macarii, of whom we learned earlier, and Pambo and Heraclides and the other disciples of Antony. Lucius, therefore, reckoning that those of Arius’s party would never firmly prevail over those of the catholic church unless he made these monks share their views, tried to use force, since he could not persuade them. But even so he missed his aim. For they were prepared, if they must, to die, and offered their necks readily to the swords, rather than disregard the decisions of Nicaea. It is said that when the soldiers were expected to attack them, a man whose joints had long been withered and who could not stand on his feet was brought to them. When they had anointed him with oil, they bade him rise in the name of Christ, whom Lucius persecutes, and go home; and the man, suddenly made well, showed openly that one ought to believe as these did, for whom God himself had given his vote for the truth, Lucius being condemned, by hearing their call and healing the sick man. But not even for this did those plotting against these monks repent; until at last they seized them by night and took them across to an island of Egypt surrounded by marshes. It was inhabited by men uninitiated in the Christian doctrine and superstitious, since there was a very ancient temple among them which they greatly revered. When they put in there, they say that as soon as the men set foot on it, the daughter of the priest, possessed by a demon, came to meet them. As the girl ran and shouted, the people there, astounded at the suddenness and strangeness of the thing, followed. When she came to the boat that carried the holy old men, wailing and rolling on the ground, she begged and cried out loudly: “Why have you come to us too, servants of the great God? For this little island is our ancient dwelling. We trouble no one; unknown to all men, we lie hidden here, shut in on every side by these marshes. But if this is your pleasure, take our possession and make it your own; we withdraw.” Such were the cries she uttered; and when Macarius and his companions rebuked the demon, the girl came to her senses. Thereupon her father with his household, and the whole island with them, changed over to Christianity; and quickly destroying their temple, they converted it into a church. When these things were reported at Alexandria, they grieved Lucius not a little. For he was in danger of being hated by his own followers, as one who had declared open war not on men but on God himself. And at once he ordered Macarius and his companions to return to their own haunts and the desert. So Lucius troubled Egypt. About this time … was distinguished not only by Didymus the philosopher, who was then at his height, but also by other learned men; looking to whose virtue, and to that of the monks there, … held out against Lucius’s party. And the church in Egypt, though persecuted, far surpassed the followers of Arius in numbers … ### Translation notes - The end of the section is badly damaged in the scan; the lost words are marked “…” (NPNF² 2 has “the church of Alexandria … was able to resist Lucius”). ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 6.20 (PG 67:1339–1343; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/6-20). ## Church History 6.21 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/6-19/#p-6-21 - Source: PG 67:1345 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: In Scythia, whose one bishop Bretannio defies Valens at Tomi, the emperor exiles him but soon restores him for fear of the Scythians; in the West Valentinian leaves church matters to the priests. ### Greek text παντὸς ἔθνους ἕνα τὰς Ἐκκλησίας ἐπισκοπεῖν · κατὰ δὴ τὸν παρόντα καιρὸν, ἐπετρόπευε τούτων Βρεττανίων· καὶ Οὐάλης ὁ βασιλεὺς ἧκεν εἰς Τόμιν ". Ἐπεὶ δὲ εἰς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν ἀφίκετο, καὶ ὡς εἰώθει ἔπειθεν αὐτὸν κοινωνεῖν τοῖς ἀπὸ τῆς ἐναντίας αἱρέσεως, ἀνδρείως μάλα πρὸς τὸν κρατοῦντα παῤῥησια - σάμενος περὶ τοῦ δόγματος τῶν ἐν Νικαίᾳ συνελθόντων, κατέλιπεν αὐτὸν, καὶ εἰς ἑτέραν ἦλθεν ἐκκλησίαν· καὶ ὁ λαὸς ἐπηκολούθησε. Σχεδὸν δὲ πᾶσα ἡ πόλις συνεληλύθεισαν, βασιλέα ὀψόμενοι, καὶ νεώτερον ἔσεσθαί τι προσδοκήσαντες. ᾿Απολειφθεὶς δὲ Οὐάλης σὺν τοῖς ἀμφ᾿ αὐτὸν, χαλεπῶς ἤνεγκε τὴν ὕβριν. Καὶ συλληφθέντα Βρεττανίωνα, εἰς ὑπερορίαν ἄγεσθαι προσέταξε, καὶ οὐκ εἰς μακρὰν αὖθις ἐπανάγεσθαι ἐπέτρεψε. Χαλεπαίνοντας γὰρ οἶμαι πρὸς τὴν φυγὴν τοῦ ἐπισκόπου ἰδὼν τοὺς Σκύθας, ἐδεδίει μή τι νεωτερίσωσιν· ἀνδρείους τε ἐπιστάμενος, καὶ τῇ θέσει τῶν τόπων, ἀναγκαίους τῇ Ῥωμαίων οἰκουμένη, καὶ τῶν κατὰ τόδε τὸ κλίμα Βαρβάρων προβεβλημένους. Βρεττανίων μὲν οὖν ὧδε κρείττων ἀνεφάνη τῆς τοῦ κρατοῦντος σπουδῆς· ἀνὴρ τά τε ἄλλα ἀγαθὸς, καὶ ἐπὶ ἀρετῇ βίου ἐπίσημος, ὡς καὶ αὐτοὶ Σκῦθαι μαρτυροῦσιν. Ὡς ἐπίπαν δὲ πᾶς κλῆρος ἐπειράθη διὰ ταῦτα τῆς τοῦ βασιλέως ὀργῆς, πλὴν τῶν πρὸς ἑσπέραν τῆς ἀρχομένης τῶν Ἐκκλησιῶν. Καθότι τῶν ἐπέκεινα Ῥωμαίων ἦρχεν Οὐαλεντινιανὸς, ἐπαινέτης τε ὢν τοῦ δόγματος τῆς ἐν Νικαίᾳ συνόδου, καὶ εὐλαβῶς εἰς ἄγαν περὶ τὸ Θεῖον ἔχων· ὡς μήτε ἐπιτάττειν τοῖς ἱερεῦσι μηδὲν, μήτε ἄλλως αἱρεῖσθαι νεωτε ρίζειν ἐπὶ χείρονι ἢ ἀμείνονε δοκοῦντι περὶ τοὺς τῆς Ἐκκλησίας θεσμούς. Τάδε γάρ κρείττω τῆς αὐτοῦ δοκιμασίας ἡγεῖτο, καίπερ βασιλεὺς ἄριστος γεγονώς, καὶ ἱκανὸς ἄρχειν διὰ τῶν πραγμάτων φανείς. ### English translation (Claude) … one bishop for the whole nation oversees the churches; and at the present time Bretannio governed them. And the emperor Valens came to Tomi. When he came to the church and, as was his custom, tried to persuade Bretannio to communicate with those of the opposite heresy, Bretannio spoke very boldly to the ruler about the doctrine of those who met at Nicaea, then left him and went to another church; and the people followed. Almost the whole city had gathered to see the emperor, expecting something unusual to happen. Valens, left behind with his retinue, took the insult hard; he had Bretannio arrested and ordered him to be taken into exile, but not long after allowed him to be brought back. For seeing, I think, that the Scythians were angry at their bishop’s exile, he feared lest they rise in revolt; for he knew them to be brave, and by the situation of their country necessary to the Roman empire, as a bulwark before the barbarians of that region. So Bretannio showed himself stronger than the ruler’s zeal — a man good in every respect and distinguished for the virtue of his life, as the Scythians themselves bear witness. In general the whole clergy experienced the emperor’s anger for these reasons, except in the churches of the western part of the empire. For Valentinian ruled the Romans there, a supporter of the doctrine of the synod of Nicaea and exceedingly reverent toward the divine, so that he neither gave any orders to the priests nor chose otherwise to innovate, for better or for worse as it might seem, in the laws of the church. For he considered these things beyond his own judgment, though he was a very good emperor and had shown himself able to rule by his deeds. ### Translation notes - The opening of this chapter, on Valens’s persecution in Osroene and Cappadocia and the description of Scythia, is lost in the scan; the section begins in mid-sentence (“…”). NPNF² 2 (Sozomen 6.21) gives the lost part in English. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 6.21 (PG 67:1345; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/6-21). ## Church History 6.22 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/6-19/#p-6-22 - Source: PG 67:1345–1347 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The dispute over whether the Holy Spirit is consubstantial with Father and Son grows; Anomoeans and homoiousians deny it, the Nicene leaders affirm it, and the bishop of Rome’s letter for a consubstantial Trinity quiets the question. ### Greek text Ἐν τούτῳ δὲ πάλιν, ἤδη μὲν πρότερον ἀρξαμένη, νῦν δὲ πλέον ἐπιδοῦσα ἡ ζήτησις ἦν, εἰ καὶ τὸ ἅγιον Πνεῦμα Πατρί τε καὶ Υἱῷ ὁμοούσιον δοξάζειν προσῆκεν. Ἐριστικαί τε περὶ τούτου πολλαὶ διαλέξεις, οὐχ ἧττον ἢ πρότερον περὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγου συνέβη- ¹. σαν. Κατὰ τοῦτο δὲ ἀλλήλοις συνεφέροντο οἱ τε ἀνὁμοιον καὶ ὁμοιοούσιον τὸν Υἱὸν εἶναι λέγοντες. φότεροι γὰρ διακονικὸν, καὶ τρίτον τῇ τάξει, καὶ τῇ τιμῇ, καὶ τῇ οὐσίᾳ ἀλλοῖον τὸ Πνεῦμα ἰσχυρίζοντο. Ὅσοι δὲ ὁμοούσιον τῷ Πατρὶ τὸν Υἱὸν ἐδόξαζον, τὰ αὐτὰ καὶ περὶ τοῦ Πνεύματος ἐφρόνουν. Οὐκ ἀγεννῶς δὲ τούτῳ τῷ λόγῳ συνίσταντο, ἐν μὲν τῇ Συρία ᾿Απολινάριος ὁ Λαοδικεύς· ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ δὲ ᾿Αθανάσιος ὁ ἐπίσκοπος· παρὰ δὲ Καππαδόκαις καὶ ταῖς ἀνὰ τὸν Πόντον Ἐκκλησίαις, Βασίλειος καὶ Γρηγόριος, ᾿Ανακινουμένης δὲ τῆς τοιαύτης ζητήσεως, καὶ ὡς εἰκὸς ταῖς φιλονεικίαις ὀσημέραι πλέον ἐπιδιδούσης, μαθὼν ὁ Ῥώμης ἐπίσκοπος, ἔγραψε ταῖς ἀνὰ τὴν Ἕω Ἐκκλησίαις, σὺν τοῖς ἀπὸ τῆς δύσεως ἱερεῦσι, Τριάδα ὁμοούσιον καὶ ὁμόδοξον πρεσβεύειν. Τούτου δὲ γενομένου, ὡς ἐπικεκριμένοις ἅπαξ παρὰ τῆς Ῥωμαίων Ἐκκλησίας, ἡσυχίαν ἦγον ἕκαστοι, καὶ τέλος ἔχειν ἔδοξεν ἡ τοιαύτη ζήτησις. ### English translation (Claude) At this time the question, which had already begun earlier but now grew greater, was again raised whether the Holy Spirit should be held to be of the same essence with the Father and the Son. Many contentious debates took place about this, no fewer than earlier about God the Word. On this point those who said the Son was unlike and those who said he was of like essence agreed with one another; for both maintained that the Spirit is a minister, and third in order, in honour and in essence different. But those who held the Son to be of the same essence with the Father thought the same also about the Spirit. This doctrine was upheld not ignobly in Syria by Apolinarius of Laodicea, in Egypt by Athanasius the bishop, and among the Cappadocians and the churches of Pontus by Basil and Gregory. As this question was stirred up and, as is natural, grew greater every day through contentiousness, the bishop of Rome, learning of it, wrote to the churches of the East, together with the priests of the West, that they should uphold a Trinity of the same essence and equal in glory. When this had been done, each party kept quiet, as though the matter had been decided once for all by the church of the Romans, and the question seemed to have come to an end. ### Translation notes - “Of the same essence” renders homoousios. Sozomen’s statement that the question then seemed settled by Rome is his own judgment; the question was taken up again at the council of Constantinople in 381 (see 7.7–9). ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 6.22 (PG 67:1345–1347; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/6-22). ## Church History 6.23 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/6-19/#p-6-23 - Source: PG 67:1347–1353 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Damasus succeeds Liberius at Rome despite the violent rival claim of Ursicinus; a Roman synod condemns Auxentius of Milan, and Sozomen quotes Damasus’s letter to the bishops of Illyricum upholding Nicaea and the consubstantial Spirit against the creed of Ariminum. ### Greek text Περὶ δὲ τοῦτον τὸν χρόνον Λιβερίου τελευτήσαντος, ἐπιτρέπεται Δάμασος τὸν Ῥωμαίων θρόνον. Ὑπόψηφος δὲ ὧν τῇ χειροτονίᾳ καὶ Οὐρσίκιός τις διάκονος, ἀποτυχὼν οὐκ ἤνεγκε· λάθρα δὲ ὑπό τινων ἀσήμων ἐπισκόπων χειροτονηθεὶς, διασπᾶν τὸν λαὸν ἐσπούδαζε, καὶ καθ' ἑαυτὸν ἐκκλησιάζειν. Μερισθέν τος δὲ τοῦ πλήθους, οἱ μὲν τοῦτον, οἱ δὲ Δάμασον ἐπίσκοπον ἠξίουν· καὶ πολλὴ τὸν δῆμον, ὡς εἰκὸς, ἔρις εἶχε καὶ στάσις. Ὡς μέχρι καὶ τραυμάτων καὶ φόνων τὸ κακὸν προελθεῖν. Εἰσότε δὴ ὁ τῆς Ῥώμης ὕπαρχος πολλοὺς τοῦ δήμου καὶ τοῦ κλήρου τιμωρίαις ὑποβαλών, ἔπαυσε τὴν Οὐρσικίου ἐπιχείρησιν. Δογμάτων δὲ πέρι, καθὰ πρότερον οὔτε Ῥωμαῖοι διεφέροντο, οὔτε ἕτεροι τῶν ἀνὰ τὴν δύσιν· ἀλλὰ πάντες τὰ δόξαντα τοῖς ἐν Νικαίᾳ συνελθοῦσιν ἐπῄνουν, καὶ Τριάδα ἰσότιμόν τε καὶ ἰσοδύναμον ἐδόξαζον. Πλὴν τῶν ἀμφὶ τὸν Αὐξέντιον· ὃς προεστὼς τότε τῆς ἐν Μεδιολάνοις Ἐκκλησίας, ἅμα τισὶν ἐπεχείρει νεωτερίζειν, καὶ παρὰ τὴν κοινὴν συνθήκην τῶν πρὸς δύσιν ἱερέων, τὸ ᾿Αρείου δόγμα κρατύνειν, καὶ τὰ ἴσα ) φρονεῖν τοῖς ἀνόμοιον τὸν Υἱὸν καὶ τὸ Πνεῦμα δοξά ζουσι κατὰ τὴν ὕστερον ἐπιγενομένην ζήτησιν. Καταμηνυσάντων δὲ τῶν ἀπὸ τῆςς Γαλλίας καὶ Βενετίας, παρ᾽ τέρων τινῶν ταῦτα σπουδάζεσθαι παρ᾽ αὐτοῖς, οὐ πολλῷ ὕστερον συνελθόντες εἰς Ῥώμην ἐπίσκοποι " πολλῶν ἐθνῶν, ἐψηφίσαντο τῆς αὑτῶν κοινωνίας ἀλλότριον εἶνα: Αὐξέντιον, καὶ τοὺς ὁμοίως αὐτῷ δοξάζοντας βεδαίαν δὲ μένειν τὴν παραδοθεῖσὰν πίστιν παρὰ τῆς ἐν Νικαίᾳ συνόδου " τῶν ἐν ᾿Αριμίνῳ δοξάντων ὑπεναντίων ταύτης, ἀχύρων ὄντων, ὡς μήτε τοῦ τῶν Ῥωμαίων ἐπισκόπου, μήτε τῶν ἄλλων συνθεμένων αὐτοῖς " καὶ ὡς πολλῶν τῶν αὐτόθι συνελθόντων, ἀπαρεσθέντων᾽ τοῖς τότε παρ᾽ αὐτῶν δεδογμένοις. Ταῦτα δὲ οὕτω γενέσθαι καὶ δόξαι, μαρτυρεῖ Ἐπιστυλὴ Δαμάσου τοῦ Ῥωμαίων ἐπισκόπου, τῶν ἅμα αὐτῷ τότε συνελθόντων, πρὸς τοὺς Ἰλλυριῶν ἐπισκόπους γραφεῖσα, Ἔχει δὲ ὧδε" ἃ ἐπίσκοποι οἱ ἐπὶ τῶν Ρωμαίων τὸ ἱερὸν συγέδριον τοῖς ἐν τῷ ᾿ΙΔλυρικῷ χαθεστῶσιν ἐπισκόποις, Δάμασος, καὶ Οὐα"έριος οἱ «οιποὶ, τοῖς ἀγαπητοῖς ἀδε.1φοῖς ἐν Κυρίῳ Πιστεύομεν τὴν ἁγίαν πίστιν ἡμῶν, τὴν ἐν τῇ διδασχαλίᾳ τῶν ἀποστόλων θεμελιωθεῖσαν, ταύτην κατἔχειν καὶ ταύτην τῷ λαῷ ὑφηγεῖσθα: " ἥτις ἀπὸ τῶν ὁρισθέντων παρὰ τῶν Πατέρων, οὐδενὶ λόγῳ διαφωνεῖ. Οὐδὲ γὰρ ἄλλως; ἁρμόζει διανοεῖσθαι τοὺς τοῦ Θεοῦ ἱερεῖς, ὑφ᾽ ὧν δίχαιόν ἐστι τοὺς σοφοὺς παιδεύεσθαι. ᾿Αλλὰ δι᾽ ἀναφορᾶς τῶν ἐν Γαλλίᾳ καὶ Βενετίᾳ ἀδελφῶν, ἔγνωμέν τινας αἵρεσιν σπουδάζειν. “Ὅπερ κακὸν οὐ μόνον παραφυλάττεσθαι ὀφείλουσιν οἱ ἐπίσκοποι, ἀλλὰ ὅσα ἀπειρίᾳ τινῶν ἣ ἀπλότττι οἰκείαις αὐ | : ἑρμηνείαις ἀνθίσταντο· ἀπὸ οὖν τῶν διαφόρου διδασκαλίας διανοουμένων μὴ παρολισθαίνειν, ἀλλὰ καὶ μᾶλλον τῶν Πατέρων ἡμῶν κατέχειν τὴν γνώμην, ὁσάκις ἂν διαφόροις βουλαῖς περιφέρωνται. Τοιγαροῦν Αὐξέντιον τὸν Μεδιολάνων ἐξαιρέτως ἐν τούτῳ τῷ πράγματι κατακεκρίσθαι προγέγραπται. Δίκαιον οὖν ἐστι, πάντας τοὺς ἐν τῷ Ῥωμαίων κόσμῳ διδασκάλους όμοφρονεῖν, καὶ μὴ διαφόροις διδασκαλίαις τὴν πίστιν μιαίνειν. Καὶ γὰρ ἡνίκα πρῶτον ἡ κακία τῶν αἱρετικῶν ἀκμάζειν ἤρξατο, ὡς καὶ νῦν μάλιστα, ὅπερ ἀπείη, τῶν ᾿Αρειανῶν ἡ βλασφημία, οἱ πατέρες ἡμῶν τριακόσιοι δέκα καὶ ὀκτὼ ἐπίλεκτοι, ἐν Νικαία γενομένου σκέμματος, τοῦτο τὸ τεῖχος ὑπεναντίον τῶν ὅπλων τοῦ διαβόλου ὥρισαν, καὶ ταύτῃ τῇ ἀντιδότῳ τὰ θανάσιμα φάρμακα ἀπεώσαντο · ὥστε τὸν Πατέρα καὶ τὸν Υἱὸν, μιᾶς θεότητος, μιᾶς ἀρετῆς, καὶ ἑνὸς χρήματος πιστεύεσθαι· χρὴ δὲ τῆς ταύτης ὑπο στάσεως καὶ τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον πιστεύειν. Τὸν δὲ ἄλλως φρονοῦντα, ἀλλότριον εἶναι τῆς ἡμετέρας κοινωνίας ἐκρίναμεν. Ὄνπερ σωτηριώδη ὄρον, καὶ τὴν προσκυνητὴν σκέψιν τινὲς μιάναι ἠθέλησαν. Ἀλλὰ ἐν αὐτῇ τῇ ἀρχῇ, ἀπ᾿ αὐτῶν τούτων οἵτινες τοῦτο ἐν ᾿Αριμίνῳ ἀνανεώσασθαι, ἢ ψηλαφῆσαι ἠναγκάζοντο, μέχρι τούτου διωρθώθη ὡς ὁμολογεῖν αὐτοὺς ἑτέρᾳ τινὶ διαλέξει ὑφαρπᾶσθαι, ὅτι οὐκ ἐνόησαν τῇ τῶν Πατέρων γνώμῃ τῇ ἐν Νικαίᾳ ἀρεσάσῃ ἐναντίον εἶναι. Οὐδὲ γὰρ πρόκριμα τι ἡδυνήθη γενέσθαι ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀριθμοῦ τῶν ἐν Ἀριμίνῳ συναχθέντων, ὁπότε συνέστηκε, μήτε τοῦ Ῥωμαίων ἐπισκόπου, οὗ πρὸ πάντων ἔδει τὴν γνώμην ἐκδέξασθαι, οὔτε Βικεντίου, ὃς ἐπὶ τοσούτοις ἔτεσι τὴν ἐπισκοπὴν ἀσπίλως ἐφύλαξεν, οὔτε τῶν ἄλλων τοῖς τοιούτοις συγκαταθεμένων ν· ὁπότε μάλιστα καθὼς προειρήκαμεν, αὐτοὶ οὗτοι οἵτινες κατὰ συσκευὴν ὑποκλίνεσθαι ἔδοξαν, οὗτοι καλλίονι γνώμῃ χρησάμενοι, ἀπαρέσκειν αὐτοῖς ταῦτα ἐμαρτύραντο. Συνορᾷ οὖν ἡ ὑμετέρα καθαρότης, ταύτην μόνην τὴν πίστιν, ἥτις ἐν Νικαίᾳ κατὰ τὴν αὐθεντίαν τῶν ἀποστόλων ἐθεμελιώθη, διηνεκεί βεβαιότητι καθεκτέον εἶναι, καὶ μεθ᾽ ἡμῶν τοὺς ᾿Ανατολικοὺς οἵτινες ἑαυτοὺς τῆς καθολικῆς εἶναι ἐπιγινώσκουσι, τοὺς δὲ δυτικοὺς καυχᾶσθαι. Πιστεύομεν δὲ οὐκ εἰς μακρὰν τοὺς ἄλλα νοοῦντας, αὐτῇ τῇ ἐπιχειρήσει ἀπὸ τῆς ἡμετέρας κοινωνίας χωρισθήσεσθαι αὐτῶν τὸ τοῦ ἐπισκόπου ὄνομα · ὥστε τοὺς λαοὺς αὐτῶν τῆς πλάνης ἐλευθερωθέντας, ἀναπνεῦσαι. Οὐδενὶ γὰρ τρόπῳ διορθῶσαι δυνήσονται τὴν πλάνην τῶν ὄχλων, ὁπότε αὐτοὶ ὑπὸ τῆς πλάνης κατέχονται. Συμφωνείτω οὖν μετὰ πάντων τῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ ἱερέων, καὶ τῆς ὑμετέρας τιμιότητος ἡ γνώμη, ἐν ᾗ ὑμᾶς ἁγίους καὶ βεβαίους πιστεύομεν. Ὅτι δὲ οὕτως ἡμεῖς μεθ᾽ ὑμῶν πιστεύειν ὀφείλομεν, τοῖς ἀμοιβαίοις τῆς ὑμετέρας ἀγάπης ἐπιδείξασθαι. ### English translation (Claude) About this time, when Liberius died, Damasus was entrusted with the throne of the Romans. A certain Ursicinus, a deacon, who had been a candidate for the ordination, did not bear his failure; secretly ordained by some obscure bishops, he tried to divide the people and hold his own assemblies. The people being divided, some held him to be bishop and others Damasus; and much strife and rioting, as was natural, took hold of the populace, so that the evil went as far as wounds and murders. At last the prefect of Rome, subjecting many of the people and clergy to punishment, put an end to Ursicinus’s attempt. As for doctrines, as before, neither the Romans nor the others in the West disagreed, but all approved the decisions of those who met at Nicaea and held the Trinity equal in honour and in power — except Auxentius and his party. He then presided over the church at Milan and with some others tried to innovate, and, contrary to the common agreement of the western priests, to strengthen the doctrine of Arius and to think the same as those who hold the Son and the Spirit to be unlike, according to the question that arose later. When those from Gaul and Venetia reported that this was being pursued among them by certain persons, not long after bishops from many provinces met at Rome and decreed that Auxentius and those who believed as he did were strangers to their communion; that the faith handed down by the synod at Nicaea remained firm; and that the decisions of Ariminum contrary to it were invalid, since neither the bishop of the Romans nor the others had agreed to them, and many of those who had met there had been displeased with what was then decided by them. That these things were done and decided so is witnessed by the letter of Damasus, the bishop of the Romans, and of those who then met with him, written to the bishops of Illyricum. It runs as follows: “The bishops who met at Rome in the holy council, Damasus, Valerius and the rest, to the bishops appointed in Illyricum, beloved brothers, greeting in the Lord. We believe that our holy faith, founded on the teaching of the apostles, is held by you and that you set it forth to the people; and it differs in no respect from what the fathers defined. For it is not fitting for the priests of God, by whom it is right that the wise be instructed, to think otherwise. But through the report of our brothers in Gaul and Venetia we have learned that certain persons are pursuing heresy. This evil the bishops ought not only to guard against, but also to resist whatever, through the inexperience or simplicity of some, … by their own interpretations, so as not to slip away from those who think according to a different teaching, but rather to hold fast the mind of our fathers, however often they are carried about by differing counsels. Accordingly it has been written above that Auxentius of Milan in particular has been condemned in this matter. It is right, therefore, that all the teachers in the Roman world should be of one mind and not defile the faith with differing teachings. For when the wickedness of the heretics first began to flourish, as now especially — may it be far from us — the blasphemy of the Arians, our three hundred and eighteen chosen fathers, after deliberation at Nicaea, set up this wall against the weapons of the devil and with this antidote drove off the deadly poisons: that the Father and the Son are to be believed of one Godhead, one power and one substance; and we must believe the Holy Spirit also to be of the same hypostasis. Whoever thinks otherwise we have judged to be a stranger to our communion. Some have wished to defile this saving definition and the adorable consideration. But at the very beginning it was corrected by those very people who were compelled at Ariminum to renew or handle it, so far that they confessed that they had been deceived by a different form of words, because they had not understood it to be contrary to the mind of the fathers approved at Nicaea. For no prejudgment could arise from the number of those gathered at Ariminum, since it is established that neither the bishop of the Romans, whose judgment ought to have been awaited before all others, nor Vincent, who kept his episcopate unblemished for so many years, nor the others agreed to such things; especially since, as we have said before, those very men who seemed to have yielded through intrigue, using better judgment, have testified that these things displease them. Your purity therefore sees that this faith alone, which was founded at Nicaea on the authority of the apostles, must be held with perpetual firmness, and that the easterners who acknowledge themselves to be of the catholic church, and the westerners, glory in it together with us. We believe that before long those who think otherwise will, by this very attempt, be separated from our communion and their name of bishop be taken from them, so that their peoples, freed from error, may breathe again. For they will in no way be able to correct the error of the multitudes when they themselves are held by error. Let the judgment of your honour, then, agree with all the priests of God, in which we believe you to be holy and steadfast. That we ought so to believe together with you, show us by the replies of your love.” ### Translation notes - The first words of the staged text are the end of the chapter title and are removed by a correction. - Damasus’s synodal letter (Confidimus quidem, ca. 372) is quoted in full and translated from the Greek as printed; it is also preserved in Theodoret, Hist. eccl. 2.22. A phrase is lost in the scan (“resist whatever … by their own interpretations”), marked “…”. - “One substance” renders the Greek χρήματος, a calque of the Latin substantia in the original letter. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 6.23 (PG 67:1347–1353; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/6-23). ## Church History 6.24 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/6-19/#p-6-24 - Source: PG 67:1353–1357 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: At Auxentius’s death the people of Milan acclaim the governor Ambrose, still unbaptized, as bishop, and Valentinian confirms it; the Novatians of Phrygia begin keeping Pascha with the Jews. ### Greek text Οἱ μὲν οὖν πρὸς δύσιν ἱερεῖς ὠδε φθάσαντες τοὺς παρ᾿ αὐτοῖς νεωτερίζοντας, ἐπιμελῶς ἐφύλαττον τὴν ἀρχῆθεν παραδοθεῖσαν αὐτοῖς πίστιν. Ὡς κομιδῇ ὀλίγους ἐνθάδε ἑτεροδόξους γενέσθαι, καὶ σχεδὸν μόνους τοὺς ἀμφὶ τὸν Αὐξέντιον. Οὐκ εἰς μακρὰν δὲ καὶ οὗτος ἐκποδὼν ἐγένετο · τελευτήσαντος δὲ αὐτοῦ, ἐστασίαζε τὸ πλῆθος, οὐ τὸν αὐτὸν αἰρούμενοι τὴν Μεδιολάνων Ἐκκλησίαν ἐπισκοπεῖν· καὶ ἡ πόλις ἐκινδύνευεν. Ἕκαστοι γὰρ ἀποτυχόντες ἠπείλουν ποιεῖν φιλεῖ γίνεσθαι ἐν ταῖς τοιαύταις ταραχαῖς. Δείσας δὲ τὴν τοῦ δήμου κίνησιν Αμβρόσιος, ὁ τότε τοῦ ἔθνους ἡγούμενος, ἐλθὼν εἰς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν, συνεβούλευε παύεσθαι τῆς ἔριδος, νόμων ὑπομιμνήσκων, ὁμονοίας τε καὶ τῶν ἀπὸ τῆς εἰρήνης ἀγαθῶν. Ούπω δὲ αὐτοῦ παυσαμένου περὶ τούτων δημηγορεῖν, ἐξαπίνης πάντες ἀφέμενοι τῆς πρὸς ἀλλήκους ὀργῆς, ἐπ᾿ αὐτὸν τὸν σύμβουλον τῆς ὁμονοίας ἄγουσι τὴν τῆς ἐπισκοπῆς ψῆφον. Καὶ βαπτίζεσθαι παρεκελεύοντο· ἔτι γὰρ ἀμύητος ἦν. Καὶ τὴν ἱερωσύνην παραλαμβάνειν ἐδέοντο. Ἐπεὶ δὲ ὁ μὲν παρῃτεῖτο, καὶ ἀνεβάλλετο, καὶ ἀτεχνῶς τὸ πρᾶγμα ἀπέφευγεν· ὁ δὲ δῆμος ἐπέκειτο, καὶ τῆς ἔριδος οὐχ ἄλλως ἀνήσειν ἰσχυρίζετο, μηνύετα! τἀδε ταῖς ἐν τοῖς βασιλείοις ἀρχαῖς. δὲ τῇ περὶ τούτων ἀγγελίχ λέγεται Οὐαλεντινιανὸς ὁ σιλεὺς εὔξασθαι, καὶ χάριν φάναι ὁμολογεῖν τῷ Θεῷ, ὡς ἱερᾶσθαι ἐπιλεγομένῳ, οὖς αὐτὸς ἄρχειν προθάλλεται. Μαθὼν δὲ τὴν τοῦ πλήθους ἔνστασιν τὴν ᾿Αμβροσίου παραίτησιν, συνέθαλεν ἐπὶ ὁμονοίᾳ τῆς ἐν Μεδιολάνῳ Ἐκκλησίας ταῦτα βραδεύειν τὸν Θεόν τὴν ταχίστην αὐτὸν χειροτονεῖσθαι προσἔταξεν. ἽἍΛμα δὲ ἐμυήθη χειροτονίαν παρἔλαθεν, ὁμοφρονεῖν πέπεικε περὶ τὰ θεῖα τὴν ὑπ᾽ αὐτὸν Ἐκκλησίαν, ἐπὶ πολλῷ χρόνῳ διχονοίᾳ χαμοῦἐκ τῆς προστασίας Αὐξεντίου. ᾿Αλλ' οἷος μὲν ᾿Αμβρόσιος οὗτος μετὰ τὴν χειροτονίαν ἐγένετο, ὡς ἀνδρείως μάλα θείως τὴν ἱερωσύνην διήνυσεν, ἐν τοῖς ἑξῆς κατὰ χώραν λελέξεται. Περὶ δὲ τοῦτον τὸν χρόνον ἀμφὶ τὴν Φρυγίαν Νανατιανοὶ, παρὰ τὸ πρότερον εἰωθὸς, ἤρξαντο μετὰ τῶν Ἰουδαίων τὴν τοῦ Πάσχα ἑορτὴν ἐπιτελεῖν. Ναυάτος μὲν γὰρ, ὃς ἀρχηγὸς ἐγένετο τῆς αἱρέσεως, τοὺς μεταμελουμένους ἐπὶ τοῖς ἁμαρτήμασιν εἰς κοινωνίαν οὐ προσίετο, καὶ τοῦτο μόνον ἐχκαινοτόμει, Παραπλησίως δὲ τῇ Ῥωμαίων Ἐκκλησίᾳ, μετὰ τὴν ἐαρινὴν ἰσημερίαν διετέ-λεσεν αὐτός τε οἱ μετ᾽ αὐτὸν ταύτην ἄγοντες τὴν ἑορτήν. Εἰσότε δὴ ἐπὶ ταύτης τῆς ἡγεμονίας, τινὲς τῶν ἀνὰ τὴν Φρυγίαν Νανατιανῶν ἐπισκόπων συνελθόντες ἐν Γάζον κώμῃ χωρίον δὲ αὕτη Φρυγῶν, ὅθεν Σαγγαρίου τοῦ ποταμοῦ αἱ πηγαὶ ῥέουσι " ὡς οὐδὲ ταύτῃ κοινωνεῖν ἀξιοῦντες τοῖς ἐτέαὐτοῖς δοξάζουσιν, ἴδιον ἔθεντο νόμον" ὥστε τὴν τῶν ᾿Αζύμων ἐπιτηρεῖν ἑορτὴν, καὶ σὺν τοῖς Ἰουδαίοι: τὸ Πάσχα ἐπιτελεῖν. Οὐχ ἐκοινώνει δὲ ταύτῃ τῇ συνόδῳ οὔτε ᾿Αγέλιος, ὁ τῶν ἐν Κωνσταντινουπόλει τιανῶν ἐπίσκοπος, οὔτε ὁ Νικαίας, ἣ ὁ Νικομηδείας, ἢ ὁ Κοτυσείου: πόλις δὲ αὕτη Φρυγίας οὐχ ἄσημος οὃς δὴ χυρίους χολοφῶνας, ὡς εἰπεῖν, οἱ Νανατιανοὶ νομίζουσι «ὧν περὶ τὴν οἰκείαν αἴρεσιν καὶ τὰς αὐτῶν ᾿Εκκλησίας πραττομένων. Ἔχ ταύτης δὲ τῆς αἰτίας, ὅπως καὶ οὗτοι εἰς διαφορὰν ; κατέστησαν, σφᾶς αὐτοὺς διατεμόντες χωρὶς ἐκκλησίαζον, κατὰ καιρὸν ἐρῶ. ### English translation (Claude) So the priests in the West, having thus forestalled those among them who were innovating, carefully kept the faith handed down to them from the beginning, so that very few of other belief were found there, almost only Auxentius’s party. Not long after, he too was removed from the scene. At his death the people rioted, not agreeing on who should oversee the church of Milan; and the city was in danger. For each party, if it failed, threatened to do what tends to happen in such disturbances. Ambrose, who then governed the province, fearing the agitation of the people, came to the church and advised them to cease from strife, reminding them of the laws, of concord, and of the blessings of peace. Before he had finished speaking about these things, all of a sudden they laid aside their anger with one another and gave their vote for the episcopate to the very man who had counselled concord. They urged him to be baptized — for he was still uninitiated — and begged him to receive the priesthood. When he declined and put it off and fled the matter altogether, while the people pressed him and insisted that they would not otherwise give up their strife, this was reported to the authorities at the palace. At the news of it, the emperor Valentinian is said to have prayed and declared his thanks to God that those whom he himself put forward to govern were chosen to be priests. Learning of the people’s insistence and Ambrose’s refusal, he concluded that God was arbitrating these things for the concord of the church in Milan, and ordered him to be ordained as quickly as possible. As soon as he was initiated he received ordination, and he persuaded the church under him, which had long been divided under the leadership of Auxentius, to be of one mind concerning divine things. What kind of man this Ambrose became after his ordination, and how very bravely and divinely he fulfilled his priesthood, will be told in its place in what follows. About this time the Novatians in Phrygia, contrary to their former custom, began to celebrate the feast of Pascha with the Jews. For Novatus, who was the founder of the heresy, did not admit to communion those who repented of their sins, and innovated in this alone; but like the church of the Romans, he and those after him kept celebrating this feast after the spring equinox. Until in this reign some of the Novatian bishops in Phrygia met at the village of Pazus — a place in Phrygia from which the springs of the river Sangarius flow — and, as if not deigning to agree even in this with those who believed otherwise, they made a law of their own: to observe the feast of Unleavened Bread and to celebrate Pascha with the Jews. Neither Agelius, the bishop of the Novatians in Constantinople, took part in this synod, nor the bishops of Nicaea, Nicomedia or Cotyaeum — a city of Phrygia of some note — whom the Novatians regard, so to speak, as the decisive authorities in matters concerning their own heresy and churches. For what reason these also fell into disagreement, and, dividing themselves, held separate assemblies, I shall tell in due course. ### Translation notes - Ambrose was ordained bishop of Milan in 374. - “Pazus”: the scan reads “Gazus”; NPNF² 2 and Socrates (Hist. eccl. 4.28) give Pazus. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 6.24 (PG 67:1353–1357; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/6-24). ## Church History 6.25 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/6-19/#p-6-25 - Source: PG 67:1357–1361 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Apolinarius and the Antiochene presbyter Vitalius form their own church with Apolinarius’s popular hymns, condemned by Damasus and Peter; Sozomen traces Apolinarius’s break to George of Laodicea’s refusal to restore him after an old excommunication. ### Greek text Ἐν τούτῳ δὲ εἰς τὸ προφανὲς προΐστατο ᾿Απολινάριος τῆς ἀπ᾽ αὐτοῦ ὀνομαζομένης αἱρέσεως" πολλοὺς ἀποτεμὼν τῆς ἑαυτὸν συνἦγε. Συνελάδετο δὲ αὐτῷ πρὸς τὴν τοῦ οἰκείου δόν - μᾶτος σύσταδιν Βιτάλιος πρεσδύτερος τιοχεὺς τῶν ὑπὸ Μελίτιον ἱερωμένων " εἰ τις ἄλλος, τοῦ βίου τῆς πολιτείας ἐπιφανής, καὶ περὶ τοὺς ὑπ᾽ αὐτὸν ἀγομένους σπουδαῖος, καὶ τούτου χάριν τῷ λαῷ σεδάσμιος. οὐ πολὺ γὰρ ἀποσχίσας ἑαυτὸν τῆς Μελιτίου κοινωνίας, ᾿Α πολιναρίῳ προσέθετο" καὶ τῶν τὰ αὐτὰ δοξαζόντων ἐπὶ τῆς ᾿Αντιοχέων ἡγεῖτο" αἰδοῖ τῆς αὐτοῦ πολιτείας, πλῆθος οὐχ ὀλίγον πειθόμενον ἔχων, οἱ καὶ ἀπ᾽ αὐτοῦ τὴν προσηγορίαν ἔλαχην, Βιταλιανοὶ παρὰ χεῦσιν εἰς ἔτι νῦν ὀνομαζόμενοι. Λέγεται δὲ τοῦτο παθεῖν ὑπὸ λύπης, ὡς ὑπεροφθεὶς παρὰ Φλαβιανοῦ, ὃς ὕστερον ἐπετράπη τὸν ᾿ Ἀντιοχέων θρόνον, συμπρεσβυτέρου τότε ὄντος αὐτῷ, χωλυθεὶς συνήθως ἰδεῖν τὸν ἐπίσκοπον. Παρευδοχιμεῖσθαι γὰρ νομίσας, ἀνθρώπινον ὑπέστη " πρὸς ᾿Απολινάριον ἐλθὼν, (? : - ἐκοινώνησε, φίλον αὑτὸν εἶχεν. Ἐχ τούτου δὲ καὶ ἐν ἄλλαις πόλεσι χωρὶς ἐκκλησίαζον ὑπὸ ἐπισκόποις ἰδίοις, θεσμοῖς ἐχρῶντο ἀλλοτρίοις τῆς καθολιχῆῇς Ἐκκλησίας, παρὰ τὰς νενομισμένας ἱερὰς ᾿ ἔμμετρά τινα μελύδρια ψάλλοντες, παρ᾽ αὑτοῦ ᾿ΑἈπολιναρίου εὑρημένα. Πρὸς γὰρ τῇ ἄλλῃ παιδεύσει, καὶ ποιητιχὸς ὧν, παντοδαπῶν μέτρων εἰδήμων, καὶ τοῖς ἐντεῦθεν ἠδύσμασι τοὺς πολλοὺς ἔπειθεν αὑτῷ προσέχειν. "Ανδρες τε παρὰ τοὺς πότους ἐν ἔργοις, καὶ γυναῖκες παρὰ τοὺς ἱστοὺς τὰ αὐτοῦ μέλη ἔψαλλον. Σπουδῆς γὰρ ἀνέσεως, ἑορτῶν, τῶν ἄλλων, πρὸς τὸν ἑκάστου καιρὸν εἰδύλλια αὐτῷ πεπόνητο, πάντα εἰς εὐλογίαν Θεοῦ τείνοντα. Μαθὼν οὖν ταύτην τὴν αἵρεσιν εἰς πολλοὺς ἕρπειν πρῶτος Δάμασος ὁ Ῥωμαίων ἐπίσκοπος, καὶ Πέτρος ὁ ᾿Αλεξανδρείας, συνόδου γενομένης ἐν Ῥώμῃ, ἀλλοτρίαν τῆς καθόλου Ἐκκλησίας ἐψηφίσαντο. Λέγεται δὲ καὶ ᾿Απολινάριος ὁμοίως ὑπὸ μικροψυχίας νεωτερίσαι περὶ τὸ δόγμα, ἐξ αἰτίας τοιᾶσδε· Ἡνίκα γὰρ ᾿Αθανάσιος ὁ τὴν ᾿Αλεξανδρέων Εκκλησίαν ἐπιτροπεύσας, μετὰ τὴν ἐπὶ Κωνσταντίου φυγὴν προσετάχθη ἐπανελθεῖν εἰς Αἴγυπτον, διοδεύοντι τὴν Λαοδίκειαν, συνήθης αὐτῷ ἐγένετο καὶ εἰς τὰ μάλιστα φίλος. ᾿Απωμότου δὲ οὔσης τῆς πρὸς αὐτὸν κοινωνίας τοῖς ἀπὸ τῆς ἐναντίας αἱρέσεως, ὧν ἦν καὶ Γεώργιος ὁ ἐνθάδε ἐπίσκοπος, ὑβριστικῶς ἐκβάλλεται τῆς Ἐκκλησίας, ὡς παρὰ κανόνας καὶ τοὺς τῶν ἱερέων νόμους ᾿Αθανασίῳ συγγενόμενος. Ἐπῃτιᾶτο δὲ αὐτὸν διὰ ταῦτα, καὶ εὐθύνας παλαιῶν ἁμαρτημάτων μετανοίᾳ λελυμένων ὠνείδιζεν. Ἔτι γὰρ Θεοδότου τοῦ πρὸ αὐτοῦ τὴν Λαοδικέων Ἐκκλησίαν Ιθύναντος, κατ' ἐκεῖνο καιροῦ διαπρέπων Ἐπιφάνιος ὁ Σοφιστὴς, ὕμνον εἰς τὸν Διόνυσον παρῄει. Διδασκάλῳ δὲ αὐτῷ χρώμενος Ἀπολινάριος, ἔτι γὰρ νέος ἦν, παρεγένετο τῇ ἀκροάσει σὺν τῷ πατρί· ὁμώνυμος δὲ ἦν αὐτῷ, γραμματικὸς οὐκ ἄσημος. Ἐπεὶ δὲ τοῦ λόγου ἀρχό μενος Ἐπιφάνιος, ὡς ἔθος τοῖς τοιάδε ἐπιδεικνυμένοις λέγειν, τοὺς ἀμυήτους καὶ βεβήλους ἐξιέναι θύραζε ἐκέλευεν· οὔτε δὲ ᾿Απολινάριος ὁ νέος, οὔτε ὁ πρεσβύτης, οὔτε ἕτερός τις τῶν παρόντων Χριστιανῶν τῆς ἀκροάσεως ἀπεχώρησε. Μαθὼν ταῦτα Θεόδοτος ὁ ἐπίσκοπος, χαλεπῶς ἤνεγκε· καὶ τοῖς μὲν ἄλλοις ἐν λαῷ τεταγμένοις μετρίως ἐγκαλέσας, συγγνώμην ἔνειμεν. ᾿Απολιναρίω δὲ ἄμφω τὴν ἁμαρτίαν δημοσίᾳ ἐλέγξας, τῆς Ἐκκλησίας ἀφώρισεν· ἤστην γὰρ κληρικώ· ὁ μὲν πατήρ πρεσβύτερος, ὁ δὲ παῖς ἀναγνώστης ἔτι τῶν ἱερῶν Γραφῶν. Χρό νου δέ τινος διαγενομένου ἐν δάκρυσι καὶ νηστείαις ἐπαξίως τῆς ἁμαρτίας μεταμεληθέντας προσίεται πάλιν Θεόδοτος. Ὡς δὲ τὴν αὐτὴν ἐπισκοπὴν ἔλαχε Γεώργιος, καὶ ἡ πρὸς ᾿Αθανάσιον συνουσία γέγονεν Ἀπολιναρίῳ, ὡς εἴρηται, ἀκοινώνητον αὐτὸν ἀποφαίνει καὶ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας ἀλλότριον. Ὁ δὲ λέγεται μὲν πολλάκις αὐτοῦ δεηθῆναι τὴν κοινωνίαν ἀπολαβεῖν. Ὡς δὲ οὐκ ἔπειθε, λύπῃ κρατηθεὶς ἐτάραξε τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν, καὶ δογμάτων καινότητα τὴν εἰρημένην αἴρεσιν εἰσήγαγεν, ὅπερ ἠδύνατο, τέχνῃ, φημὶ, λόγων τὸν ἐχθρὸν ἀμυνόμενος, καὶ διελέγχων ὡς ἐν διδασκαλίᾳ ἱερῶν δογμάτων οὐ τοιοῦτος ὢν, τὸν ἀμείνω καθεῖλεν. Οὕτω πη αἱ ἴδιαι ἔχθραι τῶν κατὰ καιροὺς κληρικῶν τὰ μέγιστα τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν ἔβλαψαν, καὶ τὴν θρησκείαν εἰς πολλὰς αἱρέσεις κατέτεμον. Τεκμήριον δὲ τοῦτο· εἰ γὰρ ὁμοίως Θεοδότῳ καὶ Γεώργιος μεταμεληθέντα ᾿Απολινάριον ἐδέξατο, οὐκ ἂν, οἶμαι, ἡ ἀπ᾿ αὐτοῦ καλουμένη αἵρεσις ἦν. Ἡ γὰρ ἀνθρωπεία φύσις, ὑπερφρονουμένη μὲν, ἀπαυθαδιάζεται, καὶ εἰς φιλονεικίαν καὶ νεωτερισμοὺς καθίσταται· ἀπολαύουσα δὲ τῶν ἴσων, μετριάζειν καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν αὐτῶν μένειν φιλεῖ. ### English translation (Claude) At this time Apolinarius openly took the lead of the heresy named after him, and gathered many cut off from the church around himself. He was helped in establishing his doctrine by Vitalius, a presbyter of Antioch, one of those ordained by Meletius, distinguished as much as anyone for his life and conduct, zealous for those under his guidance, and for this revered by the people. Separating himself from communion with Meletius not long before, he joined Apolinarius and led those of the same belief in the city of the Antiochenes, having no small multitude obeying him out of respect for his conduct; they took their name from him and are still called Vitalians by the Antiochenes. He is said to have done this out of vexation at having been slighted by Flavian, who was later entrusted with the throne of the Antiochenes and was then his fellow presbyter, and at being prevented from seeing the bishop as he used to. Thinking himself outdone in esteem, he gave way to a human weakness, went over to Apolinarius, communicated with him, and held him as his friend. From this time in other cities too they held assemblies apart under their own bishops and used customs foreign to the catholic church, singing, instead of the accustomed sacred songs, certain metrical little songs composed by Apolinarius himself. For besides his other learning he was also a poet, skilled in metres of every kind, and by the charms of these he persuaded many to attend to him. Men at drinking parties and at their work, and women at their looms, sang his songs. For he had composed pieces suited to every occasion — for earnestness, for relaxation, for festivals and the rest — all tending to the praise of God. When Damasus, bishop of the Romans, and Peter of Alexandria first learned that this heresy was creeping into many, a synod was held at Rome and they declared it foreign to the catholic church. It is said that Apolinarius too innovated in doctrine from a similar pettiness of soul, for the following reason. When Athanasius, who governed the church of the Alexandrians, was ordered to return to Egypt after his exile under Constantius, and passed through Laodicea, Apolinarius became his acquaintance and close friend. Since communion with Athanasius was abjured by those of the opposite heresy, among whom was George, the bishop there, Apolinarius was insultingly cast out of the church, as having associated with Athanasius contrary to the canons and the laws of the priests. George accused him on this account and reproached him with old faults that had been absolved by repentance. For while Theodotus, George’s predecessor, still governed the church of Laodicea, Epiphanius the sophist, distinguished at that time, was reciting a hymn to Dionysus. Apolinarius, who had him as a teacher — for he was still young — was present at the recitation with his father, who had the same name and was a grammarian of some note. When Epiphanius, beginning his speech, bade the uninitiated and profane go out of doors, as is the custom of those who give such displays, neither the young Apolinarius nor the old, nor any other of the Christians present, left the recitation. When Theodotus the bishop learned this, he was angry; and rebuking moderately the others, who were ranked among the laity, he granted them pardon; but the two Apolinarii he publicly convicted of their sin and excommunicated from the church, for both were clerics, the father a presbyter, the son still a reader of the sacred Scriptures. After some time had passed, when they had repented in tears and fasting in a manner worthy of their sin, Theodotus received them back. But when George obtained the same see, and Apolinarius had his association with Athanasius, as has been said, George declared him excommunicate and a stranger to the church. Apolinarius is said to have begged him many times to receive back communion; and when he did not prevail, overcome by vexation he troubled the church and introduced by novelty of doctrines the heresy described — avenging himself on his enemy, I mean, by what he could, the art of words, and proving that in teaching sacred doctrines George was not his equal, he brought down the better man. So, somehow, the private enmities of the clergy of the various times have done the greatest harm to the church and cut religion into many heresies. And here is a proof: if George had received Apolinarius on his repentance as Theodotus did, there would not, I think, be the heresy called after him. For human nature, when despised, grows arrogant and turns to contentiousness and innovations; but when it enjoys equal treatment, it tends to be moderate and to remain where it is. ### Translation notes - The account of the motives of Vitalius and Apolinarius is Sozomen’s own, translated as written. - The Roman synod condemning Apolinarianism met under Damasus in 377. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 6.25 (PG 67:1357–1361; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/6-25). ## Church History 6.26 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/6-19/#p-6-26 - Source: PG 67:1361–1367 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Eunomius of Cyzicus, heir of Aetius’s Anomoean doctrine, is credited by some with introducing baptism by a single immersion; Sozomen argues that such innovators undercut their own baptism, and outlines the history of the Aetian–Eunomian party. ### Greek text Ἀμφὶ δὲ τοῦτον τὸν χρόνον Εὐνόμιος, ὃς ἀντὶ Ελευσίου τὴν ἐν Κυζίκῳ Ἐκκλησίαν κατείχε, τῆς ᾿Αρείου αἱρέσεως προϊστάμενος, ἑτέραν παρὰ ταύτην εἰσηγήσατο· ἣν οἱ μὲν ἀπ᾿ αὐτοῦ ὀνομάζουσιν, οἱ δὲ τὴν τῶν ᾿Ανομοίων καλοῦσι. Φασὶ δὲ τινες, πρῶτον τοῦτον Εὐνόμιον τολμῆσαι εἰσηγήσασθαι, ἐν μιᾷ καταδύσει χρῆναι ἐπιτελεῖν τὴν θείαν βάπτισιν, καὶ παραχαράξαι τὴν ἀπὸ τῶν ἀποστόλων εἰσέτι νῦν ἐν πᾶσι φυλαττομένην παράδοσιν, καὶ ὡς ἐπίπαν, ἑτέραν τινὰ τῆς αὐτοῦ Ἐκκλησίας ἐξευρεῖν ἀγωγὴν, σεμνότητι καὶ ἀκριβείᾳ πλείονι τὴν καινότητα περιπέττουσαν. Ἐγένετο δὲ καὶ τεχνίτης λόγων, καὶ ἐριστικὸς, καὶ συλλογισμοῖς χαίρων· τοιούτους δὲ τοὺς πολλοὺς τῶν τὰ αὐτοῦ φρονούντων ἔστιν ἰδεῖν. Οὐ μᾶλλον γὰρ ἐπαινοῦσι βίον ἀγαθὸν ἢ τρόπον, ἢ τὸν περὶ τοὺς δεομένους ἔλεον, εἰ μὴ τὰ αὐτὰ δοξάζοιεν· ὅσον εἴ τις ἐριστικῶς διαλέγοιτο, καὶ κρατεῖν δοκοίη συλλογιζόμενος· ὁ τοιοῦτος γὰρ εὐσεδὴς παρὰ πάντας νομίξεται, Ὡς ἄλλοις ἃ, τἀληθέστερον, οἶμαι, λέγουσιν, ὡς Θεοφρόνιος ὁ Καππαδόκης, καὶ Εὐτύχιος, σπουδασταὶ ταύτης τῆς αἱρέσεως, ἀποτεμόντες σφᾶς ἐπὶ τῆς ἐχομένης βασιλείας, περί τε ἄλλα τῶν Εὐνομίῳ δοξάντων, καὶ περὶ τὴν θείαν βάπτισιν ἐνεωτέρισαν ἃ, οὐχ εἰς Τριάδα, ἀλλὰ εἰς τὸν τοῦ Χριστοῦ θάνατον βαπτίζεσθαι εἰσηγησάμενοι. Εὐνόμιον μέντοι μηδὲν περὶ τούτου χαινοτομῇσαι, ἀλλ᾽ ἐξ ἀρχῆς τοῦτον τὰ ᾿Αρείου φρονῆσαι, καὶ οὕτω διαμεῖναι" ἐπίσκοπον δὲ Κυζίκου γενόμενον, χατηγορηθῆναι ὑπὰ τῶν ὑπὸ αὐτὸν κληρικῶν, ὡς νεωτέρων δογμάτων εἰτηγητήν. Τηνικαῦτα δὲ Εὐδόξιον τὸν ἡγούμενον ἐν Κωνσταντινουπόλει τῆς ᾿Αρείου αἱρέσεως, μεταχαλεσάμενον αὐτὸν, ἐπιτρέψαι τῷ λαῷ προσομιλῆσαι περὶ τοῦ δόγματος " μὴ χαταγνόντα δὲ μηδὲν, προτρέψασθαι μὲν εἰς Κύξιχον ἐπανελθεῖν. Τὸν δὲ φῆσαι, μὴ αἷρεῖσθαι λοιπὸν τοῖς ἐν ὑπονοίᾳ αὐτῷ γενομένοις συνεῖναι" πρόφασιν ταύτην τοῦ χωρισμοῦ ποιήσασθαι. Τὸ δὲ ἀληθὲς, ὅτι ᾿Αέτιον τὸν αὐτοῦ διδάοὐ προσεδέξαντο" ἐφ᾽ ἑαυτοῦ δὲ διαμεῖναι, μηδὲν τῆς προτέρας δόξης παραλλάξαντα. Ταῦτα μὲν ὧδε, οἱ δὲ ἑτέρως λέγουσιν. εἴτε Εὐνόεἴτε ἄλλοι τινὲς, περὶ τὴν παράδοσιν τοῦ πτίσματος ταῦτα ἐνεωτέρισαν, ἐμοὶ δοκεῖ, μόνοι κατὰ τὸν αὐτὸν λόγον χινδυνεύουσιν, ἄμοιροι τῆς θεΐας βαπτίσεως τὸν βίον καταλιπεῖν., Εἰ γὰρ κατὰ τὸ νενομισμένον ἐξ ἀρχῆς βαπτισθέντες, πρότερον αὖτοὶ ἑαυτοὺς ἀναδαπτίζειν οὐχ ἠδύναντο, οἱ τὰ μὴ ς συμδὰν ἐπὶ αὑτῶν τὴν ἀρχὴν εἰσηγοῦντο. Καὶ ὃ μήτε αὐτοὶ ἦσαν μῆτε δι᾽ ἄλλων ἐγένοντο, τοῦτο ἑτέρους ἐποίουν" ἐξ ἀνυποστάτου τινὸς ἀρχῆς ἰδίας χαταλήψεως τοῦτο τὸ δόγμα συστησάμενοι, ἃ μὴ αὐτοὶ παρειλήφασιν, ἄλλοις παραδεδώκασιν. Ὅπες εὔηθές ἐστι. Συνωμολόγηται γὰρ παρ᾽ αὑτῶν, τοὺς ἀμυήτους μὴ δύνασθαι ἄλλους βαπτίζειν" ὁ δὲ τῷ τρόπῳ τῆς αὐτῶν παραδόσεως μὴ βαπτισθεὶς, ἀβδάπτιστος αὐτοῖς εἶναι δοκεῖ, ὡς μὴ δεόντως θείς. Καὶ μαρτυροῦσιν αὐτοὶ, οὖς ἂν δύνωνται πεῖθειν τὰ αὐτῶν φρονεῖν, ἀναδαπτίζοντες, εἰ ἔφθασαν μυηθῆναι κατὰ τὴν παράδοσιν τῆς καθόλου Ἐκκλησίας. Ἐθορύβει μὲν οὖν οὐ μετρίως καὶ ταῦτα τὴν θρησκείαν· καὶ τοῖς θέλουσι Χριστιανίζειν ἐμπόδιον ἐγένετο τὸ διάφορον τῶν ἐπιγενομένων δογμάτων. Ἑκάστοτε γὰρ καρτεραὶ διαλέξεις ἐγίνοντο, καὶ ὡς ἐν ἀρχομέναις αἱρέσεσιν ἥκμαζον, οὐ τοὺς τυχόντας σπουδῇ καὶ λόγων δυνάμει καθηγητὰς ἔχουσαι· ὡς δὲ συμβάλλειν ἔστι, μικροῦ τῆς καθόλου ᾿Εκκλησίας εἰς τὴν αὐτῶν δόξαν τοὺς πλείους παρἐσυραν, εἰ μὴ τοὺς ἀμφὶ Βασίλειον καὶ Γρηγόριον τοὺς Καππαδόκας, ἀντιπάλους εὗρον, καὶ ἡ Θεοδο σίου βασιλεία, οὐκ εἰς μακρὰν ἐπιγενομένη, τὴν ἐπιχείρησιν ἔστησε, καὶ αὐτοὺς τοὺς ἀρχηγοὺς τῶν αἱρέσεων ἐκ τοῦ συχνοτέρου τῆς ἀρχομένης εἰς ἐρημοτέρους τόπους ἐχώρησεν. Ὥστε δὲ μὴ παντελῶς ἡμᾶς ἀγνοεῖν τὸ δόγμα τῆς ἑκατέρου αἱρέσεως, ἰστέον ὡς τῆς κατ᾿ Εὐνόμιον δόξης πρῶτος ᾿Αέτιος ὁ Σύρος εὑρετὴς ἐγένετο, ἀνόμοιον τῷ Πατρὶ εὸν Υἱὸν, κτιστόν τε καὶ ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων γεγονέναι, μετὰ ῎Αρειον ἀποφηνάμενος. Καὶ οἱ τάδε φρονοῦνσες ᾿Αετιανοὶ τὸ πρὶν ὠνομάζοντο. Ἐπεὶ δὲ, ὡς ἐν τῇ Κωνσταντίου βασιλείᾳ εἴρηται, τῶν μὲν ὁμοού - διον, τῶν δὲ ὁμοιοούσιον τῷ Πατρὶ τὸν Υἱὸν δοξαζόντων, ὅμοιον τότε ἔδοξε λέγειν τοῖς τότε κρατοῦσι κατὰ τὴν ἐν Ἀριμίνῳ σύνοδον, ᾿Αέτιος μὲν κατεδι- κάσθη φεύγειν, ὡς εἰς Θεὸν βλασφημῶν· ἡ δὲ ὑπ᾿ ὐτοῦ συστᾶσα αἵρεσις τρόπον τινὰ τὸν ἐν μέσῳ διελύθη χρόνον· οὔτε ἄλλου τῶν ἐν λόγῳ, οὔτε Εὐνομίου εἰς τὸ φανερὸν ἐπὶ ταύτῃ παρρησιάζεσθαι τολμῶντος. Ὡς δὲ τὴν Κυζικηνῶν Ἐκκλησίαν ἀντὶ Ἐλευσίου παρείληφεν, οὐκέτι παντελῶς ἡρεμεῖν ἡνείχετο, καὶ ἐν πλήθει διαλεγόμενος, αὖθις τὴν ᾿Αετίου δόξαν εἰς μέσον ἤγαγεν. Οἷα δὲ φιλεῖ πολλάεις, ἐπιλαθόμενοι οἱ ἄνθρωποι τοῦ πρώτως ταύτην εὑρόντος τὴν αἴρεσιν, Εὐνομίῳ τοὺς ὧδε φρονοῦντας επωνόμασαν, καθότι μετὰ ᾿Αέτιον τοῦτο τὸ δόγμα ἀνενέωσε, καὶ τολμηρότερον ἐπεξειργάσατο τοῦ τὴν ἀρχὴν παραδόντος. ὁ: ### English translation (Claude) About this time Eunomius, who held the church in Cyzicus in place of Eleusius and was a leader of the Arian heresy, introduced another besides it, which some name after him and others call that of the Anomoeans. Some say that this Eunomius was the first who dared to propose that divine baptism should be performed with a single immersion, and to counterfeit the tradition from the apostles that is still kept everywhere; and in general to devise a different discipline for his own church, wrapping the novelty in greater solemnity and strictness. He was also an artist in words, contentious, and delighting in syllogisms; and one can see that most of those who share his views are like this. For they do not praise a good life or character, or mercy toward the needy — unless the man shares their belief — so much as if someone debates contentiously and seems to win by syllogism; such a one is thought pious beyond all. Others, more truly I think, say that Theophronius the Cappadocian and Eutychius, zealots of this heresy, who cut themselves off in the following reign over other points of Eunomius’s doctrine, also innovated concerning divine baptism, proposing that people be baptized not into the Trinity but into the death of Christ; and that Eunomius made no innovation about this, but held the views of Arius from the beginning and remained so. When he became bishop of Cyzicus, he was accused by the clergy under him of introducing newer doctrines. Then Eudoxius, the leader of the Arian heresy in Constantinople, summoned him and allowed him to address the people on the doctrine; and finding nothing to condemn, he urged him to return to Cyzicus. But Eunomius said that he would not choose to live any longer with those who held him under suspicion, and made this the pretext for his separation; the truth was that they had not received Aetius his teacher; and he remained by himself, changing nothing of his former belief. So some say; others tell it differently. But whether Eunomius or certain others innovated thus in the tradition of baptism, they alone, it seems to me, by their own argument run the risk of leaving this life without divine baptism. For if, having been baptized at first according to the established custom, they could not baptize themselves again, they introduced what had not happened in their own case at the beginning; and what they neither were themselves nor became through others, this they did to others; having built this doctrine on an unsubstantial beginning of their own notion, they handed on to others what they themselves had not received. This is foolish. For it is agreed by them that the uninitiated cannot baptize others; and one not baptized according to the manner of their tradition seems to them unbaptized, as not properly initiated. And they themselves bear witness to this by rebaptizing whomever they can persuade to share their views, if they had previously been initiated according to the tradition of the catholic church. These things too troubled religion not a little, and the variety of the doctrines that arose became a hindrance to those who wished to become Christians. For on every occasion fierce debates took place, and these heresies, as is the way with new ones, flourished, having leaders of no ordinary zeal and power of speech; and, as one may conjecture, they would have drawn most of the catholic church to their belief, had they not found Basil and Gregory the Cappadocians as adversaries, and had not the reign of Theodosius, coming soon after, checked the attempt and driven the very leaders of the heresies from the more populous parts of the empire into more deserted places. So that we may not be altogether ignorant of the doctrine of each heresy, it should be known that the first inventor of the belief of Eunomius was Aetius the Syrian, who after Arius declared that the Son is unlike the Father, created, and come into being from things that are not. Those who held these views were formerly called Aetians. But when, as was said in the reign of Constantius, some holding the Son to be of the same essence with the Father and others of like essence, it seemed good to those then in power, at the synod of Ariminum, to say “like,” Aetius was condemned to exile as a blasphemer against God; and the heresy he had established was in a way dissolved in the intervening time, since neither any other man of note nor Eunomius dared to speak openly for it. But when Eunomius received the church of the Cyzicenes in place of Eleusius, he could no longer keep altogether quiet, and debating before the multitude, he again brought the belief of Aetius into the open. And as often happens, people, forgetting who first invented this heresy, named those who held these views after Eunomius, because after Aetius he renewed this doctrine and worked it out more boldly than the one who first handed it down. ### Translation notes - Sozomen’s argument against the single-immersion baptism (that its authors were themselves baptized by triple immersion) is translated as written. - “Unlike” renders anomoios; “of the same essence” homoousios; “of like essence” homoiousios. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 6.26 (PG 67:1361–1367; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/6-26). ## Church History 6.27 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/6-27/#p-6-27 - Source: PG 67:1367–1369 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Sozomen quotes Gregory of Nazianzus’s letter to Nectarius against Apolinarius’s teaching that Christ’s flesh came from heaven, that he lacked a human mind, and that his Godhead suffered; the monks of Syria and Cappadocia checked both Apolinarianism and Eunomianism. ### Greek text Εὐνόμιον μὲν οὖν τὰ αὐτὰ φρονεῖν ᾿Ἀετίῳ, συνομολογεῖν δέον " γὰρ δὴ καὶ αὐτὸς Εὐνόμιος τίον διδάσκαλον αὐχεῖ, καὶ μαρτυρεῖ τοῦτο πολλάκις ἐν ἰδίοις γράμμασι παῤῥησιαζόμενος. ᾿Απομινάριον δὲ ἐπαιτιώμενος Γρηγόριος ὁ Ναζιανζῶν ἐπισχοπήῆ- . σας, ἐν ἐπιστολῇ που τάδε γράφει πρὸς Νεχτάριην τὸν ἡγησάμενον τῆς ἐν Κωνσταντινουπόλει Ἐκκλησίας" δὲ ἐγκόλπιον ἡμῶν κακὸν, Εὐνόμιος, οὐκέτι ἀγαπᾷ τὸ ὁπωσοῦν εἶναι" ἀλλ᾽ εἰ μὴ πάντας τῇ αὐτοῦ ἀπωλείᾳ συνεφελχύσαιτο, ζημίαν χρίνει. Καὶ ταῦτα μὲν φορητά" τὸ πάντων χαλεπώτατον ἐν ταῖς ἐκκλησιαστικαῖς συμφοραῖς ἡ τῶν ᾿Απολιναριστῶν ἐστι παῤῥησία, οὗς, οὐχ οἶδα πῶς, παρεῖδέ σου ἡ ὁσιότης, πορισαμένους ἑαυτοῖς τὴν τοῦ συνάγειν ὁμοτίμως ἡμῖν παῤῥησίαν. Πάντως μὲν οὖν διὰ πάντων κατὰ Θεοῦ χάριν τὰ θεΐα πεπαιδευμένος μυστήρια, οὗ μόνον τὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγου συνηγορίαν ἐπίστασαι, ἀλλὰ χἀχεῖνα ὅσα παρὰ τῶν αἱρετικῶν κατὰ τῆς ὑγιαινούσης ἐπινενόηται πίστεως. Πλὴν παρὰ τῆς βραχύτητος ἡμῶν οὐχ ἄκαιρον ἴσως . σοὺ τὴν σεμνοπρέπειαν, ὅτι μοι πυχτίον γέγονεν ἐν χερσὶ τοῦ ᾿Απολιναρίου, ἐν ᾧ τὰ κατασχευαζόμενα πᾶσαν αἱρετικὴν χαχίαν παρέρχεται. βεβαιοῦται γὰρ μὴ ἐπίχτητον εἶναι τὴν σάρκα οἰκονομίαν τοῦ μονογενοῦς ΥἹἱοῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ προσληφθεῖ. σαν ἐπὶ μεταστοιχειώσει τῆς φύσεως ἡμῶν, ἀλλ' ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἐν τῷ Υἱῷ τὴν δαρχώδη ἐκείνην φύσιν εἶναι. Καὶ κακῶς ἐχλαθὼν εὐαγγελιχὴήν τινα ῥῆσιν, εἰς μαρτυρίαν τῆς τοιαύτης ἀτοπίας προβάλλεται, λέγων" Οὐδεὶς ἀναθδέθδηχεν εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν, εἰ μὴ ὁ ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καταθὰς, ὁ Υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου" ὡς καὶ πρὶν κατελθεῖν αὐτὸν, Υἱὸν ἀνθρώπου εἶναι, κατελθεῖν ἰδίαν ἐπαγόμενον σάρκα ἐκείνην, ἣν ἔχων ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ ἐτύγχανε, προαιώνιόν τα καὶ συνουσιωμένην. Λέγει γὰρ πάλιν ἀποντολιχὴν τινα ῥῆσιν, ὅτι Ὃ δεύτερος ἄγθρωπος ἐξ οὐρανοῦ" εἶτα κατασκευάζει τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἐκεῖνον, τὸν ἄνωθεν ἤχοντα, νοῦν μὴ ἔχειν" ἀλλὰ τὴν θεότητα τοῦ ΜονοὙενοῦς, τὴν τοῦ νοῦ φύσιν ἀναπληρώσασαν, μέρος γενέσθαι τοῦ ἀνθρωπίνου συγχρίματος τὸ τριτημόριον᾽ Ψυχῆς τε σώματος κατὰ τὸ ἀνθρώπινον περὶ αὐτὸν ὄντων, νοῦ δὲ μὴ ὄντος, ἀλλὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγου τὸν ἐκείνου τόπον ἀναπληροῦντος. Καὶ οὕπω τοῦτο δεινὸν θέαμα" ἀλλὰ τὸ πάντων χαλεπώτατον, ὅτι αὐτὸν τὸν μονογενῇ Θεὸν, τὸν κριτὴν τῶν ὄντων, τὸν ἀρχηγὸν τῆς ζωῆς, τὸν χαθαιρέτην τοῦ θανάτου, εἶναι χατασχενάζει, ἐν τῇ ἰδίᾳ αὐτοῦ θεά» ἈΝΝΌΓΑ τητι πάθος δέξασθαι, ἐν τῇ τριημέρῳ ἔχείνῃ νεχρώσει τοῦ σώματος, τὴν θεότητα συναπονεχρωθῆναι τῷ σώματι" οὕτω παρὰ τοῦ Πατρὸς πάλιν ἀπὸ τοῦ θανάτου διαναστῆναι. Τὰ δὲ ἄλ)α ὅσα προστίθησι ταῖς τοιαύταις ἀτοπίαις, μακρὸν ἂν εἴη διεξιέναι, Οἷα μὲν οὖν καὶ ὅπως περὶ Θεοῦ δοξάζουσιν ᾿Απολινάριός τε Εὐνόμιος, ἐχ τῶν εἰρημένων ὅτῳ μέλει σκοπείτω. Εἰ δὲ περὶ μάθησιν ἀχριθδῇ τῶν τοιούτων πονεῖν ἔγνωκεν, ἐκ τῶν γεγραμμένων, ἣ αὐτοῖς, ἢ ἑτέροις περὶ αὐτῶν, ἐπιζητείτω τὰ πλείω" ἐπεὶ ἐμοὶ οὔτε συνιέναι τὰ τοιαῦτα, οὔτε μεταφράξειν εὐπετές, Ὡς ἔοικε δὲ, πρὸς ταῖς εἰρημέναις αἰτίαις, τὸ μὴ κρατῆσαι τάδε τὰ δόγματα καὶ εἰς πολλοὺς προελθεῖν, μάλιστα τοῖς τότε μοναχοῖς λογιστέον. ᾿Απρὶξ γὰρ εἴχοντο τῶν ἐν Νικαίᾳ δογμάτων, τειὲν Συρίᾳ Καππαδοχίχ, πέριξ τούτων εἰ φιλοσοφοῦντες, μὲν γὰρ Ἕως, ἀπὸ Κιλίκων ἀρξαμένη, μέχρι Φοινίχων ἐχινδύνευσε γενέσθαι τῆς ᾿Απολιναρίου αἱρέσεως Εὐνομίου δὲ ἀπὸ Κιλίχων, καὶ Ταύρου τοῦ ὄρους, μέχρι τοῦ πόντου τῆς Κωνσταντινουπόλεως" ῥᾳδίως γὰρ ἑκάτερος παρ᾽ οἷς διέτριδε, καὶ τοὺς πέλας, τὰ αὑτοῦ φρονεῖν ἔπειθε. Παραπλήσιον δέ πως τοῖς ἐπὶ ᾿Αρείου, καὶ ἐπὶ τούτοις συμθέδηχε' τὸ γὰρ τῇδε πλῆθος τοὺς δηλωθέντας μοναχοὺς τῆς ἀρετῆς τῶν ἔργων ἐχθαυμάξον, ὀρθῶς αὐτοὺς δοξάζειν ἐπίστευε" τοὺς ἄλλως φρονοῦντας, οἷά γε μὴ χαθαρεύοντας, νόθων δογμάτων ἀπεστρέφοντο. "Ὥσπερ Αἰγύπτιοι τοῖς παρ᾽ αὐτοῖς μοναχοῖς ἑπόμενοι, ἐναντίως εἶχον πρὺς τοὺς ### English translation (Claude) That Eunomius held the same views as Aetius one must agree; for Eunomius himself boasts of Aetius as his teacher, and bears witness to this often, speaking openly in his own writings. Gregory, who was bishop of Nazianzus, accusing Apolinarius, writes this somewhere in a letter to Nectarius, who presided over the church in Constantinople: “Eunomius, the evil we nurse in our bosom, is no longer content merely to exist; unless he drags everyone with him into his own ruin, he counts it a loss. And this is bearable. But the most grievous of all the church’s calamities is the boldness of the Apolinarians, whom your holiness, I do not know how, has overlooked, when they have procured for themselves the freedom to hold assemblies on equal terms with us. Of course, you who have been instructed in the divine mysteries through all things by the grace of God know not only the defence of God the Word but also all that has been devised by the heretics against the sound faith. Yet it is perhaps not out of place for your dignity to hear from our littleness that a pamphlet of Apolinarius has come into my hands, in which what he constructs surpasses all heretical wickedness. For he affirms that the flesh which the only-begotten Son of God took by the dispensation for the reshaping of our nature was not acquired, but that this fleshly nature was in the Son from the beginning. And wrongly taking a certain saying of the Gospel, he puts it forward as a witness to such an absurdity, saying: ‘No one has ascended into heaven except the one who came down from heaven, the Son of Man’; as though he were Son of Man even before he came down, and came down bringing with him his own flesh, which he had in heaven, eternal and of the same essence. For he cites again a certain saying of the apostle, that ‘the second man is from heaven.’ Then he constructs the view that that man who came from above has no mind, but that the Godhead of the Only-begotten, filling up the nature of the mind, became the third part of the human compound, the soul and body being in him in human fashion, but the mind not being there, the God Word filling its place. And this is not yet the dreadful thing; but the most grievous of all is that he maintains that the only-begotten God himself, the judge of all, the author of life, the destroyer of death, is passible, and received suffering in his own Godhead, and that in the three days’ deadness of the body the Godhead also died together with the body, and so was raised again from death by the Father. The other things he adds to such absurdities it would take too long to go through.” What and how Apolinarius and Eunomius believe about God, let whoever cares consider from what has been said. If anyone has resolved to labour at an exact knowledge of such matters, let him seek more from what has been written by them or by others about them; since for me it is not easy either to understand such things or to paraphrase them. It seems that, besides the reasons given, the fact that these doctrines did not prevail and spread to many is to be credited chiefly to the monks of that time. For they held fast to the doctrines of Nicaea, those in Syria and Cappadocia and the surrounding regions who lived the philosophic life. For the East from Cilicia to Phoenicia was in danger of becoming of the heresy of Apolinarius, and from Cilicia and the Taurus mountains to the sea at Constantinople of that of Eunomius; for each easily persuaded those among whom he lived, and those nearby, to share his views. Something similar happened in their case as in Arius’s; for the multitude there, admiring the virtue of the monks described in their deeds, believed that they held right views, and turned away from those who thought otherwise as not pure of spurious doctrines. Just as the Egyptians, following their own monks, were opposed to the ### Scripture references - John 3:13: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:47: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The first words of the staged text are the end of the chapter title and are removed by a correction. - The letter is Gregory of Nazianzus, Ep. 202 (To Nectarius); it is not yet on this site. Quoted in full and translated from the Greek as printed. - Scripture cited in Gregory’s letter: John 3:13 and 1 Cor 15:47. - The section ends in mid-sentence and continues in 6.28. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 6.27 (PG 67:1367–1369; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/6-27). ## Church History 6.28 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/6-27/#p-6-28 - Source: PG 67:1369–1373 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Sozomen begins his survey of the famous monks of Egypt under Valens: John, Or, Ammon of Tabennesis, Benus, Theonas, Copres, Helles, Elias, Apelles, Isidore, Serapion, Dioscorus and Eulogius. ### Greek text Εἰς καιρὸν δέ μοι δοκεῖ, ἐπιμνησθέντα τῶν τότε ἐν Χριστιανισμῷ φιλοσοφούντων, ὅσους ἂν δυναίμην διεξελθεῖν, Πλείστη γὰρ χατ᾽ ἐκεῖνο καιροῦ φορὰ θεοφιλῶν ἀνδρῶν ἑπήνθει, Διέπρεπε δὲ κατὰ τούτους ὧν ἴσμεν ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ Ἰωάννης, ᾧ τὸ μέλλον καὶ ἄλλοις ἄδηλον ὁ Θεὸς ἐδήλωσεν, οὐχ ἧττον τοῖς ἄλλοις πάλαι προφήταις" καὶ δῶρον ἔδωκεν ἰᾶσθαι τοὺς ἀνιάτοις πάθεσι καὶ νόσοις κάμνοντας. Καὶ Ὦρ, ὃς νέου διέτριδεν ἐν ἐρήμοις, ἀεὶ τὸ Θεῖον ὑμνῶν. Ἐτρέφετο δὲ βοτάναις ῥίζαις τισίν. “Ὑδωρ δὲ ἔπινεν εἴ πη εὗρεν. Ἐπεὶ δὲ γέρων κατὰ θείαν πρόσταξιν μετοιχισθεὶς εἰς ϑηθαΐδα, πλείστων ἡγεῖτο μοναστηρίων, οὐδ᾽ αὐτὸς θείων πράξεων ἀμοιρῶν. Μόνον γὰρ εὐχόμενης, νόσους δαίμονας ἤλαυνε. Καὶ γράμματα μὴ μαθὼν, οὐχ ἐδεῖτο βιδλίων εἰς ἀνάμνησιν ἀλλὰ πᾶν ὅπερ ἔλαδεν εἰς νοῦν, κρεῖττον λήθης ἐτύγχανε. Περὶ δὲ τοῦτο τὸ κλίμα ἐφιλοσόφει καὶ Ἀμμῶν, ὁ τῶν καλουμένων Ταβεννησιωτῶν ἡγούμενος, ἀμφὶ τρισχιλίους μαθητὰς ἔχων· καὶ Βῆνος δὲ καὶ Θεωνᾶς μοναχικῶν ἡγοῦντο ταγμάτων, καὶ θείας προγνώσεως καὶ προφητείας ἔμπλεω. Λέγεται δὲ καὶ Θεωνᾶν μὲν ἴστορα ὄντα τῆς Αἰγυπτίων καὶ Ἑλλήνων, καὶ Ῥωμαίων παιδεύσεως, ἐπὶ τριάκοντα ἔτεσι σιωπὴν ἀσκῆσαι, Βῆνον δὲ παρ᾿ οὐδενὸς θεαθῆναι ὀργιζόμενον, ἢ ὁμνύοντα, ἢ ψευδόμενον, ἢ εἰκαῖον, ἢ θρασὺν, ἢ ὠλιγωρημένον εἰπόντα λόγον. Περὶ τοῦτον τὸν χρόνον ἐγένετο Κόπρης τε καὶ Ἑλλῆς, καὶ Ἠλίας. Φασὶ δὲ Κόπρη μὲν δωρηθῆναι θεόθεν ἰάσεις παθῶν, καὶ νοσημάτων ποικίλων καὶ δαιμόνων κρατεῖν, Ἑλλῆν δὲ παιδευό μενον ἐκ νέου τὴν μοναχικὴν ἀγωγὴν, πλείστα παραδοξοποιεῖν, ὡς καὶ πῦρ ἐν τῷ κόλπῳ κομίζειν, καὶ μὴ καίειν τὴν ἐσθῆτα, καὶ τούτῳ παροτρύνειν τοὺς αὐτοὺς προκεκαθάρθαι τὸν νοῦν, καὶ μὴ συνειδέναι τι συμμονάζοντας, ὡς τῇ ἀγαθῇ πολιτείᾳ καὶ τῆς ἐπιδείξεως τῶν παραδόξων ἑπομένης. Ἠλίας δὲ τότε μὲν οὐ πόῤῥω τῆς ᾿Αντινόου πόλεως ἐφιλοσόφει, ἀμφὶ τοὺς ἑκατὸν καὶ δέκα ἄγων ἐνιαυτούς· πρὸ τούτου δὲ ἔλεγεν ἐπὶ ἑβδομήκοντα ἔτεσι μόνος ἐν ἐρημίαις οἰκῆσαι· ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον δὲ γηραλέος γεγονώς, διετέ - λεσε νηστεύων καὶ ἀνδρείως πολιτευόμενος. Ἐπὶ τούτοις καὶ ᾿Απελλῆς τηνικάδε διέπρεπε περὶ ῎Αχωρεν, ἐν τοῖς κατ᾿ Αἴγυπτον μοναστηρίοις πλεῖστα θαυματουργῶν. "Ον ποτε χαλκεύοντα, τοῦτο γὰρ ἐπετήδευε, νύκτωρ φάσμα δαίμονος, ὡς γυνὴ εὐπρεπὴς, εἰς σωφροσύνην ἐπείρα. Ὁ δὲ, σίδηρον ὃν εἰργάζετα ἐκ τοῦ πυρὸς ἐξερύσας, κατέφλεξε τοῦ δαιμονίου τὰ ( πρόσωπον· τὸ δὲ, τετρηγὸς καὶ ὀλοφυρόμενον ἀπ· έδρασεν. Ἐπιφανέστατοι δὲ τότε Πατέρες μοναχῶν ἦσαν, Ἰσίδωρός τε καὶ Σεραπίων, καὶ Διόσκορος, ᾿Αλλ' Ἰσίδωρος μὲν, πανταχόθεν περιφράξας τὸ μοναστήριον, ἐπεμελεῖτο μηδένα τῶν ἔνδον θύραζε ἐξιέναι, καὶ πάντα τὰ ἐπιτήδεια ἔχειν. Σεραπίων δὲ περὶ τὸν Ἀρσενοΐτην διέτριβεν, ἀμφὶ τοὺς μυ· ρίους ὑφ᾽ ἑαυτὸν ἔχων. Πάντας δὲ ἦγεν ἐξ οἰκείων ἱδρώτων τὰ ἐπιτήδεια πορίζεσθαι, καὶ ἄλλοις δεομένοις χορηγεῖν· ὥρᾳ δὲ θέρους, ἐπὶ μισθῷ ἁμῶντες, ἀρκοῦντα αὐτοῖς σἴτον ἀπετίθεντο, καὶ ἄλλοις μοναχοῖς μετεδίδουν. Διοσκόρῳ δὲ οὐ πλείους ἑκατὸν ἐφοίτων. Πρεσβύτερος δὲ ὧν, ἐν τῷ ἱερᾶσθαι διὰ πάσης ἀκριβείας ἐχώρει· βασανίζων καὶ ἐπιμελῶς ἀνακρίνων τοὺς προσιόντας τοῖς μυστηρίοις, ὥστε πεπραχέναι δεινόν. ᾿Ακριβέστερον δὲ τότε ἐγένετο περὶ τὴν μετάδοσιν τῶν θείων μυστηρίων καὶ Εὐλό γιος πρεσβύτερος· ὅν φασιν ἱερωμένον, πρόγνωσιν ἐσχηκέναι τῆς τῶν προσιόντων ἐννοίας ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον, ὡς καὶ τὰ ἡμαρτημένα σαφῶς διελέγχειν, καὶ τὰ κατὰ νοῦν ἑκάστῳ κρυπτόμενα ἐφορᾶν· τοὺς οὖν κακῶς πεπραχότας, ἢ περί τινος φαύλου βουλευσαμένους, τέως εἶργε τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου, δήλην ποιήσας τὴν ἁμαρτίαν· μεταμελείᾳ δὲ καθαρθέντας πάλιν προσίετο. ### English translation (Claude) It seems to me timely, having mentioned those who then lived the philosophic life in Christianity, to go through as many of them as I can. For at that time a very great crop of God-loving men flourished. Distinguished among those we know of in Egypt was John, to whom God revealed the future and things hidden from others, no less than to the prophets of old; and he gave him the gift of healing those suffering from incurable afflictions and diseases. And Or, who from his youth lived in the deserts, ever singing hymns to the divine; he fed on herbs and certain roots, and drank water wherever he found it. When as an old man he moved by divine command to the Thebaid, he led very many monasteries, and he too had his share of divine deeds; for by prayer alone he drove out diseases and demons. Though he had not learned letters, he needed no books for remembrance, but everything he took into his mind proved stronger than forgetfulness. In this region also Ammon practised the philosophic life, the leader of those called Tabennesiotes, having about three thousand disciples; and Benus and Theonas led bands of monks and were full of divine foreknowledge and prophecy. It is said that Theonas, who was versed in the learning of the Egyptians, the Greeks and the Romans, practised silence for thirty years; and that Benus was never seen by anyone angry or swearing or lying, or speaking a rash, bold or careless word. About this time there were also Copres, Helles and Elias. They say that Copres was given by God healings of afflictions and various diseases and power over demons; and that Helles, trained from youth in the monastic discipline, worked many wonders, so that he carried fire in his bosom without burning his clothing, and by this urged those who lived the monastic life with him to purify their minds beforehand and to be conscious of nothing wrong, since the display of wonders follows upon good conduct. Elias then lived the philosophic life not far from the city of Antinous, being about a hundred and ten years old; and he said that before this he had lived alone in the deserts for seventy years; and though so old, he continued to fast and to live with fortitude. Besides these, Apelles was then distinguished at Acoris, in the monasteries of Egypt, working many wonders. Once when he was working as a smith — for this was his trade — the phantom of a demon, in the likeness of a comely woman, tempted his chastity by night. But he drew from the fire the iron he was working and burned the demon’s face; and it ran away shrieking and wailing. The most celebrated fathers of monks at that time were Isidore, Serapion and Dioscorus. Isidore fenced in his monastery on every side and took care that none of those within should go out of doors, and that they should have everything they needed within. Serapion lived about the Arsinoite district, with about ten thousand under him. He led them all to provide what they needed by their own toil and to supply others in need; in the summer season they reaped for wages, laid up enough grain for themselves, and shared with other monks. To Dioscorus not more than a hundred came. Being a presbyter, he proceeded with all strictness in his priestly ministry, testing and carefully examining those who came to the mysteries, lest anyone have done something dreadful. At that time Eulogius the presbyter too was very strict about giving the divine mysteries. They say that when he served as priest he had such foreknowledge of the minds of those who came forward that he plainly exposed their sins and saw what each hid in his mind. Those who had done wrong, or had planned something base, he kept from the altar for a time, making the sin plain; and when they had been cleansed by repentance he admitted them again. ### Extrabiblical texts - Rufinus, Hist. mon. (History of the Monks in Egypt): echo, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The first words of the staged text are the end of the chapter title and are removed by a correction. - Much of this material matches the Historia monachorum in Aegypto, which is on this site in Rufinus’s Latin version. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 6.28 (PG 67:1369–1373; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/6-28). ## Church History 6.29 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/6-27/#p-6-29 - Source: PG 67:1373–1381 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Sozomen continues with the monks of Egypt: Apollo, Dorotheus, Piammon and John, Benjamin, Mark, Macarius the younger, Apollonius, Moses the Ethiopian, Paul of Pherme, Pachon, Stephen, Moses the Libyan and Pior. ### Greek text Κατὰ τούτους δὲ καὶ ᾿Απολλὼς ἐν Θηβαΐδι διέτριβεν, ὃς ἡβᾶν ἀρχόμενος, ἐφιλοσόφησεν. Ἐπὶ τεσσαράκοντα δὲ ἔτη τὴν ἔρημον οἰκήσας, σπήλαιον ὑπὸ τὸ ὄρος πλησίον τῆς οἰκουμένης, τοῦ Θεοῦ χρήσαντος, κατέλαβεν. Ὑπὸ δὲ πλήθους θαυματουργιῶν, ἐν ὀλίγῳ ἐπίσημος ἐγένετο, καὶ ἡγεμὼν πλείστων μοναχῶν. Ἡν γὰρ καὶ ταῖς διδασκαλίαις εἰς ὠφέλειαν ἐπαγωγός. ᾿Αλλ' οἴᾳ μὲν ἀγωγῇ ἐχρῆτο, καὶ ἡλίκων ἦν θείων καὶ παραδόξων πραγμάτων ποιητὴς, ἱστορεῖ Τιμόθεος ὁ τὴν ᾿Αλεξανδρέων Ἐκκλησίαν ἐπιτρο - πεύσας· εὖ μάλα αὐτοῦ, καὶ πολλῶν ὧν ἐπεμνήσθην, καὶ ἄλλων δοκίμων μοναχῶν τοὺς βίους διεξελθών. Ἑν δὲ τῷ τότε πολλοὶ καὶ ἀγαθοὶ σπουδαίως ἐφιλοσόφουν ἀνὰ τὴν ᾿Αλεξάνδρειαν, ἀμφὶ δισχίλιοι ὄντες· ὧν οἱ μὲν ἐν τοῖς καλουμένοις ἐρημικοῖς ᾤκουν· οἱ δὲ περὶ τὸν Μαρεώτην καὶ τοὺς ἐκ γειτόνων Λίβυας. Ὑπερφυῶς δὲ ἐν τούτοις διέπρεπε Δωρόθεος, Θηβαῖος τὸ γένος, ᾧ βίος ἦν, ἐν ἡμέρᾳ μὲν, ἀπὸ τῆς πέλας θαλάσσης λίθους συλλέγειν, καὶ ἔτους ἑκάστου οἰκίδιον κατασκευάζειν, καὶ διδόναι τοῖς μὴ δυναμένοις ἑαυτοῖς οἰκοδομεῖν· νύκτωρ δὲ εἰς αὐτοῦ διατροφὴν ἐκ φοινίκων φύλλων σειρὰς πλέκων, σπυρίδας εἰργάζετο. Τροφὴ δὲ ἦν αὐτῷ ἄρτου οὐγκίαι ἓξ, καὶ λεπτῶν λαχάνων δέμα, καὶ ὕδωρ πότον. Ἐκ νέου δὲ οὕτως ἀσκήσας, οὐ διέλιπε καὶ γέρων ὧν οὐδέ ποτε ὡράθη ἐπὶ ῥιπὸς ἢ κλίνης καθευδήσας, ἢ τοὺς πόδας ἐκτείνας ἀνέσει, ἢ ἑκὼν ὕπνῳ ἑαυτὸν ἐκδούς. Πλὴν ὅσον ἐργαζόμενος ἢ ἐσθίων, βιασθεὶς ὑπὸ τῆς φύσεως, ἔμυσε τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς· ὡς πολλάχις νυστάζοντος ἐν τῷ ἐσθίειν, ἐκπεσεῖν τοῦ στόματο, τὴν τροφήν. Ποτὲ γοῦν εἰς ἄκρον κρατηθεὶς τῷ ὕπνῳ, ἔλαθεν ἐπὶ τοῦ ῥιπὸς πεσών· καὶ περίλυπος ἐπὶ τούτῳ γεγονὼς, ἠρέμα ἔφη, Εἰ τοὺς ἀγγέλους πείσεις καθεύδειν, πείσεις καὶ τὸν σπουδαῖον· ὑπεδήλου δὲ ἑαυτὸν, πρὸς τὸν ὕπνον ἴσως ἀποτεινόμενος, ἢ τὸν δαίμονα τὸν ἐμποδὼν γενόμενον ταῖς σπουδαίαις πράξεσιν. Ωδε δὲ αὐτῷ μοχθοῦντι προσελθών τις ἔφη· Τι τὸ σῶμα τὸ σὸν ἀποκτείνεις τοσοῦτον; Ὅτι με ἀποκτείνει,. ἀπεκρίνατο. Καὶ Πιάμμων δὲ καὶ Ἰωάννης τηνεκαῦτα περὶ Διολκὸν τῆς Αἰγύπτου ἐπισημοτάτων προΐσταντο μοναστηρίων. Ἐπιμελέστατά τε καὶ μάλα σεμνῶς πρεσβύτεροι ὄντες, τὴν ἱερατείαν μετῄεσαν. Λέγεται δέ ποτε τὸν Πιάμμωνα ἱερωμένον, θεάσασθαι περὶ τὴν ἱερὰν τράπεζαν θεῖον ἄγγελον ἑστῶτα, καὶ τῶν μοναχῶν τοὺς παρόντας ἐγγράφειν βίβλῳ τινί · τοὺς δὲ ἀπόντας ἀπαλείφειν. Ἰωάννῃ δὲ τοσαύτην ἐδωρήσατο δύναμιν ὁ Θεὸς κατὰ παθῶν καὶ νοσημάτων, ὡς πολλοὺς ἰάσασθαι ποδαλγοὺς, καὶ - τὰ ἄρθρα διαλελυμένους. Ἐν τούτῳ δὲ καὶ Βενιαμὶν γηραλέος εὖ μάλα λαμπρῶς ἀνὰ τὴν Σκῆ - τιν ἐφιλοσόφει, δῶρον ἔχων παρὰ Θεοῦ δίχα φαρμάκων ἐπαφῇ μόνῃ χειρὸς, ἢ ἐλαίῳ ᾧ ἐπηύχετο, πάσης ἀπαλλάσσειν νόσου τοὺς κάμνοντας. Τὸν δὴ τοιοῦτον, λόγος ὑδέρῳ περιπεσόντα, τοσοῦτον οἰδῆσαι τὸ σῶμα, ὡς μὴ δυνηθῆναι διὰ τῶν θυρῶν τοῦ οἰκήματος ἐν ᾧ διῆγεν ἐκκομισθῆναι, εἰ μὴ σὺν ταῖς θύραις καὶ τὰς παραστάδας καθεῖλον. Ἐν δὲ τῷ νοσεῖν, ἐν κλίνῃ κεῖσθαι μὴ δυνάμενος, ἀμφὶ τοὺς ὀκτὼ μῆνας ἐπὶ δίφρου πλατυτάτου ἐκαθίζετο, συνήθως τοὺς κάμνοντὰς ἰώμενος, αὐτὸς μηδὲν δυσφορῶν ὅτι μὴ τῆς ἐχούσης αὐτὸν νόσου ἀπηλλάττετο. Μᾶλλον μὲν οὖν καὶ τοὺς ὁρῶντας παρεμυθεῖτο, καὶ ἐλιπάρει τὸν Θεὸν ἱκετεύειν ὑπὲρ τῆς αὐτοῦ ψυχῆς. Σώματος δὲ αὐτῷ μηδὲν μέλειν · Ἐπεὶ καὶ εὐεκτοῦν, οὐδὲν με ὤνησεν, ἔφη, καὶ κακῶς πάσχον, οὐκ ἔβλαψε. Κατ' ἐκεῖνο δὲ καιροῦ ἐν Σκήτει διέτριβε Μάρκος τε ὁ ἀοίδιμος, καὶ Μακάριος ὁ νέος, καὶ ᾿Απολλώνιος, καὶ Μωσῆς ὁ Αἰθίοψ. Φασὶ δὲ Μάρκον μὲν, καὶ ἐν τῷ νέῳ τῆς ἡλικίας εἰς ἄγαν πρᾶον καὶ σώφρονα, καὶ μνήμονα ἱερῶν. Γραφῶν γενέσθαι· θεοφιλῆ δὲ ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον, ὡς ἰσχυρίζεσθαι Μακάριον τὸν αὐτὸν πρεσβύτερον ὄντα τῶν Κελλίων, μηδὲ πώποτε παρ' αὐτοῦ λαβεῖν ἃ θέμις ἱερεῦσι διδόναι τοῖς μεμυημένοις περὶ τὴν ἱερὰν τράπεζαν· ἄγγελος δὲ αὐτῷ ἐδίδου, οὗ τὴν χεῖρα μέχρι τοῦ καρποῦ μόνου ἔλεγε θεωρεῖν. Μακαρίῳ δὲ ἐδόθη χάρις ὑπὸ Θεοῦ, ὑπερφρονεῖν τῶν δαιμόνων. Ἐγένετο δὲ αὐτῷ τὴν ἀρχὴν πρόφασις τῆς φιλοσοφίας, ἀκούσιος φόνος. Ἔτι γὰρ βούπαις ὢν, πρόβατα ἔνεμε περὶ τὴν Μάρείαν λίμνην, καὶ παίζων τινὰ τῶν ὁμηλίκων ἀνεῖλε. δείσας τε δοῦναι δίκην, ἔφυγεν εἰς τὴν ἐρημίαν. θριος δὲ ἐπὶ τρία ἔτη μετὰ ταῦτα διάγων, αὐτόθι οἰκίδιον μικρὸν ἑαυτῷ κατεσκεύασεν, ἐν ᾧ εἴκοσι καὶ πέντε ἔτη διέτριψεν. Ἔλεγον δὲ οἱ γε αὐτοῦ ἀκηκόεισαν, ὡς πολλὴν ὡμολόγει χάριν τῇ συμφορᾷ, καὶ σωτήριον ἀπεκάλει τὸν ἀκούσιον φόνον, φιλοσοφίας καὶ μακαρίου βίου αἴτιον αὐτῷ γεγενημένον. Ἀπολλώνιος δὲ, τὸν ἄλλον χρόνον ἐμπορίαν μετιών, ἤδη πρὸς γῆρας ἐλαύνων, ἐπὶ τὴν Σκῆτιν ἦλθε. Λογισάμενος δὲ ὡς οὔτε γράφειν, οὔτε ἄλλην τινὰ τέχνην μαθεῖν οἷός τὲ ἐστι διὰ τὴν ἡλικίαν, παντοδαπῶν φαρμάκων εἴδη καὶ ἐδεσμάτων ἐπιτηδείων τοῖς κάμνουσιν ἐξ οἰκείων χρημάτων ὠνούμενος, ἀνὰ ἑκάστην θύραν μοναστικὴν περιῄει μέχρις ἐννάτης ὥρας, ἐφορῶν τοὺς νοσοῦντας. Ἐπιτηδείαν δὲ ταύτην αὐτῷ τὴν ἄσκησιν εὑρὼν, ὧδε ἐπολιτεύσατο. Μέλλων δὲ τελευτᾶν, ἄλλῳ παραδοὺς ἃ εἶχεν, ἐνετείλατο τὰ αὐτὰ ποιεῖν. Μωσῆς δὲ δοῦλος ὢν, διὰ μοχθηρίαν ἐξηλάθη τῆς οἰκίας τοῦ κεκτημένου · καὶ εἰς ληστείας τραπεὶς, λῃστρικοῦ τάγματος ἡγεῖτο. Πολλοὺς δὲ κακουργήσας, καὶ πολλοὺς φόνους τολμήσας, ἐκ περιπετείας τινὸς τὸν μοναδικὸν μετῆλθε βίον, καὶ ἀθρόον εἰς ἀρετὴν φιλοσοφίας ἐπέδωκεν. Ἐπεὶ γοῦν ἐκ τῆς προτέρας διαίτης εὐεξίᾳ ζέων καὶ πρὸς φαντασίας ἡδονῶν κινούμενος, μυρίαις ἀσκήσεσι τὸ σῶμα κατέτηξε· πῆ μὲν δίχα ὄψου ὀλίγῳ ἄρτῳ ἀρκούμενος, πῆ δὲ πλεῖστον ἔργον ἀνύων, καὶ πεντηκοστὸν εὐχόμενος, πῆ δὲ ἐπὶ ἐξ ἔτεσιν ὁλόκληρον ἑκάστην νύκτα ἑστὼς, προσηύχετο, μήτε γόνυ κλίνων, μήτε τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς μύων εἰς ὕπνον. "Αλλοτε δὲ νύκτωρ περιιὼν τὰς οἰκήσεις τῶν μοναχῶν, λάθρα τὴν ἑκάστου ὑδρίαν ἐπλήρου ὕδατος. Ἡν δὲ τοῦτο λίαν ἐργῶδες. Τῶν μὲν γὰρ σταδίοις δέκα, τῶν δὲ, εἴκοσι, τῶν δὲ, καὶ τριάκοντα, καὶ πλέον διειστήκει ὁ τόπος ὅθεν ὑδρεύοντο. Διέμεινε δὲ ἐπὶ πολὺ τὴν προτέραν ἰσχὺν ἔχων, καίπερ ταῖς πολλαῖς ἀσκήσεσι καθελεῖν ταύτην σπουδάζων, καὶ τὸ σῶμα ταῖς ταλαιπωρίαις πιέζων. Λέγεται γοῦν ποτε λῃστὰς καταδραμόντας τὸν τόπον ἐν ᾧ μόνος ἐφιλοσόφει, συλλαβέσθαι πάντας καὶ δῆσαι, καὶ τέσσαρας ὄντας τοῖς ὤμοις ἐπιθεῖναι, καὶ εἰς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν ἀγαγεῖν, καὶ συμμονάζουσιν ἐπιτρέψαι τὰ περὶ αὐτῶν, ὡς μὴ θεμιτὸν αὐτῷ ἔτι μηδένα κακῶς ποιεῖν. Φασὶ γὰρ ἀπὸ κακίας εἰς ἀρετὴν μηδενὶ τοσαύτην · ὑπάρξαι μεταβολήν· ὥστε ἄκρου μὲν ἐπιψαῦσαι ) μοναστικῆς φιλοσοφίας, ἐξαίσιον δὲ φόβον τοῖς δαίμοσιν ἐμποιῆσαι, καὶ πρεσβύτερον γενέσθαι τῶν ἐν Σκήτει μοναχῶν. Ὁ μὲν οὖν τοιοῦτος ὧν, πολλοὺς ἀρίστους μαθητὰς καταλιπὼν, ἀμφὶ τὰ ἑβδομήκοντα καὶ πέντε ἔτη γεγονὼς ἐτελεύτησεν. Ἐπὶ ταύτης δὲ τῆς βασιλείας ἐγένετο Παῦλος καὶ Παχὼν, Στέφανός τε καὶ Μωσῆς, ἄμφω Λίβυες, καὶ Πίωρὁ Αἰγύπτιος. ᾤκουν δὲ, Παῦλος μὲν ἐν Φέρμῃ· ὅρος δὲ τοῦτο ἐν Σκήτει· οὐ μείους πεντακοσίων ἀσκητὰς ἔχων. Εἰργάζετο δὲ οὐδὲν, οὐδὲ ἐλάμθδανέ τι παρά του, πλὴν ὅσον ἤσθιεν. Ηὔχετο δὲ μόνον, ὥσπερ φόρον τινὰ τριακοσίας εὐχὰς ἑκάστης ἡμέρας ἀποδιδοὺς τῷ Θεῷ. Ἵνα δὲ μὴ λαθὼν διαμάρτῃ τοῦ ἀριθμοῦ, τριακοσίας Ψηφίδας τῷ ἐμδάλλων, ἐκάστὴν εὐχὴν ψηφίδα ἐχρίπτει, ᾿Αναλωθέντων ὃὲ τῶν λίθων, δῆλον ἐγένετο τὰς ἰσαρίθμους τοῖς λίθοις εὖκὰς πεπληρῶσθαι. Καὶ Παχὼν δὲ τότε ἐν Σχήτες &ἐπρεπεν, ὃν ἐχ νέου μέχρι γήρως πολιτευσάμενον, οὔτε σῶμα εὖ ἔχων, οὔτε πάθος ψυχῆς, οὔτε δαίμων, ἄνανδρον ἐφώρασε περὶ τὴν ἐγχράτειαν, ὧν δεῖ κρατεῖν τὸν φιλόσοφον. Στέφανος δὲ περὶ τὸν Μαρεώτην τὴν οἴκησιν εἶχεν, οὐκ ἄπωθεν τῆς Μαρμαρικῆς. Δι᾿ ἀκριβοῦς δὲ καὶ τελειοτάτης χωρήσας ἀσκήσεως, ἐπὶ ἐξήκοντα ἔτεσιν, εὐδοχιμώτατος ἐγένετο μοναχὸς, καὶ ᾿Αντωνίῳ τῷ μεγάλῳ γνώριμος. Ἐγένετο δὲ πὸ πρᾶος, σοφὸς εἰς ἄγαν, καὶ ἐν ταῖς ὁμιλίαις ἡδὺς καὶ ὠφέλιμος, ἱκανὸς τὰς τῶν λυπουμένων Ψψυκὰς χηλεῖν, καὶ ἐπὶ τὸ εὔθυμον μεταδάλλειν, εἰ ἀναγχαίαις λύπαις προκατειλημμένοι ἐτύγχανον. Τοιοῦτος δὲ ἣν περὶ τὰς οἰκείας συμφοράς. λει χαλεποῦ ἀνιάτου πάθους ἐνσχήψαντος αὐτῷ, τὰ διεφθαρμένα μέλη τοῖς ἰατροῖς τέμνειν παραδοὺς, εἰργάζετο ταῖς χερσὶ φύλλα φοινίκων πλέκων, Καὶ τοῖς παροῦσι συνεβούλευε μὴ δυσφορεῖν ἐπὶ τοῖς αὖτοῦ πάθεσι, μηδὲ ἄλλο τι διανοεῖσθαι, πλὴν ὅτι πρὸς τέλος χρηστὸν πάντως, ἃ ποιεῖ ὁ Θεὸς, ἐχδαίνει " καὶ αὑτῷ συνοίσειν τοιούτων πειραθῆναι παθῶν, καὶ ὑπὲρ ἁμαρτημάτων ἴσως, ὧν ἕνεκεν ἄμεινον ἐνθάδε διδόναι δίκην, ἣ μετὰ τὴν βιοτὴν ταύτην. Μωσῆς δὲ πρλότητι καὶ ἀγάπῃ ὑπερφνῶς εὐδοχιμηχέναι παραδέδοται, ἰάσεσι παθῶν εὐχῇ χατορθουμέναις. Ὃ δὲ Πίωρ νέυν φιλοσοφεῖν ἐγνωχὼς, ἡνίκα διὰ τοῦτο τοῦ πατρῴου οἴχον ἐξῆλθε, συνέθετο τῷ Θεῷ, τοῦ λοιποῦ μηδένα τῶν οἰκείων ὄψεσθαι " μετὰ δὲ πεντήκοντα ἔτη ἐπύθετο αὑτὸν ἡ ἀδελφὴ ζῆν. Ὑπὸ δὲ χαρᾶς ἀμέτρου παραλόγου μηνύσεως χαταπλαγεῖσα, ἠρεμεῖν οὐχ ἠδύνατο, εἰ μὴ θεάσαιτο τὸν ἀδελφόν. Ὀλοφυρομένην δὲ καὶ ἀντιδολοῦσαν ἐν γήρᾳ ἐλεήσας ὁ παρ᾽ αὐτοῖς ἐπίσκοπος, ἔγραψε τοῖς ἡγουμένοις τῶν ἐν ἐρήμῳ μοναχῶν, ἐκπέμψαι τὸν Πίωρ. ᾿Ἀπιέναι δὲ προσταχθεὶς, οὐχ ἔχων ἀντειπεῖν οὐ γὰρ θέμις γυπτίοις. μοναχοῖς, οἶμαι δὲ τοῖς ἄλλοις, ἀπειθεῖν τοῖς ἐπιταττομένοις παραλαβών τινα, ἀφίκετο εἰς τὴν πατρίδα στὰς πρὸ τῆς πατρῴας ἐμήνυσεν ἐληλυθέναι. Ἐπεὶ δὲ ψοφεῖν τὴν θύραν ἤσθετο, μύσας τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺ ;, ὀνομαστὶ τὴν ἀδελφὴν προσειπὼν, Ἐγὼ, ἔφη, Πίωρ ὁ σὸς ἀδελφός" ἀλλὰ ὅσον βούλει, χατανόει. Ἢ μὲν οὖν ἡσθεῖσα, χάριν ὡμολόγει τῷ Θεῷ ὁ δὲ παρὰ τὴν θύραν εὐξάμενος, ἀνέστρεψεν εἰς τὸν τόπον ἐν ᾧχει. ἼἜνθα δὴ φρέαρ ὀρύξας, πικρὸν εὗρε τὸ ὕδωρ. Καὶ μέχρι τελευτῆς ὑπέμεινε τούτῳ χεχρημένος. Ὁ δὲ υετὰ ταῦτα χρόνος, τὸ ὑπερβάλλον ἀπέδειξε τῆς αὐτοῦ ἐγκρατείας. Ἐπεὶ γὰρ ἐτελεύτησε, πολλῶν σπουδασάντων ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ τόπῳ φιλοσοφεῖν, οὐδεὶς ὑπέστη. Ἐγὼ δὲ ὡς ἐμαυτὸν πείθω, εἰ μὴ καὶ τούτῳ τῷ τρόπῳ φιλοσοφεῖν ἔγνωκεν, οὐ χαλεπὸν ἦν αὐτῷ εὐξαμένῳ μεταβαλεῖν τὸ ὕδωρ εἰς γεῦσιν γλυκεῖαν · ὅπουγε καὶ μὴ ὂν παντάπασιν ἀναβλύσαι ἐποίησεν. Αμέλει τοι λέγεταί ποτε τὸ φρέαρ ὀρύσσοντας τοὺς ἀμφὶ Μωσέα, μήτε τῆς προσδοκωμένης φλεβὸς, μήτε τινὸς βάθους τὸ ὕδωρ ἀναδιδόντος, μέλλειν τὸ ἔργον ἀπαγορεύειν. Ἐπιστάντα δὲ αὐτοῖς παρὰ μέσην ἡμέραν τὸν Πίωρ, καὶ πρότερον ἀσπασάμενον, ὀνειδίσαι δυσπιστίαν καὶ μικροψυχίαν· κατελθόντα δὲ εἰς τὴν τάφρον εὔξασθαι, καὶ ὄρυγι τρίτον πλῆξαι τὴν γῆν. Παραχρῆμα δὲ ἀναβλύσαι τὸ ὕδωρ, καὶ τὴν τάφρον πληρῶσαι. Ἐπεὶ δὲ εὐξάμενος ἀπῄει, δεομένων τῶν ἀμφὶ Μωσέα γεύσασθαι παρ' αὐτοῖς, οὐκ ἠνέσχετο, φήσας μὴ ἐπὶ τούτῳ ἀπεστάλθαι, ἡνύσθαι δὲ ἐφ᾽ ᾧ ἦλθε. ### English translation (Claude) In their time Apollo too lived in the Thebaid, who began to live the philosophic life when just coming of age. After living in the desert for forty years, at God’s bidding he settled in a cave under the mountain near the inhabited country. Through the multitude of his wonders he soon became famous and the leader of very many monks; for he was also persuasive in his teaching to their profit. What discipline he followed, and how great were the divine and marvellous deeds he did, is recorded by Timothy, who governed the church of the Alexandrians, who went through very well the lives of him and of many of those I have mentioned and of other approved monks. At that time many good men zealously practised the philosophic life around Alexandria, about two thousand in number, some living in the places called the Hermitages, others around the Mareotis and the neighbouring Libyans. Exceptionally distinguished among them was Dorotheus, a Theban by birth, whose life was this: by day he gathered stones from the sea nearby and each year built a small dwelling and gave it to those unable to build for themselves; by night he plaited cords from palm leaves for his own sustenance and made baskets. His food was six ounces of bread and a bundle of thin vegetables, and water to drink. Having trained himself so from youth, he did not leave off even in old age. He was never seen sleeping on a mat or a bed, or stretching out his feet for rest, or giving himself willingly to sleep, except that while working or eating he closed his eyes under compulsion of nature; so that often, as he dozed while eating, the food fell from his mouth. Once, overcome utterly by sleep, he fell on the mat without noticing; and being grieved at this, he said quietly: “If you persuade the angels to sleep, you will persuade the zealous man too” — hinting, perhaps, at himself, and addressing sleep, or the demon who hinders zealous deeds. When someone came to him while he was toiling so and said, “Why do you kill your body so much?” he answered, “Because it kills me.” Piammon and John at that time presided over most celebrated monasteries about Diolcus in Egypt. Being presbyters, they performed their priestly ministry with the greatest care and great reverence. It is said that once when Piammon was serving as priest he saw a divine angel standing by the holy table and writing in a book the monks who were present and erasing those who were absent. To John God gave such power over afflictions and diseases that he healed many who had gout and whose joints were loosened. At this time Benjamin too, very old, lived the philosophic life most splendidly in Scetis, having a gift from God to free the sick from every disease without medicines, by the touch of his hand alone or with oil over which he had prayed. Such a man, the story goes, fell into dropsy, and his body swelled so much that he could not be carried out through the doors of the cell in which he lived unless they took down the door-posts together with the doors. During his illness, being unable to lie in bed, he sat for about eight months on a very broad chair, healing the sick as usual, and himself not at all distressed that he was not freed from the disease that held him. Rather, he comforted those who saw him and besought them to pray to God for his soul. As for his body, he said he did not care: “For when it was healthy it did me no good, and when it suffers badly it has done me no harm.” At that time there lived in Scetis Mark the celebrated, Macarius the younger, Apollonius and Moses the Ethiopian. They say that Mark, even in his youth, was exceedingly gentle and chaste and mindful of the sacred Scriptures; and so dear to God that Macarius, who was presbyter of the Cells, maintained that he never received from him what it is lawful for priests to give to the initiated at the holy table, but an angel gave it to him, whose hand only as far as the wrist he said he saw. To Macarius God gave grace to despise the demons. The occasion of his philosophic life at the beginning was an involuntary killing. For while still a young boy he was herding sheep by Lake Mareotis, and in play killed one of his companions; and fearing punishment, he fled into the desert. Living in the open air for three years after this, he built himself a small dwelling there, in which he spent twenty-five years. Those who had heard him said that he confessed great gratitude for the calamity and called the involuntary killing saving, since it had become for him the cause of the philosophic and blessed life. Apollonius, who had spent the rest of his time in trade, came to Scetis when already approaching old age. Reckoning that because of his age he could learn neither to write nor any other craft, he bought with his own money medicines of every kind and food suitable for the sick, and went round to every monastic door until the ninth hour, visiting the sick. Finding this discipline suitable for him, he lived so; and when about to die, he handed over what he had to another and charged him to do the same. Moses was a slave, and for his wickedness was driven out of his owner’s house; turning to robbery, he led a band of robbers. After doing much evil and daring many murders, through some reversal of fortune he took up the monastic life and suddenly advanced to the virtue of philosophy. Since from his former way of life he was seething with bodily vigour and was stirred by imaginations of pleasures, he wasted his body with countless austerities: now content with a little bread without relish, now completing a very great amount of work and praying fifty prayers, now for six years standing every whole night in prayer, neither bending the knee nor closing his eyes in sleep. At other times he went round the dwellings of the monks by night and secretly filled each one’s water jar. This was very laborious; for the place from which they drew water was ten stadia distant for some, twenty for others, thirty and more for others. He long kept his former strength, though eager to break it by his many austerities and pressing his body with hardships. It is said, at any rate, that once robbers fell upon the place where he lived the philosophic life alone; he seized them all and bound them, and, there being four of them, put them on his shoulders, brought them to the church, and handed them over to his fellow monks to deal with, as it was no longer lawful for him to harm anyone. They say that no one ever made so great a change from vice to virtue; so that he reached the summit of monastic philosophy, struck an extraordinary fear into the demons, and became presbyter of the monks in Scetis. Being such a man, he died at about seventy-five years old, leaving many excellent disciples. In this reign there were also Paul and Pachon, Stephen and Moses, both Libyans, and Pior the Egyptian. Paul lived at Pherme — this is a mountain in Scetis — with not fewer than five hundred ascetics. He did no work, nor did he receive anything from anyone except what he ate. He only prayed, rendering to God, like a tribute, three hundred prayers each day. And so as not to miss the number unawares, he put three hundred pebbles in his bosom and threw out a pebble at each prayer; when the stones were used up, it was plain that prayers equal in number to the stones had been completed. Pachon too was then distinguished in Scetis; from his youth to old age, neither a healthy body, nor passion of soul, nor demon detected him unmanly in self-control over the things a philosopher must master. Stephen had his dwelling about the Mareotis, not far from Marmarica. Having gone through a strict and most perfect discipline for sixty years, he became a most renowned monk and was known to Antony the great. He was gentle, very wise, and in conversation pleasant and helpful, able to charm the souls of the grieving and turn them to cheerfulness, if they were seized by unavoidable griefs. Such he was also in his own calamities. For when a severe and incurable affliction struck him, he gave the diseased limbs to the physicians to cut, and meanwhile worked with his hands, plaiting palm leaves; and he advised those present not to be distressed at his sufferings nor to think anything else than that what God does turns out altogether to a good end; and that it would profit him to experience such sufferings, perhaps for sins, for which it is better to pay the penalty here than after this life. Moses has been handed down as exceptionally renowned for gentleness and love, and for healings of afflictions accomplished by prayer. Pior, having resolved in his youth to live the philosophic life, when he left his father’s house for this, covenanted with God from then on to see none of his family. After fifty years his sister learned that he was alive. Overwhelmed with boundless joy at the unexpected news, she could not rest unless she saw her brother. The bishop there, pitying her as she lamented and entreated in her old age, wrote to the leaders of the monks in the desert to send Pior out. Ordered to go, and unable to refuse — for it is not lawful for Egyptian monks, nor, I think, for others, to disobey what is commanded — he took someone with him and came to his home town; and standing before his father’s house he sent word that he had come. When he heard the door creak, he shut his eyes, and calling his sister by name, said: “I am Pior your brother; look at me as much as you wish.” She, delighted, gave thanks to God; and he, having prayed at the door, returned to the place where he lived. There he dug a well and found the water bitter; and until his death he endured using it. The time afterwards showed how extraordinary his self-control was; for after he died, though many were eager to live the philosophic life in the same place, no one could endure it. I am convinced that, had he not resolved to live the philosophic life in this way too, it would not have been hard for him by prayer to change the water to a sweet taste, since he made water gush up where there was none at all. Indeed it is said that once, when Moses and his companions were digging a well and the water did not come up, neither from the expected vein nor at any depth, they were about to give up the work. Pior came upon them at midday, greeted them first, reproached them with unbelief and faint-heartedness, went down into the trench, prayed, and struck the earth three times with a pick; and at once the water gushed up and filled the trench. When, having prayed, he was going away, and Moses and his companions begged him to eat with them, he would not, saying that he had not been sent for this, but that what he came for had been accomplished. ### Extrabiblical texts - Palladius, Hist. Laus. (The Lausiac History): echo, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The lives Sozomen attributes to Timothy of Alexandria are lost; the same stories (Dorotheus, Benjamin, Moses the Ethiopian, Paul of Pherme, Stephen, Pior and others) appear in Palladius, Lausiac History, on this site. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 6.29 (PG 67:1373–1381; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/6-29). ## Church History 6.30 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/6-27/#p-6-30 - Source: PG 67:1381–1387 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The elders of Scetis and the Tall Brothers, including Ammonius, who cut off his ear to avoid ordination; and Evagrius, Gregory of Nazianzus’s archdeacon, who after a dream fled Constantinople and became a monk. ### Greek text Ἐν τούτῳ δὲ εἰσέτι διέπρεπον ἐν τοῖς Σκήτεως μοναστήριοις, γηραλέος μὲν, Ωριγένης ἐκ τῶν μαθητῶν ᾿Αντωνίου τοῦ μεγάλου περιλελειμμένος, καὶ Δίδυμος, καὶ Κρονίων, ἀμφὶ τοὺς ἑκατὸν καὶ δέκα ἐνιαυτοὺς γεγονώς· καὶ ὁ μέγας ᾿Αρσίσιος, καὶ Πουτουβάστης, καὶ ᾿Αρσίων, καὶ Σεραπίων, οἱ καὶ αὐτοὶ σύγχρονοι ᾿Αντωνίῳ τῷ μεγάλῳ ἐγένοντο. Καταγεγηρακότες δὲ ἐν τῷ φιλοσοφεῖν, προῖσταντο τότε τῶν τῇδε μοναστηρίων. Τῶν δ᾽ αὖ νέαν καὶ μέσην ἡλικίαν ἀγόντων, πολλοὶ καλοί τε καὶ ἀγαθοὶ σὺν αὐτοῖς ἐγνωρίζοντο· καὶ ᾿Αμμώνιος καὶ Εὐσέβιος καὶ Διόσκορος, οὓς ἀδελφοὺς ἀλλήλοις ὄντας, Μακροὺς ἐκ τῆς ἡλικίας ὠνόμαζον. Λέγεται δὲ τοῦτον τὸν ᾿Αμδὰ μώνιον εἰς ἄκρον φιλοσοφίας προελθεῖν, ἡδονῆς τε α οἱ ῥᾳστώνης ἀνδρείως κρατῆσαι, φιλολόγον εἰς ἄγαν γενέσθα: ὡς τοὺς ᾿Ωριγένους καὶ Διδύμου τῶν ἄλλων ἐκκλησιαστικῶν λόγους διεξελθεῖν. νέου μέχρι τελευτῆς πλὴν ἄρτου, μηδενὸς γεύσασθαι ἐν πυρὶ γενομένου. Μέλλων δέ ποτε πρὸς χειροτονίαν ἐπισκοπῆς συλλαμδάνεσθαι, ὡς ἀντιθολῶν οὐχ ἔπεισεν ἀπιέναι τοὺς ἐπ᾽ αὐτὸν ἐληλυθότας, ἀποτεμὼν τὸ οὗς, Ἄπιτε, ἔφη" λοιπὸν γὰρ οὐδὲ ἑκόντα με ὁ ἱερατιχὸς νόμος συγχωρεῖ χειροτονεῖσθαι, γὰρ χρῆναι τὸν ἱερέα καθίστσσθαι. ᾿Αναχωρῆσαντες δὲ, ἐπεὶ τάδε ἔγνωσαν Ἰουδαίοις φυλαχτέα, τῇ δὲ Ἐκκλησίᾳ σώματος μηδὲν μέλειν, ἣν μόνον ἄρτιος 7| τοῖς τρόποις ὁ ἱερεὺς, αὖθις ἀνέστρεψαν ὡς συλληψόμενοι τὸν ἄνδρα. Ὁ δὲ ἣ μὴν τὴν γλῶσσαν τεμεῖν διωμόσατο, εἰ βιάσασθαι πειραθεῖεν. Δείσαντες οὖν τὴν ἀπειλὴν, ἀπεχώρουν. Αὐτὸς δὲ ἐντεῦθεν ᾿Αμμώνιος ὁ Παρώτης ὠνομάζετο. Τῷ δὲ μετ᾽ οὐ πολὺ ἐπὶ τῆς ἐχομένης βασιλείας συνῆν Εὐάγριος σοφὸς, ἐλλόγιμος ἀνὴρ, νοῆσαί τε φράσαι δεινὸς, ἐπίθολος διαχρῖναι τοὺς πρὸς ἀρετὴν χακχίαν ἄγοντας λογισμούς" ἱκανὸς ὑποθέσθαι, χρὴ τοὺς μὲν ἐπιτηδεύειν, τοὺς δὲ φυλάξασθαι, ᾿Αλλ οἷος μὲν περὶ λόγους ἦν, ἐπιδείξουσιν αἱ γραφαὶ &, κατέλιπεν. Ἐλέγετο δὲ τὸ ἦθος μέτριος, τύφοι τε καὶ ὑπεροψίας τοσοῦτον κρατεῖν, ὡς μὴτε διχαΐίω,, ἐπαινούμενος ὀγχοῦσθαι τοῖς κρότοις, μήτε ἀδέχω,, λοιδορούμενος ἀγανακτεῖν ἐπὶ ταῖς ὕδρετιν. Ἐγένετ. δὲ τῷ μὲν γένει Ἰόήρων πολίτης πρὸς τῷ λουμένῳ Εὐξείνῳ πόντῳ - ἐφιλοσόφησε δὲ ἐπαι δεύθη 075 Γρηγορίῳ τῷ ἐπισκόπῳ Ναζιανζοὺ τοὺς ἱεροὺς Λόγους “ ἡνίκα δὲ ἐπετρόπευς τὴν ἐν Κωνσταντινουπόλει Ἐκκλησίαν, ἀρχιδιάκονον αὐτὸν εἶχεν. ᾿Αστεῖον δὲ ὄντα τῇ ὄψει καὶ περὶ τὴν ἐσθῆτα φιλό χαλον, μαθών τις τῶν ἐν τέλει ζηλότυπος γνώριμον εἶναι τῇ γαμετῇ, θάνατον αὐτῷ ἐμηχανᾶτο. ἔργον δὲ προσθήσεσθαι μελλούσης τῆς ἐπιβουλῆς, καθεύδοντι αὐτῷ φοδεράν τινα σωτήριον ὄνείρᾶτος ὄψιν ἐπιπέμπει τὸ Θεῖον. Ἔδοξε γὰρ ὡς ἐπὶ ἐγχλήματι συλληφθεὶς, σιδήρῳ δεδέσθαι πόδας χεῖρας. Μέλλοντί τε αὐτῷ εἰς δικαστήριον ἄνεσθαι τιμωρίαν ὑπέχειν, προσελθών τις ὑπέδειξε τὴν ἱερὰν τῶν Εὐαγγελίων βίδλον ^ καὶ ὑπισχνεῖτο, εἰ τῆς πόλεως ἐξέλθοι, τῶν δεσμῶν αὐτὸν ἀπαλλάξειν, ὅτι τοῦτο ποιήσει ἀπήτει. Ὁ δὲ τῆς βίβλου ἐφαψάμενος, ἢ μὴν ὧδε πράξειν ἐπωμόσατο" διαφεθείς τε τῶν δεσμῶν, αὐτίκα ἐξηγέρθη" καὶ τῷ θείῳ ὀνείρῳ πεισθεὶς, διέφυγε τὸν κίνδυνον " εἰς νοῦν πε λαθὼν χρῆναι μετιέναι τὸν ἀσκητικὸν βίον, ἐξεδήμησεν Κωνσταντινουπόλεως εἰς Ἱεροσόλυμα. Καὶ μετὰ χρόνον τινὰ παραγενόμενος ἐπὶ θέαν τῶν ἐν Σκήτει φιλοσοφούντων, ἡσμένισε τὴν ἐνθάδε διατριβήν. ### English translation (Claude) At this time there were still distinguished in the monasteries of Scetis Origen, now old, the survivor of the disciples of Antony the great; and Didymus, and Cronion, who was about a hundred and ten years old; and the great Arsisius, and Putubastes, Arsion and Serapion, who were also contemporaries of Antony the great. Having grown old in the philosophic life, they then presided over the monasteries there. Of those in youth and middle age, many fine and good men were known along with them, among them Ammonius, Eusebius and Dioscorus, brothers to one another, whom they called the Tall Brothers from their stature. It is said that this Ammonius reached the summit of philosophy, bravely mastered pleasure and ease, and became so fond of learning that he went through the works of Origen and Didymus and the other church writers; and that from youth to death he tasted nothing cooked by fire except bread. Once when he was about to be seized for ordination to the episcopate, since his entreaties did not persuade those who had come for him to go away, he cut off his ear and said: “Go away; for now the priestly law does not allow me to be ordained even if I wished, since a priest must be appointed whole in body.” They withdrew; but when they learned that this was to be observed by the Jews, while the church cares nothing about the body, provided only that the priest is sound in character, they came back again to seize the man. But he swore that he would cut out his tongue if they tried to use force. Fearing the threat, they went away. From this he was called Ammonius Parotes. Not long after, in the following reign, Evagrius was associated with him, a wise man and of note, able to think and to express himself, skilled at discerning the thoughts that lead to virtue and to vice, and able to advise which to pursue and which to guard against. What he was as a writer the writings he left will show. He was said to be moderate in character, and so master of pride and arrogance that he was neither puffed up by applause when justly praised nor angered by the insults when unjustly reviled. By birth he was a citizen of Ibora near the sea called Euxine. He studied philosophy and was instructed in the sacred words by Gregory, bishop of Nazianzus; and when Gregory governed the church in Constantinople, he had him as his archdeacon. Since he was elegant in appearance and fond of fine clothing, one of the men in power, jealous because he learned that Evagrius was acquainted with his wife, was plotting his death. When the plot was about to be carried into effect, the Divine sent him in his sleep a fearful but saving vision in a dream. For he seemed to have been arrested on a charge and bound hand and foot in iron. When he was about to be brought to court to suffer punishment, someone came up to him, showed him the holy book of the Gospels, and promised to free him from his bonds if he would leave the city, and demanded an oath that he would do so. He, touching the book, swore that he would indeed do so; and being freed from his bonds he at once awoke; and persuaded by the divine dream, he escaped the danger. Resolving that he must take up the ascetic life, he left Constantinople for Jerusalem; and some time later, coming to see those who lived the philosophic life in Scetis, he was glad to stay there. ### Scripture references - Lev 21:17–23: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The first words of the staged text are the end of the chapter title and are removed by a correction. - Several words are lost in the scan in the account of Ammonius’s ear (the priestly law of Lev 21:17–23); the sense is clear. - “Ibora”: the scan reads “of the Iberians”; Evagrius came from Ibora in Pontus. - “Parotes” means “Earless”. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 6.30 (PG 67:1381–1387; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/6-30). ## Church History 6.31 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/6-27/#p-6-31 - Source: PG 67:1387–1389 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The monastic settlements of Nitria and the Cells; and the church of Rhinocorura under its monk-bishops Melas and Solon, Melas welcoming and feeding the officers sent to exile him. ### Greek text ἔλθοι τις μαθησόμενος παρὰ τὸν φράσαι δυνάμενον. : Καλοῦσι δὲ τὸν χῶρον τοῦτον, Νιτρίαν · καθότι κώμη τίς ἐστιν ὅμορος, ἐν ᾗ τὸ νίτρον συλλέγουσιν. Οὐ τὸ τυχὸν δὲ πλῆθος ἐνταῦθα ἐφιλοσόφει. ᾿Αλλὰ μοναστήρια ἦν ἀμφὶ πεντήκοντα, ἀλλήλοις ἐχόμενα - τὰ μὲν συνοικιῶν· τὰ δὲ καθ' ἑαυτοὺς οἰκούντων. Ἐντεῦθεν δὲ ὡς ἐπὶ τὴν ἔνδον ἔρημον ἡκόντων, ἕτερός ἐστι τόπος, σχεδὸν ἑβδομήκοντα σταδίοις διεστώς, ὄνομα Κελλία. Ἐν τούτῳ δὲ σποράδην ἐστὶ μοναχικὰ οἰκήματα πολλὰ, καθὸ καὶ τοιαύτης ἔλαχε προσηγορίας. Κεχώρισται δὲ τοσοῦτον ἀλλήλων, ὡς τοὺς αὐτόθι κατοικοῦντας, σφᾶς αὐτοὺς μὴ καθορᾶν ἢ ἐπαΐειν. Συνίασι δὲ πάντες εἰς ταυτὸν ἅμα καὶ ἐκκλησιάζουσι τῇ πρώτῃ καὶ τελευταίᾳ ἡμέρᾳ τῆς ἑβδομάδος. Ην δέ τις μὴ παραγένηται, δῆλός ἐστιν ἄκων ἀπολειφθεὶς, ἢ πάθει τινὶ ἡ νόσῳ πεπεδημένος. Καὶ ἐπὶ θέαν αὐτοῦ καὶ θεραπείαν, οὐκ εὐθὺς πάντες ἀπίασιν. ᾿Αλλ᾽ ἐν διαφόροις καιροῖς ἕκαστος, ἐπιφερόμενος ὅπερ ἔχει πρὸς νόσον ἁρμόδιον. Ἐκτὸς δὲ τοιαύτης αἰτίας, οὐχ ὁμιλοῦσιν ἀλλήλοις, εἰ μὴ λόγων ἕνεκεν εἰς γνῶσιν Θεοῦ τεινόντων ἢ ὠφέλειαν ψυχῆς, Οἰκοῦσι δὲ ἐν τοῖς κελλίοις, ὅσοι τῆς φιλοσοφίας εἰς ἄκρον ἐληλύθασι, καὶ σφᾶς ἄγειν δύνανται, καὶ μόνο διατρίβειν, δι' ἡσυχίαν χωρισθέντες τῶν ἄλλων. Τάδε μὲν ἡμῖν ὡς ἐν βραχεῖ περὶ Σκήτεως εἰρήσθω, καὶ τῶν ἐνθάδε φιλοσοφούντων. Εἰ γὰρ τὸ καθέκαστον τῆς αὐτῶν ἀγωγῆς διεξελθεῖν πειραθείην, μηκυνομένην ἴσως τὴν γραφὴν μωμήσαιτό τις. Ἰδίαν γὰρ συστησάμενοι πολιτείαν, ἔργα καὶ ἤθη καὶ γυμνάσια, καὶ δίαιταν, καὶ καιρὸν, ἑκάστῃ ἡλικίᾳ κατὰ τὸ εἰκὸς διένειμαν. Καὶ Ῥινοκουροῦρα δὲ, οὐκ ἐπεισάκτοις, ἀλλ᾽ οἴκοθεν ἀνδράσιν ἀγαθοῖς ἐξ ἐκείνου διέπρεπεν. δὲ ἐνθάδε φιλοσσφεῖν ἐπυθόμην ἀρίστους ἔγνων, τόν τε Μέλανα τὸν ἐκεῖνο καιροῦ τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν ἐπιτροπεύοντα, Διονύσιον, ὅς πρὸς Βορέαν τῆς πόλεως τὸ φροντιστήριον εἶχε " Σόλωνα τὸν Μέλανος ἀδελφὸν, καὶ τῆς ἐπισκοπῆς διάδοχον. Λέγεται δὲ, ἡνίκα προστέταχτο τοὺς κατὰ πόλιν ἱερέας ἐναντίως ᾿Αρείῳ φρονοῦντας ἀπελαύνεσθαι, καταλαδεῖν Μέλανα τοὺς ἐπ᾽ αὐτὸν ἐλθόντας, τοὺς λύχνους τῆς Ἐκκλησίας παρασχενάζοντα; οἷά γε ὑπηρέτην ἔσχατον, ἐπίῤῥυπον τῷ ἐματίῳ ὑπὸ τοῦ ἐλαίου τὴν ζώνην ἔχοντα, καὶ τὰς θρναλλίδας ἐπιφερόμενον" ἐρωτηθέντα δὲ περὶ τοῦ ἐπισκόπου εἰπεῖν, ὡς ᾿Ενθάδε ἐστὶ, καὶ μηνύσω τοῦτον. Αὐτίκα δὲ τοὺς ἄνδρας οἶάγε ἐξ ὁδοῦ κεχμηχότας, εἰς τὸ ἐπισκοπικὸν καταγώγιον ὁδηγῆσαι, Καὶ τράπεζαν παραθεῖναι, ἐχ τῶν ὄντων ἑστιᾶσαι. Μετὰ δὲ τὴν ἑστίασιν, νιψάμένον τὰς χεῖρας, διηχονεῖτο γὰρ τοῖς ἑστιωμένοις, ἑαυτὸν προσαγγεῖλαι. Τοὺς δὲ τὸν ἄνδρα θαυμάσαντας, ὁμολογῆσαι μὲν ἐφ᾽ ᾧ ἐληλύθεισαν" αἰδοῖ δὲ τῇ πρὸς αὐτὸν, ἐξουσίαν δοῦναι φυγῆς. Τὸν δὲ φάναι, ὡς Οὐχ ἂν προοΐίμην ταὐτὰ τοῖς ὁμοδόξοις ἱερεῦσιν ὑπομεῖναι, ἀλλ᾽ ἑκοντὶ ἀλέσθαι εἰς τὴν ὑπερορίαν ἐλθεῖν. Πᾶσαν δὲ, νέον φιλοσοφήσας, μὸϑναχιχὴν ἀρετὴν ἐξησκεῖτο. δὲ Σόλων ἀπὸ ἐμπόρου εἰς μοναμεταδαλὼν, οὐδὲ αὐτὸς ὀλίγον ἀπώνατο τῆς ἐνθένδε ὠφελείας. Ὑπὸ διδασκάλῳ γὰρ τῷ ἀδελφῷ καὶ τοῖς τῇδε φιλοσοφοῦσιν ἐπιμελῶς παιδευθεὶς καὶ περὶ τὸ θεῖον ὅτι μάλιστα προθύμως ἐσπούδαζε, καὶ πρὸς τοὺς πέλας ἀγαθὸς ἐτύγχανεν. Ἧ μὲν Ῥινοκουρούρων Ἐκκλησία, τοιούτων ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἡγουμένων ἐπιτυχοῦσα, οὐ διέλιπεν ἐξ ἐκείνου μέχρι καὶ εἰς ἡμᾶς, ἔτι νῦν τοῖς ἐκείνων χρωμένη θεσμοῖς; καὶ ἀγαθοὺς ἄνὄρας φέρουσα. Κοινὴ δέ ἔστι τοῖς αὐτόϑι κληρικοῖς οἴχησίς τε τράπεζα, τ᾽ ἄλλα πάντα. ### English translation (Claude) … if anyone should come to learn from one able to explain. They call this place Nitria, because there is a neighbouring village in which they collect nitre. No ordinary multitude lived the philosophic life here; there were about fifty monasteries close to one another, some of men living in community, others of men living by themselves. From here, as one goes into the inner desert, there is another place, about seventy stadia away, called the Cells. In it are many monastic dwellings scattered about, which is why it got this name. They are so far separated from one another that those who live there neither see nor hear each other. They all meet together and hold assemblies on the first and last day of the week. If anyone is not present, it is clear that he has been kept away against his will, held back by some affliction or illness; and they do not all go at once to see and care for him, but each at different times, bringing whatever he has suitable for the illness. Apart from such a reason they do not converse with one another, except for words tending to the knowledge of God or the profit of the soul. Those live in the Cells who have reached the summit of philosophy and are able to guide themselves and to live alone, separated from the others for the sake of quiet. Let this much be said briefly by us about Scetis and those who live the philosophic life there. For if I tried to go through every detail of their discipline, someone might perhaps blame my writing for its length. For having established a way of life of their own, they assigned works, manners, exercises, diet and times to each age, as was fitting. Rhinocorura too, from that time, was distinguished by good men, not brought in from outside but native. Of those I learned had lived the philosophic life there, I know as the best Melas, who at that time governed the church; Dionysius, who had his monastery to the north of the city; and Solon, the brother of Melas and his successor in the episcopate. It is said that when it had been ordered that the priests in the cities who held views opposed to Arius should be driven out, those who came for Melas found him preparing the lamps of the church, like the lowest servant, with his girdle on his tunic soiled with oil and carrying the wicks; and when asked about the bishop, he said, “He is here, and I will tell him.” At once he led the men, as tired from the journey, to the bishop’s lodging, set a table before them and entertained them from what there was. After the meal he washed his hands — for he had been serving those at table — and announced himself. They, admiring the man, confessed what they had come for, but out of respect for him gave him leave to flee. But he said, “I would not choose to avoid suffering the same as the priests who share my belief, but will willingly go into exile.” Having lived the philosophic life from youth, he practised every monastic virtue. Solon, changing from a merchant into a monk, himself gained no little benefit from this. For, carefully trained under his brother as teacher and under those who lived the philosophic life there, he was most eagerly zealous about divine things and was good to his neighbours. The church of Rhinocorura, having had such leaders from the beginning, has not ceased from that time to our own, still using their rules and bringing forth good men. The clergy there have a common dwelling and table and all else in common. ### Translation notes - The opening of this chapter is lost in the scan; the section begins in mid-sentence (“…”). ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 6.31 (PG 67:1387–1389; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/6-31). ## Church History 6.32 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/6-27/#p-6-32 - Source: PG 67:1389–1391 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The monks of Palestine: Hesychas, Epiphanius (later bishop of Salamis), the brothers Salamanes, Phuscon, Malachion and Crispion at Bethelia, Ammonius of Kapharchobra, and Silvanus, founder of the community at Gerara. ### Greek text Οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ Παλαιστίνη μοναχῶν ἀνδρῶν διατριθαῖς ἤνθει. Οἵτε γὰρ πλείους ὧν ἐν τῇ Κωνσταντίου βασιλείᾳ ἀπηριθμησάμην ἔτι ἧσαν ταύτην τὴν ἐπιστή μὴν σεμνύνοντες. Οἱ δὲ, ταῖς αὐτῶν συνουσίαις εἰς ἄκρον ἀρετῆς ἐπέδοσαν, καὶ εἰς εὔκλειαν μείζονα τοῖς ἐνθάδε φροντιστηρίοις προσετέθησαν. Ὧν Ἡσυχᾶς ὁ ἹἸλαρίωνος ἑταῖρος, καὶ ὁ ὕστερον γενόμενος Σαλαμῖνος τῆς Κύπρου ἐπίσκοπος. Ἐφιλοσόφησε δὲ Ἡσυχᾶς μὲν, οὗ καὶ ὁ διδάσκαλος. Ἐπιφάνιος δὲ, ἀμφὶ Βησανδούκην κώμην ὅθεν ἦν, νομοῦ Ἑλευθεροπόλεως. Ἐκ νέου δὲ ὑπὸ μοναχοῖς ἀρίστοις παιδευθεὶς, καὶ τούτου χάριν ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ πλεῖστον διατρίψας χρόνον, ἐπισημότατος ἐν μοναστικῇ φιλοσοφίᾳ γέγονε παρά τε Αίγυπτίοις, καὶ Παλαιστινοῖς · μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα καὶ Κυπρίοις, παρ' οἷς ἡρέθη τῆς μητροπόλεως τῆς νήσου ἐπισκοπεῖν. Ὅθεν οἶμαι μᾶλλον κατὰ πᾶσαν, ὡς εἰπεῖν, τὴν ὑφω ήλιον, ἀοιδιμώτατός ἐστιν. Ὡς ἐν ὀμίλῳ γὰρ καὶ πόλει μεγάλῃ καὶ παραλίῳ ἱερωμένος, καὶ μεθ' ὅσης ἀρετῆς εἶχε πολιτικοῖς ἐμβαλὼν πράγμασιν, ἀστικοῖς καὶ ξένοις παντοδαποῖς γνώριμος ἐν ὀλίγῳ ἐγένετο - τοῖς μὲν, θεασαμένοις καὶ πεῖραν λαβοῦσι τῆς αὐτοῦ πολιτείας · τοῖς δὲ, παρὰ τούτων πειθομένοις. Πρὸ δὲ τῆς ἐν Κύπρῳ ἐπιδημίας, ἔτι ἐν Παλαιστίνη διέτριβεν ἐπὶ τῆς παρούσης ἡγεμονίας. Ἡνίκα δὲ ἐν τοῖς τότε φροντιστηρίοις εὖ μάλα διαπρέπων Σαλα μάνης τε καὶ Φύσκων, καὶ Μαλαχίων καὶ Κρισπίων ἀδελφοί · ἐφιλοσόφουν δὲ ἀμφὶ Βηθελέαν κώμην τοῦ νομοῦ Γάζης. Καὶ γὰρ δὴ καὶ εὐπατρίδαι τῶν ἔνθεν ἦσαν, διδασκάλου δὲ ταύτης τῆς φιλοσοφίας ἔτυχον Ἱλαρίωνος, ἀφ᾿ οὗ λέγεταί ποτε τούτων ἅμα οἶκοι ἀπιόντων, ἐκ μέσου ἁρπαγῆναί πως τὸν Μαλαχίωνα, καὶ ἀφανῆ γενέσθαι· ἐξαπίνης δὲ πάλιν ἀναφανῆναι, τὴν αὐτὴν ὁδὸν βαδίζοντα τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς - μετ᾿ οὐ πολὺ δὲ ἀποβιῶναι, νέον μὲν ἔτι ὄντα, τῶν γεγηρακότων δὲ ἐν φιλοσοφίᾳ κατ᾿ ἀρετὴν βίου καὶ θεοφίλειαν οὐ λειπόμενον. Καὶ ᾿Αμμώνιος δὲ ὡσεὶ δέκα σταδίοις διεστὼς, ᾤκει ἀμφὶ Χαφαρχοβρὰν κώΟ μην Γαζαίαν, ἀφ᾿ ἧς τὸ γένος εἶχεν· ἀνὴρ ἀκριβῶς ὅτι μάλιστα καὶ ἀνδρείως ἐν τῇ ἀσκήσει διαγενόμε νος. Σιλβανὸς δὲ, ὃν διὰ τὴν ἄγαν ἀρετὴν ὑπὸ ἀγγέλου ὑπηρετούμενον θεαθῆναι λόγος, Παλαιστινὸς ὧν, ἔτι, οἶμαι, κατὰ τὴν Αἴγυπτον ἐφιλοσόφει τότε· ἔπειτα δὲ ἐν τῷ ὄρει Σινᾶ χρόνον τινὰ διατρίψας, ὕστερον τὴν ἐν Γεράροις ἐν τῷ χειμάρρῳ μεγίστην τε καὶ ἐπισημοτάτην πλείστων ἀγαθῶν ἀνδρῶν συνοικίαν συνεστήσατο. Ἧς μετ' αὐτὸν ἡγήσατο Ζαχαρίας ὁ θεσπέσιος. ### English translation (Claude) Palestine, too, flourished with the dwellings of monks. Most of those I enumerated in the reign of Constantius were still adorning this way of life; and others, through association with them, advanced to the summit of virtue and were added to the greater renown of the monasteries there. Among them were Hesychas, the companion of Hilarion, and Epiphanius, who later became bishop of Salamis in Cyprus. Hesychas lived the philosophic life where his teacher had; Epiphanius about the village of Besanduce, his home, in the district of Eleutheropolis. Trained from his youth by the best monks, and for this reason having spent a very long time in Egypt, he became most celebrated in monastic philosophy among the Egyptians and the Palestinians, and afterwards among the Cypriots too, by whom he was chosen to oversee the metropolis of the island. Hence, I think, he is the most famous, so to speak, in the whole world under the sun. For serving as priest in a populous, great and coastal city, and engaging in civic affairs with all the virtue he had, he soon became known to citizens and strangers of every kind: to some who saw him and had experience of his conduct, to others who were persuaded by them. Before his stay in Cyprus he was still living in Palestine under the present reign. At that time there were very distinguished in the monasteries Salamanes, Phuscon, Malachion and Crispion, brothers, who lived the philosophic life about Bethelia, a village of the district of Gaza; for they were of noble family there, and had Hilarion as teacher of this philosophy. It is said that once, as they were going home together, Malachion was somehow snatched from their midst and disappeared; then suddenly he reappeared, walking the same road with his brothers; and not long after he died, still young, but not behind those who had grown old in philosophy in virtue of life and love of God. Ammonius too, about ten stadia away, lived about Kapharchobra, a village of Gaza, from which he came, a man who passed his life in ascetic discipline with the greatest strictness and courage. Silvanus, who for his exceeding virtue is said to have been seen served by an angel, a Palestinian, was then, I think, still living the philosophic life in Egypt; then, after spending some time on Mount Sinai, he later founded at Gerara by the torrent a very great and celebrated community of very many good men, which after him was led by the divine Zacharias. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 6.32 (PG 67:1389–1391; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/6-32). ## Church History 6.33 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/6-33/#p-6-33 - Source: PG 67:1391–1393 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The monks of Mesopotamia and Syria: the “Grazers” of Mount Sigoron near Nisibis, Eusebius the recluse and the bishops Vitus and Protogenes at Carrhae, and Aones at Phadana, pioneer of Syrian anchoritism. ### Greek text Ἐντεῦθεν δὲ ἐπὶ Συρίαν καὶ Πέρσας τοὺς Σύρων ὁμόρους ἰτέον · οἳ δὴ πρὸς πλῆθος ἐπέδωκαν, τοῖς ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ φιλοσοφοῦσιν ἁμιλλώμενοι. Διέπρεπον δὲ μάλιστα τότε, παρὰ μὲν Νισιβηνοῖς ἀμφὶ τὸ Σιγόρων καλούμενον ὄρος, Βατθαῖος καὶ Εὐσέβιος, καὶ Βαργῆς καὶ ῾Ἁλᾶς καὶ ᾿Αββῶς, Λάζαρός τε ὁ γεγονὼς ἐπίσκοπος, καὶ ᾿Αβδάλεως, καὶ Ζήνων, καὶ Ἡλιόδωρος ὁ γέρων. Τούτους δὲ καὶ Βοσκοὺς ἀπεκάλουν, ἕναγχος τῆς τοιαύτης φιλοσοφίας ἄρξαντας. Ὀνομάζουσι δὲ ὧδε αὐτοὺς, καθότι οὔτε οἰκήματα ἔχουσιν, οὔτε ἄρτον, οὔτε ὄψον ἐσθίουσιν, οὔτε οἶνον πίνουσιν· ἐν δὲ τοῖς ὅρεσι διατρίβοντες, ἀεὶ τὸν Θεὸν εὐλογοῦσιν, ἐν εὐχαῖς καὶ ὕμνοις, κατὰ θεσμὸν τῆς Ἐκκλησίας. Τροφῆς δὲ ἡνίκα γένηται καιρὸς, καθάπερ νεμόμενοι, ἄρπην ἔχων ἕκαστος, ἀνὰ τὸ ὄρος περιιόντες, τὰς βοτάνας σιτίζονται. Καὶ οἱ μὲν ὧδε ἐφιλοσόφουν. Ἐν Κάραις δὲ Εὐσέβιος, ὃς ἐν τῷ ἐθελοντὴς καθεῖρχθαι ἐφιλοσόφει· καὶ Πρωτογένης, ὃς τὴν αὐτόθι Ἐκκλησίαν ἐπετρόπευσε μετὰ Βἴτον τὸν τότε ἐπίσκοπον · Β΄τον ἐκεῖνον τὸν ἀοίδιμον, ὄν φασι βασιλέα Κωνσταντίνον πρώτως θεασάμενον, ὁμολογῆσαι ὡς πάλαι πολλάκις ἐν ἐπιφανείαις τὸν ἄνδρα τοῦτον ὁ Θεὸς αὐτῷ ἐπέδειξε, καὶ παρεκελεύσατο, ὅ τι λέγοι, πειθαρχεῖν αὐτῷ. Καὶ ᾿Αώνης δὲ ἐν Φαδανᾷ τὸ φροντιστήριον εἶχε · τόπος δὲ οὗτος, οὗ Ἰακώβ ὁ τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ ἔκγονος ἐκ Παλαιστίνης ἐπιστὰς, ἔτι παρθένῳ συνήπτετο τῇ μετὰ ταῦτα γαμετῇ, ἐκκυλίσας τε τοῦ ἐνθάδε φρέατος τὸν λίθον, πρῶτον αὐτῆς τὸ ποίμνιον ἐπότισε. Φασὶ δὲ τοῦτον ᾿Αώνην, τῆς ἐκτὸς πάντων ἀνθρώπων καὶ ἀκριβοῦς φιλοσοφίας ἄρξασθαι παοὰ Σύροις, ὥσπερ Αντώνιον παρ' Αἰγυπτίοις. ### English translation (Claude) From here we must go on to Syria and to the Persians bordering on the Syrians, who in numbers rivalled those who lived the philosophic life in Egypt. At that time there were especially distinguished among the Nisibenes, about the mountain called Sigoron, Batthaeus, Eusebius, Barges, Halas and Abbos, Lazarus who became a bishop, Abdaleus, Zeno and Heliodorus the old. They were also called Grazers, having lately begun this kind of philosophy. They are so named because they have no dwellings, eat neither bread nor relish, nor drink wine; but living on the mountains they ever bless God in prayers and hymns according to the rule of the church; and when the time for food comes, as if pasturing, each with a sickle, they go round the mountain and feed on the plants. So they lived the philosophic life. At Carrhae there was Eusebius, who lived the philosophic life voluntarily shut in; and Protogenes, who governed the church there after Vitus, then the bishop — that famous Vitus whom, they say, the emperor Constantine, on first seeing him, confessed that God had often shown to him in appearances long before, and had told him to obey whatever he said. Aones too had his monastery at Phadana; this is the place where Jacob, the descendant of Abraham, coming from Palestine, met the virgin who was afterwards his wife, and rolling the stone from the well there, first watered her flock. They say that this Aones was the first among the Syrians to begin the strict philosophy apart from all men, as Antony among the Egyptians. ### Scripture references - Gen 29:1–10: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Jacob at the well: Gen 29:1–10. Phadana is Paddan-aram. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 6.33 (PG 67:1391–1393; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/6-33). ## Church History 6.34 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/6-33/#p-6-34 - Source: PG 67:1393–1397 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Monks of Edessa (Julian, Ephraem, Barses, Eulogius) and of Syria, their austerities and long lives spreading the faith among Syrians, Persians and Saracens; and the communal monks of Galatia and Cappadocia, including Prapidius, head of Basil’s Basileias. ### Greek text Τούτῳ δὲ συνοίκω ἤστην Γαδδανᾶς τε καὶ ᾿Αζιζος, πρὸς ὁμοίαν ἀρετὴν ἁμιλλωμένω. ᾿Ανὰ δὲ τὴν ἐκ γειτόνων Έδεσαν, καὶ πέριξ ταύτης εὐδοκιμώτάτοι φιλόσοφοι κατὰ τοῦτον τὸν χρόνον ἦσαν, Ἰουλιανὸς καὶ Ἐφραὶμ ὁ Σύρος συγγραφεὺς, οἱ ἐν τῇ Κωνσταντίου βασιλείᾳ δηλωθέντες • Βάρσης τε καὶ Εὐλόγιος, οἳ καὶ ἐπισκόπω ἄμφω ὕστερον ἐγενέσθην, οὐ πόλεώς τινος, ἀλλὰ τιμῆς ἕνεκεν, ἀνταμοι6ῆς ὥσπερ τῶν αὐτοῖς πεπολιτευμένων, χειρο τονηθέντες ἐν τοῖς ἰδίοις μοναστηρίοις ὃν τρόπον καὶ Λάζαρος ὁ δηλωθείς. Οἴδε μὲν τῶν τότε φιλοσοφούντων ἐπισήμως, ἀνά τε Σύρους καὶ Πέρσας τοὺς ἐκ γειτόνων αὐτοῖς, εἰς γνῶσιν ἐμὴν ἦλθον. Πολιτεία δὲ κοινὴ πᾶσιν, ὡς εἰπεῖν, ἦν · ψυχῆς μὲν, ὅτι μάλιστα ἐπιμελεῖσθαι, καὶ ἕτοιμον ἐθίζειν πρὸς ἀπαλλαγὴν τῶν ἐνθάδε· ἐν εὐχαῖς τε καὶ νηστείαις, καὶ θείοις ὕμνοις· καὶ περὶ ταῦτα τὸν πολὺν ἀναλίσκειν βίον· χρημάτων δὲ καὶ τῆς περὶ τὰ πολιτικὰ πράγματα ἀσχολίας, σώματός τε ῥαστώνης, ἢ ἐπιμελείας παν τελῶς ἀμελεῖν. Ἔνιοι δὲ ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον ἐγκρατείας ἦλθον, ὡς Βατθαίου μὲν ὑπὸ τῆς ἄγαν ἀσιτίας, σκώληκας ἐκ τῶν ὀδόντων ἕρπειν· ᾿Αλᾶν δὲ ἐπὶ ὀγδοήκοντα ἐνιαυτοὺς, ἄρτου μὴ γεύσασθαι· τὸν δὲ Ἡλιόδωρον ἀΰπνους τὰς πολλὰς διακαρτερῆσαι νύκτας, ἑβδομάδας ἡμερῶν ἐν νηστείαις ἐπισυνάψαντα. Συρία δὲ, ἤ τε Κοίλη καλουμένη, καὶ ἡ ὑπὲρ ταύτην, πλὴν ᾿Αντιοχείας, βράδιον εἰς Χριστιανισμὸν μετα ἐβαλον. Οὐ μὴν οὐδὲ αὕτη φιλοσόφων ἐκκλησιαστι κῶν ἄμοιρος ἦν· ταύτῃ γε μᾶλλον ἀνδρείων ὄντων τε καὶ φαινομένων, ὅσῳ γε καὶ πρὸς τῶν οἰκούντων τὴν χώραν ἐμισοῦντο καὶ ἐπεβουλεύοντο· καὶ γενναίως ἀντεῖχον, οὐκ ἀμυνόμενοι, οὐδὲ δίκην λαμβάνοντες, ἀλλὰ προθύμως τὰς παρὰ τῶν Ἑλλήνων ὕβρεις τε καὶ πληγὰς ὑπομένοντες. Οἴους γενέσθαι ἐπυθόμην Οὐαλεντῖνον, ὃν οἱ μὲν ἐξ Ἐμέσης, οἱ δὲ ἐξ ᾿Αρεθούσης τὸ γένος ἔχειν ἔφασαν· καὶ τὸν ὁμώνυμον τὸν αὐτοῦ, καὶ Θεόδωρον. ῎Αμφω δὲ ἀπὸ Τιττῶν τοῦ ᾿Απαμέων νομοῦ ἤστην. Καὶ Μαρώσαν τὸν ἐκ Νεχείλων, καὶ Βάσσον, καὶ Βασσώνην, καὶ Παῦλον, ὃς ἀπὸ τῆς Τελμισοῦ τῆς κώμης ἐγένετο · πολλοὺς δὲ ἐν πολλοῖς τόποις συνοικίσας, καὶ ὃν χρὴ τράπον συναγαγὼν εἰς τὸ φιλοσοφεῖν εἰδέναι, τὸ τελευταῖον εἰς τὸ Ἰουγάτον καλούμενον χωρίον μεγίστην τε καὶ ἐπισημοτάτην συνοικίαν μοναχῶν κατεστήσατο. Ἔνθα δὴ καὶ ἐτελεύτησε, καὶ τὸν τάφον ἔχει, μακροβιώτατος γεγονώς · ὡς μέχρι καὶ εἰς ἡμᾶς ἐπιβιῶναι, εὐδοκίμως καὶ θείως φιλοσοφήσας. Καὶ τῶν ἄλλων δὲ τῶν δηλωθέντων μοναχῶν, σχεδὸν πάντες πολὺν διεγένοντο χρόνον. Καί μοι φαίνεται, μακροβίους τοὺς ἄνδρας ὁ Θεὸς ἐποίησεν, εἰς ἐπίδοσιν τὴν θρησκείαν ἄγων. Σύρους τε γὰρ ὡς ἐπίπαν, καὶ Περσῶν καὶ Σαρακηνῶν πλείστους, πρὸς τὸ οἰκεῖον ἐπηγάγοντο σέβας, καὶ Ἑλληνίζειν ἔπαυσαν. Μοναχικῆς τε φιλοσοφίας ἐνθάδε ἄρξαντες, πολλοὺς ὁμοίους ἀπέφηναν. Καὶ Γαλάτας δὲ καὶ Καππαδόκας, καὶ τοὺς τούτων ὁμόρους, συμβάλλω πολλοὺς μὲν καὶ ἄλλους ἐσχηκέναι τότε ἐκκλησιαστικοὺς φιλοσόφους, οἷά γε πάλαι τὸ δόγμα σπουδαίως πρεσβεύοντας. Κατὰ συνοικίας δὲ ἐν πόλεσιν ἢ κώμαις οἱ πλείους ᾤκουν. Οὔτε γὰρ παραδόσει τῶν προγεγενημένων εἰθίσθησαν· οὔτε ὑπὸ χαλεπότητος χειμῶνος, φύσει τοῦ τῇδε χώρου ἑκάστοτε συμβαίνοντος, δυνατὸν ἴσως κατεφαίνετο ἐν ἐρημίαις διατρίβειν. Εὐδοκιμώτατοι δὲ ὧν ἐπυθόμην ἐγένοντο ἐνθάδε μοναχοί, Λεόντιος, ὁ τὴν ἐν ᾿Αγκύρᾳ ἐκκλησίαν ὕστερον ἐπιτροπεύσας· καὶ Πραπίδιος, ὃς ἤδη γηραλέος ὧν, πολλὰς ἐπεακόπει κώμας. Προέστη δὲ καὶ Βασιλειάδος, ὃ πτωχῶν ἐστιν ἐπισημότατον καταγώγιον, ὑπὸ Βασιλείου τοῦ Καισαρείας ἐπισκόπου κατασκευασθὲν, ἀφ᾿ οὗ τὴν προσηγορίαν τὴν ἀρχὴν ἔλαβε, καὶ εἰς ἔτι νῦν ἔχει. ### English translation (Claude) With him lived Gaddanas and Azizus, rivalling him in a like virtue. In Edessa nearby and around it the most renowned philosophers at this time were Julian and Ephraem the Syrian writer, who have been described under the reign of Constantius; and Barses and Eulogius, who both later became bishops — not of any city, but for honour, as a reward, so to speak, for their way of life — being ordained in their own monasteries, in the same way as Lazarus who has been mentioned. These are those who then lived the philosophic life with distinction among the Syrians and the neighbouring Persians who came to my knowledge. The way of life was common, one may say, to all: to care for the soul as much as possible and to accustom it to be ready for departure from here, in prayers and fasts and divine hymns, and to spend most of their life in these; and to neglect altogether money, the business of civic affairs, and the ease or care of the body. Some came to such a pitch of self-control that, through excessive fasting, worms crept from the teeth of Batthaeus; that Halas did not taste bread for eighty years; and that Heliodorus endured most nights without sleep, joining weeks of days together in fasting. Syria, both the so-called Coele and the part beyond it, except Antioch, changed over to Christianity more slowly. Yet it too was not without church philosophers; these were and appeared all the braver, inasmuch as they were hated and plotted against by the inhabitants of the country, and held out nobly, not defending themselves or taking vengeance, but readily enduring the insults and blows of the pagans. Such, I have learned, were Valentine, whom some said came from Emesa and others from Arethusa; another of the same name; and Theodore — both from Titti in the district of Apamea; and Marosas from Nechila, and Bassus, Bassones and Paul, who was from the village of Telmissus, who, having settled many in many places and brought them together in the right way to know how to live the philosophic life, finally established at the place called Jugatum a very great and celebrated community of monks. There he died and has his tomb, having lived very long, so that he survived even to our day, having lived the philosophic life with renown and in a godly way. Almost all the other monks described lived a long time too. And it seems to me that God made the men long-lived to advance religion. For they brought the Syrians almost entirely, and very many of the Persians and Saracens, to their own worship and made them cease being pagans; and having begun monastic philosophy there, they made many like themselves. I conjecture that the Galatians and Cappadocians and their neighbours also had many other church philosophers at that time, since they had long zealously upheld the doctrine. Most of them lived in communities in cities or villages; for they were neither accustomed to it by the tradition of their predecessors, nor perhaps did it seem possible to live in deserts because of the severity of the winter that regularly occurs from the nature of that country. The most renowned monks there of whom I have learned were Leontius, who later governed the church at Ancyra, and Prapidius, who when already old oversaw many villages as bishop. He also presided over the Basileias, which is a most celebrated hospice for the poor, built by Basil, the bishop of Caesarea, from whom it received its name at the beginning and still has it. ### Translation notes - The first words of the staged text are the end of the chapter title and are removed by a correction. The first sentence belongs with Aones at the end of 6.33. - A line of names (Nechila, Bassus, Bassones, Paul) was displaced in the scan into the sentence on Heliodorus’s fasts; it is restored by corrections to the list of Syrian monks, where it completes the phrase “Marosas from Nechila”. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 6.34 (PG 67:1393–1397; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/6-34). ## Church History 6.35 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/6-33/#p-6-35 - Source: PG 67:1397–1399 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Pagan philosophers consult a tripod to learn Valens’s successor, read the letters THEOD and expect the courtier Theodore; Valens executes them and many philosophers, and Sozomen blames both the emperor’s cruelty and the diviners’ folly. ### Greek text ᾿Ἀλλὰ τὰ μὲν ἀφηγησάμην, ἐφ᾿ ὅσον μοι μαθεῖν ἐξεγένετο, περὶ τῶν τότε ἐκκλησιαστικῶν φιλοσόφων. Τῶν δ᾽ αὖ Ἑλληνιστῶν, μικροῦ πάντες κατ' ἐκεῖνο καιροῦ διεφθάρησαν. Τινὲς γὰρ οἱ τῶν ἄλλων ἐν φιλοσοφίᾳ προφέρειν ἐνομίζοντο, πρὸς τὴν ἐπίδοσιν τοῦ Χριστιανισμοῦ δυσφοροῦντες, ἐβουλεύσαντο προμαθεῖν τὸν ἐφεξῆς Οὐάλεντι Ῥωμαίων ἡγησόμενον, μαντείαις τε παντοδαπαῖς περὶ τούτου ἐχρήσαντο. Καὶ τελευτῶντες, τρίποδα ξύλινον ἐκ δάφνης κατεσκευάσαντο, καὶ ἐπικλήσεσι καὶ λόγοις οἷς εἰώθεισαν, ἐτέλεσαν. Ὥστε συλλογῇ γραμμάτων, καθ' ἕκαστον στοιχεῖον ὑπὸ μηχανῆς τοῦ τρίποδος καὶ τῆς μαντείας σημαινομένων, ἀναφανῆναι τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ ἐσομένου βασιλέως. Κεχηνόσι δὲ αὐτοῖς εἰς Θεόδωρον, ἄνδρα τῶν ἐν τοῖς βασιλείοις ἐπισήμως στρατευομένων, Ἑλληνιστὴν καὶ ἐλλόγιμον, μέχρι τοῦ δέλτα ἐπὶ τῆς τούτου προσηγορίας ἐλθοῦσα τῶν στοιχείων ἡ σύνταξις, ἠπάτησε τοὺς φιλοσόφους. Καὶ ὅσον οὔπῳ Θεόδωρον βασιλεύσειν προσεδόκων. Καταμηνυθείσης δὲ τῆς ἐπιχειρήσεως, ὡς εἰς σωτηρίαν ἐπιβουλευθεὶς Οὐάλης οὐκ ἀνεκτὸς ἦν χαλεπαίνων. Ἐκ τούτου δὲ συλληφθέντες Θεόδωρός τε καὶ οἱ τρίποδος τεχνῖται, οἱ μὲν πυρὶ, οἱ δὲ ξίφει ἀπολέσθαι προσετάχθησαν. Παραπλησίως δὲ διὰ τὴν αὐτὴν αἰτίαν διεφθάρησαν, καὶ οἱ ἀνὰ πᾶσαν τὴν ἀρχομένην λαμπρῶς φιλοσοφοῦντες. ᾿Ασχέτου δὲ τῆς τοῦ βασιλέως ὀργῆς οὔσης, καὶ εἰς μὴ φιλοσόφους, ἐσθῆτι δὲ τῇ ἐκείνων χρωμένους, ὁ φόνος έχώρει· ὡς μηδὲ τοὺς ἄλλα ἐπιτηδεύοντας, κροκωτοῖς ἢ τριβωνίοις ἀμφιέννυσθαι δι᾽ ὑπόνοιαν κινδύνου καὶ δέος· ὡς ἂν μὴ δόξωσι περὶ μαντείας καὶ τελετὰς ἐσχολακέναι. Οὐχ ἥκιστα δὲ παρὰ τοῖς εὖ φρονοῦσι, δίκαιον οἶμαι καταμέμφεσθαι, βασιλέα τε τῆς ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον ὀργῆς καὶ ὠμότητος, καὶ τοὺς φιλοσόφους προπετείας καὶ τῆς ἀφιλοσόφου ἐπιχειρήσεως. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ δὴ τοῦτο τὸ λίαν εὔηθες ὑπολαβών, ἀναιρήσειν τὸν μετ᾿ αὐτὸν βασιλεύσοντα, οὔτε τῶν μαντευσαμένων ἐφείσατο, οὔτε περὶ οὗ ἐμαντεύσαντο ὡς δὲ φασιν, οὔτε τῶν ὁμωνύμων αὐτῷ, οἵτινες ἦσαν ἐπίσημοι τότε, τῆς αὐτῆς προσηγορίας ἢ καὶ ὁμοίας ἀπὸ τοῦ ὁ ἀρχομένους μέχρι τοῦ δ, οἱ δὲ, ὥσ περ ἐν αὐτοῖς ὂν βασιλέα καθαιρεῖν καὶ πάλιν ἐγεί ρεῖν, ἐπὶ τοῦτο προήχθησαν. Καὶ μέντοι εἰ τοῖς ἅπαξ δεδογμένοις ἐν τῇ τῶν ἄστρων φορᾷ τὰ τοιαῦτα λογιστέον, ἐχρῆν τὸν ἐσόμενον, ὅστις ἦν, περιμένειν. Εἱ δὲ Θεοῦ βουλῆς τὸ ἔργον, τί πολυπραγμονεῖν ἔδει; οὐ γὰρ δήπου ἐκ προγνώσεως ἢ σπουδῆς ἀνθρωπείας, ·ἔνεστιν ἐπίστασθαι τὸ Θεῷ δοκοῦν. Οὔτε εἴπερ ἐξῆν, καλῶς εἶχεν οἴεσθαι ἀνθρώπους ὄντας, εἰ καὶ πάντων σοφωτάτους, ἄμεινον Θεοῦ βουλεύεσθαι. Εἰ δὲ ἁπλῶς ὑπὸ προθυμίας τῆς περὶ τὸ μέλλον εἰδήσεως, ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον ἀκρίτως ἔσχον, ὡς εἰς ἕτοιμον ἀλέσθαι κίνδυνον, καὶ νόμους ὑπεριδεῖν πάλαι τεθέντας ἐν Ῥωμαίοις, καὶ ἡνίκα Ἑλληνίζειν τε καὶ θύειν ἀκίνδυνον ἦν, οὐ τὰ αὐτὰ ἐφρόνουν Σωκράτει · ὃς ἐξὸν σώζεσθαι, καὶ ταῦτα ἀδίκως κώνειον μέλλων πίνειν, αἰδοῖ νό μων καθ' οὓς ἐγένετο, καὶ ἐτράφη, καίπερ δυνάμενος, οὐκ ἀπέφυγε τὸ δεσμωτήριον. ### English translation (Claude) I have narrated these things about the church philosophers of that time as far as I was able to learn them. Of the pagans, on the other hand, almost all were destroyed at that time. For some who were thought to excel the others in philosophy, vexed at the growth of Christianity, resolved to learn in advance who would rule the Romans after Valens, and used every kind of divination about this. At last they made a wooden tripod of laurel and consecrated it with the invocations and words they were accustomed to use, so that by the putting together of letters, each letter being indicated by the mechanism of the tripod and the divination, the name of the future emperor would appear. As they were agape for Theodore, a man distinguished in the service of the palace, a pagan and a man of letters, the series of letters, coming as far as the delta in his name, deceived the philosophers, and they expected that Theodore would reign almost at once. When the attempt was reported, Valens, as one whose life had been plotted against, was intolerably angry. Upon this Theodore and the makers of the tripod were arrested and ordered to be put to death, some by fire, others by the sword. In the same way and for the same reason those throughout the empire who were distinguished as philosophers were destroyed. Since the emperor’s anger was unchecked, the slaughter extended even to those who were not philosophers but wore their dress; so that those who pursued other studies did not dress in saffron cloaks or short philosophers’ cloaks, from suspicion of danger and fear, lest they seem to have busied themselves with divination and magic rites. I think it right that the emperor, above all in the judgment of the sensible, should be blamed for so great anger and cruelty, and the philosophers for their rashness and their unphilosophical attempt. For he, supposing — a very foolish thing — that he would kill the one who was to reign after him, spared neither those who divined nor him about whom they divined, nor, as they say, those notable men of the time who had the same name, or one like it, beginning with theta and running as far as delta. And they were led on to this as though it lay with them to pull down an emperor and set one up again. Yet if such things are to be reckoned among what is once fixed in the motion of the stars, they should have awaited the one to come, whoever he was. And if the matter is of God’s counsel, why did they need to meddle? For surely it is not possible by foreknowledge or human effort to know what seems good to God. Nor, even if it were possible, was it right for men, though the wisest of all, to think that they could take better counsel than God. But if simply from eagerness to know the future they behaved so recklessly as to leap into ready danger and to despise the laws long established among the Romans — even at a time when it was safe to be pagan and to sacrifice — they did not think as Socrates did, who, when he could have saved himself, and that when he was about to drink the hemlock unjustly, out of respect for the laws under which he had been born and brought up, did not escape from the prison, though he was able to. ### Extrabiblical texts - Plato, Crito (Plato (works)): allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The tripod affair (371–372) is also told by Ammianus Marcellinus 29.1. - Socrates’ refusal to escape from prison: Plato, Crito. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 6.35 (PG 67:1397–1399; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/6-35). ## Church History 6.36 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/6-33/#p-6-36 - Source: PG 67:1401–1403 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Valentinian dies of a burst blood vessel while raging at Sarmatian envoys, and his young son Valentinian II is proclaimed; at Antioch the philosopher Themistius urges Valens to tolerate doctrinal differences. ### Greek text ᾿Ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν ἦπερ ἂν δοκῇ ἑκάστῳ, σκοπείτω τε καὶ λεγέτω. Καταδραμόντων δὲ Σαυροματῶν χωρία τινὰ τῆς πρὸς δύσιν ἀρχομένης, ἐπεστράτευσε τούτοις Οὐαλεντινιανός. Οἱ δὲ, τῆς στρατιᾶς τὸ πλῆθος καὶ τὴν παρασκευὴν ἀκούσαντες, πρέσβεις πέμψαντες, εἰρήνην ᾔτουν. Ἰδὼν δὲ τούτους, εἰ τοιοῦτοι Σαυρομάται πάντες εἰσὶν ἐπυνθάνετο. Τῶν δὲ τοὺς κρείττους παρεἶναι καὶ πρεσβεύεσθαι φησάντων, ἐμπίπλαται ὀργῆς. Καὶ μέγα κεκραγὼς, ἡ δεινὰ τοὺς ὑπηκόους ὑπομένειν ἔφη, καὶ τὴν Ῥωμαίων δυσπραγεῖν ἀρχὴν εἰς αὐτὸν περιστᾶσαν, εἰ Σαυρομάται, βάρβαρον ἔθνος, ὧν ἄριστοι οὗτοι, οὐκ ἀγαπῶσιν ἐφ᾿ ἑαυτῶν μένοντες ζῇν, ἀλλ᾽ ἐπιβῆναι τῆς ὑπ᾿ αὐτοῦ ἀρχομένης ἐθάῤῥησαν, καὶ πολεμεῖν ὅλως πρὸς Ῥωμαίους φαντάζονται. Ἐπὶ πολὺ δὲ χαλεπαίνοντος, καὶ τοιάδε βοῶντος, ὑπὸ ἀμέτρου διατάσεως σπαραχθέντων αὐτῷ τῶν ἔνδον, φλὲψ ἅμα καὶ ἀρτηρία ἐῤῥάγη · καὶ ἀναδοθέντος αἵματος, ἐν φρουρίῳ τινὶ τῆς Γαλλίας ἐτελεύτησε τὸν βίον· ἔτη μὲν ἀμφὶ τὰ πεντήκοντα καὶ τέσσαρα γεγονώς · τρισκαίδεκα δὲ ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ εὖ μάλα καὶ λίαν ἐπισήμως διαγενόμενος. Ἕκτῃ δὲ ἡμέρᾳ τῆς τελευτῆς αὐτοῦ, ἀναγορεύεται βασιλεὺς ὑπὸ τῶν στρατιωτῶν ὁ νεώτερος καὶ ὁμώνυμος αὐτοῦ παῖς. Οὐκ εἰς μακρὰν δὲ ἐπεψηφίσαντο τῇ αὐτοῦ χειροτονίᾳ, Οὐάλης τε καὶ Γρατιανὸς ὁ αὐτοῦ ἀδελφὸς, εἰ καὶ τὴν ἀρχὴν ἐχαλέπαινον, ὡς τῶν στρατιωτῶν πρὶν αὐτοὺς ἐπιτρέψαι, τὰ σύμβολα τῆς ἀρχῆς αὐτῷ περιθέντων. Ἐν τούτῳ δὲ Οὐάλης ἐν Ἀντιοχείᾳ τῆς Συρίας διάγων, ἔτι μᾶλλον ἐπεδίδου τοῖς ἑτέρως αὐτῷ περὶ τὸ Θεῖον δοξάζουσιν ἀπεχθανόμενος, καὶ χαλεπῶς τούτους ἐπέτριβε, καὶ ἤλαυνεν. Ὅτε δὴ λόγον αὐτῷ προσφωνῶν Θεμίστιος ὁ φιλόσοφος, παρήνει μὴ χρῆναι θαυμάζειν τὴν διαφωνίαν τῶν ἐκκλησιαστικῶν δογμάτων, μετριωτέραν καὶ μείω τῶν παρ' Ἕλλησιν οὖσαν. Πολυπλασίους γὰρ εἶναι τὰς παρ᾽ αὐτοῖς δόξας· καὶ ὡς ἐν πλήθει δογμάτων, ἀνάγκῃ τὴν περὶ ταῦτα διαφορὰν πλείους ἔριδας καὶ διαλέξεις ποιεῖν. Ἐπεὶ καὶ τῷ Θεῷ ἴσως, μὴ ῥᾳδίως γινώσκεσθαι φίλον, καὶ διαφόρως δοξάζεσθαι ὅπως ἔκαστος μᾶλλον φοβοῖτο, ἀκαταλήπτου οὔσης τῆς ἀκριβοῦς αὐτοῦ γνώσεως, ἀναλογιζόμενος τὸν ὅσον ἐφικέσθαι νομίζει, πηλίκος τε καὶ οἷός ἐστιν. ### English translation (Claude) But let each consider and speak of these things as seems good to him. When the Sauromatae overran some places of the western empire, Valentinian marched against them. They, hearing of the size and equipment of the army, sent envoys asking for peace. When he saw them, he asked whether all the Sauromatae were like these. When they said that the best of them had come as envoys, he was filled with anger; and shouting loudly, he said that his subjects were suffering terrible things and that the empire of the Romans, having come round to him, was in an evil plight, if the Sauromatae, a barbarian nation, whose best were these men, were not content to live by themselves but dared to invade the territory he ruled and imagined they could make war on the Romans at all. As he raged for a long time and shouted such things, his inward parts were torn by the excessive strain; a vein and an artery burst together, and as the blood gushed out he died in a fortress in Gaul, being about fifty-four years old and having reigned thirteen years very well and with great distinction. On the sixth day after his death, his younger son of the same name was proclaimed emperor by the soldiers. Not long after, Valens and Gratian, the boy’s brother, ratified his elevation, although at first they were angry because the soldiers had invested him with the insignia of rule before they gave permission. Meanwhile Valens, living at Antioch in Syria, grew still more hostile to those who believed otherwise than he did about the divine, and harshly afflicted and banished them. Then Themistius the philosopher, addressing a speech to him, advised him that he should not be surprised at the disagreement of the church’s doctrines, which was more moderate and smaller than that among the Greeks; for the opinions among them were many times more numerous, and, as in a multitude of doctrines, the difference about them necessarily produces more quarrels and debates. For perhaps it is pleasing to God not to be easily known, and to be thought of in different ways, so that each may fear him the more, since the exact knowledge of him is incomprehensible, as each reckons how great and of what kind he is, as far as he thinks he can attain. ### Translation notes - The first words of the staged text are the end of the chapter title and are removed by a correction. - Valentinian I died at Brigetio on 17 November 375. Themistius’s speech is his lost address to Valens on religious toleration (known from Socrates 4.32 and Sozomen); it is not on this site. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 6.36 (PG 67:1401–1403; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/6-36). ## Church History 6.37 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/6-33/#p-6-37 - Source: PG 67:1403–1407 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Driven out by the Huns, the Goths cross the Danube; Fritigern, helped by Valens, adopts his Arian faith, as does the Gothic bishop Ulfilas, translator of the Bible into Gothic; Athanaric persecutes Gothic Christians, and the Goths turn on Thrace. ### Greek text Ἐκ δὴ τοιούτων Θεμιστίου λόγων, φιλανθρωπότερόν πως διατεθεὶς ὁ βασιλεὺς, οὐ χαλεπῶς οὕτως ὡς : πρότερον τὰς τιμωρίας ἐπῆγεν. Οὐ μὴν τελείως ἐφείδετο τῆς κατὰ τῶν ἱερωμένων ὀργῆς, εἰ μὴ κοιτ νῶν πραγμάτων ἐπιγενόμεναι φροντίδες, οὐκέτι τοιάδε συνεχώρουν σπουδάζειν. Γότθοι γὰρ οἱ δὴ πέραν Ἴστρου ποταμοῦ τὸ πρὶν ᾤκουν, καὶ τῶν ἄλ λων Βαρβάρων ἐκράτουν, ἐξελαθέντες παρὰ τῶν κα - λουμένων Ούννων, εἰς τοὺς Ῥωμαίων ὅρους ἐπεραιώθησαν. Τοῦτο δὲ τὸ ἔθνος, ὡς φασιν, ἄγνωστον ἦν προτοῦ Θραξὶ τοῖς παρὰ τὸν Ἴστρον, καὶ Γότθοις αὐτοῖς. Ἐλάνθανον δὲ προσοικοῦντες ἀλλήλοις, καθότι λίμνης μεγίστης ἐν μέσῳ κειμένης, ἕκαστοι τέλος ξηρᾶς ᾤοντο εἶναι τὴν καθ᾿ αὐτοὺς οἰκουμένην, μετὰ τοῦτο δὲ, θάλασσαν καὶ ὕδωρ ἀπέραντον. Συμβὰν δὲ βοῦν οἰστροπλῆγα διαδραμεῖν τὴν λίμνην, ἐπηκολούθησε βουκόλος· καὶ τὴν ἀντιπέραν γῆν θεασάμενος, ἤγγειλε τοῖς ὁμοφύλοις. "Αλλοι δὲ λέγουσιν, ὡς ἔλαφος διαφυγοῦσα, τισὶ τῶν Οὔννων θηρῶσιν ἐπέδειξε τήνδε τὴν ὁδὸν, ἐξ ἐπιπολῆς καλυπτομένην τοῖς ὕδασι. Τοὺς δὲ, τότε μὲν ὑποστρέψαι, θαυμάσαντας τὴν χώραν, ἀέρι μετριώτερον, καὶ γεωργίᾳ ἡμερον ἔχουσαν · καὶ τῷ κρατοῦντι τοῦ ἔθνους ἀγγεῖλαι ὁ ἐθεάσαντο. Δι' ὀλίγων δὲ τὰ πρῶτα καταστῆναι εἰς πεῖραν τοῖς Γότθοις. Μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα, πανσυδεὶ ἐπισ στρατεῦσαι, καὶ μάχῃ κρατῆσαι, καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν αὐτῶν γῆν κατασχεῖν. Τοὺς δὲ διωκομένους, εἰς τὴν Ῥωμαίων περαιωθῆναι· καὶ τὸν ποταμὸν διαβάντας, πρέσβεις πέμψαι πρὸς βασιλέα, συμμάχους τοῦ λοιποῦ ἔσεσθαι σφᾶς, ὑπισχνουμένους, καὶ δεομένους συγ χωρεῖν αὐτοῖς ᾗ βούλοιντο κατοικεῖν. Ταύτης δὲ τῆς πρεσβείας ἄρξαι Οὐλφίλαν, τὸν τοῦ ἔθνους ἐπίσκοπον · κατὰ γνώμην δὲ αὐτοῖς προχωρησάσης, ἐπιτραπῆναι ἀνὰ τὴν Θράκην οἰκεῖν. Οὐ πολλῷ δὲ ὕστερον πρὸς σφᾶς αὐτοὺς στασιάσαντας, διχῆ διαιρεθῆναι. Ἡγεῖτο δὲ, τῶν μὲν ᾿Αθανάριχος · τῶν δὲ Φρι τιγέρνης· ἐπεὶ δὲ πρὸς ἀλλήλους ἐπολέμησαν, κακῶς πράξας ἐν τῇ μάχῃ Φριτιγέρνης, ἐδεῖτο Ῥωμαίων βοηθεῖν αὐτῷ. Τοῦ δὲ βασιλέως ἐπιτρέψαντος βοηθεῖν καὶ συμμαχεῖν αὐτῷ τοὺς ἐν Θράκῃ στρατιώτας, αὖθις συμβαλὼν ἐνίκησε, καὶ τοὺς ἀμφὶ ᾿Αθανάριχον εἰς φυγὴν ἔτρεψεν. "Ωσπερ δὲ χάριν ἀποδιδοὺς Οὐάλεντι, καὶ διὰ πάντων φίλος εἶναι πιστούμενος, ἐκοινώνησε τῆς αὐτοῦ θρησκείας · καὶ τοὺς πειθομένους αὐτῷ βαρβάρους ἔπειθεν ὧδε φρονεῖν. Οὐ τοῦτο δὲ μόνον, οἶμαι, αἴτιον γέγονεν, εἰσέτι νῦν πᾶν τὸ φῦλον προστεθῆναι τοῖς τὰ ᾿Αρείου δοξάζουσιν. ᾿Αλλά γὰρ καὶ Οὐλφίλας ὁ παρ᾿ αὐτοῖς τότε ἱερωμένος, τὰ μὲν πρῶτα οὐδὲν διεφέρετο πρὸς τὴν καθόλου κλησίαν. Ἐπὶ δὲ τῆς Κωνσταντίου βασιλείας, ἀπερισκέπτως, οἶμαι, μετασχὼν τοῖς ἀμφὶ Εὐδόξιον καὶ ᾿Ακάκιον τῆς ἐν Κωνσταντινουπόλει συνόδου, διέμεινε κοινωνῶν τοῖς ἱερεῦσι τῶν ἐν Νικαίᾳ συνελθόντων. Ὡς δὲ εἰς Κωνσταντινούπολιν ἀφίκετο, λέγεται διαλεχθέντων αὐτῷ περὶ τοῦ δόγματος τῶν προεστώτων τῆς ᾿Αρειανῆς αἱρέσεως, καὶ τὴν πρεσβείαν αὐτῷ συμπράξειν πρὸς βασιλέα ὑποσχομένων, εἰ ὁμοίως αὐτοῖς δοξάζοι, βιασθεὶς ὑπὸ τῆς χρείας, ἢ καὶ ἀληθῶς νομίσας ἄμεινον οὕτω περὶ Θεοῦ φρονεῖν, τοῖς ᾿Αρείου κοινωνῆσαι, καὶ αὐτὸν καὶ τὸ πᾶν φῦλον ἀποτεμεῖν τῆς καθόλου Ἐκκλησίας. Ὑπὸ διδασκάλῳ γὰρ αὐτῷ παιδευθέντες οἱ Γότθοι τὰ πρὸς εὐσέβειαν, καὶ δι᾿ αὐτοῦ μετασχόντες πολιτείας ἡμερωτέρας, πάντα ῥᾳδίως αὐτῷ ἐπείθοντο : πεπεισμένοι μηδὲν εἶναι φαῦλον τῶν παρ᾿ αὐτοῦ λεγομένων ἢ πραττομένων· ἅπαντα δὲ συντελεῖν εἰς χρήσιμον τοῖς ζηλοῦσιν. Οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ πλείστην δέδωκε πεῖραν τῆς αὐτοῦ ἀρες τῆς · μυρίους μὲν ὑπομείνας κινδύνους ὑπὲρ τοῦ δόγματος, ἔτι τῶν εἰρημένων βαρβάρων Ἑλληνικῶς θρησκευόντων. Πρῶτος δὲ γραμμάτων εὑρετὴς αὐτοῖς : ἐγένετο, καὶ εἰς τὴν οἰκείαν φωνὴν μετέφρασε τὰς ἱερὰς Βίβλους. Καθότι μὲν οὖν ὡς ἐπίπαν οἱ παρά τὸν Ἴστρον βάρβαροι τὰ ᾿Αρείου φρονοῦσι, πρόφασις ἥδε. Κατ᾿ ἐκεῖνο δὲ καιροῦ, πλῆθος τῶν ὑπὸ τὸν Φριτιγέρνην διὰ Χριστὸν μαρτυροῦντες, ἀνῃρέθησαν. Ὁ γὰρ ᾿Αθανάριχος καὶ τοὺς ὑπ᾿ αὐτῷ τεταγμένους, Οὐλφίλα πείθοντος, Χριστιανίζειν ἀγανακτῶν, ὡς τῆς πατρώας θρησκείας καινοτομουμένης, πολλοὺς πολλαῖς τιμωρίαις ὑπέβαλε. Καὶ τοὺς μὲν εἰς εὐθύνας ἀγαγὼν, παῤῥησιασαμένους ἀνδρείως ὑπὲρ τοῦ δόγματος· τοὺς δὲ μηδὲ λόγου μεταδοὺς, ἀνεῖλε. Λέγεται γὰρ ὣς τι ξόανον ἐφ᾽ ἁρμαμάξης ἑστὼς, οἴ γε τοῦτο ποιεῖν ὑπὸ ᾿Αθαναρίχου προσετάχθησαν, καθ' ἑκάστην σκηνὴν περιάγοντες τῶν Χριστιανίζειν καταγγελλομένων, ἐκέλευον τοῦτο προσκυνεῖν, καὶ θύειν. Τῶν δὲ παραιτουμένων, σὺν αὐτοῖς ἀνθρώποις τὰς σκηνὰς ἐνεπίμπρων. Περιπαθέστερον δὲ τότε καὶ ἕτερον συμ βῆναι πάθος ἐπυθόμην. ᾿Απειρηκότες γὰρ πολλοὶ τῇ βίᾳ τῶν θύειν ἀναγκαζόντων, ἄνδρες τε καὶ γυναῖκες, ὧν αἱ μὲν παιδάρια ἐπήγοντο, αἱ δὲ ἀρτίτοκα βρέφη ὑπὸ τοὺς μαζοὺς ἔτρεφον, ἐπὶ τὴν σκηνὴν τῆς ἐνθάδε ἐκκλησίας κατέφυγον. Προσαψάντων δὲ πῦρτῶν Ελληνιστῶν, ἅπαντες διεφθάρησαν. Οὐκ εἰς μακρὰν δὲ οἱ Γότθοι πρὸς ἀλλήλους ὡμονόησαν · καὶ εἰς ἀπόνοιαν ἐπαρθέντες τοὺς Θρᾷκας ἐκακούργουν, καὶ τὰς αὐτῶν πόλεις καὶ κώμας ἐδήουν. Πυθόμενος δὲ Οὐάλης, τῇ πείρᾳ μεμάθηκεν ὅσον ἥμαρτεν. Οἰηθεὶς γὰρ αὐτῷ τε καὶ τοῖς ἀρχομένοις χρησίμους ἔσεσθαι τοὺς Γότθους, φοβεροὺς δὲ τοῖς ἐναντίοις, ὡς ἐν ὅπλοις ἀεὶ παρεσκευασμένους, τῶν Ῥωμαϊκῶν ταγμάτων ἡμέλει. Καὶ ἀντὶ τῶν εἰωθότων εἰς στρατείαν ἐπιλέγεσθαι ἐκ τῶν ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίους πόλεών τε καὶ κωμῶν, χρυσίον εἰσεπράττετο. Σφαλεὶς δὲ τῆς ἐλπίδος, καταλιπὼν τὴν ᾿Αντιόχειαν, σπουδῇ εἰς τὴν Κωνσταντινούπολιν ἀφίκετο. Ἡνίκα δὴ ὁ κατὰ τῶν ἑτέρως αὐτῷ Χριστιανιζόντων διωγμὸς ἀνακωχὴν ἔσχεν. Εύζωΐου δὲ τελευτήσαντος, προβληθεὶς εἰς τὴν αὐτοῦ ἀρχὴν Θεόδωρος, τῶν τὰ ᾿Αρείου φρονούντων προΐστατο. ### English translation (Claude) Made somewhat more humane by these words of Themistius, the emperor no longer inflicted punishments as harshly as before. Yet he did not altogether spare his anger against the priests, until anxieties about public affairs arose and no longer allowed him to pursue such matters. For the Goths, who had formerly lived beyond the river Ister and ruled the other barbarians, being driven out by those called Huns, crossed over into Roman territory. This nation, they say, was previously unknown to the Thracians along the Ister and to the Goths themselves. They lived near one another without knowing it, because a very great lake lay between them, and each thought that the land they inhabited was the end of the dry land, and beyond it sea and boundless water. But a heifer stung by a gadfly happened to run across the lake, and a herdsman followed; and seeing the land on the other side, he reported it to his own people. Others say that a stag, fleeing, showed some Huns who were hunting this way, which was covered on the surface by the water. They then returned, admiring the country, which had a milder climate and was suitable for farming, and reported to the ruler of the nation what they had seen. At first they made trial of the Goths with a few men; afterwards they marched against them in full force, conquered them in battle, and took possession of all their land. The Goths, pursued, crossed into Roman territory; and having crossed the river, they sent envoys to the emperor, promising to be his allies in future and asking him to let them settle where they wished. Ulfilas, the bishop of the nation, led this embassy; and when it succeeded as they wished, they were permitted to live in Thrace. Not long afterwards they quarrelled among themselves and were divided in two; the one part was led by Athanaric, the other by Fritigern. When they made war on one another, Fritigern, having fared badly in the battle, asked the Romans to help him. When the emperor ordered the soldiers in Thrace to help him and fight as his allies, he engaged again, won, and put Athanaric’s party to flight. As though returning thanks to Valens and giving assurance that he was his friend in every respect, he shared his religion, and persuaded the barbarians who obeyed him to believe the same. This, I think, is not the only reason why the whole nation is to this day attached to those who hold the views of Arius. Ulfilas too, who was then their priest, at first did not differ at all from the catholic church; but in the reign of Constantius, having, heedlessly I think, taken part in the synod at Constantinople with Eudoxius and Acacius, he continued in communion with the priests of those who had met at Nicaea. But when he came to Constantinople, it is said that the leaders of the Arian heresy discussed the doctrine with him and promised to support his embassy to the emperor if he believed as they did; and that, compelled by need, or really thinking it better to believe so about God, he communicated with the followers of Arius and cut off both himself and the whole nation from the catholic church. For the Goths, having been taught the things of piety by him as their teacher, and having through him entered on a gentler way of life, readily obeyed him in everything, persuaded that nothing said or done by him was bad, but that everything contributed to the benefit of those who followed it. Indeed he had given very great proof of his virtue, having endured countless dangers for the doctrine while these barbarians were still worshipping as pagans. He was the first inventor of letters for them and translated the sacred books into their own language. This, then, is the reason why the barbarians along the Ister for the most part hold the views of Arius. At that time a multitude of Fritigern’s people were put to death bearing witness for Christ. For Athanaric, angry that those under him too were becoming Christians at Ulfilas’s persuasion, as though the ancestral religion were being overturned, subjected many to many punishments. Some he brought to trial and, when they spoke boldly for the doctrine, killed them; others he killed without even giving them a hearing. For it is said that those ordered by Athanaric to do this carried an image standing on a wagon round to each tent of those reported to be Christians, and ordered them to worship it and sacrifice; and when they refused, they burned the tents with the people in them. I have learned that another still more pitiable thing happened then. Many, men and women, worn out by the violence of those compelling them to sacrifice — some of the women leading little children, others nursing newborn babes at the breast — fled to the tent of the church there. The pagans set it on fire, and all perished. Not long after the Goths made peace with one another; and, carried away into madness, they did harm to the Thracians and ravaged their cities and villages. When Valens learned this, he discovered by experience how greatly he had erred. For thinking that the Goths would be useful to himself and his subjects and fearsome to his enemies, as always under arms, he had neglected the Roman legions, and instead of those usually levied for military service from the cities and villages under the Romans, gold was exacted. Disappointed in his hope, he left Antioch and came in haste to Constantinople. Then the persecution against Christians who believed otherwise than he had a respite. When Euzoius died, Theodore was put forward into his office and led those who held the views of Arius. ### Translation notes - The first words of the staged text are the end of the chapter title and are removed by a correction. - Sozomen’s account of how Ulfilas and the Goths came to Arianism is his own; translated as written. The Goths crossed the Danube in 376. - “Theodore”: so the Greek as printed; Euzoius’s successor at Antioch was Dorotheus (Socrates, Hist. eccl. 4.35; NPNF² 2 reads Dorotheus here). ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 6.37 (PG 67:1403–1407; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/6-37). ## Church History 6.38 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/6-33/#p-6-38 - Source: PG 67:1407–1413 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Queen Mavia of the Saracens wars on the Roman East until Valens grants her the monk Moses as bishop; Moses refuses ordination from the Arian Lucius, and Sozomen relates the Saracens’ descent from Ishmael, their Jewish customs, and the conversion of Zocomus’s tribe. ### Greek text Ὑπὸ δὲ τὸν αὐτὸν τοῦτον χρόνον Β, τελευτήσαντος τοῦ Σαρακηνῶν βασιλέως, αἱ πρὸς τοὺς Ῥωμαίους σπονδαὶ ἐλύθησαν. Μανία δὲ ἡ τούτου γαμετή, τὴν ἡγεμονίαν τοῦ ἔθνους ἐπιτροπεύουσα, ἐδῄου τὰς Φοινίχων Παλαιστινῶν πόλεις, μέχρι πτίων, ἐξενωνύμων ἀναπλέοντι τὸν Νεῖλον, τὸ 6:0» καλούμενον κλίμα οἰκούντων. δὲ οὐχ οἷος νομίζεσθαι ῥάδιος ὁ πόλεμος, ὡς παρὰ γυναικὸς παρασχευαζόμενος. Καρτερὰν γὰρ δυσχκαταγώνιστόν φασι γενέσθαι Ῥωμαίοις ταύτην τὴν μάχην ’ ὡς καὶ τὸν ἡγεμόνα τῶν ἐν Φοινίκῃ στρατιωτῶν, εἰς συμμαχίαν ἐπικαλέσασθαι τὸν στρατηγὸν πάσης τῆς ἀνὰ τὴν ἱππικῆς τε καὶ πεζῆς στρατιᾶς. Τὸν δὲ, γελάσαι μὲν τὴν χλῆσιν, ἀπόμαχον ποιῆσαι τὸν χαλέσαντα, Παραταξάμενον δὲ πρὸς Μανίαν ἀντιστρατηγοῦσαν, τραπῆναι, καὶ μόλις διασωθῆναι παρὰ τοῦ ἡγεμόνος τῶν Παλαιστινῶν καὶ Φοινίχων στρατιωτῶν. Ὡς γὰρ εἶδεν αὐτὸν κινδυνεύοντα, μένειν ἐκτὸς τῆς μάχης κατὰ τὴν αὐτοῦ πρόσταξιν εὔηθες ἐνόμισε" προσδραμών τε ὑπήντησε βαρβάροις, τῷ μὲν καιρὸν ἔδωκεν ἀσφαλεστέρας φυγῆς; αὐτὸς δὲ ὑπαναχωρῶν, ἐν τῷ φεύγειν ἐτόξευς,, καὶ τοὺς πολεμίους ἐπιχειμένους ἀπεχρούετο τοῖς τοξεύμασι. Ταῦτα δὲ πολλοὶ τῶν τῇδε προσοικούντων, εἰσέτι νῦν ἀπομνημονεύουσι παρὰ δὲ Σαρακηνοῖς, ἐν ᾧδαῖς ἐστιν. ᾿Επιδαροῦντος δὲ τοῦ πολέμου, ἀναγἐδόκει περὶ εἰρήνης πρεσδεύσασθαι πρὸς νίαν. Τὴν δὲ λόγος, τοῖς περὶ τούτου πρεσθεύσατσιν ἄντικρυς ἀπειπεῖν τὰς πρὸς Ῥωμαίους σπονδὰς, εἰ μὴ τοῖς ὑπ' αὐτὴν ἀρχομένοις ἐπίσκοπος χειροτονηθείη Μωσῆς τις, ἐν τῇ πέλας ἐρήμῳ τηνικάδε φιλοσοφῶν " ἀνὴρ ἀπὸ βίου ἀρετῆς, σημείων τε θείων παραδόξων ἐπίσημος. Ἐπιτραπέντες δὲ παρὰ βαπιλέως οἱ τάδε μηνύσαντες τῶν στρατιωτῶν ἦγεμόνες, συλλαμθάνουσι τὸν Μωσῆν, παρὰ τὸν Λούκιον ἄγουσιν. Ὁ δὲ, παρόντων ἀρχόντων καὶ τοῦ συνελθόντος πλήθους, Ἐπίσχες, ἔφη "οὐχ οἷός τε γάρ εἶμι φέρειν ἀρχιερέως ὄνομα τιμὴν ἀξίως. δ' ἄρα ἐπὶ ἀναξίῳ ὄντι μοι τοῦτο ἐπινεύοι Θεὸς, μαρτύρομαι τὸν οὐρανοῦ καὶ γῆς δημιουργὸν, ὡς τὰς σὰς οὐχ ἐπιθαλεῖς μοι χεῖρας, αἵματι καὶ λύθρῳ πεφυρμένας ἁγίων ἀνδρῶν. Ὑπολαβὼν δὲ Λούκιος, Εἰ μὲν ἔτι, φησὶν, ἀγνοεῖς τὴν ἐμὴν πίστιν, οὐ δίκαια ποιεῖς, πρὶν μαθεῖν ἀποστρεφόμενος. Εἰ δὲ διαθαλλόντων τινῶν, ἄγε δὴ καὶ νῦν ἄκουσον παρ᾽ ἐμοῦ, καὶ κριτὴς γενοῦ τῶν λεγομένων, ᾿Αλλ' ἔμοιγε, ἔφη Μωσῆς, λίαν σαφὴς φαίνεται ἡ σὴ πίστις " καὶ μαρτυροῦσιν ὁποία τίς ἐστι, ἐπίσχοποί τε πρεσθδύδὲ τεροι, διάκονοι, ἐν ὑπερορίαις φυγαῖς, μετάλλοις ταλαιπωρούμενοι, Ταῦτα οὖν περὶ Θεοῦ : ζεις τὰ γνωρίσματα, ἃ παντελῶς ἐστιν ἀλλότρια Χριστοῦ καὶ τῶν ὀρθῶς περὶ Θεοῦ δοξαζόντων. Ἐπεὶ δὲ τοιαῦτα λέγων ἐπώμνυτο, μήτε Λουκίου χειροτονοῦντὸς ὑποδέχεσθαι τὴν ἱερωσύνην, παραιτησάμενοι Λούκιον οἱ Ῥωμαίων ἄρχοντες, ἄγουσι Μωσῆν πρὸς τοὺς ἐν φυγῇ ὄντας ἐπισκόπους. Παρ' ὧν χειροτονηθεὶς, ὡς τοὺς Σαρακηνούς ἦλθε· καὶ διαλλάξας αὐτοὺς Ῥωμαίοις, αὐτόθι διῆγεν ἱερωμένος, καὶ πολλοὺς Χριστιανίσαι παρεσκεύασε, κομιδῇ ὀλίγους εὑρὼν τοῦ δόγματος μετασχόντας. Τουτί γὰρ τὸ φῦλον ἀπὸ Ἰσμαὴλ τοῦ ᾿Ἀβραὰμ παιδὸς τὴν ἀρχὴν λαβὸν, καὶ τὴν προσηγορίαν εἶχε, καὶ Ἰσματλίτας αὐτοὺς οἱ ἀρχαῖοι, ἀπὸ τοῦ προπάτορος ὠνόμάσαν. ᾿Αποτριβόμενοι δὲ τοῦ νόθου τὸν ἔλεγχον, καὶ τῆς ᾿Αγαρ τῆς Ἰσμαὴλ μητρὸς τὴν δυσγένειαν, δούλη γὰρ ἦν, Σαῤῥακηνοὺς σφᾶς ὠνόμασαν, ὡς ἀπὸ Σάῤῥας τῆς ᾿Ἀβραὰμ γαμετῆς καταγομένους. … δὲ τὸ γένος ἕλκοντες, ἅπαντες μὲν ὁμοίως Ἑβραίοις περιτέμνονται, καὶ ὑείων κρεῶν ἀπέχονται, καὶ ἄλλα πολλὰ τῶν παρ᾿ αὐτοῖς ἐθῶν φυλάττουσι. Τὸ δὲ μὴ πάντα ἐπίσης αὐτοῖς πολιτεύεσθαι, χρόνῳ λογιστέον, ἢ ταῖς ἐπιμιξίαις τῶν πέριξ ἐθνῶν. Μωσῆς τε γὰρ πολλοῖς ὕστερον χρόνοις γενόμενος, μόνοις τοῖς ἐξ Αἰγύπτου ἐξελθοῦσιν ἐνομοθέτησε. Καὶ οἱ προσοικοῦντες αὐτοῖς ὡς ἄγαν δεισιδαίμονες ὄντες, ὡς εἰκὸς διέφθειραν τὴν Ἰσμαὴλ πατρώαν ἀγωγὴν, καθ᾿ ἣν μόνην ἐπολιτεύοντο οἱ πάλαι Ἑβραῖοι, πρὸ τῆς τοῦ Μωσέως νομοθεσίας ἀγράφοις ἔθεσι κεχρημένοι. Αμέλει τὰ αὐτὰ δαιμόνια τοῖς ὁμόροις ἔσεβον, καὶ παραπλησίως αὐτὰ τιμῶντες καὶ ὀνομά(ζοντες, ἐν τῇ πρὸς τοὺς πέλας ὁμοιότητι τῆς θρη σκείας, τὸ αἴτιον ἐδείκνυόν τῆς παραποιήσεως τῶν πατρίων νόμων. Οἷα δὲ φιλεῖ, χρόνος πολὺς ἐπιγενόμενος, τὰ μὲν λήθῃ παρέδωκε · τὰ δὲ πρεσβεύεσθαι παρ' αὐτοῖς ἐποίησε. Μετὰ δὲ ταῦτὰ τινες αὐτῶν συγγενόμενοι Ἰουδαίοις, ἔμαθον ἀφ᾿ ὧν ἐγένοντο καὶ ἐπὶ τὸ συγγενὲς ἐπανῆλθον, καὶ τοῖς Ἑβραίοις ἔθεσι καὶ νόμοις προσέθεντο. Ἐξ ἐκείνου τε πολλοί παρ' αὐτοῖς εἰσέτι καὶ νῦν Ἰουδαϊκῶς ζῶσιν. Οὐ πρὸ πολλοῦ δὲ τῆς παρούσης βασιλείας, καὶ Χριστιανίζειν ἤρξαντο. Μετέσχον δὲ τῆς ἐν Χριστῷ πίστεως, ταῖς συνουσίαις τῶν προσοικούντων αὐτοῖς ἱερέων καὶ μοναχῶν, οἱ ἐν ταῖς πέλας ἐρημίαις ἐφιλοσόφουν, εὖ βιοῦντες καὶ θαυματουργοῦντες. Λέγεται δὲ τότε καὶ φυλὴν ὅλην εἰς Χριστιανισμὸν μεταβαλεῖν, Ζωκόμου τοῦ ταύτης φυλάρχου βαπτισθέντος ἐξ αἰτίας τοιᾶσδε. Ἄπαις ὢν, κατὰ κλέος ἀνδρὸς μοναχοῦ ἦλθεν αὐτῷ συντευξόμενος, καὶ τὴν συμφοράν ἀπωδύρετο. Περὶ πολλοῦ γάρ ἐστι παιδοποιία Σαρ᾿ ῥαχηνοῖς, οἶμαι δὲ πᾶσι βαρβάροις. Ὁ δὲ, θαῤῥεῖν παραχελευσάμενος, ηὔξατο ἀπέπεμψεν, ἕξειν αὐτὸν υἱὸν ὑποσχόμενος, εἰ πιστεύσειεν εἰς Χριστόν. Ἐπεὶ δὲ Θεὸς ἔργῳ τὴν ὑπόσχεσιν ἐθεθαίωσε, καὶ ἐτέχθη αὐτῷ παῖς, αὐτός τε Ζόχομος ἐμνήθη, καὶ τοὺς ὑπ᾽ αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τοῦτο ἤγαγεν. Ἐξ ἐκείνου τε ταύτην τὴν φυλὴν γενέσθαι φασὶν εὐδαίμονα καὶ πολυάνθρωπον, Πέρσαις τε τοῖς ἄλλοις Σαῤῥακχηνοῖς φοδεράν. Ὃν μὲν δὴ τρόπον Σαῤῥαχηνοὶ τὴν ἀρχὴν εἰς Χριστιανισμὸν μετέβαλον, καὶ οἷα περὶ τοῦ πρώτου παρ᾽ αὐτοῖς ἐπισκοπήσαντος παρειλήφαμεν, ὧδε ἔχει. ### English translation (Claude) About this same time, when the king of the Saracens died, the treaty with the Romans was broken. Mavia his wife, governing the nation, ravaged the cities of the Phoenicians and Palestinians as far as the Egyptians who live on the left as one sails up the Nile, in the region called Arabia. This war was not to be thought easy, as being waged by a woman; for they say that this battle was fierce and hard for the Romans to win, so that the commander of the soldiers in Phoenicia called to his help the general of all the cavalry and infantry of the East. He laughed at the summons and ordered the one who had called him to keep out of the fight; but drawing up his army against Mavia, who commanded against him, he was routed and barely saved by the commander of the Palestinian and Phoenician soldiers. For when that commander saw him in danger, he thought it foolish to stay out of the battle according to his order; and running up he met the barbarians, gave the general the chance of a safer flight, and himself, withdrawing gradually, shot arrows as he fled and drove back the enemy pressing on him with his arrows. Many who live in those parts still remember these things, and among the Saracens they are in songs. As the war weighed heavily, it seemed necessary to send envoys to Mavia about peace. She, the story goes, flatly refused the treaty with the Romans to those who came as envoys about it, unless a certain Moses, who then lived the philosophic life in the desert nearby, were ordained bishop for those under her rule — a man distinguished for the virtue of his life and for divine and marvellous signs. The commanders of the soldiers who reported this, being permitted by the emperor, seized Moses and brought him to Lucius. He, in the presence of the officials and of the assembled crowd, said: “Stop; for I am not able worthily to bear the name and honour of a high priest. But if God indeed should approve this for me, unworthy as I am, I call to witness the creator of heaven and earth that you will not lay on me your hands, stained with the blood and gore of holy men.” Lucius answered: “If you are still ignorant of my faith, you are not acting justly in turning from me before you learn it. If you have been told slanders, come now, hear from me, and be a judge of what I say.” “But to me,” said Moses, “your faith appears very clear; and of what kind it is, bishops, presbyters and deacons bear witness, suffering in exiles beyond the frontier and in the mines. Do you then hold these as tokens of belief about God, which are wholly foreign to Christ and to those who think rightly about God?” When he swore, saying such things, that he would not receive the priesthood if Lucius ordained him, the Roman officials, excusing Lucius, brought Moses to the bishops who were in exile. Ordained by them, he went to the Saracens; and having reconciled them to the Romans, he lived there as their priest and brought many to become Christians, having found very few who shared in the doctrine. For this tribe took its origin from Ishmael, the son of Abraham, and had its name from him, and the ancients called them Ishmaelites after their forefather. But, rubbing off the reproach of bastardy and the low birth of Hagar, Ishmael’s mother, for she was a slave, they named themselves Saracens, as being descended from Sarah, the wife of Abraham. … deriving their race, they all, like the Hebrews, are circumcised, abstain from pork, and keep many other of their customs. That they do not live entirely as the Hebrews do must be ascribed to time, or to their intermingling with the surrounding nations. For Moses, who lived many ages later, gave laws only to those who came out of Egypt. And those living near them, being exceedingly superstitious, naturally corrupted the ancestral way of life of Ishmael, which alone the ancient Hebrews followed before the legislation of Moses, using unwritten customs. Indeed, they worshipped the same demons as their neighbours, and by honouring and naming them in the same way, they showed in the likeness of their religion to their neighbours the cause of the corruption of their ancestral laws. As tends to happen, the long time that passed consigned some things to oblivion and made other things venerable among them. Afterwards some of them, associating with Jews, learned from whom they were descended, returned to their kin, and adopted the Hebrew customs and laws; and from that time many among them still live in Jewish fashion. Not long before the present reign they also began to become Christians. They came to share in the faith in Christ through association with the priests and monks living near them, who practised the philosophic life in the neighbouring deserts, living well and working wonders. It is said that at that time a whole tribe also changed over to Christianity, when Zocomus, its phylarch, was baptized for the following reason. Being childless, he came to a certain monk, drawn by his fame, to meet him, and lamented his misfortune; for having children is of great importance to the Saracens, and, I think, to all barbarians. The monk bade him take courage, prayed, and sent him away, promising that he would have a son if he believed in Christ. When God confirmed the promise by the deed and a son was born to him, Zocomus himself was initiated and brought those under him to the same. And from that time, they say, this tribe became prosperous and populous, and formidable to the Persians and the other Saracens. Such is the way the Saracens first changed over to Christianity, and what we have received about the first who was bishop among them. ### Scripture references - Gen 16:15: allusion, medium confidence - Gen 21:9–21: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The first words of the staged text are the end of the chapter title and are removed by a correction. - Three displaced lines in the scan are restored by corrections: the phrase about Sarah (it stood inside Moses’ reply to Lucius) and the words naming Zocomus as phylarch (they stood inside the passage on the Saracens’ name). One or two words before “deriving their race” are lost (marked “…”). - The derivation of “Saracens” from Sarah is Sozomen’s own; translated as written. Ishmael and Hagar: Gen 16; 21:9–21. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 6.38 (PG 67:1407–1413; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/6-38). ## Church History 6.39 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/6-33/#p-6-39 - Source: PG 67:1413 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Peter returns to Alexandria with Damasus’s letters and Lucius is expelled; with the Goths at the gates, the people of Constantinople jeer Valens into marching out against them. ### Greek text Οἱ δὲ κατὰ πόλιν τὸ δόγμα τῆς ἐν Νικαίᾳ συνόδου ξηλοῦντες, πάλιν ἀνεθάῤῥουν, καὶ μάλιστα οἵ Αἴγυπτον ᾿Αλεξανδρεῖς. πανελθόντι δὲ τότε Πέτρῳ ἀπὸ τῆς Ῥώμης μετὰ γραμμάτων Δαμάσου, τά τε ἐν Νικαίᾳ δόξαντα, καὶ τὴν αὐτοῦ χειροτονίαν χυρούντων, παρέδωκαν τὰς ᾿Ἐχχλησίας. δὲ Λούκιος ἐξελαθεὶς, ἐπὶ τὴν Κωνσταντινηύπολιν ἀπέπλευσεν. Οὐάλης δὲ ὁ βασιλεὺς, ὡς εἰκὸς, ἐν φροντίσι γενόμένος, ἐπεξιέναι τούτοις σχολὴν οὐχ ἦγεν ἅμα γὰρ ἧκεν εἰς τὴν Κωνσταντινούπολιν, ἐν ὑπονοίᾳ πολλῇ καὶ μίσει ἐγένετο παρὰ τῷ δήμῳ. Οἱ γὰρ βάρβαροι τὴν Θράκην δῃώσαντες, καὶ μέχρι τῶν προαστείων ἤδη προελθόντες, καὶ αὐτοῖς τείχεσι μηδενὸς χωλύοντος προσβάλλειν ἐπεχείρουν. τούτοις δὲ χαλεπῶς ἡ πόλις ἔφερε" τὸν βασιλέα, ὅτι μὴ ἀντεξήει, ἀλλ᾽ ἀνεβάλλετο πολεμεῖν, ἐν αἰτίᾳ ἐποιοῦντο" ἐλογοποίουν, ὡς αὑτὸς τοὺς πολεμίους ἐπάγοιτο. Τελευτῶντες δὲ, ἐν ἱπποδρομίᾳ θεώμενοι, εἰς τὸ φανερὸν αὑτοῦ χατεδόων, ὡς τὰ κοινὰ πράγματα περιορῶντος, ὅπλα ἤἥτουν, ὡς αὐτοὶ πολεμήσονπες, Ὁ δὲ Οὐάλης ὑθρισθεὶς, ἐπεστράτευσε τοῖς βαρβάροις ἠπείλησε δὲ ἣν ὑποστρέψῃ, τιμωρήσειν αὐτῷ, τῶν τε ὕδρεων τοῦ δήμου, καὶ ὅτι πρότερον Προκοπίῳ τῷ τυράννῳ προσέθεντο, ### English translation (Claude) Those in the cities who were zealous for the doctrine of the synod at Nicaea took courage again, especially the Alexandrians in Egypt. When Peter returned then from Rome with letters of Damasus confirming the decisions of Nicaea and his own ordination, they handed the churches over to him; and Lucius, driven out, sailed away to Constantinople. The emperor Valens, being, as was natural, full of cares, had no leisure to deal with them. For as soon as he came to Constantinople he was under much suspicion and hatred among the people. For the barbarians, having ravaged Thrace and advanced already as far as the suburbs, were attempting to attack the very walls, no one preventing them. The city took this badly; they blamed the emperor because he did not go out against them but put off the fighting, and they put about the story that he himself was bringing in the enemy. At last, watching a horse race, they openly cried out against him for neglecting the common affairs, and demanded arms, saying they would fight themselves. Valens, insulted, marched against the barbarians; and he threatened, if he returned, to punish them both for the insults of the people and because they had earlier joined the usurper Procopius. ### Translation notes - The first words of the staged text are the end of the chapter title and are removed by a correction. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 6.39 (PG 67:1413; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/6-39). ## Church History 6.40 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/6-33/#p-6-40 - Source: PG 67:1413–1415 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The monk Isaac warns Valens that he will not return unless he restores the churches to the Nicene party; Valens is defeated by the Goths at Adrianople and burned to death in a house where he had taken refuge. ### Greek text Ἐξελθόντε δὲ αὐτῷ τῆς Κωνσταντινουπόλεως, προσελθὼν Ἰσαάχιος ἀνὴρ μοναχὸς, τά τε ἄλλα ἀγαθὸς, καὶ διὰ τὸ θεῖον κινδύνων καταφρονῶν - ᾿Απόδος, ἔφη, ὦ βασιλεῦ, τοῖς ὀρθῶς δοξάζουσι, καὶ τὴν παράδοσιν φυλάττουσι τῶν ἐν Νικαίᾳ συνεληλυ θότων, τὰς ἀφαιρεθείσας ἐκκλησίας, καὶ νικήσεις τὸν πόλεμον. Ὀργισθεὶς δὲ ὁ βασιλεὺς, ἐκέλευσεν αὐτὸν συλληφθῆναι καὶ δέσμιον φυλάττεσθαι, ἄχρις ἐπανελθών, δίκην εἰσπράξηται τοῦ τολμήματος. Ὁ δὲ ὑπολαβὼν, Ἀλλ᾿ οὐχ ὑποστρέψῃς, ἔφη, μὴ ἀποδοὺς τὰς ἐκκλησίας. Καὶ ἀπέβη οὕτως. Ἐπεὶ γὰρ ἅμα τῷ στρατῷ ἐπεξῆλθεν, οἱ μὲν Γότθοι διωκόμενοι ὑπεχώρουν. Ὁ δὲ ἀπιὼν, ἤδη παραμείψας τὴν Θράκην, ἧκεν εἰς τὴν ᾿Ανδριανούπολιν. Οὐκ ἀπὸ πολλοῦ τε γενόμενος τοῖς βαρβάροις, ἐν ἀσφαλεῖ χώρῳ στρατοπεδευομένοις, θᾶττον ἢ ἔδει συμβάλλει, μὴ προδιαθεὶς ᾗ χρὴ καὶ ὅπη τάξαι τὴν στρατιάν. Διασπασθείσης δὲ αὐτῷ τῆς ἴππου, καὶ τοῦ ὁπλιτικοῦ τραπέντος, διωκόμενος ὑπὸ τῶν πολεμίων, εἷς τι δωμάτιον ἢ πύργον, ὀλίγοις ἅμα συνεπομένοις αὐτῷ, ἐν τῷ φεύγειν ἀποβὰς τοῦ ἵππου, εἰσέδυ καὶ ἔλαθεν. Οἱ δὲ βάρβαροι ἔθεον ἐπ᾿ αὐτὸν ὡς αἱρήσοντες · καὶ ἐπὶ τὸ πρόσω ἰέμενοι, παρέτρεχον· οὐ γὰρ ὑπενόουν αὐτὸν ἐκεῖσε κρύπτεσθαι. Τῶν δ' αὖ ἐσὺν αὐτῷ τινες, ἤδη τῶν πλειόνων βαρβάρων ὑπερβαλόντων τὸν τῇδε χῶρον, ὀλίγων δὲ κατόπιν ὄντων, ἐκ τοῦ ὀρόφου τοὺς παριόντας ἑτόξευον· οἱ δὲ ἐπὶ τούτῳ ἀνέκραγον, Ἐν θάδε Οὐάλης ἐστίν. Ακούσαντες δὲ οἱ προστυχόντες πλησίον, ἔμπροσθέν τε καὶ ὄπισθεν βοῇ τοῖς μετ᾿ αὐτοὺς ἐδήλουν 4 ὃ ἤκουον· ὡς ἐν βραχεῖ καὶ τοὺς ποῤῥωτέρω πολεμίους ἀκοῦσαι, καὶ διὰ τάχους εἰς – αὐτὸν πάντας συνελθεῖν. Περιλαβόντες δὲ κύκλῳ τὸ δωμάτιον, καὶ πλείστην ὕλην περὶ τοῦτο συλλέ ξαντες, πῦρ ἐνέβαλον · αὐτίκα δὲ ἡ φλὸξ ὑπὸ ἐπιφόρου πνεύματος ὧδε συμβὰν ἐλαυνομένη, τὴν ὕλην διῆλθεν. Αμα δὲ καὶ τὰ ἀποκείμενα ἐν τῷ δωματίῳ, τοῦ πυρὸς μετέσχε, καὶ αὐτὸν τὸν βασιλέα καὶ τοὺς ἀμφ' αὐτὸν συγκατέκαυσεν. Ἐτελεύτησε δὲ γεγονώς ἀμφὶ τὰ πεντήκοντα ἔτη· τρισκαίδεκα δὲ σὺν τῷ ἀδελφῷ βασιλεύσας, καὶ μετ᾿ ἐκεῖνον τρία. ### English translation (Claude) As he was going out of Constantinople, Isaac, a monk, a good man in every way and despising dangers for the sake of the divine, came up to him and said: “Give back, O emperor, to those who believe rightly and keep the tradition of those who met at Nicaea the churches that were taken from them, and you will win the war.” The emperor, angered, ordered him to be arrested and kept in chains until he should return and exact the penalty for his daring. He answered: “But you will not return, if you do not give back the churches.” And so it turned out. For when he went out with the army, the Goths retreated before his pursuit. He, going on, having already passed through Thrace, came to Adrianople. Coming close to the barbarians, who were encamped in a safe place, he engaged them sooner than he should, without first arranging how and where the army must be drawn up. When his cavalry was scattered and the infantry routed, pursued by the enemy, he dismounted in his flight and slipped unnoticed into a small house or tower, with a few following him. The barbarians ran after him to seize him, and rushing onward ran past; for they did not suspect that he was hiding there. But some of those with him, when most of the barbarians had already passed the place and only a few were behind, shot arrows from the roof at those passing by. At this they cried out, “Valens is here.” Those nearby who heard it passed on with a shout what they heard to those in front and behind, so that in a short time even the enemy further off heard, and quickly all came together to him. Surrounding the house and gathering a great deal of wood around it, they set it on fire; and at once the flame, driven by a wind that happened to be blowing, went through the wood. At the same time the things stored in the house caught fire and burned up the emperor himself and those with him. He died at about fifty years of age, having reigned thirteen years with his brother and three after him. ### Translation notes - The battle of Adrianople was fought on 9 August 378. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 6.40 (PG 67:1413–1415; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/6-40). ## Church History 7.1 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/6-33/#p-7-1 - Source: PG 67:1417 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: After Adrianople the Goths reach the walls of Constantinople and are driven off by Saracen allies and the citizens; Gratian recalls those exiled for religion and grants freedom of worship except to Manichees, Photinians and Eunomians. ### Greek text Οὐάλεντι μὲν ὧδε θανεῖν ξυνηνέχθη· οἱ δὲ βάρβαροι, ἐπαρθέντες ἐπὶ τῇ νίκῃ, πᾶσαν τὴν Θράκην ἐδῇουν " καὶ τελευτῶντες, τὰ προάστεια Κωνσταντινουπόλεως κατέτρεχον, Κινδυνεύουσι δὲ τότε τοῖς πράγμασι μέγα γεγόνασιν ὄφελος, ἐχ μὲν τῶν ὑποσπόνδων Σα» ρακηνῶν ὀλίγοι παρὰ Μανίας ἀποσταλέντες, πλεῖστοι δὲ ἀπὸ τοῦ δῆμον. Ῥητὸν γὰρ ἐκ τοῦ δημοσίου μισθὸν χορηγούσης αὐτοῖς Δομνίχης τῆς Οὐάλεντος γαμετῆς, ὡς ἔτυχεν ἔκαστος ὁπλιζόμενος, ἀντεπεξἤεσαν, τοὺς πολεμίους ἀμυνόμενοι, πόῤῥω τῆς πόλεως ἀπεδίωχον. Γρατιανὸς δὲ ἅμα τῷ ἀδελφῷ πᾶσαν τὴν Ῥωμαίων ἀρχὴν διέπων, οὐχ ἐπαινέσας τὸν θεῖον τῆς γνώμης, ἣν περὶ τοὺς ἑτέρως αὑτῷ δοξάζοντας διετέλεσεν ἔχων, πᾶσι τοῖς ἐπ᾽ διὰ τὴν θρησκείαν φεύγειν χαταδιχασθεῖσι, τὴν κάθοδον ἀπέδωχς " νόμον ἔθετο, μετὰ ἀδείας ἐχάστους θρησκεύειν ὡς βούλονται, ἐκκλησιάζειν, πλὴν Μανιχαίων, καὶ τῶν τὰ Φωτεινοῦ καὶ Εὐνομίου φρονούντων. ### English translation (Claude) So it befell Valens to die. The barbarians, elated by their victory, ravaged all Thrace, and finally overran the suburbs of Constantinople. At that critical time great help was given by a few of the allied Saracens sent by Mavia, and very much by the people. For Domnica, the wife of Valens, supplied them with a fixed pay from the public treasury, and armed as each happened to be, they went out against the enemy, beat them off and drove them far from the city. Gratian, now governing the whole Roman empire together with his brother, not approving of his uncle’s attitude, which he had kept to the end toward those who believed otherwise than he did, granted return to all who had been condemned to exile for religion, and made a law that all should worship freely as they wished and hold assemblies, except the Manichees and those who held the views of Photinus and Eunomius. ### Translation notes - Gratian’s edict of toleration (378) is known from Socrates 5.2 and Sozomen; it does not survive. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 7.1 (PG 67:1417; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/7-1). ## Church History 7.2 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/6-33/#p-7-2 - Source: PG 67:1417–1421 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Gratian makes Theodosius co-emperor; the Macedonians reclaim churches and reject the homoousios at Antioch in Caria, while some returning Nicene bishops, like Eulalius of Amasea, offer to share their sees with Arian bishops for the sake of unity. ### Greek text Λογισάμενος δὲ, ὡς τῶν ἀμφὶ τὸν Ἴστρον βαρῆά᾿λυριοὺς Θρᾷκας ἐνοχλούντων προσῆκεν Μανία : ἐπαμύνειν · ἀναγκαῖον δὲ καὶ τοῖς πρὸς Ἑσπέραν ἀρχομένοις παρεῖναι, καὶ μάλιστα ᾿Αλαμαννῶν · τοὺς ἐνθάδε Γαλάτας κακουργούντων, κοινωνὸν ἐποιήσατο τῆς ἀρχῆς ἐν τῷ Σιρμίῳ Θεοδόσιον, γένους τῶν ἀμφὶ τὸ Πυρηναῖον ὄρος Ἰβήρων, εὐπατρίδην τε καὶ ἄριστα πολλάκις ἐν πολέμοις διαγενόμενον · ὡς καὶ πρὸ τῆς βασιλείας, ἐν ταῖς τῶν ὑπηκόων γνώμαις ἐπιτήδειον αὐτὸν δόξαι πρὸς ἡγεμονίαν. Ἐν τούτῳ δὲ πλὴν Ἱεροσολύμων, ἔτι τῶν ἀνὰ τὴν Ἕω ἐκκλησιῶν οἱ τὰ ᾿Αρείου φρονοῦντες ἐκράτουν. Μακεδονιανοὶ δὲ, καὶ μάλιστα οἱ ἐν Κωνσταντινουπόλει, μετὰ τὰς πρὸς Λιβέριον συνθήκας, οὐ μέγα τι διεφέροντο πρὸς τοὺς ἐπαινοῦντας τὸ δόγμα τῶν ἐν Νικαίᾳ συνελθόντων · ὡς ὁμοδόξοις δὲ, κατὰ πόλεις ἐπεμίγνυντο, καὶ ἐκοινώνουν ἀλλήλοις. Μετὰ δὲ τὸν τεθέντα παρὰ Γρατιανοῦ νόμον, ἀδείας λαβόμενοί λαῶν προτιμήσαντες, μὴ καταλιπεῖν σφᾶς ἐδεήθησαν τινες τῶν ἐπισκόπων ταύτης τῆς αἱρέσεως, κατέλαβον τὰς ἐκκλησίας, ὧν ἐπὶ Οὐάλεντος ἀφῄρηντο. Καὶ συνελθόντες ἐν Ἀντιοχείᾳ τῆς Καρίας, ἐψηφίσαντο μὴ δεῖν ὁμοούσιον τῷ Πατρὶ τὸν Υἱὸν ὀνομάζειν, ἀλλ' ὁμοιοούσιον, ὡς πρόσθεν. Ἐκ τούτου δὲ, οἱ μὲν , διακριθέντες, ἰδίᾳ ἐκκλησίαζον· οἱ δὲ τῶν ταῦτα ψηφισαμένων ἐναντιότητα καὶ φιλονεικίαν καταγνόντες, ἀπέστησαν αὐτῶν, καὶ βεβαιότερον ὡμοφρόνουν τοῖς κατὰ τὸ δόγμα τῆς ἐν Νικαίᾳ συνόδου θρησκεύουσιν. Ἐκ δὲ τῶν τότε κατὰ τὸν Γρατιανοῦ νόμον ἐπανελθόντων ἐπισκόπων ἀπὸ τῆς συμβάσης αὐτοῖς φυγῆς ἐπὶ τῆς Οὐάλεντος βασιλείας, οἱ μὲν, προεδρίας οὐδὲν ἐφρόντισαν, ἀλλὰ, τὴν ὁμόνοιαν τῶν τῶν ἀπὸ τῆς ᾿Αρείου αἱρέσεως, μηδὲ διχονοίᾳ κατατέμνειν τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν, ἣν παρὰ Θεοῦ καὶ ἀποστόλων μίαν παραδοθεῖσαν, φιλονεικίαι καὶ φιλοπροεδρίαι εἰς πολλὰς κατεμέρισαν. Ταύτης δὲ τῆς σπου δῆς ἐγένετο καὶ Εὐλάλιος ὁ ἐν Ἀμασίᾳ τῇ πρὸς τῷ Πόντῳ ἐπίσκοπος • λέγεται γοῦν μετὰ τὴν ἐπάνοδον εὑρεῖν ἕτερον προϊστάμενον τῆς αὐτοῦ ἐκκλησίας τῶν ᾿Αρείου ἐπισκόπων · εἶναι δὲ τοὺς πειθομένους αὐτῷ ἐν τῇ πόλει, οὐδ᾽ ὅλους πεντήκοντα · προνοούμενον δὲ τῆς πάντων ἑνώσεως, ἀντιβολῆσαι τοῦτον πρωτεύειν, καὶ κοινῇ τὴν ἐκκλησίαν Ιθύνειν, ἄθλον ἐπὶ τῇ ὁμονοίᾳ τὴν προεδρίαν ἔχοντα. Ἀλλ᾿ ὁ μὲν μὴ πεισθεὶς; οὐκ εἰς μακρὰν ἔμελλεν οὐδὲ ὧν εἶχεν ὀλίγων ἡγήσεσθαι, προσθεμένων τοῖς ἄλλοις. Γ΄". ### English translation (Claude) Reckoning that, while the barbarians along the Ister were troubling the Illyrians and Thracians, it was necessary to defend those regions, and necessary also to be present with his subjects in the West, especially as the Alamanni were harming the Gauls there, he made Theodosius his partner in the empire at Sirmium — a man of the Iberian race near the Pyrenees mountains, of noble family, who had often distinguished himself in wars, so that even before he reigned he seemed to his subjects fit to rule. At this time, except at Jerusalem, those who held the views of Arius still held the churches of the East. The Macedonians, especially those in Constantinople, after their agreements with Liberius, did not differ greatly from those who approved the doctrine of those who met at Nicaea, but mingled with them in the cities as with people of the same belief and communicated with one another. But after the law issued by Gratian, gaining freedom, some of the bishops of this heresy took possession of the churches of which they had been deprived under Valens. Meeting at Antioch in Caria, they decreed that the Son ought not to be called of the same essence with the Father, but of like essence, as before. From this some, separating, held assemblies by themselves; while others, condemning the contrariness and contentiousness of those who had decreed this, withdrew from them and agreed more firmly with those who worship according to the doctrine of the synod at Nicaea. Of the bishops who returned at that time, according to Gratian’s law, from the exile that had befallen them in the reign of Valens, some took no thought for the first place, but, preferring the concord of the peoples, begged those of the Arian heresy not to forsake them, nor to cut the church by dissension — the church which, handed down as one by God and the apostles, contentiousness and love of precedence had divided into many. Of this zeal was Eulalius, bishop of Amasea in Pontus. It is said that after his return he found one of Arius’s bishops presiding over his church, and that those who obeyed him in the city were not even fifty in all; and, providing for the union of all, he begged him to take the first place and govern the church jointly, holding the precedence as a reward for concord. But he would not be persuaded; and not long after he was not to lead even the few he had, since they joined the others. ### Translation notes - The first words of the staged text are the end of the chapter title and are removed by a correction. - Two lines are displaced in the scan in the account of the Macedonians and of the returning bishops; the passage is translated in its evident order (so also NPNF² 2). - Theodosius was proclaimed at Sirmium on 19 January 379. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 7.2 (PG 67:1417–1421; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/7-2). ## Church History 7.3 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/7-3/#p-7-3 - Source: PG 67:1421 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: At Antioch Meletius’s and Paulinus’s parties agree that the survivor of the two will be sole bishop, the candidates swearing not to seek the see meanwhile; Meletius and other bishops resolve to transfer Gregory of Nazianzus to Constantinople. ### Greek text Ἐν δὲ τῷ τότε, καὶ Μελετίου κατὰ τοῦτον τὸν νόἐκανελθόντος εἰς ᾿Αντιόχειαν τῆς Συρίας, δεινή τις τῷ λαῷ φιλονεικία συνέβη. Παυλίνου γὰρ ἔτι περιόντος, οὗ τὴν εὐλάδειαν, ὡς ἔγνωμεν, αἰδεσθεὶς Οὐάλης ὁ βασιλεὺ:;, χαταδιχάσα! φυγὴν οὐχ ἐτόλμησεν, οἱ μὲν, σύνθρονον αὑτοῦ γενέσθαι Μελέτιον ἠξίουν. ᾿Αντιλεγόντων ὃὲ τῶν τὰ Παυλίνου φρονούντων, καὶ τὴν Μελετίου χειροτονίαν διαθαλλόντων, ὡς ὑπὸ ᾿Αρειανῶν ἐπισκόπων γεγενημένην, βίᾳ τὸ σπουδαζόμενον εἷς ἔργον ἦγον οἱ Μελετίου ἐπαινέται. Ηλῆθος γὰρ οὐ τὸ τυχὸν ἐν μιᾷ τῶν πρὸ τῆς πόλεως ἐκκλησιῶν εἰς τὸν ἐπισχοπιχὺὸν θρόνον ἀνεῦδίθασαν αὑτόν. Ἑ χατέρωθεν δὲ τοῦ λαοῦ χαλεπαίνοντος, καὶ στάπεως προσδοκωμένης, θαυμαστή τις ἔχράτησε βουλὴ, πρὸς ὁμόνοιαν αὑτοὺς ἄγουσα. Συνεδόχει γὰρ λαθεῖν παρὰ τῶν ἐπισκοπεῖν τὸν ἐνθάδε θρόνὸν ἐπιτηδείων εἶναι νομιζομένων, προσδοκωμένων ὧν ἧσαν ἕτεροι πέντε, καὶ Φλαθιανὴς, ὡς οὔτε σπουδάσουσι, οὔτε χειροτονίας ἐπ᾽ αὐτοῖς γινομένης, ἂνἔξονται ἐπισκοπεῖν, ἐς ὅσον Παυλῖνος ἢ Μελέτιος τῷ βίῳ περιῶσι " συγχωρεῖν δὲ θατέρου τελευτήσαντος, εὸν ἕτερον μόνον τὴν ἐπισκοπὴν ἔχειν. Κατὰ ταῦτα δὲ δοθέντων τῶν ὄρχων, σχεδὸν τὸ πᾶν ὡμονόει πλῆθος" ὀλίγοι δὲ τῶν Λουκίφερος ἔτι διεφέροντο, ὡς ὑπὸ ἑτεροδόξων Μελετίου χειροτονηθέντος. Ἐπεὶ δὲ τάδε ὧδε γέγονε, Μελέτιος μὲν ἧκεν Κωνσταντινούπολιν" ἡνίκα ἄλλοις ἐπισκόποις κατὰ ταὐτὸ γενομένοις, ἔδοξεν ἀναγκαῖον εἶναι τῆς Ναζιανζοῦ μεταθεῖναι Γρηγόριον, καὶ ἐπιτρέψαι αὑτῷ τὴν ἐνθάδε ἐπισκοπήν. ### English translation (Claude) At that time, when Meletius too returned to Antioch in Syria under this law, a serious contention arose among the people. For since Paulinus was still alive — whose piety, as we have learned, the emperor Valens respected and did not dare to condemn him to exile — some thought it right that Meletius should become his colleague on the throne. When Paulinus’s supporters objected and slandered Meletius’s ordination as having been performed by Arian bishops, Meletius’s admirers carried out their purpose by force. For no ordinary crowd set him on the episcopal throne in one of the churches before the city. As the people on each side were angry and a riot was expected, a wonderful counsel prevailed that brought them to concord. For it was agreed that those thought fit to oversee the throne there — and besides Flavian there were five others expected — should take an oath that they would neither seek it nor, if ordination were offered them, consent to be bishop as long as Paulinus or Meletius was alive; and that when one of the two died, the other alone should have the episcopate. When the oaths had been given on these terms, almost the whole multitude was of one mind; but a few of Lucifer’s followers still dissented, on the ground that Meletius had been ordained by those of another belief. When this had been done, Meletius came to Constantinople; and there he and the other bishops gathered there decided that it was necessary to transfer Gregory from Nazianzus and entrust to him the episcopate there. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 7.3 (PG 67:1421; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/7-3). ## Church History 7.4 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/7-3/#p-7-4 - Source: PG 67:1421–1423 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Theodosius, baptized by Ascholius at Thessalonica during an illness, issues from there his law requiring all subjects to hold the faith taught by Peter and kept by Damasus and Peter of Alexandria, naming its adherents catholic and others heretics. ### Greek text Ὑπὸ δὲ τοῦτον τὸν χρόνον, Γρατιανὸς μὲν τῶν πρὸς Ἑσπέραν Γαλατῶν ὑπὸ ᾿Αλαμανῶν ταραττομένων, ἐπὶ τὴν πατρῴαν ἀνέστρεψε μοῖραν" ἢν αὐτῷ τε καὶ τῷ ἀδελφῷ διοικεῖν κατέλιπεν, Ἰλλυ- 982 ριοὺς τὰ πρὸς ἥλιον ἀνίσχοντα τῆς ἀρχῆς Θεοδοσίω ἐπιτρέψας. Κατωρθοῦτο δὲ κατὰ γνώμην αὐτῷ τὰ πρὸς τούτους Θεοδοσίῳ δὲ τὰ πρὸς τοὺς ἀμφὶ τὸν Ἴστρον βαρβάρους. Ἐπεὶ δὲ τῶν μὲν μάχῃ ἐπεκράτησε, τοὺς δὲ φίλους ἔχειν Ρωμαίους δολοῦντας, ὁμήρους λαθὼν, σπονδὰς ἐδέξατο, ἧκεν εἰς Θεσσαλονίκην. Νόσῳ δὲ περιπεσὼν ἐνταῦθα, μυσταγωγοῦντος αὐτὸν ᾿Ασχολίου τοῦ τῇδε ἐπισκόπου, ἐμυήθη, καὶ ῥᾷον ἔσχεν. Ἐκ προγόνων γάρ χριστιανίζων κατὰ τὸ δόγμα τῆς ἐν Νικαίᾳ συνόδου ἥσθη τότε Ασχολίῳ ὧδε δοξάζοντι · καὶ ἔργῳ ἀγαθῷ καὶ συλλήβδην, ὡς εἰπεῖν, πρὸς πᾶσαν ἱερωσύνης ἀρετὴν συντεταγμένῳ, ἤσθη δὲ καὶ Ἰλλυριοῖς ἅπασι μὴ μετασχοῦσι τῆς ᾿Αρείου δόξης. Πυν θανόμενος δὲ περὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἐθνῶν, μέχρι μὲν Μακεδόνων ἔγνω τὰς ἐκκλησίας ὁμονοεῖν, καὶ πάντας ἐπίσης τῷ Πατρὶ τὸν Θεὸν Λόγον καὶ τὸ ἅγιον Πνεῦμα σέβειν· ἐντεῦθεν δὲ τὰ πρὸς ἕω στασιάζειν, ὡς καὶ τοὺς λαοὺς εἰς διαφόρους αἱρέσεις με μερίσθαι, καὶ μάλιστα ἀνὰ τὴν Κωνσταντινούπολιν. Λογισάμενος δὲ ἄμεινον εἶναι, προαγορεῦσαι τοῖς ὑπηκόοις ἣν ἔχει περὶ τὸ θεῖον δόξαν, ὥστε μὴ βιάζεσθαι δοκεῖν ἀθρόον ἐπιτάττοντα παρὰ γνώμην 0 θρησκεύειν, νόμον ἐκ Θεσσαλονίκης προσεφώνησε τῷ δήμῳ Κωνσταντινουπόλεως· συνεῖδε γὰρ ἐνθένδε, ὡς ἀπό τινος ἀκροπόλεως τῆς πάσης ὑπηκόου, καὶ ταῖς ἄλλαις πόλεσι δήλην ἔσεσθαι ἐν τάχει τὴν γραφήν. Ἐδήλου δὲ διὰ ταύτης, βούλεσθαι πάντας τοὺς ἀρχομένους θρησκεύειν, ὡς ἐξ ἀρχῆς Ῥω μαίοις παρέδωκε Πέτρος ὁ κορυφαῖος τῶν ἀποστόλων· ἐφύλαττον δὲ τότε Δάμασος ὁ Ῥώμης ἐπίσκοπος, καὶ Πέτρος ὁ ᾿Αλεξανδρείας· μόνων τε τῶν ἰσότιμον Τριάδα θείαν θρησκευόντων, καθολικὴν τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν ὀνομάζεσθαι · τοὺς δὲ παρὰ ταῦτα δοξάζοντας, αἱρετικοὺς προσαγορεύεσθαι, καὶ ἀτίμους εἶναι, καὶ τιμωρίαν προσδέχεσθαι. ### English translation (Claude) About this time Gratian, since the western Gauls were troubled by the Alamanni, returned to his father’s portion, which he had left for himself and his brother to govern, entrusting Illyricum and the eastern parts of the empire to Theodosius. His affairs against these went as he wished, and those of Theodosius against the barbarians along the Ister. When he had defeated some in battle, and accepted a treaty with others who asked to be friends of the Romans, taking hostages, he came to Thessalonica. Falling ill there, he was initiated, Ascholius the bishop there performing the rite, and grew better. For being a Christian from his forefathers according to the doctrine of the synod at Nicaea, he was then glad that Ascholius believed so, and that he was in deeds good and, in short, equipped, so to speak, with every priestly virtue; he was glad too that all the Illyrians had no part in the belief of Arius. Inquiring about the other provinces, he learned that as far as the Macedonians the churches were of one mind and all equally worshipped the God Word and the Holy Spirit with the Father; but that from there eastward they were in faction, so that the peoples were divided into different heresies, especially in Constantinople. Reckoning it better to proclaim to his subjects the belief he held about the divine, so as not to seem to use force by suddenly ordering them to worship against their will, he addressed a law from Thessalonica to the people of Constantinople; for he saw that from there, as from a citadel of the whole empire, the document would quickly become known to the other cities too. In it he made known that he wished all his subjects to worship as Peter, the chief of the apostles, had handed down to the Romans from the beginning, and as Damasus the bishop of Rome and Peter of Alexandria then kept it; that only those who worship the divine Trinity as equal in honour should be called the catholic church; and that those who believed otherwise should be called heretics, be held infamous, and expect punishment. ### Translation notes - The law is the edict Cunctos populos of 28 February 380 (Codex Theodosianus 16.1.2), summarized by Sozomen. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 7.4 (PG 67:1421–1423; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/7-4). ## Church History 7.5 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/7-3/#p-7-5 - Source: PG 67:1423–1425 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: At Constantinople Gregory leads the Nicene minority in the Anastasia church, scene of healings and a woman restored to life; Theodosius orders the Arian bishop Demophilus to accept Nicaea or leave, and the Nicene party receives the churches (380). ### Greek text Ταῦτα νομοθετήσας, οὐ πολλῷ ὕστερον ἧκεν εἰς Κωνσταντινούπολιν. Ἐκράτουν δὲ τῶν ἐκκλησιῶν ἔτι οἱ τὰ ᾿Αρείου φρονοῦντες, ὧν ἡγεῖτο Δημόφιλος. Γρηγόριος δὲ ὁ ἐκ Ναζιανζοῦ προῖστατο τῶν ὁμοούσιον Τριάδα δοξαζόντων. Ἐκκλησίαζε δὲ ἐν οἰκίσκῳ μικρῷ, παρ᾿ ὁμοδόξων αὐτῷ τε καὶ τοῖς ὁμοίως ρησκεύουσιν εἰς εὐκτήριον οἶκον κατασκευασθέντι. Μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα περιφανὴς τῶν ἐν τῇ πόλει νεὼς γέγονεν οὗτος, καὶ ἔστιν, οὐ μόνον οἰκοδομημάτων κάλλει τε καὶ μεγέθει, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐναργῶν θεοφανειῶν ὠφελείαις. Προφαινομένη γὰρ ἐνθάδε θεία δύναμις, ὕπαρ τε καὶ ἐν ὀνείρασι, πολλοῖς πολλάκις νόσοις καὶ περιπετείαις πραγμάτων κάμνουσιν ἐπήμυνε. Πεπίστευται δὲ ταύτην τὴν Θεοῦ μητέρα Μαρίαν τὴν ἁγίαν Παρθένον εἶναι· ταύτῃ γὰρ ἐπιφαίνεται. ᾿Αναστασίαν δὲ ταύτην τὴν ἐκκλησίαν ὀνομάζουσιν, ὡς μὲν ᾠόμην, καθότι τὸ δογμα τῆς ἐν Νικαίᾳ συνόδου πεπτωκὸς ἤδη ἐν Κωνσταντινουπόλει καὶ τεθνηκὸς, ὡς εἰπεῖν, διὰ τὴν δύναμιν τῶν ἑτεροδόξων, ἐνθάδε ἀνέστη καὶ ἀνεβίω διὰ τῶν Γρηγορίου λόγων. Ὡς δὲ τινων ἀληθῆ λέγειν ἰσχυριζομένων ἀκήκοα, ἐκκλησιάζοντος τοῦ λαοῦ, γυνὴ ἐγκύμων ἀπὸ τῆς ὑπερῴου στοᾶς καταπεσοῦσα, ἐνθάδε τέθνηκε · κοινῆς δὲ παρὰ πάντων εὐχῆς ἐπ᾿ αὐτῇ γενομένης ἀνέζησε, καὶ σὺν τῷ βρέφει ἐσώθη. Ὡς ἐπὶ παραδόξῳ δὲ θεόθεν συμβάντι, ταύτην ἔλαχε τὴν προσηγορίαν ἐξ ἐκείνου ὁ τόπος. Καὶ περὶ μὲν τούτου τοιοῦτος εἰσέτι νῦν φέρεται λόγος. Ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς, πέμψας πρὸς Δημόφιλον, ἐκέλευσεν αὐτὸν κατὰ τὸ δόγμα τῆς ἐν Νικαίᾳ συνόδου θρησκεύειν, καὶ τὸν λαὸν εἰς ὁμόνοιαν ἄγειν, ἢ τῶν ἐκκλησιῶν ὑποχωρεῖν. Ὁ δὲ, τὸ πλῆθος συγκαλέσας, τὴν βασιλέως ἐδήλωσε γνώμην· καὶ εἰς τὴν ὑστεραίαν πρὸ τῶν τειχῶν ἐκκλησιάζειν προηγόρευσεν· ἐπεὶ θεῖος, ἔφη, ἐπιτάττει νόμος, ὑμᾶς διώκωσιν ἐκ τῆς πόλεως ταύτης, φεύγετε εἰς τὴν ἄλλην. Τοιάδε προσειπὼν, ἐξ ἐκείνου πρὸ τῆς πόλεως ἐκκλησίαζε · σὺν αὐτῷ δὲ καὶ Λούκιος, ὁ πάλαι πρὸς τῶν ᾿Αρείου τὴν ᾿Αλεξανδρέων ἐκκλησίαν ἐπιτραπείς. Ἐξελαθεὶς γὰρ, ὡς εἴρηται, φυγὰς εἰς Κωνσταντινούπολιν ἐλθὼν, ἐνθάδε διέτριβεν. ᾿Απολιπόντων δὲ τὴν ἐκκλησίαν τῶν ἀμφὶ Δημόφιλον, εἰσελθὼν ὁ βασιλεὺς ηὔξατο. Καὶ τὸ ἐξ ἐκείνου, τοὺς εὐκτηρίους οἴκους κατέσχον οἱ Τριάδα ὁμοούσιον πρεσβεύοντες. Ἔτος δὲ τοῦτο ἦν ἐν ᾧ Γρατιανὸς τὸ πέμπτον, καὶ Θεοδόσιος τὸ πρῶτον ὑπάτευον. Τεσσαρακοστὸν δὲ, ἀφ᾿ οὗ τῶν ἐκκλησιῶν ἐκράτησαν οἱ ἀπὸ τῆς ᾿Αρείου αἱρέσεως. ### English translation (Claude) Having made this law, he came not long after to Constantinople. Those who held the views of Arius still held the churches, led by Demophilus; while Gregory of Nazianzus presided over those who held the Trinity to be of the same essence. He held assemblies in a small house, made into a house of prayer by those of the same belief for him and those who worshipped as he did. Afterwards this became, and still is, one of the most famous churches in the city, not only for the beauty and size of its buildings but also for the benefits of manifest divine appearances. For a divine power appearing here, both waking and in dreams, has often helped many suffering from diseases and reversals of fortune. It is believed that this is Mary, the holy virgin, the mother of God; for she appears in this way. They call this church Anastasia; as I supposed, because the doctrine of the synod at Nicaea, which had already fallen in Constantinople and was, so to speak, dead through the power of those of other belief, rose up here and came to life again through Gregory’s discourses. But as I have heard from some who maintain that it is true, while the people were assembled, a pregnant woman fell from the upper gallery and died there; but when all had made a common prayer over her, she came to life again and was saved together with her baby. Because of this marvel that happened from God, the place has had this name from that time. Such is the account that still circulates about it. The emperor sent to Demophilus and ordered him to worship according to the doctrine of the synod at Nicaea and to bring the people to concord, or to withdraw from the churches. He called the people together, made known the emperor’s will, and announced that the next day they would assemble before the walls. “For,” he said, “a divine law commands: ‘If they persecute you from this city, flee to the other.’” Having said this, from then on he held his assemblies before the city; and with him Lucius too, who had formerly been entrusted with the church of the Alexandrians by those of Arius’s party; for having been driven out, as was said, he had come to Constantinople as an exile and was living there. When Demophilus’s party had left the church, the emperor entered and prayed; and from that time those who uphold a Trinity of the same essence held the houses of prayer. This was the year in which Gratian was consul for the fifth time and Theodosius for the first, the fortieth since those of the Arian heresy had held the churches. ### Scripture references - Matt 10:23: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Demophilus quotes Matt 10:23. - The Anastasia was later a famous church of Constantinople; Sozomen gives two explanations of its name. “Mother of God” renders Θεοῦ μήτηρ. - The consulship of Gratian V and Theodosius I is 380; Theodosius entered Constantinople on 24 November 380. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 7.5 (PG 67:1423–1425; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/7-5). ## Church History 7.6 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/7-3/#p-7-6 - Source: PG 67:1427–1429 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The Arians and Eunomius seek to win Theodosius, but the empress Placilla keeps him from meeting Eunomius; an old bishop who greets the young Arcadius without honour teaches the emperor that the Father is offended when the Son is not equally honoured. ### Greek text Ἔτι δὲ οὗτοι πλῆθος ὄντες ἐκ τῆς Κωνσταντίου καὶ Οὐάλεντος ῥοπῆς ἀδεέστερον συνιόντες, περὶ Θεοῦ καὶ οὐσίας αὐτοῦ δημοσίᾳ διελέγοντο· καὶ ἀποπειρᾶσθαι τοῦ βασιλέως ἔπειθον τοὺς ὁμόφρονας αὐτοῖς ἐν τοῖς βασιλείοις. Ἡγοῦντο γὰρ ἐπιτεύξεσθαι τῆς ἐπιχειρήσεως, τὰ ἐπὶ Κωνσταντίου συμβάντα σκοποῦντες. Τοῦτο δὲ αὐτὸ καὶ τοῖς ἀπὸ τῆς καθολικῆς Ἐκκλησίας, φροντίδα καὶ φόβον ἐκίνει. Οὐχ ἥκιστα δὲ περιδεεῖς ἦσαν, λογιζόμενοι τὴν ἐν ταῖς διαλέξεσιν Εὐνομίου δεινότητα. Οὐ πρὸ πολλοῦ γὰρ οὗτος δι' ἡμ ἔσχεν ἐν Κυζίκῳ διαφορὰν ἐπὶ τῆς Οὐάλεντος βασι– λείας πρὸς τοὺς αὐτοῦ κληρικοὺς, ἀποσχίσας τῶν ᾿Αρείου καθ' ἑαυτὸν διῆγεν ἐν Βιθυνία, πέραν Κων. σταντινουπόλεως · καὶ πλῆθος ἐπεραιοῦτο πρὸς αὐτόν· οἱ δὲ καὶ ἄλλοθεν συνῄεσαν · οἱ μὲν, ἀποπειρώμενοι· οἱ δὲ, ὧν λέγει ἀκουσόμενοι. Φήμη δὲ τούτων καὶ εἰς βασιλέα ἦλθε, καὶ συγγενέσθαι αὐτῷ ἕτοιμος ἦν· ἀλλ᾽ ἡ βασιλὶς Πλακίλλα ἐπέσχε, σπουδῇ ἀντιβολοῦσα. Πιστοτάτη γὰρ οὖσα φύλαξ τοῦ δόγματος τῆς ἐν Νικαίᾳ συνόδου, ἔδεισε μὴ, ζὡς εἰκὸς, ἐν διαλέξει παραπεισθεὶς ὁ ἀνὴρ, μεταβάλοι εἰς τὴν αὐτοῦ δόξαν. Ἔτι δὲ ἐφ᾽ ἑκάτερα τῆς περὶ ταῦτα σπουδῆς ἀκμαζούσης, λέγεται τῶν ἐνδημούντων ἐπισκόπων τῆς Κωνσταντινουπόλεως παραγενομένων εἰς τὰ βα· σίλεια, οἷά γε εἰκὸς, ἀσπάσασθαι τὸν κρατοῦντα, ὡς συνῆν αὐτοῖς πρεσβύτης τις, ἀσήμου πόλεως ἱερεὺς, ἁπλοῦς καὶ πραγμάτων ἀτριβὴς, περὶ δὲ τὰ θεῖα νοῦν ἔχων. Οἱ μὲν οὖν ἄλλοι γυμνῶς μάλα καὶ εὐσεβῶς τὸν βασιλέα ἡσπάσαντο. Ὁμοίως δὲ τοῦτον προσεῖπε καὶ ὁ πρεσβύτης ἱερεύς. Τῷ δὲ τοῦ βασιλέως παιδὶ συγκαθεζομένῳ τῷ πατρὶ, τὴν ἴστν οὐκ ἀπένειμε τιμὴν· ἀλλὰ προσελθών, οἷά γε νηπίῳ, Χαῖρε, τέκνον, ἔφη, τῷ δακτύλῳ σαίνων· κινηθεὶς δὲ πρὸς ὀργὴν ὁ βασιλεὺς, καὶ ὡς ἐπὶ ὑβρισμένῳ παιδὶ χαλεπαίνων, ὅτι μὴ τῆς ὁμοίας ἠξίωτο τιμῆς, ἐκβάλε λεσθαι τὸν πρεσβύτην ὑβριστικῶς ἐκέλευσεν. Ὁ δὲ ὠστιζόμενος, ἐπιστραφεὶς εἶπεν· Οὕτω δὴ νόμισον ὦ βασιλεῦ, καὶ τὸν οὐράνιον Πατέρα ἀγανακτεῖν πρὸς τοὺς ἀνομοίως τὸν Υἱὸν τιμῶντας, καὶ ἥττονα τολμῶντας ἀποκαλεῖν τοῦ γεννήσαντος. ᾿Αγασθεὶς δὲ ἐπὶ τῷ εἰρημένῳ ὁ βασιλεὺς, μετεκαλέσατο τὸν ἱερέα, καὶ συγγνώμην ᾔτει, καὶ ἀληθῶς εἰρηκέναι συνωμολόγει. Καὶ ἀσφαλέστερος γενόμενος, οὐ προσίετο τοὺς παρὰ τοῦτο δοξάζοντας. Καὶ τὰς ἐπ᾿ ἀγορᾶς ἔριδας καὶ συνόδους ἀπηγόρευσε· καὶ διαλέγεσθαι τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον περὶ οὐσίας καὶ φύσεως Θεοῦ, οὐκ ἀκίνδυνον ἐποιεῖτο, νόμον θέμενος περί τούτου, καὶ τιμωρίαν ὀρίσας. ### English translation (Claude) But these, still being a multitude and assembling more fearlessly because of the favour of Constantius and Valens, debated publicly about God and his essence; and they persuaded those of the same mind as themselves in the palace to sound out the emperor. For they thought they would succeed in the attempt, considering what had happened under Constantius. This very thing caused anxiety and fear to those of the catholic church; and they were especially alarmed reckoning with Eunomius’s skill in debate. For not long before, in the reign of Valens, having had a dispute at Cyzicus with his clergy, he cut himself off from Arius’s party and lived by himself in Bithynia, across from Constantinople; and a multitude crossed over to him, and others came from elsewhere, some to test him and others to hear what he said. Report of these things reached the emperor too, and he was ready to meet him; but the empress Placilla prevented it, earnestly entreating him. For, being a most faithful guardian of the doctrine of the synod at Nicaea, she feared lest her husband, as was likely, be won over in debate and change to Eunomius’s belief. While zeal on both sides about these things was at its height, it is said that the bishops staying in Constantinople came to the palace, as is customary, to greet the ruler, and that there was with them an old man, a priest of an obscure city, simple and inexperienced in affairs but wise in divine things. The others greeted the emperor bareheaded and very reverently, and the old priest addressed him likewise. But to the emperor’s son, who was seated with his father, he did not give equal honour; but coming up to him as to a child he said, “Greetings, my child,” patting him with his finger. The emperor, moved to anger and indignant on behalf of his son as insulted, because he had not been thought worthy of the same honour, ordered the old man to be thrown out insultingly. As he was being pushed out, he turned and said: “Think thus, O emperor, that the heavenly Father too is angry with those who do not honour the Son equally and dare to call him less than the one who begot him.” The emperor, struck with admiration at what had been said, called the priest back, asked his pardon, and agreed that he had spoken truly. And being made more steadfast, he would not admit those who believed otherwise; he forbade disputes and gatherings in the market place, and made it dangerous to debate in the same way about the essence and nature of God, making a law about it and fixing a punishment. ### Scripture references - John 5:23: echo, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Theodoret (Hist. eccl. 5.16) tells the same story of Amphilochius of Iconium. The law against public disputation about God is Codex Theodosianus 16.4.2 (388). - The incident alludes to John 5:23 (“that all may honour the Son as they honour the Father”). ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 7.6 (PG 67:1427–1429; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/7-6). ## Church History 7.7 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/7-3/#p-7-7 - Source: PG 67:1429–1431 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Theodosius summons the council of Constantinople (381): 150 Nicene bishops and 36 Macedonians, who refuse the homoousios and leave; Gregory of Nazianzus, chosen for the see, resigns in the face of opposition. ### Greek text Ἐν τάχει τε καὶ σύνοδον ἐπισκόπων ὁμοδόξων αὐτῷ συνεκάλεσε 5, βεβαιότητός τε ἕνεκα τῶν ἐν Νικαίᾳ δοξάντων, καὶ χειροτονίας τοῦ μέλλοντος ἐπισκοπεῖν τὸν Κωνσταντινουπόλεως θρόνον. Ὑπολαβὼν δὲ δύνασθαι συνάψαι τῇ καθόλου Ἐκκλησίᾳ τοὺς καλουμένους Μακεδονιανοὺς, ὡς μὴ περὶ μέγα τι διαφερομένους ἐν τῇ κατὰ τὸ δόγμα ζητήσει, συνεκάλεσε καὶ τούτους. Συνῆλθον οὖν, ἐκ μὲν τῶν ὁμοούσιον τὴν Τριάδα δοξαζόντων, ἀμφὶ ἑκατὸν καὶ πεντήκοντα· τῶν δὲ ἀπὸ τῆς Μακεδονίου αἱρέσεως, ἓξ καὶ τριάκοντα, ὧν οἱ πλείους ἐτύγχανον ἐκ τῶν περὶ τὸν Ἑλλήσποντον πόλεων. Ἡγοῦντο δὲ τούτων Ἐλεύσιος ὁ Κυζίκου, καὶ Μαρκιανὸς ὁ Λαμψάκου· τῶν δὲ ἄλλων Τιμόθεος, ὁ τῶν ᾿Αλεξανδρέων διέπων θρόνον, οὐ πρὸ πολλοῦ τετελευτηκότα Πέτρον, ἀδελφὸν ὄντα αὐτοῦ διαδεξάμενος · καὶ Μελέτιος ὁ ᾿Αντιοχείας ἐπίσκοπος, ἤδη πρώην εἰς Κωνσταντινούπολιν διὰ τὴν Γρηγορίου κατάστασιν ἀφικόμενος · καὶ Κύριλλος ὁ Ἱεροσολύμων, μεταμεληθεὶς τότε, ὅτι πρότερον τὰ Μακεδονίου ἐφρόνει. Σὺν τούτοις δὲ ἦσαν, Ασχόλιός τε ὁ Θεσσαλονίκης, καὶ Διόδωρος ὁ Ταρσοῦ, καὶ ᾿Ακάκιος ὁ Βεροίας. Οἱ δὴ πάντες ἐπαινέται τυγχάνοντες τῆς ἐν Νικαία βεβαιωθείσης γραφῆς, ἐδέοντο σφίσιν ὁμογνώμονας γενέσθαι τοὺς ἀμφὶ Ἐλεύσιον, ἀναμιμνήσκοντες ὧν τε πρὸς Λιβέριον ἐπρεσβεύσαντο καὶ ὡμολόγησαν διὰ Εὐσταθίου, καὶ Σιλβανοῦ, καὶ Θεοφίλου, ὡς εἴρηται. Ἀλλὰ οἱ μὲν, μήποτε ὁμοούσιον τῷ Πατρὶ τὸν Υἱὸν δοξάζειν ἀναφανδὸν εἰπόντες, εἰ καὶ ἐναντία ταῖς πρὸς Λιβέριον ὁμολογίαις ἐροῦσιν, ἀπεδήμησαν. Καὶ τοῖς κατὰ πόλιν ὁμοφρονοῦσιν ἔγραψαν, μὴ συνθέσθαι τοῖς ἐν Νικαίᾳ δεδογμένοις. Οἱ δὲ ἐν Κωνσταντινουπόλει προσμείναντες, έβουλεύ σαντο τίνι δέοι ἐπιτρέψαι τὴν ἐνθάδε καθέδραν. Λέγεται γὰρ, τὸν βασιλέα μὲν θαυμάζοντα βίου καὶ τῶν λόγων Γρηγόριον, ἄξιον ψηφίσασθαι ταύτης τῆς ἐπισκοπῆς· συναινέσαι δὲ καὶ τοὺς πλείους τῆς συνόδου, αἰδοῖ τῆς αὐτοῦ ἀρετῆς· τὸν δὲ, τὰ μὲν πρῶτα ἑλέσθαι προστατεῖν τῆς Κωνσταντινουπόλεως ἐκκλησίας · αἰσθόμενον δὲ τινας ἀντερεῖν, καὶ μάλιστα τοὺς ἐξ Αἰγύπτου, παραιτήσασθαι. Καί μοι τόνδε σοφώτατον ἄνδρα πάντων ἕνεκεν, οὐχ ἥκιστα δὲ τοῦ παρόντος θαυμάζεσθαι. Οὔτε γὰρ ὑπὸ εὐγλωττίας ἐνεπλήσθη τύφου, οὔτε ὑπὸ κενῆς δόξης εἰς ἐπιθυμίαν ἦλθεν ἡγεῖσθαι τῆς ἐκκλησίας ἣν παρέλαβε, μηκέτι εἶναι κινδυνεύουσαν. ᾿Απαιτοῦσι δὲ τοῖς ἐπισκόποις τὴν παρακαταθήκην ἀπέδωκεν, οὐ τοὺς πολλοὺς ἱδρῶτας μεμψάμενος, ἢ τοὺς κινδύνους οὓς ὑπέστη πρὸς τὰς αἱρέσεις ζυγομαχῶν. Καίτοιγε τὸ λυποῦν οὐδὲν ἦν, μηδενὸς ὄντος, μένειν αὐτὸν Κωνσταντινου πόλεως ἐπίσκοπον. "Ηδη γὰρ καὶ Ναζιανζοῦ ἕτερος ἐπίσκοπος κεχειροτόνητο. ᾿Αλλ' ὅμως ἡ σύνοδος, καὶ τοὺς πατρίους νόμους καὶ τὴν ἐκκλησιαστικὴν τάξιν φυλάττουσα, ὁ δέδωκε, παρ' ἐχόντος ἀπείληφε, μηδὲν αἰδεσθεῖσα τῶν τοῦ ἀνδρὸς πλεονεκτημάτων. Ὡς ἐπὶ μεγίστῳ δὲ πεφροντισμένης βουλῆς τῷ βασιλεῖ καὶ τοῖς ἱερεῦσιν οὔσης, παρεγγυωμένου τε τοῦ κρατοῦντος ἀκριβῆ ποιήσασθαι βάσανον, ὅπως ὅτι μά λιστα καλός τε καὶ ἀγαθὸς εὐρεθείη, ᾧ δεήσει πιστεῦσαι τῆς μεγίστης καὶ βασιλευούσης πόλεως τὴν –ἀρχιεροσύνην, οὐ τὴν αὐτὴν γνώμην εἶχεν ἡ σύνοδος. Ἕκαστοι δὲ τινα τῶν αὐτοῖς ἐπιτηδείων ἠξίουν χειροτονεῖν. ### English translation (Claude) He quickly called together a synod of bishops of his own belief, for the confirmation of the decisions of Nicaea and for the ordination of the one who was to oversee the throne of Constantinople. Supposing that he could join the so-called Macedonians to the catholic church, as differing in nothing great in the inquiry about doctrine, he called them too. There met, of those who held the Trinity of the same essence, about a hundred and fifty; and of the heresy of Macedonius thirty-six, most of whom were from the cities about the Hellespont. These were led by Eleusius of Cyzicus and Marcian of Lampsacus; the others by Timothy, who governed the throne of the Alexandrians, having succeeded his brother Peter, who had died not long before; and Meletius, bishop of Antioch, who had already come to Constantinople earlier for the installation of Gregory; and Cyril of Jerusalem, who had then repented of his former holding of Macedonius’s views. With these were Ascholius of Thessalonica, Diodore of Tarsus and Acacius of Beroea. All of them, being supporters of the document confirmed at Nicaea, begged Eleusius’s party to become of one mind with them, reminding them of their embassy to Liberius and what they had confessed through Eustathius, Silvanus and Theophilus, as has been told. But they, saying openly that they would never hold the Son to be of the same essence with the Father, even if this contradicted their confessions to Liberius, went away, and wrote to those of their belief in the cities not to agree to the decisions of Nicaea. Those who remained in Constantinople deliberated to whom the see there should be entrusted. For it is said that the emperor, admiring Gregory’s life and eloquence, voted him worthy of this episcopate, and most of the synod agreed out of respect for his virtue; that he at first chose to preside over the church of Constantinople, but perceiving that some would object, especially those from Egypt, he declined. And this most wise man seems to me worthy of admiration in every respect, but not least in this. For he was neither filled with pride by his eloquence, nor led by vainglory to desire to lead the church which he had received when it was in danger of no longer existing. When the bishops asked for it back, he returned the trust, not complaining of his many labours or of the dangers he had undergone wrestling with the heresies. And yet there was nothing to hinder him from remaining bishop of Constantinople, since another bishop had already been ordained for Nazianzus. Nevertheless the synod, keeping the ancestral laws and the church’s order, took back from him, willing as he was, what it had given, paying no regard to the man’s distinctions. Since the emperor and the priests regarded the decision as a matter of the greatest importance, and the ruler urged them to make an exact examination so that the most excellent man might be found to whom the high priesthood of the greatest and imperial city should be entrusted, the synod was not of one mind; each party thought it right to ordain one of their own friends. ### Translation notes - The council of Constantinople met from May to July 381. Gregory had been ordained bishop of Sasima and had helped his father at Nazianzus; the objection to him was the canon against moving between sees (Nicaea, canon 15). ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 7.7 (PG 67:1429–1431; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/7-7). ## Church History 7.8 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/7-3/#p-7-8 - Source: PG 67:1433–1435 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Theodosius picks the unbaptized senator Nectarius, last on the bishops’ list at Diodore of Tarsus’s suggestion, as bishop of Constantinople; he is baptized and consecrated while still in his white baptismal garment. ### Greek text Ἔν τούτῳ δὲ Νεχτάριός τις Ταρσεὺς τῆς Κιλικίας, του λαμπροτάτου τάγματος τῆς συγκλήτου, ἐν Κων“ταντινουπόλει διέτριδεν. "Ἤδη δὲ παρεσκευασμένος εἰς τὴν πατρίδα ἀπιέναι, παραγίνεται πρὸς Διόδωρον τὸν Ταρσοῦ ἐπίσκοπον, εἴγε βούλοιτο γράφειν “τολὰς χομισόμενος. "Ἔτυχε δὲ τότε διανοούμενος καθ᾽ ἑαυτὸν ὁ Διόδωρος, τίνα χρὴ προδαλέσθαι εἰς τὴν σπουδαζομένην χειροτονίαν. Καὶ ἰδὼν εἰς χτάριον, ἄξιον εἶναι τῆς ἐπισκοπῆς ἐνόμισε" ματὰ νοῦν εὐθὺς αὐτῷ προσετέθη, πολιάν τ᾽ ἀνδρὴς, εἶδος ἱεροπρεπὲς, τὸ προσηνὲς τῶν τρόπων. Καὶ ὡς ἐπ᾽ ἄλλο τι ἀγαγὼν αὐτὸν παρὰ τὸν ᾿Αντιοχείας ἐπίσκοπον, ἐπήνει, σπουδάζειν αὐτῷ παρεκάλει, Ὁ ἐπὶ μεμεριμνημένῳ πράγμᾶτι, πολλῶν ἐπισημοτάτων ἀνδρῶν ὑποψήφων ὄντων, ἐγέλασε τὴν Διοδώρου Ψῆφον. “Ὅμως δὲ πρὸς ἑαυτὸν καλέσας Νεκτάριον, περιμένειν βραχύν τινα χρόνον ἐκέλευσεν. Οὐχ εἰς μακρὰν δὲ προστάξαντος τοῦ βασιλέως τοῖς ἱερεῦσιν, ἐγγράψαι: χάρτη τὰς προσηγορίας ὧν ἕκαστοι δοχιμάζουσιν εἰς τὴν χειροτονίαν ἀξίων, ἑαυτῷ δὲ φυλάξαντος ἐχ πάντων τοῦ ἑνὸς τὴν αἴρετιν, ἄλλοι μὲν ἄλλους ἐνέγραψαν. Ὁ δὲ τῆς ᾿Αντιοχέων ἐκκλησίας ἡγούμενος, ἐγγράφει μὲν οὗς ἐβούλετο" ἔσχατον δὲ πάντων προστίθησι Νεκτάριον διὰ τὴν πρὺς Διόδωρον χάριν. ᾿Αναγνοὺς δὲ ὁ βασιλεὺς τῶν ἐγγραφέντων τὸν κατάλογον, ἔστη ἐπὶ Νεχταρίῳ. Καὶ σύννους γενόμενος, σχολῇ καθ᾽ ἑαυτὸν ἐβουλεύετο, τὸν δάχτυλον ἐπιθεὶς τῇ τελευταίᾳ γραφῇ. Καὶ ἀναδραμὼν εἰς τὴν ἀρχὴν, αὖθις πάντας ἐπανῆλθε, καὶ Νεκτάριον αἱρεῖται. Θαῦμα δὲ πᾶσιν ἐγένετο" καὶ ἐπυνθάνοντο ὅστις εἴη Νεκτάριος οὗτος, καὶ ποδαπὸς τὸ ἐπιτήδευμα, καὶ πόθεν. Μαθόντες δὲ μηδὲ μυστηρίων μετεσχηχέναι τὸν ἄνδρα, ἔτι μᾶλλον ἐθαύμαζον τὸ παράδοξον τῆς τοῦ βασιλέως κρίσεως. Ἠγνόει δὲ τοῦτο, οἶμαι, Διόδωρος. Οὐ γὰρ ἐθάῤῥησεν εἰδὼς, ἔτι ἀμυήτῳ δοῦναι ψῆφον ἱερωσύνης. ᾿Αλλ᾽ οἷα εἰκὸς, νομίσας πολιὸν ὄντα, μὴ πάλαι μεμυῆσθαι. Οὐχ ἀθεεὶ δὲ ταῦτα συνέθαινεν ᾿ Ἐπεὶ βασιλεὺς ἀμύητον αὐτὸν εἶναι μαθὼν, ἐπὶ τῆς αὐτῆς ἔμεινε γνώμης, πολλῶν ἱερέων ἀντιτεινόντῶν. Ἐπεὶ δὲ πάντες εἰξαν, τῇ Ψήφῳ 29 988 κρατοῦντος συνέβησαν, ἐμυήθη. τὴν ἐσθῆτα ἔτι ἠμφιεσμένος, κοινῇ Ψήφῳ τῆς συνόδου ἀναγορεύεται Κωνσταντινουπόλεως ἐπίσκοπος. Ταῦτα δὲ οὕτω γενέσθαι πολλοῖς πεπίστευται, τοῦ Θεοῦ χρηματίσαντος τῷ βασιλεῖ " οὐχ ἀχριδῷ δὲ τοῦτο, πότερον ἀληθὲς, 7| οὔ. Πείθομαί γε μὴν, οὐκ : θείας ῥοπῆς ἐπιτελεσθῆναι τὸ συμβὰν, εἰς τὸ παράδοξον τῆς χειροτονίας ἀφορῶν, καὶ τῶν μετὰ ταῦτα σκοπῶν, ὡς ἐπὶ πραότατον καὶ ἀγαθὸν καλὸν ταυτηνὶ τὴν ἱερωσύνην ὁ Θεὸς ἤγαγε. Καὶ τὰ μὲν ἀμφὶ τὴν Νεκταρίου χειροτονίαν ὧδε ἔσχεν ὡς ἐπυθόμην. ### English translation (Claude) At this time a certain Nectarius of Tarsus in Cilicia, of the most illustrious order of the senate, was staying in Constantinople. Being already prepared to go home, he came to Diodore, the bishop of Tarsus, to carry letters if he wished to write. Diodore happened then to be considering by himself whom he should put forward for the ordination in question. Seeing Nectarius, he thought him worthy of the episcopate; for at once there came to his mind the man’s grey hair, his priestly appearance, and the gentleness of his manners. And taking him, as if on some other business, to the bishop of Antioch, he praised him and asked him to support him. The bishop, since it was a matter of serious concern and many most distinguished men were candidates, laughed at Diodore’s vote. Yet he called Nectarius to himself and told him to wait a short time. Not long after, when the emperor ordered the priests to write on a paper the names of those each judged worthy of the ordination, reserving to himself the choice of one out of all, they wrote down different men. The head of the church of the Antiochenes wrote those he wished, and last of all added Nectarius, as a favour to Diodore. When the emperor read the list of those written down, he stopped at Nectarius; and becoming thoughtful, he deliberated with himself at leisure, putting his finger on the last name; then running back to the beginning, he went through all of them again, and chose Nectarius. Everyone was astonished, and they asked who this Nectarius was, what his pursuits, and where he came from. Learning that the man had not even received the mysteries, they marvelled still more at the strangeness of the emperor’s judgment. Diodore, I think, did not know this; for had he known, he would not have dared to give his vote for the priesthood to one still uninitiated; but, as was natural, he supposed that a grey-haired man had long been initiated. It did not happen without God. For the emperor, learning that he was uninitiated, remained of the same opinion, though many priests opposed him. When all had yielded and agreed to the ruler’s vote, he was initiated; and while still wearing the white garment of initiation, he was proclaimed bishop of Constantinople by the common vote of the synod. Many believe that this happened so because God gave an oracle to the emperor; I do not know exactly whether this is true or not. But I am persuaded that what happened was not accomplished without divine influence, when I look at the strangeness of the ordination and consider what followed, how God brought to this priesthood a most gentle and good and noble man. Such were the events of Nectarius’s ordination, as I have learned. ### Translation notes - Nectarius was consecrated in 381. “The bishop of Antioch” is Meletius. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 7.8 (PG 67:1433–1435; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/7-8). ## Church History 7.9 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/7-3/#p-7-9 - Source: PG 67:1435–1439 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The council of Constantinople confirms Nicaea, limits bishops to their own provinces, gives Constantinople second rank after Rome as “new Rome,” and annuls the ordination of Maximus the Cynic; Theodosius’s law names the bishops whose communion marks orthodoxy. ### Greek text Μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα συνελθόντες αὐτός τε Νεκτάριος καὶ οἱ ἄλλοι ἱερεῖς, ἐψηφίσαντο τῆς ἐν Νικαίᾳ συνὀδου κυρίαν μένειν τὴν πίστιν, πᾶσαν : ἀποχεχηρύχθαι " διοιχεῖσθαι δὲ τὰς πανταχῇ κλησίας κατὰ τοὺς πάλαι κανόνας" τοὺς ἐπεσχόποὺς ἐπὶ τῶν ἰδίων μένειν ἐκκλησιῶν, μὴ εἴχῃ ταῖς ὑπερορίαις ἐπιβαίνειν, μήτε ἀχλήτοις χείροτονίαις μηδὲν αὐτοῖς προσηκούσαις σφᾶς ἐπ'άλλειν, πρότερον, ὡς ἔτυχε διωχομένης τῆς — Ἐχχληστίας, πολλάκις συνέβη. Τὰ δ παρ᾽ ἐχάστην συμθαίνοντα, τὴν τοῦ ἔθνους σύνοδον, ὡς ἂν ἄριστα ἃτ- 4; φανείη, διοικεῖν τε καὶ πράττειν. Μετὰ δὲ τὸν Ῥώμήης], τὸν Κωνσταντινουπόλεως ἐπίσκοπον τὰ πρεσθεῖα ἔχειν, ὡς νέας Ῥώμης τὸν θρόνον ἐπιτροπεύ— Ἤδη γὰρ οὐ μόνον εἶχε ταύτην τὴν προσηγορίαν ἡ πόλις, καὶ γερουσίᾳ καὶ τάγμασι δήμων καὶ ἀρχαῖς ὁμοίως ἐχρῆτο " ἀλλὰ τὰ συμδόλαια κατὰ τὰ νόμιμα τῶν ἐν Ἰταλίᾳ Ρωμαίων ἐκρίνετο, : καὶ τὰ δίκαια καὶ τὰ γέρα περὶ πάντα ἑκατέρᾳ ἰσάξετο, Μάξιμον δὲ, μῆτε γεγενῆσθαι $ εἶναι ἐπί289 σκοπον, μῆτε κληρικοὺς, τοὺς παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ θέντας. Καὶ τὰ ἐπ᾽ αὐτῷ ἢ παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ πεπραγμένα, ἄχυρα ἐψηφίσαντο. Τοῦτον γὰρ ᾿Αλεξανδρέα τὸ γένος ὄντα, τε φιλόσοφον τὸ ἐπιτήδευμα, σπουδαῖον δὲ περὶ τὸ δόγμα τῆς συνόδον, χλέψαντες τὴν χειροτονίαν, ἐπίσκοπον Κωνσταυτινουπόλεως κατέστησαν, οἱ τότε ἐξ Αἰγύπτου συνεληλυθότες. Καὶ τὰ μὲν ὧδε τῇ συνόδῳ ἔδοξε ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐπεψηφίσατο νόμον ἔθετο, κυρίαν εἶναι τὴν πίστιν τῶν ἐν Νικαίᾳ συνεληλυθότων " παραδοθῆναί τε τὰς πανταχῇ ἐκκλησίας τοῖς ἐν ὑποστάσει τριῶν προσώπων ἰσοτίμων ἱπτοδυνάμων, μίαν τὴν αὐτὴν ὁμολογοῦσι θεότητα Πατρὸς, Υἱοῦ, ἁγίου Πνεύματος. Τούτους δὲ εἶναι τοὺς κοινωνοῦντας Νεκταρίῳ ἐν Κωνσταντινουπόλει " ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ δὲ Τιμοθέῳ τῷ ἐπισκόπῳ ᾿Αλεξανδρείας " ἐν δὲ ταῖς ἀνὰ τὴν Ἕω ἐκκλησίαις, Διοδώρῳ τῷ Ταρσοῦ, καὶ Πελαγίῳ τῷ ἐπισκόπῳ Λαοδικείας τῆς Σύρων" παρὰ δὲ ᾿Ασιανοῖς ᾿Αμφιλοχίῳ τῷ προϊσταμένῳ τῆς ἐν Ἰχονίῳ ἐκκλησίας “ ἐν δὲ ταῖς παρὰ τὸν Πόντον πόλεσιν, ἀπὸ Βιθυνῶν μέχρις ᾿Αρμενίων, Ἑ λλαδίῳ τῷ Καισαρείας τῆς Καππαδοκῶν ἐκκλησίας ἐπισκόπω, 290 Γρηγορίῳ τῷ Νύσης, κα. Ὁτρηΐνῳ τῳ Μελιτίνης· ἐν δὲ ταῖς περὶ Θράκην καὶ Σκυθίαν πόλεσι, Τερεντίῳ τῷ Τομέων, καὶ Μαρτυρίῳ τῷ Μαρκιανουπόλεως. Τούτους γὰρ καὶ βασιλεὺς αὐτὸς ἐπήνεσεν ἰδὼν καὶ συγγενόμενος· καὶ δόξα ἀγαθὴ περὶ αὐτῶν ἐκράτει, ὡς τὰς ἐκκλησίας εὐσεβῶς ἀγόντων, Ἐπεὶ δὲ τάδε ἐγένετο, καὶ ἡ σύνοδος τέλος ἔσχεν, οἱ μὲν ἄλλοι ἕκαστος οἴκαδε ἐπανῆλθον. ### English translation (Claude) After this Nectarius himself and the other priests met and decreed that the faith of the synod at Nicaea should remain in force and every heresy be condemned; that the churches everywhere should be governed according to the ancient canons; that the bishops should remain in their own churches and not rashly invade those beyond their bounds, nor thrust themselves into ordinations they were not invited to and that did not concern them, as had often happened before when the church happened to be persecuted; that what happened in each province should be managed and dealt with by the synod of the province, as might seem best; and that after the bishop of Rome the bishop of Constantinople should have the precedence, as governing the throne of new Rome. For the city already not only had this name and had likewise a senate, orders of the people and magistrates, but contracts were judged according to the laws of the Romans in Italy, and the rights and privileges in everything were made equal for each. They decreed that Maximus neither had become nor was a bishop, nor were those ordained by him clerics, and that what had been done for him or by him was void. For this man, an Alexandrian by birth and a … philosopher by profession, zealous for the doctrine of the synod, had been made bishop of Constantinople by those who had come at that time from Egypt, who stole the ordination. Such were the synod’s decisions. The emperor ratified them and made a law that the faith of those who met at Nicaea should be in force, and that the churches everywhere should be handed over to those who confess one and the same Godhead of Father, Son and Holy Spirit in the hypostasis of three persons equal in honour and in power; and that these were those in communion with Nectarius in Constantinople; in Egypt with Timothy the bishop of Alexandria; in the churches of the East with Diodore of Tarsus and Pelagius the bishop of Laodicea in Syria; among the Asians with Amphilochius, who presided over the church at Iconium; in the cities along the Pontus, from the Bithynians to the Armenians, with Helladius, bishop of the church of Caesarea in Cappadocia, Gregory of Nyssa and Otreius of Melitene; and in the cities of Thrace and Scythia with Terentius of Tomi and Martyrius of Marcianopolis. For the emperor himself had praised these, having seen them and met with them, and a good reputation prevailed about them as leading the churches piously. When this had been done and the synod had ended, the others returned each to his home. ### Extrabiblical texts - Conc. Const. I (Canons of the Council of Constantinople (381)): echo, high confidence ### Translation notes - The council’s canons (1–4 of Constantinople 381) are summarized here; the council is on this site as council-constantinople-381. Theodosius’s law is Codex Theodosianus 16.1.3 (30 July 381). - A word is lost in the scan before “philosopher” (marked “…”); Maximus is known elsewhere as the Cynic. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 7.9 (PG 67:1435–1439; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/7-9). ## Church History 7.10 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/7-3/#p-7-10 - Source: PG 67:1439–1441 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Nectarius is taught church order by Cyriacus of Adana; his physician Martyrius refuses ordination, arguing that baptism had cleansed Nectarius but not himself; the relics of Paul of Constantinople and of Meletius are solemnly translated. ### Greek text Νεκτάριος δὲ, ὑπὸ διδασκάλῳ Κυριακῷ τῷ ἐπισκόπῳ ᾿Αδάνων, τὴν ἱερατικὴν τάξιν ἐμάνθανε. Τοῦτον γὰρ αὐτῷ συγγενέσθαι ἐπί τινα χρόνον, ᾔτησε Διόδωρον τὸν Ταρσέων ἐπίσκοπον · προὐτρέψατο δὲ καὶ πολλοὺς ἄλλους Κίλικας αὐτῷ συνεῖναι, καὶ Μαρτύριον, ὃν ἐπιτήδειον ἰατρὸν ἔχων καὶ συνίστορα τῶν ἐν νεότητι ἡμαρτημένων αὐτῷ, διάκονον χειροτονεῖν ἐβουλεύετο. Οὐ μὴν ἠνέσχετο Μαρτύριος, ἀνάξιον αὐτὸν εἶναι θείας διακονίας ἰσχυριζόμενος, καὶ τῶν αὐτῷ βεβιωμένων αὐτὸν Νεκτάριον μάρτυρα ποιούμενος. Καὶ ὁ Νεκτάριος, Η οὐκ ἐγὼ, ἔφη, ὁ νῦν ἱερεὺς, ἀμελέστερόν σου πολλῷ τὸν προτοῦ διετέθην βίον, ὡς καὶ αὐτὸς μαρτυρεῖς, πολλάκις διακονησάμενος ταῖς πολλαῖς ἐμαῖς ἀκολασίαις; Ὁ δὲ, ᾿Αλλὰ σὺ, ὦ μακάριε, ὑπολαβὼν ἔφη, ἔναγχος βαπτισθεὶς κεκάθαρσαι, καὶ ἐπὶ τούτῳ ἱερωσύνης ἠξίωσαι. Ἀμφότερα δὲ καθάρσια ἁμαρτημάτων τὸ θεῖον ἐνομοθέτησε. Καί μοι δοκῶ, οὐδὲν διαφέρεις τῶν ἀρτιτόκων βρεφῶν. Ἐγὼ ὴ δὲ πάλα: τῆς θείας βαπτίσεως μετασχὼν, τῇ αὑτῇ διετέλεσα βιοτῇ χρώμενος. Καὶ ὁ μὲν τοιάδε λέγων, οὐχ ὑπέστη τὴν χειροτονίαν. Ἐγὼ δὲ τῆς παραιτήσεως ἐπαινῶ τὸν ἄνδρα, διὰ τοῦτο, μέρος ἐποιησάμην αὐτὸν ταύτης τῆς γραφῆς. Ὁ δὲ βατιλεὺς, μαθὼν τὰ συμδάντα Παύλῳ τῷ Κωνσταντινου1 πόλεως ἐπισκόπῳ γενομένῳ, μετεκόμισεν αὐτοῦ τὸ σῶμα, καὶ ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ ἔθαψεν, ἣν ᾧχοδόμησε Μακεδόνιος ὁ ἐπιδουλεύσας αὐτῷ " εἰσέτι τε νῦν ἐπώνυμός ἐστιν αὑτῷ, μέγιστος ὧν καὶ ἐπισημότατος ὁ ναὸς οὗτος. Ὃ καὶ πολλοὺς ἀγνοοῦντας τὴν ἀλήθειαν, ὑπονοεῖν ποιεῖ Παῦλον τὸν ἀπόστολον ἐνθάδε χεῖσθαϊ, μάλιστα δὲ τὰς γυναῖκας, τοῦ δήμου τοὺς πλείους. Περὶ δὲ τοῦτον τὸν χρόνον, καὶ τὸ Μελετίου λείψανον ἐκομίσθη εἰς ᾿Αντιόχειαν, καὶ παρὰ τὴν θήκην Βαδύλα τοῦ μάρτυρο: ἐτάφη. Λέγεται δὲ διὰ πάσης τῆς λεωφόρου κατὰ βασιλέως πρόσταγμα, ἐντὸς τειχῶν εἰς τὰς πόλεις εἰσδεχθῆναι, παρὰ τὸ νενομισμένον Ῥωμαίοις, ἀμοιθαδόν τε ὑπὸ Ψψαλμῳδίαις ταῖς ἐν ἑκάστῳ τόπῳ τιμώμενον, ἕως χείας διακομισθῆναι. ### English translation (Claude) Nectarius learned the priestly order under Cyriacus, bishop of Adana, as his teacher. For he asked Diodore, the bishop of Tarsus, to let Cyriacus stay with him for some time; and he invited many other Cilicians to be with him, among them Martyrius, whom he had as his own physician and who knew of the sins of his youth, and whom he planned to ordain deacon. But Martyrius would not consent, maintaining that he was unworthy of the divine ministry and calling Nectarius himself to witness to his way of life. Nectarius said: “Was not I, who am now a priest, much more careless than you in my former life, as you yourself bear witness, having often ministered to my many excesses?” He answered: “But you, blessed one, having lately been baptized, have been cleansed and for this have been thought worthy of the priesthood; for the Divine has ordained both as purifications of sins. And you seem to me no different from newborn babes. But I, having long ago received divine baptism, have continued to live the same life.” Saying this, he did not accept ordination. I praise the man for his refusal, and for this reason have made him part of this history. The emperor, learning what had happened to Paul, who had been bishop of Constantinople, brought his body back and buried it in the church which Macedonius, who had plotted against him, had built; and this temple, being very large and most celebrated, is still named after him. This leads many who do not know the truth, especially women and most of the common people, to suppose that Paul the apostle lies there. About this time the remains of Meletius too were brought to Antioch and buried beside the tomb of the martyr Babylas. It is said that by the emperor’s order, along the whole highway, they were received within the walls into the cities, contrary to Roman custom, and honoured in turn with psalm-singing in each place, until they were brought to Antioch. ### Translation notes - Two lines are displaced in the scan (part of Martyrius’s reply had slipped into the sentence about Cyriacus); they are restored by corrections. - Martyrius treats both baptism and ordination as purifications of sins; translated as written. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 7.10 (PG 67:1439–1441; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/7-10). ## Church History 7.11 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/7-3/#p-7-11 - Source: PG 67:1441–1443 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Flavian is ordained at Antioch on Meletius’s death in breach of the oaths, prolonging the schism with Paulinus; Egypt, Cyprus and the West back Paulinus and summon the eastern bishops. ### Greek text νεῖται δὲ ἀντ᾽ αὐτοῦ Φλαβιανὸς παρὰ τοὺς δοθέντας (, ὄρχους. γὰρ Παυλῖνος τῷ βίῳ περιῆν. Ἐχ τούτου δὲ μεγίστη πάλιν ταραχὴ τὴν ᾿Αντιοχέων ἐχκλησίαν ἐπέλαβε " πλεῖστοι σφᾶς ἀπέσχισαν τῆς πρὸς Φλαδιανὸν κοινωνίας, καὶ ὑπὸ Παυλίνῳω ἰδίᾳ ἐκκλησίαζον. Διεφέροντο δὲ τούτου χάριν πρὸς ἀλλήλους αὐτοὶ ἱερεῖς. Καὶ Αἰγύπτιοι μὲν, 6101 Κύπριοι, ὡς ἐπὶ ἠδιχημένῳ Παυλίνῳ ἢγανἀχτουν. Σύροι δὲ, Παλαιστινοὶ Φοίνιχες, ᾿Αρμενίων τε Καππαδοκῶν Γαλατῶν, τῶν πρὸς τῷ Πόντῳ οἱ πλείους, τὰ Φλαβιανοῦ ἐφρόνουν. Οὐχ ἥκιστα δὲ ἐχαλέπαινεν ὁ Ῥωμαίων ἐπίσκοπος, καὶ πάντες οἱ πρὸς Ἑσπέραν ἱερεῖς. Καὶ Παυλένῳ μὲν ὡς ἐπισκόπῳ ᾿Αντιοχείας τὰς συνήθεις ἔγραφον ἐπιστολὰς, ἃς συνοδιχὰς καλοῦσι " πρὸς δὲ Φλαθδιανὸν σιυπὴν ἦγον. Καὶ τοὺς ἀμφὶ Διόδιυρον τὸν Ταρ, ᾿Ακάκιον τὸν Βεροίας, τοὺς αὑτὸν χειροτονήσαντας, ἐν αἰτίᾳ ἐποιοῦντο, ἀκοινωνήτους εἶχον. Ὥστε δὲ τὰ περὶ τούτων διαγνῶναι, ἔγραψαν οἱ αὐτοί τε καὶ Γρατιανὸς ὁ βασιλεὺς, συγκαλοῦντες εἰς τὴν Δύσιν τοὺς ἀπὸ τῆς ᾿Ανατολῆς ἐπισκόπους, ### English translation (Claude) In his place Flavian was ordained, contrary to the oaths that had been given; for Paulinus was still alive. From this the greatest turmoil again took hold of the church of the Antiochenes; very many separated themselves from communion with Flavian and held assemblies apart under Paulinus. The priests themselves disagreed with one another on this account. The Egyptians, the Arabians and the Cypriots were indignant, as at a wrong done to Paulinus; but the Syrians, the Palestinians and the Phoenicians, and most of the Armenians, Cappadocians, Galatians and those along the Pontus, took Flavian’s side. Not least, the bishop of the Romans and all the priests of the West were angry. They wrote the usual letters, which they call synodal, to Paulinus as bishop of Antioch, but kept silence toward Flavian; and they blamed Diodore of Tarsus and Acacius of Beroea, who had ordained him, and held them out of communion. To decide these matters, they and the emperor Gratian wrote summoning the bishops of the East to the West. ### Translation notes - The opening words of the chapter (“And Meletius was thought worthy of such a burial. …”) stand in the staged title field; the section begins with the end of the verb “was ordained”. - “The Arabians”: the word is garbled in the scan and is read as in NPNF² 2. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 7.11 (PG 67:1441–1443; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/7-11). ## Church History 7.12 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/7-3/#p-7-12 - Source: PG 67:1443–1445 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Theodosius convenes the heads of the sects (383); on the Novatian Sisinnius’s advice they are asked to accept the pre-schism Fathers as authorities, and when they disagree each submits a creed, of which only the Nicene and Novatian are approved; laws against heretics follow. ### Greek text Κατὰ δὲ τοῦτον τὸν χρόνον, τῶν ἀπὸ τῆς καθόλου Ἐκκλησίας καταλαμβανόντων τοὺς εὐκτηρίους οἱκους, πλείσται πολλαχῆ τῆς ὑπηκόου ταραχαὶ συν· ἐβησαν, τῶν ἀπὸ τῆς ᾿Αρείου αἱρέσεως ἀνθισταμέ νων. Θεοδόσιος δὲ ὁ βασιλεὺς, ὀλίγον τῆς προτέρας συνόδου διαλιπών χρόνον, αὖθις τοὺς προεστῶτας τῶν ἀκμαζουσῶν τότε αἱρέσεων συνεκάλεσεν, ἢ πεισθησομένους, ἢ πείσοντας περὶ ὧν διεφέροντο. Ὑπέλαβε γὰρ πάντας ὁμοδόξους ποιῆσαι, εἰ κοινὴν αὐτοῖς διάλεξιν προθείη περὶ τῶν ἀμφιβόλων τοῦ δόγματος. Ἐπεὶ δὲ συνῆλθον · ἔτος δὲ τοῦτο ἦν, ἐν ᾧ Μεροβαύδης τὸ δεύτερον καὶ Σατορνίνος ὑπάτευον ἡνίκα δὴ συμβασιλεύειν αὐτῷ τὸν υἱὸν ᾿Αρκάδιον ἀνηγόρευσε· μετακαλεσάμενος Νεκτάριον, ἐκοινώ σατο περὶ τῆς ἐσομένης συνόδου, καὶ τὰ ποιοῦντα τὰς αἱρέσεις ζητήματα εἰς διάλεξιν ἄγειν ἐκέλευσεν· ὅπως μία τῶν εἰς Χριστὸν πιστευόντων Ἐκκλη σία γένοιτο, καὶ δόγμα καθ' ὁ θρησκεύειν δεῖ, σύμφωνον. Καθ᾿ ἑαυτὸν δὲ Νεκτάριος ἐν φροντίσι γενόμενος, ὡς ὁμόφρονι περὶ τὴν πίστιν, δήλην ἐποίησε τὴν βασιλέως γνώμην Ἁγελίῳ, τῷ προϊσταμένῳ τῆς Ναυατιανῶν ἐκκλησίας. Ὁ δὲ, τὴν ἀρετὴν τοῦ βίου διὰ τῶν ἔργων φέρων, κομψότητος δὲ καὶ τεμθρείας λόγων ἀτριβής, προεβάλετο ἀντ᾿ αὐτοῦ τὸ πρακτέον ἰδεῖν, διαλεχθῆναί τε εἰ δεήσειεν, ἄνδρα τῶν ὑπ' αὐτὸν ἀναγνωστῶν τότε, Σισίνιον ὀνόματι, ὃς καὶ ὕστερον ἐπετράπη τὴν αὐτὴν ἐπισκοπήν· ἱκανὸν νοῆσαί τε καὶ φράσαι, καὶ τὰς ἐξηγήσεις τῶν ἱερῶν Βίβλων ἀκριβῶς ἐπιστάμενον · καὶ πολυμαθῆ τῶν ἱστορημένων ὑπὸ τῶν παρ' Ἕλλησι καὶ τῇ Ἐκκλησίᾳ φιλοσοφησάντων· ὃς δὴ καὶ τότε δόξας ἄριστα λέγειν, συνεβούλευσεν ἀποφυγεῖν τὰς πρὸς τοὺς ἑτεροδόξους διαλέξεις, ὡς ἔριδος καὶ μάχης αἰτίους. ΜεΠυνθάνεσθαι δὲ αὐτῶν, εἰ προσίενται τοὺς πρὸ τῆς διαιρέσεως τῆς Ἐκκλησίας, καθηγητὰς καὶ διδασκάλους τῶν ἱερῶν Λόγων γενομένους. Εἰ μὲν γὰρ τούτων, ἔφη, τὰς μαρτυρίας ἀποβάλωσιν, ὑπὸ τῶν οἰκείων ἐξελαθήσονται. Εἰ δὲ ἱκανοὺς εἰς ἀπόδειξιν τῶν ἀμφιβόλων ἡγήσονται, προΐσχεσθαι δεῖ τὰς αὐτῶν βίὅλους. Εὖ γὰρ ᾔδει, ὡς οἱ παλαιοὶ συναΐδιον τῷ Πατρὶ τὸν Υἱὸν εὐρόντες, οὐκ ἐτόλμησαν εἰπεῖν ἔκ τινος ἀρχῆς τὴν γένεσιν αὐτὸν ἔχειν. Ἐπεὶ δὲ τάδε καλῶς ἔχειν καὶ Νεκταρίῳ συνεδόκει, μαθὼν δὲ καὶ βασιλεὺς, ἐπήνεσε τὴν βουλὴν, ἀπεπειρᾶτο τῶν ἀπὸ τῶν ἄλλων αἱρέσεων, ὅπως ἔχουσι γνώμης περὶ τὰς τῶν παλαιοτέρων ἐξηγήσεις. Τῶν δὲ μάλα θαυμασάντων, ἀναφανδὸν ἐδήλωσεν, εἰ ἐπὶ τοῖς εἰρημένοις αὐτοῖς καταπαύσουσι τὰς ζητήσεις, καὶ ἀξιοχρέους ἡγοῦνται μάρτυρας τοῦ δόγματος. Διχονοίας δὲ καὶ περὶ τοῦτο συμβάσης τοῖς προεστῶσι τῶν αἱρέσεων, οὐ ταὐτὰ γὰρ ἔκαστοι περὶ τὰς τῶν ἀρχαιοτέρων ἐφρόνουν βίβλους · ἔγνω ὁ βασιλεὺς, ὡς διαλέξεσι μόναις οἰκείων λόγων πεποιθότες, παρῃτοῦντο τὴν πρότασιν. Καὶ τῆς γνώμης αὐτοὺς μεμψάμενος, ἐκέλευσεν ἑκάστην αἵρεσιν γραφὴν αὐτῷ διδόναι τοῦ οἰκείου δόγματος. Ἐπεὶ δὲ ἡμέρα παρῆν, καθ᾿ ἣν ὥριστο τοῦτο ποιεῖν, συνῆλθον εἰς τὰ βασίλεια, ὑπὲρ μὲν τῶν ὁμοούσιον Τριάδα δοξαζόντων, Νεκτάριος καὶ ᾿Αγέλιος · ὑπὲρ δὲ τῆς ᾿Αρείου αἱρέσεως, Δημόφιλος ταύτης προεστώς· τῆς δὲ Εὐνομίου, αὐτὸς Εὐνόμιος · Ἐλεύσιος δὲ ὁ Κυζίκου ἐπίσκοπος, ὑπὲρ τῶν καλουμένων Μακεδονιανῶν. Δεξάμενος δὲ τὴν ἑκάστου γραφὴν, μόνην τὴν ὁμοούσιον Τριάδα εἰσηγουμένην ἐπήνεσε. Τὰς δὲ ἄλλας, ὡς ἐναντίας διέῤῥηξε. Καὶ Ναυατιανοῖς μὲν οὐδὲν ἐντεῦθεν παρὰ γνώμην ἀπέβη. Ὁμοίως γὰρτῇ καθόλου Ἐκκλησίᾳ τὰ περὶ Θεοῦ δοξάζουσιν. Οἱ δὲ ἄλλοι πρὸς τοὺς αὐτῶν ἱερέας ἐχαλέπαινον, ὡς ἀμαθῶς σφίσιν ἐναντίους ἐπὶ τοῦ κρατοῦντος γενομένους. Πολλοὶ δὲ καὶ καταγνόντες, πρὸς τὴν ἐπαινεθεῖσαν μετέθεντο. Ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς νομοθετῶν, ἐκέλευσε τοὺς ἑτεροδόξους μήτε ἐκκλησιάζειν, μήτε περὶ πίστεως διδάσκειν, μήτε ἐπισκόπους ἢ ἄλλους χειροτονεῖν· καὶ τοὺς μὲν, πόλεων καὶ ἀγρῶν ἐλαύνεσθαι· τοὺς δὲ, ἀτίμους εἶναι, καὶ πολιτείας ὁμοίως μὴ μετέχειν τοῖς ἄλλοις. Καὶ χαλεπὰς τοῖς νόμοις ἐπέγραφε τιμωρίας. ᾿Αλλ᾽ οὐκ ἐπεξῄει· οὐ γὰρ τιμωρεῖσθαι, ἀλλ᾽ εἰς δέος καθιστᾷν τοὺς ὑπηκόους ἐσπούδαζεν, ὅπως ὁμόφρονες αὐτῷ γένοιντο περὶ τὸ θεῖον. Ἐπεὶ καὶ τοὺς ἑκοντὶ μετατιθεμένους ἐπῄνει. ### English translation (Claude) At this time, as those of the catholic church took possession of the houses of prayer, very many disturbances took place in many parts of the empire, those of the Arian heresy resisting. The emperor Theodosius, after a short interval from the former synod, again called together the leaders of the heresies then flourishing, either to be persuaded or to persuade about what they disagreed on. For he supposed that he would make all of one belief if he set before them a common debate about the disputed points of doctrine. When they had met — this was the year in which Merobaudes for the second time and Saturninus were consuls, when he proclaimed his son Arcadius co-emperor — he summoned Nectarius, conferred with him about the coming synod, and ordered him to bring the questions that produce the heresies to debate, so that there might be one church of those who believe in Christ and a harmonious doctrine by which to worship. Nectarius, anxious by himself, made the emperor’s mind known to Agelius, head of the church of the Novatians, as one of the same mind about the faith. Agelius, who bore the virtue of his life in his deeds but was unpractised in the subtlety and complexity of arguments, put forward in his place, to see what was to be done and to debate if necessary, a man among his readers at that time named Sisinnius, who was afterwards entrusted with the same episcopate — a man able to think and to express himself, knowing exactly the interpretations of the sacred books, and widely learned in the history of those who had lived the philosophic life among the Greeks and in the church. He, seeming then to speak best, advised that they avoid debates with those of other belief, as causes of strife and battle, but ask them whether they accepted those who had been guides and teachers of the sacred words before the division of the church. “For if they reject their testimonies,” he said, “they will be driven out by their own people; but if they think them adequate for the proof of the disputed points, their books must be produced.” For he knew well that the ancients, finding the Son coeternal with the Father, did not dare to say that he had his generation from some beginning. When Nectarius too thought this good, and the emperor on learning it praised the counsel, he sounded out those of the other heresies as to their mind concerning the interpretations of the older writers. When they professed great admiration for them, he openly asked whether they would end their inquiries on the basis of what those had said and thought them trustworthy witnesses of doctrine. When disagreement arose about this too among the leaders of the heresies — for each did not think the same about the books of the older writers — the emperor understood that they declined the proposal, trusting only in debates of their own arguments. Blaming them for their attitude, he ordered each heresy to give him a written statement of its own doctrine. When the day came that had been fixed for doing this, they met at the palace: for those who held the Trinity of the same essence, Nectarius and Agelius; for the Arian heresy, Demophilus, its head; for that of Eunomius, Eunomius himself; and Eleusius, bishop of Cyzicus, for the so-called Macedonians. Receiving each one’s document, he praised only that which taught the Trinity of the same essence, and tore up the others as contrary. From this nothing turned out against the wishes of the Novatians, for they believe the same about God as the catholic church. But the others were angry with their priests for having opposed them ignorantly before the ruler; and many, condemning them, went over to the approved doctrine. The emperor, making laws, ordered those of other belief neither to hold assemblies nor to teach about the faith nor to ordain bishops or others; some were to be driven from cities and fields, others to be infamous and not to share in civic rights like the rest; and he wrote severe penalties into the laws. But he did not carry them out; for he was eager not to punish but to frighten his subjects, so that they might be of one mind with him about the divine; since he praised those who changed of their own accord. ### Translation notes - The first words of the staged text are the end of the chapter title and are removed by a correction. - The consuls Merobaudes II and Saturninus are those of 383. Sozomen’s statement that the laws against heretics were not enforced is his own judgment. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 7.12 (PG 67:1443–1445; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/7-12). ## Church History 7.13 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/7-3/#p-7-13 - Source: PG 67:1447–1449 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Justina, Valentinian II’s Arian mother, tries to have Ambrose exiled and issues a law for the creed of Ariminum, which the official Menivolus refuses to draft; Gratian is murdered by the usurper Maximus’s general, and Valentinian flees to Thessalonica. ### Greek text Ὑπὸ δὲ τοῦτον τὸν χρόνον ἡσχολημένῳ Γρατιανῷ εἰς τὸν πρὸς ᾿Αλαμανοὺς πόλεμον, ἐπανέστη Μάξιμος ἐκ τῆς Βρετανίας, καὶ ὑφ᾽ ἑαυτὸν τὴν Ῥωμαίων ἀρχὴν ποιήσασθαι ἐσπούδαζεν. Ἐν Ἰταλίᾳ δὲ τότε διέτριβεν Οὐαλεντινιανὸς, ἔτι νέος ὧν· ἐπετέτραπτο δὲ τῶν τῇδε πραγμάτων τὴν διοίκησιν ὑπαρχος ὧν Πρόβος, ὑπατικὸς ἀνήρ. Ηνίκα δὴ Ἰουστίνα ἡ τοῦ βασιλέως μήτηρ, τὰ ᾿Αρείου φρονοῦσα, πράγματα παρείχεν Αμβροσίῳ ἐπισκόπῳ Μεδιολάνων, καὶ τὰς ἐκκλησίας ἐτάραττεν, ἐπιχειροῦσα νεωτερίζειν κατὰ τῶν ἐν Νικαίᾳ δοξάντων, καὶ περὶ πολλοῦ ποιουμένη κρατεῖν τὴν πίστιν τῶν ἐν Ἀριμένῳ συνεληλυθό των. Ἐπεὶ δὲ τὸ ἐναντίον ἐσπούδασεν ᾿Αμβρόσιος, χαλεπήνασα διαβάλλει αὐτὸν πρὸς τὸν υἱὸν, ὡς ὑβρισμένη. Ὑπολαβὼν δὲ Οὐαλεντινιανὸς ἀληθεῖς εἶναι τὰς διαβολὰς, ἅτε δὴ μητρὶ τιμωρῶν, στρατιωτῶν πλῆθος ἐπιπέμπει τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ. Οἱ δὲ, τῷ ναῷ προσβαλόντες, βίᾳ τῶν θυρῶν ἐντὸς ἐγένοντο, καὶ τὸν Ἀμβρόσιον εἶλκον αὐθωρὸν, εἰς τὴν ὑπερορίαν ἄξοντες. Περιχυθέντες δὲ αὐτῷ τὸ πλῆθος τῆς Ἐκκλησίας, ἀντέσχον τοῖς στρατιώταις· καὶ πρότερον ἔγνωσαν ἀποθανεῖν, ἢ τὸν ἱερέα ὑπεριδεῖν. Ἐκ τουτου τε εἰς μείζονα ὀργὴν Ἰουστίνα ἐξήφθη, καὶ νόμῳ κρατύναι τὴν ἐγχείρησιν ἐβουλεύετο. Μετακαλεσαμένη τοίνυν Μενίβολον τὸν ἐπὶ τοῖς γραμματεῦσι τῶν θεσμῶν τότε τεταγμένον, ἐκέλευε τὴν ταχίστην τιθέναι νόμον ἐπὶ βεβαιώσει τῆς ἐν Ἀριμένῳ ἀναγνωσθείσης πίστεως. Ὑποπαραιτούμενον δὲ τὴν πρᾶξιν, ἦν γὰρ τῆς καθόλου Ἐκκλησίας, προὐτρέπετο μείζονος τιμῆς ἐπαγγελίαις δελεάζουσα. ᾿Αλλ' οὐκ ἔπεισε, περιελὼν δὲ τὴν ζώνην Μενίβολος, πρὸ τῶν ποδῶν τῆς βασιλίδος ἔρριψε, μήτε τῆς οὔσης τιμῆς μήτε μείζονος μεταποιεῖσθαι φήσας ἐπὶ μισθῷ ἀσεβείας. Ἐπεὶ οὖν ἐνέστη μή ποτε τοῦτο διαπράξασθαι, ἕτεροι διηκονήσαντο πρὸς τὴν θέσιν τοῦ τοιούτου νόμου. Παρεχελεύετο δὲ ἀδεῶς συνιέναι τοὺς ὁμοίως δοξάζοντας τοῖς ἐν ᾿Αριμίνῳ, καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα ἐν Κωνσταντινουπόλει συνεληλυθόσι· τοὺς δὲ ἐμποδών γενομένους, ἢ ἐναντία τῷ νόμῳ βασιλέως δεομένους, θανάτῳ ζημιοῦσθαι. Ταῦτα σπουδαζούσης τῆς τοῦ βασιλέως μητρὸς, καὶ τὸν νόμον εἰς ἔργον ἄγειν κατεπειγούσης, ἀγγέλλεται δόλω Ανδραγαθίου, ὃς στρατηγὸς ἦν Μαξίμου, Γρατιανὸν ἀνῃρῆσθαι, Ἐφ᾽ ἁρμαμάξης γὰρ βασιλικῆς ὀχούμενος, ἀπεκρύβη· καὶ ὡς τοῦ βασιλέως εἴη γαμετὴ, τοῖς ἡγουμένοις ἀγγέλλειν ἐκέλευεν, ᾿Απερισκέπτως δὲ Γρατιανὸς τὸν τῇδε ποταμὸν διαβὰς, ὡς ἕναγχος γήμας, καὶ νέος ὢν, καὶ ἐρωτικῶς πρὸς τὴν γυναῖκα διατεθεὶς, ὑπὸ προθυμίας τοῦ θεάσασθαι αὐτὴν μηδὲν προϊδόμενος, εἰς τὰς ᾿Ανδραγαθίου ἐνέπεσε χεῖρας. Καὶ συλληφθεὶς, οὐκ εἰς μακρὰν ἀνῃρέθη, ἔτη μὲν ἀμφὶ τὰ εἰκοσιτέσσαρα γεγονώς, δέκα δὲ καὶ πέντε βασιλεύσας. Ὡς ἐπιγενομένης δὲ τοσαύτης συμφορᾶς, ἐπαύσατο Ἰουστίνα τῆς κατὰ ᾿Αμβροσίου ὀργῆς. Ἐν τούτῳ δὲ Μάξιμος πλείστην ἀγείρας στρατιὰν Βρε τανῶν ἀνδρῶν, καὶ τῶν ὁμόρων Γαλατῶν, καὶ Κελτῶν, καὶ τῶν τῇδε ἐθνῶν, ἐπὶ τὴν Ἰταλίαν ᾔει· πρόφασιν μὲν ὡς οὐκ ἀνεξόμενος νεώτερόν τι γενέσθαι περὶ τὴν πάτριον πίστιν, καὶ τὴν ἐκκλησιαστικὴν τάξιν. Τὸ δὲ ἀληθὲς, τυράννου δόξης ἑαυτὸν καθαίρων, πρὸς δὲ τὴν βασιλείαν βλέπων, καὶ πραγματευόμενος, εἴ πη ἄρα δύναιτο δόξαι νόμῳ, οὐ βίᾳ, τὴν ἀρχὴν α Ῥωμαίων ἑαυτῷ περιποιεῖν. Οὐαλεντινιανὸς δὲ ὑπὸ τοῦ καιροῦ βιασθεὶς, ἐδέξατο τὰ σύμβολα τῆς αὐτοῦ βασιλείας. Δείσας δὲ μή τι πάθοι, φεύγων ἐξ Ίταλίας, εἰς Θεσσαλονίκην ἧκε· σὺν αὐτῷ δὲ καὶ ἡ μήτηρ, καὶ Πρόβος ὁ ὕπαρχος. ### English translation (Claude) About this time, while Gratian was occupied with the war against the Alamanni, Maximus rose up from Britain and tried to bring the empire of the Romans under himself. Valentinian, still young, was then living in Italy; the administration of affairs there had been entrusted to Probus, a man of consular rank, as prefect. Then Justina, the emperor’s mother, who held the views of Arius, gave trouble to Ambrose, bishop of Milan, and disturbed the churches, attempting to innovate against the decisions of Nicaea and setting great store on the faith of those who met at Ariminum prevailing. When Ambrose strove to the contrary, she, angry, slandered him to her son as having insulted her. Valentinian, supposing the slanders true, as avenging his mother, sent a body of soldiers against the church. They attacked the temple, forced their way inside the doors, and dragged Ambrose off at once to take him into exile. But the multitude of the church, pouring round him, resisted the soldiers, and resolved to die rather than abandon the priest. At this Justina was inflamed to greater anger and planned to strengthen her attempt by law. Summoning Menivolus, who was then in charge of the secretaries of the laws, she ordered him to issue as quickly as possible a law for the confirmation of the faith read at Ariminum. When he quietly declined the task — for he was of the catholic church — she urged him, enticing him with promises of greater honour. But she did not persuade him; Menivolus took off his belt and threw it at the empress’s feet, saying that he would claim neither his present rank nor a greater one at the price of impiety. Since he stood firm never to do this, others served in issuing such a law. It ordered that those who believed as those who had met at Ariminum, and afterwards at Constantinople, should assemble without fear; and that those who hindered this, or petitioned against the emperor’s law, should be punished with death. While the emperor’s mother was eager about this and pressing to carry the law into effect, it was announced that Gratian had been killed by the treachery of Andragathius, Maximus’s general. For he had hidden himself in an imperial carriage and ordered the officers to announce that it was the emperor’s wife. Gratian, rashly crossing the river there, being lately married, young, and in love with his wife, in his eagerness to see her, foreseeing nothing, fell into Andragathius’s hands; and being seized, he was killed not long after, being about twenty-four years old and having reigned fifteen. At so great a calamity Justina ceased from her anger against Ambrose. Meanwhile Maximus, gathering a very great army of Britons and of the neighbouring Gauls and Celts and the nations there, marched on Italy, on the pretext that he would not tolerate any innovation in the ancestral faith and the order of the church, but in truth clearing himself of the reputation of a usurper; and looking to the empire, he was contriving, if he could, to seem to gain the rule of the Romans by law and not by force. Valentinian, compelled by the circumstances, acknowledged the insignia of his rule. But fearing lest he suffer harm, he fled from Italy and came to Thessalonica, and with him his mother and Probus the prefect. ### Translation notes - The first words of the staged text are the end of the chapter title and are removed by a correction. - Gratian was killed at Lyons on 25 August 383. Justina’s law is Codex Theodosianus 16.1.4 (386). ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 7.13 (PG 67:1447–1449; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/7-13). ## Church History 7.14 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/7-14/#p-7-14 - Source: PG 67:1449–1451 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Honorius is born; Theodosius marches against Maximus; the Novatian Agelius names Marcian and then Sisinnius as successors; Theophilus and John succeed at Alexandria and Jerusalem; Arians burn Nectarius’s house on a false rumour, and Maximus is killed. ### Greek text Ἐν τούτῳ δὲ, παρασκευαζομένῳ Θεοδοσίῳ εἰς τὸν πρὸς Μάξιμον πόλεμον, γίνεται παῖς Ονώριος. Ως δὲ αὐτῷ τὰ περὶ τὴν στρατιὰν ηὐτρέπιστο, καταλιπὼν ἐν Κωνσταντινουπόλει βασιλεύοντα ᾿Αρκάδιον τὸν υἱὸν, καταλαμβάνει ἐν Θεσσαλονίκη Ουαλεντινιανόν. Καὶ τοὺς μὲν ἀποσταλέντας παρὰ Μαξίμου πρέσβεις, οὔτε ἀπέπεμπεν εἰς τὸ προφανές, οὔτε προσίετο · ἀναλαβὼν δὲ τοὺς στρατιώτας, ἐπὶ τὴν καὶ τῷ Ἰταλίαν ἐχώρει. Περὶ δὲ τοῦτον τὸν χρόνον μέλλων τελευτᾷν ᾿Αγέλιος ὁ ἐν Κωνσταντινουπόλει τῶν Ναυατιανῶν ἐπίσκοπος, ἐψηφίσατο ἀντ᾿ αὐτοῦ Σισίνιον πρεσβύτερον τῶν ὑπ' αὐτόν. Μεμφομένου δὲ τοῦ πλήθους, ὅτι μὴ Μαρκιανὸν ἐπὶ εὐλαβείᾳ ἐπίσημον, ῥᾷον ἔχειν δόξας, ἐχειροτόνησε Μαρκιανόν λαῷ ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ προσεφώνησε, Μετ᾿ ἐμὲ, λέγων, Μαρκιανὸν ἔχετε · μετὰ δὲ τοῦτον, Σισίνιον Καὶ ὁ μὲν τάδε εἰπὼν, οὐκ εἰς μακρὰν ἐτελεύτησεν, ἐπὶ τεσσαράκοντα ἔτεσιν εὐδοκίμως τῆς οἰκείας αἱρέσεως προστάς. Εἰσὶ δὲ οἱ καὶ ὁμολογητὴν ἰσχυρίζονται τοῦτον τὸν ἄνδρα ἐν Ἑλληνικοῖς καιροῖς γενέσθαι. Οὐ πολλῷ δὲ ὕστερον, Τιμοθέου καὶ Κυρίλλου τὸν βίον μεταλλαξάντων, διαδέχεται τὸν ᾿Αλεξανδρέων θρόνον Θεόφιλος· τῶν δὲ Ἱεροσολύμων, Ἰωάννης. Ἐπὶ δὲ τῆς Κωνσταντινουπόλεως, καὶ Δημόφιλος ὁ τῆς ᾿Αρείου αἱρέσεως ἡγούμενος ἐτελεύτησε. Μαρῖνος δέ τις ἐκ Θράκης μετακληθεὶς, ἐπιτρέπεται τὴν αὐτοῦ διαδοχήν. Ὡς ἐπιτηδειότερος δὲ Δωρόθεος ἐκ τῆς παρὰ Σύροις ᾿Αντιοχείας ἐλθὼν, προΐστατο τῆς αἱρέσεως. Ἐν τούτῳ δὲ Θεοδοσίου εἰς Ἰταλίαν ἀφικομένου, φῆμαι περὶ τοῦ πολέμου πρὸς τὸ ἑκάστῳ δοκοῦν ἐκράτουν · παρὰ δὲ τοῖς ᾿Αρειανοῖς, ὡς πολλῶν ἐν τῇ μάχῃ πεσόντων, ὑπὸ τὸν τύραννον ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐγένετο. Καὶ ὡς ἐπιγενομένοις ἤδη οἷς ἐλογοποίουν, ἐθάῤῥησαν· καὶ καταδραμόντες, Νεκταρίου τοῦ ἐπισκόπου τὴν οἰκίαν ἐνέπρησαν, χαλεπαίνόντες, ὅτι τῶν Ἐκκλησιῶν ἐκράτει. Τῷ δὲ βασιλεῖ τὰ περὶ τὸν πόλεμον κατὰ γνώμην ἀπέβη. Οἱ γὰρ ὑπὸ Μαξίμῳ στρατιῶται, ἢ φόβῳ τῆς ἐπ᾿ αὐτοὺς παρασκευῆς, ἢ προδοσίᾳ, συλλαβόμενοι τὸν τύραννον ἀνεῖλον. ᾿Ανδραγάθιος δὲ ὁ Γρατιανὸν ἀνελὼν, ὡς τάδε ἔγνω, σὺν αὐτοῖς ὅπλοις εἰς ποταμὸν παραβῥέοντα ἥλατο, καὶ διεφθάρη. Τοῦ δὲ πολέμου τοῦτον διαλυθέντος τὸν τρόπον, ἔπειτα εἰκότα Γρατιανῷ τιμωρήσας, ἧκεν εἰς Ῥώμην καὶ ἐπινίκιον πομπὴν ἅμα Οὐαλεντινιανῷ ἐπετέλεσε, καὶ τὰ περὶ τῆς ἐν Ἰταλίᾳ Ἐκκλησίας εὖ διέθηκε. Συνέβη γὰρ καὶ Ἰου στίναν ἀποθανεῖν, ### English translation (Claude) Meanwhile, as Theodosius was preparing for the war against Maximus, a son, Honorius, was born to him. When his army was ready, he left his son Arcadius ruling in Constantinople and joined Valentinian at Thessalonica. The envoys sent by Maximus he neither openly sent away nor received; but taking his soldiers he advanced into Italy. About this time Agelius, bishop of the Novatians in Constantinople, being about to die, designated in his place Sisinnius, a presbyter of those under him. When the people complained that he had not chosen Marcian, renowned for piety, he, seeming to grow better, ordained Marcian, and addressed the people in the church: “After me you have Marcian; after him, Sisinnius.” Having said this he died not long after, having presided over his own heresy with distinction for forty years. Some maintain that this man was also a confessor in pagan times. Not long after, when Timothy and Cyril had departed this life, Theophilus succeeded to the throne of the Alexandrians and John to that of Jerusalem. In Constantinople Demophilus, the leader of the Arian heresy, also died; a certain Marinus, summoned from Thrace, was entrusted with his succession, but Dorotheus, coming from Antioch in Syria as more suitable, presided over the heresy. Meanwhile, when Theodosius had arrived in Italy, rumours about the war prevailed according to each one’s wish; and among the Arians it was said that many had fallen in the battle and the emperor had come under the usurper. And, as though what they invented had already happened, they took courage; and running together they set fire to the house of Nectarius the bishop, angry because he held the churches. But the war turned out as the emperor wished. For Maximus’s soldiers, either from fear of the force prepared against them or by treachery, seized the usurper and killed him. Andragathius, who had killed Gratian, when he learned this, leapt into a river flowing by, arms and all, and perished. The war having been ended in this way, having fittingly avenged Gratian, he came to Rome and celebrated a triumphal procession with Valentinian, and set the affairs of the church in Italy in good order. For Justina too had happened to die, ### Translation notes - The first words of the staged text are the end of the chapter title and are removed by a correction. - Maximus was killed at Aquileia on 28 August 388. The section ends mid-sentence and continues in 7.15. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 7.14 (PG 67:1449–1451; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/7-14). ## Church History 7.15 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/7-14/#p-7-15 - Source: PG 67:1451–1457 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The Paulinian schism continues at Antioch under Evagrius; at Alexandria Theophilus’s mockery of pagan relics provokes a pagan rising in the Serapeum, which ends with Theodosius’s order to destroy the temples; pagans of Apamea burn bishop Marcellus, whose death the synod forbids his sons to avenge. ### Greek text Ἐν δὲ τῷ τότε Παυλίνου ἐν Ἀντιοχείᾳ τελευτήσαντος, διέμειναν οἱ ὑπ' αὐτῷ ἐκκλησιάζοντες, ὡς παραβάντα τοὺς ἐπὶ Μελετίου δοθέντας ὅρκους ἀποστρε φόμενοι Φλαβιανὸν, καίπερ οὐδὲν περὶ τὸ δόγμα διαφερόμενοι. Καθίσταται δὲ αὐτῶν ἐπίσκοπος Εὐά - ¹. γριος κ· τοῦ δὲ, βραχύν τινα χρόνον ἐπιβιώσαντος, οὐκέτι ταύτην τὴν διαδοχὴν ἕτερος ἐπλήρωσε, Φλαβιανοῦ ἀντιπράττοντος. Ἰδίᾳ δὲ ἐκκλησίαζον, ὅσοι τὴν πρὸς αὐτὸν παρῃτοῦντο κοινωνίαν. Ὑπὸ δὲ τοῦτον τὸν χρόνον, ᾿Αλεξανδρέων ἐπίσκοπος τὸ παρ' αὐτοῖς Διονύσου ἱερὸν εἰς ἐκκλησίαν μετεσκεύαζε · δῶρον γὰρ εἰλήφει τοῦτο παρὰ τοῦ βασιλέως αἰτήσας Καθαιρουμένων δὲ τῶν ἐνθάδε ξοάνων, καὶ τῶν ἀδύτων ἀνακαλυπτομένων, ἐπίτηδες σπουδάζων ἐνυβρίσαι τοῖς Ἑλληνικοῖς μυστηρίοις, ἐξεπόμπευε ταῦτα· καὶ φαλλοὺς, καὶ εἴ τι ἕτερον ἐν τοῖς ἀδύτοις κεκρυμμένον καταγέλαστον ἦν ἢ ἐφαίνετο, δημοσίᾳ ἦγεν εἰς ἐπίδειξιν. Πρὸς δὲ τὸ ἀληθὲς, καὶ τὸ ἀδόκητον τοῦ συμβάντος καταπλαγέντες οἱ Ἕλληνες, ἠρεμεῖν οὐκ ἠνείχοντο· παρασκευασάμενοι δὲ ἐν ἑαυτοῖς κατέδραμον τοὺς Χριστιανούς. Καὶ τοὺς μὲν κτείναντες, τοὺς δὲ τραυματίας ποιήσαντες, καταλαμβάνουσι τὸ Σεράπιον. Ναὸς δὲ οὗτος ἦν κάλλει καὶ μεγέθει ἐμφανέστατος, ἐπὶ γεωλόφου κείμενος. Ἐντεῦθεν ὡς ἀπ᾿ ἄκρας τινὸς ἐξαπιναίως ἐλθόντες, συνέλαβόν τε πολλοὺς Χριστιανῶν, καὶ βασανίζοντες, ἠνάγκαζον θύειν. Παραιτουμένους δὲ, τοὺς μὲν ἀνεσκολόπισαν· τῶν δὲ τὰ σκέλη κατέαξαν · ἄλλους δὲ ἄλλως ἀνῄρουν. Ἐπὶ πολλῷ δὲ χρόνῳ τῆς στάσεως κρατούσης παραγενόμενοι πρὸς αὐτοὺς οἱ ἄρχοντες, νόμων ὑπεμίμνησκον, καὶ παύεσθαι πολέμου παρεκελεύοντο, καὶ τὸ Σεράπιον καταλιμπάνειν. Ηρχε δὲ τότε τῶν ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ στρατιωτικῶν ταγμάτων Ῥωμανός· Εὐάγριος δὲ ὕπαρχος τῆς ᾿Αλεξανδρείας ἡγεῖτο. Ὡς δὲ οὐδὲν ἤνυον, ἐμήνυσαν τῷ βασιλεῖ τὰ ῾ γενόμενα. Προθυμοτέρους δὲ τοὺς ἐν τῷ Σεραπίῳ παρεσκεύαζεν εἶναι, τὸ συνειδέναι σφίσιν ἃ τετολμήκασιν· ἔπειτα δὲ καὶ Ὀλύμπιός τις ἐν φιλοσόφου σχήματι συνὼν αὐτοῖς, καὶ πείθων χρῆναι μὴ ἀμελεῖν τῶν πατρίων, ἀλλ᾽ εἰ δέοι ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν θνήσκειν · καθαιρουμένων δὲ τῶν ξοάνων, ἀθυμοῦντας ὁρῶν, συνεβούλευε μὴ ἐξίστασθαι τῆς θρησκείας, ὕλην φθαρτὴν καὶ ἰνδάλματα λέγων εἶναι τὰ ἀγάλματα, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἀφανισμὸν ὑπομένειν· δυνάμεις δέ τινας ἐνοικῆσαι αὐτοῖς, καὶ εἰς οὐρανὸν ἀποπτῆναι. Καὶ ὁ μὲν, τοιάδε εἰσηγούμενος, καὶ πληθὺν Ἑλλήνων ἔχων περὶ αὐτὸν, ἐν τῷ Σεραπίῳ διέτριβεν. Ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς ἀγγελθέντων τῶν γενομένων, τοὺς μὲν ἀναιρεθέντας Χριστιανοὺς ἐμαχάριζεν, ὡς μαρτυρίας γερῶν μετασχόντας, ὑπὲρ τοῦ δόγματος προ-. χινδυνεύσαντας. Τοὺς δὲ ἀνελόντας, συγγνώμης τυχεῖν (1 7) προσέταξεν, ὡς ἂν ῥᾷστα εἰς Χριστιανισμὸν μεταθάλοιεν, τὴν ἐὐεργεσίαν αἰδούμενοι " χαθατρεθῇδὲ τοὺς ἐν ᾿Αλεξανδρείᾳ ναοὺς, ὡς αἰτίους σεως τῷ δήμῳ. Λέγεται δὲ τῶν περὶ τούτων γραφέντων παρὰ βασιλέως εἰς τὸ κοινὸν ἀναγνωσθέντων, μέγα ἀναδοῇσαι Χριστιανοὺς, καθότι εὐθὺς ἐκ προοιἰμίων ἐν αἰτίᾳ τοὺς ᾿Ελληνιστὰς ἐποιεῖτο. Ἐντεῦθεν δὲ εἰς δέος ἐμπεσόντας τοὺς τὸ Σεράπιον φυλάσσοντας, εἰς φυγὴν τραπῆναι " χαταλαθόντας δὲ τὸν τόπων τοὺς Χριστιανοὺς, ἐξ ἐκείνου κατασχεῖν. Ὃ δὲ Ὀλύμπιος (, ὡς ἐπυθόμην, οὐ πολλῷ πρότερον, ἀωρὶ τῆς νυκτὸς μεθ᾽ ἣν ταῦτα ἐπιγενομένης ἡμέρας συνέδη, ἐπήχουσέ τινος ἐν τῷ Σεραπίῳ ᾿Αλληλούτα ψάλλοντος. Ἐπεὶ δὲ τῶν θυρῶν χεχλεισμένων, ἡσυχίας οὔσης, οὐδένα χαθεώρα, φωνῆς δὲ μόνης ἤκουε τὸν αὐτὸν ψαλμὸν μελῳδούσης, ἔγνω τὸ σύμθο)ον. Καὶ λαθὼν πάντας, ἔξεισι τοῦ Σεραπίου, πλοίου τυχὼν, εἰς Ἰταλίαν ἀνήχθη. Φασὶ δὲ τοῦ ναοῦ τούτου τότε χαθαιρουμένον, τινὰ τῶν χκαλουμένων ἱερογλνφιχῶν χαραχτήρων, σταυροῦ σημείῳ ἐμφερεῖς ἐγχεχαραγμένοις τοῖς λίθοις ἀναφανῆναι. Παρ᾽ ἐπιστημόνων δὲ τὰ τοιάδε, ἑρμηνευθεῖσαν σημᾶναι ταύτην τὴν γραφὴν, ζωὴν ἐπερχομένην" τοῦτο δὲ, πρόφασιν Χριστιανισμοῦ πολλοῖς γενέσθαι τῶν Ἑλληνιστῶν, καθότι γράμματα ἕτερα τοῦτο τὸ ἱερὸν τέλος ἕξειν ἐδήλου, ἡνίκα οὗτος ὁ χαρακτὴρ φανῇ. Τὸ μὲν δὴ Σεράπιον ὧδε καὶ μετ᾽ οὐ πολὺ εἰς ἐκκλησίαν μετεσκευάσθη, ᾿Αρκαδίου τοῦ βασιλέως ἐπώνυμον . Εἰσέτι δὲ κατὰ πόλεις τινὰς προθύμως ὑπερεμάχοντο τῶν ναῶν οἱ Ἑλληνισταί · παρὰ μὲν ᾿Αραβίοις, Πετραῖοι, καὶ ᾿Αρεοπολίται. παρὰ δὲ Παλαιστινοῖς, Ῥαφιῶται καὶ Γαζαῖοι·. παρὰ δὲ Φοίνιξιν, οἱ τὴν Ἡλιούπολιν οἰκοῦντες. Σύρων δὲ μάλιστα οἱ τοῦ ναοῦ Ἀπαμείας τῆς πρὸς τῷ Ἀξίῳ ποταμῷ· οὓς ἐπυθόμην ἐπὶ φυλακῇ τῶν παρ᾿ αὐτοῖς ναῶν, συμμαχίαις χρήσασθαι πολλάκις Γαλιλαίων ἀνδρῶν, καὶ τῶν περὶ τὸν Λίβανον κωμῶν. Τὸ δὲ τελευταῖον ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον προελθεῖν τόλμης, ὡς Μάρκελλον τὸν τῇδε ἐπίσκοπον ἀνελεῖν. Λογισάμενος γὰρ ὡς οὐκ ἄλλως αὐτοῖς ῥάδιον μετατεθῆναι τῆς προτέρας θρησκείας, τοὺς ἀνὰ τὴν πόλιν καὶ τὰς κώμας ναοὺς κατεστρέψατο. Πυθόμενος δὲ μέγιστον εἶναι ναὸν ἐν τῷ Αὐλῶνι, κλίμα δὲ τοῦτο τῆς ᾿Απαμέων χώρας, στρατιώτας τινὰς καὶ μονομάχους παραλαβὼν, ἐπὶ τοῦτο ᾔει. Πλησίον δὲ γενόμενος, ἔξω βελῶν περιέμενεν. Ην γὰρ ποδαλγός · καὶ οὔτε μάχεσθαι, οὔτε διώκειν ἢ φεύγειν ἠδύνατο. Ἠσχολημένων δὲ τῶν στρατιωτῶν καὶ μονομάχων περὶ τὸ ἑλεῖν τὸν ναὸν, μαθόντες αὐτὸν τινες τῶν Ἑλληνιστῶν μεμονῶσθαι, καθ' ὅ μέρος ἐλεύθερον ἦν μάχης τὸ χωρίον, ἐξῆλθον, ἐξαπίνης τε ἐπιστάντες, συνέλαβον αὐτὸν, καὶ πυρᾷ ἐμβαλόντες ἀνεῖλον. Καὶ πρὸς τὸ παρὸν ἔλαθον. Ἐπεὶ δὲ τῷ χρόνῳ ἐφωράθησαν, οἱ μὲν Μαρκέλλου παῖδες τιμωρεῖν τῷ πατρὶ ἐσπούδαζον· ἡ δὲ ἀνὰ τὸ ἔθνος σύνοδος διεκώλυσε, μὴ δίκαιον νομίσασα τοιαύτης τελευτῆς τιμωρίαν λαμβάνειν, ἐφ᾿ ᾗ προσῆκε χάριν ὁμολογεῖν τὸν ὧδε θανόντα, καὶ γένος αὐτοῦ καὶ φίλους, ὡς ὑπὲρ Θεοῦ ἀποθανεῖν ἠξιωμένου · καὶ τὰ μὲν οὕτως ἔσχεν. ### English translation (Claude) At that time, when Paulinus died at Antioch, those who held assemblies under him remained apart, turning away from Flavian as one who had broken the oaths given in the time of Meletius, though they differed in nothing concerning doctrine. Evagrius was appointed their bishop; and when he had lived only a short time, no one else filled this succession, since Flavian worked against it. Those who refused communion with him held assemblies by themselves. About this time the bishop of the Alexandrians was converting the temple of Dionysus there into a church; for he had asked for it and received it as a gift from the emperor. When the images there were being removed and the inner shrines uncovered, deliberately seeking to insult the pagan mysteries, he paraded these things: the phalluses, and whatever else hidden in the shrines was or seemed ridiculous, he brought out publicly for display. The pagans, astounded at the truth and at the unexpectedness of what had happened, would not keep quiet; having made preparations among themselves, they fell upon the Christians. Killing some and wounding others, they seized the Serapeum. This was a temple most conspicuous for its beauty and size, lying on a hill. Coming suddenly from there as from a citadel, they seized many of the Christians and, torturing them, tried to force them to sacrifice. Those who refused they crucified, or broke their legs, or killed in other ways. When the riot had prevailed for a long time, the magistrates came to them, reminded them of the laws, and urged them to cease from war and to leave the Serapeum. At that time Romanus commanded the military units in Egypt, and Evagrius governed Alexandria as prefect. When they accomplished nothing, they reported what had happened to the emperor. Those in the Serapeum were made more determined by their consciousness of what they had dared; and also by a certain Olympius, who was with them in a philosopher’s dress and persuaded them that they must not neglect their ancestral rites, but, if need be, die for them. And when he saw them disheartened as the images were being destroyed, he advised them not to abandon their religion, saying that the statues were perishable matter and images, and therefore underwent destruction; but that certain powers had dwelt in them and had flown away to heaven. Teaching such things and having a crowd of pagans about him, he stayed in the Serapeum. When what had happened was reported, the emperor called the Christians who had been killed blessed, as having shared in the honours of martyrdom by facing danger for the doctrine; but he ordered that those who had killed them should be pardoned, so that, respecting the kindness, they might most easily change over to Christianity; and that the temples in Alexandria should be destroyed, as having been the cause of the people’s riot. It is said that when the emperor’s letter about these things was read publicly, the Christians shouted loudly, because right from the opening it blamed the pagans. Upon this those guarding the Serapeum fell into fear and turned to flight; and the Christians, seizing the place, held it from then on. Olympius, as I have learned, a little before, at an untimely hour of the night preceding the day on which this happened, heard someone in the Serapeum singing “Alleluia.” Since the doors were shut and all was quiet, and he saw no one but heard only a voice singing the same psalm, he understood the sign; and escaping everyone’s notice, he left the Serapeum, found a ship and sailed to Italy. They say that when this temple was being demolished, some of the characters called hieroglyphic, resembling the sign of the cross, appeared engraved on the stones; and that those skilled in such things interpreted this writing to signify “life to come.” This became an occasion of Christianity for many of the pagans, because other writings declared that this temple would come to an end when this character appeared. So the Serapeum was taken, and not long after was converted into a church named after the emperor Arcadius. In some cities, however, the pagans still fought zealously for the temples: among the Arabians the people of Petra and Areopolis; among the Palestinians those of Raphia and Gaza; among the Phoenicians the inhabitants of Heliopolis; and among the Syrians especially those of the temple of Apamea on the river Axius. I have learned that for the guarding of their temples they often used the help of men from Galilee and of the villages about Lebanon; and at last they went so far in daring as to kill Marcellus, the bishop there. For he, reckoning that there was no other easy way for them to be turned from their former religion, overthrew the temples in the city and the villages. Learning that there was a very large temple at Aulon, a district of the territory of Apamea, he took some soldiers and gladiators and went against it. When he came near, he waited out of range of missiles; for he had gout and could neither fight nor pursue nor flee. While the soldiers and gladiators were busy taking the temple, some of the pagans, learning that he was alone, came out where the place was free of fighting, suddenly fell upon him, seized him, threw him on a pyre and killed him. For the present they escaped notice. But when in time they were discovered, Marcellus’s sons were eager to avenge their father; but the synod of the province prevented it, thinking it not right to take vengeance for such a death, for which the one who died so, and his family and friends, ought rather to give thanks, as one thought worthy to die for God. So these things happened. ### Translation notes - The first words of the staged text are the end of the chapter title and are removed by a correction. - The destruction of the Serapeum took place in 391 (or 392). Sozomen’s account of the bishop’s parade of cult objects and of the pagan violence is translated as written; Rufinus (Hist. eccl. 11.22–30) gives a parallel account. - The hieroglyph is the ankh, sign of life. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 7.15 (PG 67:1451–1457; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/7-15). ## Church History 7.16 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/7-14/#p-7-16 - Source: PG 67:1457–1463 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Nectarius abolishes the office of penitentiary presbyter after a scandal involving a noblewoman and a deacon; Sozomen describes public penance as still kept at Rome, and Theodosius’s law restricting the ministry of women to mothers over sixty. ### Greek text Ἐν τούτῳ δὲ, τῶν ἐπὶ τῶν μετανοούντων τεταγμένον πρεσβύτερον οὐκέτι συνεχώρησεν εἶναι πρῶτος Νεκτάριος, ὁ τὴν ἐκκλησίαν Κωνσταντινουπόλεως ἐπιτροπεύων. Ἐπηκολούθησαν δὲ σχεδὸν οἱ πανταχοῦ ἐπίσκοποι. Τοῦτο δὲ τὶ ποτὲ ἐστι, ἢ πόθεν ἤρξατο, ἢ κατὰ ποίαν αἰτίαν ἐπαύσατο, ἄλλοι μὲν ἴσως ἄλλως λέγουσιν. ᾿Εγὼ δὲ ὡς οἶμαι ἀφηγήσομαι. Ἐπεὶ γὰρ τὸ μὴ παντελῶς ἁμαρτεῖν, θειοτέρας ἣ ἄνθρωἐδεῖτο φύσεως, μεταμελουμένοις δὲ πολλάκις ἁμαρτάνουσι συγγνώμην νέμειν ὁ Θεὸς πὰρεχελεύσατο, ἐν τῷ παραιτεῖσθαι συνομολογεῖν τὴν ἁμαρτίαν κρεῶν, φορτιχὸν, ὡς εἰκὸς, ἐξ ἀρχῆς τοῖς ἱερεῦσιν ἔδοξεν, ὡς ἐν θεάτρῳ ὑπὸ μάρτυρι τῷ πλήθει τῆς Ἐκκλησίας, τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἐξαγγέλλειν " πρεσβύτερον δὲ τῶν ἄριστα πολιτευομένων, ἐχέμυθόν τε καὶ ἔμφρονα, ἐπὶ τοῦτο τετάχασιν. Ὧ δὴ προσιόντες οἱ ἡμαρτηχότες, τὰ βεδιωμένα ὡμολόγουν ὁ δὲ, πρὸς τὴν ἑκάστου ἁμαρτίαν, ὅτι χρὴ πριῆσαι ἢ τίσαι ἐπιτίμιον θεὶς, ἀπέλυς, παρὰ σφῶν αὑτῶν τὴν δίκην εἰσπραξαμένους. ᾿Αλλὰ Νανατιανοῖς μὲν, οἷς οὐ λόγος μετανοίας, οὐδὲν τούτου ἐδέησεν. δὲ ταῖς ἄλλαις αἱρέσεσιν, εἰς ἔτι νῦν τοῦτο κρατεῖ. Ἔπιμελῶς δὲ ἐν ταῖς κατὰ Δύσιν Ἔχκλησίαις. φυλάττετα!, μάλιστα ἐν τῇ Ῥωμαίων. Ἐνθάδε. γὰρ ἔχδηλές ἐστιν ὁ τόπος τῶν ἐν μετανοίᾳ ὄντων" ἑστᾶσι δὲ κατηφεῖς, καὶ οἱονεὶ πενθοῦντες. Ἤδη δὲ πληρωθείσης τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ λειτουργίας, μὴ μετασχόντες ὧν μύσταις θέμις, σὺν οἰμωγῇ ὀδυρμῷ. πρηνεῖς ἐπὶ γῆς ῥίπτουσι σφᾶς. ᾿Αντιπρόσωπος δὲ δεδαχρυμένος ὁ ἐπίσκοπος προσδραμὼν, ὁμοίως ἐπὶ τοῦ ἐδάφους πίπτει · σὺν ὀλολυγῇ καὶ τὸ πᾶν τῆς Ἐκκλησίας πλῆθος δακρύων ἐμπιπλᾶται. Τὸ μετὰ τοῦτο δὲ, πρῶτος ὁ ἐπίσκοπος ἐξανίσταται, καὶ τοὺς κειμένους ἀνίστησι· καὶ ᾗ προσῆκεν ὑπὲρ ἡμαρτηκότων μεταμελουμένων εὐξάμενος, ἀποπέμπει. Καθ᾿ ἑαυτὸν δὲ ἑκοντὶ ταλαιπωρούμενος ἕκαστος, ἢ νηστείαις, ἢ ἀλουσίαις, ἢ ἐδεσμάτων ἀποχῇ, ἢ ἑτέροις οἷς προστέτακται, περιμένει τὸν χρόνον, εἰς ὅσον αὐτῷ τέταχεν ὁ ἐπίσκοπος. Τῇ δὲ προθεσμίᾳ, ὥσπερ τι ὄφλημα διαλύσας τὴν τιμω· ρίαν, τῆς ἁμαρτίας ἀνίεται, καὶ μετὰ τοῦ λαοῦ ἐκκλησιάζει. Τάδε μὲν ἀρχῆθεν οἱ Ῥωμαίων ἱερεῖς ἄχρι καὶ εἰς ἡμᾶς φυλάττουσιν. Ἐν δὲ τῇ Κωνσταντινουπόλει Ἐκκλησίᾳ, ὁ ἐπὶ τῶν μετανοούντων τεταγμένος πρεσβύτερος ἐπολιτεύετο. Εἰσότε δὴ γυνή τις τῶν εὐπατριδῶν, ἐπὶ ἁμαρτίαις αἷς προσήγγειλε, προσταχθεῖσα παρὰ τούτου τοῦ πρεσβυτέρου νηστεύειν, καὶ τὸν Θεὸν ἱκετεύειν, τούτου χάριν ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ διατρίβουσα, ἐκπεπορνεῦσθαι παρ᾿ ἀνδρὸς διακόνου κατεμήνυσεν. Ἐφ᾽ ᾧ τὸ πλῆθος μαθὸν, ἐχαλέπαινεν ὡς τῆς ἐκκλησίας ὑβρισμένης. Μεγίστη δὲ διαβολὴ τοὺς ἱερωμένους εἶχεν. Ἀπορῶν δὲ ὅ τι χρήσαιτο τῷ συμβεβηκότι Νεκτάριος, ἀφείλετο τῆς διακονίας τὸν ἡταιρηκότα. Συμβουλευσάντων δέ τινων συγχωρεῖν ἕκαστον, ὡς ἂν ἑαυτῷ συνειδείη καὶ θαῤῥεῖν δύναιτο, κοινωνεῖν τῶν μυστηρίων, ἔπαυσε τὸν ἐπὶ τῆς μετανοίας πρεσβύτερον. Καὶ ἐξ ἐκείνου τοῦτο κρατοῦν διέμεινεν · ἤδη τῆς ἀρχαιότητος, οἶμαι, καὶ τῆς κατ᾿ αὐτὴν σεμνότητος καὶ ἀκριβείας, εἰς ἀδιάφορον καὶ ἡμελημένον ἦθος κατὰ μικρὸν διολισθαίνειν ἀρξαμένης. Ἐπεὶ πρότερον, ὡς ἡγοῦμαι, μείω τὰ ἁμαρτήματα ἦν, ὑπὸ τε αἰδοῦς τῶν ἐξαγγελλόντων τὰς σφῶν αὐτῶν πλημμελείας, καὶ ὑπὸ ἀκριβείας τῶν ἐπὶ τούτῳ τεταγμένων κριτῶν. Ἐκ ταύτης δὲ τῆς αἰτίας συμβάλλω, καὶ Θεοδόσιον τὸν βασιλέα προνοούμενον τῆς τῶν Ἐκκλησιῶν εὐκλείας τε καὶ σεμνότητος νομοθετῆσαι τὰς γυναῖκας, εἰ μὴ παῖδας ἔχοιεν, καὶ ὑπὲρ ἑξήκοντα ἔτη γένοιντο, διακονίαν Θεοῦ μὴ ἐπιτρέπεσθαι 1, καὶ τὸ ἀποστόλου Παύλου ῥητὸν πρόσταγμα. Τὰς δὲ χειρομένας ($0) τὰφ χεφαλὰς,ἀπελαύνεσθαιτῶν Ἐκκλησιῶν τοὺς δὲ ταῦτας προσιεμένους ἐπισκόπους, ἀφαιρεῖσθαι τῆς ἐπισκοπῆς. ### English translation (Claude) At this time Nectarius, who governed the church of Constantinople, was the first to stop having a presbyter appointed over the penitents; and almost all the bishops everywhere followed. What this is, or whence it began, or for what reason it ceased, others perhaps tell otherwise; I will relate it as I think. Since never to sin at all requires a nature more divine than human, and God commanded that pardon be given to those who repent, even if they sin often; and since in asking pardon one must confess the sin, it seemed burdensome to the priests from the beginning, as was natural, that sins should be announced as in a theatre, with the multitude of the church as witness. So they appointed for this a presbyter of the best conduct, discreet and prudent. Sinners came to him and confessed what they had done; and he, setting for each one’s sin the penance to be done or paid, released them, to exact the penalty from themselves. For the Novatians, for whom there is no question of repentance, there was no need of this; but among the other heresies it still prevails to this day. It is carefully kept in the western churches, and especially in that of the Romans. For there the place of those in penance is in plain view; they stand downcast and as if mourning. When the divine liturgy has been completed, not having shared in what is lawful for the initiated, they throw themselves face down on the ground with wailing and lamentation. The bishop, weeping, runs to meet them and likewise falls on the ground; and with loud cries the whole multitude of the church too is filled with tears. After this the bishop rises first and raises those lying down; and having prayed as is fitting for repentant sinners, he dismisses them. Then each one, of his own will, afflicts himself privately with fasts, or abstinence from baths, or from foods, or other things he has been ordered, and waits for the time the bishop has fixed for him. At the appointed time, having paid the penalty like a debt, he is released from the sin and assembles with the people. The priests of the Romans have kept these things from the beginning even to our day. In the church of Constantinople the presbyter appointed over the penitents carried out his office, until a certain woman of noble family, who had been ordered by this presbyter, for the sins she had confessed, to fast and supplicate God, and who for this reason was staying in the church, disclosed that she had been led into sexual immorality by a man who was a deacon. When the people learned this, they were angry, as if the church had been insulted; and the greatest discredit fell upon the clergy. Nectarius, at a loss what to do about what had happened, deprived the offender of his diaconate. When some advised him to allow each person to share in the mysteries as he was conscious within himself and could have confidence, he abolished the presbyter over penance. And from that time this has prevailed — the ancient way, I think, with its dignity and strictness, having already begun little by little to slide into an indifferent and careless habit. For before, as I suppose, the sins were fewer, both from the shame of those who announced their own faults and from the strictness of the judges appointed for this. For this reason, I conjecture, the emperor Theodosius too, providing for the good fame and dignity of the churches, made a law that women should not be admitted to the ministry of God unless they had children and were over sixty years old, according to the express command of the apostle Paul; and that women who cut off their hair should be driven from the churches, and the bishops who admitted them deprived of their episcopate. ### Scripture references - 1 Tim 5:9: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 11:6: echo, low confidence ### Translation notes - Sozomen’s description of public penance in the Roman church is one of the fullest early accounts; translated as written. The Novatians refused to readmit those who sinned gravely after baptism. - Theodosius’s law is Codex Theodosianus 16.2.27 (390); the apostle’s command is 1 Tim 5:9. The prohibition of women shaving their heads echoes 1 Cor 11:6. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 7.16 (PG 67:1457–1463; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/7-16). ## Church History 7.17 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/7-14/#p-7-17 - Source: PG 67:1463–1467 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Theodosius exiles Eunomius; the Eunomians split over whether the Son knows the last hour (Eutychius), and the Arians of Constantinople over whether God was Father before the Son existed (Dorotheus against Marinus and the “Psathyrians”). ### Greek text ᾿Αλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν ἢ ἂνἑκάσεῳ ταυτὶ σεσπείτω. ?. Ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς ὑπερορίαν φυγὴν Εὐνομίου τότε ἐν Κωνσταντινουπόλει τὰ Εὐνομίου φρονῶν, ἐπώνομον αὐτῷ κατέλιπεν αἵρεσιν. Ζητουμένου γὰρ εἰ τὴν ἐσχάτην ὥραν γινώσκει ὁ Υἱὸς, καὶ εἰς ἀναίρεσιν τούτου, τῶν εἰρημένων ἐν τοῖς Εὐαγγελίοις ὅτι μόνος ὁ Πατὴρ οἶδεν, ἀντικεῖσθαι δοκούντων, ἰσχυρίζετο μηδὲ ταύτης τῆς γνώσεως ἄμοιρον εἶναι τὸν Υἱὸν, ὡς ἀνενδεῶς λαβόντα πάντα παρὰ τοῦ Πατρός. Μὴ προσιε μένων δὲ τὸν λόγον τῶν τότε προεστώτων τῆς αἱρέσεως, ἑαυτὸν χωρίσας τῆς κοινωνίας, ἀφίκετο πρὸς Εὐνόμιον ἐν τῇ ὑπερορίᾳ ὄντα. Καταλαβόντος δὲ ἤδη διακόνου καὶ ἑτέρων, οἱ ἐκ τῆς Κωνσταντινουπόλεως ἀπεστάλησαν, διαβαλεῖν τε αὐτὸν, καὶ εἰ δεήσοι διαλεξόμενοι, μαθὼν Εὐνόμιος ἐφ᾽ ᾧ παρεγένοντο, τοὺς Εὐτυχίου λόγους ἐπήνεσε. Καὶ συνηύξατο αὐτῷ, καίπερ οὐ θεμιτὸν ἐν αὐτοῖς, συνεύχεσθαι τοῖς ἀλλαχόθι δίχα γραμμάτων ἀφικνουμένοις, ἃ πρὸς σφᾶς αὐτοὺς ὁμοδόξους δηλοῖ, διὰ σημείων ἐγγραφομένων ταῖς ἐπιστολαῖς, ἀγνώστων τοῖς ἄλλοις. Οὐκ εἰς μακρὰν δὲ ταύτης τῆς ζητήσεως Εὐνομίου τελευτήσαντος, οὐ προσίετο τὸν Εὐτύχιον ὁ προεστὼς τῆς ἐν Κωνσταντινουπόλει αἱρέσεως, ὑπὸ ζηλοτυπίας ἀπεχθανόμενος, ὅτι μηδὲ κληρικοῦ ὄντος ἐναντίος εἶναι σπουδάζων τοῖς αὐτοῦ λόγοις, οὐχ οἷός τε ἦν διαλύειν τὸ πρόβλημα. Ἐντεῦθέν τε μετὰ τῶν ὁμοίως αὐτῷ φρονούντων, εἰς ἰδίαν αἴρεσιν ἐχωρίσθη Εὐτύχιος. Τῆς μέντοι περὶ τὴν θείαν βάπτισιν διαφορᾶς, αὐτόν τε καὶ Θεοφρόνιον ὁ πολὺς λόγος ἐπαιτιᾶται. Τάδε ἐξ ὧν ἐπυθόμην ἔγραψα, πρὸς σύντομον εἴδησιν τῶν αἰτιῶν, ἀφ᾽ ὧν Εὐνομιανοὶ διηρέθησαν. Ἐπεξελθεῖν δὲ πάντας τοὺς διὰ τοῦτο κινηθέντας λόγους, μακρὸν ἂν εἴη· κἀμοὶ δὲ οὐ ῥάδιον, ἐπεὶ μηδὲ ἐμπείρως ἔχω τῶν τοιούτων διαλέξεων. Περὶ δὲ τοῦτον τὸν χρόνον καὶ τοῖς ἐν Κωνσταντινουπόλει ᾿Αρειανοῖς ἀνεφύη ζήτησις, εἰ πρὶν εἶναι τὸν Υἱὸν, ὡς ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων παρ᾿ αὐτοῖς ὁμολογούμενον, δύναιτο καλεῖσθαι Πατήρ ὁ Θεός. Καὶ Δωρόθεος μὲν, ὃς ἀντὶ Μαρίνου μετακληθεὶς ἐκ τῆς ᾿Αντιοχείας, προΐστατο ταύτης τῆς αἱ- - 303 ρέσεως, ὡς πρός τι τοῦ ὀνόματος ὄντος, πρὶν τὸν Υἱὸν ὑποστῆναι, μὴ καλεῖσθαι Πατέρα τὸν Θεὸν ἀπεφήνατο. Μαρίνος δὲ, τοὐναντίον ἰσχυρίζετο, καὶ μὴ ὑφεστῶτος τοῦ Υἱοῦ, Πατέρα ἀεὶ εἶναι τὸν Πατέρα ἐδόξαζεν· ἢ οὕτως ἔχων γνώμης, ἢ καθὸ Δωροθέῳ διάφορος ἦν, προκριθέντι προεστάναι τῆς αὐτῶν – εἰς ταὐτὸν συνελθόντες, ἐψηφίσαντο μή ποτε ταύτην Ἐκκλησίας. Ἐκ ταύτης δὲ τῆς αἰτίας, εἰς ἑκάτερον διεκρίθη τὸ πλῆθος. Δωροθέου δὲ σὺν τοῖς αὐτῷ πει. θομένοις ἐφ᾽ ὧν κατείχεν εὐκτηρίων οἴκων μείναντος, ἑτέρους οἰκοδομήσαντες οἱ ἀμφὶ Μαρῖνον, ἰδίᾳ ἐκκλησίαζον. Ἐπωνομάζοντο δὲ ψαθυριανοὶ ἤτοι τῶν Γότθων · τὸ μὲν ὅτι Θεόκτιστός τις Ψαθυροπώλης ποπάνου δὲ τοῦτο τὸ εἶδος), προθύμως ταύτῃ τῇ δόξῃ συνίστατο. Γότθων δὲ, καθότι καὶ Σελίνας ὁ τούτων ἐπίσκοπος, ὁμοίως ἐδόξαζεν. Ἐπακολουθήσαντες δὲ τούτῳ σχεδὸν πάντες βάρβαροι, σὺν αὐτοῖς ἐκκλησίαζον. Πειθήνιοι γὰρ ἐς τὰ μάλιστα τῷ Σελίνῳ ἐτύγχανον, ὑπογραφεῖ τε γενομένῳ καὶ διαδόχῳ Οὐλφίλα τοῦ παρ' αὐτοῖς ἐπισκοπήσαντος, καὶ ἐπὶ ἐκκλησίας ἱκανῷ διδάσκειν, οὐ μόνον κατὰ τὴν πάτριον αὐτῶν Bφι φωνὴν, ἀλλὰ γὰρ καὶ τὴν τὸ Ἑλλήνων. Οὐ πολλῷ δὲ ὕστερον διαφορᾶς περὶ προεδρίας γενομένης Μαρίνῳ πρὸς ᾿Αγάπιον, ὃν ἐπίσκοπον τῶν ἐν Ἐφέσῳ ὁμοδόξων ἐχειροτόνησε, διακριθέντες ἀλλήλων, μονονουχέ πρὸς σφᾶς ἐπολέμουν, ἐπαμυνόντων Ἀγαπίῳ τῶν Γότθων. Ἐκ ταύτης δὲ τῆς αἰτίας, λέγεται πολλοὺς τῶν ἐνθάδε κληρικῶν, μεμφομένους τὴν τῶν ἡγουμέ νων φιλοτιμίαν, τῇ καθόλου Ἐκκλησίᾳ κοινωνῆσαι. Ὧδε μὲν ᾿Αρειανοὶ τὴν ἀρχὴν ἐχωρίσθησαν, καὶ εἰσέτι νῦν ἐν αἷς εἰσι πόλεσιν, ἰδίᾳ ἐκκλησιάζουσι · τοὺς δὲ ἐν Κωνσταντινουπόλει, ἐπὶ τριάκοντα καὶ πέντε ἔτεσι διενεχθέντας πρὸς σφᾶς, εἰς ὁμόνοιαν ὕστερον συνῆψεν ὁμόδοξος ὧν αὐτοῖς Πλινθᾶς, ἀνὴρ ὑπατικὸς ἵππου τε καὶ πεζῆς στρατιᾶς ἡγεμών, δυνατώτατος τότε ἐν τοῖς βασιλείοις γεγονώς. Καὶ τὴν ζήτησιν εἰς διάλεξιν ἄγειν. Καὶ τὰ μὲν, ὕστερον ὧδε ἀπέβη. ### English translation (Claude) But let each consider these things as he pleases. The emperor condemned Eunomius to exile beyond the frontier. … at that time in Constantinople, holding the views of Eunomius, left a heresy named after himself. For when the question was raised whether the Son knows the last hour, and the saying in the Gospels that only the Father knows seemed to stand against it, he maintained that the Son was not without this knowledge either, since he had received all things from the Father without lack. When the leaders of the heresy at that time would not accept his argument, he separated himself from their communion and went to Eunomius, who was in exile. A deacon and others had already arrived, who had been sent from Constantinople to accuse him and, if necessary, to debate; but Eunomius, learning why they had come, approved the arguments of Eutychius and prayed with him, although it is not lawful among them to pray with those who come from elsewhere without letters showing that they are of the same belief — by signs written in the letters, unknown to others. Not long after this inquiry Eunomius died; and the head of the heresy in Constantinople would not receive Eutychius, hating him out of jealousy, because, though he was not even a cleric, he himself, eager to oppose his arguments, was unable to solve the problem. From this Eutychius, with those who thought as he did, separated into a heresy of his own. As for the dispute about divine baptism, the common account blames him and Theophronius. These things I have written from what I learned, for a brief knowledge of the causes from which the Eunomians were divided. To go through all the arguments raised on this account would be long, and not easy for me, since I am not experienced in such debates. About this time an inquiry arose among the Arians in Constantinople too, whether God could be called Father before the Son existed, since among them it is confessed that the Son is from things that are not. Dorotheus, who had been summoned from Antioch in place of Marinus and presided over this heresy, declared that God was not called Father before the Son existed, since the name is relative. But Marinus maintained the opposite, and held that the Father was always Father even when the Son did not exist — either because he thought so, or because he was at odds with Dorotheus, who had been preferred to preside over their church. For this reason the multitude was divided into two. Dorotheus with those who obeyed him remained in the houses of prayer they held; Marinus’s party built others and held assemblies by themselves. They were called Psathyrians, or “of the Goths”: the former because a certain Theoctistus, a seller of psathyria — this is a kind of cake — zealously supported this belief; and “of the Goths” because Selenas their bishop believed likewise. Almost all the barbarians followed him and held assemblies with them; for they were most obedient to Selenas, who had been the secretary and successor of Ulfilas, their former bishop, and was able to teach in church not only in their ancestral language but also in Greek. Not long after, when a dispute about precedence arose between Marinus and Agapius, whom he had ordained bishop of those of their belief at Ephesus, they separated from one another and all but made war on each other, the Goths helping Agapius. For this reason, it is said, many of the clergy there, blaming the ambition of their leaders, entered into communion with the catholic church. In this way the Arians were first divided, and still now in the cities where they are they hold assemblies apart. But those in Constantinople, after quarrelling among themselves for thirty-five years, were later brought to concord by Plinthas, who shared their belief, a man of consular rank and commander of horse and foot, who had become most powerful at the palace; and, meeting together, they decreed that this question should never again be brought to debate. So these things turned out later. ### Scripture references - Mark 13:32: allusion, high confidence - Matt 24:36: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The opening of the section is damaged in the scan: a stray remark (“let each consider these things …”), and after the sentence on Eunomius’s exile a long passage is lost (his death at Dacora and the sect of Theophronius, given in English in NPNF² 2), down to the words that named Eutychius (marked “…”). - The Gospel saying is Mark 13:32 (Matt 24:36). - The last sentence is damaged in the scan (a line on the decision never to debate the question again is displaced); it is translated by sense. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 7.17 (PG 67:1463–1467; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/7-17). ## Church History 7.18 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/7-14/#p-7-18 - Source: PG 67:1467–1473 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The Novatian Sabbatius begins keeping Pascha with the Jews and founds the Sabbatians after the synod of Sangarus leaves the date “indifferent”; Sozomen surveys the reckonings of Pascha among Novatians, Samaritans, Quartodecimans and Montanists. ### Greek text Ἐπὶ δὲ τῆς παρούσης ἡγεμονίας, καὶ Ναυατιανοὶ πρὸς σφᾶς διενεχθέντες περὶ τῆς Πασχαλίας ἑορτῆς, ἑτέραν αἵρεσιν τῶν καλουμένων Σαββατιανῶν συνεστήσαντο. Σαββάτιος γὰρ πρεσβύτερος ὑπὸ Μαρκια- 1. νοῦ χειροτονηθεὶς, ἅμα Θεοκτίστῳ καὶ Μακαρίῳ τοῖς συμπρεσβυτέροις ἑπόμενος τοῖς ἐν Παζουκώμῃ συνεληλυθόσιν ἐπὶ τῆς Οὐάλεντος βασιλείας, ἠξίουν ἅμα τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις τὴν τοῦ Πάσχα ἑορτὴν ἐπιτελεῖν. ᾿Αποστὰς δὲ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας, τὰ μὲν πρῶτα, πῆ μὲν ἀσκήσεως ἕνεκα, ἄριστα γὰρ ἐβίου, πῆ δὲ τινας ὑπονοεῖν ἀναξίους κοινωνίας μυστηρίων, ἐσκήπτετο. Ὡς δὲ ἐγεγόνει δῆλος νεωτερίζων, ἐμέμφετο μὲν Μαρκιανὸς τὴν ἐπ᾿ αὐτῷ χειροτονίαν· ἄμεινόν τε ἦν ἐπὶ ἀκάνθας ἐπιτεθῆναι τὰς χεῖρας, ἢ ἐπ᾿ αὐτὸν, πολλάκις, φησὶν, ἀνεβόα. Διατεμνομένην δὲ αὐτῷ τὴν ἐκκλησίαν εἰς ἕτερον πλῆθος ὁρῶν, συνεκάλεσεν ὁμοδόξους ἐπισκόπους εἰς Σάγγαρον. Χωρίον δὲ τοῦτο Βιθυνίας, αὐκ ἀπὸ πολλοῦ Ἑλενουπόλεως ἐπὶ τῆς θαλάσσης κείμενον. Ἔνθα δὴ συνελθόντες, μετεκαλέσαντο Σαββἄτιον. Ἐπεὶ δὲ τῆς λύπης τὴν αἰτίαν ἀπαιτηθεὶς λέγειν, ἐπῃτιᾶτο τῆς ἑορτῆς τὸ διάφορον, ὑπονοήσαντες ἔρωτι προεδρίας τάδε αὐτὸν σκήπτεσθαι, ὅρκον ἀπήτησαν ὡς ἐπισκοπὴν οὐκ ἂν ἕλοιτό ποτε. Τοῦ δὲ τάδε ἐνωμότως ὁμολογήσαντος, λογισάμενοι μὴ ἀξιόχρεων εἶναι ταύτην τὴν αἰτίαν εἰς χωρισμὸν κοινωνίας, ἅπαντας μὲν ὁμονοεῖν καὶ ἅμα ἐκκλησιάζειν ἐψηφίσαντο · ἕκαστον δὲ ᾗ ἂν αὐτῷ δοκῇ, ταύτην τὴν ἑορτὴν ἐπιτελεῖν. Καὶ κανόνα περὶ τούτου ἔθεντο, ὁν ἀδιάφορον ἐπωνόμασαν. Καὶ τὰ μὲν ὧδε ἔδοξε τοῖς ἐν Σαγγάρῳ συνελθοῦσιν. Ἐξ ἐκείνου δὲ Σαββάτιος τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις ἑπόμενος, εἰ μὴ κατὰ ταὐτὸν συνηνέχθη πάντας ἄγειν τὴν ἑορτὴν, φθάνων ὡς ἔθος ἐνήστευε, καὶ καθ' ἑαυτὸν διὰ τῶν νενομισμένων ἐπετέλει τὸ ( Πάσχα. Τῷ δὲ Σαββάτῳ ἀφ' ἑσπέρας ἐπὶ τὸν δέοντα καιρὸν ἐν ἀγρυπνίᾳ καὶ ταῖς προσηκούσαις εὐχαῖς διαγινόμενος, τῇ ἑξῆς ἡμέρᾳ κοινῇ πᾶσιν ἐκκλησίαζε, καὶ τῶν μυστηρίων μετείχε. Καὶ τὰ μὲν πρῶτα, τὸ πλῆθος ἐλάνθανεν · ὡς δὲ τῷ χρόνῳ ἐντεῦθεν ἐπίσημος ἐγένετο, πολλοὺς τοὺς ζηλοῦντας ἔσχε, καὶ μάλιστα Φρύγας καὶ Γαλάτας, οἷς πάτριον ὧδε τὴν ἑορτὴν ταύτην ἐπιτελεῖν. Ὕστερον δὲ εἰς τὸ προφανὲς ἀποστὰς, τῶν αὐτῷ πειθομένων τὴν ἐπισποπὴν ἀνεδέξατο, ὡς ἐν καιρῷ λελέξεται. Ἐμοὶ δὲ θαυμάζειν ἔπεισι τοῦδε τοῦ ἀνδρὸς, καὶ τῶν ἑπομένων αὐτῷ, ὅτι τάδε ἐνεωτέρισαν · Ἑβραίων τῶν πάλαι, ὡς ἱστορεῖ Εὐσέβιος, ὑπὸ μάρτυσί τε Φίλωνι καὶ Ἰωσήπῳ, καὶ ᾿Αριστοβούλῳ, καὶ ἑτέροις πλείστοις, μετὰ ἑαρινὴν ἰσημερίαν τὰ διαβατήρια θυόντων, ἡλίου τὸ πρῶτον δωδεκατημόριον τμῆμα ὁδεύοντος, ὃ κριὸν Ἕλληνες ὀνομάζουσιν· ἐν διαμέτρῳ δὲ τῆς σελήνης τεσσαρεσκαιδεκαταίας τὴν πορείαν ποιουμένης. Ἐπεὶ καὶ αὐτοὶ Ναυατιανοὶ οἷς ἀκριβείας μέλει, ἰσχυρίζονται, ὡς οὔτε αὐτοῖς, οὔτε τῷ ἀρχηγῷ τῆς αἱρέσεως, τοῦτο πρότερον ἦν ἔθος· ἀλλ᾽ ὑπὸ τῶν ἐν Παζουκώμῃ συνεληλυθότων ἐνεωτερίσθη· εἰσέτι τε καὶ νῦν ἐν τῇ πρεσβυτέρᾳ Ῥώμῃ, ὁμοδόξους αὑτοῖς σὺν τοῖς ἄλλοις Ῥωμαίοις ἑορτάζειν. Οὺς οὔποτε ἄλλως ἑορτάσαι ὁ παρελθὼν χρόνος ἤλεγξε, Πέτρου καὶ Παύλου τῶν ἀποστόλων τῇ παραδόσει χρωμένους. Προσέτι δὲ καὶ Σαμαρεῖται, οὗ τοῦ Μωσέως νόμου τὰ μάλιστα ζηλωταὶ τυγχάνουσι, πρὶν τὸν νέον τελεσφορεῖσθαι χαρπὸν, οὐχ ἀνέχονται ταύτὴν ἐπιτελεῖν τὴν ἑορτήν. Νέων γὰρ, φασὶν, αὐτὴν ἑορτὴν ὁ νόμος καλεῖ, Μή ποτε τούτων φανέντων, ἑορτάζειν οὐ θέμις" ὡς ἐξ ἀνάγκης φθάνειν τὴν ἐν τῷ ἦρι ἰσημερίαν Τοὺς μὲν Ἰουδαίους περὶ τοῦτο μιμουμένους, θαυμαστὸν ὅτε μὴ τὴν παρ᾽ αὐτοῖς ἀρχαιότητα μᾶλλον ἐπήνεσαν. Ὡς ἔοικε δὲ πλὴν τούτων καὶ τῶν ἐπὶ τῆς ᾿Ασίας καλουμένων τεσσαρεσχαιδεχατιτῶν, ὁμοίως ἹΡωμαίοις καὶ Αἰγυπτίοις, καὶ οἱ ἀπὸ τῶν ἄλλων αἱρέσειυν ταύτην τὴν ἑορτὴν ἄγουσιν" ἀλλ᾽ οἱ μὲν, αὐτῇ τῇ τεσσαρεσχαίδεχασὺν τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις ἑορτάζουσιν " ὅθεν ὧδε μάζονται. Οἱ δὲ Νανατιανοὶ, τὴν ἀναστάσιμον ἡμέραν ἐπιτελοῦσιν. Ἰουδαίοις δὲ καὶ οὗτοι ἕπονται, εἰς ταὐτὸ τοῖς Τεσσαρεσχαιδεχατίταις χαταστρέφουσι, πλὴν εἰ μὴ τύχοι τῇ τεσσαρεσχαιδεχάτῃ τῆς σελήνης ἡ πρώτη τοῦ Σαδθάτου ἡμέρα συμπεσοῦσα, κατόπιν γίνονται τῶν Ἰουδαΐων, ὅσαις ἂν ἡμέραις συμθαΐη τὴν ἐρχομένην Κυριακὴν ὑστερίζειν τεσσαρεαχαιδεχαταίας τῆς σελήνης. Μοντανισταὶ δὲ, Πεπουζίτας Φρύγας ὀνομάζουσι, ξένην τινὰ μέθοδον εἰσαγαγόντες, κατὰ ταύτην τὸ Πάσχα ἄγουσι. Τοῖς μὲν γὰρ ἐπὶ τούτῳ τὸν τῆς σελήνης δρόμον πολυπραγμονοῦσι χαταμέμφονται, Φασὶ δὲ χρῆναι ὡς (? νοις τοῖς ἡλιαχοῖς ἕπεσθαι χύχλοις τοὺς ὀρθῶς τα | κανονίζοντας καὶ μῆνα μὲν εἶναι τριάκοντα ὁρίζουσιν. "Άρχεσθαι δὲ τὴν πρώτην ἀπὸ τῆς ἐαρινῆς ἰσημερίας, ῥηθείη ἂν κατὰ Ῥωμαίους, πρὸ ἐννέα καλανδῶν ᾿Ἀπριλλίων ἐπειδὴ, φασὶν, οἱ δύο φωστῆρες τότε ἐγένοντο, οἷς οἱ χρόνο: καὶ οἱ ἐνιαυτοὶ δηλοῦνται, Καὶ τοῦτο δείκνυται τὸ τὴν σελήνην διὰ ὀχταετηρίδος τῷ ἡλίῳ συνιέναι, καὶ ἀμφοῖν κατὰ ταὐτὸν νουμηνίαν συμδαίνειν. Καθότι ἡ ὀχταετηρὶς τοῦ σεληνιαχοῦ δρόμου πληροῦται ἐγνέα καὶ ἐνενήκοντα μησὶν, ἡμέραις δὲ δισχιλίαις ἐνναχοσίαις εἴκοσι δύο" ἐν αἷς ὁ ἥλιος τοὺς ὀκτὼ δρόμους ἀνύει, λογιζομένων ἑκάστῳ ἕτει τριακοσίων ἑξήκοντα ἢ μερῶν, καὶ προσέτι τετάρτου μιᾶς. ᾿Απὸ γὰρ τῆς πρὸ ἐννέα καλανδῶν Ἀπρλλίων, ὡς ἀρχῆς οὔσης κτίσεως ἡλίου καὶ πρώτου μηνός, 306 ἀναλογίζονται τὴν εἰρημένηνταῖς ἱεραῖς Γραφαῖς τεσσαρεσκαιδεκαταίαν. Καὶ ταύτην εἶναι λέγουσι, τὴν πρὸ ὀκτὼ ἰδῶν ᾿Απριλλίων · καθ᾿ ἣν ἀεὶ τὸ Πάσχα ἄγουσιν, εἰ συμβαίη καὶ τὴν ἀναστάσιμον αὐτῇ συνδραμεῖν ἡμέραν, ἐπὶ τῇ ἐχομένῃ Κυριακῇ ἑορτάζουσι. Γέγραπται γὰρ, φησὶν, ἀπὸ τεσσαρεσκαιδεκάτης μέχρι εἰκοστῆς πρώτης. ### English translation (Claude) Under the present rule the Novatians too, falling out among themselves about the feast of Pascha, formed another heresy, that of the so-called Sabbatians. For Sabbatius, a presbyter ordained by Marcian, together with Theoctistus and Macarius, his fellow presbyters, following those who had met at the village of Pazus in the reign of Valens, thought it right to celebrate the feast of Pascha with the Jews. Withdrawing from the church, he pretended at first that it was partly for the sake of ascetic discipline — for he lived excellently — and partly because he suspected some of being unworthy to share in the mysteries. When it became clear that he was innovating, Marcian regretted his ordination; and he often exclaimed, they say, that it would have been better to lay his hands on thorns than on him. Seeing his church being cut by him into another body, he called together bishops of his own belief at Sangarus, a place in Bithynia lying on the sea not far from Helenopolis. Having met there, they summoned Sabbatius. When he was asked to state the cause of his grievance and blamed the difference about the feast, they suspected that he was making these pretexts from love of precedence, and demanded an oath that he would never accept a bishopric. When he had confessed this on oath, they reckoned that this cause was not sufficient for separation of communion, and decreed that all should be of one mind and assemble together, but that each should celebrate this feast as seemed good to him. And they made a canon about this which they called “indifferent.” So it was decided by those who met at Sangarus. From that time Sabbatius, following the Jews, if it did not happen that all kept the feast at the same time, fasted beforehand as is customary and celebrated Pascha by himself with the customary rites. On the Saturday, from evening until the proper time, he continued in vigil and the fitting prayers, and on the next day he assembled with all in common and shared in the mysteries. At first this escaped the multitude; but when in time he became noted for it, he had many imitators, especially Phrygians and Galatians, for whom it was ancestral to celebrate this feast so. Later, withdrawing openly, he accepted the episcopate of those who obeyed him, as will be told in due course. I am amazed that this man and his followers made this innovation, since the ancient Hebrews, as Eusebius records on the testimony of Philo, Josephus, Aristobulus and very many others, sacrificed the passover after the spring equinox, when the sun is passing through the first twelfth part, which the Greeks call the Ram, and the moon on its fourteenth day is in the opposite position. And the Novatians themselves who care for exactness maintain that this was not formerly the custom either for them or for the founder of the heresy, but that it was introduced by those who met at Pazus; and that still now in elder Rome those of their belief celebrate with the other Romans, whom the past has proved never to have kept the feast otherwise, following the tradition of the apostles Peter and Paul. Moreover, the Samaritans, who are the most zealous for the law of Moses, do not consent to celebrate this feast before the new fruit has been brought to ripeness. For the law, they say, calls it the feast of new fruits; it is not lawful to celebrate before these appear; so that the spring equinox must necessarily come first. It is a wonder that those who imitate the Jews in this did not rather approve the antiquity among the Jews themselves. It appears that, apart from these and those in Asia called Quartodecimans, those of the other heresies too keep this feast like the Romans and the Egyptians. But the Quartodecimans celebrate on the fourteenth itself with the Jews, from which they have this name; while the Novatians celebrate the day of the resurrection. They too follow the Jews and coincide with the Quartodecimans, except when the first day of the week does not fall on the fourteenth of the moon; then they come after the Jews by as many days as the coming Sunday falls later than the fourteenth of the moon. The Montanists, whom they call Pepuzite Phrygians, have introduced a strange method and keep Pascha by it. They blame those who busy themselves with the course of the moon for this purpose, and say that those who reckon rightly must follow only the solar cycles. They define a month as thirty days, and say the first begins from the spring equinox, which according to the Romans would be the ninth day before the Kalends of April, since, they say, the two lights by which times and years are shown were made then. And this is shown by the fact that the moon comes together with the sun in an eight-year cycle, and the new moon of both falls at the same time; for the eight-year cycle of the moon’s course is completed in ninety-nine months and two thousand nine hundred and twenty-two days, in which the sun completes its eight courses, reckoning three hundred and sixty-five days and a quarter to each year. For from the ninth day before the Kalends of April, as being the beginning of the creation of the sun and of the first month, they reckon the fourteenth day spoken of in the sacred Scriptures; and they say this is the eighth day before the Ides of April, on which they always keep Pascha; if the day of the resurrection should happen to coincide with it, they celebrate on the following Sunday. For it is written, they say, “from the fourteenth to the twenty-first.” ### Scripture references - Exod 12:18: allusion, high confidence - Exod 23:15: echo, low confidence - Gen 1:14–16: allusion, medium confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 7.32.14-19 (Church History): allusion, high confidence - Philo (Philo of Alexandria (works)): echo, low confidence - Josephus (Josephus (works)): echo, low confidence - Aristobulus, Aristob. (Aristobulus (fragments)): echo, low confidence ### Translation notes - Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 7.32.14–19, quotes Anatolius on the Jewish reckoning (Philo, Josephus, Aristobulus). - “The ninth day before the Kalends of April” is 24 March; “the eighth day before the Ides of April” is 6 April. The quotation “from the fourteenth to the twenty-first” paraphrases Exod 12:18. The Samaritans’ “feast of new fruits” echoes Exod 23:15 (the month of Abib, “new grain”). ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 7.18 (PG 67:1467–1473; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/7-18). ## Church History 7.19 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/7-14/#p-7-19 - Source: PG 67:1473–1479 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Sozomen lists differences of church custom: the Paschal dispute settled by Victor and Polycarp, bishops in villages, seven deacons at Rome, the Alleluia, preaching, Gospel reading, the length of Lent, Saturday assemblies, and the reading of the Apocalypses of Peter and Paul. ### Greek text Αἴδε μὲν περὶ ταύτης τῆς ἑορτῆς αἱ διαφοραί. Σοφώτατα δὲ πως οἶμαι καταλῦσαι τὴν συμβᾶσαν πάλαι περὶ ταύτης φιλονεικίαν, τοὺς ἀμφὶ Βίκτωρα τὸν τότε τῆς Ῥώμης ἐπίσκοπον, καὶ Πολύκαρπον τὸν Σμυρναῖον ο. Ἐπεὶ γὰρ οἱ πρὸς δύσιν ἱερεῖς οὐκ ᾤοντο δεῖν Παύλου καὶ Πέτρου τὴν παράδοσιν ἀτιμάζειν· οἱ δὲ ἐκ τῆς ᾿Ασίας, Ἰωάννῃ τῷ εὐαγγελιστῇ ἀκολουθεῖν ἰσχυρίζοντο· τοῦτο κοινῇ δόξαν, ἕκαστοι ὡς εἰώθεσαν ἑορτάζοντες, τῆς πρὸς σφᾶς κοινωνίας οὐκ ἐχωρίσθησαν. Εύηθες γὰρ καὶ μάλα δικαίως ὑπέλαβον, ἐθῶν ἕνεκεν ἀλλήλων χωρίζεσθαι, περὶ τὰ καίρια τῆς θρησκείας συμφωνοῦντες. Οὐ γὰρ δὴ τὰς αὐτὰς παραδόσεις περὶ πάντα ὁμοίας, κἂν ὁμόδοξοι εἶεν, ἐν πάσαις ταῖς Ἐκκλησίαις εὑρεῖν ἔστιν. Αμέλει Σκύθαι πολλαὶ πόλεις ὄντες, ἕνα πάντες ἐπίσκοπον ἔχουσιν. Ἐν ἄλλοις δὲ ἔθνεσίν ἐστιν ὅπη καὶ ἐν κώμαις ἐπίσκοποι ἱεροῦνται, ὡς παρὰ ᾿Αραβίοις καὶ Κυπρίοις ἔγνων, καὶ παρὰ τοῖς ἐν Φρυγίαις Ναυατιανοῖς, καὶ Μοντανισταῖς. Διάκονοι δὲ παρὰ 'Ῥωμαίοις εἰσέτι νῦν οὐ πλείους εἰσὶν ἑπτὰ · καθ' ὁμοιότητα τῶν ὑπὸ τῶν ἀποστόλων χειροτονηθέντων, ὧν ἦν Στέφανος ὁ πρῶτος μαρτυρήσας. Παρὰ δὲ τοῖς ἄλλοις ἀδιάφορος ὁ τούτων ἀριθμός Ρ. Πάλιν αὖ ἑκάστου ἔτους ἅπαξ ἐν Ῥώμῃ τὸ ᾿Αλληλούτα ψάλλουσι, κατὰ τὴν πρώτην ἡμέραν τῆς Πασχαλίου ἑορτῆς, ὡς πολλοῖς Ῥωμαίων ὄρχον εἶναι, τοῦτον τὸν ὕμνον ἀξιωθῆναι ἀκοῦσαί τε καὶ ψάλαι. Οὔτε δὲ ὁ ἐπίσκοπος, οὔτε ἄλλος τις ἐνθάδε ἐπ᾿ ἐκκλησίας διδάσκει 4. παρὰ δὲ ᾿Αλεξανδρεῦσι μόνος ὁ τῆς πόλεως ἐπίσκοπος. Φασὶ δὲ τοῦτο οὐ πρότερον εἰωθὸς ἐπιγενέσθαι, ἀφ᾿ οὗ ῎Αρειος πρεσβύτερος ὧν, περὶ τοῦ δόγματος διαλεγόμενος ἐνεωτέρισε. δὲ κἀκεῖνο παρὰ ᾿Αλεξανδρεῦσι τούτοις. ᾿Αναγινωσχομένων γὰρ τῶν Εὐαγγελίων, οὐχ ἐπανίσταται ὁ ἐπίσκοπος " ὃ παρ᾽ ἄλλοις οὔτ᾽ ἔγνων, οὔτ᾽ ἀκήκοα. Ταύτην δὲ τὴν ἱερὰν βίθδλον ἀναγινώσκει ἐνθάδε μόνος ὁ ἀρχιδιάκονος τ παρὰ δὲ ἄλλοις, διάκονοι " ἐν πολλαῖς δὲ Ἐκκλησίαις, οἱ ἱερεῖς μόνοι. Ἐν δὲ ἐπισήμοις ἡμέραις, ἐπίσκοποι, ὡς ἐν Κωνσταντινουπόλει κατὰ τὴν πρώτην ἡμέραν τῆς ἀναστασίμου ἑορτῆς. Καὶ τὴν πρὸ ταύτης δὲ καλουμένην τεσσαραχοστὴν, ἐν νηστεύει τὸ πλῆθος, οἱ μὲν εἰς ἐξ ἑύδομάδας ἡμερῶν λογίζονται, ὡς Ἰλλυριοὶ καὶ οἱ πρὸς δύσιν, Λιθύη τε πᾶσα καὶ Αἴγυπτος σὺν τοῖς Παλαιστινοῖς. Οἱ δὲ, ἑπτὰ, ὡς ἐν ᾿ΜΚωνσταντινουπόλει, τοῖς πέριξ ἔθνεσι, μέχρι Φοινίκων. "Αλλοι δὲ, τρεῖς σποράδην ἐν ταῖς ἔξ ἣ ἑπτὰ νηστεύουσιν, Οἱ δὲ, ἅμα τρεῖς πρὸ τῆς ἑορτῆς συνάπτουσιν οἱ δὲ, δύο, ὡς οἱ τὰ Μοντανοῦ φρονοῦντες. Οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῦ ἐκκλησιάζειν οὐχ ὁ αὐτὸς παρὰ πᾶσι καιρὸς ἣ τρόπος. ᾿Αμέλει οἱ μὲν τῷ Σαββάτῳ, ὁμοίως τῇ μιᾷ Σαδθάτου ἐχχλησιάζουσιν, ὡς ἐν Κωνσταντινουπόλει, καὶ σχεδὸν πανταχοῦ " ἐν Ῥώμῃ δὲ καὶ ᾿Αλεξανδρείᾳ, οὐκέτι " παρὰ δὲ Αἰγυπτίοις ἐν πολλαῖς πόλεσι καὶ κώμαις, παρὰ τὸ κοινῇ πᾶσι νενομισμένον, πρὸς ἑσπέραν τῷ Σαδβάτῳ συνἰόντες, ἠριστηχότες ἤδη, μυστηρίων μετέχουσι. Καὶ εὐχαῖς δὲ καὶ ψαλμῳδίαις ταῖς αὐταῖς ἢ ἀναγνώσμασι, κατὰ τὸν αὐτὸν καιρὸν, οὐ πάντας χεχρημένους εὑρεῖν ἔστιν. Οὕτω γοῦν τὴν καλουμέ᾿Αποχάλυψιν Πέτρον, ὡς νόθον παντελῶς πρὸς τῶν ἀρχαίων δοκιμασθεῖσαν, ἕν τισιν Ἐκκλησίαις τῆς Παλαιστίνης εἰσέτι νῦν ἅπαξ ἑκάστου ἔτους ἀναγινωσχομένην ἔγνωμεν, ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ Παρασχευῆς, ἣν εὐλαδῶς ἄγαν ὁ λαὸς νηστεύει ἐπὶ ἀναμνήσει τοῦ Σωτηρίου πάθους " τὴν δὲ νῦν ὡς ᾿Αποχάλυψιν Παύλου τοῦ ἀποστόλου φερομένην, ἣν οὐδεὶς ἀρχαίων εἶδε, πλεῖστοι μοναχῶν ἐπαινοῦσιν. Ἐπὶ ταύτης δὲ τῆς βασιλείας ἰσχυρίζονταί τινες ταύτην ηὑρῆσθαι τὴν βίβλον. Λέγουσι γὰρ ἐκ θείας ἐπιφανείας ἐν Ταρσῷ τῆς Κιλικίας κατὰ τὴν οἰκίαν Παύλου, μαρμαρίνην λάρνακα ὑπὸ γῆν εὑρεθῆναι, καὶ ἐν αὐτῇ τὴν βίβλον εἶναι. Ἐρομένῳ δὲ μοι περὶ τούτου, ψεῦδος ἔφησεν εἶναι Κίλιξ πρεσβύτερος τῆς ἐν Ταρσῷ ἐκκλησίας· γεγονέναι μὲν γὰρ πολλῶν ἐτῶν καὶ ἡ πολιὰ τὸν ἄνδρα ἐδείκνυεν. Ἔλεγε δὲ μηδὲν τοιοῦτον ἐπίστασθαι παρ᾿ αὐτοῖς συμβάν· θαυμάζειν τε, εἰ μὴ τάδε πρὸς αἱρετικῶν ἀναπέπλασται. Ἀλλὰ περὶ μὲν τούτου τάδε. Πολλὰ δ᾽ ἂν εὔροι τις ἔθη κατὰ πόλεις καὶ κώμας, ἅπερ αἰδοῖ τῶν ἐξ ἀρχῆς παραδεδωκότων, ἢ τῶν τούτους διαδεξαμένων, οὐχ ὅσιον, οὐδὲ ἀνεκτὸν ἡγοῦνται παραβαίνειν οἱ τούτοις ἐντραφέντες. Ταυτὸν δὲ τοῦτο πεπονθέναι νομιστέον τοὺς ἀνθρώπους, καὶ περὶ ταύτην τὴν ἑορτὴν, ἧς ἕνεκεν εἰς τοὺς περὶ τούτων ἐξήχθην λόγους. ### English translation (Claude) Such are the differences about this feast. Victor, then bishop of Rome, and Polycarp of Smyrna, with those about them, very wisely settled, I think, the contention that arose long ago about it. For since the priests of the West thought they should not dishonour the tradition of Paul and Peter, and those from Asia maintained that they followed John the evangelist, they agreed in common that each should celebrate as they were accustomed, and they did not separate from communion with one another. For they very rightly supposed it foolish to be separated from one another on account of customs while agreeing on the essentials of religion. For one cannot find the same traditions alike in everything in all the churches, even if they are of one belief. For example, the Scythians, though there are many cities, all have one bishop. In other nations there are places where bishops serve even in villages, as I know among the Arabians and Cypriots, and among the Novatians and Montanists in Phrygia. Deacons among the Romans are still no more than seven, after the likeness of those ordained by the apostles, of whom Stephen the first martyr was one; but among the others their number is indifferent. Again, in Rome they sing the Alleluia once each year, on the first day of the Paschal feast, so that for many Romans it is an oath, “So may I be thought worthy to hear and sing this hymn.” Neither the bishop nor anyone else teaches in church there; among the Alexandrians only the bishop of the city does. They say this was not formerly the custom, but became so from the time Arius, being a presbyter, innovated while discoursing about doctrine. This too is strange among these Alexandrians: when the Gospels are read, the bishop does not rise, which I have neither known nor heard of elsewhere. There only the archdeacon reads this sacred book; elsewhere deacons; in many churches the priests only; on notable days bishops, as in Constantinople on the first day of the feast of the resurrection. And the so-called Forty before this, in which the people fast, some reckon at six weeks of days, as the Illyrians and the westerners, all Libya and Egypt with the Palestinians; others at seven, as in Constantinople and the surrounding nations as far as the Phoenicians. Others fast three weeks scattered within the six or seven; others three joined together before the feast; others two, as those who hold the views of Montanus. Nor is the time or manner of assembling the same among all. For some assemble on the Sabbath as on the first day of the week, as in Constantinople and almost everywhere; but in Rome and Alexandria not so. Among the Egyptians, in many cities and villages, contrary to what is the common custom of all, they meet towards evening on the Sabbath and, having already eaten, share in the mysteries. Nor can one find all using the same prayers and psalms or readings at the same time. Thus the so-called Apocalypse of Peter, judged by the ancients to be altogether spurious, we know is still read once each year in some churches of Palestine, on the day of Preparation, which the people fast very devoutly in remembrance of the Saviour’s passion. And the one now circulating as the Apocalypse of Paul the apostle, which none of the ancients saw, most monks praise. Some maintain that this book was found in the present reign. For they say that by a divine manifestation a marble chest was found under the ground at Tarsus in Cilicia, at the house of Paul, and the book was in it. When I asked about this, a Cilician, a presbyter of the church in Tarsus, said it was false; he was of great age, as his grey hair showed. He said that he knew of no such thing having happened among them, and wondered whether this had not been fabricated by heretics. So much about this. One could find many customs in cities and villages which those brought up in them think it neither holy nor tolerable to transgress, out of respect for those who handed them down from the beginning or their successors. The same must be thought to have happened to people concerning this feast, on account of which I was led into these remarks. ### Scripture references - Acts 6:5: allusion, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Apoc. Pet. (Apocalypse of Peter): allusion, high confidence - Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 5.24.16-17 (Church History): echo, medium confidence ### Translation notes - It was Anicetus of Rome, not Victor, who agreed with Polycarp to differ (Irenaeus in Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 5.24.16–17); Sozomen’s names are kept as written. - The seven deacons: Acts 6:1–6. The Apocalypse of Peter and the Apocalypse of Paul are extracanonical. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 7.19 (PG 67:1473–1479; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/7-19). ## Church History 7.20 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/7-14/#p-7-20 - Source: PG 67:1479–1481 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Theodosius closes and then destroys pagan shrines and bans sacrifice on pain of death; when the Nile rises late and the Egyptians demand sacrifices, he refuses, and the river then floods abundantly, leading many to convert. ### Greek text Διασπωμένων δὲ, ὡς εἴρηται, τῶν ἀπὸ τῶν ἄλλων αἱρέσεων, ἔτι μᾶλλον ἐπεδίδου ἡ καθόλου Ἐκκλησία, προστιθεμένων αὐτῇ πλείστων ἔκ τε τῆς πρὸς σφᾶς τῶν ἑτεροδόξων διχονοίας, καὶ μάλιστα τοῦ Ἑλληνι κοῦ πλήθους. Ἐπεὶ γὰρ εἶδεν ὁ βασιλεὺς τὴν συνἡθειαν τοῦ παρελθόντος χρόνου, ἔτι πρὸς τὸ πατρῷον σέβας, καὶ τοὺς θρησκευομένους παρ' αὐτῶν τόπους ἕλκουσαν τὸ ὑπήκοον, ἀρξάμενος βασιλεύειν, ἐκώλυσε τούτων ἐπιβαίνειν 8. Τελευτῶν δὲ, καὶ πολλοὺς καθείλεν. Οἱ δὲ, ἀπορίᾳ εὐκτηρίων οἴκων, τῷ χρόνῳ προσειθίσθησαν ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις φοιτᾷν· οὐδὲ γὰρ λάθρα θύειν Ἑλληνικῶς, ἀκίνδυνον ἦν᾿ ἀλλ᾽ ἐν ἀφαιρέσει κεφαλῆς καὶ οὐσίας, νόμος ἔκειτο κατὰ τῶν ταῦτα τολμώντων τὴν τιμωρίαν κυρῶν. Τηνικαῦτα δὲ φασι τὸν Αἰγύπτου ποταμὸν, κατόπιν τοῦ καιροῦ γενέσθαι περὶ τὴν πρώτην ἀνάβασιν τῶν ὑδάτων· οἱ δὲ Αἰγύπτιοι ἐχαλέπαινον, ὅτι μὴ συγχων ροῖντο κατὰ τὸν πάτριον νόμον τῷ ποταμῷ θύειν. Ὑπονοήσας δὲ ὁ τοῦ ἔθνους ἡγούμενος εἰς στάσιν αὐτοὺς παρασχευάζεσθαι, τάδε ἐμήνυσε. Μαθὼν δὲ ὁ βασιλεὺς ἄμεινον ἔφη πρὸς τὸ Θεῖον διαμεῖναι πιστὸν, ἢ τὰ Νείλου νάματα καὶ τὴν ἐντεῦθεν εὐετηρίαν προτιμῆσαι τῆς εὐσεδείας, Μηδέ ποτε γὰρ ῥεύσειεν ἐκεῖνος ὁ ποταμὸς, εἴπερ ἀληθῶς οἷός τέ ἐστι γοητείαις ὑπάγεσθαι, καὶ θυσίαις χαίρειν, αἱμάτων ῥεύσει μιαίνειν τὰς ἐκ τοῦ θείου παραδείσου ἐπιῤῥοάς. Οὐχ εἰς μακρὰν δὲ ὁ Νεῖλος πολὺς ἐχχυθεὶς, καὶ τοῖς ὑψηλοτέροις ἐπαφῆκε τὰ ῥεύματα. Ἐπεὶ δὲ πρὺς τὸ τελειότατον καὶ σπανίιυς πληρούμενον μέτρον ἔφθασεν, οὐδὲν δὲ ἧττον ἐχορυφοῦτο τὸ ὕδωρ, εἰς ἐναντίον φόδον περιέστησαν οἱ Αἰγύπτιοι. Καὶ δέος ἦν, μὴ τὴν ᾿Αλεξάνδρου πόλιν, καὶ Λιδύης μέρος οὖσαν χαταχλύσῃ. Ἡνίκα δὴ λέγεται, τοὺς Ελληνιστὰς ᾿Αλεξανδρέων ἀγαναχτοῦντας πρὸς τὸ συμβὰν παρὰ γνώμην, ἐπιτωθάται καὶ ἐν τοῖς θεάτροις ἀναθοῆσαι, ὡς οἷα γέρων καὶ λῆρος ἐξούρησεν ὁ ποταμός. Ἐχ τούτου δὲ πλεῖστοι Αἰγυπτίων τῆς πατρῴας δεισιδαιμονίας κατέγνωσαν, καὶ εἰς Χριστιανισμὸν μετεβάλοντο. Καὶ τὰ μὲν, ὡς ἐπυθόμην. ### English translation (Claude) While those of the other heresies were being torn apart, as has been said, the catholic church grew still more, very many being added to it through the dissension of those of other belief among themselves, and above all from the pagan multitude. For when the emperor saw that the habit of past time still drew his subjects to their ancestral worship and to the places venerated by them, at the beginning of his reign he forbade them to set foot in these; and at the end he destroyed many. They, for want of houses of prayer, grew accustomed in time to frequent the churches; for it was not safe even to sacrifice secretly in pagan fashion, but a law was in force against those who dared these things, fixing the penalty of loss of head and property. At that time, they say, the river of Egypt was late in its first rising; and the Egyptians were angry that they were not allowed to sacrifice to the river according to ancestral law. The governor of the province, suspecting that they were preparing for a riot, reported this. When the emperor learned it, he said that it was better to remain faithful to the Divine than to prefer the waters of the Nile and the plenty that comes from them to piety. “For may that river never flow,” he said, “if it really can be swayed by sorceries and delights in sacrifices, defiling with streams of blood the currents that flow from the divine paradise.” Not long after the Nile poured out abundantly and sent its streams even over the higher ground. When it reached the most complete measure, which is seldom attained, and the water rose no less, the Egyptians were brought round to the opposite fear, and there was alarm lest it flood the city of Alexander and part of Libya. Then, it is said, the pagans of Alexandria, vexed at what had happened against their expectation, mocked and shouted in the theatres that the river, like an old man and dotard, had wet himself. From this very many of the Egyptians condemned their ancestral superstition and changed over to Christianity. These things are as I have learned. ### Scripture references - Gen 2:10–14: echo, low confidence ### Translation notes - Theodosius’s laws against sacrifice culminate in Codex Theodosianus 16.10.10–12 (391–392). The Nile rising from paradise: Gen 2:10–14 (the Gihon was identified with the Nile). ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 7.20 (PG 67:1479–1481; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/7-20). ## Church History 7.21 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/7-21/#p-7-21 - Source: PG 67:1481–1485 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The head of John the Baptist, held by Macedonian monks and stopped near Chalcedon under Valens, is taken by Theodosius from the virgin Matrona to a new church at the Hebdomon; its priest Vincent joins the catholic church. ### Greek text Ὑπὸ δὲ τοῦτον τὸν χρόνον διεκομίσθη εἰς Κωνσταντινούπολιν ἡ Ἰωάννον τοῦ Βαπτιστοῦ κεφαλὴ, ἣν Ἡρωδιὰς ἡτήσατο παρὰ Ἡρώδου τοῦ Τετράρχου. Λέγεται δὲ εὑρεθῆναι παρὰ ἀνδράσι μοναχοῖς τῆς Μακεδονίου αἱρέσεως " οἱ τὰ μὲν πρῶτα ἐν Ἱεροσολύμοις διέτριβον, ὕστερον δὲ εἰς Κιλικίαν μετῳκίσθησαν. Ἐπὶ δὲ τῆς πρὸ ταύτης ἡγεμονίας, Μαρδονίου μηνύσαντος, ὃς τῆς βασιλικῆς οἰκίας μείζων ἦν εὐνοῦχος, προσέταξεν Θὑὐάλης εἰς Κωνσταντινούπολιν αὐτὴν χομισθῆναι. Καὶ οἱ μὲν ἐπὶ τοῦτο ἀποσταλέντες, ἐπιθέντες ὀχήματι δημοσίῳ ἦγον. Ὡς δὲ εἰς τὸ Παντείχιον ἤκον, χωρίον δὲ τοῦτο Χαλκηδόνος, οὐκέτι προσωτέρω βαδίζειν ἡνείχοντο αἱ τὸ ὄχημα καθέλκουσαι ἡμίονοι, καὶ ταῦτα τῶν ἱπποκόμων ἐπαπειλούντων, καὶ τοῦ ἡνιόχου χαλεπῶς τῇ μάστιγι κεντοῦντος. Ὡς δὲ οὐδὲν ἦνυον, ἐδόκει δὲ πᾶσι καὶ αὐτῷ τῷ βασιλεῖ παράδοξον εἶναι καὶ θεῖον τὸ πρᾶγμα, ἀπέθεντο ταύτην τὴν ἱερὰν κεφα - λὴν ἐν τῇ Κοσιλάου κώμῃ. Ἔτυχε γὰρ ἐκ γειτόνων οὖσα, καὶ Μαρδονίου τούτου κτῆμα. Περὶ δὲ τοῦτον τὸν χρόνον, ἢ τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἢ αὐτοῦ τοῦ προφήτου κινοῦντος, ἧκεν εἰς τήνδε τὴν κώμην Θεοδόσιος ὁ βασιλεύς. Βουλομένῳ τε τοῦ Βαπτιστοῦ τὸ λείψανον λαβεῖν, μόνην φασὶν ἀντειπεῖν Ματρώναν, ἢ παρθένος μὲν ἦν ἱερὰ, εἴπετο δὲ αὐτῇ διάκονος καὶ φύλαξ. ᾿Ανθισταμένη δὲ παντὶ σθένει, βιάσασθαι οὐχ ἠγήσαντο δεῖν · ἀντιβολῶν δὲ, ἐδεῖτο συγχωρεῖν. Ἐπεὶ δὲ μόλις εἶξεν, ἀνήνυτον εἶναι νομίσασα τῷ κρατοῦντι τὴν ἐπιχείρησιν κατὰ τὸ συμβὰν ἐπὶ τῶν Οὐάλεντος χρόνων, περιλαβὼν τῇ ἁλουργίδι τὴν θήκην ἐν ᾗ ἔκειτο, ἔχων ἐπανῆλθε. Καὶ πρὸ τοῦ ἄστεως Κωνσταντινουπόλεως ἔθετο ἐν τῷ καλουμένῳ ἑβδόμῳ· μέγιστον καὶ περικαλλέστατον τῷ Θεῷ ἐνθάδε ναὸν ἐγείρας · πολλὰ δὲ πολλάκις λιπαρήσας Ματρώναν καὶ κεχαρισμένα ὑποσχόμενος, οὐκ ἔπεισε μεταθέσθαι τῆς δόξης. ὧν γὰρ τῆς Μακεδονίου αἱρέσεως. Καίτοιγε Βικέντιος πρεσβύτερος, ὁμόδοξος ὢν αὐτῇ, καὶ τὴν σορὸν τοῦ προφήτου ἐπίσης θεραπεύων, καὶ περὶ ταύτην ἱερώμενος, ἠκολούθησεν αὐτίκα, καὶ τοῖς ἀπὸ τῆς καθόλου Ἐκκλησίας ( ἐκοινώνησεν. Απώμοτον μὲν, ὡς λέγουσιν οἱ τὰ Μακεδονίου φρονοῦντες, ποιησάμενος, μή ποτε μεταθήσεσθαι τῆς αὐτῶν δόξης· τὸ δὲ τελευταῖον εἰς τὸ προφανὲς ὁρίσας, ὡς εἰ ἕλοιτο ὁ Βαπτιστὴς ἀκο λουθῆσαι τῷ βασιλεῖ, καὶ αὐτὸν κοινωνήσειν αὐτῷ, μηδὲν διαφερόμενον. Ἐγένετο δὲ οὗτος Πέρσης τὸ γένος· ἐπὶ δὲ τῆς Κωνσταντίου βασιλείας διωγμοῦ καταλαβόντος τοὺς ἐν Περσίδι Χριστιανοὺς, φεύγων ἅμα ᾿Αδδᾷ τῷ αὐτοῦ ἀνεψιῷ, εἰς Ῥωμαίους ἦλθεν. Ἀλλ᾿ ὁ μὲν κλήρῳ ἐγκατελέγη, καὶ εἰς πρεσβυτέρου προῆλθεν ἀξίαν. ᾿Αδδᾶς δὲ γήμας, μέγιστα τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν ὠφέλησε, καὶ παῖδα καταλιπὼν Αὐξέν τιον, ἄνδρα περὶ τὸ Θεῖον πιστότατον, καὶ περὶ φίλους σπουδαῖον· ἐμμελῆ δὲ τὸν βίον, καὶ φιλολόγον, καὶ πολυμαθῇ τῶν Ἕλλησι καὶ τοῖς ἐκκλησιαστικοῖς συγγραφεῦσιν ἱστορημένων. Μέτριον δὲ τὸ ἦθος, καίπερ βασιλεῖ καὶ τοῖς ἀμφ᾿ αὐτὸν ἐπιτήδειον, καὶ λαμπρᾶς ἐπειλημμένον στρατείας. ᾿Αλλὰ τοῦδε μὲν πολύς ἐστι λόγος παρά τε εὐδοκιμωτάτοις μοναχοῖς καὶ σπουδαίοις ἀνδράσιν, οἵπερ αὐτοῦ ἐπειράθησαν. Ἡ δὲ Ματρώνα μέχρι τελευτῆς ἐν τῇ Κοσιλάου κώμῃ διέτριβε · διεβίω δὲ ἱεροπρεπῶς μάλα καὶ σωφρόνως, ἱερῶν παρθένων ἡγουμένη· ὧν εἰσέτι νῦν πολλάς περιεῖναι ἐπυθόμην, τῆς ὑπὸ Ματρώναν παιδεύσεως ἄξιον φερούσας ἦθος. ### English translation (Claude) About this time the head of John the Baptist, which Herodias had asked of Herod the tetrarch, was brought to Constantinople. It is said to have been found among monks of the Macedonian heresy, who had first lived in Jerusalem and later moved to Cilicia. In the reign before this, when Mardonius, a eunuch who was chief of the imperial household, reported it, Valens ordered it to be brought to Constantinople. Those sent for this put it on a public carriage and conveyed it. But when they came to Panteichium, a place in the territory of Chalcedon, the mules drawing the carriage would go no further, although the grooms threatened them and the driver goaded them hard with the whip. When they accomplished nothing, and it seemed to everyone, and to the emperor himself, that the thing was strange and divine, they deposited this sacred head at the village of Cosilaus; for it happened to be nearby and was the property of this Mardonius. About this time, moved either by God or by the prophet himself, the emperor Theodosius came to this village. When he wished to take the relic of the Baptist, they say that only Matrona opposed him, who was a holy virgin, and its servant and guardian followed her. Since she resisted with all her strength, they did not think it right to use force; but he begged and entreated her to allow it. When she reluctantly yielded, thinking the ruler’s attempt would come to nothing, as had happened in the time of Valens, he wrapped the casket in which it lay in his purple robe and went back with it, and placed it before the city of Constantinople at the place called the Hebdomon, raising there a very great and most beautiful temple to God. Though he often pressed Matrona and promised her favours, he did not persuade her to change her belief; for she was of the Macedonian heresy. Yet Vincent, a presbyter who shared her belief and likewise tended the coffin of the prophet and served there as priest, followed at once and entered into communion with those of the catholic church; having sworn, as those who hold Macedonius’s views say, never to change from their belief, but finally declaring openly that if the Baptist chose to follow the emperor, he too would communicate with him, differing in nothing. He was a Persian by race; and when, in the reign of Constantius, persecution overtook the Christians in Persia, he fled with Addas his cousin and came to the Romans. He was enrolled in the clergy and advanced to the rank of presbyter; while Addas married, did great service to the church, and left a son, Auxentius, a man most faithful concerning the Divine and zealous for his friends, of harmonious life, fond of learning, and widely informed in what has been recorded by the Greeks and by the church writers; moderate in character, though well connected with the emperor and his court and holding a distinguished office in the imperial service. Of him there is much talk among the most renowned monks and good men who had experience of him. Matrona lived in the village of Cosilaus until her death; she lived very reverently and chastely, as leader of holy virgins, of whom I have learned that many still survive, bearing a character worthy of Matrona’s training. ### Scripture references - Mark 6:24–28: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Herodias and the head of John: Mark 6:17–29; Matt 14:3–12. - A line displaced in the scan (on Auxentius’s distinguished office) stood inside the sentence on Matrona; it is restored to its place by corrections. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 7.21 (PG 67:1481–1485; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/7-21). ## Church History 7.22 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/7-21/#p-7-22 - Source: PG 67:1485–1487 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Valentinian II is found hanged (392), whether murdered by Arbogast’s agents or by his own hand; the pagan-leaning Eugenius usurps the West with the support of Flavian’s divinations, and the monk John of Lycopolis foretells Theodosius’s victory and death. ### Greek text Καὶ ὁ μὲν Θεοδόσιος, ἐν εἰρήνῃ τὴν πρὸς Ἕω ἀρχομένην ἰθύνων, ἐν τούτοις ἐσπούδαζε, καὶ ἐπιμελῶς μάλα τὸ Θεῖον ἐθεράπευεν. Ἐν τούτῳ δὲ ἀγγέλλεται Οὐαλεντινιανὸς ὁ βασιλεὺς ἀγχόνῃ ἀπολωλέναι 1. Ἑλέγετο δὲ ταύτην αὐτῷ καττύσαι τὴν τελευτὴν διὰ τῶν θαλαμηπόλων εὐνούχων ἄλλους τέ τινας τῶν εἰς τὰ βασίλεια, καὶ ᾿Αρβογάστην τὸν ἐπὶ τῶν αὐτοῦ στρατευμάτων τεταγμένον· καθότι πατρώζοντα τὸν νέον εὑρὼν περὶ τὴν ἀρχὴν, καὶ πρὸς πολλὰ τῶν ἐκείνοις δοκούντων χαλεπαίνοντα. Οἱ δὲ αὐτὸν ἡγοῦν ται αὐτόχειρα ἑαυτοῦ γενέσθαι, ὡς ἐπιχειροῦντά τισιν οὐ δέον ἐν τῷ ζέοντι τῆς ἡλικίας, καὶ κωλυόμενον · καὶ τούτου χάριν οὐ καταξιώσαντα ζῇν, ὅτι βασιλεύων μὴ συγχωροῖτο ποιεῖν ἃ βούλεται. Φασί γε μὴν τοῦτο τὸ μειράκιον εὐγενείᾳ σώματος, καὶ βασιλικῶν τρόπων ἀρετῇ, ὑπερφυῶς δόξαι τῆς ἡγεμονίας ἄξιον, καὶ οἷος μεγαλόψυχος, καὶ δικαιοσύνῃ ὑπερβαλέσθαι τὸν αὐτοῦ πατέρα, εἰ παρῆλθεν εἰς ἄνδρας· καὶ ὁ μὲν τοιοῦτος ὢν, ὧδε τέθνηκεν. Εὐγένιος δέ τις οὐχ ὑγιῶς διακείμενος περὶ τὸ δόγμα τῶν Χριστιανῶν, ἐπεισπηδᾷ τῇ ἀρχῇ, καὶ τὰ σύμβολα τῆς βασιλείας ἀμφιέννυται. "Ωετο δὲ τοῦ ἐπιχειρήματος ἀσφαλῶς κρατήσειν, ὑπαγόμενος λόγοις ἀνθρώπων εἰδέναι τὸ μέλλον ὑπισχνουμένων, σφαγίοις τισὶ καὶ ἡπατοσκοπίαις, καὶ καταλήψει ἀστέρων. Ἐσπούδαζον δὲ περὶ ταῦτα ἄλλοι τε πολλοὶ τῶν ἐν τέλει Ῥωμαίων, καὶ Φλαβιανὸς ὁ τότε ὕπαρχος, ἀνὴρ ἐλλόγιμος, καὶ περὶ τὰ πολιτικά ἐχέφρων εἶναι δοκῶν· προσέτι δὲ καὶ τὰ μέλλοντα ἀκριβοῦν λογιζόμενος ἐπιστήμῃ παντοδαπῆς μαντείας. Ταύτῃ γὰρ μάλιστα τὸν Εὐγένιον ἔπεισε εἰς πόλεμον παρασκευάσασθαι, μοιρίδιον εἶναι αὐτῷ τὴν βασιλείαν ἰσχυριζόμενος, νικὴν τῇ μάχη συμβήσεσθαι, μεταθδολὴν τῆς Χριστιανῶν θρησκείας. Καὶ Εὐγένιος μὲν ταύταις ταῖς ἐλπίσι βουχολούμενος, πλείστην ἤγειρε στρατιὰν, καὶ τὰς πρὸς τῇ Ἰταλίᾳ πύλας, ἃς οἱ Ῥωμαῖοι Ἰουλίας "Δλκαλοῦσι, προχαταλαδὼν ἐφρούρει, ὡς ἐν στενῷ μίαν πάροδον ἐχούσας, ἑκατέρωθεν πεφραγμένας ἀποῤῥῶξι ὑψηλοτάτοις ὄρεσι. Θεοδόσιος δὲ διαγοούμενος, πῇ ἄρα τὴν ἀπόθδασιν ἕξει ὁ πρὸς αὐτὸν πόλεμος, καὶ πότερον ἐπ᾽ αὐτὸν χωρεῖν δεῖ, ἢ ἐπιόντα περιμένειν, ἔγνωχε περὶ τούτου συμδούλῳ χρήσασθαι Ἰωάννῃ τῷ ἐν Θηδαῖδι μοναχῷ " ὃν ἐν τοῖς πρόσθεν εἴρηται ἐπιφανέστατον τηνικάδε γενέσθαι ἐπὶ γνώσει τῶν ἐσομένων " καὶ Εὐτρόπιον, ὃς πιστὸς ἣν αὐτῷ τῶν ἐν τοῖς βασιλείοις εὐνούχων, πέπομφεν εἰς Αἴγυπτον, εἰ μὲν δυνατὸν, ἄξοντα αὐτόν“ εἰ δὲ παραιτήσαιτο, τὸ πρακτέον μαθεῖν. Καὶ ὁ μὲν εἰς Ἰωάννην παραγενόμενος, οὐχ ἔπεισε πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα ἐλθεῖν. Ἐπανελθὼν δὲ, ἤγγειλεν εἰπεῖν, αὐτὸν νικήσειν τὸν πόλεμον, χαθελόντα τὸν τύραννον, μετὰ τὴν νίκην ἐν Ἰταλίᾳ μεταλλάξαι τὸν βίον. ᾿Αμφότερα δὲ ἀληθῆ τὸ τέλος ἔδειξεν. ΚΈΕΦΑΛ. ### English translation (Claude) Theodosius, governing the eastern empire in peace, was busy with these things and served the Divine very diligently. Meanwhile it was announced that the emperor Valentinian had perished by hanging. It was said that this death was contrived for him through the eunuchs of his bedchamber by others in the palace and by Arbogast, the commander of his troops, because they found the young man taking after his father in his rule and angry at many of the things they wished. Others think that he became his own murderer, since in the heat of youth he was attempting some things he should not and was being prevented, and for this reason did not think life worth living, because as emperor he was not allowed to do what he wished. They say, however, that this youth seemed exceedingly worthy of rule for his bodily nobility and the excellence of his kingly manners, and that, being high-minded, he would have surpassed his father in justice had he reached manhood. Such as he was, he died thus. A certain Eugenius, not sound concerning the doctrine of the Christians, leapt into the rule and put on the insignia of empire. He thought he would hold his enterprise securely, led on by the words of men who promised to know the future by certain sacrifices, inspection of livers and observation of the stars. Many other Roman officials were zealous in these things, and Flavian, then prefect, a man of letters who seemed prudent in civic affairs, and who moreover reckoned that he knew the future exactly by his science of every kind of divination. By this above all he persuaded Eugenius to prepare for war, maintaining that the empire was fated for him, that victory would follow in the battle, and a change in the religion of the Christians. Eugenius, beguiled by these hopes, gathered a very great army and occupied in advance and guarded the gates toward Italy which the Romans call the Julian Alps, as having a single passage in a narrow pass, fenced on each side by sheer, very high mountains. Theodosius, considering how the war against him would turn out, and whether he should march against him or wait for him to come, resolved to take as his counsellor about this John, the monk in the Thebaid, who, as was said before, was then most celebrated for his knowledge of the future; and he sent Eutropius, one of the palace eunuchs who was faithful to him, to Egypt, to bring him if possible, or, if he declined, to learn what should be done. Eutropius came to John but did not persuade him to come to the emperor. Returning, he reported that John said that the emperor would win the war, overthrow the usurper, and after the victory depart this life in Italy. The end showed both to be true. ### Translation notes - Valentinian II died at Vienne on 15 May 392. Flavian is Virius Nicomachus Flavianus, praetorian prefect, a leading pagan senator. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 7.22 (PG 67:1485–1487; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/7-22). ## Church History 7.23 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/7-21/#p-7-23 - Source: PG 67:1487–1489 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Antioch riots over new taxes and pulls down the imperial statues (387); Bishop Flavian intercedes with Theodosius, whose anger melts when his table singers chant the Antiochenes’ penitential psalms. ### Greek text Ἐν τούτῳ δὲ, διὰ τὴν χρείαν τοῦ πολέμου, ἔδοξε τοῖς ἄρχουσιν οἷς τούτου μέλει, πλέον τι τῶν εἰωθότων φόρων εἰσπράξασθαι τοὺς ὑποτελεῖς. Ἐπὶ τούτῳ στασιάσας ὁ ἐν Συρίᾳ τῶν ᾿ΑἈντιοχέων δῆμος, τοὺς τοῦ βασιλέως ἀνδριάντας καθεῖλε, τῆς αὐτοῦ γαμετῆς " σχοίνῳ προσάψας, εἴλχεν, οἴας εἰκὸς ὑπὸ χαλεπαίνοντος πλήθους, ὑβριστικὰς ἀφιεὶς φωνάς. Ἐπεὶ δὲ πολλοὺς ᾿Αντιοχέων διαφθεῖραι διενοεῖτο, καὶ πρὸς μόνην τὴν φήμην κατεπλάγη τὸ πλῆθος · καὶ παυσάμενοι μαίνεσθαι μετεμελοῦντο καὶ ὡς ἐπὶ παροῦσι τοῖς ἀγγελλομένοις κακοῖς, ἔστενόν τε καὶ ἐδάκρυον, καὶ τὸν Θεὸν ἱκέτευον πραΰναι τοῦ κρατοῦντος τὴν ὀργὴν, μελῳδίαις τισὶν ὀλοφυρτικῶς πρὸς τὰς λιτὰς κεχρημένοι. Ἡνίκα δὴ καὶ Φλαβιανὸς ὁ Ἀντιοχέων ἐπίσκοπος, πρεσβευόμενος ὑπὲρ τῶν πολιτῶν, ἔτι τοῦ βασιλέως χαλεπαίνοντος, πέπεικε τοὺς παρὰ τὴν βασιλικὴν τράπεζαν ᾄδειν εἰωθότας νέους, τὰς ἐν ταῖς λιταῖς τῶν ᾿Αντιοχέων ψαλμῳδίας εἰπεῖν· ἐφ᾽ ᾧ λέγεται φιλανθρωπίᾳ διαχυθέντα τὸν βασιλέα κρατηθῆναι τῷ ἐλέῳ, καὶ αὐτίκα τὴν ὀργὴν ἐκβαλεῖν, καὶ σπείσασθαι πρὸς τὴν πόλιν, δάκρυσι βρέξαντᾳ τὴν φιάλην, ἣν ἔτυχε κατέχων. Φασὶ δὲ τῆς φθασάσης νυκτὸς μεθ᾽ ἣν εὐθὺς ἐπιγενομένης ἡμέρας ἡ στάσις ἐγένετο, φάσμα κ γυναικὸς θεαθῆναι, μεγέθει ἐξαίσιον καὶ θέᾳ φοβερὸν, μετάρσιόν τε διατρέχον ἀνὰ τὰς ἀγυιὰς τῆς πόλεως, τὸν ἀέρα μαστίζειν ὑπὸ μάστιγι δυσήχῳ, οἴαις εἰς θυμὸν προκαλοῦνται τοὺς θῆρας οἱ περὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα θέατρα πονοῦντες. Οὕτω τις ἀλάστωρ δαίμων ἐπιβουλῇ τὴν στάσιν ἐκίνησεν. Ἐπηκολούθησε δ᾽ ἂν καὶ φόνος πολὺς, εἰ μὴ τὴν ὀργὴν κατέπαυσεν ὁ βασιλεὺς, τὴν ἱερατικὴν ὑπὸ εὐσεβείας ἱκεσίαν αἰδεσθείς. ### English translation (Claude) Meanwhile, because of the needs of the war, the officials whose concern this was decided to exact from the taxpayers something more than the usual taxes. At this the people of Antioch in Syria rioted, threw down the statues of the emperor and of his wife, tied them with rope and dragged them about, uttering the insulting cries that an angry multitude naturally utters. When he resolved to destroy many of the Antiochenes, the multitude was terror-struck at the mere report; and ceasing from their madness, they repented, and as though the evils announced were already present, groaned and wept and besought God to soften the ruler’s anger, using certain mournful songs in their litanies. Then Flavian, bishop of the Antiochenes, going as an envoy for the citizens while the emperor was still angry, persuaded the young men who used to sing at the imperial table to sing the psalms of the Antiochenes’ litanies; at which, it is said, the emperor, melted to kindness, was overcome by pity, at once cast out his anger and was reconciled to the city, wetting with his tears the cup he happened to be holding. They say that on the night before the day on which the riot took place, a phantom of a woman was seen, enormous in size and fearful to behold, running about high in the air through the streets of the city and lashing the air with a harsh-sounding whip, like those with which men busy with such spectacles rouse the beasts to fury. So some avenging demon stirred up the riot by design. And much bloodshed would have followed had not the emperor checked his anger, respecting from piety the priestly supplication. ### Translation notes - The riot of the statues was in February 387; the scan has lost the words “and of his wife” in part (supplied by sense). John Chrysostom’s Homilies on the Statues were preached during the crisis. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 7.23 (PG 67:1487–1489; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/7-23). ## Church History 7.24 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/7-21/#p-7-24 - Source: PG 67:1489–1491 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Theodosius prays at the Hebdomon church of John the Baptist, wins over part of Eugenius’s army at the Alpine pass, and defeats the usurper at the Frigidus by a miraculous wind; Eugenius is beheaded and Arbogast kills himself. ### Greek text Επεὶ δὲ τὰ πρὸς τὸν πόλεμον αὐτῷ ηὐτρέπιστο, ἀναγορεύει βασιλέα Ονώριον τὸν νεώτερον υἱόν. ᾿Αρκάδιον γὰρ ἤδη χειροτονήσας ἦν. ῎Αμφω δὲ ἐν Κωνσταντινουπόλει καταλιπών, σπουδῇ σὺν ταῖς στρατιαῖς ἀπὸ τῆς Ἕω ἐπὶ τὴν πρὸς Δύσιν ἀρχομένην ἠπείγετο. Συνείπετο δὲ αὐτῷ καὶ πλῆθος συμμάχων, τῶν περὶ τὸν Ἴστρον βαρβάρων. Λέγεται δὲ τότε τῆς Κωνσταντινουπόλεως ἐκδημῶν, πρὸς τῷ ἑβδόμῳ μιλίῳ γενόμενος, προσεύξασθαι τῷ Θεῷ ἐν τῇ ἐνθάδε ἐκκλησίᾳ, ἣν ἐπὶ τιμῇ Ἰωάννου τοῦ Βαπτιστοῦ ἐδείματο· αἰτῆσαί τε αἰσίαν αὐτῷ καὶ τῇ στρατιᾷ καὶ Ῥωμαίοις ἅπασι γενέσθαι τὴν ἔκβασιν τοῦ πο λέμου, καὶ σύμμαχον αὐτῷ ἐπικαλέσασθαι τὸν Βαπτιστήν. Ταῦτα δὲ προσευξάμενος, εἰς Ἰταλίαν ἀφίκετο. Καὶ προσβαλὼν ταῖς ῎Αλπεσιν, εἶλε τὰς πρώτας φυλακάς. Παραμείψας δὲ τῆς παρόδου τὸ ἄκρον, ὡς πρὸς τῇ καθόδῳ ἐγένετο, εἶδε τὸ πεδίον πλῆρες ἱππέων καὶ πεζῶν· οὐκ ἄπωθεν δὲ κατὰ νώτου πολλοὺς τῶν πολεμίων ἐν τῇ κορυφῇ τοῦ ὄρους τέως ἠρεμοῦντας. Ἐπεὶ δὲ οἱ πρῶτοι παρελθόντες συνεμίσγοντο τοῖς ἐν τῷ πεδίῳ, μάχη καρτερὰ καὶ ἀμφήριστος ἐκινήθη. Ἔτι δὲ περιούσης τῆς στρατιᾶς, λογισάμενος ὅσον ἧκεν εἰς ἀνθρώπων δύναμιν, καὶ βουλομένοις μὴ δυνατὸν σώζεσθαι, ἐπιτιθεμένων τῶν ἀπὸ τοῦ νώτου τὴν ἀκρώρειαν κατα- λαβόντων, πρηνὴς ἐπὶ τοῦ ἐδάφους πεσών, ηύχετο δακρύων. Καὶ ὁ Θεὸς αὐτίκα ἐπήκουσεν, ὡς τὸ ἀποβὰν ἔδειξε. Πέμψαντες γάρ τινας, συμμάχους σφᾶς ἔσεσθαι προσήγγειλαν οἱ ἡγεμόνες τῶν περικαθημένων τὴν ἄκραν, εῖ μέλλοιεν ἐν τιμῇ παρ᾿ αὐτῷ εἶναι. Ἐπεὶ δὲ χάρτην καὶ μέλαν ἐπιζητήσας οὐχ εὗρε, δέλτον δὲ λαβὼν ἣν ἔτυχέ τις τῶν παρεστώτων ἔχων, ἐνέγραψεν αὐτοῖς ἐπισήμου καὶ ἀρμοδίου στρατιᾶς τάξιν, ἣν ἕξουσι παρ᾿ αὐτῷ τὴν ὑπόσχεσιν πληροῦντες. Καὶ οἱ μὲν ἐπὶ τούτοις τῷ βασιλεῖ προσεχώρησαν. Μή πω δὲ θατέρου μέρους κλίναντος, ἀλλ᾽ ἔτι τῆς ἐν πεδίῳ μάχης ἑκατέρωθεν ἰσαζούσης, ἀντιπρόσωπος τοῖς ἐναντίοις ἐμβὰς ἄνεμος ἐξαίσιος, καὶ οἷον οὔπω πρότερον ἱστορήσαμεν, διέλυσε τὰς τῶν πολεμίων τάξεις. Βέλη δὲ καὶ ἀκόντια κατὰ Ῥωμαίων πεμπόμενα, ὡς ἀντιτύποις προσβάλλοντα, εἰς τὰ τῶν ἀκοντιζόντων περιέστρεφε σώματα. Καὶ τὰς ἀσπίδας ἐξαρπάζων τῶν χειρῶν, σὺν φορυτῷ καὶ κονιορτῷ κατ᾿ αὐτῶν ἐκύλιε. Γυμνωθέντες δὲ τῶν ὅπλων, οἱ μὲν πλείους αὐτίκα διεφθάρησαν, οἱ δὲ πρὸς ὀλίγον φυγῇ διασωθέντες, μετ᾿ οὐ πολὺ ἤλωσαν. Εὐγένιος δὲ, προσδραμὼν τοῖς ποσὶ τοῦ βασιλέως, ἐδεῖτο σώζεσθαι. Ἐν ᾧ δὲ ἱκέτευς, πρός του τῶν στρατιωτῶν τὴν κεφαλὴν ἀπετμήθη. Αρβογάστης δὲ φεύγων μετὰ τὴν μάχην, αὐτόχειρ ἑαυτοῦ γέγονε. Λέγεται δὲ καθ' ὃν καιρὸν οὗτος ὁ πόλεμος συνεκροτεῖτο, ὡς ἐν τῷ νεῷ τοῦ Θεοῦ τῷ ἐν τῷ Ἑβδόμῳ, ου προσηύξατο ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐξιὼν, δαιμονῶν τις ἀναρπασθεὶς μετάρσιος, τὸν Βαπτιστὴν Ἰωάννην ἐλοιδορεῖτο, καὶ ὡς τῆς κεφαλῆς ἀποτμηθέντα ὠνείδιζε, καὶ ἀνεβόα· Σύ με νικᾶς, καὶ τῇ ἐμῇ στρατιᾷ ἐπιβουλεύεις. Οἱ δὲ περιτυχόντες, ὡς εἰκὸς, πολλῆς οὔσης περὶ τοῦ πολέμου σπουδῆς νεώτερόν τι ἀκούειν καὶ λέγειν, καταπλαγέντες ἀνεγράψαντο τὴν ἡμέραν, καθ' ἣν γενέσθαι τὰ περὶ τὸν πόλεμον οὐκ εἰς μακρὰν ἔγνωσαν παρὰ τῶν κοινωνησάντων τῇ μάχῃ. Καὶ τὰ μὲν ὧδε γενέσθαι λόγος. ### English translation (Claude) When his preparations for the war were ready, he proclaimed his younger son Honorius emperor; for he had already elevated Arcadius. Leaving both in Constantinople, he hastened with his armies from the East to the western empire, and a multitude of allies from the barbarians along the Ister followed him. It is said that as he was leaving Constantinople and reached the seventh milestone, he prayed to God in the church there, which he had built in honour of John the Baptist, and asked that the outcome of the war might be favourable to himself, his army and all the Romans, and called on the Baptist as his ally. Having prayed thus, he came to Italy. Attacking the Alps, he took the first guard posts. When he had passed the summit of the pass and was at the descent, he saw the plain full of cavalry and infantry, and not far behind him many of the enemy on the summit of the mountain, keeping still for the time. When his vanguard had passed and engaged those in the plain, a fierce and doubtful battle began. While the enemy army was still surrounding him, reckoning that he had come into the power of men, and that not even those who wished could save him if those at his back who held the ridge attacked, he fell face down on the ground and prayed with tears. And God heard him at once, as the outcome showed. For the commanders of those posted about the summit sent some men and announced that they would be his allies, if they were to be held in honour by him. When he looked for paper and ink and found none, he took a writing tablet that one of those standing by happened to have, and wrote down for them a distinguished and suitable rank in the army, which they would have from him if they fulfilled their promise. On these terms they went over to the emperor. While neither side had yet given way, and the battle in the plain was still evenly balanced on both sides, an extraordinary wind, such as we have never heard of before, struck the enemy in the face and broke up their ranks. The arrows and javelins thrown against the Romans, as if striking something resistant, it turned back on the bodies of those who threw them; and it snatched the shields from their hands and rolled them against them with rubbish and dust. Stripped of their arms, most were killed at once; others, saving themselves for a little by flight, were taken not long after. Eugenius, running to the emperor’s feet, begged to be spared; and while he was entreating, his head was cut off by one of the soldiers. Arbogast, fleeing after the battle, became his own executioner. It is said that at the time this battle was being fought, in the temple of God at the Hebdomon, where the emperor had prayed when he set out, a demoniac, lifted up into the air, reviled John the Baptist and reproached him with having had his head cut off, and cried out: “You are defeating me and plotting against my army.” Those who happened to be there, astonished — as was natural, since there was great eagerness about the war to hear and tell any news — wrote down the day; and not long after they learned from those who took part in the battle that the events of the war had taken place on it. Such is the account. ### Translation notes - The battle of the Frigidus was fought on 5–6 September 394. The wind (the bora) is also reported by Rufinus, Hist. eccl. 11.33, and the poet Claudian. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 7.24 (PG 67:1489–1491; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/7-24). ## Church History 7.25 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/7-21/#p-7-25 - Source: PG 67:1493–1497 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Ambrose bars Theodosius from the church at Milan for the massacre at Thessalonica; the emperor does public penance and decrees a thirty-day delay for death sentences; Sozomen adds Ambrose’s placing of the emperor’s seat outside the sanctuary and his rescue of a man condemned by Gratian. ### Greek text Μετὰ δὲ τὴν Εὐγενίου καθαίρεσιν, ἀφικόμενος εἰς Μεδιόλανον ὁ βασιλεὺς, ἧκεν εἰς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν εὐξόμενος. Ὡς δὲ πρὸς ταῖς θύραις ἐγένετο, ὑπήντετο Αμβρόσιος × ὁ τῆς πόλεως ἐπίσκοπος · καὶ λαβόμενος τῆς ἀλουργίδος ἐπὶ τοῦ πλήθους, Ἐπίσχες, ἔφη. ᾿Ανδρὶ γὰρ ὑπὸ ἁμαρτίας βεβήλῳ, καὶ τὰς χεῖρας ἡμαγμένας οὐκ ἐν δίκῃ ἔχοντι, οὐ θεμιτὸν πρὸ μετανοίας τῆς τοῦ ἱεροῦ ἐπιβαίνειν οὐδοῦ, ἢ μυστηρίων θείων κοινωνεῖν. Ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς θαυμάσας τὸν ἱερέα τῆς παῤῥησίας, σύννους γεγονὼς, ὑπέστρεφεν, ὑπὸ τῆς μετανοίας κεντούμενος. Ἦν δὲ τῆς ἁμαρτίας πρόφασις τοιάδε· Βουθερίκου τοῦ ἡγουμένου τότε τῶν παρ' Ἰλλυριοῖς στρατιωτῶν ἡνίοχος τὸν οἶνοχόον αἰσχρῶς ἰδὼν, ἐπείρασε. Καὶ συλληφθεὶς ἐν φρουρᾷ ἦν. Ἐπισήμου δὲ ἱπποδρομίας ἐπιτελεῖσθαι μελλούσης, ὡς ἀναγκαῖον εἰς τὴν ἀγωνίαν ὁ Θεσσαλονικέων δῆμος ἐζήτει ἀφίεσθαι · ὡς δὲ οὐδὲν ἤνυεν, εἰς χαλεπὴν κατέστη στάσιν, καὶ τελευτῶν, τὸν Βουθερίχαν ἀνεῖλε. Καὶ ἐπεὶ τάδε ἐμηνύθη, εἰς ἄμετρον ὀργὴν ἐμπεσὼν ὁ βασιλεὺς, ῥητὸν τῶν προστυγχανόντων ἀριθμὸν γ ἀναιρεθῆναι προσέταξεν. τεῦθεν δὲ πολλῶν ἀδίκων ἐνεπλήσθη φόνων ἡ πόλις. Ξένοι τε γὰρ αὐτίκα προσπλεύσαντες, καὶ ἐξ ὁδοῦ ἀφικόμενοι, ἀδοκήτως ἤλωσαν. Καὶ πάθη ἐλεεινά συνέβη, ἐν οἷς καὶ τόδε· ἔμπορος ἀντὶ δύο παίδων αὐτοῦ συλληφθέντων προσαγαγὼν ἑαυτὸν ἀποθανεῖν ἐδεῖτο, τοὺς δὲ σώζεσθαι · καὶ μισθὸν τούτου χρυσίον ὅσον εἶχε προῖσχετο τοῖς στρατιώταις. Οἱ δὲ, τὸν ἄνθρωπον τῆς συμφορᾶς ἐλεήσαντες, ἀντὶ ἑνὸς οὗ ἂν ἑλεῖται τῶν υἱέων, τὴν ἱκεσίαν προσίεντο· τοὺς δὲ δύο ἀφιέναι, ὡς ἐπιλείποντος τοῦ ἀριθμοῦ, οὐκ ἀκίνδυνον σφίσιν ἔφασαν. Εἰς ἀμφοτέρους δὲ βλέπων ὁ πατὴρ, ὀλοφυρόμενός τε καὶ κλαίων, οὐδετέρου τὴν αἵρεσιν ὑπέστη · ἀλλ᾽ ἀπορῶν εἰσότε τεθνήκασι διετέλεσεν, ἑκατέρου τῶ φίλτρῳ ἐπίσης νικώμενος. Καὶ οἰκέτην δὲ ἀγαθὸν ἐπυθόμην τότε, ἀντὶ δεσπότου ἀγομένου πρὸς τὴν σφαγὴν, ἀναιρεθῆναι προθύμως. Τοιούτων δὲ καὶ ἑτέρων, ὡς εἰκὸς, συγκυρησάντων κακῶν, ἐπαιτιώμενος ᾿Αμβρόσιος τὸν βασιλέα, τῆς ἐκκλησίας εἶρξε, καὶ ἀκοινώνητον ἐποίησε. Δημοσίᾳ δὲ καὶ αὐτὸς τὴν ἁμαρτίαν ἐπὶ τῆς ἐκκλησίας ὡμολόγησε· καὶ πάντα τὸν ὁρισθέντα αὐτῷ χρόνον εἰς μετάνοιαν, οἷά γε πενθῶν, βασιλικῷ κόσμῳ οὐκ ἐχρήσατο κ· καὶ νόμον προσέταξε, τοὺς διακονουμένους τοῖς τοῦ βασιλέως προστάγμασιν εἰς τριακοστὴν ἡμέραν ἀναβάλλεσθαι τὴν τιμωρίαν τῶν ἐπὶ θανάτῳ καταδεδικασμένων, ὥστε καὶ τὸν ἐν μέσῳ χρόνον μαλάσσειν τὴν τοῦ βασιλέως ὀργὴν, καὶ τοῦ θυμοῦ παρακμάζοντος, ἐλέῳ καὶ μεταμελείᾳ γενέσθαι χώραν. Αμβροσίῳ δὲ τούτῳ πολλὰ μὲν καὶ ἄξια ἱερωσύνης, ἃ μόνοις ἐπιχωρίοις κατὰ τὸ εἰκὸς ἔγνωσται. Τῶν δὲ ἐπισημοτάτων αὐτοῦ ἔργων καὶ τοῦτο ἐπυθόμην· Ἔθος ἦν τοὺς βασιλεῖς ὁ ἐν τῷ ἱερατείῳ ἐκκλησιάζειν, κατ᾿ ἐξοχὴν τῶν ὁρίων τοῦ λαοῦ κεχωρισμένους. Κολακίας δὲ ἦ ἀταξίας εἶναι τοῦτο συνιδών, τόπον εἶναι βασιλέως ἐν ἐκκλησίᾳ τέταχε, τὸν πρὸ τῶν δρυφάκτων τοῦ ἱερατείου· ὥστε τοῦ μὲν λαοῦ τὸν κρατοῦντα τὴν προεδρίαν ἔχειν, αὐτοῦ δὲ τοὺς ἱερέας προκαθῆσθαι. Ταύτην δὲ τὴν ἀρίστην παράδοσιν ἐπήνεσε Θεοδόσιος ὁ βασιλεὺς, καὶ οἱ μετὰ ταῦτα ἐκράτυναν· καὶ ἐξ ἐκείνου νυνὶ φυλαττομένην ὁρῶμεν. Τούτου δὲ τοῦ ἀνδρὸς καὶ τόδε τὸ ἔργον ἀξιομνημόνευτον περιλαβεῖν τῇ γραφῇ, ἀναγκαῖον εἶναί μοι δοκεῖ· Ἕλλην ( τις τῶν ἐν τέλει τὸ Γρατιανὸν ἐλοιδόρει, καὶ τοῦ πατρὸς ἀνάξιον ἀπεκάλει· καὶ γραφὴν ἐπὶ τούτοις ὑπομείνας κατεδικάσθη θανεῖν. ᾿Αγομένου δὲ αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τιμωρίᾳ, ἧκεν Αμβρόσιος εἰς τὰ βασίλεια, περὶ αὐτοῦ δεησόμενος. Ὑπὸ σπουδῆς δὲ τῶν αὐτῷ ἐπιβουλευόντων ἀσχολουμένου Γρατιανοῦ περὶ θέαν κυνηγίων, οἷας εἰώθασιν οἱ βασιλεῖς ἐπιτελεῖν, τερπωλῆς ἰδίας χάριν, οὐ δημοσίας, μηδενός τε τῶν ἐπὶ ταῖς βασιλικαῖς πύλαις τεταγμένων μηνύοντος, ὡς οὐ καιροῦ ὄντος, ὑπεχώρησεν. Ἐλθὼν δὲ ἐπὶ τὴν πύλην ᾗ τοὺς θῆρας εἰσῆγον, ἔλαθε. Καὶ συνεισελθὼν τοῖς κυνηγοῖς οὐ πρότερον καθυφῆκεν, οὐδὲ Γρατιανοῦ καὶ τῶν ἀμφ᾽ αὐτὸν ἀντιβολούντων εἶξεν, εἰ μὴ παραυτίκα σωτήριον ψῆφον τοῦ βασιλέως ἐξέσπασεν, τὸν ἐπὶ θανάτῳ ἀγόμενον ἐλευθεροῦσαν. Οὐ μὴν, ἀλλὰ καὶ περὶ τὴν φυλακὴν τῶν νόμων τῆς Ἐκκλησίας, καὶ τὴν ἀγωγὴν τῶν ὑπ᾿ αὐτὸν κληρικῶν, σπουδαῖος ἄγαν ἐγένετο. Ἐκ πολλῶν δὲ τῶν αὐτῷ κατωρθωμένων τάδε μοι εἰρήσθω, εἰς ἀπόδειξιν ἧς εἶχε διὰ Θεὸν πρὸς τοὺς κρατοῦντας παῤῥησίας. ### English translation (Claude) After the overthrow of Eugenius the emperor came to Milan and went to the church to pray. When he was at the doors, Ambrose, the bishop of the city, met him, took hold of his purple robe in front of the crowd, and said: “Stop. For a man profaned by sin, with hands unjustly stained with blood, may not, before repentance, cross the threshold of the sanctuary or share in the divine mysteries.” The emperor, admiring the priest’s boldness, became thoughtful and turned back, stung by repentance. The occasion of the sin was this. When the charioteer of Butheric, then commander of the soldiers in Illyricum, saw Butheric’s cupbearer and made a shameful attempt on him, he was arrested and kept in custody. When a notable horse race was about to be held, the people of Thessalonica demanded that he be released as necessary for the contest; and when they got nothing, they fell into a fierce riot and finally killed Butheric. When this was reported, the emperor fell into immoderate anger and ordered a fixed number of those who happened to be about to be put to death. From this the city was filled with many unjust murders. For strangers who had just put in by sea, or arrived from a journey, were unexpectedly caught; and pitiable sufferings occurred, among them this: a merchant, in place of his two sons who had been seized, offered himself and begged to die while they were saved, offering the soldiers as payment all the gold he had. They, pitying the man’s calamity, accepted his entreaty in place of one of his sons, whichever he should choose; but they said that to release both was not without danger to themselves, since the number would be short. The father, looking at both, wailing and weeping, could not bring himself to choose either, but remained at a loss until they had died, equally overcome by love for each. I have also learned that a good slave at that time gladly let himself be killed in place of his master, who was being led to the slaughter. Since these and other such evils had naturally happened, Ambrose, blaming the emperor, kept him out of the church and put him out of communion. He himself confessed his sin publicly in the church; and during all the time fixed for his repentance he did not use the imperial ornaments, as one in mourning. He also enacted a law that those who carry out the emperor’s orders should defer for thirty days the punishment of those condemned to death, so that in the interval the emperor’s anger might be softened, and, as his wrath abated, room might be made for mercy and repentance. Many things worthy of his priesthood were done by this Ambrose, which, as is natural, are known only to the local people. Of his most notable deeds I have learned this also. It was the custom for the emperors to assemble in the sanctuary, separated by distinction from the bounds of the people. Seeing that this came from flattery or disorder, he appointed as the emperor’s place in church the one in front of the railings of the sanctuary, so that the ruler should have precedence over the people, but the priests should sit before him. The emperor Theodosius approved this excellent tradition, and those after him confirmed it; and we see it kept from then until now. This deed of the man too seems to me necessary to include in my writing as memorable. A pagan, one of the officials, reviled Gratian and called him unworthy of his father; and having been indicted for this, he was condemned to death. As he was being led to punishment, Ambrose came to the palace to plead for him. Since Gratian, through the efforts of those plotting against the man, was busy watching a hunting show of the kind emperors are accustomed to hold for their private pleasure, not a public one, and none of those stationed at the imperial gates would announce him, saying it was not the time, Ambrose withdrew. But coming to the gate by which they brought in the beasts, he slipped in unnoticed; and having entered with the huntsmen, he did not desist, nor yield to the entreaties of Gratian and those about him, until he had there and then wrested from the emperor a saving sentence freeing the man being led to death. He was also very zealous for the keeping of the laws of the church and for the discipline of the clergy under him. Of the many things he accomplished, let me say these, as proof of the freedom of speech he had toward the rulers for God’s sake. ### Translation notes - The massacre at Thessalonica took place in 390, before the war with Eugenius; Sozomen sets Ambrose’s rebuke after the war. The law is Codex Theodosianus 9.40.13. - The charioteer’s offence is translated as written; Sozomen says only that he made a shameful attempt on Butheric’s cupbearer. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 7.25 (PG 67:1493–1497; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/7-25). ## Church History 7.26 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/7-21/#p-7-26 - Source: PG 67:1497–1499 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Bishop Donatus of Euroea kills a dragon with the sign of the cross and his spittle and brings forth a spring by prayer; Theotimus of Tomi, called “the God of the Romans” by the Huns, is made invisible to them and paralyses the arm of one who tried to lasso him. ### Greek text Κατὰ τοῦτον δὲ πολλοὶ πολλαχοῦ τῆς οἰκουμένης ἐν ἐπισκόποις διέπρεπον, ὡς Δονάτος ὁ Εὐροίας τῆς Ἠπείρου· ᾧ δὴ πολλά τε καὶ ἄλλα τεθαυματουργῆσθαι μαρτυροῦσιν οἱ ἐπιχώριοι, μάλιστα δὲ τὰ περὶ ἀναίρεσιν τοῦ δράκοντος, ὃς περὶ τὰς καλουμένας Χαμαιγεφύρας παρὰ τὴν λεωφόρον ἐφώλευε, καὶ πρόβατα, καὶ αἶγας, καὶ βόας, ἵππους τε καὶ ἀνθρώπους ἐξήρπαζεν. Οὐ γὰρ ξίφος ἢ δόρυ φέρων, οὐδὲ ἄλλο τι βέλος ἔχων, ἐπὶ τουτὶ τὸ θηρίον ἦλθεν. ᾿Αλλ' ὡς ᾔσθετο, καὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν ὡς ἐφορμήσων ἐξανἐστησεν, ἀντιπρόσωπον αὐτῷ εἰς σταυροῦ σύμβολον τὸν ἀέρα τῷ δακτύλῳ κατεσήμανε, καὶ ἐπέπτυσε. Τὸ δὲ, τὸν σίαλον εἷς τὸ στόμα δεξάμενον, αὐτίχσ κατέπεσε γεχρὸν κείμενον, οὐ μεῖον τῶν παρ᾽ Ἰνδοῖς ἱστορουμένων ἑρπετῶν διεφάνη τὸ μέγεθος. τοι, ὡς ἐπυθόμην, ὑπὸ ζεύγεσιν ὀκτὼ εἰς τὸ πλησίον πεδίον ἐξελχύσαντες αὐτὸ οἱ ἐπιχώριοι, κατἔκαυσαν, ὅπως μὴ διασαπεὶς τὸν ἀέρα λυμανεῖται, καὶ λοιμώδη νόσον ποιήσῃ. Δονάτῳ δὲ τούτῳ τάφος ἐστὶν ἐπίσημος εὐκτήριος οἴχος, ἀπ᾽ αὐτοῦ τὴν ἐπὠνυμίαν ἔχων. Περὶ τοῦτον δὲ πηγὴ ὑδάτων πολλῶν, ἣν οὐ πρότερον οὖσαν, εὐξαμένου αὐτοῦ, τὸ Θεῖον ἀνἐδωχεν. Ἣν μὲν γὰρ οὗτος ὁ χῶρος παντελῶς ἄνυδρος. Ἐξ ὁδοιπορίας δέ ποτε ἐνθάδε παραγενόμενος, λέγεται τῶν ἀμφ᾽ αὐτὸν ἀπορίᾳ ὕδατος ταλαιπωρουμένων, τῇ χειρὶ τὴν γῆν λαχήνας εὔξασθαι, ἅμα δὲ τῇ εὐχῇ ἄφθονον ἀναδλύσαι ὕδωρ, καὶ ἐξ ἐκείνου μὲ; διαλιπεῖν. ᾿Αλλὰ τῶνδε μὲν μάρτυρες, τὴν ρίαν οἰκοῦντες κώμην Εὐροίας, καθ᾽ ἣν τάδε συνέδη. Ἐν τούτῳ δὲ Τόμεως τῆς ἄλλης Σχυθίας Ἐκκλησίαν ἐπετρόπευε Θεότιμος Σκύθης, ἀνὴρ ἐν φιλοσοφίψ τραφείς " ὃν ἀγάμενοι τῆς ἀρετῆς οἱ περὶ τὸν Ἴστρον Οὖννοι βάρβαροι, Θεὸν Ῥωμαίων ὠνόμαζον. Καὶ γὰρ δὴ θείων ἐπ' αὐτῷ πραγμάτων ἐπειράθησαν. Λέγεται γοῦν, ὡς ὁδεύοντί ποτε παρὰ τὴν ἐνθάδε βαρδάρων γῆν, ὑπήντοντο ἐναντίαν τὴν αὐτὴν ὁδὸν ἐπὶ Τόμιν ἐλαύνοντες. Ὁλοφυρομένων δὲ τῶν ἀμφ᾽ αὐτὸν ὡς αὐτίκα ἀπολουμένων, ἀποδὰς τοῦ ἵππου, ηὔξατο. Οἱ δὲ βάρβαροι μῆτε αὐτὸν μέτε τοὺς ἑπομένους, τοὺς ἵππους ὧν ἀπέδησαν θεασάμενοι, παρέδραμον. ᾿Επεὶ δὲ πολλάκις ἐπιόντες ἐχαχοποίουν τοὺς Σκύθας, φύσει θηριώδεις ὄντας, εἰς ἡμερότητα μετέθαλεν, ἑστιῶν τε δώροις φίλοφρονούμενος. Ἐντεῦθεν δὲ βάρβαρος ἀνὴρ ὑπολαδὼν εὔπορον εἶναι, ἐπεθούλευσεν αὐτὸν ἑλεῖν. Καὶ βρόχον παρασκευάσας ἀσπίδι ἐπερειδόμενον, ὥσπερ εἰώθει τοῖς πολεμίοις διαλεγόμενος, ἀνασχὼν τὴν δεξιὰν, ἀκοντίζειν ἐπ᾽ αὐτὸν τὸ σχοινίον ἔμελλεν, ὡς πρὸς ἑαυτὸν καὶ τοὺς ὁμοφύλους ξλχύσων. δὲ τῇ ἐπιχειρήσει, ἀνατεταμένη ἡ χεὶρ πρὸς τὸν ἀέρα διέμεινε. Καὶ οὐ πρότερον ὁ βάρδαρος τῶν ἀοράτων ἠφείθη δεσμῶν, εἰ μῇ τῶν ἄλλων ἀντιδολούντων, ὑπὲρ αὑτοῦ τὸν Θεὸν ἐχέτευσε Θεότιμος. Φασὶ δὲ χομήτην αὐτὸν διαμεῖναι καθ᾽ ὃ σχῆμα φιλοσοφεῖν ἀρξάμενος ἐπετήδευσε. Λιτὸν δὲ τὴν δίαιταν" τροφῆς δὲ, οὐ τὸν αὐτὸν, ἀλλ᾽ ἐν τῷ πεινῆν ἢ διψῆν τὸν καιρὸν ὁρίσαι. Φιλοσόφου γὰρ ἦν, οἶμαι, καὶ τούτοις πρὸς χρείαν, οὐ διὰ ῥᾳττώνην εἴχειν. ### English translation (Claude) At this time many in many parts of the world were distinguished among the bishops, such as Donatus of Euroea in Epirus. The local people bear witness that he worked many wonders, and above all the killing of the dragon which made its lair about the place called Chamaegephyrae by the highway and carried off sheep, goats, oxen, horses and people. For he came against this beast bearing no sword or spear and having no other weapon; but when it perceived him and raised its head as if to attack, he made the sign of the cross in the air before it with his finger and spat on it. And as it received the spittle into its mouth, it at once fell down dead. As it lay there its size appeared no less than that of the serpents recorded among the Indians. I have learned that the local people dragged it with eight yoke of oxen to the plain nearby and burned it, so that it might not rot and pollute the air and cause a pestilential disease. This Donatus has a notable tomb, a house of prayer that takes its name from him; and near it is a spring of abundant water, which did not exist before, but which the Divine sent up when he prayed. For this place was altogether waterless; and once when he arrived there from a journey, it is said that, as those with him were suffering for lack of water, he dug the earth with his hand and prayed, and that with the prayer abundant water gushed up and has not ceased from that time. Of these things the inhabitants of Isoria, a village of Euroea, where they happened, are witnesses. At this time Theotimus, a Scythian, a man brought up in philosophy, governed the church of Tomi in the other Scythia. The barbarian Huns along the Ister, admiring his virtue, called him the God of the Romans; for they had experienced divine things through him. It is said, at any rate, that once when he was travelling near the barbarians’ country there, they met him coming along the same road toward Tomi. As those with him lamented that they were about to perish, he dismounted from his horse and prayed; and the barbarians, seeing neither him nor his followers nor the horses from which they had dismounted, rode past. Since they often came and did harm to the Scythians, he changed them, savage by nature, to gentleness, entertaining them and showing kindness with gifts. From this a barbarian, supposing him to be rich, plotted to seize him; and having prepared a noose, leaning on his shield as was his custom when parleying with enemies, he raised his right hand and was about to cast the rope at him, to drag him to himself and his people. But in the attempt his hand remained stretched out in the air; and the barbarian was not freed from the invisible bonds until, when the others entreated, Theotimus prayed to God for him. They say that he kept his hair long, as in the dress in which he began to practise philosophy; that his diet was simple; and that he fixed the time for food not by the same hour but by when he was hungry or thirsty. For it was the part of a philosopher, I think, to have even these things for need, not for ease. ### Translation notes - “Isoria”: the scan has lost the first letters of the name; read as in NPNF² 2. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 7.26 (PG 67:1497–1499; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/7-26). ## Church History 7.27 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/7-21/#p-7-27 - Source: PG 67:1501–1503 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Epiphanius of Salamis, generous with the church’s funds, is miraculously supplied with gold; and a beggar who feigns death to cheat him is found really dead. ### Greek text Περὶ δὲ τοῦτον τὸν χρόνον καὶ ᾿Ἐπιφάνιος τὴν Κυπρίων ἐπεσχόπει μητρόπολιν, Ὃν οὐ μόνον τὰ πεοὶ τὴν πολιτείαν ἐπίσημον ἐπὶ ἀρεταῖς ἀπέδειξεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὅσα παράδοξα ζῶντος αὐτοῦ, καὶ μετὰ τελευτὴν τιμῶν τὸν ἄνδρα ὁ Θεὸς ἐπετέλεσεν. θανόντι γὰρ, ὃ μὴ περιόντι ὑπῆρξε, λόγος ἐπὶ τῷ τάφῳ αὐτοῦ εἰσέτι νῦν δαίμονας ἀπελαύνεσθαι, καὶ ἰάσεις τινὰς γίνεσθαι. Ἐν ᾧ δὲ ζῶν ἐτύγχανε, πολλὰ θαυμάσια αὐτῷ ἀνατιθέασι, τῶν γε μὴν εἰς ἡμᾶς ἐλθόντων ἐκεῖνο μεταδοτιχὸς ὧν περὶ δεομένους, ἣ ναναγίοις, ἣ ἄλλως δυστυχήσαντας", ἐπειδὴ πάλαι τὴν ηὐσίαν ἀνάλωσεν, εἰς δέον ἐσπάθα τοῖς τῆς Ἐκκλησίας χρήμασι. Πλεῖστα δὲ ἦν " πάντοθεν γὰρ πολλοὶ τὸν πλοῦτον εὐσεβῶς ἀναλίσκειν προθέμενοι, καὶ ζῶντες τῇ ὑπ᾽ αὐτὸν ἐκκλησίᾳ παρεῖχον, καὶ τελευτῶντες χατελίμπανον. ᾿Εθάῤῥουν γὰρ, ὡς νομιχὸς καὶ θεοφιλὴς ὧν, κατὰ γνώμην αὐτοῖς ἀναλώσει τὰ δῶρα. Φασὶ γοῦν ποτε ὀλίγων ἔτι λειπομένων χρημάτων, χαλεπῆναι τῆς ἐκκλησίας τὸν οἰχονόμον, καὶ ὡς δαπανὸν αὐτὸν μέμψασθαι, τὸν δὲ μηδ᾽ οὗτως χαθυφεῖναι περὶ τοὺς ἐνδεεῖς φιλοτιμούμενον. Ἐπεὶ δὲ πάντα ἀνάλωτο, ἐπιστάς τις τῷ δωματίῳ οὗ διῆγεν ὁ οἰχονόμος, βαλάντιον πολλῶν χρυσῶν νομισμάτων ἔδωκεν. Ὡς δὲ οὔτε ὁ δοὺς, ἣ ὁ πεπομφὼς δῆλος ἐδόκει 05 παράδοξον εἰκότως, ἐπὶ δόσει τοσούτων χρημάτων ἄνθρωπον ἄγνωστον ἑαυτὸν παρἐχειν, τότε δὴ πάντες τὸ πρᾶγμα θεῖον εἶναι συνέδαλον. ᾿Αλλ᾽ οἷον ἕτερον περὶ αὐτοῦ λέγεται, ἀφηγήσασθαι βούλομαι. Πυνθάνομαι τεθαυματουργῆσθαι Γρηγορίῳ τῷ θαυμασίῳ, ὃς πάλαι τὴν Νεοχαισάρειαν ἐπετρόπευσε, καὶ μάλα πείθομαι. ᾿Αλλ᾽ οὐ παρὰ τοῦτο ἀπιστέον, ὅμοιον καὶ Ἐπιφανίῳ εἰργᾶσθαι, ᾿Επεὶ οὐδὲ μόνος Πέτρος ὁ ἀπόστολος ἤγειρε νεκρὸν, ἀλλὰ Ἰωάννης ὁ εὐαγγελιστὴς ἐν Ἐφέσῳ, καὶ Φιλίππου θυγατέρες ἐν Ἱεραπόλει. Καὶ τὰ αὐτὰ πολλάκις ἐξειργασμένους εὑρεῖν' ἔστι πολλοὺς πάλαι νῦν θεοφιλῶν ἀνδρῶν. "Ἔστι δὲ τοιόνδε, ὃ λέγειν θέλω" Ἐπιτηρήσαντες δύο τινες πτωχοὶ ἐπιόντα τὸν Ἐπιφάνιον πλέον τι χομίσασθαι πραγματευόμενοι, ὁ μὲν ἐφαπλώσας ἑαυτὸν τῷ ἐδάφει, ἔκειτο δηθεννεχρός" ὁ δὲ, παρεστὼς ἔχλαιεν, οἷά γε ὁμοῦ συνήθους :. αὖ θάνατον ὀδυρόμενος, ὅτι μηδὲ βάπτειν αὐτὸν , δύναιτο, τὴν πενίαν χαταμεμφόμενος. Ὁ δὲ Ἐπιφάνιος, ἐν ἀναπαύσει εἶναι τὸν κείμενον ηὔξατο, καὶ τὰ πρὸς τὴν κηδείαν ἐπιτήδεια δεδωκὼς, Ἐπιμελοῦ, φησὶ τῷ δαχρύοντι, τῆς ταφῆς, καὶ παύου κλαίων, ὦ τέκνον. γὰρ ἀναστήσετα: νῦν. Τὸ δὲ ἐπὶ τῷ , συμδεθηχότι ἀπαραΐτητον, πάντως ἀποχεΐμενον ὁ) "οι δεῖ φέρειν γενναίως. Καὶ ὁ μὲν, τοιάδε εἰπὼν, παρἮλθεν. Ὡς δὲ οὐδεὶς ἐφαίνετο, τῷ ποδὶ χινῆσας τὸν κείμενον ὁ ἑστὼς, ἅμα γε ἐπαινῶν ὡς μάλα σαφῶς τεθνάναι ἐμιμήσατο' "Ἔγειρε σαυτὸν, ἔφη, τὴν ἡμέραν ἐκ τῶν σῶν πόνων ἐν τρυφῇ διάξωμεν. Ἐπεὶ δὲ ὁμοίως ἔκειτο, καὶ οὐδὲν μᾶλλον οὔτε βοῶντος ἤχονεν, οὔτε παντὶ σθένει κινοῦντος ἠσθάνετο, δρομαῖος καταλαβὼν τὸν ἱερέα, τὴν σφῶν τέχνην χατεμήγυσε, κλαίων τε καὶ τὰς τρίχας τίλλων, ἐδεῖτο τὸν ἑταῖρον ἐξανίστασθαι. Ὁ δὲ Ἐπιφάνιος, μὴ χαλεπῶς φέρειν τὸ συμβὰν παρὰινέσας, ἀπέπεμψε τὸν ἄνθρω - πον. Οὐ γὰρ ἀνέλυσε τὸ γεγονὸς ὁ Θεός" πάντως, οἶμαι, τοὺς ἀνθρώπους πιστούμενος, ὡς αὐτὸν τὸν πάντα ἀκούοντα ἐφορῶντα ἐξαπατῶσιν, τοιούτοὺς σφᾶς περὶ τοὺς αὐτοῦ. θεράποντας παρέχοντες. 391 ἃ"- ### English translation (Claude) About this time Epiphanius was bishop of the metropolis of the Cypriots. Not only his way of life showed him renowned for his virtues, but also the marvels God worked to honour the man while he lived and after his death. For it is said that at his tomb, even now, demons are driven out and certain healings take place — which was not so while he was alive. While he was living they attribute many wonders to him; of those that have come to us, this: being generous to the needy, or to the shipwrecked, or to those otherwise unfortunate, when he had long since spent his own property, he spent freely as was needful the money of the church. And this was very great; for from every side many who had resolved to spend their wealth piously gave it to the church under him while they lived and left it to it when they died; for they trusted that, as one keeping the law and dear to God, he would spend the gifts as they wished. They say, at any rate, that once when little money was left, the steward of the church was angry and blamed him as extravagant; but that even so he did not slacken in his liberality to the needy. When everything had been spent, someone came to the room where the steward was staying and gave him a purse of many gold coins. Since neither the giver nor the sender appeared — and it was naturally strange for an unknown man to present himself to give so much money — then all concluded that the thing was divine. But I wish to relate another story told about him. I learn that it was worked as a wonder by Gregory the wonderful, who long ago governed Neocaesarea, and I quite believe it. But one need not therefore disbelieve that Epiphanius did something similar. For not only Peter the apostle raised a dead man, but also John the evangelist at Ephesus, and the daughters of Philip at Hierapolis; and one can find many God-loving men, of old and now, who have done the same things often. This is what I wish to tell. Two beggars, watching for Epiphanius as he came by and contriving to get more from him, one stretched himself out on the ground and lay as if dead, while the other stood by and wept, as if lamenting the death of his companion, and complaining of his poverty because he could not even bury him. Epiphanius prayed that the man lying there might be at rest, gave what was needed for the burial, and said to the one weeping: “See to his burial, and stop weeping, child. For he will not rise now; what has happened is inevitable, and what is entirely laid down must be borne nobly.” Having said this he passed on. When no one was in sight, the one standing pushed the one lying with his foot, praising him for having imitated death so clearly: “Get up,” he said; “let us spend the day in luxury from your labours.” But when he lay as before, and neither heard him shouting nor felt him shaking him with all his strength, he ran and caught up with the priest, disclosed their trick, and weeping and tearing his hair begged that his companion be raised. Epiphanius urged him not to take what had happened hard, and sent the man away. For God did not undo what had happened — surely, I think, to assure people that those who behave so toward his servants are deceiving him himself, who hears and sees all things. ### Scripture references - Acts 9:40: allusion, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 3.39.9 (Church History): echo, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Peter raised Tabitha (Acts 9:36–41). John’s raising of a dead man at Ephesus is reported by Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 5.18.14 (from Apollonius); the daughters of Philip at Hierapolis from Papias (Hist. eccl. 3.39.9). - A few words of Epiphanius’s reply are garbled in the scan and are translated by sense. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 7.27 (PG 67:1501–1503; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/7-27). ## Church History 7.28 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/7-21/#p-7-28 - Source: PG 67:1503–1505 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Bishops of the time: Acacius of Beroea, who kept his house open day and night; Ajax of Botolium, who after three sons lived continently as a monk; and Zeno of Maiuma, still at every service and weaving linen near the age of a hundred. ### Greek text ᾿λλλὰ τὰ μὲν ὧδε ἐπυθόμην. Ἐξ ἐκείνου δὲ ᾿Ακάκιος ἐν ἐπισκόποις διέπρεπε, ἤδη πρότερον τὴν ἐν Βεροίᾳ τῆς Συρίας ἐπισκοπὴν ἐπιτραπείς. Τούτου εἰκὸς μὲν ἄλλα φέρεσθαι γραφῆς ἄξια " καθὸ τὸν βίον μοναχικῶς ἀσκηθεὶς παιδὸς, ἀχριδῶς ἐπολιτεύσατο. Τεκμήριον δὲ μεγίστης ἔδωκεν ἀρετῆς, παρὰ πάντα τὸν χρόνον τὸ ἐπισκοπικὸν καταγώγιον ἀνέῳγμένον ἔχων ὡς τροφῆς ὥρᾳ ὕπνου, ἀδεῶς οἷς ἐδόκει ξένοις τε καὶ ἀστοῖς αὐτὸν ὁρᾷν. ἼΛγαμαι δὲ τοῦτο μάλιστα " ἢ γὰρ οὕτως ἐδίω, ὡς ἀεὶ πεποιθέναι, ἣ πρὸς τὸ ἕτοιμον εἰς χαχίαν τῆς φύσεως παρετοιμαζόμενος, τουτὶ ἐπενόησεν" ὥστε ἀεὶ φωραθήσεσθαι προσδοκῶν ὑπὸ τῶν ἐξαπίνης εἰσιόντων, ἐν τῇ συνεχεῖ φυλακῇ, μηδὲ ἁμαρτάνειν ὧν δεῖ, ἀλλ᾽ ἐν σπουδαίοις εἶναι πράγμασιν, Ἐν τῷ τότε ἐπισῆήμω ἤστην Ζήνων Αἴας ἀδελφοί οἵ δὴ τὸ πρὶν ἐφιλοσόφουν, οὐχ ἐν μοναγρίαις, ἀλλ᾽ ἐν Γάζῃ πρὸς θάλασσαν, ὅπερ Μαϊουμᾶν ὀνομάζουσιν. δὲ πιστοτάτω περὶ τὸ δόγμα ἐγενέσθην, Θεὸν ὡμολόγησαν ἀνδρείως ὡς καὶ ; πολλάκις πρὸς τῶν Ἑλληνιστῶν αἰκισθῆναι χαλεπῶς οἱ ἄγαν ἀπηνῶς. Λέγεται δὲ Αἴαντα γῆμαι μὲν εὐειδεστάτην γυναῖχα᾽ τρίτον δὲ μόνον αὑτῇ συνελθεῖν ἐν παντὶ τῷ χρόνῳ, καὶ τρεῖς παῖδας ποιῆσαι. Τὸ μετὰ ταῦτα δὲ συνουσίας ἕνεκα τοιᾶσδε τῇ γαμετῇ ἀποταξάμενον, μοναχικῶς πεπολιτεῦσθαι · καὶ τῶν υἱέων δύο μὲν ἐπὶ τὰ θεῖα καὶ τὴν ἀγαμίαν παιδαγωγῆσαι· τὸν ἄλλον δὲ ἐπὶ γάμον. Ἐπιεικῶς δὲ καὶ μάλα εὐδοκίμως τὴν τοῦ Βοτωλίου Ἐκκλησίαν ἐπετρόπευσε. Ζήνων δὲ, ἔτι νέος ὢν βίῳ καὶ γάμῳ ἀπαγορεύσας, ἐπιμελέστατος ἐγένετο περὶ τὴν διακονίαν τοῦ Θεοῦ. Φασὶ γοῦν αὐτὸν, μᾶλλον δὲ καὶ ἡμεῖς τεθεάμεθα, ἐπισκοποῦντα τὴν ἐν τῷ Μαϊουμᾶ Ἐκκλησίαν, ἤδη γηραλέον καὶ ἀμφὶ τὰ ἑκατὸν ἔτη ὄντα, μηδεπώποτε ἑωθηνῶν ἢ ἑσπερινῶν ὕμνων, ἢ ἄλλης λειτουργίας τοῦ Θεοῦ κατόπιν γενόμενον, εἰ μή γε νόσος αὐτὸν ἐπέσχεν. Ἐν φιλοσοφίᾳ δὲ μοναχικῇ τὸν βίον ἄγων, λινῆν ἐσθῆτα ὕφαινεν ἐπὶ μονήρους ἱστοῦ, ἐντεῦθέν τε τὰ ἐπιτήδεια εἶχε, καὶ ἄλλοις ἐχορήγει · καὶ οὐ διέλιπεν ἄχρι τελευτῆς τὸ αὐτὸ διἐπων ἔργον, καίπερ ἀρχαιότητι τῶν ἀνὰ τὸ ἔθνος ἱερέων πρωτεύων, καὶ λαῷ καὶ χρήμασι μεγίστης Ἐκκλησίας προεστώς. Ἀλλὰ τῶνδε μὲν εἰς ἀπόδειξιν τῶν τότε ἱερωμένων ἐμνήσθην, πάντας δὲ διεξελθεῖν ἔργον ἐπεὶ οἱ πλείους ἀγαθοὶ ἐγένοντο· καὶ τὸ Θεῖον ἐμαρτύρει τοῖς αὐτῶν βίοις, ἐπικαλουμένων ἑτοίμως ἐπακοῦον, καὶ πλεῖστα θαυματουργοῦν. ### English translation (Claude) So much I have learned. From that time Acacius was distinguished among the bishops, having already earlier been entrusted with the episcopate of Beroea in Syria. Other things worthy of record are probably told of him, since he trained from childhood in the monastic life and lived strictly. He gave a proof of the greatest virtue by keeping the episcopal house open at all times, so that strangers and citizens, whoever wished, might see him without fear, whether at mealtime or in sleep. I admire this most; for either he lived so as always to be confident, or, being prepared against the readiness of nature toward vice, he devised this: so that, expecting always to be caught by those who came in suddenly, in continual watchfulness he might not sin in anything he should not, but be occupied with serious matters. At that time the brothers Zeno and Ajax were notable, who formerly practised the philosophic life, not in solitude, but at Gaza by the sea, at the place they call Maiuma. Being most faithful concerning the doctrine, they confessed God bravely, so that they were often cruelly and very harshly maltreated by the pagans. It is said that Ajax married a very beautiful wife, but came together with her only three times in all, and begot three sons; and that after this, having renounced such intercourse with his wife, he lived as a monk; and of his sons he brought up two for divine things and celibacy, and the other for marriage. He governed the church of Botolium with fairness and great distinction. Zeno, renouncing livelihood and marriage while still young, became most diligent in the ministry of God. They say — or rather, we ourselves have seen it — that when he was bishop of the church at Maiuma, already old and about a hundred years of age, he was never late for the morning or evening hymns or any other liturgy of God, unless illness kept him. Living his life in monastic philosophy, he wove linen garments on a single loom, and from this had his necessities and supplied others; and he did not cease from this same work until his death, although he was first in seniority among the priests of the province and presided over the people and the wealth of a very great church. These I have mentioned as an example of the priests of that time; to go through them all would be a task, since most were good; and the Divine bore witness to their lives, readily hearing them when they called and working very many wonders. ### Translation notes - Ajax’s abstaining from marital relations after the birth of three sons is reported by Sozomen with approval; translated as written. Sozomen knew Zeno personally. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 7.28 (PG 67:1503–1505; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/7-28). ## Church History 7.29 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/7-21/#p-7-29 - Source: PG 67:1505–1507 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The relics of the prophets Habakkuk and Micah are revealed to Bishop Zebennus of Eleutheropolis; Theodosius, falling ill at Milan after his victory, summons Honorius and dies (395). ### Greek text Ὑπὸ δὲ τοιούτων ἀγομένη ἡ πανταχοῦ Ἐκκλησία, πρὸς ὁμόνοιαν, ἀρετὴν, καὶ ζῆλον ἀνῆγε τοὺς λαοὺς καὶ τοὺς κλήρους. Οὐ μόνα δὲ ταῦτα τὴν θρησκείαν ἐσέμνυνεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ᾿Ἀβακούμ, μετ᾿ οὐ πολὺ δὲ τούτου καὶ Μιχαίας πρωτοπροφητῶν περὶ τοῦτον τὸν χρόνον ἀναφανέντες. ᾿Αμφοῖν δὲ τὰ σώματα, ὡς ἐπυθόμην, κατὰ θείαν ὀνείρατος ὄψιν ἀνεδείχθη Ζεβέννῳ τῷ τότε ἐπισκοποῦντι τὴν Ελευθερουπόλεως Ἐκκλησίαν. Καὶ γὰρ δὴ καὶ τοῦνομα ταύτης ἤστην Κελὰ, ἡ πρὶν Κείλα ὀνομαζομένη πόλις, καθ᾿ ἣν ὁ ᾿Αβακούμ εὑρέθη. Καὶ Βηραθσατία χωρίον ἀμφὶ δέκα στάδια τῆς πόλεως : διεστως· περὶ δὲ τοῦτο ὁ Μιχαίου τάφος ἦν, ὃ μνῆμα πιστὸν, ἀγνοοῦντες ὅ τι λέγουσιν οἱ ἐπιχώριοι ἐκάλουν, Νεφσαμεεμανᾶ τῇ πατρίῳ φωνῇ ὀνομάζοντες. Ἰκανὰ μὲν οὖν καὶ τάδε πρὸς εὔκλειαν τοῦ Χριστιανῶν δόγματος, ἐπὶ τῆς παρούσης βασιλείας συνεκύρησε. Μετὰ δὲ τὴν κατὰ Εὐγενίου νίκην, ἔτι ἐν Μεδιολάνῳ διάγων Θεοδόσιος ὁ βασιλεὺς, ἀῤῥώστως διετέθη· ἐννοηθείς τε ὁμοῦ τὴν τοῦ Ἰωάννου τοῦ μοναχοῦ προφητείαν, ὑφωρᾶτο τελευτήν. Ἐν τάχει τε τὸν υἱὸν Ονώριον ἐκ τῆς Κωνσταντινουπόλεως μετεκαλέσατο, καὶ παραγενόμενον ἰδὼν, ἔδοξε ῥᾷον ἔχειν, ὡς καὶ ἐπὶ θέαν ἱπποδρομίας αὐτὸν προελθεῖν. Ἐξαπίνης δὲ μετὰ τὸ ἄριστον κακῶς διατεθεὶς, ἐκέλευσε τῷ παιδὶ τὴν θέαν ἐπιτελέσαι. Τῆς δὲ ἐχομένης νυκτὸς τὸν βίον μετήλλαξεν, Ὀλυβρίου καὶ Προβιανοῦ τῶν ἀδελφῶν ὑπατευόντων. ### English translation (Claude) Led by such men, the church everywhere brought the peoples and the clergy to concord, virtue and zeal. Not only these things adorned religion, but also Habakkuk, and not long after him Micah, among the earliest prophets, who appeared about this time. The bodies of both, as I have learned, were revealed in a divine vision in a dream to Zebennus, who was then bishop of the church of Eleutheropolis. For the name of the place where Habakkuk was found is Cela, the city formerly called Keila; and Berathsatia is a place about ten stadia from the city, near which was Micah’s tomb, which the local people, not knowing what they were saying, called “the faithful tomb,” naming it Nephsameemana in their ancestral language. These things too, sufficient for the renown of the Christian doctrine, happened under the present reign. After the victory over Eugenius, while the emperor Theodosius was still staying at Milan, he fell ill; and calling to mind at the same time the prophecy of John the monk, he suspected that his end was near. He quickly summoned his son Honorius from Constantinople, and on seeing him when he arrived seemed to be better, so that he even went out to watch a horse race. But suddenly after the midday meal he became ill and ordered his son to complete the show. On the following night he departed this life, in the consulship of the brothers Olybrius and Probinus. ### Translation notes - A displaced phrase (“the brothers being consuls”) stood in the scan inside the account of Micah’s tomb; it is restored to the last sentence by corrections. Theodosius died at Milan on 17 January 395, in the consulship of Olybrius and Probinus. - Keilah: Josh 15:44; 1 Sam 23:1. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 7.29 (PG 67:1505–1507; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/7-29). ## Church History 8.1 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/8-1/#p-8-1 - Source: PG 67:1507–1513 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Theodosius dies (395), leaving Arcadius and Honorius; Rufinus is killed; heretics decline and the Novatians flourish under Sisinnius, whose witty sayings Sozomen records. ### Greek text Ὧδε μὲν ἐς τὰ μάλιστα τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν αὐξήσας, ἐτελεύτησε Θεοδόσιος, ἀμφὶ τὰ ἐξήκοντα ἔτη γεγο νως· ἐκ τουτων δὲ δέκα καὶ ἓξ ἐβασίλευσε. Καὶ διαδόχους κατέλιπε τῆς ἀρχῆς, ᾿Αρκάδιον μὲν τὸν πρεσβύτερον τῶν υἱέων, τῶν πρὸς Ἕω ἐθνῶν· Ονώριον δὲ, τῶν πρὸς Ἑσπέραν· ἄμφω δὲ ὁμόφρονες τῷ πατρὶ περὶ τὴν θρησκείαν ἐγενέσθην. Ἡγεῖτο δὲ τότε τῆς Ῥωμαίων Ἐκκλησίας μετὰ Δάμασον, Σιρίκιος· τῆς δὲ ἐν Κωνσταντινουπόλει, Νεκτάριος• Θεόφιλος δὲ, τῆς ἐν ᾿Αλεξανδρείᾳ· καὶ Φλαβιανός τῆς ᾿Αντιοχέων· καὶ Ἰωάννης τῆς Ἱεροσολύμων. Ἐν τούτῳ δὲ Οὖννοι ὁ βάρβαροι ᾿Αρμενίας καὶ τῆς πρὸς Ἕω ἀρχομένης μέρη τινὰ κατέδραμον. Ἐλέγετο δὲ ὡς λάθρα τούτους ἐπηγάγετο ἐπὶ ταραχῇ τῆς βασιλείας Ῥουφῖνος, ὁ τῆς ᾿Ανατολῆς ὕπαρχος, ὕποπτος ὧν καὶ ἄλλως, ὡς τυραννεῖν βούλεται. 'Αλλ' ὁ μὲν ἐπὶ τοιαύτῃ αἰτίᾳ οὐκ εἰς μακρὰν ἀνῃρέθη. "Αμα γὰρ ἐκ τῆς κατὰ Εὐγενίου μάχης ἐπανῆλθεν ἡ στρατιὰ, καὶ ὁ βασιλεὺς, ὡς ἔθος, πρὸ τῆς Κωνσταντινουπόλεως ὑπήντετο, μηδὲν μελλήσαντες οἱ στρατιῶται τὸν Ῥουφῖνον ἀπέκτειναν. Ἐγίνετο δὲ καὶ ταῦτα πρόφασις ἔτι μᾶλλον ἐπιδιδόναι τὴν θρησκείαν. Οἵ τε γὰρ κρατοῦντες ὑπὸ εὐσεβείας ἡγοῦντο τῷ εἰκείῳ πατρὶ τὰς κατὰ τῶν τυράννων κατορθοῦ σθαι νίκας, καὶ Ῥουφῖνον ἐπίβουλον ὄντα τῆς αὐτῶν ἀρχῆς, ἐκποδὼν οὕτως ἀκονιτὶ γεγενῆσθαι. Καὶ διὰ τοῦτο τὰ δεδογμένα τοῖς πρὶν βασιλεῦσιν ὑπὲρ τῶν Ἐκκλησιῶν, προθυμότερον βέβαια ἐφυλάττοντο, καὶ δωρεὰς ἰδίας προσετίθεσαν. Οἱ τε ὑπήκοοι πρὸς τούτους βλέποντες, Ἕλληνες μὲν ῥᾳδίως εἰς Χριστιανισμὸν μετέβαλον · αἱρετικοὶ δὲ τῇ καθόλου κλησίᾳ προσεχώρουν. Οἱ δὲ ἀπὸ τῆς ᾿Αρείου καὶ ( Εὐνομίου αἱρέσεως, καὶ ὅτι πρὸς σφᾶς ἐδιχονόουν διὰ τὰς πρόσθεν εἰρημένας αἰτίας, ἑκάστοτε ἐμειοῦντο. Πολλοὶ γὰρ ἐκ τῆς πρὸς ἀλλήλους ἐναντιότητος, οὐκ ὀρθῶς αὐτοὺς περὶ Θεοῦ δοξάζειν ἐνόμιζον, καὶ πρὸς τοὺς ὁμοδόξους τοῖς κρατοῦσι μετετίθεντο. Τοὺς δὲ ἐν Κωνσταντινουπόλει τὰ Μακεδονίου φρονοῦντας ἔβλαπτε κατ᾿ ἐκεῖνο καιροῦ μὴ ἔχειν ἐπίσκοπον. Αφ' οὗ γὰρ ἐπὶ τῆς Κωνσταντίου βασιλείας παρὰ Εὐδοξίου καὶ τῶν ἀμφ᾿ αὐτὸν τὰς ἐκκλησίας ἀφῃρέθησαν, ὑπὸ μόνοις πρεσβυτέροις μέχρι τῆς ἐχομένης βασιλείας διεγένοντο. Ναυατια· νοὶ δὲ, εἰ καί τινας τούτων ἑἐτάραττεν ἡ περὶ τοῦ Πάσχα ζήτησις, ἣν Σαββάτιος ἐνεωτέρισεν, ἀλλ᾽ οὖν οἱ πλείους ἐπὶ τῆς αὐτῶν Ἐκκλησίας ἠρέμουν. Οὔτε γὰρ τοῖς αὐτοῖς ἐπιτιμίοις ἢ νόμοις, ὁμοίως ταῖς ἄλλαις αἱρέσεσιν ἔνοχοι ἦσαν, ὡς ὁμοούσιον Τριάδα δοξάζοντες, καὶ τότε βεβαιότερον τῇ ἀρετῇ τῶν ἡγουμένων συνίσταντο πρὸς ὁμόνοιαν. Μετὰ γὰρ τὴν ᾿Αγελίου προστασίαν, τῆς Μαρκιανοῦ ἀνδρὸς ἀγαθοῦ τετυχήκασι. Καὶ τούτου δὲ ἔναγχος κατὰ τὸν παρόντα χρόνον τελευτήσαντος ο, διεδέξατο τὴν αὐτοῦ ἐπισκοπὴν Σισίνιος, ἀνὴρ ἐλλόγιμος ὅτι μάλιστα, καὶ φιλοσόφων δογμάτων καὶ τῶν ἱερῶν λόγων ἐπιστήμων, καὶ πρὸς διαλέξεις ἕτοιμος· ὡς καὶ Εὐνόμιον ἐπὶ ταύταις εὐδοκιμοῦντα, καὶ τοῦτο ἔργον ποιούμενον, πολλάκις παραιτήσασθαι τοὺς πρὸς αὐτὸν διαλόγους. Ἐγένετο δὲ σώφρων τὸν βίον, ὡς κρείττων εἶναι διαβολῆς, περὶ δὲ τὴν δίαιταν ἀβρὸς καὶ ποικίλος· ὡς τοὺς ἀγνοοῦντας ἀπιστεῖν, εἰ σωφρονεῖν δύναιτο, τοσοῦτον τρυφῶν. Τὸ δὲ ἦθος ἦν χαρίεις καὶ ἡδὺς ἐν ταῖς συνουσίαις· καὶ διὰ ταῦτα καὶ τοῖς ἐπισκό ποις τῆς καθόλου Ἐκκλησίας, καὶ τοῖς ἐν ἀρχαῖς καὶ λόγοις καταθύμιος ἦν, σκώπτειν τε σὺν χάριτι, καὶ σκωμμάτων ἀνέχεσθαι, καὶ ἑκάτερον ἀπεχθείας ἐκτὸς ὑπομένειν, κομψῶς τε σὺν τάχει πρὸς τὰς ἐρωτήσεις ὑπαντᾶν, εὖ μάλα ἐπιτηδείως ἔχων. Ἔρωτηθεὶς οὖν ὅτου ἕνεκα δεύτερον λούοιτο τῆς ἡμέρας, ἐπίσκοπος ὤν· Ὅτι μὴ τρίτον, ἔφη, φθάνω. Ἐπεὶ δὲ λευκῇ ἐσθῆτι διετέλει χρώμενος, ἐπέσκωψέ τις αὐτῷ τῶν ἀπὸ τῆς καθόλου Ἐκκλησίας. Ὁ δὲ πρὸς αὐτόν· Οὐκοῦν εἰπὲ, ποῦ εἴρηται ἐσθῆτα μέλαιναν χρῆναι ἀμφιέννυσθαι; Τοῦ δὲ ἀπορήσαντος, ὑπολαβὼν ἔφη· Σὺ μὲν τοῦτο οὐκ ἂν ἐπιδεῖξαι δυνήσῃ· ἐμοὶ δὲ καὶ Σολομῶν ὁ σοφώτατος, Ἔστωσάν σου τὰ ἱμάτια ἀεὶ λευκά, παραινεῖ λέγων· καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ Χριστὸς λευχείμων ἐν τοῖς Εὐαγγελίοις φαινόμενος, Μωσήν τε καὶ Ἠλίαν τοιούτους τοῖς ἀποστόλοις ἐπιδεικνύς. Οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ κἀκεῖνο τῶν εἰρημένων Σισινίῳ χάριεν οἶμαι· Ἐνεδήμει μὲν τῇ Κωνσταντινουπόλει Λεόντιος, ὁ παρὰ Γαλάταις τῆς ᾿Αγκύρας ἐπίσκοπος. Ἐκκλησίας δὲ τῶν ἐκεῖσε Ναυατιανῶν ἀφῃρημένος, ἦκε πρὸς αὐτὸν ἀπολαβεῖν ταύτας δεόμενος. Ἐπεὶ δὲ οὐκ ἀπεδίδου, ἐλοιδόρει δὲ τοὺς Ναυατιανοὺς ὡς οὐκ ἀξίους ἐκκλησιάζειν, μετάνοιαν καὶ τὴν ἐκ Θεοῦ φιλανθρωπίαν ἀναιρεῖν αὐτοὺς λέγων, Ἀλλὰ μὴν, ἔφη Σισίνιος, οὐδεὶς οὕτως ὡς ἐγὼ μετανοεῖ. Ἐρομένου δὲ Λεοντίου τίνα τρόπον· Ὅτι σε τεθέαμαι, ἀπεκρίνατο. Καὶ ἕτερα δὲ πολλὰ αὐτοῦ εὐστόχως εἰρημένα ἀπομνημονεύουσιν. Οὐκ ἀκόμψους τε πολλοὺς αὐτοῦ λόγους φασὶ φέρεσθαι. Ἐπηνεῖτο δὲ μᾶλλον λέγων, ὡς ἄριστα ὑποκρινόμενος, φωνῇ τε βλέμματι, χαριεστάτῳ προσώπῳ τὸν τὴν ἑλεῖν ἱκανός " ἀλλὰ οἷος μὲν ἣν οὗτος ὁ ἀνὴρ, τάῆε εἰρήσθω, εἰς ἀπόδειξιν ἧς ἔλαχε φύσεως, ἀγωγῆς τε καὶ βίου. 3 ### English translation (Claude) Having thus greatly increased the church, Theodosius died, being about sixty years old, of which he reigned sixteen. He left as successors to the rule Arcadius, the elder of his sons, over the eastern nations, and Honorius over the western; both were of one mind with their father about religion. At that time Siricius led the church of the Romans after Damasus; Nectarius that in Constantinople; Theophilus that in Alexandria; Flavian that of the Antiochenes; and John that of Jerusalem. Meanwhile the barbarian Huns overran Armenia and some parts of the eastern empire. It was said that Rufinus, the prefect of the East, had secretly brought them in to disturb the empire, being suspected in other ways too of wishing to usurp. But he was killed not long after on this charge. For as soon as the army returned from the battle against Eugenius and the emperor met it, as was the custom, before Constantinople, the soldiers without delay killed Rufinus. These things too became an occasion for religion to advance still more. For the rulers, out of piety, thought that the victories over the usurpers had been won for their father, and that Rufinus, the plotter against their rule, had thus been removed without effort. For this reason they kept more zealously and firmly what the former emperors had decreed in favour of the churches, and added gifts of their own. And their subjects, looking to them, readily changed over to Christianity if they were pagans, while heretics went over to the catholic church. Those of the heresy of Arius and Eunomius, both because they were divided among themselves for the reasons stated above, grew fewer every time. For many, from their contrariness to one another, thought they did not believe rightly about God, and went over to those of the same belief as the rulers. Those in Constantinople who held the views of Macedonius were harmed at that time by having no bishop. For since, in the reign of Constantius, they had been deprived of the churches by Eudoxius and his party, they had continued under presbyters only until the next reign. The Novatians, even if the question about Pascha that Sabbatius introduced troubled some of them, nevertheless for the most part remained quiet in their own church. For they were not liable to the same penalties or laws as the other heresies, since they held the Trinity of the same essence; and at that time they were held together more firmly in concord by the virtue of their leaders. For after the leadership of Agelius, they had had that of Marcian, a good man; and when he had lately died at the present time, Sisinnius succeeded to his episcopate, a man as learned as any, versed in the doctrines of the philosophers and in the sacred words, and ready for debate; so that Eunomius, renowned for this and making it his business, often declined debates with him. He was chaste in life, so as to be beyond slander, but in his diet delicate and varied, so that those who did not know him doubted whether he could be chaste while living so luxuriously. His character was gracious and pleasant in company; and for this he was dear to the bishops of the catholic church and to those in office and in letters, being very well able to jest with grace and to bear jests, and to endure both without enmity, and to meet questions wittily and quickly. When asked, at any rate, why he bathed twice a day, being a bishop, he said, “Because I cannot manage three times.” When, since he always wore white clothing, one of those of the catholic church mocked him, he said to him: “Then tell me where it is said that one ought to wear black clothing.” When the other was at a loss, he answered: “You will not be able to show this; but for me Solomon the wisest advises, saying, ‘Let your garments always be white’; and Christ himself appears in the Gospels clothed in white, and shows Moses and Elijah so to the apostles.” This too of Sisinnius’s sayings seems to me graceful. Leontius, the bishop of Ancyra among the Galatians, was staying in Constantinople. Having taken away the churches of the Novatians there, he came to Sisinnius when he asked to receive them back. When he would not give them back, but reviled the Novatians as unworthy to hold assemblies, saying that they abolished repentance and the kindness that comes from God, “But indeed,” said Sisinnius, “no one repents as I do.” When Leontius asked in what way, he answered, “In that I have seen you.” They record many other aptly spoken sayings of his, and they say that many of his discourses, not without elegance, are in circulation. He was praised the more when speaking, since he delivered excellently, and with voice and look and a most graceful countenance was able to win his hearer. But let this be said of what kind of man he was, as proof of his nature, training and life. ### Scripture references - Eccl 9:8: quotation, high confidence - Matt 17:2–3: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The first words of the staged text are the end of the chapter title and are removed by a correction. - A displaced phrase in Sisinnius’s two retorts is restored by corrections. Sisinnius quotes Eccl 9:8 (attributed to Solomon) and alludes to the Transfiguration (Matt 17:2–3). - “In that I have seen you”: Sisinnius jokes that seeing Leontius is a thing to repent of. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 8.1 (PG 67:1507–1513; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/8-1). ## Church History 8.2 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/8-1/#p-8-2 - Source: PG 67:1513–1519 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: At Nectarius’s death John (Chrysostom), the eloquent presbyter of Antioch, pupil of Libanius and of Diodore, who had recalled Theodore of Mopsuestia to the monastic life, is chosen bishop of Constantinople, spirited away from Antioch, and consecrated despite Theophilus’s preference for Isidore. ### Greek text Περὶ δὲ τοῦτον τὸν χρόνον Νεκταρίου τελευτήσαντος, καὶ βουλῆς οὔσης τίνα δέοι χειροτονεῖν, ἄλλοι μὲν ἄλλους ἐψηφίζοντο, καὶ οὐ τὰ αὐτὰ πᾶσιν ἐδόκει" ὁ χρόνος δέ τις ἐν ᾿Αντιοχείᾳ τῇ παρ᾽ Ὀρόντῃ πρεσθδύτερος, ᾧ ὄνομα Ἰωάννης, γένος τῶν εὐπατριδῶν " ἀγαθὸς τὸν βίον, λέγειν τε καὶ πείθειν δεινὸς, καὶ τοὺς αὐτὸν ὑπερδάλλων τορας. ὡς καὶ Λιβάνιος ὁ Σύρος σοφιστὴς ἐμαρτύρησεν. Ἡνίκα γὰρ ἔμελλε τελευτᾷν, πυνθανομένων τῶν ἐπιτηδείων τίς ἀντ᾽ αὐτοῦ ἔσται, λέγεται Ἰωάννὴν εἰπεῖν, εἰ μὴ Χριστιανοὶ τοῦτον ἐσύλησαν. Πλείστους δὲ τῶν αὐτοῦ ἀκουόντων ἐπ᾿ Ἐκκλησίας, εἰς ἀρετὴν ὠφέλησε, ὁμόφρονας αὐτῷ περὶ τὸ Θεῖον ἐποίησε. Θείως γὰρ πολιτενόμενος, τὸν τῆς εἰ | : οἱ ἡ, ἀρετῆς ἐνετίθει ζῆλον τοῖς ἀκροαταῖς " ἐπὶ τοῦτο ῥᾳδίως ὡς οὐ τέχνῃ τινὶ δυνάμε: λόγου βιάζεται παραπλήσια δοξάζειν αὐτῷ " ἀλλ᾽ ὡς ἔχει ἀληθείας, εἰλικρινῶς τὰς ἱερὰς ἐξηγεῖτο Βίδλους " λόγος γὰρ ὑπὸ τῶν ἔργων χοσμούμενος, πίστεως ἄξιος εἰκότως φαίνεται. "Ἄνευ δὲ τούτων, εἴρωνα τῶν ἰδίων λόγων κατήγορον ἀποφαίνει τὸν λέγοντα, κἂν σπουδάζῃ διδάσκων. Τῷ δὲ κατ᾽ ἀμφότερα εὐδοχιμεῖν προσῆν. ᾿Αγωγῇ μὲν γὰρ βίου σώφρονι, πολιτείᾳ ἀχριθεῖ ἐχρῆτο" φράσει δὲ λόγου σαφεῖ μετὰ λαμπρότητος " φύσεώς τε γὰρ εὖ ἔσχε. Διδασχάλους δὲ, τῆς μὲν περὶ τοὺς ῥήτορας᾽ ἀσκήσεως, Λιθάγιον " ᾿Ανδραγάθιον τῶν περὶ φιλοσοφίας λόγων. Προσδοχηθεὶς δὲ δίκας ἀγορεύειν γι, ὁ. 2 5. - καὶ τοῦτον μετιέναι τὸν βίον, ἐγνώκει τὰς ἱερὰς ἀσκεῖσθαι Βίβλους, καὶ κατὰ θεσμὸν τῆς Ἐκκλησίας φιλοσοφεῖν. Ταύτης δὲ τῆς φιλοσοφίας διδασκάλους ἔσχε, τοὺς τότε προεστῶτας τῶν τῇδε περιφανῶν ἀσκητηρίων, Καρτέριόν τε καὶ Διόδωρον, τὸν ἡγησάμενον τῆς ἐν Ταρσῷ Ἐκκλησίας· ὃν ἐπυθόμην ἰδίων συγγραμμάτων πολλὰς καταλιπεῖν βίβλους περὶ δὲ τὸ ῥητὸν τῶν ἱερῶν λόγων τὰς ἐξηγήσεις ποιήσασθαι, τὰς θεωρίας ἀποφεύγοντα. Οὐ μόνος δὲ παρὰ τούτοις ἐφοίτα· ἔπεισε δὲ τῆς αὐτῆς γνώμης εἶναι ἑταίρους αὐτοῦ γενομένους ἐκ τῆς Λιβανίου διατριβῆς, Θεόδωρόν τινα καὶ Μάξιμον. Ὧν ὁ μὲν ὕστερον ἐπίσκοπος ἐγένετο Σελευκείας τῆς Ἰσαύρων· Μο[μ]ψουεστίας δὲ τῆς Κιλίκων, Θεόδωρος ἀνὴρ καὶ τῶν ἱερῶν Βίβλων, καὶ τῆς ἄλλης παιδείας ῥη τόρων τε καὶ φιλοσόφων, ἱκανὸς ἐπιστήμων. ᾿Αλλ' οὗτος μὲν ἡνίκα τὴν ἀρχὴν ἐνέτυχε τοῖς θείοις νόμοις, καὶ ἱεροῖς ἀνδράσιν ὡμίλησεν, ἐπήνεσε ταύτην τὴν ἀγωγὴν, καὶ κατέγνω τῶν ἀστικῶν. Οὐ διήρκεσε δὲ τὴν αὐτὴν προθυμίαν ἔχων· μεταμεληθεὶς δὲ, πρὸς τὸν πρότερον βίον εἴλκετο. Οἷα δὲ εἰκὸς, ἐναντίοις λόγοις κοσμήσας τὸ σπουδαζόμενον ἐκ παλαιῶν ὑποδειγμάτων (ἦν γὰρ πολυΐστωρ), εἰς τὴν πόλιν ἐπανἤλθεν· ἄμεινον, ὡς ἐνόμισε, τοῦτο κρίνας, οὗπερ ἐπεθύμει τυχεῖν. Μαθὼν δὲ Ἰωάννης ἐν πράγμασιν αὐτὸν εἶναι, καὶ περὶ γάμον σπουδάζειν, θειωτέραν ἢ κατὰ νοῦν ἀνθρώπου φράσει καὶ νοήμασι συντάξας ἐπιστολὴν, πρὸς αὐτὸν διεπέμψατο. Ὁ δὲ ταύτην ἐντυχών, μετεμελήθη· αὖθίς τε τὴν οὐσίαν και ταλιπών, ἀπειπών τε τῷ γάμῳ, ταῖς Ἰωάννου συμβουλαῖς ἐσώζετο, καὶ πρὸς τὸν φιλόσοφον ἐπανῄει βίον. Ὥστε μοι δοκεῖ κἀκ τούτου ῥάδιον εἶναι συμβαλεῖν, ὡς δεινή τις ἐπήνθει πειβὼ τοῖς Ἰωάννου λόγοις. Ἐκράτει γὰρ ταύτῃ, καὶ τῶν ὁμοίως λέγειν καὶ πείθειν δυναμένων. Ἐντεῦθεν καὶ τὸ πλῆθος ἥρει, καὶ μάλιστα καθὸ πολὺς ἦν διελέγχων τοὺς ἁμαρτάνοντας, καὶ ἐπὶ ἐκκλησίας, καὶ πρὸς τοὺς ἀδικοῦντας, ὡς αὐτὸς ἡδικημένος, σὺν παῤῥησία ἀγανακτῶν. Τοῦτο δὲ τοῖς μὲν πολλοῖς εἰκότως χάτἀ: ^ — ἬΝ αὖ ἘΞ ἄπ ἜΞΕ -— ἘΠῚ -— — — - -— πῇ ἥν πὸ ΞΕ —-— πο τὰ περ 0 ἐτύγχανε λυπηρὸν δὲ τοῖς πλουσίοις καὶ δυναμένοις, παρ᾽ οἷς τὰ πολλὰ τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων ἐστίν. Ἐπίσημος οὖν τοῖς μὲν εἰδόσι, τῇ πείρᾳ, τοῖς δὲ ἀγνοοῦσι, τῇ φήμῃ, ἔκ τε τῶν λόγων καὶ τῶν ἔργων γενόμενος ἀνὰ πᾶσαν τὴν Ῥωμαίων ὑπήκοον, ἔδοξε Κωνσταντινουπόλει ἐπιτήδειος εἶναι τῆς Ἐκκλησίας ἐπισκοπεῖν. Ῥηφισαμένιον δὲ τοῦτο τοῦ λαοῦ καὶ τοῦ κλήρου, ὁ βασιλεὺς συνήνει, καὶ τοὺς ἄξοντας αὐτὸν πέπομφε. Συνεχάλει δὲ σύνοδον, καὶ τούτῳ σεμνοτέραν τὴν χειροτονίαν δειχνύς. Οὐχ εἰς μακρὰν δὲ τὰ βασιλέως γράμματα δεξάμενος ᾿Αστέριος ὁ τῆς Ἕω ἡγούμενος, ἐδήλωσεν Ἰωάννῃ παραγενέσθαι πρὸς αὐτὸν, ὡς περί του δεησόμενος. Ἐλθόντα δὲ, αὐτίκα εἰς ὄχημα σὺν αὑτῷ καὶ σπουδῇ ἐλάσας, ἧκεν εἰς Πάγρας, σταθμὸν οὕτω χαλούμενον. Ἐνταῦθα δὲ παραδοὺς αὐτὸν τοῖς ἐχ βασιλέως ἀποσταλεῖσιν, ἀνέστρεψεν. ΓἜδοξε δὲ τὰ περὶ τούτου καλῶς διῳχηχέναι, πρὶν ᾿Αντιοχέας μαθεῖν, χαλεπούς τε περὶ στάσεις, δήλους ὄντας, ὡς οὔ ποτε ἂν ἐκόντες Ἰωάννου ἀπηλλάγησαν, πρὶν παθεῖν τι ἣ δρᾶται. Ὡς δὲ εἰς Κωνσταντινούπολιν ἀφίκετο, οἱ κληθέντες ἱερεῖς συνεληλύθεισαν, ἐμποδὼν ἐγένετο τῇ χειροτονίᾳ Θεόφιλος, ᾿Ισιδώρῳ ᾿σπουδάζων. Ὃς πρεσβύτερος ἣν τότε τῶν ὑπ᾽ αὐτὸν, ἐπίτροπος ὃὲ τῶν ἐν ᾿Αλεξανδρείᾳ ξένων καὶ πτωχῶν. νέου δὲ ἀνὰ τὴν Σκῆτιν ἄριστα ἐφιλοσόφησεν, ὡς παρ᾽ ἀνδρῶν αὐτῷ συγγενομένων ἐπυθόμην. Οἱ δέ φασι Θεοφίλῳ τοῦτον γενέσθαι φίλον, ὡς κοινωνὸν καὶ συνίστορα πράγματος ἐπικινδύνου γενόμενον. Λέγουσι γὰρ, ὡς ἡνίκα ὁ πρὸς Μάξιμον συνίστατο πό, δῶρα δοὺς αὐτῷ Θεόφιλος, γράμματα πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα καὶ τὸν τύραννον, ἐνετείλατο χαταλαθεῖν τὴν Ρώμην, καὶ π:τριμεῖναι τῆς μάχης τῆν ἀπόβασιν, τῷ νικήσαντι διδόναι μετὰ τῶν γραμμάτων τὰ δῶρα. Τὸν δὲ, τάδε ποιήσαντα μὴ διαλαθεῖν, δείσαντά τε, φυγάδα εἰς ᾿Αλεξάνδρειαν ἐπανελθεῖν. Ἐξ ἐκείνου δὲ Θεόφιλον τῶν αὐτῷ πιστοτάτων τὸν ἄνδρα ποιησάμενον, εἰς καιρὸν νομίσαι τῶν ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ κινδύνων ἀποδοῦναι τὴν ἀμοιβὴν, εἰ τῆς Κωνσταντινουπόλεως ἐπίσκοπον αὐτὸν χαταστήσειεν. ᾽Αλλ᾽ εἴτε ἐντεῦθεν, εἴτε ὡς ἄνδρα ἀγαθὸν χειροτονεῖν τοῦτον ἠθδούλετο Θεόφιλος, τελευταῖον συνήνεσε τοῖς ἐπὶ Ἰωάννῃ δεδογμένοις " ἀτεχνῶς ταύτῃ τῇ 328 χειροτονίᾳ σπουδάζοντα δείσας Εὐτρόπιον, τὸν τότε προεστῶτα τοῦ βασιλέως οἴκου. Ὅν φασιν ἄντικρυς αὐτῷ ἀπειλῆσαι, ἢ ταυτὰ τοῖς ἄλλοις ἱερεῦσι συμψηφίσασθαι, ἢ τοῖς ἐγκαλεῖν βουλομένοις ἀπολογήσασθαι. Ἔτυχον γὰρ αὐτὸν πολλοὶ τότε παρὰ τῇ συνόδῳ γραψάμενοι. ### English translation (Claude) About this time Nectarius died, and when there was deliberation as to whom they should ordain, some voted for one and some for another, and not all thought the same. There was at Antioch on the Orontes a presbyter named John, of a noble family, good in life, powerful in speech and persuasion, and surpassing the orators of his time, as Libanius the Syrian sophist bore witness. For when he was about to die, and his friends asked who would take his place, he is said to have answered, “John, had not the Christians stolen him.” He benefited very many of those who heard him in church toward virtue and made them of one mind with him about the divine. For living a godly life, he instilled in his hearers zeal for virtue; and readily so, not as though forcing them by some art or power of speech to believe as he did, but because he expounded the sacred books sincerely, as truth requires. For speech adorned by deeds naturally appears worthy of belief; but without these it shows the speaker to be a dissembler and an accuser of his own words, however earnestly he teaches. He had excellence in both: he followed a chaste way of life and a strict conduct, and a clear and splendid style of speech, for he was well endowed by nature. His teachers were Libanius for training in rhetoric and Andragathius for philosophical studies. When he was expected to plead at law and follow that career, he resolved to train himself in the sacred books and to practise philosophy according to the rule of the church. As teachers of this philosophy he had those who then presided over the famous ascetic houses there, Carterius and Diodore, who led the church of Tarsus; who, I have learned, left many books of his own writings and made his interpretations according to the letter of the sacred words, avoiding allegorical contemplations. He did not attend them alone; he persuaded two who had been his companions in Libanius’s school, Theodore and Maximus, to be of the same mind. Of these, Maximus later became bishop of Seleucia in Isauria, and Theodore of Mopsuestia in Cilicia, a man well versed in the sacred books and in the rest of the learning of orators and philosophers. When Theodore first encountered the divine laws and associated with holy men, he praised this way of life and condemned that of the city; but he did not persevere with the same zeal. Repenting, he was drawn back to his former life; and, as was likely, adorning what he desired with contrary arguments drawn from old examples — for he was very widely read — he returned to the city, judging this better, as he thought, which he desired to obtain. When John learned that he was involved in business and set on marriage, he composed a letter more divine in style and thought than is within human reach and sent it to him. Theodore, reading it, repented; and leaving his property again and renouncing marriage, he was saved by John’s counsels and returned to the philosophic life. So that from this too it seems to me easy to infer what powerful persuasion flowered in John’s words; for in this he surpassed even those equally able to speak and persuade. From this he won over the multitude too, especially because he was much given to rebuking sinners, both in church, and to showing indignation boldly against wrongdoers as if he himself had been wronged. This was naturally pleasing to the many, but grievous to the rich and powerful, among whom most sins are found. Having become famous throughout the whole Roman empire, by experience to those who knew him and by report to those who did not, from his words and deeds, he seemed to the people of Constantinople fit to oversee the church. When the people and the clergy had voted for this, the emperor agreed and sent men to bring him; and he called a synod, showing the ordination to be the more solemn by this too. Not long after, Asterius, governor of the East, receiving the emperor’s letters, told John to come to him, as if he wished to ask something of him. When he came, he at once put him in a carriage with himself, drove in haste, and came to Pagrae, a station so called; and there, handing him over to those sent by the emperor, he went back. He seemed to have managed this well, before the Antiochenes learned of it — who were prone to riots and clearly would never have parted with John willingly, before suffering or doing something. When he came to Constantinople and the priests who had been called had assembled, Theophilus opposed the ordination, being eager for Isidore. He was then a presbyter of those under him and in charge of the strangers and poor in Alexandria; and from his youth he had practised philosophy excellently in Scetis, as I have learned from men who associated with him. Others say that he had become Theophilus’s friend as a partner and accomplice in a dangerous affair. For they say that when the war against Maximus was being waged, Theophilus gave him gifts and letters to the emperor and to the usurper, and ordered him to go to Rome and await the outcome of the battle, and to give the gifts with the letters to the victor; and that, when he had done this, he was found out, and in fear returned to Alexandria as a fugitive. From that time Theophilus made the man one of his most trusted, and thought it timely to repay him for the dangers he had run on his behalf by making him bishop of Constantinople. But whether for this reason, or because he wished to ordain him as a good man, Theophilus finally agreed to what had been decided about John, being simply afraid of Eutropius, who then presided over the emperor’s household and was eager for this ordination. They say that he openly threatened him either to vote together with the other priests or to answer those who wished to accuse him; for many happened then to have brought charges against him before the synod. ### Translation notes - John Chrysostom was consecrated on 26 February 398. His letter to Theodore is the treatise To Theodore after His Fall; it is not yet on this site. - Several lines are garbled or lost in the scan in this section; they are translated by sense. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 8.2 (PG 67:1513–1519; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/8-2). ## Church History 8.3 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/8-1/#p-8-3 - Source: PG 67:1519–1521 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Chrysostom disciplines his clergy and, with Theophilus, sends Acacius and Isidore to Rome to reconcile the West and Egypt with Flavian, ending the Antiochene schism. ### Greek text Ὁ δὲ Ἰωάννης ἐπὶ τῆς ἐπισκοπῆς γενόμενος, πρό τερον διορθοῦσθαι τοὺς βίους τῶν ὑπ' αὐτὸν κληρι κῶν ἐσπούδαζε · προόδους τε αὐτῶν καὶ δίαιταν καὶ τὴν ἄλλην ἀγωγὴν πολυπραγμονῶν, ἡλεγχέ τε καὶ ἐπέστρεφε· τοὺς δὲ καὶ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας ἐξεοῦτο ς. Ἐλεγκτικὸς γὰρ ὢν φύσει, καὶ κατὰ τῶν ἀδικούντων ἐν δίκῃ ἀγανακτῶν, ἔτι μᾶλλον ἐν τῇ ἐπισκοπῇ ἐπέδωκε τούτοις τοῖς παθήμασιν. Ἡ γὰρ φύσις ἐξουσίας ἐπιλαβομένη, ῥᾳδίως εἰς ἔλεγχον ἐξῆγε τὴν γλῶσ σαν, καὶ τὴν ὀργὴν ἑτοιμότερον κατὰ τῶν ἁμαρτανόντων ἐκίνει. Οὐ μόνον δὲ τὴν ὑπ᾿ αὐτὸν Ἐκκλησίαν, ἀλλ᾿ ὡς ἀγαθὸς καὶ μεγαλόφρων, καὶ τὰς πανταχοῦ ἐπανορθοῦν ἐσπούδαζεν. Αὐτίκα γοῦν ἐπὶ τὴν ἐπισκοπὴν παρελθὼν, ἔτι τῶν ἀνὰ τὴν Αἴγυπτον καὶ Δύσιν ἱερέων πρὸς τοὺς ἐν τῇ Ἕῳ διὰ Παυλίνον διαφερομένων, καὶ κοινῆς τινος ἀμιξίας διὰ τοῦτα τὰς ἀνὰ πᾶν τὸ ὑπήκοον Ἐκκλησίας κατεχούσης, ἐδεήθη Θεοφίλου συμπρᾶξαι αὐτῷ, καὶ καταλλάξαι Φλαβιανῷ τὸν Ῥωμαίων ἐπίσκοπον. Ὧδε δὲ δόξαν, αἱροῦνται ἐπὶ τοῦτο ᾿Ακάκιος ὁ Βεροίας ἐπίσκο πος, καὶ Ἰσίδωρος, δι' ὃν Θεόφιλος ἐναντίος ἐγένετα τῇ αὐτοῦ χειροτονίᾳ. Καὶ παραγενόμενοι εἰς Ῥώμην, ἐπειδὴ κατὰ γνώμην αὐτοῖς ἡ πρεσβεία ἀπέβη, κατέπλευσαν εἰς Αἴγυπτον· ἐντεῦθεν εἰς Συρίαν ἧκεν Ἀκάκιος, Αἰγυπτίων καὶ τῶν πρὸς Δύσιν ἱερέων εἰρηναῖα γράμματα τοῖς ἀμφὶ Φλαβιανὸν φέρων. Καὶ αἱ μὲν Ἐκκλησίαι ὀψέ ποτε ταύτης τῆς διχονοίας ὧδε ἀπαλλαγεῖσαι, τὴν πρὸς ἀλλήλας κοινωνίαν ἀπέλαβον. Τὸ δὲ πλῆθος τῶν ἐν Ἀντιοχείᾳ καλουμένων ἜἜΞΙ ἘΞ -— -—— —— :—— πα "- ΠΕ Εὐσταθιανῶν, ἄχρι τινὸς διέμεινεν ἐφ᾽ ἑαυτὸ αγόμενον, ἐπισκόπου ἐχτός. λέγον γὰρ χρόνον ἐπιδιώσας, ὡς ἔγνωμεν, ἐτελεύτησεν Εὐάγριος ὁ Παυλῖνον διαδεξάμενος, Κατὰ τοῦτο γὰρ, οἶμαι, εὐμαρεῖς ἐγένοντο τοῖς ἐπισκόποις αἱ διαλλαγαὶ, μηδενὸς ἐναντίου ὄντος. Ὁ δὲ λαὸς, οἷα δῆμος φιλεῖ, κατ᾽ ὀλίγους ἀεὶ προστιθέμενοι τοῖς ὑπὸ Φλαθιανὸν ἐχχλησιάζουσιν, οἱ πλείους τῷ χρόνῳ ἡνώθησαν. ### English translation (Claude) When John was in the episcopate, he was eager first to correct the lives of the clergy under him; inquiring into their goings out, their diet and the rest of their conduct, he rebuked and corrected them, and some he drove out of the church. For being by nature given to rebuke, and justly indignant at wrongdoers, he gave still more scope to these passions in his episcopate. For nature, having gained power, readily set his tongue to rebuke and more easily stirred his anger against sinners. Not only the church under him, but, as a good and high-minded man, he was eager to set right the churches everywhere. At any rate, as soon as he entered on the episcopate, since the priests of Egypt and the West were still at odds with those of the East because of Paulinus, and a general want of fellowship held the churches throughout the empire on this account, he asked Theophilus to work with him and reconcile the bishop of the Romans to Flavian. This being agreed, they chose for this Acacius, bishop of Beroea, and Isidore, on whose account Theophilus had opposed John’s ordination. Coming to Rome, when their embassy had turned out as they wished, they sailed to Egypt; and from there Acacius came to Syria, bringing letters of peace from the priests of Egypt and the West to Flavian’s party. So the churches, at long last freed from this dissension, recovered communion with one another. But the body at Antioch called Eustathians remained by itself for some time, without a bishop. For Evagrius, who succeeded Paulinus, died, as we have learned, having lived a short time; and on this account, I think, reconciliation was easy for the bishops, since there was no rival. The people, as a populace will, joining little by little those who assembled under Flavian, were in time mostly united. ### Translation notes - The first words of the staged text are the end of the chapter title and are removed by a correction. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 8.3 (PG 67:1519–1521; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/8-3). ## Church History 8.4 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/8-1/#p-8-4 - Source: PG 67:1521–1527 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The Gothic general Gainas exploits Tribigild’s revolt to extort power, demands a church for the Arians, which Chrysostom resists, plots to seize Constantinople but is thwarted by phantom soldiers, and is destroyed after his crossing of the Hellespont fails; Theodosius II is born. ### Greek text Ἐν τούτῳ δὲ Γαϊνᾶς ἀνὴρ βάρβαρος, αὐτομολήσας Ῥωμαίοις, ἐξ εὐτελοῦς στρατιώτου παραλόγως εἰς τὴν τῶν στρατηγῶν παρελθὼν τάξιν, ἐπεχείρησε τὴν Ῥωμαίων ἀρχὴν ὑφ᾽ ἑαυτὸν ποιεῖν. Ταῦτα δὲ βουλευόμενος, τοὺς ὁμοφύλους αὐτοῦ Γότθους τῶν ἰδίων νόμων εἰς Ῥῳμαίους μετεπέμψατο, καὶ τοὺς ἐπιτηδείους συνταγματάρχας καὶ χιλιάρχους κατέστησε. Τιρδιγγίλου ! δὲ νεωτερίσαντος, ὃς αὑτῷ γένει προσήχων, πολυανθρώπου τάγματος ἡγεῖτο τῶν ἐν Φρυγίᾳ στρατιωτῶν" τοῖς μὲν εὖ φρονοῦσι, δῆλος ἦν ταῦτα κατασκευάσας ἀγανακτεῖν δὲ προσποιούμενος πορθουμένων τῶν τῇδε πόλεων, ἐπετράπη ταύταις βοηθεῖν. Ἐπεὶ δὲ εἰς τὴν Φρυγίαν ἀφίκετο, πλῇθος ἔχων βαρβάρων ὡς εἰς πόλεμον ἀφιγμένος, εἰς τὸ φανερὸν ἐξῆγε τὴν γνώμην, ἣν πρότερον ἔχρυπτε. Καὶ πόλεις ἃς ἐτάχθη φυλάττειν, ἐδῇου " ταῖς δὲ ἐπιθήσεσθαι ἔμελλε. Παραγενόμενος δὲ εἰς Βιθυνίαν, ἐν τοῖς Χαλκηδόνος ὅροις ἐστρατοπεδεύετο, καὶ πόλεμον ἠπείλει. κινδύνῳ δὲ τῶν πραγμάτων ὄντων, μάλιστα τῶν ἐν ᾿Ασίᾳ καὶ πόλεων, ὅσαι τε μεταξὺ τούτων καὶ περὶ τὸν Εὔξεινον Πόντον οἰχοῦνται, λογισάμενος ὁ βατιλεὺς σὺν τοῖς ἀμφ᾽ αὐτὸν ὡς οὐχ ἀσφαλὲς ἀπαρασχεύους ὄντας εἰς κίνδυνον χαῦἰστασθαι πρὸς ἄνδρας ἤδη τὸ ζῇν ἀπειρηχότας, πέμ.πρὸς Γαϊνᾶν, ἐπήγγειλεν αἰτεῖν ὅ τι βούλεται. Εἶναι γὰρ ἕτοιμος ἐν πᾶσιν αὐτῷ γενέσθαι κεχαρισμένος. Ὁ δὲ, Ξατορνῖνον καὶ Αὐρηλιανὸν ὑπατιχοὺς ἄνδρας, ὑπονοῶν ἐναντία φρονεῖν αὐτῷ, ἐζήτησε λαβὼν δὲ, ἐφείσατο. Καὶ εἰς ταυτὸν τῷ βασιλεῖ συνδραμων, εἰς τὸν πρὸ τῆς Χαλκηδόνος εὐκτήριον οἶχον, ἐν ᾧ Εὐφημίας τῆς μάρτυρός ἐστιν ὁ τάφος, ὅρκους τε λαβὼν καὶ δοὺς περὶ εὐνοίας, ἀπέθετο τὰ ὅπλα, καὶ εἰς Κωνσταντινούπολιν ἐπεραιοῦτο, πεζῶν καὶ ἱππέων τὴν ἡγεμονίαν ἐκ βασιλέως ἔχων. Παρ' ἀξίαν δὲ δόξαν εὖ πράττειν, οὐκ ἤνεγκε σωφρόνως· ἀλλ' ἐπεὶ τὸ πρῶτον παράλογον κατὰ γνώμην αὐτῷ ἀπέβη, καὶ τὴν καθόλου Ἐκκλησίαν θορυβεῖν ἐπεχείρησεν. Ἦν μὲν γὰρ Χριστιανὸς, τῆς τῶν βαρβάρων αἱρέσεως, οἵ τὰ ᾿Αρείου φρονοῦσιν. Αναπεισθεὶς δὲ παρὰ τῶν ταύτης προεστώτων, ἢ αὐτὸς φιλοτιμούμενος, ἤτησε τὸν βασιλέα μίαν τῶν ἐν τῇ πόλει ἐκκλησιῶν τοὺς ὁμοδόξους αὐτῷ ἔχειν. Μηδὲ γὰρ εἶναι δίκαιον, καὶ ἄλλως ἀπρεπὲς ἐμέμφετο, Ῥωμαίων ὄντα ἑαυτὸν στρατηγὸν, ἔξω τειχῶν παραγενόμενον εὔχεσθαι. Μαθὼν δὲ τάδε Ἰωάννης, οὐκ ἐφησύχασε. Παραλαβών δὲ τοὺς ἐπισκόπους οἶπερ ἔτυχον ἐνδημοῦντες τῇ πόλει, ἧκεν εἰς τὰ βασίλεια· καὶ τοῦ βασιλέως ἐπακούοντος, αὐτοῦ τε Γαῖνα παρόντος, πολὺν κατέχεε λόγον, πατρίδα τε καὶ φυγὴν ὀνειδίζων, καὶ ὡς τῷ βασιλέως πατρὶ τότε σωθεὶς ὤμοσεν ἡ μὴν Ῥωμαίοις εὐνοεῖν, αὐτῷ τε καὶ τοῖς αὐτοῦ παισὶ, καὶ νόμοις, οὓς ἀκύρους ἐπεχείρει ποιεῖν. Καὶ τάδε λέγων, ἐδείκνυ τὸν νόμον ὂν Θεοδόσιος ἔθετο, τοὺς ἑτεροδόξους εἴργων ἔνδον τειχῶν ἐκκλησιάζειν. Ἐκ τούτου δὲ πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα τρέψας τὸν λόγον, ἔπεισε τὸν τεθέντα νόμον κατὰ τῶν ἄλλων αἱcρέσεων κύριον φυλάττειν· ἄμεινονεἶναι συμβουλεύων –τῆς βασιλείας παραχωρεῖν, ἢ προδότην οἴκου Θεοῦ γενόμενον, ἀσεβεῖν. Καὶ ὁ μὲν ἀνδρείως ὧδε παῤῥησιασάμενος, οὐδὲν συνεχώρησε νεωτερισθῆναι 5 περὶ τὰς ὑπ' αὐτὸν Ἐκκλησίας. Ὁ δὲ Γαϊνᾶς, ἐπιορκεῖν ἤδη διενοεῖτο, καὶ τὴν πόλιν πορθεῖν. Ἡνίκα δὴ ταύτην τὴν ἐπιβουλὴν προεμήνυσε κομήτης, ἐπὶ τῆς πόλεως φανεὶς μέγιστος, εἰς αὐτὴν σχεδὸν τὴν γῆν διήκων, καὶ οἷος πρότερον οὐ γεγενῆσθαι λέγεται. Ἐπειρᾶτο δὲ πρότερον τοῖς ἀργυροπωλείοις ἐπιθέσθαι, χρημάτων πλῆθος συλλέγειν ἐντεῦθεν ἐλπίσας· Φήμης δὲ γενομένης ὅτι τάδε βεβούλευται, καὶ τῶν ἀργυροπωλῶν τὸν πρόχειρον πλοῦτον ἀποκρυψαμένων, καὶ τὸν ἐπὶ τῶν τραπεζῶν ἄργυρον οὐκέτι συνήθως δημοσίᾳ προτιθέντων, ἐν νυκτὶ πλῆθος ἐπιπέμψᾶς ἐνετείλατο τὰ βασίλεια πρᾷν. Οἱ δὲ, ἄπραχτοι κατεπτηχότες ὑπέστρεφην. Ὡς γὰρ πλησίον ἐγένοντο, πλῆθος ὁπλιτῶν ἔδοξαν ὁρᾷν ἐν μεγάλοις σώμασιν. Ὑ πονοήπαντες 65 νέηλυν εἶναι στρατιὰν, ἤγγειλαν τῷ Γαϊνᾷ ὁ δὲ ( ἠπίστατο γὰρ μὴ πλείους τῶν εἰωθότων τῇ πόλει ἐνδημεῖν στρατιώτας) οὐχ ἠξίου τοῖς λεγομένοις πιστεύειν, Ἐπεὶ δὲ τῆς ἐχομένης νυκτὸς ἀποσταλέντες ἔτεταυτὰ τοῖς πρότερον Ὦγγειλαν, αὐτὸς ἐλθὼν, αὐτόπτης ἔγένετο τοῦ παραδόξου θεάματος. Νομίσας τε αὐτοῦ χάριν συνέληλυθέναι τοὺς τῶν ἄλλων πόλεων στρατιώτας, νύκτωρ μὲν φρουρεῖν τὴν πόλιν τὰ βασίλεια, ἡμέρᾳ δὲ λανθάνειν, σχήπτεται δαιμονᾷν " ὡς εὐξόμενός τε καταλαμβάνει τὴν ἐχκλησίαν, ἣν ἐπὶ τιμῇ Ἰωάννου τοῦ Βαπτιστοῦ, ὁ τοῦ βασιλέως πατὴρ ᾧχοδόμησε πρὸς τῷ Ἑδδόμῳ. Τῶν δὲ βαρβάρων, οἱ μὲν, ἔνδον ἔμενον " οἱ δὲ, Γαϊνᾷ συνεξήεσαν. Λάθρα δὲ συνεξῆγον ὅπλα ἐν γυναικείοις ὀχῆμασι χεράμους βελῶν ἐπεὶ 6$ ἐφωράθησαν, τοὺς φύλακας τῶν πυλῶν ἀναιροῦσι, πειραθέντας χωλύσαι τὴν τῶν ὅπλων ἐχχομιδήν. τούτου ταραχῆς θορύδου ἀνάπλεως ἡ πόλις ἐγένετο, ὡς αὐτίκα ἁλωσομένη. ᾿Αγαθὴ δὲ γνώμη ἐκράτει πρὸς τὰ παρόντα δεινά. Ὁ γὰρ βασιλεὺς μηδὲν μελλήσας, τὸν μὲν Γαϊνᾶν πολέμιον ἀνεκήρυξε τοὺς δὲ περιλειφθέντας ἐν τῇ πόλει βαρδάρους, ἀναιρεθῆναι προσἔταξεν. ᾿Επιθέμενοι δὲ τούτοις οἱ στρατιῶται, ἀναιροῦσι τοὺς πλείστους "τὴν δὲ καλου μένην τῶν Γότθων ἐκκλησίαν ἐμπιπρῶσιν, Ὡς εἰς συνήθη γὰρ εὐκτήΠΟΟΙ ρῖον οἶχον ἐνθάδε ἠθροισμένοι ἐτύγχανον, οἷς οὐκέτι (, φυγεῖν ἐξεγένετο, τῶν πνλῶν χεχλεισμένων. Ταῦτα δὲ μαθὼν ὁ Γαϊνᾶς, διὰ Θράκης ἐλάσας ἧκεν εἰς Χεῤῥόνησον, καὶ τὸν Ἑλλήσποντον περαιοῦσθαι ἐσπούδαζε. Διενοεῖτο γὰρ, ὡς εἰ τῆς ἀντιπέραν ᾿Ασίας χρατήσεις, ῥᾳδίως πάντα τὰ πρὸς ἕω τῆς ἀρχομένης ἔθνη ὑφ᾽ ἑαυτὸν ποιήσει. Παρ᾽ ἐλπέδας δὲ αὐτῷ τάδε ἀπήντα, θείᾳ ῥοπῇ κἀνταῦθα Ῥωμαίων χρησαμένων. Παρῆν μὲν γὰρ στρατιὰ κατὰ γῆν καὶ θάλαττᾶν, παρὰ βασιλέως ἀπεσταλμένη, ἧς ἡγεῖτο Φλαδίτας ἀνὴρ βάρβαρος τὸ γένος, ἀγαθὸς δὲ τὸν τρόπον, καὶ στρατηγικός. Οἱ δὲ βάρβαροι ναῦς μὴ ἔχοντες, ἐπὶ σχεδιῶν ἐπειρῶντο διεχπλεῖν τὸν Ἑλλήσπυντοὸν πρὸς τὴν ἀντικρὺ ἤπειρον. Ἐξαπίνης δὲ πολὺς ἐπιπγεύσας ζέφυρος τὰς σχεδίας διέλυσε σὺν , βίᾳ, τούτων τὰς Ῥωμαίων ναῦς ἤλαυνε. Τῶν δὲ βαρδάρων, οἱ πλείους μὲν, αὑτοῖς ἵπποις ὑποδρύχιοι ἐγένοντο" οἱ δὲ, ὑπὸ τῶν στρατιωτῶν ἀνῃρέθησαν. Ὁ Γαϊνᾷς ἅμα ὀλίγοις περισωθεὶς τότε, οὐ πολλῷ ὕστερον ἀνὰ τὴν Θράκην ἀλώμενός τε καὶ φεύγων, ἑτέρᾳ στρατιᾷ περιέπεσε, σὺν τοῖς ἀμφ᾽ αὐτὸν βαρβάροις ἀπώλετο. Τοῦτο τῶν Γαϊνᾶ τολμημάτων καὶ τοῦ βίου τὸ τέλος. δὲ Φλαδέτας λαμπρὸς ἐν ταύτῃ τῇ μάχῃ γενόμενος, χειροτονεῖται ὕπατος. Ἐν δὲ τῷ τότε αὐτοῦ Βικεντίου ὑπατευόντων, τίχτεται τῷ βασιλεῖ παῖς, τῷ πάππῳ ὁμώνυμος. ᾿Αρχομένης δὲ τῆς ἑξῆς ὑπατείας, ἀναγορεύεται Σεβαστός. ### English translation (Claude) Meanwhile Gainas, a barbarian who had deserted to the Romans and had risen unexpectedly from a common soldier to the rank of general, attempted to bring the empire of the Romans under himself. With this design he summoned to Roman territory his kinsmen the Goths from their own lands, and appointed his friends tribunes and commanders of a thousand. When Tribigild, who was related to him by race and commanded a numerous unit of soldiers in Phrygia, revolted, it was clear to sensible people that Gainas had contrived it; but pretending to be angry that the cities there were being ravaged, he was commissioned to help them. When he came to Phrygia with a multitude of barbarians, as if come for war, he brought into the open the purpose he had concealed before. He ravaged the cities he had been ordered to guard, and was about to attack others. Coming to Bithynia, he encamped in the territory of Chalcedon and threatened war. As affairs were in danger, especially in Asia and the cities between it and the Euxine Sea, the emperor and his advisers, reckoning that it was not safe for them, unprepared as they were, to enter into danger against men who had already given up on life, sent to Gainas and told him to ask for whatever he wished; for he was ready to oblige him in everything. He demanded Saturninus and Aurelian, men of consular rank, suspecting them of being opposed to him; but having received them, he spared them. And meeting the emperor at the house of prayer before Chalcedon, in which is the tomb of the martyr Euphemia, and having received and given oaths of goodwill, he laid down his arms and crossed to Constantinople, holding from the emperor the command of infantry and cavalry. Seeming to prosper beyond his deserts, he did not bear it soberly; but since his first unreasonable success had turned out as he wished, he tried also to trouble the catholic church. For he was a Christian of the heresy of the barbarians, who hold the views of Arius. Persuaded by the leaders of this heresy, or out of ambition of his own, he asked the emperor that those of his belief might have one of the churches in the city; for it was neither just, he complained, nor otherwise fitting, that he, a general of the Romans, should have to go outside the walls to pray. When John learned this, he did not keep quiet. Taking the bishops who happened to be staying in the city, he came to the palace; and in the hearing of the emperor and in the presence of Gainas himself he poured out a long speech, reproaching him with his homeland and his flight, and how, when saved then by the emperor’s father, he had sworn to be well disposed to the Romans, to him and his children, and to the laws which he was now trying to make void. Saying this, he showed the law which Theodosius had made, forbidding those of other belief to hold assemblies within the walls. Then, turning his speech to the emperor, he persuaded him to keep in force the law enacted against the other heresies, advising that it was better to give up the empire than to commit impiety by becoming a betrayer of the house of God. Having spoken so boldly, he allowed no innovation concerning the churches under him. Gainas was already planning to break his oaths and to sack the city. Then a comet foretold this plot, appearing very great over the city and reaching almost to the earth itself, such as is said never to have appeared before. He tried first to attack the silversmiths’ shops, hoping to collect a great quantity of money from there. When a rumour arose that this had been planned, and the silversmiths hid their ready wealth and no longer displayed the silver on their tables in public as usual, he sent a multitude by night and ordered them to burn the palace. But they came back without success, cowering. For as they came near, they seemed to see a multitude of armed men of great stature. Supposing it to be a newly arrived army, they reported to Gainas. He, knowing that no more than the usual soldiers were staying in the city, would not believe what was said. But when those sent the next night reported the same as the first, he went himself and became an eyewitness of the marvellous sight. Thinking that soldiers from the other cities had gathered on his account, guarding the city and the palace by night and hiding by day, he pretended to be possessed by a demon; and as if to pray he went to the church which the emperor’s father had built at the Hebdomon in honour of John the Baptist. Of the barbarians, some remained within, others went out with Gainas. They secretly carried arms out with them in women’s carriages, and jars of missiles. When they were found out, they killed the guards of the gates who tried to prevent the carrying out of the arms. From this the city was full of confusion and uproar, as if about to be taken at once. But good counsel prevailed in the present dangers. For the emperor without delay proclaimed Gainas a public enemy and ordered the barbarians left in the city to be killed. The soldiers attacked them and killed most of them, and set fire to the church called that of the Goths; for they happened to have gathered there, as in their usual house of prayer, and could no longer flee, since the gates had been shut. When Gainas learned this, he marched through Thrace and came to the Chersonese, and was eager to cross the Hellespont; for he thought that if he gained Asia opposite, he would easily bring under himself all the nations of the eastern empire. But things turned out contrary to his hopes, the Romans having divine help here too. For an army sent by the emperor was there by land and sea, led by Fravitta, a barbarian by race but good in character and a capable general. The barbarians, having no ships, tried to sail across the Hellespont on rafts to the mainland opposite. But suddenly a strong west wind blew and violently broke up the rafts, and drove the Roman ships against them. Most of the barbarians went under with their horses; others were killed by the soldiers. Gainas, escaping then with a few, not long after, wandering and fleeing through Thrace, fell in with another army and perished with the barbarians about him. This was the end of Gainas’s daring and of his life. Fravitta, having distinguished himself in this battle, was appointed consul. At that time, when he and Vincent were consuls, a son was born to the emperor named after his grandfather; and at the beginning of the following consulship he was proclaimed Augustus. ### Translation notes - Gainas’s revolt and fall took place in 399–400. Theodosius II was born on 10 April 401 (consulship of Vincentius and Fravitta) and proclaimed Augustus in January 402. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 8.4 (PG 67:1521–1527; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/8-4). ## Church History 8.5 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/8-1/#p-8-5 - Source: PG 67:1527–1529 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Chrysostom’s preaching draws crowds and converts; a Macedonian woman who tries to deceive her converted husband by substituting her own bread for the eucharist finds it turned to stone in her mouth. ### Greek text Ἰωάννης δὲ ἄριστα τῆς Κωνσταντινουπόλεως Ἔχ: κλησίας ἐπιτροπεύων, πολλοὺς μὲν τῶν ᾿Ελλήνων, πολλοὺς δὲ ἐχ τῶν αἱρέσεων ἐπήγετο. Συνέῤῥει δὲ πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐχάστοτε πλῆθος, τῶν μὲν, ὠφελείᾳ ἀκουσομένων, τῶν δὲ, ἀπόπειραν ληψομένων. Ἅπαντάς τε ἤρει, τὰ αὐτὰ δοξάζειν αὐτῷ περὶ τὸ Θεῖον ἔπειθε. Τοσοῦτον δὲ πρὸς αὑτὸν τὸ πλῆθος ἔχεχήνεσαν, τῶν αὐτοῦ λόγων κόρον οὖχ εἶχον, ὥστε ἐπεὶ ὠὡστιζόμενοι, περιθλίθοντες ἀλλήλους, ἐκινδύνευον, ἕκαστος προσωτέρω ἱέναι βιαζόμενος, ὅπως ἐγγὺς παρεστὼς, ἀχριδέστερον αὐτοῦ λέγοντος ἀχούοι " μέσον ἑαυτὸν πᾶσι παρέχων, ἐπὶ τοῦ βῆματῶν ἀναγνωστῶν καθεζόμενος ἐδίδασκεν. Ἐν καιρῷ δέ μοι δοκεῖ, τὸ συμβὰν ἐπὶ αὐτοῦ θαῦμα συμπεριλαβεῖν τῇ γραφῇ. ᾿Ανὴρ τις Μακεδονίου σεως, τοιαύτῃ γυναικὶ συνῴχει. Περιτυχὼν δὲ αὐτῷ. διδάτχοντι ὅπως χρὴ περὶ Θεοῦ. δοξάζειν, ἐπαινέτης. ἦν τοῦ δόγματος, καὶ τὴν γυναῖκα ὁμοφρονεῖν αὐτῷ, παρεκάλει. Ἐπεὶ δὲ τῇ πρὸ τούτου συνηθείᾳ καὶ ταῖς ὁμιλίαις τῶν γνωρίμων γυναικῶν ἡττᾶτο, καὶ πολλάκις νουθετῶν ὁ ἀνὴρ οὐδὲν Εἰ μὴ, φησὶ, χοινωνήσεις μοι τῶν θείων, οὐδὲ τοῦ βίου κοινωνὸς ἔσῃ μοι τοῦ λοιποῦ. Ἐνταῦθα δὲ ἡ γυνὴ συνθεμένη τοῦτο ποιεῖν, χοινοῦταί τινι τῶν θεραπαινίδων ἣν ἡγεῖτο πιστὴν, παραλαμβάνει ἐς ἀπάτην τοῦ ἀνδρός. δὲ τὸν καιρὸν τῶν μυστηρίων (ἴσασι δὲ οἱ μεμυημένοι ὃ λέγω), ἡ μὲν, ὅπερ ἐδέξατο κατέχουσα, ὡς εὐξομένη ἀπέκυψε. Παρεστῶσα δὲ αὐτῇ ἡ θεράπαινα, λάθρα δέδωκεν ὅ μετὰ χεῖρας ἦλθε φέρουσα· τὸ δὲ, πρὸς τοῖς ὀδοῦσι λίθος ἐπήγνυτο. Περιδεὴς δὲ γενομένη ἡ γυνὴ μή τι πάθοι, θεῖον οὕτω πρᾶγμα ἐπ᾿ αὐτῇ συμβάν, δρομαία ἐπὶ τὸν ἐπίσκοπον ἐλθοῦσα, ἑαυτὴν κατεμήνυσε. Καὶ τὸν λίθον ἐπέδειξεν, εἰκόνα φέροντα τοῦ δήγματος, ἀγνῶτα δὲ τὴν ὕλην, καὶ παράξενόν τι δεικνύντα χρῶμα. Σὺν δάκρυσί τε συγγνώμην αἰτήσασα, ὁμοφρονοῦσα τῷ ἀνδρὶ συνῆν. Ἀλλὰ τάδε μὲν εἴ τῳ μὴ πιθανὰ δοκεῖ, μάρτυς αὐτὸς ὁ λίθος, εἰσέτι νῦν ἐν τοῖς κει μηλίοις τῆς ἐκκλησίας Κωνσταντινουπόλεως φυλαττόμενος. ### English translation (Claude) John, governing the church of Constantinople excellently, brought over many of the pagans and many from the heresies. A crowd streamed to him every time, some to hear him for their benefit, others to test him. He won them all over and persuaded them to believe as he did about the divine. The multitude so hung upon him and could not have enough of his words, that, when they were in danger as they pushed and crushed one another, each forcing his way further forward so as to stand near and hear him more precisely as he spoke, he put himself in the middle of all and taught sitting on the readers’ platform. It seems to me timely to include in my writing the miracle that happened in his time. A man of the Macedonian heresy lived with a wife of the same belief. Happening to hear John teaching how one ought to believe about God, he approved the doctrine, and urged his wife to believe as he did. When she was overcome by her former habit and the conversations of the women she knew, and her husband admonished her often and accomplished nothing, he said, “Unless you share the divine things with me, you will not share my life any longer.” Then the wife, agreeing to do this, confided in one of her maidservants whom she thought faithful, and took her to deceive her husband. At the time of the mysteries — those who are initiated know what I mean — she, holding what she had received, bent down as if to pray. The maidservant, standing by her, secretly gave her what she had come with in her hands; but it hardened into stone between her teeth. The woman, terrified lest she suffer some harm, since so divine a thing had happened to her, ran to the bishop and confessed herself, and showed the stone, which bore the mark of the bite, of an unknown material and showing a strange colour. Asking pardon with tears, she lived with her husband sharing his belief. If this seems incredible to anyone, the stone itself is a witness, being kept to this day among the treasures of the church of Constantinople. ### Translation notes - The account of the eucharistic miracle is translated as Sozomen tells it. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 8.5 (PG 67:1527–1529; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/8-5). ## Church History 8.6 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/8-1/#p-8-6 - Source: PG 67:1529–1531 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Chrysostom deposes thirteen simoniac bishops in Asia, installs Heraclides at Ephesus, and replaces the popular physician-bishop Gerontius of Nicomedia with Pansophius, provoking charges that he overrode the rights of ordination. ### Greek text Ὁ δὲ Ἰωάννης πυθόμενος ὑπὸ ἀναξίων τὰς ἐν ᾿Ασίᾳ καὶ πέριξ Ἐκκλησίας ἐπιτροπεύεσθαι, καὶ τοὺς μὲν λήμμασι καὶ δωροδοκίαις, τοὺς δὲ χάριτι ὑπαγομένους, τὰς ἱερωσύνας ἀπεμπωλεῖν, ἧκεν εἰς Ἔφεσον. Καθελών τε δέκα καὶ τρεῖς ἐπισκόπους, τοὺς μὲν ἐν Λυκίᾳ καὶ Φρυγίᾳ, τοὺς δὲ ἐν αὐτῇ τῇ ᾿Ασίᾳ, ἑτέρους ἀντ᾿ αὐτῶν κατέστησε· τῆς δὲ Ἐφεσίων Ἐκκλησίας (ἔτυχε γὰρ ὁ τότε ἐνθάδε ἐπισκοπῶν τελευτήσας), Ἡρακλείδην ἄνδρα Κύπριον τὸ γένος, διάκονον τῶν ὑπ᾿ αὐτὸν μοναχῶν τῶν ἐκ τῆς Σκήτεως, Εὐαγρίου τοῦ μοναχοῦ μαθητήν. Οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ Γερόντιον ἐξεώσατο τῆς Νικομηδέων Ἐκκλησίας. Οὗτος γὰρ ὑπὸ ᾿Αμβροσίῳ τῷ ἐπισκόπῳ Μεδιολάνων διακονούμενος, οὐκ οἶδ᾽ ὅ τι παθὼν, ἀλλ᾽ ἢ τερατευόμενος, ἢ δαιμονίου σπουδῇ καὶ φαντασίαις ὑπαχθεὶς, νύκτωρ ἔφη τισὶν ὀνοσκελίδα συλλαβόμενος, ξυρίσαι τὴν κεφαλὴν, καὶ μυλωνίῳ ἐμβαλεῖν. Ὡς ἀνάξια δὲ τοῦ διακόνου Θεοῦ φθεγξάμενον, ἐκέλευσεν ᾿Αμβρόσιος τέως καθ' ἑαυτὸν εἶναι, καὶ μεταμελείᾳ καθαίρεσθαι. Ὁ δὲ ἰατρὸς ὢν ἄριστος, καὶ ἀοκνότατος λέγειν καὶ πείθειν, καὶ φίλους περιποιεῖν ἱκανὸς, ὡς ἐπεγγελῶν ᾿Αμβροσίῳ, ἧκεν εἰς Κωνσταντινούπολιν. Ἐν ὀλίγῳ τε χρόνῳ τινὰς τῶν ἐν τοῖς βασιλείοις δυναμένων ποιεῖται φίλους · καὶ μετ᾿ οὐ πολὺ ἐπιτρέπεται τὴν Νικομηδέων ἐπισκοπήν. Ἔχειροτόνησε δὲ αὐτὸν Ἑλλάδιος ὁ Καισαρέων Καππαδοκῶν ἐπίσκοπος, ἀμειβόμενος καθότι παιδὶ αὐτοῦ πρόξενος λαμπρᾶς στρατ[ε]ιᾶς ἐγένετο ἐν τοῖς βασιλείοις. Μαθὼν δὲ ταῦτα Αμβρόσιος, ἔγραψε Νεκταρίῳ τῷ προϊσταμένῳ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας Κωνσταντινουπόλεως, ἀφελέσθαι Γεροντίου τὴν ἱερωσύνην, καὶ μὴ περιιδεῖν αὐτὸν ὑβρισμένον, καὶ τὴν ἐκκλησιαστικὴν τάξιν. Νεκταρίῳ δὲ, καὶ μάλα τοῦτο σπουδάσαντι, γέγονεν ἀνήνυτον, πανδημεί τῶν Νικομηδέων ἀνδρικῶς ἀνθισταμένων. Ὁ δὲ Ἰωάννης καθελὼν αὐτὸν, ἐχειροτόνησε Πανσόφιον· ὅς παιδαγωγος ἐγεγόνει τῆς τοῦ βασιλέως γαμετῆς· εὐλαβής δὲ, καὶ τὸ ἦθος μέτριός τε καὶ πρᾶος · οὐ μὴν Νικομηδεῦσι καταθύμιος. Στασιάσαντες γοῦν πολλάκις, κοινῇ τε καὶ πρὸς ἕκαστον ἀπηριθμοῦντο τὰς Γεροντίου εὐεργεσίας, καὶ τὴν ἐκ τῆς ἐπιστήμης ἄφθονον χρείαν, καὶ τὸ περὶ πάντας πλουσίους τε καὶ πένητας ἐπίσης ἄφθονόν τε καὶ ἄοκνον. Τούτοις δὲ καὶ τὰς ἄλλας ἀρετὰς προσετίθουν, οἷά γε εἰκὸς φιλοῦντας. Καὶ ὡς ἐπὶ σεισμοῖς, ἢ αὐχμοῖς, ἢ ἄλλαις τισὶ θεομηνίαις, περιιόντες ἐν ταῖς ἀγυιαῖς, ἀνὰ τὴν πατρίδα τὴν ἑαυτῶν καὶ τὴν Κωνσταντινούπολιν ἔψαλλον, καὶ ἱκέτευον τὸν Θεὸν, ἐπίσκοπον αὐτὸν ἔχειν. Τὸ δὲ τελευταῖον βιασθέντες, τοῦ μὲν ἀπηλλάγησαν σὺν πένθει ὀδυρμοῖς· τὸν δὲ, μετὰ δέους καὶ μίσους ἐδέξαντο. Ἐντεῦθεν δὲ οἱ καθαιρεθέντες, καὶ οἱ τούτων ἐπιτήδειοι, ἐπῃτιῶντο Ἰωάννην, ὡς ἀρχηγὸς νεωτερισμοῦ ταῖς Ἐκκλησίαις ἐγένετο, καὶ τὰ δίκαια τῶν χειροτονιῶν παρὰ τοὺς πατρίους νόμους ἐκαινοτόμησεν· ὑπὸ δὲ λύπης, καὶ τὰ λόγου ἄξια αὐτῷ πεπραγμένα κατὰ τὰς τῶν πολλῶν δόξας διέβαλλον. Αμέλειτοι καὶ τὸ ἐπὶ Εὐτροπίου τότε συμβὰν ἐν μέσῳ. ### English translation (Claude) John, learning that the churches in Asia and round about were governed by unworthy men, and that some, led on by gain and bribes, others by favour, were selling the priesthoods, came to Ephesus. He deposed thirteen bishops, some in Lycia and Phrygia, others in Asia itself, and appointed others in their place; and for the church of the Ephesians — for its bishop at that time happened to have died — he appointed Heraclides, a Cypriot by birth, a deacon of the monks of Scetis under him, a disciple of Evagrius the monk. He also expelled Gerontius from the church of the Nicomedians. For this man, serving as deacon under Ambrose, bishop of Milan, whether — I know not what happened to him — telling marvels, or led on by the zeal of a demon and by fantasies, said to some that he had caught an onoskelis by night, shaved its head and thrown it into a mill. Since he had uttered things unworthy of a deacon of God, Ambrose ordered him to keep to himself for a time and be purified by repentance. But he, being an excellent physician, most ready in speaking and persuading, and able to win friends, came to Constantinople as if laughing at Ambrose. In a short time he made friends of some of the powerful at the palace, and not long after was entrusted with the episcopate of the Nicomedians. He was ordained by Helladius, bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia, in return for having obtained a distinguished post in the palace service for his son. When Ambrose learned this, he wrote to Nectarius, head of the church of Constantinople, to take the priesthood from Gerontius and not overlook the insult to himself and to church order. But though Nectarius was very zealous about it, it proved impossible, since the Nicomedians to a man resisted manfully. John deposed him and ordained Pansophius, who had been tutor to the emperor’s wife, a pious man, moderate and gentle in character, but not to the liking of the Nicomedians. They rioted often, recounting publicly and to one another Gerontius’s benefactions, the abundant help of his medical skill, and his generosity and readiness toward all, rich and poor alike. To these they added his other virtues, as those who love naturally do. And as in earthquakes or droughts or other visitations of God, they went about the streets of their own city and of Constantinople singing psalms and beseeching God to have him as bishop. At last, compelled, they parted from him with mourning and lamentation, and received the other with fear and hatred. From this those who had been deposed and their friends accused John of having been the author of innovation in the churches and of having altered the rights of ordination contrary to ancestral laws; and out of vexation they even maligned, in the opinion of the many, what he had done that was worthy of mention. Indeed, what happened at that time in the case of Eutropius was also brought into the midst. ### Translation notes - Chrysostom’s visit to Asia was in 401. An onoskelis is a demon in the form of a woman with an ass’s legs. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 8.6 (PG 67:1529–1531; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/8-6). ## Church History 8.7 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/8-1/#p-8-7 - Source: PG 67:1533–1535 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The eunuch Eutropius, consul and patrician, who had a law passed against the right of asylum in churches, is forced to take refuge at the altar himself; Chrysostom preaches over him, and he is later executed and his law erased. ### Greek text Οὗτος γὰρ μείζων ὢν τῶν βασιλέως εὐνούχων, μόνος καὶ πρῶτος ὧν ἴσμεν ἢ ἀκηκόαμεν, ὑπάτου καὶ πατρὸς βασιλέως ἀξίᾳ ἐτιμήθη. Ἐπεὶ δὲ τῆς παρούσης δυνάμεως οὐκ ἐννοήσας τὸ μέλλον, · τὰς συμβαινούσας ἐν τοῖς ἀνθρωπίνοις πράγμασι μεταβολὰς, ἐπεχείρει τῆς ἐκκλησίας ἀφέλκειν ἱκέτας Θεοῦ, δι' αὐτὸν ἐνθάδε διατρίβοντας, καὶ μάλιστα Πενταδίαν τὴν τοῦ Τιμασίου γαμετήν. "Ον στρατηγὸν δυνατὸν καὶ φοβερώτατον γενόμενον, εἰς τὴν κατ' Αίγυπτον Οασιν ἀϊδίῳ φυγῇ ἐζημίωσε, τυραν-νίδος ἐπαγαγὼν αἰτίαν. ᾿Αλλ' ἐκεῖνος ἢ δίψει πιεζόμενος, ὡς τινος ἐπυθόμην, ἢ δεδιὼς μή τι χεῖρον ὑπομείνῃ, ἐν τοῖς αὐτόθι ψάμμοις ἀλώμενος, εὑρέθη νεκρός. Εὐτροπίου δὲ σπουδῇ τίθεται νόμος, προστάττων μηδαμή μηδένα εἰς ἐκκλησίαν καταφυγεῖν, ἐξελαύνεσθαί τε καὶ τοὺς ἤδη προσπεφευγότας. Οὐκ εἰς μακρὰν δὲ, ὡς εἰς τὴν βασιλέως γαμετὴν ὑβρίσας ἐπιβουλευθεὶς, πρῶτος αὐτὸς παρέβη τὸν νόμον. Καὶ ἀποδρὰς ἐκ τῶν βασιλείων, ἱκέτης τὴν ἐκκλησίαν κατέλαβεν. Ἡνίκα δὴ λαμπρόν τινα κατ᾿ αὐτοῦ ὑπὸ τὴν ἱερὰν τράπεζαν κειμένου κατέτεινε λόγον Ιωάννης· τῶν μὲν ἐν δυνάμει τὴν ὀφρὺν κατασπῶν· τῷ δὲ λαῷ δεικνὺς, ὡς οὐδὲν τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων ἐν ταυτῷ μένειν φιλεῖ. Οἱ γε μὴν ἀπεχθανόμενοι πρὸς αὐτὸν, καὶ τοῦτο διέβαλλον, ὡς ἐλεεῖν δέον τὸν περὶ ψυχῆς κινδυνεύοντα, ἤλεγχεν, ἐπεμβαίνων ταῖς αὐτοῦ συμφοραῖς. ᾿Αλλ' Εὐτρόπιος μὲν, τῆς ἀσεβοῦς ταύτης ἐπιχειρήσεως ἀνέπλησε τὴν δίκην, τὴν κεφαλὴν ἀποτμηθείς· καὶ ὁ τεθεὶς νόμος, ἄρδην ἐκ τῶν δημοσίων ὑπομνημάτων ἡφανίσθη. Ἡ δὲ Ἐκκλησία εὖ μάλα διέπρεπεν, ὡς τοῦ Θεοῦ τιμωροῦ γενομένου ἐν τάχει τῶν κατ' αὐτῆς ἀδικημάτων · καὶ ταῖς περὶ τὸ θεῖον θεραπείαις ἐπεδίδου. Προθυμότερόν τε τότε μᾶλλον ὁ Κωνσταντινουπόλεως λαὸς τοῖς ἑωθινοῖς καὶ νυκτερινοῖς ὕμνοις ἐχρῆτο, κατὰ πρόφασιν τοιάνδε ### English translation (Claude) For this man, chief of the emperor’s eunuchs, was the first and only one we know or have heard of to be honoured with the rank of consul and of patrician. Since, in his present power, he did not consider the future or the reversals that happen in human affairs, he tried to drag out of the church those who had fled to God as suppliants and were staying there on his account, and especially Pentadia, the wife of Timasius. This man, who had been a powerful and most formidable general, Eutropius had punished with perpetual exile to the Oasis in Egypt, bringing against him a charge of aiming at tyranny. But he, either distressed by thirst, as I learned from someone, or fearing to suffer something worse, wandered in the sands there and was found dead. Through Eutropius’s efforts a law was made ordering that no one should anywhere take refuge in a church, and that those who had already fled there should be driven out. But not long after, being plotted against as having insulted the emperor’s wife, he himself was the first to transgress the law; escaping from the palace, he took refuge as a suppliant in the church. Then, as he lay under the holy table, John delivered a splendid speech against him, pulling down the pride of those in power and showing the people that nothing human tends to remain the same. Those who hated John maligned this too, as though he rebuked, trampling on his misfortunes, a man in danger of his life whom he ought to have pitied. But Eutropius paid the full penalty for this impious attempt, having his head cut off, and the law that had been made was wholly erased from the public records. The church was greatly distinguished, as God had quickly avenged the wrongs done against it, and it advanced in the service of the divine. The people of Constantinople then used the morning and night hymns more zealously, for the following reason. ### Translation notes - Eutropius fell in 399; Chrysostom’s two sermons on him (In Eutropium) survive. The law is Codex Theodosianus 9.45.3 (398). - The section ends with a colon-like sentence continued in 8.8. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 8.7 (PG 67:1533–1535; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/8-7). ## Church History 8.8 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/8-1/#p-8-8 - Source: PG 67:1535–1537 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: When the Arians sing provocative antiphonal hymns in nightly processions, Chrysostom organizes rival Nicene processions with silver crosses and candles; after fighting the emperor bans the Arian processions, and the Nicene night hymns continue. ### Greek text Ἐπεὶ γὰρ οἱ ἀπὸ τῆς Ἁρείου αἱρέσεως, ἀφαιρεθέντ τες τῶν ἐν τῇ Κωνσταντινουπόλει ἐκκλησιῶν ἐπὶ τῆς Θεοδοσίου βασιλείας, πρὸ τῶν τειχῶν ἐκκλησίαζον, νύκτωρ πρότερον ἐν ταῖς δημοσίαις στοαῖς συνελέγοντο, καὶ εἰς συστήματα μεριζόμενοι, κατὰ τὸν τῶν ἀντιφώνων τρόπον ἔψαλλον, ἀκροτελεύτια συντιθέντες, πρὸς τὴν αὐτῶν δόξαν πεποιημένα. Ὑπὸ δὲ τὴν ἕω ταῦτα δημοσίᾳ ψάλλοντες, εἰς τοὺς τόπους ἀπῄεσαν, ἔνθα καὶ ἐκκλησίαζον. Ἐποίουν δὲ ὧδε ἐν ταῖς ἐπισήμοις ἑορταῖς, καὶ τῇ πρώτῃ καὶ τελευταίᾳ τῆς ἑβδομάδος ἡμέρᾳ. Τελευτῶντες δὲ, καὶ πρὸς ἔριν τὰς ᾠδὰς προσετίθεσαν · Ποῦ εἰσὶν οἱ λέγοντες τὰ τρία μίαν δύναμιν; καὶ ἕτερα τοιάδε τοῖς ὕμνοις ἀναμιγνύντες. Δείσας δὲ Ἰωάννης, μή τινες τούτοις , ὑπαχθῶσι τῶν ὑπ᾽ αὐτὸν ἐχκλησιαζόντων, ἐπὶ τὸν ἷσον τρόπον τῆς ψαλμωδίας τὸν αὐτοῦ λαὸν προτρέπει. Ἐν ὀλίγῳ δὲ ἐπισημότεροι γενόμενοι, τοὺς ἀπὸ τῆς ἐναντίας αἱρέσεως ὑπερέδαλλον τῷ πλήθει τῇ παρασκευῇ. Καὶ γὰρ δὴ σταυρῶν ἀργυρᾶ σημεῖα ὑπὸ χηροῖς ἡμμένοις προηγοῦντο αὐτῶν᾽ εὐνοῦχος τῆς βασιλέως γαμετῆς ἐπὶ τοῦτο τέτᾶχτο, τῆν περὶ ταῦτα δαπάνην τοὺς ὕμνους παρασχευάζων. Ἐντεῦθεν δὲ ἢ ζηλοτυπήσαντες ἀπὸ τῆς ᾿Αρείου αἱρέσεως, ἣ ἀμυνόμενοι, τοῖς ἀπὸ τῆς καθόλου Ἐκκλησίας εἰς μάχην κατέστησαν. Καὶ χτείνονταί τινες ἑκατέρωθεν. Ὁ δὲ Βρίσων (τοῦτο γὰρ ὄνομα τῷ βασιλικῷ εὐνούχῳ, λέθῳ κατὰ «00: μετώπου βάλλεται. Κινηθεὶς δὲ πρὸς ὀργὴν ὁ βασιλεὺς, ἔπαυσε τῶν ἀπὸ τῆς αἱρέσεως τὰς τοιαύτας συνόδους. Οἱ δὲ ἀπὸ τῆς καθολικῆς, ἐξ τίας τοιᾶσδε τὸν εἰρημένον τρόπον ὑμνεῖν ἀρξάμενοι, καὶ εἰσέτι νῦν οὕτω διέμειναν. Ἰωάννης δὲ ἐχ τούτων, καὶ τῶν ἐπ᾽ ἐκκλησίας λόγων, μὲν τὸν δῆμον ἐπεδίδου τὸ φίλτρον, μῖσος δὲ πρὸς τοὺς δυναμένους καὶ τοὺς κληρικοὺς τῆς χατ᾽ αὐτὸν παῤῥησίας. Τοὺς μὲν γὰρ ἀδικοῦντας ὁρῶν, ἤλεγχε τοὺς δὲ πλούτῳ, ἀσεδεία, ἡδοναῖς ἀδέμνοις διεφθαρμένους, ἀνῆγε πρὸς ἀρετήν. ### English translation (Claude) Since those of the Arian heresy, deprived of the churches in Constantinople in the reign of Theodosius, held their assemblies before the walls, they used first to gather by night in the public porticoes, and, divided into groups, sang in the manner of antiphons, composing refrains made according to their own belief. Toward dawn, singing these in public, they went away to the places where they held their assemblies. They did this on the notable feasts and on the first and last days of the week. At last they even added to their songs things meant for strife, such as “Where are those who say that the three are one power?” and other such things mixed into their hymns. John, fearing lest some of those who assembled under him be led away by these, urged his own people to the same manner of psalmody. In a short time, having become more conspicuous, they surpassed those of the opposite heresy in numbers and in display. For silver crosses with lighted candles went before them; and a eunuch of the emperor’s wife had been appointed for this, providing the expense of these things and the hymns. From this those of the Arian heresy, either from jealousy or in retaliation, came to blows with those of the catholic church; and some were killed on each side. Brison — for that was the name of the imperial eunuch — was struck on the forehead with a stone. The emperor, moved to anger, stopped such gatherings of the heretics. Those of the catholic church, who began to sing hymns in the manner described for this reason, have continued so to this day. From these things and from his sermons in church, the people’s affection for John increased; but the hatred of the powerful and of the clergy toward his boldness of speech grew. For seeing wrongdoers he rebuked them, and he tried to lead those corrupted by wealth, impiety and unlawful pleasures back to virtue. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 8.8 (PG 67:1535–1537; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/8-8). ## Church History 8.9 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/8-9/#p-8-9 - Source: PG 67:1537–1541 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Chrysostom’s harsh archdeacon Serapion, his advice to the deaconess Olympias to give wisely, and his rebukes of wandering monks earn him enemies among clergy and monks, who also slander him for eating alone. ### Greek text Πύξησε δὲ αὐτῷ τὴν πρὸς εοὺὑς κληρικοὺς ἀπἐχθειαν Σεραπίων, ὃν ἀρχιδιάκονον αὐτοῦ κατἐστησεν" ἀνὴρ Αἰγύπτιος, ταχὺς εἰς ὀργὴν, εἰς ὕδριν ἕτοιμος οὐχ ἥκιστα δὲ αἱ πρὸς Ὀλυμπιάδα συμθουλαί, Ταύτην γὰρ ἐχ γένους ἐπισημοτάτην οὖσαν, καίπερ νέαν χήραν γενομένην, εἰς ἄγαν δὲ φιλοσοφοῦσαν κατὰ τὸν τῆς Ἐκκλησίας θεσυὸν, διάοἱ ἐχειροτόνησε Νεκτάριος. ᾿Ιδὼν δὲ αὐτὴν οἱ Ἰωάννης τοῖς αἰτοῦσι τὴν οὐσίαν προϊεμένην, τὰ μὲν ἄλλα ὑπερορῶσαν, μόνα δὲ τὰ θεῖα σπουδάζηυσᾶν, Ἐπαινῶ σου, ἔφη, τὴν προαίρεσιν " ἀλλ᾽ οἱχονομιχὸν εἶναι δεῖ, τὸν κατὰ Θεὸν τῆς ἄκρας ἀρετῆς ἐφιέμενον. Σὺ δὲ, πλουτοῦσι πλοῦτον ἐπεισάγουσα, οὐχ ἧττον ἣ εἰς θάλασσαν ἐχχέεις τὰ σά. Ἢ οὐχ ἐπίστασαι, ὅτι ἐχοῦσα τοῖς δεομένοις διὰ Θεὸν τὴν οὐσίαν ἀνέθηχας ^ καὶ ὡς ἐπὶ χρήμασι τῆς σῆς δεσποτείας ἐξελθοῦσι, διοικεῖν ἐτάχθης, καὶ λόγοις ἔνοχος ἐγένου ; Ἣν οὖν ἐμοὶ πείθῃ, πρὸς τὴν χρείαν τῶν αἱτούντων τοῦ λοιποῦ μετρήσεις τὴν δόσιν " οὕτω γὰρ πλείους τε εὐεργετήσεις, καὶ ἐλέους καὶ σπουδαιοτάτης κηδεμονίας ἀμοιδῶν τεύξῃ πρὸς Θεοῦ. Γέδέ τις αὐτῷ διαφορὰ καὶ πρὸς πολλοὺς τῶν μοναχῶν, καὶ μάλιστα τὸν ἸΙσαάχιον. Ἠρεμοῦντας μὲν γὰρ ἐν τοῖς αὐτῶν μοναστηρίοις τοὺς ὧδε φιλοσοφοῦντας, εἰς ἄγαν ἐπήνει τε καὶ ὅπως μὴ ἀδιχοῖντο, καὶ τὰ ἐπιτήδεια ἔχοιεν, σφόδρα ἐπεμελεῖτο ἐξιόντας ὃξ θύραζε κατὰ τὴν πόλιν φαινομένους, ὡς τὴν φιλοσοφίαν ἐνυθρίζοντας, ἐλοιδόρει ἐπέστρεφεν. τοιούτων δὴ προφάσεων ἀπηχθάνοντο πρὸς τὸν κληρικοὶ πολλοὶ τῶν μοναχῶν, χαλεπὲ"ν καὶ ὀργίλον, σχαιόν τε ὑπερήφανον ἀπεκάλουν. ᾿ΕἘπεχείρουν δὲ καὶ περὶ τὸν βίον διαδάλλειν πρὸς τὸν δῆμον, καὶ τοῦτον ὡς ἀληθῆ λέγοιεν, ὅτι μηδενὶ συνήσθιεν, οὔτε ἐπὶ ἑστίασιν καλούμενος ὑπἤχους. Τούτου δὲ πρόφασιν ἑτέραν λέγειν οὐχ ἔχω, πλὴν ὅτι ἀψευδής τις, οἶμαι, πυνθανομένῳ περὶ τού- — του ἔφη, ὡς ὑπὸ ἀσκήσεως τὴν κεφαλὴν τὸ στό- — μα τῆς γαστρὺς κακῶς διατεθεὶς, παρῃτεῖτο τὰς ἐν — τοῖς ἀρίστοις συνουσίας. Καὶ οἱ μὲν ἐντεῦθεν μᾶλι- — : ὅτα τὰς μεγίστας ὕφαινον αὐτοῦ διαβολάς. ### English translation (Claude) The hostility of the clergy toward him was increased by Serapion, whom he had made his archdeacon, an Egyptian, quick to anger and ready to insult; and not least by his counsels to Olympias. This woman, of a most distinguished family, though she had become a widow young, lived the philosophic life exceedingly according to the rule of the church; and Nectarius ordained her a deaconess. John, seeing her giving away her property to those who asked and disregarding everything else, caring only for divine things, said: “I praise your purpose; but one who seeks the summit of virtue according to God must be a good steward. You, by bringing wealth to the rich, pour out what is yours no less than if you threw it into the sea. Or do you not know that you have of your own will dedicated your property to the needy for God’s sake, and that you have been appointed to manage it as money that has passed out of your ownership, and have become accountable for it? If, then, you obey me, you will in future measure your giving to the need of those who ask; for so you will benefit more, and obtain from God the rewards of mercy and of most zealous care.” He also had a disagreement with many of the monks, and especially with Isaac. For those who lived the philosophic life quietly in their monasteries he praised exceedingly, and took great care that they not be wronged and have what they needed; but those who went outside and appeared about the city he reviled and turned back, as insulting philosophy. For such reasons many of the clergy and monks hated him, and called him harsh, irascible, awkward and proud. They also tried to malign his way of life to the people, and alleged as true that he ate with no one and did not accept invitations to a feast. I can give no other reason for this, except that someone truthful, I think, told me when I asked about it, that through his ascetic discipline his head and the mouth of his stomach were badly affected, and so he declined the company of meals. From this especially they wove the greatest slanders against him. ### Translation notes - Olympias’s ordination as deaconess is reported by Palladius, Dialogue 17; translated as written. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 8.9 (PG 67:1537–1541; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/8-9). ## Church History 8.10 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/8-9/#p-8-10 - Source: PG 67:1541–1543 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Severian of Gabala, left in charge during Chrysostom’s absence, quarrels with the archdeacon Serapion and is expelled for a rash remark about the incarnation; the empress Eudoxia forces a reconciliation by laying her infant son on Chrysostom’s knees. ### Greek text Ἐπεγένετο δέ τις αὐτῷ πρόφασις μίσους καὶ πρὸς τὴν βασιλέως γαμετὴν, διὰ Σενηριανὸν Γαδάλον — τῆς Συρίας ἐπίσκοπον. Οὗτός τε καὶ ᾿Αντίοχος ὁ Πτολεμαῖδος (Φοίνισσα δὲ πόλις ἢδε), κατὰ ταυτὸν — ἄμφω ἐγενέσθην, ἐλλογίμω τε ἐπὶ ἐκκλησίας 339 ἱκανὼ διδάσκειν ἀλλ᾽ ὁ μὲν εὐχόλως μάλα — εὐήχως ἔλεγεν, ὡς Χρυσόστομος πρός τινων — ὀνομάζεσθαι " ὁ δὲ Σευηριανὸς τὴν Σύρων δασύ- :, καίπερ τοῖς νοήμασι ταῖς μαρτυρίαις τῶν Γραφῶν ἀμείνων εἶναι δοκῶν, ἐπὶ τῆς γλώττης — ἔφερεν. Ἐλθὼν δὲ πρότερος ᾿Αντίοχος εἰς Κωνσταντινούπολιν, ἐπὶ τοῖς λόγοις ἐπηνέθη " χρήματα — ἀθροίσας, τὴν αὐτοῦ πόλιν ἐπανῆλθε. Κατὰ ζῇῆλον δὲ τούτου Σευηριανὸς ὕστερον ἀφιχόμενος,Ἠ : εὔνου τυχὼν Ἰωάννου, πολλάκις ἐπὶ τῆς ἐκκλησία: — λέγων ἐθαυμάζετο’ ἐν τιμῇ ἦν, πολὺς ἐν δυνάμει αὐτῷ βασιλεῖ τὴ βασιλίδι γνώρι- — ἐγένετο. Ἡνίκα δὲ Ἰωάννης εἰς τὴν ᾿Ασίαν — ἀπεδήμησε, τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν αὑτῷ παρέθετο — : χείαις γὰρ αὐτὸν περιέποντα, φίλον εἶναι σπουδαῖον : ἐνόμισεν. Ὃ πλέον ἐπεμελεῖτο τοῖς ἀκροαταῖς χαρίζεσθαι, καὶ τὸν λαὸν τοῖς λόγοις ἤδειν Ἰωάννης δὲ ταῦτα πυθόμενος, ἐζηλοτύπησε ὥς φασι, Σαραπίωνος αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τούτοις παραχινοῦν- — τος. Ἐπεὶ δὲ ἐκ τῆς ᾿Ασίας ἐπανῆλθεν, ἔτυχέ που παριὼν Σευηριανός· ἰδὼν δὲ αὐτὸν Σαραπίων, οὐκ ἐξανέστη, ἐπίτηδες τοῖς παριοῦσιν ἐνδεικνύμενος, ὡς ὑπερφρονεῖ τὸν ἄνδρα. Ὁ δὲ πρὸς τοῦτο χαλεπήνας ἀνεβόησεν • Εἰ Σαραπίων ἀποθάνοι Χριστιανὸς, Χριστὸς οὐκ ἐνηνθρώπησεν. Ἐπὶ τούτοις δὲ κατηγορηθεὶς παρὰ Σαραπίωνος, ἐξηλάθη τῆς πόλεως παρὰ Ἰωάννου, ὡς ὑβριστὴς καὶ βλάσφημος εἰς Θεόν. Οἱ μὲν γὰρ ἐπὶ μαρτυρίᾳ τούτων παραχθέντες ἦσαν· οἱ δὲ τῶν Σαραπίωνος ἐπιτηδείων, ἀποκρυψάμενοι τὰ εἰρημένα πάντα, τουτί μόνον εἰρηκέναι ἐμαρτύρησαν, ὡς ἄρα Χριστὸς οὐκ ἐνηνθρώτ θρώπησεν. Ιωάννης δὲ καὶ τάδε, καὶ τ' ἄλλα ἐπῃτιᾶτο. Οὐ γὰρ εἰ Σαραπίων, ἔφη, κληρικὸς μὴ ἀποθάνοι, παρὰ τοῦτο Χριστὸς οὐκ ἐνηνθρώπησεν. Ἡ δὲ βασιλέως γαμετὴ, ἅμα τε ταῦτα ἐγεγόνει, διὰ τῶν Σευηριανοῦ σπουδαστῶν ἔγνω · καὶ εὐθὺς αὐτὸν ἐκ Χαλκηδόνος μετεκαλέσατο. Ἰωάννης δὲ, καίπερ πολλῶν ἀντιβολούντων, παρῃτεῖτο τὴν πρὸς αὐτὸν ὁμιλίαν · εἰσότε δὴ ἐν τῇ ἐπωνύμῳ τῶν ᾿Αποστόλων ἐκκλησίᾳ τοῖς αὐτοῦ γόνασιν ἡ βασιλὶς ἐπιθεῖσα Θεοδόσιον τὸν υἱὸν, λιπαροῦσά τε καὶ πολλάκις ὁρκοῦσα, μόλις αὐτὸν εἰς φιλίαν τῷ Σευηριανῷ συνῆψε. Καὶ τὰ μὲν ὧδε ἔγνων. ### English translation (Claude) An occasion of hatred toward him on the part of the emperor’s wife also arose, through Severian, bishop of Gabala in Syria. He and Antiochus of Ptolemais — a city of Phoenicia — were at the same time both learned and able to teach in church. But Antiochus spoke very fluently and with a fine voice, so that he was called Chrysostom by some; while Severian, though thought better in thought and in testimonies from the Scriptures, kept the Syrian roughness on his tongue. Antiochus, coming first to Constantinople, was praised for his discourses, collected money and returned to his city. Severian, coming later in rivalry with him, found John well disposed, was often admired speaking in church, was in honour, and became well known to the powerful and to the emperor and empress themselves. When John went away to Asia, he entrusted the church to him; for, as Severian paid him court with flatteries, he thought him a zealous friend. But Severian was more concerned to please his hearers and to delight the people with his words. When John learned this, he was jealous, as they say, Serapion stirring him up about these things. When he had returned from Asia, Severian happened to be passing somewhere; Serapion, seeing him, did not rise, deliberately showing those passing by that he despised the man. Severian, angry at this, cried out: “If Serapion dies a Christian, Christ was not made man.” Accused of this by Serapion, he was driven from the city by John as insolent and a blasphemer against God. For some were brought forward to witness to these things; and Serapion’s friends, concealing all the rest that had been said, testified that he had said only that “Christ was not made man.” John blamed him for this and the rest; for, he said, it does not follow that Christ was not made man if Serapion does not die a cleric. The emperor’s wife, as soon as this had happened, learned it through Severian’s supporters, and at once recalled him from Chalcedon. John, though many begged him, refused to have dealings with him; until, in the church named after the Apostles, the empress laid her son Theodosius on his knees, entreating and adjuring him many times, and barely brought him into friendship with Severian. So I have learned. ### Translation notes - “Chrysostom” (“golden-mouthed”) here is a nickname of Antiochus of Ptolemais; it later became attached to John. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 8.10 (PG 67:1541–1543; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/8-10). ## Church History 8.11 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/8-9/#p-8-11 - Source: PG 67:1543–1545 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The Anthropomorphite controversy: Egyptian monks who imagine God in human form riot against Theophilus’s festal letter teaching that God is incorporeal; he placates them by condemning Origen’s books. ### Greek text Ἐν τούτῳ δὲ, οὐ πολλῷ πρότερον ἀρξαμένη ζήτησις κατὰ τὴν Αἴγυπτον κεκίνητο, εἰ τὸν Θεὸν ἀνθρωπόμορφον δοξάζειν δεῖ. Ταύτης δὲ τῆς γνώμης οἱ πλείους τῶν τῇδε μοναχῶν ἦσαν, ὑπὸ ἁπλότητος ἀβασανίστως τοὺς ἱεροὺς ἐκλαμβάνοντες λόγους, καὶ ὀφθαλμοὺς Θεοῦ καὶ πρόσωπον καὶ χεῖρας, καὶ ὅσα τοιαῦτα προσεθισθέντες ἀκούειν. Οἱ δὲ τὴν ἐν τοῖς ὀνόμασι κεκρυμμένην διάνοιαν σκοποῦντες, ἐναντίως εἶχον · καὶ τοὺς τάδε λέγοντας, ἄντικρυς βλασφημεῖν εἰς τὸ Θεῖον ἔλεγον. Καὶ Θεόφιλος δὲ ταύτης ἔχεσθαι τῆς δόξης, ἐν Ἐκκλησίᾳ παρεκελεύσατο· καὶ ἐν ἐπιστολῇ ἣν ἐξ ἔθους περὶ τῆς Πασχαλίας ἑορτῆς ἔγραφε, καὶ ἀσώματον χρῆναι νοεῖν τὸν Θεὸν εἰσηγεῖτο, καὶ ἀνθρώπου σχήματος ἀλλότριον. Ἐπεὶ δὲ τοῦτο δῆλον ἐγένετο τοῖς Αἰγυπτίων μοναχοῖς, ἧκιν εἰς ᾿Αλεξάνδρειαν. Καὶ εἰς ἓν ἀθροισθέντες ἐστασίαζον, καὶ ὡς ἀσεβοῦντα τὸν Θεόφιλον ἀνελεῖν ἐβουλεύοντο. Ὁ δὲ παρ᾿ αὐτίκα φανεὶς ἔτι στασιάζουσιν, Οὕτως ὑμᾶς, ἔφη, εἶδον ὡς Θεοῦ πρόσωπον. Τὸ δὲ ῥηθὲν ἱκανῶς ἐφύλαξε τοὺς ἄνδρας. Καὶ τῆς ὀργῆς καθυφέντες, Οὐκοῦν, φασὶν, εἰ τάδε ἀληθῶς δοξάζεις, καὶ τὰς Ωριγένους ἀποκήρυξον βίβλους, ὡς τῶν ἀσκουμένων ταύτας οὕτω φρονεῖν εἰσηγουμένων. Ἀλλ᾿ ἐμοὶ, ἔφη, τοῦτο πάλαι δεδογμένον ἦν, καὶ ποιήσω ὡς ὑμῖν δοκεῖ · μέμφομαι γὰρ οὐχ ἧττον κἀγὼ τοῖς τὰ Ωριγένους δοξάζουσι. Καὶ ὁ μὲν, οὕτω βουκολήσας τοὺς μοναχοὺς, διέλυσε τὴν στάσιν. ### English translation (Claude) Meanwhile a question that had begun not long before was stirred in Egypt, whether one ought to hold God to be in human form. Most of the monks there were of this opinion, from simplicity taking the sacred words without examination, being accustomed to hear of the eyes of God and his face and hands and such things. But those who looked to the meaning hidden in the words held the opposite, and said that those who spoke so blasphemed the divine outright. Theophilus urged in church that one should hold to this belief; and in the letter about the feast of Pascha, which he wrote according to custom, he taught that God must be thought of as incorporeal and foreign to human shape. When this became known to the monks of Egypt, they came to Alexandria; and gathering together they rioted and planned to kill Theophilus as impious. But he appeared at once among them while they were still rioting and said: “So I have seen you, as the face of God.” What was said sufficiently restrained the men; and, laying aside their anger, they said: “Then, if you truly believe this, condemn also the books of Origen, since those who study them are taught to think so.” “But this,” he said, “has long been my decision, and I will do as you think best; for I too blame no less those who hold the views of Origen.” So, beguiling the monks in this way, he broke up the riot. ### Scripture references - Gen 33:10: echo, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Theophilus’s festal letter of 399. His words echo Gen 33:10 (“to see your face is like seeing the face of God”). ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 8.11 (PG 67:1543–1545; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/8-11). ## Church History 8.12 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/8-9/#p-8-12 - Source: PG 67:1545–1549 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Theophilus turns against the Tall Brothers because of their support for Isidore, whom he had excommunicated over a disputed inheritance and the funds for the poor, and sets the Anthropomorphite monks against them as Origenists. ### Greek text Ἴσως δ᾽ ἂν καὶ ἥδε ἡ ζήτησις παντελῶς τότε διελύθη, εἰ μὴ πεπαυμένην ἤδη δι᾽ ἔχθραν ἰδίαν ἐκίνησε Θεόφιλος, ἐπιβουλεύων ᾿Αμμωνίῳ καὶ Διοσκόρῳ, Εὐσεβίῳ τε καὶ Εὐθυμίῳ, τοῖς ἐπίκλην Μακροῖς. Οὓς ἀδελφοὺς ὄντας, εὐδοκίμους γενέσθαι παρὰ τοῖς ἐν Σχή. τει φιλοσοφοῦσιν ἐκ τῶν πρόσθεν ἔγνωμεν. Οὗτοι γὰρ ἦσαν αὐτῷ τὰ μάλιστα τῶν ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ μοναχῶν κεχαρισμένοι, καὶ τὰ πολλὰ συνομίλους καὶ συνοίκους αὐτοὺς ἐποιεῖτο. Τὸν δὲ Διόσκορον καὶ τῆς Ἑρμουπόλεως ἐπίσκοπον κατέστησεν. Εἰς μίσος δὲ αὐτοῖς κατέστη ἐκ τῆς πρὸς Ἰσίδωρον ἔχθρας, ὃν μετὰ Νεκτάριον ἐν Κωνσταντινουπόλει χειροτονεῖν ἐσπούδαζεν. Οἱ μὲν γάρ φασιν, ὡς γυνή τις ἐκ τῆς Μανιχαίων αἱρέσεως μετέθετο πρὸς τὴν καθόλου Ἐκκλησίαν. Ὡς ἀπερισκέπτως δὲ ταύτης κοινωνησάσης μυστηρίων πρὶν ἀπαγορεῦσαι τὴν προτέραν αἵρεσιν, ἐπῃτιᾶτο Θεόφιλος τὸν τότε ἀρχιπρεσβύτερον· ἀπηχθάνετο γὰρ αὐτῷ καὶ ἄλλως. Ὁ δὲ Πέτρος (τοῦτο γὰρ ἦν ὄνομα αὐτῷ), καὶ κατὰ τὸν νόμον τῆς Ἐκκλησίας, καὶ γνώμῃ Θεοφίλου κεκοινωνηκέναι τὸ γύναιον Ισχυρίζετο. Καὶ μάρτυρα τούτων, Ἰσίδωρον ἔλεγεν. ῾() δὲ ἔτυχε μὲν τότε ὡς Ῥώμην ἀποσταλείς· ἐπανελθὼν δὲ, ἀληθῆ λέγειν τὸν Πέτρον ἐμαρτύρησεν. Ὡς συκοφαντηθεὶς δὲ Θεόφιλος, χαλεπήνας, ἄμφω τῆς Ἐκκλησίας ἐξήλασε. Καὶ οἱ μὲν τάδε λέγουσι. Τῶν γε μὴν συγγενομένων τούτοις τότε τοῖς μοναχοῖς ἀνδρὸς οἷου πιστεύεσθαι ἐπυθόμην, διττὴν αἰτίαν Θεοφίλῳ γενέσθαι τῆς πρὸς Ἰσίδωρον δυσμενείας· κοινὴν μὲν αὐτῷ τε καὶ Πέτρῳ τῷ πρεσβυτέρῳ, καθότι μαρτυρῆσαι παρητή σαντο, ὡς τῆς Θεοφίλου ἀδελφῆς πρὸς τοῦ κληρονόμου γραφείσης· ἰδίαν δὲ, καθὸ χρημάτων αὐτῷ πολλῶν προσφερομένων ὡς ἐπιτρόπῳ πτωχῶν, ἐπιἃ ; χειροῦντι Θεοφίλῳ τούτων λαμδάνειν, ὡς δεδαπανημένῳ εἰς οἰκοδομὰς ἐκκλησιῶν, οὐχ ἐνεδίδου “ ἄμεινον εἶναι λέγων τὰ σώματα τῶν χαμνόντων, ἃ ναοὺς Θεοῦ κυριώτερον νοεῖν ἔστι, δι' τὰ χρήματα παρείχετο, ταῖς προσηκούσαις θεραπείαις ἀνανεοῦν, ἢ τοίχους οἰκοδομεῖν. ᾿Αλλ᾽ εἴτε ἐντεῦθεν, εἴτε ἐξ αἰτίας ἑτέρας, ἀφαιρεθεὶς παρὰ Θεοφίλου τῆς κοινωνίας Ἰσίξδωρο;, ἦλθεν εἰς Σκῆτιν, ὡς πρὸς ἑταΐρους τοὺς ἐνθάδε μοναχούς. Παραλαδὼν δέ τινας ᾿Ἀμμώνιοξ, παρεγένετο πρὸς Θεόφιλον, τὴν κοινωνίαν ἀποδοῦναι Ἰσιδώρῳ ἐδεῖτο. Ὃ δὲ, τότε μὲν προθύμως ὑποσχέσθα! λέγεται. Χρόνου δὲ διαγενομένου, ὡς οὐδὲν αὐτοῖς πλέον ἠνύετο, δῆλος δὲ ἐγεγόνει Θεόφιλος παραχρουόμενος, σπουδαιότερόν πως αὐτῷ προσελθόντες, ἀπήτουν τὴν ὑπόσχεσιν πληροῦν. δὲ, τινὰ τῶν μοναχῶν ἕν δημοσίᾳ φρουρᾷ ποιεῖ, ὥστε φόβον τοῖς ἄλλοις ἐμδαλεῖν. “ἥμαρτε δὲ τούτου. Ὁ γὰρ ᾿Αμμώνιος ἅμα πᾶσι τοῖς σὺν αὐτῷ μοναχοῖς, «δόξαντες τοῖς προεστῶσι τῆς φρουρᾶς εἰς μετάδοσιν ἐπιτηδείων τοῖς καθειργμένοις ἐλθεῖν, ἑτοίμως ἔνδον εἰσεδέχθησαν" εἰσελθόντες δὲ, οὐκέτι ἐξιέναι χοντο. Μαθὼν δὲ τάδε Θεόφιλος, ἐδήλου πρὸς ἑαυτὸν καλῶν τοὺς ἄνδρας. Οἱ δὲ, τὰ μὲν πρῶτα, αὑτὸν παραγενόμενον σφᾶς ἐξάγειν ἠξίουν. Μηδὲ γὰρ εἶναι δίκαιον δημοσίᾳ ὑύρισμένους, λάθρα τῆς φρουρᾶς ἀνίεσθαι. Ὕστερον δὲ ἐνδόντες, ὡς αὐτὸν ἦλθον. Παραιτησαμένους δὲ αὐτοὺς, ὡς οὐ περαιτέρω λυπήσων, ἀπέπεμψεν. Καθ᾿ ἑαυτὸν δὲ ἐδάχνετο, ἠγανάκτει, κακῶς ποιεῖν ἐπεδούλενεν. ᾿Ἀπορῶν δὲ ὅ τι δράσειεν αὐτοὺς κακὸν, ἀχτήμονας ὄντα:, καὶ πάντων πλὴν σοφίας ὑπερορῶντας, ἔγνω περὶ τὴν ἡσυχίαν βλάψαι. Καὶ ἐπεὶ ἠπίστατο ἐξ ὧν αὐτῷ συνόντες διελέγοντο, μεμφομένους τοῖς ἀνθρωπόμορτὸν Θεὸν δοξάζουσιν, ὡς τὰ ᾿θριγένους φρονοῦντας, συνέχρουσε πρὸς τὸ μοναχικὴν πλῆθος, ἄλλως ἔχον δόξης. Ἔχ τούτου δὲ δεινή τις ἔρις ἐν τοῖς μοναχοῖς ἐκράτει" καὶ τὰς διαλέξεις οὐχ ἐν κόσμῳ πρὸς ἑαυτοὺς ποιούμενοι, πείθειν ἀλλήλους οὐχ ἠξίουν, ἀλλ᾽ εἰς ὕδρεις καθίσταντο. Καὶ οἱ μὲν τοὺς ἀσώματον τὸν Θεὸν ὁριζομένους, Ωριγενιαστάς ἀπεκάλουν· οἱ δὲ, ᾿Ανθρωπομορφιανοὺς, τοὺς ἐναν τίως φρονοῦντας. ### English translation (Claude) Perhaps this question too would have been entirely settled then, had not Theophilus, out of private enmity, stirred it up again when it had already ceased, plotting against Ammonius, Dioscorus, Eusebius and Euthymius, called the Tall Brothers. We have learned earlier that these brothers were renowned among those who practised philosophy in Scetis. They had been very dear to him among the monks of Egypt, and he often made them his companions and housemates, and made Dioscorus bishop of Hermopolis. He came to hate them through his enmity to Isidore, whom he had been eager to ordain at Constantinople after Nectarius. For some say that a woman of the Manichean heresy came over to the catholic church; and since she rashly shared in the mysteries before renouncing her former heresy, Theophilus blamed the archpresbyter of the time, with whom he was also otherwise at odds. Peter — for that was his name — maintained that the woman had been admitted to communion according to the law of the church and with Theophilus’s consent, and named Isidore as witness of this. Isidore happened then to have been sent to Rome; but on his return he testified that Peter spoke the truth. Theophilus, angry, as though falsely accused, drove both out of the church. So some say. But from a man worthy of belief, who associated with these monks at that time, I have learned that Theophilus had a twofold cause of ill will toward Isidore: one common to him and Peter the presbyter, because they refused to bear witness that Theophilus’s sister had been named heir; and one his own, because when much money was offered to Isidore as steward of the poor, and Theophilus tried to take it, as having spent heavily on building churches, he would not give way, saying that it was better to restore with fitting care the bodies of the sick, which one may more properly regard as temples of God, for whom the money had been given, than to build walls. But whether for this or for some other reason, Isidore, deprived of communion by Theophilus, went to Scetis, to the monks there as to friends. Ammonius took some of them and came to Theophilus and begged him to restore communion to Isidore. He is said to have promised readily at the time. But as time passed and nothing more was done for them, and Theophilus had plainly been putting them off, they came to him more urgently and demanded that he fulfil his promise. He put one of the monks in the public prison, to strike fear into the others. But he was mistaken in this. For Ammonius with all the monks with him, seeming to the keepers of the prison to have come to bring necessities to those confined, were readily admitted; and once inside, they would not come out. When Theophilus learned this, he sent word calling the men to him. At first they demanded that he come himself and bring them out; for it was not just that those publicly insulted should be released from prison secretly. Later, giving way, they went to him. When they apologized, he dismissed them as though he would not trouble them further; but privately he was stung, indignant, and plotting to do them harm. At a loss what harm to do them, since they owned nothing and disregarded everything but wisdom, he resolved to injure them in their quiet. And since he knew, from their conversations when they were with him, that they blamed those who hold God to be in human form, as holding the views of Origen, he set them at odds with the multitude of monks, which was of the other opinion. From this a dreadful strife prevailed among the monks; and not conducting their debates with one another in order, they did not try to persuade one another but fell to insults. Some called those who defined God as incorporeal Origenists, while the others called those of the opposite belief Anthropomorphites. ### Scripture references - 1 Cor 6:19: echo, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Isidore’s reply echoes 1 Cor 3:16; 6:19 (the body as temple of God). Sozomen reports two versions of the quarrel; translated as written. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 8.12 (PG 67:1545–1549; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/8-12). ## Church History 8.13 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/8-9/#p-8-13 - Source: PG 67:1549 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The Tall Brothers flee to Constantinople, where Chrysostom receives them but withholds communion pending trial; the empress Eudoxia promises a synod, and Theophilus resolves to depose Chrysostom. ### Greek text Αἰσθόμενοι δὲ τῆς ἐπιβουλῆς οἱ περὶ Διόσκορον καὶ ᾿Αμμώνιον, ἀνεχώρησαν εἰς Ἱεροσόλυμα· κἀκεῖθεν εἰς Σκυθόπολιν ἧκον, ἐπιτηδείαν ἡγησάμενοι τὴν ἐνθάδε οἴκησιν διὰ τοὺς πολλοὺς φοίνικας, ὧν τοῖς φύλλοις ἐχρῶντο πρὸς τὰ εἰωθότα τοῖς μοναχοῖς ἔργα. Εἴποντο γὰρ αὐτοῖς ἀμφὶ ἄνδρες ὀγδοήκοντα, Ἐν τούτῳ δὲ Θεόφιλος πέμπει τινὰς εἰς Κωνσταν τινούπολιν, ἅμα τε κατ' αὐτῶν διαβολὰς προπαρασκευάσοντας, καὶ εἰ βασιλέως περί του δέοιντο, ἀντιπράξοντας. Μαθόντες δὲ τάδε οἱ ἀμφὶ τὸν ᾿Αμμώνιον, ἀπέπλευσαν εἰς Κωνσταντινούπολιν· σὺν αὐτοῖς δὲ καὶ Ἰσίδωρος. Κοινῇ τε ἐσπούδαζον, παρὰ βασιλεῖ κριτῇ καὶ Ἰωάννῃ τῷ ἐπισκόπῳ ἐλέγχεσθαι τὰς κατ' αὐτῶν ἐπιβουλάς. "Ποντο γὰρ ἐνδίκου παῤῥησίας αὐτὸν ἐπιμελούμενον, δύνασθαι τὰ δίκαια βοηθεῖν αὐτοῖς. Ὁ δὲ, προσελθόντας αὐτῷ τοὺς ἄνδρας φρόνως ἐδέξατο, καὶ ἐν τιμῇ εἶχε, καὶ εὔχεσθαι ἐπὶ ἐκκλησίας οὐ διεκώλυσε· κοινωνεῖν δὲ μυστηρίων αὐτοῖς οὐχ ἡγήσατο, ὡς οὐ θεμιτὸν πρὸ διαγνώσεως τοῦτο ποιεῖν. Ἔγραψε δὲ Θεοφίλῳ, κοινωνίαν αὐτοῖς ἀποδοῦναι ὡς ὀρθῶς περὶ Θεοῦ δοξάζουσιν, εἰ δὲ δίκῃ δέοι κρίνεσθαι τὰ κατ' αὐτοὺς, ἀποστέλλειν ὃν αὐτῷ δοκεί δικασόμενον. Ὁ δὲ, οὐδὲν ἀντεδήλωσε. Χρόνου δὲ πολλοῦ διαγενομένου, προϊούσῃ τῇ βασιλέως γαμετῇ προσῆλθον οἱ ἀμφὶ Ἀμμώνιον, τὰ κατ᾿ αὐτῶν βεβουλευμένα Θεοφίλῳ μεμφόμενοι. Ἡ δὲ, ἐπιβουλευθέντας αὐτοὺς ᾔσθετο, καὶ τιμῶσα ἔστη. Καὶ προκύψασα τοῦ βασιλικοῦ ὀχήματος, ἐπένευσε τῇ κεφαλῇ· καὶ, Εὐλογεῖτε, ἔφη, καὶ εὔχεσθε ὑπὲρ βασιλέως καὶ ἐμοῦ, καὶ τῶν ἡμετέρων παίδων, καὶ τῆς ἀρχῆς. Ἐμοὶ δὲ ἐν τάχει μελήσει συνόδου, καὶ τῆς Θεοφίλου ἀφίξεως. Καὶ ἡ μὲν τάδε ἐσπούδαζε. Ψευδοῦς δὲ φήμης ἐν ᾿Αλεξανδρείᾳ κρατούσης, ὡς ἐκοινώνησεν Ἰωάννης τοῖς περὶ Διόσκορον, καὶ προθυμεῖται πάντα βοηθεῖν αὐτοῖς, διενοεῖτο Θεόφιλος, εἴπου δύναιτο, καὶ αὐτὸν Ἰωάννην τῆς ἐπισκοπῆς καθελεῖν. ### English translation (Claude) Dioscorus and Ammonius and their companions, perceiving the plot, withdrew to Jerusalem; and from there they came to Scythopolis, thinking the place suitable to live in because of the many palm trees, whose leaves they used for the work usual to monks; for about eighty men followed them. Meanwhile Theophilus sent some people to Constantinople, both to prepare slanders against them beforehand, and to oppose them if they petitioned the emperor about anything. When Ammonius and his companions learned this, they sailed to Constantinople, and Isidore with them; and together they strove to have the plots against them examined before the emperor as judge and John the bishop. For they thought that he, being concerned for just freedom of speech, could help them toward justice. He received the men kindly when they came to him, held them in honour, and did not prevent them from praying in church; but he did not think it right to let them share in the mysteries, as it was not lawful to do so before a judgment. He wrote to Theophilus to restore communion to them, as believing rightly about God; or, if their case had to be decided by trial, to send someone he thought fit to act as judge. Theophilus made no reply. After much time had passed, Ammonius and his companions approached the emperor’s wife as she was going out, complaining of what Theophilus had plotted against them. She, perceiving that they had been plotted against, stopped in respect for them; and leaning out of the imperial carriage, she bowed her head and said: “Bless me and pray for the emperor and me, and our children and the empire. I shall soon see to a synod and to Theophilus’s coming.” She was eager about these things. And as a false rumour prevailed in Alexandria that John had communicated with Dioscorus and his companions and was eager to help them in everything, Theophilus planned, if he could, to depose John himself from the episcopate. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 8.13 (PG 67:1549; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/8-13). ## Church History 8.14 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/8-9/#p-8-14 - Source: PG 67:1551–1553 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Theophilus enlists Epiphanius against Origen’s books; Epiphanius comes to Constantinople, holds aloof from Chrysostom and seeks condemnations of Origen, opposed by Theotimus of Scythia, but is turned back from denouncing Chrysostom in the church. ### Greek text Ταῦτά τε κατὰ νοῦν κρύπτων, καὶ συσχευάζων, ἔγραφε κατὰ πόλεις τοῖς ἐπισκόποις, τὰ Ὠριγένους βιβλία χατηγορῶν. Λογισάμενος ὃὲ μέγιστον αὐτῷ συνοίσειν εἰ κοινωνὸν προσλάθοιτο τῶν σπουδαζομένων, Ἑπιφάνιον τὸν Σαλαμῖνος τῆς ἐν Κύπρῳ ἐπίσκοπον, ἄνδρα τῶν χατ᾽ αὐτὸν αἰδοῖ βίου ἐπισημότατον, φίλον ἐποιεῖτο, πρότερον αὐτῷ μεμφόμενος, ὡς ἀνθρωπόμορφον τὸν Θεὸν δοξάζοντι. Ὡς μετανοίας τὴν ὀρθὴν δόξαν ἐπιγνοὺς 1, ὀμοφρονεῖν αὐτῷ ἔγραφε, καὶ κατὰ τῶν Ὡριγένους βιδλίων, ὡς παραιτίου δογμάτων τοιούτιυν, ἐκίνει διαδολάς. Ἐπιφάνιος δὲ, πάλαι ἀποστρεφόμενος τὰ ᾿Ωριγένους συγγράμματα, ῥᾳδίως προσέθετο τῇ Θεοφίλον ἐπιστολῇ. Καὶ συνελθὼν ἅμα τοῖς ἐν Κύπρῳ ἐπισκόποις, ἀπηγόρευσε τὴν διάγνωσιν τῶν Ὠριγένους λόγων. Καὶ τὰ δεδογμένα αὐτοῖς γράψας, ἄλλοις τε καὶ τῷ Κωνσταντινουπόλεως ἐπισκόπῳ, προετρέπετο συνὀδους ποιεῖν, ταῦτα ψηφίζεσθαι. Συνιδὼν δὲ Θεόφιλος ὡς οὐδείς ἐστι κίνδυνος Ἐπιφανίῳ ἕπεσθαι, πολλοὺς ἐπαινέτας ἔχοντι, καὶ διὰ τὴν ἀρετὴν τοῦ βίου ὅπερ ἂν φρονεῖ θαυμάζοντας, παραπλήαὐτῷ ἐψηφίσατο σὺν τοῖς ὑπ᾽ αὐτὸν ἐπισκόποις. Ὁ δὲ Ἰωάννης, τὴν μὲν ἐπὶ τούτοις ἰσπουδὴν οὐχ ἀξίαν ἡγεῖτο λόγον, τὰ Ἐπιφανίου Θεοφίλου γράμματα ἐν δευτέρῳ ἐποιεῖτο, Οἱ δὲ δυσμενῶς πρὸς αὐτὸν ἔχοντες τῶν ἐν δυνάμει τῷ κλήρῳ, μαθόντες Θεόφιλον σπουδάζειν αὐτοῦ τὴν καθαίρεσιν, ἐπιμελῶς συνέπραττον" καὶ σύνοδον μεγίστην γενέσθαι ἐν Κωνσταντινουπόλει παρεσχενάζοντο. Καὶ Θεόφιλος δὲ ταῦτα γνοὺς, ἔτι μᾶλλον ἠπείγετο. Καὶ τοὺς μὲν ἐξ Αἰγύπτου ἐπισκόπους ἐχπλεῦσαι ἐκέλευσε. Γράφει δὲ Ἐπιφανίῳ καὶ ἑτέροις τῶν ἀνὰ τὴν σπουδῇ συνελθεῖν- αὐτὸς δὲ πεζὸς ἐποιεῖτο τὴν ρείαν. Καὶ εἰς μακρὰν δὲ πρῶτος Ἐπιφάνιος ἐχπλεύσας τῆς Κύπρου, κατῆλθεν εἰς τὸ πρὸ τῆς Κωνσταντινουπόλεως καλούμενον “Εὔδομον. Εὐξάμενος δὲ ἐν τῇ ἐνθάδε ἐκκλησίᾳ, εἰς τὴν πόλιν. Ὁ δὲ Ἰωάννης εἰσιόντα αὐτὸν, τῇ ὑπαντῆσει τοῦ παντὸς κλήρου ἐτέμησεν. Ἐπιφάνιος δὲ δῆλος ἦν εἴξας ταῖς αὐτοῦ διαβολαῖς " προτραπεὶς ἐν οἰχῆμασιν ἐχχλησιατστιχοῖς καταμένειν, οὐχ ἣνἐσχετο. Καὶ Ἰωάννης μὲν εἰς ταυτὸν συνελθεῖν ἀπέφυγεν" ἰδίᾳ δὲ συγχαλῶν τοὺς ἐνδημοῦντας ἐν Κωνσταντινουπόλει ἐπισκόπους, ἐπεδείκνυ τὰ Ψηφισθέντα κατὰ τῶν Ὡριγένους λόγων. Καί τινας ἐπιψηφίσασθαι ἔπεισεν" οἱ δὲ πλείους παρῃτήσαντο. Θεότιμος δὲ ὁ Σχυθίας ἐπίσκοπος, ἄντιχρυ: Ἐπιφανίου καθήψατο. θὕῦτε γὰρ ἔφη ὅσιον εἶναι, τὸν πάλαι τετελευτηκότα ὑδρίξζειν' οὔτε βλασφημίας ἐκτὸς, τὴν τῶν παλαιοτέρων διαβάλλειν κρίσιν, καὶ τὰ παρ᾽ ἐκείνων δεδοχιμασμένα ἀθετεῖν. "Δμα τε λέγων, καὶ βιβλίον τι τῶν Ὡριγένους προχομίσας διεξήει " καὶ χρειώδη ταῖς Ἐκκλησίαις τὰ ἀνεγνωσμένα δείξας, "Ἄτοπον, ἔφη, ὑπομένουσιν οἱ ταῦτα διαθάλλοντες. Κινδυνεύουσι γὰρ ταῦτα ὑβρίζειν, περὶ ὧν οἱ λόγοι. Ὁ δὲ Ἰωάννης, δι᾽ αἰδοῦς εἶχεν ἔτι τὸν ᾿ΕἘπιφάνιον, καὶ παρεκάλει αὐτὸν συνεχχλησιάζειν, καὶ σύνοικον ἔχειν. Ὁ δὲ, οὔτε συνοίχεϊν, οὔτε συνεὔχεσθαι αὐτῷ ἀντεδήλου, εἰ μὴ χαταψηφίσηται τῶν Ὠριγένους λόγων, Διόσκορον καὶ τοὺς σὺν αὐτῷ ἐξελάσῃ. Ἐπεὶ δὲ ταῦτα ποιεῖν πρὸ δίκης οὐ δέχαιον ἡγεῖτο ἀνεδάλλετο, μελλούσης ἐπιτελεῖσθαι συνἄξεως ἐν τῇ ἐπωνύμῳ τῶν ᾿Αποστόλων ἐκκλησίᾳ, κατεσκεύαζον οἱ Ἰωάννου δυσμενεῖς προελθεῖν Ἐπιφάνιον, καὶ δημοσίᾳ ἀποχηρῦξαι ἐπὶ τοῦ λαοῦ τὰς Ὠριγένους βίδλους, καὶ τοὺς ἀμφὶ τὸν Διόσκορον, ὡς τὰ τούτου φρονοῦντας " ἐν ταυτῷ δὲ τὸν ἐπίσκοπον τῆς πόλεως διαβαλεῖν, ὡς ἐκείνοις κείμενον. Καὶ οἱ μὲν τάδε ἐσπούδαζον. γὰρ αὐτὸν οὕτω συγχρούσειν πρὸς τὸ πλῆθος. Τῇ δὲ ἑξῆς ἐπὶ τοῦτο προελθὼν Ἐπιφάνιος, ἐγγὺς ἤδη τῆς ἐκκλησίας ἐτύγχανεν" ἀπαντήσας δὲ αὐτῷ Σέραπίων παρὰ Ἰωάννου ἀποσταλεὶς (ἤσθετο γὰρ τὰ τῇ προτεραίᾳ βεβουλευμένα), ἐμαρτύρατο μῆτε δίκαια ποιεῖν, μήτε αὐτῷ συμφέροντα, εἰ ταραχῆς ἐν τῷ πλήθει ἢ στάσεως κινηθείσης, αὐτὸς χινδυνεύσει, ὡς αἴτιος γεγονώς. Καὶ ὁ μὲν ὧδε ἀνεχόπη τῆς ἐπὶ τοῦτο ὁῤμῆς. ### English translation (Claude) Hiding and contriving these things in his mind, he wrote to the bishops in the cities, accusing the books of Origen. Reckoning that it would be of the greatest help to him if he took as partner in his undertakings Epiphanius, bishop of Salamis in Cyprus, a man most distinguished in his time for the reverence of his life, he made him his friend, though he had earlier blamed him for holding God to be in human form. As though he had come by repentance to recognize the right belief, he wrote that he agreed with him, and stirred up accusations against the books of Origen as the cause of such doctrines. Epiphanius, who had long turned away from Origen’s writings, readily agreed with Theophilus’s letter; and meeting with the bishops in Cyprus he forbade the reading of Origen’s works. Writing their decisions to others, and to the bishop of Constantinople, he urged them to hold synods and decree the same. Theophilus, seeing that there was no danger in following Epiphanius, who had many admirers who wondered at whatever he thought because of the virtue of his life, decreed the like with the bishops under him. John did not think the effort over these things worth attention, and put the letters of Epiphanius and Theophilus in second place. Those of the powerful and of the clergy who were ill disposed to him, learning that Theophilus was eager for his deposition, zealously worked with him, and prepared for a very great synod to be held in Constantinople. Theophilus, learning this, hurried still more. He ordered the bishops from Egypt to sail, and wrote to Epiphanius and others of the East to come with speed, while he himself made the journey on foot. Not long after, Epiphanius, sailing first from Cyprus, landed at the place before Constantinople called the Hebdomon, prayed in the church there, and entered the city. John honoured him on his entry by sending the whole clergy to meet him. But Epiphanius plainly had yielded to the accusations against him; and when he was urged to stay in church lodgings, he would not consent. He avoided meeting John; but calling together privately the bishops staying in Constantinople, he showed them what had been decreed against Origen’s works, and persuaded some to vote for it; but most refused. Theotimus, bishop of Scythia, opposed Epiphanius outright. For he said that it was neither holy to insult one who had long since died, nor free of blasphemy to malign the judgment of the older writers and set aside what they had approved. And as he spoke, he brought forward a book of Origen and read from it; and showing that what was read was useful to the churches, he said: “Those who malign these things suffer something absurd; for they run the risk of insulting the things of which the words speak.” John still held Epiphanius in respect, and invited him to hold services with him and to stay with him. But he replied that he would neither stay with him nor pray with him unless he condemned Origen’s works and drove out Dioscorus and his companions. When John put this off, thinking it unjust to do so before a trial, as a service was about to be held in the church named after the Apostles, John’s enemies arranged that Epiphanius should come forward and publicly, before the people, condemn the books of Origen and Dioscorus’s party as holding his views, and at the same time malign the bishop of the city as supporting them. For they thought that in this way they would set him against the multitude. The next day Epiphanius, coming forward for this, was already near the church, when Serapion, sent by John — for he had learned what had been planned the day before — met him and protested that he was acting neither justly nor to his own advantage; for if a disturbance or riot arose among the people, he himself would be in danger as its cause. So he was checked in this attempt. ### Translation notes - Epiphanius came to Constantinople in 402–403. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 8.14 (PG 67:1551–1553; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/8-14). ## Church History 8.15 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/8-9/#p-8-15 - Source: PG 67:1553–1555 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Epiphanius bargains over the sick infant prince and is rebuked by the empress; the Tall Brothers shame him for condemning them unheard; he leaves for Cyprus and dies at sea, the two bishops having foretold each other’s fates. ### Greek text Ἐν τούτῳ δὲ συνέθδη νοσεῖν τοῦ βασιλέως παιδίον περιδεὴς δὲ οὖσα ἡ μήτηρ μή τι πάθοι, πέμψασα εἰ πρὸς Ἐπιφάνιον, ἐδεῖτο εὔχεσθαι ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ. Ὁ δὲ ζήσεσθαι τὸν κάμνοντα ὑπέσχετο, εἰ τοὺς ἀμφὶ Διόστ κορον αἱρετικοὺς ὄντας ἀποστραφείη. Ἡ δὲ βασιλὶς, Τὸ ἐμὸν, ἔφη, παιδίον, εἴγε δοκεῖ τῷ Θεῷ λαμβάνειν, ταύτῃ ἔστω. Κύριος γὰρ ὁ δοὺς, πάλιν ἀφαιρεῖται. Αὐτὸς δὲ εἴπερ οἷός τε ἧς νεκροὺς ἀνεγείρειν, οὐκ ἂν ὁ σὸς ἀρχιδιάκονος τεθνήκει. Ἔτυχε γὰρ οὐ πρὸ πολλοῦ τελευτήσας Κρισπίων, ὃν ἀδελφὸν ὄντα Φούσκωνος καὶ Σαλαμάνου τῶν ἐπὶ Οὐάλεντος δηλωθέντων μοναχῶν, σύνοικον ἔχων, ἀρχιδιάκονον ἑαυτῷ κατέστησεν. Οἱ δὲ περὶ Ἀμμώνιον (τοῦτο γὰρ αὐτῇ τῇ βασιλίδι ἐδόκει), πρὸς Ἐπιφάνιον ἦλθον. Πυθο μένου δὲ αὐτοῦ τίνες εἶεν, ὑπολαβὼν Αμμώνιος. Οἱ Μακροὶ, ἔφη, ὦ Πάτερ. Αλλ' εἰ πώποτε μαθηταῖς ἡμετέροις ἢ συντάγμασιν ἐνέτυχες, ἡδέως ἐμάνθανον. Τοῦ δὲ ἀποφήσαντος, πάλιν ἤρετο· Πόθεν οὖν αἰρετικοὺς εἶναι σφᾶς νενόμικας, μηδένα ἔλεγχον ἔχων τῆς αὐτῶν γνώμης; Ακηκοέναι δὲ Ἐπιφανίου λέγοντος, Ἡμεῖς δὲ, ἔφη, πᾶν τούναντίον πεπόνθαμεν· μαθηταῖς γὰρ σοῖς συνετύχομεν πολλάκις καὶ συγγράμμασιν· ὧν ἐκεῖνό γὲ ἐστιν ὁ τὴν ἐπιγραφὴν ᾿Αγκυρωτὸς ἔχον. Βουλομένων τε πολλῶν λοιδορεῖσθαι καὶ ὡς αἱρετικὸν διαβάλλειν, ὑπερηγωνιζόμεθα, ὡς εἰκὸς, πατρὸς, καὶ ὑπεραπελογούμεθα. Οὔκουν ἐχρῆν ἐξ ἀκοῆς ἐρήμην καταδικάζειν, ὧν οὐκ αὐτὸς πεισθεὶς κατέγνως, οὔτε τοιαύτην ἀμοιβὴν τοῖς εὖ λέγου - σιν ἀποδοῦναι. Ὁ δὲ Ἑπιφάνιος, τότε μὲν μετριώτες ρον προσδιαλεχθεὶς, ἀπέπεμπε τοὺς ἄνδρας. Οὐ πολλῷ δὲ ὕστερον ἀπέπλευσεν εἰς Κύπρον · ἢ τῆς ἐπὶ Κωνσταντινουπόλεως ἀφίξεως καταγνοὺς ἢ τοῦ Θεοῦ χρήσαντος, καὶ τὸν αὐτοῦ θάνατον, ὡς εἰκὸς, αὐτῷ προμηνύσαντος. Πλέων γὰρ, πρὶν εἰς Κύπρον ἐλθεῖν ἐτελεύτησε. Λέγεται γοῦν τοῖς αὐτῷ συνελθοῦσιν ἐπισκόποις ἐπὶ θάλασσαν εἰπεῖν, μέλλων ἐπιβαίνειν τοῦ σκάφους· Ἀφίημι ὑμῖν τὴν πόλιν καὶ τὰ βασίλεια, καὶ τὴν ὑπόκρισιν. Ἐγὼ δὲ ἄπειμι· σπεύδω γὰρ, πάνυ σπεύδω. Κἀκεῖνον δὲ εἰσέτι νῦν πολλῶν ὄντα τὸν λόγον ἐπυθόμην, ὡς Ἐπιφανίῳ μὲν Ἰωάννης τὴν ἐν τῇ θαλάσσῃ τελευτὴν προεμήνυσεν· ὁ δὲ, ἐκείνῳ, τῆς ἐπισκοπῆς τὴν καθαίρεσιν. Ἐν ᾧ γὰρ διεφέροντο, ὁ μὲν ἐδήλωσεν Ἰωάννῃ· Ἐλπίζω σὲ μὴ ἀποθανεῖν ἐπίσκοπον. Ὁ δὲ Ἰωάννης ἀντεδήλου · Οὐδὲ ἐγὼ σὲ τῆς σῆς ἐπιβήσεσθαι πόλεως. ### English translation (Claude) Meanwhile it happened that the emperor’s little son fell ill; and the mother, fearing lest he suffer harm, sent to Epiphanius and asked him to pray for him. He promised that the sick child would live if she turned away from Dioscorus’s party, who were heretics. The empress said: “If it seems good to God to take my child, let it be so; for the Lord who gave takes away again. But if you were able to raise the dead, your archdeacon would not have died.” For Crispion had died not long before, the brother of Phuscon and Salamanes, the monks mentioned under Valens, whom Epiphanius had had as his companion and appointed his archdeacon. Ammonius and his companions — for so it seemed good to the empress herself — came to Epiphanius. When he asked who they were, Ammonius answered: “The Tall Brothers, Father. But I would gladly learn whether you have ever met our disciples or our writings.” When he said no, Ammonius asked again: “How then have you supposed us to be heretics, having no proof of our belief?” When Epiphanius said he had heard so, he said: “We have experienced the very opposite. For we have often met your disciples and your writings, among which is the one entitled Ancoratus. And when many wished to revile you and malign you as a heretic, we fought for you, as was fitting, as for a father, and defended you. So you ought not, from hearsay, to condemn in their absence those whom you have not condemned by your own conviction, nor return such a recompense to those who speak well of you.” Epiphanius, after speaking with them more moderately at that time, sent the men away. Not long after he sailed for Cyprus, either condemning his journey to Constantinople, or because God had given him an oracle, and, as is likely, had foretold his death to him; for he died at sea before reaching Cyprus. It is said, at any rate, that he said to the bishops who came with him to the sea, as he was about to board the ship: “I leave you the city and the palace and the play-acting; but I am going, for I am in haste, in great haste.” I have learned also the story, still told by many, that John foretold to Epiphanius his death at sea, and he to John his deposition from the episcopate. For while they were at odds, Epiphanius sent word to John: “I hope you will not die a bishop.” And John answered: “Nor I that you will set foot in your city.” ### Scripture references - Job 1:21: allusion, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Epiphanius, Anc. (The Well-Anchored Man): allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The first word of the staged text is the end of the chapter title and is removed by a correction. - Two displaced lines are restored by corrections (the title Ancoratus, and the clause on Epiphanius’s departure). - The empress quotes Job 1:21. Epiphanius died in May 403. His Ancoratus is on this site. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 8.15 (PG 67:1553–1555; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/8-15). ## Church History 8.16 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/8-9/#p-8-16 - Source: PG 67:1557 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Chrysostom’s sermon against women is taken as aimed at the empress, who summons Theophilus; the bishops gather at Chalcedon, where Cyrinus, who reviled Chrysostom, is trodden on by Maruthas and dies of the wound. ### Greek text Ἐπεὶ 65 ἀπέπλευσεν Ἐπιφάνιος, ἐχχλησιάξζων Ἰωάννης κοινὸν κατὰ γυναικῶν διεξῆλθε Ψόγον " αἰνιγματωδῶς ὃὲ συγκεῖσθαι τοῦτον κατὰ τῆς τοῦ βασιλέως γαμετῆς τὸ πλῆθος ἐδέχετο. Οἱ δὲ τοῦ ἐπισκόπου δυσμενεῖς, αὐτὸν τὸν λόγον ἐχλαμδάνοντε;, τῇ βασιλίδι διεκόμισαν. Ἢ δὲ παρὰ τῷ ἀνδρὶ τὴν ὕδριν ἀπωδύρατο, Θεόφιλον θᾶττον παρεῖναι, σύνοδον ποιεῖν χατήπειγε. Συνέπραττε δὲ συγχατεσχεύαζε ταῦτα Σεδηριανὸς ὁ Γαθαλεὺς, οὔπω τῆς προτέρας ἀπαλλαγεὶς λύπης. ᾿Αλλὰ πότερον, οὕτως ὡς ἔτυχεν, ἐπὶ τοῦτον Ἰωάννης προήχθη τὴν λόγον, ὥς τινες λέγουσιν, ὑπονοῆσας ὡς ἡ βασιλὶς ἔπεισεν Ἐπιφάνιον ἐπιδουλεύειν αὐτῷ, ἀκριδῶς οὐχ ἔχω λέγειν. Οὐχ εἰς μαχρᾶν δὲ χαὺ θεόφιλος παρῆν εἰς Χαλχηδόνα τὴν Βιθυνῶν, καὶ ἄλλοι πολλῶν πόλεων ἐπίσκοποι " οἱ μὲν, ὑπὸ Θεοφίλου προτραπέντες " οἱ δὲ, βασιλέως προστάγματι μετακληθέντες. Σπουδῇ δὲ μάλιστα συνήεσαν, ὅσοι τε τῶν ἐν ᾿Ασίχ τῆς ἐπισκοπῆς ἀφήρηντο παρὰ Ἰωάννου, ὅσοι ἄλλοθεν ἄλλως αὐτῷ ἀπηχθάνοντο" ἤδη δὲ καὶ ἐξ Αἰγύπτοῦυ νῆες ἃς Θεόφιλος περιέμενεν, εἰς Χαλχηδόνα ἀφίκοντο. Συνελθόντων δὲ πάντων εἰς ταυτὸν ἐνθάδε, καὶ βουλευομένων ὅπως αὐτοῖς κατὰ γνώμην προθαΐη κατὰ Ἰωάννου ἐπιχείρησις, Κυρῖνος, ὃς ἡγεῖτο τότε τῆς ἐν Χαλκηδόνι ᾿Εκκλησίας, κατὰ τὸ συγγενὲς ἴσως Θεοφίλῳ χαριζόμενος ἣν γὰρ Αἰγύπτιος, καὶ ἄλλως διάφορος Ἰωάννῃ τυγχάνων, πλεῖστα αὐτὸν 0 ἐλοιδόρει. Ταχεῖα δὲ τούτων τῶν ὕδρεων ἔδοξεν αὐτὸν μετιέναι δίκη. Μαρουθᾶς γὰρ ὁ ἐχ Μεσοποταμίας, συνὼν τοῖς ἐπισκόποις, ἄκων αὐτοῦ θάτερον τοῖν ποδοῖν ἐπάτησεν. ᾿Οδυνηθεὶς δὲ, οὐκέτι σὺν τοῖς ἄλλοις ἱερεῦσιν εἰς Κωνσταντινούπολιν ἐπεραιώθη, καίπερ ἀναγχαῖος εἶναι δυχῶν πρὸς τὰς κατὰ Ἰωάνἐπιβουλάς. Μετὰ ταῦτα δὲ κακῶς διατεθεὶς, πολλάκις ὑπὸ τῶν ἰατρῶν ἀπεπρίσθη τὸ σκέλος. Ἐπιγενομένη γὰρ σηπεδὼν, τὸ πᾶν ἐπενέμετο σῶμα" ὡς καὶ τὸν ἕτερον πόδα ταυτὸν ὑπομεῖναι, τῇ μεταδόσει τοῦ πάθους. ᾿Αλλ᾽ ὁ μὲν οὐ πολλῷ ὕστερον ἐν ταῖς ὀδύναις ἐτελεύτα τὸν βίον. ### English translation (Claude) When Epiphanius had sailed away, John, preaching in church, delivered a general censure of women; and the multitude took it as composed in riddles against the emperor’s wife. The bishop’s enemies, taking down the speech, carried it to the empress. She complained to her husband of the insult, and pressed for Theophilus to come quickly and hold a synod. Severian of Gabala, not yet freed from his former vexation, worked with her and helped contrive these things. But whether John came to that discourse just as it happened, or, as some say, suspecting that the empress had persuaded Epiphanius to plot against him, I cannot say exactly. Not long after Theophilus arrived at Chalcedon in Bithynia, and many bishops of other cities, some urged by Theophilus, others summoned by the emperor’s order. Those came most eagerly who had been deprived of their sees in Asia by John, and those who were hostile to him for other reasons in other ways; and the ships from Egypt for which Theophilus had been waiting had already arrived at Chalcedon. When they had all met together there and were deliberating how their attempt against John might go as they wished, Cyrinus, who then led the church in Chalcedon, perhaps favouring Theophilus out of kinship — for he was an Egyptian — and otherwise at odds with John, reviled him greatly. A swift penalty seemed to overtake him for these insults. For Maruthas from Mesopotamia, who was with the bishops, accidentally trod on one of his feet. In pain, he did not cross over to Constantinople with the other priests, though he seemed necessary for the plots against John. Afterwards, growing worse, his leg was often sawn by the physicians; for a putrefaction set in and spread over the whole body, so that the other foot suffered the same by the spread of the disease. And not long after he ended his life in agony. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 8.16 (PG 67:1557; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/8-16). ## Church History 8.17 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/8-9/#p-8-17 - Source: PG 67:1557–1561 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: At the synod of the Oak (403) Theophilus reconciles the Tall Brothers’ monks and summons Chrysostom, who demands a greater synod and impartial judges; after four summonses he is deposed for not appearing. ### Greek text ΙΕραιωθέντι δὲ Θεοφίλῳ, οὐδεὶς τῶν ΚωνσταντινουΕἰ ει 15. πόλεως κληρικῶν ὑπήντετο. Δῆλος γὰρ ἦν ἤδη τῷ ἐπισκόπῳ δυσμενής. Τὸ δὲ τῶν ᾿Αλεξανδρέων ναυτιxὸν, οἴπερ ἔτυχον ἐνδημοῦντες ἔκ τε τῶν ἄλλων πλοίων, καὶ μάλιστα τῶν σιτηγῶν, ὁμοῦ συνελέγησαν, καὶ προθύμως αὐτὸν εὐφημοῦντες ἐδέξαντο. Παραδραμὼν δὲ τὴν ἐκκλησίαν, εἰς βασιλικὴν οἰκία, ἦλθεν, ἐν ᾗ καταμένειν αὐτῷ ηὐτρέπιστο. Ἐπεὶ δὲ πολλοὺς ἔγνω Ἰωάννῃ ἀπεχθάνεσθαι, καὶ κατηγορεῖν ἑτοίμους, προδιαθεὶς τὰ ἄλλα ᾗπερ αὐτῷ καλῶς ἔχειν ἐδόκει, ἧκεν εἰς Δρῦν η. Χαλκηδόνος δὲ τοῦτο προάστειον, Ῥουφίνου τοῦ ὑπατικοῦ νῦν ἐπώνυμον, ἐν ᾧ βασίλειά ἐστι, καὶ μεγάλη ἐκκλησία, ἣν αὐτὸς 'Ῥουφῖνος ἐπὶ τιμῇ Πέτρου καὶ Παύλου τῶν ἀποστό λων ἐδείματο, καὶ ᾿Αποστολεῖον ἐξ αὐτῶν ὠνόμασε. Πλησίον δὲ μοναχοὺς συνῴκησεν, οἳ τῆς ἐκκλησίας τὸν κλῆρον ἐπλήρουν. Ἐνταῦθα δὲ συνελθών Θεόφιλος ἅμα τοῖς ἄλλοις ἐπισκόποις, περὶ μὲν τῶν Ωριγένους βιβλίων οὐδὲν ἐπεμνημόνευσε · τοὺς δὲ ἀπὸ Σκήτεως μοναχοὺς εἰς μετάνοιαν ἐκάλει, μήτε μνησικακεῖν, μήτε κακῶς ποιεῖν ὑποσχόμενος. Ἐπιβοώντων δὲ αὐτοῖς συγγνώμην αἰτεῖν τῶν Θεοφίλου σπουδαστῶν, καὶ προσποιουμένων τὴν σύνοδον ίκετεύειν ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν, ταραχθέντες οἱ μοναχοὶ, καὶ τοῦτο χρῆναι ποιεῖν νομίσαντες, πολλῶν ἐπισκόπων προκαθημένων, τοῦτο δὴ τὸ σύνηθες αὐτοῖς λέγειν, κἂν ἀδικῶνται, Συγχώρησον, ἔφασαν. Θεοφίλου δὲ ἑτοίμως σπεισαμένου, καὶ τὴν κοινωνίαν αὐτοῖς ἀποδόντος, διελύθη τῶν περὶ Σκῆτιν ἀδικημάτων ἡ ἐξέτασις, "Όπερ οἶμαι οὐκ ἂν συνέβη, εἰ συμπαρῆσαν τοῖς ἄλ– λοις μοναχοῖς Διόσκορός τε καὶ ᾿Αμμώνιος. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ ἤδη πρότερον τελευτήσας, ἐτάφῃ ἐν τῇ Μωκίου τοῦ μάρτυρος ἐπωνύμῳ ἐκκλησίᾳ. Αμμώνιος δὲ ἕναγχος τῆς συνόδου παρασκευαζομένης, ἐμαλακίσθη τὸ σῶμα· περαιωθεὶς δὲ εἰς Δρῦν, χαλεπώτερον ὑπὸ τῆς νόσου διετέθη · καὶ μετ᾿ οὐ πολὺ τελευτᾷ τὸν βίον· καὶ πρὸς τῶν πλησίον μοναχῶν, ἔνθα δὴ κεῖται, λαμπρᾶς ἠξιώθη ταφῆς. Ὁ δὲ Θεόφιλος, ὡς ἐπύθετο, λέγεται δακρύσαι, καὶ εἰς πάντας εἰπεῖν, ὡς οὐδεὶς εἴη τῶν κατ᾿ αὐτὸν μοναχὸς, οἷος Αμμώνιος, εἰ καὶ αὐτῷ ταραχῆς αἴτιος ἐγένετο, Προὐχώρει δὲ ὅμως αὐτῷ καὶ τοῦτο κατὰ γνώμην. Ἡ δὲ σύνοδος ἅπαντας συνεκάλεσε τοὺς Κωνσταντινουπόλεως κληρικούς, καθαίρεσιν ἀπειλήσασα κατὰ τῶν ἀπειθούντων. Ἐκάτ λεσε δὲ καὶ Ἰωάννην πρὸς ἀπολογίαν. Σὺν αὐτῷ δὲ παρεῖναι προσέταξε Σαραπίωνα, καὶ Τίγριον πρεσβύτερον, καὶ Παῦλον ἀναγνώστην. Ὁ δὲ Ἰωάννης, ἄλλους τέ τινας τῶν ἐπιτηδείων αὐτῷ κληρικῶν, καὶ Δημήτριον τὸν Πισινοῦντος ἐπίσκοπον πέμψας, πρὸς αὐτοὺς ἔλεγε μὴ ἀποφεύγειν τὴν κρίσιν · ἕτοιμος δὲ εἶναι, εἰ πρότερον μάθοι τοὺς κατηγόρους, καὶ τὴν γραφὴν ἐπισκέψαιτο, ἐπὶ μείζονος ἀπολογεῖσθαι συνόδου, Μὴ γὰρ αἱρεῖσθαι ἀνόητόν τι ὑπομένειν, καὶ περιφανῶν ἐχθρῶν ἀνέχεσθαι δικαστῶν. Ὡς ἀπειθοῦντος δὲ συνόδῳ χαλεπαινόντων αὐτῶν, οἱ μὲν τῶν τάδε ἀγγειλάντων, δείσαντες οὐκέτι ἀνέστρεφον. Δημήτριος δὲ, καὶ ὅσοι τὴν Ἰωάννου προετίμων συνουσίαν, ὡς αὐτὸν ἐπανῆλθον. Κατ᾿ αὐτὴν δὲ τὴν ἡμέραν ταχυδρόμος καὶ ταχυγράφος ἐκ τῶν βασιλείων παραγενόμενοι, τὸν μὲν κατήπειγον πρὸς τοὺς ἐπισκόπους ἐλθεῖν· τοὺς δὲ, μὴ μέλλειν περὶ τὴν κρίσιν. Ἐπεὶ δὲ τετράκις κληθεὶς, οἰκουμενικὴν ἐπεκαλεῖτο σύνοδον, οὐδὲν ἕτερον ἐπαιτιώμενοι, πλὴν ὅτι κληθεὶς οὐχ ὑπήκουσε, καθεῖλον αὐτόν. ### English translation (Claude) When Theophilus crossed over, none of the clergy of Constantinople met him; for he was already plainly hostile to the bishop. But the Alexandrian sailors who happened to be in the city, from the other ships and especially from the grain ships, gathered together and received him with eager acclamations. Passing by the church, he went to an imperial house in which lodging had been prepared for him. When he learned that many were hostile to John and ready to accuse him, having arranged the rest as he thought best, he went to the Oak. This is a suburb of Chalcedon, now named after Rufinus the consular, in which there is a palace and a large church, which Rufinus himself built in honour of the apostles Peter and Paul and named the Apostoleion after them; and nearby he settled monks, who made up the clergy of the church. Meeting here with the other bishops, Theophilus made no mention of the books of Origen; but he called the monks from Scetis to repentance, promising neither to bear a grudge nor to harm them. When Theophilus’s supporters shouted at them to ask pardon, and pretended that the synod was interceding for them, the monks, troubled and thinking they ought to do so, with many bishops seated before them, said what they are accustomed to say even when wronged: “Forgive.” Theophilus readily made peace and restored communion to them, and the examination of the wrongs done at Scetis was dissolved. This, I think, would not have happened if Dioscorus and Ammonius had been present with the other monks. But the former had already died and been buried in the church named after the martyr Mocius; and Ammonius, while the synod was being prepared, fell ill; crossing to the Oak, he grew worse from the disease and not long after ended his life, and was thought worthy of a splendid burial by the monks nearby, where he lies. Theophilus, when he learned of it, is said to have wept and said before all that there was no monk in his time like Ammonius, even if he had been a cause of trouble to him. Yet this too went as he wished. The synod summoned all the clergy of Constantinople, threatening deposition against those who disobeyed. It summoned John too to make his defence, and ordered Serapion, Tigrius the presbyter and Paul the reader to appear with him. John, sending some of the clergy friendly to him and Demetrius, bishop of Pessinus, told them that he did not shun judgment, but was ready, if he first learned who the accusers were and examined the indictment, to make his defence before a greater synod; for he would not choose to endure anything foolish and to put up with manifest enemies as judges. When they were angry at him as disobedient to a synod, some of those who had brought the message, in fear, did not return; but Demetrius and those who preferred John’s company went back to him. On the same day a courier and a stenographer came from the palace, urging him to go to the bishops, and them not to delay over the judgment. When, having been summoned four times, he appealed to an ecumenical synod, they deposed him, charging him with nothing else but that, when summoned, he had not obeyed. ### Translation notes - The first words of the staged text are the end of the chapter title and are removed by a correction. - The synod of the Oak met in summer 403. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 8.17 (PG 67:1557–1561; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/8-17). ## Church History 8.18 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/8-9/#p-8-18 - Source: PG 67:1561–1563 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Riots follow Chrysostom’s deposition; Severian’s sermon on his pride inflames the crowd; the empress has him recalled, and he is carried back to his throne, preaching on Pharaoh’s attempt on Sarah as a figure of Theophilus. ### Greek text Τὸ δὲ πλῆθος, ὡς τάδε ἔγνω ἐν Κωνσταντινουπόλει περὶ δείλην ὀψίαν, πρὸς στάσιν κεκίνητο. Καὶ συνδραμόντες ἕωθεν εἰς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν, ἄλλα τε πολλὰ ἀνέκραγον, καὶ ὡς δέοι μείζονα σύνοδον περὶ αὐτοῦ διαλαβεῖν. Κατεπειγόντων τε τῶν ἐκ βασιλέως προστεταγμένων εἰς ὑπερορίαν αὐτὸν ἀπάγειν, οὐ συνεχώρουν. Ὁ δὲ, δείσας μήτι ἕτερον αὐτῷ ἔγκλημα πλασθῇ, ἢ ὡς βασιλεῖ ἀπειθοῦντι, ἢ τὸν δῆμον ταράττοντι, ἡμέρᾳ τρίτῃ μετὰ τὴν καθαίρεσιν, διασπαρέντος τοῦ πλήθους, περὶ μεσημβρίαν λαθὼν ἀπέλιπε τὴν ἐκκλησίαν. Ἤδη δὲ αὐτοῦ ἀπαγομένου, χαλεπῶς ὁ λαὸς ἐστασίαζε, βασιλέα τε καὶ τὴν σύνοδον, καὶ μάλιστα Θεόφιλον καὶ Σεβηριανὸν ἐλοιδόρουν. "Αμφω μὲν γὰρ ἀρχηγὼ τῆς ἐπιβουλῆς ἤστην. Ὁ δὲ Σεβηριανὸς, καὶ ἐπὶ ἐκκλησίας τότε διδάσκων, ἐπήνεσε τὴν Ἰωάννου καθαίρεσιν, ὡς κατὰ ἀλαζόνως, εἰ καὶ μηδὲν ἦν ἕτερον ἔγκλημα γεγενημένον. Τὰ μὲν γὰρ ἄλλα, ἔφη, ἁμαρτήματα συγχωρεῖ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις τὸ Θεῖον· ὑπερηφάνοις δὲ ἀντιτάσσεται. Ἐπὶ τούτοις δὲ ἐνεμέσησε τὸ πλῆθος, καὶ τὴν ὀργὴν ἀνενέου, καὶ ἀσχέτως ἐστασίαζε · καὶ οὔτε ἐν ἐκκλησίαις, οὔτε ἐν ἀγοραῖς ἠρεμεῖν ἡνείχετο· ἅμα δὲ ὀλολυγῇ καὶ ὀδυρμοῖς μέχρι καὶ αὐτῶν τῶν βασιλείων προϊόντες, ἐδέοντο περί τῆς Ἰωάννου ἀνακλήσεως. Εἴξασα δὲ ταῖς ἱκεσίαις τοῦ δήμου ἡ βασιλὶς, πείθει τὸν ἄνδρα επινευσαι · ἐν τάχει τε Βρίσσωνα τὸν ἀμφὶ αὐτὴν πιστὸν εὐνοῦχον πέμψασα, ἐκ Πρενέτου τῆς Βιθυνίας Ἰωάννην ἐπανήγαγεν, ἀθῶον εἶναι τῶν κατ᾿ αὐτοῦ βεβουλευμένων δηλώσασα, καὶ δι' αἰδοῦς αὐτὸν ἔχειν, ὡς ἱερέα καὶ μυσταγωγὸν τῶν αὐτῆς παίδων. Ὁ δὲ ἐπανελθὼν, ἐν προαστείῳ αὐτῆς τῆς βασιλίδος περὶ τὸν Ἀνάπλουν διέτριβε· καὶ πρὸ κρίσεως μείζονος συνόδου, ἵν᾿ εἴη δῆλον ὡς ἀδίκως ἀφῃρέθη τῆς ἐπισκοπῆς, παρῃτεῖτο τέως τὴν εἰς τὴν πόλιν εἴσοδον. Ἐπεὶ δὲ πάλιν ὁ λαὸς ἡγανάκτει, καὶ τοὺς κρατοῦντας ἐλοιδόρει, βιασθεὶς εἰσῆλθεν. Ἐν ψαλμῳδίαις δὲ πρὸς τὸ συμβάν πεποιημέναις ὑπαντήσας ὁ δῆμος (ἔφερον δὲ κηροὺς ἡμμένους οἱ πλείους), ἄγουσιν αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τὴν ἐκκλησίαν. Παραιτούμενόν τε, καὶ πολλάκις ἰσχυριζόμενον χρῆναι πρότερον τοὺς καταψηφισαμένους σο αὐτοῦ πάλιν ἀποψηφίσασθαι, ὡς ἱερεῦσι θέμις, ἠνάγκασαν τὴν εἰρήνην τῷ λαῷ προσειπεῖν, καὶ εἰς τὸν ἐπισκοπικὸν καθίσαι θρόνον. ᾿Αναγκασθεὶς δὲ, καὶ σχέδιόν τινα διεξῆλθε λόγον. Ἐκ χαριεστάτης δὲ εἰκόνος τὰς ἀφορμὰς λαβὼν, ὑπεδήλου Θεόφιλον μὲν ἐνυβρίσαι τὴν ὑπ' αὐτὸν Ἐκκλησίαν ἐπιχειρῆσαι, ὡς τὸν Αἰγυπτίων βασιλέα τὴν Ἀβραὰμ τοῦ πατριάρχου γαμετὴν, ὡς αἱ τῶν Ἑβραίων ἱστοροῦσι βίβλοι· τὸν δὲ λαὸν ὡς εἰκὸς ἐπαινέσας τῆς προθυμίας, καὶ τοὺς κρατοῦντας τῆς περὶ αὐτὸν εὐνοίας, εἰς πολλοὺς κρότους καὶ εὐφημίαν τοῦ βασιλέως και τῆς αὐτοῦ γαμετῆς, τὸ πλῆθος ἐκίνησεν, ὡς καὶ ἡμιτελῆ καταλιπεῖν τὸν λόγον. ### English translation (Claude) When the people in Constantinople learned this toward evening, they were stirred to riot; and running together at dawn to the church, they shouted many things, and that a greater synod ought to judge his case. When those ordered by the emperor pressed to take him into exile, they would not allow it. But he, fearing lest another charge be fabricated against him, either of disobeying the emperor or of stirring up the people, on the third day after his deposition, when the crowd had dispersed, left the church secretly about midday. As he was being led away, the people rioted fiercely, and reviled the emperor and the synod, and especially Theophilus and Severian; for both were the leaders of the plot. Severian, teaching in church at that time, even praised John’s deposition, as for arrogance, even if no other charge had been made. “For other sins,” he said, “the Divine forgives men; but he sets himself against the proud.” At this the multitude was indignant, renewed its anger, and rioted without restraint, and would keep quiet neither in churches nor in the market places; but going with wailing and lamentation as far as the palace itself, they begged for John’s recall. The empress, yielding to the people’s entreaties, persuaded her husband to consent; and quickly sending Brison, her faithful eunuch, she brought John back from Prenetus in Bithynia, declaring that she was innocent of the plots against him, and that she held him in reverence as a priest and the initiator of her children. When he returned he stayed in a suburb belonging to the empress herself near Anaplus; and before the judgment of a greater synod, so that it might be clear that he had been unjustly deprived of his episcopate, he declined for the time to enter the city. But when the people again became angry and reviled the rulers, he was compelled to enter. The people met him with psalms composed for the occasion — most carried lighted candles — and led him to the church. Though he refused and insisted many times that those who had condemned him must first revoke their vote, as is lawful for priests, they compelled him to greet the people with the peace and to sit on the episcopal throne. Compelled, he also delivered an impromptu discourse. Taking his starting point from a most graceful comparison, he hinted that Theophilus had tried to outrage the church under him as the king of the Egyptians had Sarah, the wife of the patriarch Abraham, as the books of the Hebrews relate; and, praising the people, as was fitting, for their zeal and the rulers for their goodwill toward him, he moved the multitude to much applause and acclamation of the emperor and his wife, so that he left his discourse half finished. ### Scripture references - Prov 3:34: allusion, medium confidence - Jas 4:6: allusion, medium confidence - Gen 12:15: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Severian’s saying echoes Prov 3:34 (Jas 4:6; 1 Pet 5:5). Pharaoh and Sarah: Gen 12:10–20. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 8.18 (PG 67:1561–1563; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/8-18). ## Church History 8.19 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/8-9/#p-8-19 - Source: PG 67:1563–1567 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Theophilus’s attempt to try Heraclides of Ephesus in absence sparks a riot, and he flees to Egypt; at Gerae the monk Nilammon dies in prayer rather than be ordained; a synod of sixty bishops annuls the acts of the Oak. ### Greek text Θεόφιλος δὲ ἀπορῶν ὅ τι χρήσαιτο τοῖς παροῦσιν, οὐκ ἐθάῤῥει, καίπερ προθυμούμενος, εἰς τὸ φανερὸν διαβάλλειν Ἰωάννην, ὡς παρανόμως μετὰ καθαίρεσιν ἱερωμένον. "Ηδη γὰρ τοῖς κρατοῦσι ποοσκρούσων, ἳ διὰ τὴν κίνησιν τοῦ δήμου, παραιτούμενον ἐπανελθεῖν ἐβιάσαντο. Τοῖς δὲ Ἡρακλείδου κατηγόροις δικαστήριον κατὰ ἀπόντος προτέθηκεν, οἰηθεὶς ἐντεῦθεν εὐλογωτέραν πως αἰτίαν εὑρήσειν τῆς Ἰωάννου καθαιρέσεως. ᾿Αντερούντων δὲ τῶν αὐτοῦ ἐπιτηδείων, ὡς οὐ νόμιμον, οὐδὲ ἐκκλησιαστικὸν, τὸν ἀπόντα κρίνεσθαι, τῶν δὲ περὶ τὸν Θεόφιλον τάναντία ἰσχυριζομένων, ἐπιλαβόμενοι τῆς ἔριδος τὸ λοιπὸν τῶν ᾿Αλεξανδρέων καὶ Αἰγυπτίων πλῆθος, καὶ ὁ Κωνσταντινουπό λεως λαὸς, εἰς ἀλλήλους ἐχώρησαν · ὡς πολλοὺς τραυματίας γενέσθαι, τινὰς δὲ καὶ ἀπολέσθαι. Δείσαντες δὲ καὶ Σεβηριανὸς καὶ οἱ ἄλλοι ἐπίσκοποι, πλὴν τῶν τὰ Ἰωάννου φρονούντων, φυγῇ τὴν Κωνσταντινούπολιν ἀπέλιπον. Καὶ Θεόφιλος δὲ αὐτίκα μηδὲν ἀναβαλλόμενος, ἤδη τοῦ χειμῶνος ἀρχομένου, φεύγων ἅμα Ἰσαακίῳ τῷ μοναχῷ ἀπέπλευσεν εἰς ᾿Αλεξάνδρειαν. Ἀπὸ δὲ τοῦ πελάγους ὧδε συμβάν, κατῆρεν εἰς Γέρας πόλιν μικρὰν, ἀμφὶ πεντήκοντα στάδια τοῦ Πηλουσίου ἀφεστῶσαν. Τελευτήσαντος δὲ τότε τοῦ ἐνθάδε ἐπισκόπου, οἱ μὲν πολῖται, ὡς ἐπυθόμην, ἐψηφίσαντο Νιλάμμωνα προστατεῖν τῆς αὐτῶν κλησίας, ἄνδρα ἀγαθὸν, καὶ μοναστικῆς φιλοσοφίας εἰς ἄκρον ἐλθόντα. "ᾤκει δὲ πρὸ τοῦ ἄστεος, ἐν οἰκήματι καθείρξας ἑαυτὸν, καὶ λίθοις τὴν θύραν ἀποφράξας. Ἀποφεύγοντα δὲ τὴν ἱερωσύνην, ἐλθὼν πρὸς αὐτὸν Θεόφιλος, συνεβούλευσε καταδέχεσθαι τὴν παρ' αὐτοῦ χειροτονίαν. Ὁ δὲ πολλάκις παραιτησάμενος, ὡς οὐκ ἔπειθεν, Αὔριον, εἴ σοι φίλον, ἔφη, πρᾶξον, ὦ Πάτερ· ὥστε με σήμερον τὰ κατ' ἐμαυτὸν διαθεῖναι. Ἐπεὶ δὲ τῇ ὑστεραίᾳ κατὰ τὰ συγκείμενα ἦλθε, καὶ – τὴν θύραν ἀνοίγειν ἐκέλευσεν, ῎Αγε δῆ πρότερον, ὁ Νιλάμμων ἔφη, εὐξώμεθα. Καὶ Θεόφιλος ἐπαινέσας, ηὔξατο · Νιλάμμων δὲ ἐν τῷ εὔχεσθαι, τὴν ἐνθάδε κατέλιπε βιοτήν. Τοῦτο δὲ, τὰ μὲν πρῶτα ἠγνοεῖτο Θεοφίλῳ καὶ τοῖς ἀμφ᾿ αὐτὸν ἔξωθεν ἑστῶσιν. 'Αναλωθείσης δὲ λοιπὸν τῆς ἡμέρας, ὡς πολλάκις γεγωνότερον καλούντων οὐχ ὑπήκουε, καταβαλόντες τοὺς πρὸ τῆς θύρας λίθους, εὖρον τὸν ἄνδρα νεκρόν· καὶ περιστείλαντες ᾗ ἔδει, δημοσίας ἠξίωσαν ταφῆς· καὶ εὐκτήριον οἶκον περὶ τὸν αὐτοῦ τάφον ᾠκοδόμησαν οἱ ἐπιχώριοι· καὶ ἐπισημότατα εἰσέτι νῦν τὴν ἡμέραν τῆς αὐτοῦ τελευτῆς ἄγουσιν. Ὁ μὲν δὴ Νιλάμμων ὧδε τέθνηκεν, εἴ γε θάνατον δεῖ καλεῖν, ὃν ὑπομεῖναι ηὔξατο πρὶν ἐπιτραπῆναι τὴν ἱερωσύνην, ἧς ἀνάξιος εἶναι διὰ μετριότητα τρόπων ἡγεῖτο. Ὁ δὲ Ἰωάννης ) ἐπανελθὼν εἰς Κωνσταντινούπολιν, ἔτι μᾶλλον κεχα ρισμένος τῷ λαῷ ἐφαίνετο. Συνεληλυθότων δὲ τότε ἐν · Κωνσταντινουπόλει ἀμφὶ ἑξήκοντα ἐπισκόπων, ἄκυρά τε τὰ ἐν τῇ Δρυΐ πεπραγμένα, καὶ αὐτὸν ἔχειν τὴν ἐπισκοπὴν ψηφισαμένων, διετέλεσεν ἱερώμενος, καὶ χειροτονῶν, καὶ τ᾿ ἄλλα περὶ τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν, ᾗ θέμις τοῖς προεστῶσι, διέπων. Ἡνίκα καὶ Σαραπίωνα τῆς ἐν Θράκῃ Ἡρακλείας ἐπίσκοπον κατέστησεν. ### English translation (Claude) Theophilus, at a loss what to do in the circumstances, did not dare, though eager, to accuse John openly of performing priestly acts unlawfully after deposition; for he would already be offending the rulers, who, because of the agitation of the people, had compelled him to return when he refused. But he set up a tribunal for the accusers of Heraclides in his absence, thinking to find in this a more plausible ground for John’s deposition. When John’s friends objected that it was neither lawful nor in accordance with church practice to try one who was absent, and Theophilus’s party maintained the contrary, the remaining multitude of Alexandrians and Egyptians and the people of Constantinople seized on the quarrel and came to blows, so that many were wounded and some even killed. Severian and the other bishops, except those who held with John, in fear left Constantinople in flight. And Theophilus too at once, without delay, though winter was already beginning, fled and sailed with Isaac the monk to Alexandria. By chance he put in from the open sea at Gerae, a small city about fifty stadia from Pelusium. The bishop there having then died, the citizens, as I have learned, had voted that Nilammon should preside over their church, a good man who had reached the summit of monastic philosophy. He lived before the city, having shut himself up in a cell and blocked the door with stones. As he was refusing the priesthood, Theophilus came to him and advised him to accept ordination from him. When he had refused many times and did not persuade him, he said: “Tomorrow, if you please, do it, Father, so that today I may set my affairs in order.” When Theophilus came on the next day as agreed and ordered the door to be opened, Nilammon said: “First let us pray.” Theophilus approved and prayed; and Nilammon, while praying, departed this life. At first this was unknown to Theophilus and those with him standing outside. But when the day was spent and he did not answer, though they called him many times more loudly, they threw down the stones before the door and found the man dead. Having laid him out as was fitting, they thought him worthy of a public burial; and the people of the place built a house of prayer around his tomb, and they still keep the day of his death most notably. So Nilammon died — if one should call it death — which he prayed to undergo before being entrusted with the priesthood, of which he thought himself unworthy through the modesty of his character. John, having returned to Constantinople, appeared still more beloved by the people. And when about sixty bishops, who had then met in Constantinople, had voted that what had been done at the Oak was void and that he should hold the episcopate, he continued to serve as priest, to ordain, and to manage the rest of the church’s affairs as is lawful for those who preside. Then he appointed Serapion bishop of Heraclea in Thrace. ### Translation notes - The first words of the staged text are the end of the chapter title and are removed by a correction. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 8.19 (PG 67:1563–1567; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/8-19). ## Church History 8.20 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/8-20/#p-8-20 - Source: PG 67:1567–1569 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 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. ### Greek text 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, ### English translation (Claude) 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, ### Scripture references - Mark 6:25: allusion, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Conc. Antioch. 4 (Canons of the Council of Antioch (in Encaeniis)): allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - 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. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 8.20 (PG 67:1567–1569; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/8-20). ## Church History 8.21 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/8-20/#p-8-21 - Source: PG 67:1569–1571 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 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. ### Greek text 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. ### English translation (Claude) 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. ### Translation notes - “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. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 8.21 (PG 67:1569–1571; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/8-21). ## Church History 8.22 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/8-20/#p-8-22 - Source: PG 67:1571–1573 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 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. ### Greek text 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. ### English translation (Claude) 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. ### Translation notes - Chrysostom left Constantinople on 20 June 404. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 8.22 (PG 67:1571–1573; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/8-22). ## Church History 8.23 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/8-20/#p-8-23 - Source: PG 67:1573–1575 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 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. ### Greek text 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. ### English translation (Claude) 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. ### Translation notes - The first word of the staged text is the end of the chapter title and is removed by a correction. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 8.23 (PG 67:1573–1575; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/8-23). ## Church History 8.24 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/8-20/#p-8-24 - Source: PG 67:1577–1579 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 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. ### Greek text 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. ### English translation (Claude) 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. ### Translation notes - The law is Codex Theodosianus 16.4.6 (18 November 404). ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 8.24 (PG 67:1577–1579; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/8-24). ## Church History 8.25 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/8-20/#p-8-25 - Source: PG 67:1579–1583 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Huns ravage Thrace and Isaurian brigands raid the East; Stilicho, at enmity with Arcadius’s court, sets Alaric against Illyricum. ### Greek text 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 ### English translation (Claude) 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 … ### Translation notes - The end of the section is damaged in the scan (marked “…”); Alaric was recalled by letters of Honorius. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 8.25 (PG 67:1579–1583; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/8-25). ## Church History 8.26 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/8-20/#p-8-26 - Source: PG 67:1583–1589 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 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. ### Greek text 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. ### English translation (Claude) 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.” ### Extrabiblical texts - Palladius, Dial. Vit. Chrys. 3 (Dialogue on the Life of John Chrysostom): echo, medium confidence ### Translation notes - 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). ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 8.26 (PG 67:1583–1589; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/8-26). ## Church History 8.27 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/8-20/#p-8-27 - Source: PG 67:1589–1591 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 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. ### Greek text 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. ### English translation (Claude) 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. ### Translation notes - Eudoxia died on 6 October 404. Cyrinus’s death is told in 8.16. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 8.27 (PG 67:1589–1591; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/8-27). ## Church History 8.28 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/8-20/#p-8-28 - Source: PG 67:1591 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 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. ### Greek text 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. ### English translation (Claude) 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. ### Translation notes - Chrysostom died at Comana on 14 September 407. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 8.28 (PG 67:1591; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/8-28). ## Church History 9.1 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/9-1/#p-9-1 - Source: PG 67:1593–1597 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Arcadius dies (408) leaving the infant Theodosius II; his sister Pulcheria, aged fifteen, vows virginity with her sisters, governs for her brother, trains him in piety and royal bearing, and founds churches and hostels. ### Greek text Τὰ μὲν δὴ κατὰ Ἰωάννην ὧδε ἔσχε. Μετ᾿ οὐ πολὺ δὲ τῆς τούτου τελευτῆς, τρίτον ἔτος; ἤδη ᾿Αττικοῦ διανύοντος τὴν Κωνσταντινουπόλεως ἐπισκοπὴν, Βάσσου καὶ Φιλίππου ὑπατευόντων, τελευτᾷ τὸν βίον Αρχάξιος, διάδοχον τῆς ἡγεμονίας Θεοδόσιον τὸν υἱέα καταλιπὼν, ἀρτίως γάλακτι τρέφεσθαι πεπαυμένον θυγατέρας δὲ, Πουλχερίαν καὶ ᾿Αρχαδίαν Μαρίναν, ἔτι κομιδῇ νέας. Ἧ μοι δοκεῖ μάλιστα τὸν Θεὸν ἐπιδεῖξαι, μόνην εὐσέδειαν ἀρκεῖν πρὸς σωτηρίαν τοῖς βασιλεύουσιν ἄνευ δὲ ταύτης, μηδὲν εἶναι στρατεύματα καὶ βασιλέως ἰσχὺν, καὶ τὴν ἄλλην Ἐπεὶ οὖν εὐσεδέστατον τὸν βασιλέα ἔσεσθαι προεῖδεν ἡ τῶν ὅλων θεία δύναμις, ἐπίτροπον αὐτοῦ τῆς ἡγεμονίας κατἐστησε Πουλχερίαν τὴν ἀδελφήν. Ἢ δὲ, οὔπω πεντεχαιδέχατον ἔτος ἄγουσα, ὑπὲρ τὴν ἡλικίαν σοφώτατον θεῖον νοῦν. Καὶ πρῶτα μὲν τὴν αὐτῆς παρθενίαν τῷ Θεῷ ἀνέθηχε, καὶ τὰς ἀδελφὰς ἐπὶ τὸν αὐτὸν ἐπαιδαγώγησε βίον, ὅπως μὴ ἄλλον ἄνδρα ἐπεισαγάγη τοῖς βασιλείοις, καὶ ζήλου ἐπιδουλῆς πᾶσαν ἀνέλῃ ἀφορμήν. Ἐπιδεδαιοῦσα δὲ τὰ δόξαντα, καὶ Θεὸν αὐτὸν, καὶ ἱερέας, καὶ πάντα ἀρχόμενον μάρτυρας ποιουμένη τῶν αὐτῇ βεδουλευμένων, ἐχ χρυσοῦ λίθων τιμίων θαυμάσιόν τι χρῆμα θεα- , , μάτων κάλλιστον, ὑπὲρ τῆς ἰδίας παρθενίας καὶ τῆς πον τρί αἱὸ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ ἡγεμονίας, ἱερὰν ἀνέθετο τράπεζαν ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ Κωνσταντινουπόλεως " καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ μετώπου τῆς τραπέζης, ὡς ἂν πᾶσιν ἔχδηλα ἧ, τάδε ἐπέγραψεν. Ὑπεισελθοῦσα δὲ τῆς ἡγεμονίας τὴν φροντίδα, ἄριστα καὶ ἐν κόσμῳ πολλῷ τὴν Ῥωμαίων οἰκουμένην διῴχησεν " εὖ βουλευομένη, ὡς ἐν τάχει τὰ πρακτέα ἐπιτελοῦσα καὶ γράφουσα 47). Ἠχρίδωτο γὰρ λέγειν, καὶ γράφειν ὀρθῶς τὴν Ῥωμαίων ᾿Ἑλλήνων φωνήν. Τῶν δὲ πραττομένων τὴν δόχησιν εἰς τὸν ἀδελφὸν ἀνέφερε " ἐπεμελεῖτο, ὡς ἂν μάλιστα βασιλικῶς ἀναχθείη τοῖς καθ᾽ ἡλικίαν παιδευομένοις μαθήμασιν. ᾿Αλλ᾽ ἱππικὴν μὲν καὶ τὴν ἐν τοῖς ὅπλοιξ καὶ τοῖς λόγοις ἄτχησιν, παρὰ τῶν ἐπιστημόνων ἐξεδίδάσχετο. Περὶ δὲ τὰς προόδους χόσμιος εἶναι καὶ βασιλιχὺὸς, παρὰ τῆς ἀδελφῆς ἐῤῥυθμίζετο - ἐσθῆτα χρὴ περιστέλλειν μανθάνων, καὶ τρόπῳ τίνι καθῆσθαι, καὶ βαδίζειν, καὶ γέλωτος κρατεῖν, πρᾷος. φοβερὸς ἐν καιρῷ εἶναι, ἁρμοδίως πυνθάνεσθαι τῶν περί του δεομένων. Οὐχ ἥκιστα δὲ εἰς εὐσέδειαν αὐτὸν ἦγε, συνεχῶς εὔχεσθαι, καὶ ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις φοιτᾶν ἐθίζουσα καὶ ἀναθήμασι καὶ κειμηλίοις τοὺς εὐκτηρίους οἴκους γεραΐθειν" καὶ ἐν τιμῇ ἔχειν τοὺς ἱερέας, ἄλλου: ἀγαθοὺς ἄνδρας, καὶ τοὺς νόμῳ Χριστιανῶν φιλοσοφοῦντας. Οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ ὑπὸ νόθων δογμάτων νεωτερίζεσθαι χινδυνευούσης τῆς θρησκείας, σπουδῇ καὶ σοφῶς προύὔπτη. Καὶ τοῦ μὴ καινὰς αἱρέσεις ἐν τοῖς ἡμᾶς χρόνοις κρατεῖν, μάλιστα αὐτὴν αἰτίαν εὑρήσομεν, ὡς ἐν τοῖς μετὰ ταῦτα εἰσόμεθα. Δέει δὲ πολλῷ τὸ Θεῖον θρησχεύουσα, μακρὸν ἂν εἴη παρὰ τίσι λέγειν, πόσους εὐκτηρίους οἴκους μεγαλοπρεπῶς ἐτεχτήνατο' πόσα δὲ χαταγώγια πτωχῶν καὶ ξένων, καὶ μοναστιχὰς συνοικίας συνεστήσατο, διηνεχῇ τάξατα τὴν εἰς ταῦτα δαπάνην, καὶ τὸ σιτηρέσιον τῶν ἐνοικούντων. Εἴ τῳ δὲ φίλον τῶν πραὙμάτων πειρᾶσθαι τῆς ἀληθείας, μὴ τοῖς ἐμοῖς πείθεσθαι λόγοις, μαθήσεται μὴ ψευδῶς, μηδὲ πρὸς χάριν με τάδε συγγράφειν, εἰ παρὰ τῶν ἐπιτρόπευὄντων τὸν αὐτῆς οἶχον ἀνάγραπτον οὖσαν διέλθοι τῶν τοιούτων γνῶσιν, καὶ παρὰ τῶν γεγραμμένων πύθοιτο, εἰ τῇ γραφῇ συνάδει τὰ πράγματα. δὲ μὴ ταῦτα μόνα πρὸς πίστιν ἀρκεῖ, πιστούσθω καὶ Θεὸς αὐτὸς, πάντως που διὰ τὴν πολιτείαν κεχαρισμένην αὐτὴν ἔχων᾽ ὡς εὐχομένης ἑτοίμως ὑπαχούειν, πολλάκις αὐτῇ περὶ τῶν πρακτέων προφαΐνεσθαι. Οὐ ἂν φαΐην ποτὲ θεοφίλειαν παραγίνεσθα: τοῖς ἀνθρώποις, ἣν μὴ σφᾶς ἀξίους ταύτης διὰ τῶν ἔργων παρέχωσιν. ὅσα μὲν τῶν καθ᾽ ἕκαστον εἰς ἀπόδεῖξιν ἐπιδειχνύντων θεοφιλῆ εἶναι τὴν τοῦ βασιλέως ἀδελφὴν, ἐχὼν παρήσω τέως, μὴ μωμέσηταίτις ὡς ἕτερα πραγματευόμενος, εἰς μίων νόμον ἐτράπην. Ὁ δὲ μοι καὶ κατ᾿ αὐτὸν, ἐκκλησιαστικῆς τε ἱστορίας ἴδιον εἶναι δοκεῖ, καὶ θεoφιλείας αὐτῆς περιφανὴς ἔλεγχος, αὐτόθεν ἐρῶ, εἰ καὶ χρόνῳ ὕστερον συνέβη. Ἔχει δὲ ὧδε. ### English translation (Claude) Such were the events concerning John. Not long after his death, when Atticus was already completing the third year of his episcopate of Constantinople, in the consulship of Bassus and Philip, Arcadius died, leaving as successor to the rule his son Theodosius, just weaned, and daughters, Pulcheria, Arcadia and Marina, still very young. In this, it seems to me, God showed above all that piety alone suffices rulers for their safety, and that without it armies and an emperor’s strength and the rest of his power are nothing. For since the divine power over all things foresaw that the emperor would be most pious, it appointed Pulcheria his sister as guardian of his rule. She, not yet in her fifteenth year, received a mind most wise and divine beyond her age. First she dedicated her virginity to God and trained her sisters in the same life, so that she might bring no other man into the palace and remove every occasion of jealousy and plotting. Confirming her decision, and making God himself, the priests and all the subjects witnesses of what she had resolved, she dedicated in the church of Constantinople, on behalf of her own virginity and her brother’s rule, a holy table, a marvellous work of gold and precious stones, most beautiful to behold; and on the front of the table she inscribed these things, so that they might be plain to all. Taking up the care of the government, she ruled the Roman world excellently and in great order, taking good counsel, so as to carry out quickly what had to be done, and writing it; for she was exactly trained to speak and write correctly in the language of the Romans and of the Greeks. She referred the credit for what was done to her brother; and she took care that he should be brought up as royally as possible in the studies suited to his age. Horsemanship and practice in arms and in letters he was taught by experts; but he was trained by his sister to be orderly and kingly in his public appearances, learning how to wear his robe, how to sit and walk, to restrain laughter, to be gentle or fearsome as occasion required, and to inquire fittingly of those who came with requests. Above all she led him to piety, accustoming him to pray continually, to frequent the churches, to honour the houses of prayer with offerings and treasures, and to hold in honour the priests and other good men and those who live the philosophic life according to the law of the Christians. Moreover, when religion was in danger of being disturbed by spurious doctrines, she provided against it zealously and wisely; and we shall find her chiefly responsible that new heresies have not prevailed in our times, as we shall learn later. With what great awe she worshipped the divine, it would take long to tell — how many houses of prayer she built magnificently, how many hostels for the poor and strangers and monastic communities she founded, appointing permanent funds for these and the maintenance of those who live in them. If anyone wishes to test the truth of these things, not trusting my words, he will learn that I do not write them falsely or to gain favour, if he goes through the record of such things, kept in writing by the stewards of her household, and learns from the documents whether the facts agree with what is written. And if these alone do not suffice for belief, let God himself confirm it, who has surely found her pleasing because of her conduct, so that he readily hears her prayers and often shows her beforehand what is to be done. I would never say that the love of God comes to people unless they make themselves worthy of it by their deeds. But the many particular things that show the emperor’s sister to be dear to God I will willingly pass over for now, lest anyone blame me for having turned to the rule of encomium while engaged in other matters. But one thing, which seems to me both proper to church history and a plain proof of her love of God, I will tell here, even though it happened later. It is as follows. ### Translation notes - Arcadius died on 1 May 408. The text of Pulcheria’s inscription is not given in the scan (it may never have been copied). ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 9.1 (PG 67:1593–1597; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/9-1). ## Church History 9.2 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/9-1/#p-9-2 - Source: PG 67:1597–1601 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Relics of the Forty Martyrs of Sebasteia, hidden in the tomb of the Macedonian deaconess Eusebia, are rediscovered through visions to Pulcheria and the memory of an old monk, and enshrined beside St. Thyrsus; Sozomen attended the festival. ### Greek text Γυνή τις Εὐσεβία τούνομα, διάκονος τῆς Μακεδονίου αἱρέσεως, οἴκημα καὶ κῆπον εἶχε πρὸ τοῦ τείχους τῆς Κωνσταντινουπόλεως· καὶ ἱερὰ λείψανα ἐνθάδε ἐφύλαττε τῶν ἐν Σεβαστείᾳ τῆς ᾿Αρμενίας κατὰ τοὺς Λικινίου χρόνους μαρτυρησάντων τεσσαράκοντα στρατιωτῶν ". Μέλλουσα δὲ τελευτᾷν, κατέλιπε τὸν προειρημένον τόπον μοναχοῖς ὁμοδόξοις, καὶ μεθ' ὅρκων αὐτῶν ἐδεήθη ἐκεῖσε ταφῆναι · ὑπὲρ δὲ κεφαλῆς ἐπὶ τῷ ἄκρῳ τῆς αὐτῆς σορὸν ἰδίᾳ ξέσαι, καὶ συγκαταθέσθαι αὐτῇ τῶν μαρτύρων τὰ λείψανα, καὶ μηδενὶ καταμηνύσαι. Καὶ οἱ μὲν ὧδε ἐποίουν. Ὥστε δὲ τῆς προσηκούσης θεραπείας μεταλαγχάνειν τοὺς μάρτυρας · καὶ τοὺς ἔξωθεν ἀγνοεῖν· κατὰ τὰ συντεθειμένα πρὸς Εὐσεβίαν, εὐκτήριον οἶκον ὑπὸ γῆν ἐτεκτήναντο περὶ τὴν αὐτῆς θήκην· εἰς δὲ τὸ προφανές, οἴκημα ὑπεράνω πλίνθοις ὀπταῖς τὸ ἔδαφος ἡμφιεσμένον, καὶ καταβάσιον ἐκ τούτου λανθάνον ἐπὶ τοὺς μάρτυρας. Μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα Καισάριος ἀνὴρ τῶν τότε ἐν δυνάμει, ὃς καὶ ὑπάτου καὶ ὑπάρχου εἰς ἀξίαν προῆλθε, θανοῦσαν αὐτοῦ τὴν γαμετὴν παρὰ τὴν Εὐσεβίας σορὸν ἔθαψε. Τοῦτο γὰρ ἔτι περιούσαις αὐταῖς συνέδοξεν, ὑπερφυῶς κεχαρισμέναις ἀλλήλαις, καὶ περὶ τὸ δόγμα καὶ τὴν θρησκείαν ὁμοφρονούσαις. Ἐντεῦθεν πρόφασις ἐγένετο Καισαρίῳ κτήσασθαι τοῦτον τὸν τόπον, ὡς ἂν καὶ αὐτὸς πλησίον τῆς γαμετῆς ταφείη. Οἱ δὲ προειρημένοι μοναχοί, ἀλλαχῆ μετῳκίσθησαν, μηδὲν περὶ τῶν μαρτύρων ὁμολογήσαντες. Καταπεσόντος δὲ τοῦ οἴκου μετὰ ταῦτα, γῆς τε καὶ φορυτοῦ ἐπιβληθέντος, πᾶς ὁ τῇδε τόπος ἐξωμαλίσθη· καθότι αὐτὸς Καισάριος εἰς τιμὴν Θύρσου τοῦ μάρτυρος, μεγαλοπρεπῆ ναὸν τῷ Θεῷ ἐνθάδε ἀνέστησεν. Ὡς ἔοικε δὲ, ἐπιμελῶς ωδε ἀφανισθῆναι τὸν προειρημένον τόπον, καὶ τοσοῦτον προΒΟΖΌΜΕΝΙ , ελθεῖν χρόνον ὁ Θεὸς ἐδούλετο, παραδοξοτέραν καὶ ἐπιφανεστέραν παρασχευάζων τῶν μαρτύρων τὴν εὕρεσιν, τῆς εὑρούσης τὴν θεοφίλειαν. δὲ τοῦ κρατοῦντος ἡ ἀδελφὴ Πουλχερία ἡ βασιλίς. Ἔπιφανεὶς γὰρ αὑτῇ τρίτον ὁ θαυμάσιος Θύρσος, τοὺς ὑπὸ γῆν κρυπτομένους ἐμήνυσε, καὶ μετατίθεσθαι πρὸς ἑχυτὸν ἐκέλευσεν ὥστε τῆς ὁμοίας θέσεως τιμῆς μετέχειν. δὲ αὐτοὶ οἱ τεσσαράκοντα χλανίδας ἡμφιεσμένοι λαμπρὰς, καταδήλους αὑτῇ σφᾶς ἐποίησαν. Ἐδόκει δὲ πίστεως εἶναι κρεῖττον τὸ πρᾶγμα, καὶ παντελῶς ἄπορον. Οὔτε γὰρ οἱ παλαιότεροι τῶν ἐνθάδε κληρικῶν πολλάκις ἐρωτηθέντες, οὔτε ἄλλος οὐδεὶς καταμηνύειν εἶχε τοὺς μάρτυρας. Τὸ δὴ τελευταῖον, πάντων ἀμηχανούντων, Πολυχρονίῳ τινὶ πρεσβυτέρῳ, πάλαι γενομένῳ τῶν Καισαρίου οἰκείων, ἄγει τὸ θεῖον εἰς νοῦν τούς ποτε τὸν τόπον οἰχήσαντας μοναχούς. Καὶ παρὰ τοὺς Μακεδονιανῶν κληρικοὺς ἐλθὼν, ἐπυνθάνετο περὶ αὐτῶν. Ἤδη δὲ πάντων τετελευτηκότων, ἕνα μόνον περιόντα εὑρὼν ὡς ἐπὶ μηνύσει τῶν ἐπιζητουμένων μαρτύρων ἔτι πεφυλαγμένον ἐν ζῶσιν, ἐδεῖτο φράζειν, εἴγε ἱερὰ λείψανα εἶδεν ὑπὸ τὸν δηλωθέντα χῶρον κρυπτόμενα. Ἐπεὶ δὲ διὰ τὰς πρὸς Εὐσεδίαν συνθήκας, ἰδὼν αὑτὸν Πολυχρόνιος ὑποπαραιτούμενον, καὶ τὴν θείαν ἐπιφάνειαν ἐδήλωσε, καὶ τῆς βασιλίδος τὰς ὀχλήσεις, καὶ αὑτῶν τὴν ἀμηχανίαν, συνωμολόγησεν ἀληθῇ τὸν Θεὸν ἐπιδεῖξαι τῇ κρατούσῃ " βούπαιδα γὰρ τότε ὄντα, ὑπὸ γέροντας ἡγουμένους τὴν μοναστικὴν ἐχδιδασχόμενον, ἀκχριδθῶς ἐπίστασθαι, μάρτυρας ( χεῖσθα: περὶ τὴν σορόν μὴ εἰδέναι μέντοι, πότερον ὑπὸ τέμενος, ἢ ἑτέρωθι χατορωρυγμένοι εἰσι, τῷ πολὺν παρελθεῖν χρόνον, τὴν προτέραν ὄψιν τοῦ τόπου εἰς τὸ νῦν φαινόμενον ἀμειφθῆναι, Καὶ μὴν, ἔφη Πολυχρόνιος, οὐ τὸ αὑτὸ πέπονθα. Μέμνημαι γὰρ παρατυχὼν τῇ ταφῇ τῆς Καισαρίου γαμετῆς " καὶ ἀναλογιζόμενος τῆς πέλας παρακειμένης λεωφόρον, εἰκάζω αὐτὴν κεῖσθαι περὶ" βῆμα δὲ τοῦτο τῶν ἀναγνωστῶν. Οὐκοῦν, ὑπολαδὼν ὁ μοναχὸς εἶπε, καὶ τῆς Εὐσεδίας σορὸν παρὰ τὴν Καισαρίου γαμετὴν ζητητέον " καθότι περιοῦσαι τὰ πολλὰ συνῆσαν ἀλλήλαις, θανοῦσαι συνέθεντο ἅμα τὰς θήκας ἔχειν. Ἐπεὶ δὲ κατὰ τὰ εἰρημένα ὀρύττειν ἔδει, τὰ ἱερὰ λείΨανα ἀνιχνεύειν, μαθοῦσα ταῦτα ἡ βασιλὶς, ἐταξεν ἔχεσθαι τοῦ ἔργου. ᾿Ανορυγέντος τε τοῦ περὶ τὸν ἄμθωνα χώρου, εὑρέθη ἡ τῆς Καισαρίου γαμετῆς θήκη, καθὼς συνέδαλε Πολυχρόνιος ὀλίγον δὲ διεστὼς ἐκ πλαγίου κατάστρωμα πλίνθων ὀπτῶν, Ισομέτρως τε τῇ τούτων περιβολῇ πλὰξ μαρμαρίνη· ὑφ᾽ ἣν αὐτῆς Εὐσεβίας ἡ σορὸς ἀπεδείχθη, καὶ τὸ περὶ αὐτὴν εὐκτήριον, ἐπιεικῶς μάλα λευκοπορφύροις μαρμάροις ἡμφιεσμένον. Τὸ δὲ ἐπίθεμα τῆς θήκης, ὥσπερ εἰς ἱερὰν ἐξησκεῖτο τράπεζαν. Ἐπ' ἄκρου δὲ καθ᾿ ὅ οἱ μάρτυρες ἔκειντο, τρύπημα μικρὸν ἀνεφάνη. Παρεστὼς δὲ τις τοῦ βασιλέως οἴκου, ῥάβδον λεπτὴν ἣν ἔτυχε κατέχων, διὰ τοῦ τρυπήματος καθῆκεν· καὶ ἀνιμήσας, τῇ ῥινὶ προσἡγαγε, καὶ μύρον εὐωδίας ὠσφράνθη. Ἐκ τούτου γε ἀγαθαὶ ἐλπίδες τοῖς ἐργαζομένοις, καὶ τοῖς ἐφεστῶσιν ἐγένοντο · καὶ σπουδῇ τὴν σορὸν ἀποκαλύψαντες, εὑρίσκουσι τὴν Εὐσεβίαν. Τὸ δὲ πρὸς κεφαλὴν αὐτῆς ἐξέχον τῆς θήκης, εἰς κιβωτοῦ σχῆμα περιεξεσμένον, ἰδίῳ ἔνδοθεν ἐκαλύπτετο ἐπιθέματι · καὶ ἑκατέρωθεν αὐτῷ πρὸς τὰ χείλη σίδηρος ἐπικείμενος, συνεῖχε μολίβδῳ συμπεπηγώς. Ἐπὶ δὲ μέσου τὸ αὐτὸ τρύπημα πάλιν ἀναφανὲν, ἔτι σαφέστερον ἐδείκνυ ἔνδον ἔχειν τοὺς μάρτυρας. Ὡς δὲ ταῦτα ἠγγέλθη, συνἐδραμον εἰς τὸ μαρτύριον, ἤ τε βασιλὶς καὶ ὁ ἐπίσκοπος · αὐτίκα δὲ διὰ τῶν ἐπιστημόνων περιαιρεθέντων τῶν σιδηρείων δεσμῶν, εὐπετῶς ἐξειλκύσθη τὸ ἐπίθεμα · ὑπὸ δὲ τοῦτο μύρα πολλὰ, καὶ ἐν τοῖς μύροις ἀλαβαστροθῆκαι ἀργυραῖ δύο εὑρέθησαν, ἐν αἷς τὰ ἱερὰ λείψανα ἔκειντο. Τότε μὲν οὖν ἡ βασιλὶς εὐχαριστήρια ηὔξατο τῷ Θεῷ, τοσαύτης ἐπιφανείας ἀξιωθεῖσα καὶ τῆς εὑρέσεως ἐπιτυχοῦσα τῶν ἱερῶν λειψάνων · μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα, πολυτελεστάτῃ θήκῃ τιμῶσα τοὺς μάρτυρας, παρὰ τὸν θεσπέσιον Θύρσον κατέθετο, δημοτελοῦς ἑορτῆς, ὡς εἰκὸς, καὶ τῆς προσηκούσης τιμῆς καὶ πομπῆς σὺν ψαλμῳδίαις ἐπιτελεσθείσης, ᾗ καὶ αὐτὸς ἐγὼ παρεγενόμην. Καὶ τὰ μὲν ὧδε γενέσθαι, οἱ παρατυχόντες τῇ ἑορτῇ μαρτυρήσουσι • σχεδὸν γὰρ ἔτι πάντες περίεισι, καθότι πολλῷ ὕστερον συνέβη, Πρόκλου ἐπιτροπεύοντος τὴν Κωνσταντινουπόλεως Ἐκκλησίαν. ### English translation (Claude) A certain woman named Eusebia, a deaconess of the Macedonian heresy, had a house and garden before the wall of Constantinople, and kept there sacred relics of the forty soldiers who were martyred at Sebasteia in Armenia in the time of Licinius. When about to die, she left the place to monks of her own belief, and begged them with oaths to bury her there, and above her head, at the top of her coffin, to hollow out a separate receptacle and lay the relics of the martyrs with her, and to tell no one. They did so. And so that the martyrs might receive fitting veneration while those outside knew nothing, according to the agreement with Eusebia they built a house of prayer underground about her tomb, and openly a dwelling above it with its floor covered with baked bricks, and from it a hidden descent to the martyrs. After this Caesarius, one of the powerful men of the time, who had advanced to the rank of consul and of prefect, buried his wife, when she died, beside Eusebia’s coffin; for they had agreed on this while still alive, being exceedingly dear to each other and of one mind about doctrine and religion. Hence Caesarius had a pretext for acquiring this place, so that he too might be buried near his wife. The monks mentioned moved elsewhere, having said nothing about the martyrs. When the house afterwards fell down, and earth and rubbish were thrown on it, the whole place there was levelled; for Caesarius himself raised a magnificent temple to God there in honour of the martyr Thyrsus. It seems that God willed the place to be thus carefully obliterated and so much time to pass, preparing a more wonderful and more glorious finding of the martyrs and of the love of God of her who found them. And this was the emperor’s sister, the empress Pulcheria. For the wonderful Thyrsus appeared to her three times, disclosed those hidden underground, and ordered them to be moved beside himself, so as to share the same position and honour; and the Forty themselves, clothed in splendid cloaks, made themselves known to her. The thing seemed beyond belief and altogether impossible; for neither the older clergy there, though often asked, nor anyone else could point out the martyrs. At last, when all were at a loss, God brought to the mind of a certain Polychronius, a presbyter, who had once been of Caesarius’s household, the monks who had formerly lived in the place. Going to the clergy of the Macedonians, he inquired about them. All had already died; but finding one alone surviving, as if kept alive for the disclosure of the martyrs sought for, he begged him to say whether he had seen sacred relics hidden under the place in question. When Polychronius saw him somewhat refusing, because of the agreement with Eusebia, and told him of the divine appearance, the empress’s urgings and their own perplexity, he admitted that God had shown the ruler the truth. For being a young boy then, being taught the monastic life under the old men who led it, he knew exactly that martyrs lay about the coffin; but he did not know whether they were buried under the sanctuary or elsewhere, since, much time having passed, the former appearance of the place had changed to what is now seen. “But I,” said Polychronius, “have not had the same experience. For I remember being present at the burial of Caesarius’s wife; and reckoning from the highway lying nearby, I conjecture that she lies about the ambo” — this is the readers’ platform. “Then,” the monk answered, “Eusebia’s coffin too must be sought beside Caesarius’s wife; for while alive they were mostly together, and when dying they agreed to have their tombs together.” When it became necessary to dig according to what had been said and to track the sacred relics, the empress, learning of it, ordered the work to begin. When the place about the ambo had been dug up, the tomb of Caesarius’s wife was found, as Polychronius had conjectured; and a little way off to the side a pavement of baked bricks, and a marble slab equal in measure to their enclosure, under which the coffin of Eusebia herself was revealed, and the oratory about it, very fittingly faced with white and purple marble. The lid of the coffin was worked like a holy table; and at the top, where the martyrs lay, a small hole appeared. One of the emperor’s household standing by let down through the hole a thin rod he happened to be holding; and drawing it up he brought it to his nose and smelled a fragrant perfume. From this good hopes arose in the workers and those overseeing them; and quickly uncovering the coffin, they found Eusebia. The part of the tomb projecting at her head, carved out in the shape of a chest, was covered within by its own lid; and iron laid along its edges on each side held it, fixed with lead. In the middle the same hole appeared again and showed still more clearly that the martyrs were inside. When this was reported, the empress and the bishop ran together to the martyr’s shrine; and at once, the iron fastenings having been removed by craftsmen, the lid was easily drawn off. Under it much perfume was found, and in the perfume two silver caskets in which the sacred relics lay. Then the empress gave thanks to God for having been thought worthy of so great a manifestation and of finding the sacred relics; and afterwards, honouring the martyrs with a most costly casket, she laid them beside the divine Thyrsus, a public festival being held, as was fitting, with due honour, procession and psalm-singing, at which I myself was present. That these things happened so, those present at the festival will bear witness; for almost all are still alive, since it happened much later, when Proclus governed the church of Constantinople. ### Translation notes - The finding took place under Proclus, bishop of Constantinople 434–446. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 9.2 (PG 67:1597–1601; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/9-2). ## Church History 9.3 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/9-1/#p-9-3 - Source: PG 67:1603 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Pulcheria and her sisters live a common life of prayer, charity and weaving in the palace, and God protects the young emperor’s reign. ### Greek text Λόγος δὲ καὶ ἐπὶ ἄλλοις πράγμασι πολλάκις τὸν Θεὸν προαναφανῆναι τὸ μέλλον τῇ βασιλίδι, καὶ πλεῖστα θεοφίλειαν μαρτυροῦντα συμβῆναι περὶ αὐτὴν καὶ τὰς αὐτῆς ἀδελφάς · ἐπεὶ καὶ αὗται τὸν ἶσον πολιτεύονται τρόπον, περὶ τοὺς ἱερέας, καὶ τοὺς εὐκτηρίους οἴκους σπουδάζουσαι, καὶ περὶ τοὺς δεομένους ξένους καὶ πτωχοὺς φιλοτιμούμεναι. Τράπεζα καὶ πρόοδος ὡς ἐπίπαν ἡ αὐτὴ πάσαις· κοινῇ τε νύκτωρ καὶ μεθ᾽ ἡμέραν τὸν Θεὸν ὑμνοῦσι· καὶ οἷος ἀξιαγάστων γυναικῶν νόμος, ὑφασμάτων καὶ τῶν τοιούτων ἔργων ἐπιμελοῦνται. Ῥαστώνην γὰρ καὶ ἀργίαν, καίπερ βασιλεύουσαι, καὶ ἐν τοῖς βασιλείοις τεχθεῖσαι καὶ τραφεῖσαι, παρθενίας ἱερᾶς ἣν μετιᾶς σιν ἀναξίαν ἡγήσαντο, καὶ τοῦ οἰκείου βίου ἀφώρισαν. Διὰ ταῦτα δὲ προφανῶς ἵλεω ὄντος τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ τοῦ αὐτῶν οἴκου ὑπερμαχοῦντος, τῷ μὲν κρατοῦντι τὰ τῆς ἡλικίας καὶ τῆς ἀρχῆς ἐπεδίδου · πᾶσα δὲ ἐπιβουλὴ, καὶ πόλεμος κατ' αὐτοῦ συνιστάμενος, αὐτομάτως διελύετο. ### English translation (Claude) It is said that in other matters too God often revealed the future to the empress beforehand, and that very many things bearing witness to the love of God happened concerning her and her sisters. For they too live in the same way, zealous for the priests and the houses of prayer, and generous to strangers in need and to the poor. Their table and their going out are for the most part the same for all; they sing hymns to God together night and day; and, as is the rule of admirable women, they busy themselves with weaving and such works. For though they are princesses, born and brought up in the palace, they thought ease and idleness unworthy of the holy virginity they pursue, and banished them from their life. Because of this, God being plainly gracious and fighting for their house, the ruler grew in age and in power, and every plot and war raised against him was dissolved of itself. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 9.3 (PG 67:1603; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/9-3). ## Church History 9.4 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/9-1/#p-9-4 - Source: PG 67:1603–1605 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Persia makes a long truce; Stilicho, who had set Alaric against Illyricum and then dissuaded Honorius from going East, is suspected of plotting for his son Eucherius and is killed with him at Ravenna (408). ### Greek text Τότε γοῦν Πέρσαι μὲν εἰς μάχην κεκινημένοι, ἑκατοντούτεις σπονδὰς πρὸς Ῥωμαίους ἔθεντο. Στολίχων δὲ ὁ τῆς Ονωρίου στρατιᾶς ἡγούμενος, ὕποπτος ὢν ὡς Εὐχέριὸν τὸν υἱέα τὸν ἑαυτοῦ σπουδάζων ἀναγορεῦσαι βασιλέα κατὰ τὴν Ἕω, κτίννυται παρὰ τῶν ἐν Ῥαβέννῃ στρατιωτῶν. Οὗτος δὲ πρότερον, ἔτι περιόντος ᾿Αρκαδίου, καταστὰς εἰς ἔχθραν τοῖς αὐτοῦ ἄρχουσιν, ἐβεβούλευτο παρ' ἑαυτὰ συγκροῦσαι τὰ βασίλεια. Καὶ στρατηγοῦ Ῥωμαίων ἀξίαν προξενήσας ᾿Αλαρίχῳ τῷ ἡγουμένῳ τῶν Γότθων, προϋτρέψατο καταλαβεῖν τοὺς Ἰλλυριούς. Καὶ ὕπαρχον αὐτὸν καταστάντα τὸν Ἰόβιον προπέμψας, συνέθετο καὶ αὐτὸς συνδραμεῖσθαι μετὰ τῶν Ῥωμαίων στρατιωτῶν, ὥστε καὶ τοὺς τῇδε ὑπηκόους ὑπὸ τὴν Ονωρίου δῆθεν ἡγεμονίαν ποιῆσαι. Καὶ ὁ μὲν ᾿Αλάριχος ἐκ τῆς πρὸς τῇ Δαλματίᾳ καὶ Παννονίᾳ γῆς βαρβάρου, οὗ διῆγε, παραλαβὼν τοὺς ὑπ᾿ αὐτὸν, ἦγεν εἰς τὰς Ἠπείρους· καὶ 370 συννὸν ἐνταῦθα προσμείνας χρόνον, ἄπρακτος ἐπαν - ἴλϑεν Ἰταλίαν, Μέλλων γὰρ ἐκδημεῖν κατὰ τὰ συντεθειμένα, 'θνωρίου γράμμασιν ἐπεσχέθη. Ἐπεὶ δὲ ἐτελεύτησεν ᾿Αρκάδιος, ὥρμησε ρίος φειδοῖ τῇ περὶ τὸν ἀδελφιδοῦν ἐπανελθεῖν εἰς Κωνσταντινούπολιν, καὶ πιστοὺς ἄρχοντας καταστῆσαι τῆς αὐτοῦ σωτηρίας βασιλείας. Ἐν τάξει γὰρ υἱέος αὐτὸν ἔχων, ἐδεδίει ματι πάθοι διὰ τὸ νέον, ἕτοιμος ὧν πρὸς ἐπιθουλήν. Ἤδη δὲ μέλλοντα ἔχεσθαι τῆς ὁδοῦ, πείθει Στελίχων ἐν τῇ Ἰταλίᾳ μένειν τὸν Ὅνώριον, ἀναγκαῖον εἶναι τοῦτο εἰπὼν, καθότι Κωνσταντῖνός τις ἐτύγχανεν ἔναγχος ἐν ᾿Αρηλάτῳ τυραννήσας. Θάτερον δὲ τῶν σχήπτρων ὃ Λάδωρον Ῥωμαῖοι καλοῦσι, γράμματα βασιλέως λαβὼν, ἐπιτρέποντα αὐτῷ τὴν εἰς τὴν ᾿Ανατολὴν ἄφιξιν, ἔμελλεν ἐκδημεῖν, τέσσαρας ἀριθμοὺς στρατιωτῶν παραλαβών. Ἐν τούτῳ δὲ φήμης διαδραμούσης ὡς ἐπιθουλεύει τῷ βασιλεῖ, ἐπὶ τυραννίδα τοῦ υἱέως παρασχευάζεται, συμπράττοντας ἔχων τοὺς ἐν δυνάμει, στασιάσαντες οἱ στρατιῶται κτείνουσι τὸν Ἰταλίας ὕπαρχον ,. καὶ τὸν τῶν Γαλαπῶν, καὶ τοὺς στρατηγοὺς, τοὺς ἄλλους τοὺς διέποντας τὰς ἐν τοῖς βασιλείοις ἀρχάς. ᾿Αναιρεῖται ὃς καὶ αὐτὸς παρὰ τῶν Ῥαδέννῃ στρατιωτῶν " ἀνὴρ εἴπερ τις ἄλλος πώποτε, ἐν πολλῇ δυνάμει γενόμενος, καὶ πάντας, ὡς εἰπεῖν, Βαρβάρους τε καὶ Ῥωμαίους πειθομένους ἔχων. Στελίχων μὲν οὖν ὑπονοηθεὶς χαχόνους εἶναι τοῖς βασιλείοις, ὧδε ἀπὠλετο κτίννυται δὲ καὶ Εὐχέριος ὁ τούτου υἱός. ### English translation (Claude) At that time, at any rate, the Persians, who had been roused to battle, made a hundred years’ truce with the Romans. Stilicho, commander of Honorius’s army, being suspected of being eager to proclaim his son Eucherius emperor in the East, was killed by the soldiers at Ravenna. Earlier, while Arcadius was still alive, he had become hostile to his officials and had planned to set the two courts against each other. Having obtained for Alaric, the leader of the Goths, the rank of a Roman general, he urged him to seize Illyricum; and sending ahead Jovius, appointed its prefect, he agreed that he himself would join them with the Roman soldiers, so as supposedly to bring the subjects there under the rule of Honorius. Alaric, taking those under him from the barbarian land bordering Dalmatia and Pannonia where he was living, led them to the Epiruses; and having stayed there a long time, he returned to Italy without success. For when he was about to depart according to the agreement, he was held back by letters of Honorius. When Arcadius died, Honorius set out, out of concern for his nephew, to go to Constantinople and appoint faithful officials for his safety and rule; for regarding him as a son, he feared lest he suffer something because of his youth, being easily exposed to plots. But when he was already about to set out, Stilicho persuaded Honorius to remain in Italy, saying this was necessary because a certain Constantine had lately made himself usurper at Arles. Taking one of the standards which the Romans call the labarum, and receiving letters of the emperor entrusting to him the journey to the East, Stilicho was about to set out with four units of soldiers. Meanwhile a rumour ran that he was plotting against the emperor and preparing to make his son usurper, with the powerful working with him; the soldiers rioted and killed the prefect of Italy and that of the Gauls, and the generals and others holding offices in the palace. And he himself was killed by the soldiers at Ravenna, a man who, if anyone ever, had come to great power and had, so to speak, all, barbarians and Romans, obedient to him. So Stilicho, suspected of being ill disposed toward the court, perished thus; and Eucherius his son was also killed. ### Translation notes - Stilicho was killed on 22 August 408. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 9.4 (PG 67:1603–1605; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/9-4). ## Church History 9.5 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/9-1/#p-9-5 - Source: PG 67:1605–1607 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The Hun king Uldis invades Thrace boasting he could conquer all the sun shines on, but his officers desert to the Romans and he flees, losing the Sciri, who are sold or settled in Asia; Sozomen has seen them farming near the Bithynian Olympus. ### Greek text Κατὰ ταυτὸν δὲ συνέδη Οὔννους στρατοπεδευομένου: ἐν Θράκῃ, μήτε πολεμοῦντος αὑτοῦ, μὴτε διώκοντος, αἰσχρῶς ὑποστρέψαι; τοὺς πλείους ἀπο᾿Επεὶ γὰρ Οὔλδις ὁ ἡγούμενος τῶν περὶ τὸν Ἴστρον βαρδάρων, πλείστην ἔχων στρατιὰν ἐπεραιώθη τὸν ποταμὸν, ἐν τοῖς Θρχαχῶν ἐστρατοπεδεύετο. Καὶ Καστράμαρτις πόλιν τῆς Μυσίας προδοσίᾳ ἐλὼν, ἐντεῦθεν τὴν ἄλλην Θράκην χατέτρεχε, σπονδὰς θέσθαι πρὸς Ῥωμαίους ὑπ᾽ ἀλαζονείας οὐχ ἠνείχετο. Διαλεγομένου δὲ αὐτῷ περὶ εἰρήνης τοῦ ὑπάρχου τῶν Θρᾳχίων στρατευμάτων, ἀνίσχοντα τὸν ἥλιον ἐπιδείξας, οὐ γαλεπὸν αὐτῷ ἔφη, ἣν βούλοιτο, πᾶσαν ἣν ἐφορᾷ γῆν χαταστῥέψασθαι. Τερατευομένου τοιάδε, καὶ δασμὸν ὅσον ἐβούλετο ἐπιτάττοντος, ἐπὶ τούτοις Ρωμαίοις εἰρήνην ἔχειν ἢ πόλεμον ἀμηχάνου τε τοῦ πράγματος ὄντος, ἐπέδειξεν ὁ Θεὸς ἣν ἔχει προμήθειαν περὶ τὴν παροῦσαν βασιλείαν. Οὐκ εἰς μακρὰν γὰρ λόγοι πρὸς τοὺς ἀμφὶ τὸν Οὔλδιν οἰκείους λοχαγοὺς ἐγένοντο περὶ τῆς Ῥωμαίων πολιτείας, τῆς τοῦ βασιλέως φιλαν - θρωπίας, ὁποίων τε καὶ ὅσων ἀξιοῖ γερῶν τοὺς ἀρίστους καὶ ἀγαθοὺς ἄνδρας. Οὐχ ἀθεεὶ δὲ τούτων εἰς ἔρωτα χαταστάντες, Ῥωμαίοις προσεχώρησαν, σὺν αὐτοῖς; ἐστρατοπεδεύοντο ἅμα τοῖς ὑπ᾽ αὐτοὺς τεταγμένοις. Ὁ δὲ Οὔλδις πρὸς τὸ πέραν τοῦ ποταμοῦ μόλις διεσώθη, πολλοὺς ἀποδαλὼν, ἄρδην δὲ τοὺς καλουμένους Σχιρούς" ἔθνος δὲ τοῦτο βαρον, ἱκανῶς πολυάνθρωπον, πρὶν τοιᾷδε περιπεσεῖν συμφορᾷ. Ὑστερήσαντες γὰρ ἐν τῇ φυγῇ, οἱ μὲν αὐτῶν ἀνῃρέθησαν" οἱ δὲ ζωγρηθέντες, δέσμιοι πρὸς τὴν Κωνσταντινούπολιν ἐξεπέμφθησαν. Δόξαν ὃΣ τοῖς ἄρχουτιν διανεῖμαι τούτους, μή τι πλῆθος ὄντες νεωτερίσωσι" τοὺς μὲν ἐπ᾽ ὀλίγοις τιμήμασὶ ἀπέδοντο" τοὺς δὲ πολλοῖς προῖκα δουλεύειν παρέδοἐπὶ τὸ μήτε Κωνσταντινουπόλεως, μήτε πάσης Εὑρώπης ἐπιβαίνειν, καὶ τῇ μέσῃ θαλάσσῃ χωρίζεσθαι τὸν ἐγνωσμένον αὐτοῖς τόπον. τούτων τε πλῆθος ἄπρατον περιλειφθὲν, ἄλλος ἀλλαχῇ διατρίθειν ἐτάχθησαν " πολλοὺς δὲ ἐπὶ τῆς Βιθυνίας τεθέαπρὸς τῷ καλουμένῳ Ὀλύμπῳ ὄρει, σποράδην οἰκοῦντας, τοὺς αὐτόθι λόφους ὑπωρείας γεωργοῦντας. ### English translation (Claude) At the same time it happened that the Huns, encamped in Thrace, withdrew disgracefully, losing most of their men, though no one fought against them or pursued them. For Uldis, the leader of the barbarians along the Ister, having crossed the river with a very large army, encamped in Thrace; and having taken Castra Martis, a city of Moesia, by treachery, he overran the rest of Thrace from there, and out of arrogance would not make a treaty with the Romans. When the commander of the troops in Thrace was discussing peace with him, he pointed to the rising sun and said that it would not be hard for him, if he wished, to subdue all the land it looked upon. While he was boasting so, and demanding as much tribute as he pleased, on these terms to have peace with the Romans or war, and the matter was desperate, God showed what providence he has for the present reign. For not long after, conversations took place with the officers of Uldis’s own following about the Roman constitution, the emperor’s kindness, and what and how great rewards he gives to excellent and good men. Not without God, falling in love with these things, they went over to the Romans and encamped with them, together with those ranked under them. Uldis barely escaped to the other side of the river, having lost many, and above all those called the Sciri — a barbarian nation, quite numerous before it fell into such a disaster. For being left behind in the flight, some of them were killed, while others were taken alive and sent in chains to Constantinople. Since the officials thought it best to distribute them, lest, being numerous, they cause some disturbance, they sold some for small prices, and gave many to serve free, on condition that they never set foot in Constantinople or anywhere in Europe, and that the place assigned to them be separated by the sea between. Of these a great number were left unsold and were ordered to live in different places; and I have seen many in Bithynia near the mountain called Olympus, living scattered and farming the hills and foothills there. ### Translation notes - The first words of the staged text belong to the chapter title and are removed by a correction, as are words leaked into the text from notes or another page. - Uldis’s invasion is dated 408–409. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 9.5 (PG 67:1605–1607; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/9-5). ## Church History 9.6 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/9-1/#p-9-6 - Source: PG 67:1607–1609 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Alaric besieges Rome; pagan senators resort to Etruscan diviners; Alaric tells a monk that an unseen power drives him against the city, and lifts the siege for a ransom. ### Greek text Τὰ μὲν οὖν πρὸς τῆς ἀρχομένης, πολεμίων ἀπήλλακτο, σὺν χότμῳ πολλῷ ἰθύνετο παρὰ τὴν πάντων δόξαν. τὰρ ἔτι νέος ὁ κρατῶν. Τὰ πρὺς Δύσιν, ἐν ἀταξίαις ἦν, πολλῶν ἐπανισταμένων τυράννων. ᾿Ἡνέχα δὴ μετὰ τὴν Στελίχωνος ἀναΐίρετιν, ᾿Αλάριχος ὁ τῶν Γότθων ἡγούμενος, πρεσδευσάμε:νος περὶ εἰρήνης πρὸς Ονώριον, ἀπέτυχε· καὶ ταλαβων τὴν Ῥώμην, ἐπολιόρκει, πολλοὺς βαρβάρους ἐπιστήσας Θύμβριδι τῷ ποταμῷ· ὥστε μὴ εἰσκομίζεσθαι τὰ ἐπιτήδεια τοῖς ἐν τῇ πόλει ἀπὸ τοῦ Πόρτου ὧδε γὰρ ὀνομάζουσι τὸ Ῥωμαῖον ἐπίνειον. Χρονίας δὲ γενομένης τῆς πολιορκίας, λιμοῦ τε καὶ λοιμοῦ τὴν πόλιν πιέζοντος, δούλων τε πολλῶν, καὶ μάλιστα βαρβάρων τῷ γένει, πρὸς τὸν ᾿Αλάριχον αὐτομολούντων, ἀναγκαῖον ἐδόκει τοῖς Ἑλληνίζουσι τῆς συγκλήτου, θύειν ἐν τῷ Καπιτωλίῳ καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις ναοῖς. Θοῦσκοι γάρ τινες ἐπὶ τοῦτο μετακληθέντες παρὰ τοῦ ὑπάρχου τῆς πόλεως, ὑπισχνοῦντο σκηπτοῖς καὶ βρονταῖς ἀπελάσειν τοὺς βαρβάρους. Ηὔχουν δὲ τοιοῦτον αὐτοῖς εἰργᾶσθαι καὶ περὶ Λαρνίαν πόλιν τῆς Θουσκίας, ἣν παριών ᾿Αλάριχος ἐπὶ τὴν Ῥώμην οὐχ εἶλεν. Ἀλλὰ τούτων μὲν οὐδὲν ὄφελος ἔσεσθαι τῇ πόλει, ἡ ἀπόβασις ἔδειξε. Τοῖς γὰρ εὖ φρονοῦσιν ὑπὸ θεομηνίας κατεφαίνετο ταῦτα συμβαίνειν Ῥωμαίοις, κατὰ ποινὴν ὧν προτοῦ ὑπὸ πολλῆς ῥαστώνης καὶ ἀκολασίας εἰς αὐτοὺς καὶ ξένους ἀδίκως ἥμαρτον. Λέγεται γοῦν ἀγαθός τις τῶν ἐν Ἰταλίᾳ μοναχῶν, σπεύδοντι ἐπὶ Ῥώμην ᾿Αλαρίχῳ παραινέσαι, φείσασθαι τῆς πόλεως, μηδὲ τηλικούτων αἴτιον γενέσθαι κακῶν. Τὸν δὲ φάναι, ὡς οὐχ ἑκὼν τάδε ἐπιχειρεῖ · ἀλλά τις συνεχῶς ἐνοχλῶν αὐτὸν βιάζεται, καὶ ἐπιτάττει τὴν Ῥώμην πορθεῖν · ὃ δὴ τελευτῶν ἐποίησεν. Ἐν ᾧ δὲ ἐπολιόρκει, πλεῖστα δῶρα λαβών, ἐπὶ χρόνον τινὰ πολιορκίαν ἔλυσε, συνθεμένων Ῥωμαίων τὸν βασιλέα πείσειν εἰς εἰρήνην αὐτὸν δέχεσθαι. ### English translation (Claude) So the eastern part of the empire was free of enemies and was governed in great order, contrary to everyone’s expectation, though the ruler was still young. But the West was in disorder, as many usurpers rose up. Then, after the killing of Stilicho, Alaric, the leader of the Goths, having sent envoys about peace to Honorius and failed, seized and besieged Rome, posting many barbarians on the river Tiber, so that provisions could not be brought in to those in the city from Portus — for so they call the Roman harbour. The siege being prolonged, and famine and pestilence pressing the city, and many slaves, especially barbarians by race, deserting to Alaric, it seemed necessary to the pagans of the senate to sacrifice on the Capitol and in the other temples. For some Tuscans, summoned for this by the prefect of the city, promised to drive away the barbarians with thunderbolts and thunders; and they boasted that they had done such a thing at Narnia, a city of Tuscany, which Alaric had not taken in passing on his way to Rome. But the outcome showed that these things would be of no use to the city. For to the sensible it appeared that these things befell the Romans through the wrath of God, as punishment for the sins they had formerly committed unjustly, through great ease and licentiousness, against themselves and strangers. It is said, at any rate, that a good monk in Italy urged Alaric, as he hastened toward Rome, to spare the city and not become the cause of such great evils; and that he said that he was not attempting this willingly, but that someone continually troubled him and forced him, ordering him to sack Rome — which at last he did. While he was besieging it, having received very many gifts, he lifted the siege for a time, the Romans agreeing to persuade the emperor to receive him into peace. ### Translation notes - The first siege of Rome was in late 408. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 9.6 (PG 67:1607–1609; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/9-6). ## Church History 9.7 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/9-1/#p-9-7 - Source: PG 67:1609–1611 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Negotiations at Ariminum break down when the prefect Jovius has Honorius’s refusal of a generalship read before Alaric, who marches on Rome; the officials swear never to make peace, though Alaric soon offers alliance for grain and land. ### Greek text Γενομένης δὲ περὶ τούτου πρεσβείας, οἱ τὰ ἐναντία πράττοντες ᾿Αλαρίχῳ ἐν τοῖς βασιλείοις, ἐνεπόδιζον τῇ εἰρήνῃ. Μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα πρεσβευσαμένου Ἰνοκεντίου 5 τοῦ Ῥωμαίων ἐπισκόπου, μετακληθεὶς ᾿Αλάριχος γράμμασι τοῦ βασιλέως, ἧκεν εἰς ᾿Αρίμηνον πόλιν, δέκα καὶ διακοσίοις σταδίοις τῆς Ῥαβέννης ἀφεστῶσαν. Ἐνταῦθα δὲ σκηνὰς ἔχοντι πρὸ τῶν τειχῶν, εἰς λόγους ἐλθὼν Ἰόβιος τῆς Ἰταλίας ὕπαρχος ὢν, δηλοῖ τῷ βασιλεῖ τὴν ᾿Αλαρίχου αἴτησιν, Αι καὶ ὡς δέοι δέλτοις αὐτὸν τιμῆσαι στρατηγοῦ δυνάμεως ἑκατέρας. Ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς χρημάτων μὲν καὶ σιτηρεσίων ὧν ᾔτει, ὡς ὑπάρχῳ Ἰοβίῳ τὴν ἐξουσίαν δέδωκεν· ἀξίας δὲ οὗ ποτε μεταδώσειν αὐτῷ ἀντι εδήλωσεν. ᾿Αβούλως δὲ Ἰόβιος ἐν τῇ Ἀλαρίχου σκηνῇ περιμείνας τὸν ἐκ τῶν βασιλείων ἀπεσταλμένον, ἀναγινώσκειν ἐκέλευε, παρόντων τῶν βαρβάρων, τὰ δόξαντα τῷ βασιλεῖ. Ἐπὶ δὲ τῇ ἀρνήσει τοῦ ἀξιώματος ὀργισθεὶς Αλάριχος ὡς ὑβρισμένος, αὐθωρὸν τῇ σάλπιγγι σημήνας, ἐπὶ τὴν Ῥώμην ἤλαυνε. Δείσας δὲ ὁ Ἰόβιος μὴ ὑπονοηθῇ τῷ βασιλεῖ ᾿Αλαρίχῳ σπουδάζειν, ἀβουλοτέρῳ ἢ πρότερον περιπεσών, πρὸς τῆς σωτηρίας τοῦ βασιλέως αὐτὸς ὤμοσε, καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους ἄρχοντας παρεσκεύασε, μή ποτε εἰρήνην θέσθαι πρὸς ᾿Αλάριχον. Οὐκ εἰς μακρὰν δὲ μεταμεληθεὶς ὁ βάρβαρος, ἐδήλωσε μηδὲν ἀξιωμάτων δεῖσθαι· σύμμαχον δὲ παρέξειν ἑαυτὸν ἐπὶ μετρίᾳ σίτου δόσει, καὶ οἰκήσει τόπων, οὐ πάνυ Ῥωμαίοις ἐσπουδασμένων. ### English translation (Claude) When an embassy was sent about this, those working against Alaric in the palace hindered the peace. After this, when Innocent, the bishop of the Romans, had gone as an envoy, Alaric, summoned by a letter of the emperor, came to Ariminum, a city two hundred and ten stadia from Ravenna. There, while he had his tents before the walls, Jovius, being prefect of Italy, came to terms with him and informed the emperor of Alaric’s request, and that he ought to honour him with the commission of general of both forces. The emperor gave Jovius as prefect authority over the money and provisions he asked for, but replied that he would never give him the rank. Jovius, unwisely, waiting in Alaric’s tent for the one sent from the palace, ordered the emperor’s decision to be read in the presence of the barbarians. Alaric, angry at the refusal of the rank as insulted, at once sounded the trumpet and marched on Rome. Jovius, fearing lest he be suspected by the emperor of supporting Alaric, falling into more unwise conduct than before, himself swore by the emperor’s safety, and made the other officials swear, never to make peace with Alaric. But not long after the barbarian changed his mind and declared that he needed no rank, but would offer himself as an ally for a moderate gift of grain and a dwelling in places not much prized by the Romans. ### Translation notes - The first words of the staged text are the end of the chapter title and are removed by a correction. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 9.7 (PG 67:1609–1611; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/9-7). ## Church History 9.8 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/9-1/#p-9-8 - Source: PG 67:1611–1613 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Alaric makes the prefect Attalus emperor at Rome; Attalus, trusting diviners, loses Africa to Heraclian, marches on Ravenna, and is deposed by Alaric in agreement with Honorius when famine strikes Rome (409–410). ### Greek text Ἐπεὶ δὲ δὶς ἀπέτυχε περὶ τούτου πρεσβευσάμενος διά τινων ἐπισκόπων, ἐλθὼν εἰς Ῥώμην, ἐπολιόρκει τὴν πόλιν· καὶ ἐξ ἑνὸς μέρους τὸν Πόρτον ἑλὼν, βιάζεται Ῥωμαίους βασιλέα ψηφίσασθαι τὸν ῎Ατταλον, ὕπαρχον ὄντα τότε τῆς πόλεως. Ῥωμαίων δὲ Ει προβληθέντων ἐπὶ τὰς ἄλλας ἀρχὰς, χειροτονεῖται ᾿Αλάριχος στρατηγὸς ἑκατέρας δυνάμεως, ᾿Αδάουλφος δὲ ὁ τῆς αὐτοῦ γαμετῆς ἀδελφὸς, ἡγεμὼν τῶν ἱππέων δομεστίκων καλουμένων. Συγκαλέσας δὲ τὴν γερουσίαν "Ατταλος, λόγον διῆλθε μακρὸν καὶ λαμπρῶς μάλα πεπονημένον, ὑπισχνούμενος τὰ πάτρια τῇ συγκλήτῳ φυλάξειν, καὶ τὴν Αἴγυπτον καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν πρὸς Ἕω ἀρχομένην, ὑπήκοον Ἰταλοῖς ποιῆσαι. Καὶ ὁ μὲν ὧδε ἀλαζονευόμενος, οὐδὲ εἰς ἐνιαυτὸν ὁλόκληρον ἤμελλε βασιλεὺς καλεῖσθαι · μάντεσι δέ τισιν ὑπαχθεὶς, ὑπισχνουμένοις ἀμαχητί τὴν Ἀφρικὴν καθέξειν, οὔτε ᾿Αλαρίχῳ ἐπείσθη, μετρίαν δύναμιν εἰσηγησαμένῳ πέμψαι εἰς Καρχηδόνα –ἐπὶ ἀναιρέσει τῶν Ονωρίου ἀρχόντων, εἰ ἀντιπαραΟ τάξοιεν αὐτῷ· οὔτε Ἰωάννῃ, ὃν προεστήσατο τῶν ἀμφ᾿ αὐτὸν βασιλικῶν τάξεων, φάσκοντι χρῆναι Κώνσταντα τὸν ἐκδημεῖν εἰς Λιβύην παρ᾿ αὐτοῦ τεταγμένον, ὡς παρὰ Ονωρίου ἀπεσταλμένον, γράμματι συνήθει ὃ διάταγμα καλοῦσι, παῦσαι τῆς ἀρχῆς Ἡρακλειανὸν, τὸν τηνικάδε τῶν ἐν ᾿Αφρικῇ στρατιωτῶν ἐπιτετραμμένον τὴν ἡγεμονίαν. Ἴσως δ᾽ ἂν καὶ τοῦτο προὐχώρησεν · οὔπω γὰρ δῆλα έγεγόνει τοῖς ἐν Λιβύῃ τὰ κατὰ ῎Ατταλον. Ἐπεὶ δὲ Κώνστας, τοῦτο τοῖς μάντεσι δόξαν, ἔπλευσεν εἰς Καρχηδόνα, Ατταλος δὲ ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον ἐβλάβη τὸν νοῦν, ὡς μηδὲ ἀμφιβάλλειν ἀξιοῦν, ἀλλὰ πεπεῖσθαι τοὺς ῎Αφρους ὑπηκόους ἔχειν κατὰ τὴν πρόῤῥησιν τῶν μάντεων, ἐπιστρατεύει τῇ Ραβέννῃ. "Αμα δὲ ἠγγέλθη εἰς Ἀρίμινον ἀφίχθαι μετὰ τῆς Ῥωμαίων στρατιᾶς καὶ τῶν βαρβάρων, γράφει αὐτῷ Ονώριος ὡς βασιλεῖ, καὶ πρεσβεύεται διὰ τῶν ἀμφ᾿ αὐτὸν τὰς μεγίστας ἀρχὰς λαχόντων, κοινωνὸν ἀγαπῶν ἔχειν τῆς βασιλείας. ῎Ατταλος δὲ τὴν μὲν κοινωνίαν τοῦ κράτους ἀπαρνεῖται, δηλοῖ δὲ Ονωρίῳ, νῆσον ἢ τόπον ἑλέσθαι ὂν βούλεται, καὶ καθ' ἑαυτὸν διάγειν, πάσης βασιλικῆς θεραπείας ἀξιούμενον. Εἰς τοῦτο δὲ περιστάντων τῶν πραγμάτων, ὡς εὐπρεπεῖς αὐτὸν ἔχειν ναῦς, ἵν᾽, εἰ δεήσειεν, ἀποπλεύσῃ πρὸς τὸν ἀδελφιδοῦν, ἀδοκήτω, ἐν ἓξ ἀριθμοῖς ἀμφὶ τετρακισχίλιοι στρατιῶται νύκτωρ τῇ Ῥαβέννῃ προσἐπλευσαν ἐκ τῆς Ἀνατολῆς · οἷς τὴν φυλακὴν τῶν τειχῶν ἐπέτρεψε, δεδιὼς τῶν ἐπιχωρίων στρατιωτῶν τὸ ἔτοιμον εἰς προδοσίαν. Ἐν τούτῳ δὲ Ἡρακλειανὸς ἀνελὼν τὸν Κώνσταντα, φύλακας ἐπέστησεν ἐν τοῖς λιμέσι καὶ ταῖς ἀκταῖς τῆς ᾿Αφρικῆς, καὶ τὰ πλοῖα τῶν ἐμπόρων ἐκώλυσεν εἰς Ῥώμην ἀνάγεσθαι. Λιμοῦ δὲ ἐντεῦθεν καταλαβόντος τοὺς Ῥωμαίους, πρεσβεύονται περὶ τούτου πρὸς ῎Ατταλον. Ὁ δὲ πρὸς τὸ πρακτέον ἀμηχανῶν, ἐπανῆλθεν εἰς Ῥώμην, ὡς α μετὰ τῆς συγκλήτου συμβουλευσόμενος. Ἐπικρατήσαντος δὲ τοῦ λιμοῦ ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον, ὡς καστάνοις ἀντὶ σίτου κεχρῆσθαι, ὑπονοηθῆναι δὲ τινας καὶ ἀνθρωπίνων ἀπογεύσασθαι κρεῶν · ᾿Αλάριχος μὲν συνεβούλευε πεντακοσίους βαρβάρους κατὰ Ήρακλειανοῦ πέμπειν· τῇ δὲ συγκλήτῳ καὶ ᾿Αττάλῳ ἐδόκει, μὴ δεῖν πιστευθῆναι βαρβάροις τὴν ᾿Αφρικήν. Ἐπεὶ δὲ δῆλον ἦν τὸν Θεὸν ἀντιπράττειν τῇ Αττάλου βασιλείᾳ, συνιδὼν ᾿Αλάριχος μάτην πονεῖν ἐπὶ πράγματι οὐκ ἐν αὐτῷ κειμένῳ, συντίθεται περὶ καταλύσεως τῆς αὐτοῦ ἀρχῆς πρὸς Ονώριον, ὑποσχέσεις λαβών. Πάντων τοίνυν συνελθόντων πρὸ τῆς πόλεως, ἀποτίθεται ῎Ατταλος τὰ σύμβολα τῆς βασιλείας· συναποτίθενται δὲ τὰς ζώνας καὶ οἱ αὐτοῦ ἄρχοντες, καὶ συγγνώμην ἐπὶ τοῖς συμβεβηκόσι νέμει πᾶσιν Ονώριος, ἕκαστον ἔχειν τὴν τιμὴν καὶ τὴν ἀξίαν ἧς προτοῦ μετελάγχανεν. Ἄτταλος δὲ ἅμα τῷ παιδὶ ᾿Αλαρίχῳ συνῆν, οὐκ ἂν οὐκ ἀσφαλὲς τέως ἡγούμενος ἐν Ῥωμαίοις διάγειν. ### English translation (Claude) When he had twice failed in an embassy about this through some bishops, he came to Rome and besieged the city; and having taken Portus on one side, he forced the Romans to elect as emperor Attalus, who was then prefect of the city. When Romans had been appointed to the other offices, Alaric was made general of both forces, and Ataulf, his wife’s brother, commander of the cavalry called domestics. Attalus, calling the senate together, delivered a long and very elaborate speech, promising to preserve the ancestral rights of the senate and to make Egypt and the whole eastern empire subject to the Italians. Boasting so, he was not to be called emperor even for a full year. Led on by certain diviners who promised that he would take Africa without a battle, he neither obeyed Alaric, who proposed to send a moderate force to Carthage to destroy Honorius’s officials if they resisted him, nor John, whom he had put in charge of his palace staff, who said that Constans, whom he had appointed to go to Libya, ought, as though sent by Honorius, by the usual letter which they call a decree, to remove from office Heraclian, then entrusted with the command of the soldiers in Africa. Perhaps this would have succeeded, for the affairs of Attalus were not yet known to those in Libya. But when Constans, as the diviners had decided, sailed to Carthage, Attalus was so harmed in mind that he did not even think fit to doubt, but was persuaded that he had the Africans as subjects according to the diviners’ prediction, and marched against Ravenna. As soon as it was announced that he had come to Ariminum with the Roman army and the barbarians, Honorius wrote to him as emperor and sent an embassy through those holding the highest offices about him, content to have him as partner in the empire. Attalus refused partnership in power, but sent word to Honorius to choose an island or place where he wished and live by himself, being granted all imperial service. Affairs having come to this, so that Honorius kept ships ready to sail, if necessary, to his nephew, unexpectedly about four thousand soldiers in six units sailed by night to Ravenna from the East; to them he entrusted the guarding of the walls, fearing the readiness of the local soldiers for treachery. Meanwhile Heraclian killed Constans, set guards in the harbours and on the coasts of Africa, and prevented the merchants’ ships from sailing to Rome. As famine then seized the Romans, they sent envoys about it to Attalus. He, at a loss what to do, returned to Rome as if to take counsel with the senate. The famine prevailed so far that they used chestnuts instead of grain, and some were suspected of having tasted human flesh. Alaric advised sending five hundred barbarians against Heraclian; but the senate and Attalus thought that Africa should not be entrusted to barbarians. When it was plain that God opposed the reign of Attalus, Alaric, seeing that he laboured in vain on a matter not in his power, came to terms with Honorius about deposing him, receiving promises. All having gathered before the city, Attalus laid aside the insignia of empire, and his officials laid aside their belts with him; and Honorius granted pardon to all for what had happened, each to keep the honour and rank he had held before. Attalus, with his son, stayed with Alaric, not thinking it safe for the time being to live among the Romans. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 9.8 (PG 67:1611–1613; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/9-8). ## Church History 9.9 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/9-1/#p-9-9 - Source: PG 67:1615 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Pagans and Arians hope in Attalus, baptized by the Gothic bishop; Sarus’s attack wrecks Alaric’s peace talks, and Alaric takes Rome by treachery (410), sparing those who fled to St. Peter’s. ### Greek text Ἐπὶ τούτοις δὲ ὧδε ἀποβεβηκόσιν, οὐ μετρίως ἐδυσφόρουν Ελληνές τε καὶ Χριστιανοὶ οἱ ἀπὸ τῆς ᾿Αρείου αἱρέσεως. Οἱ μὲν γὰρ, τεκμηράμενοι τῆς Αττάλου προαιρέσεως καὶ τῆς προτέρας ἀγωγῆς, εἰς τὸ προφανὲς Ἑλληνίσειν αὐτὸν ἡγοῦντο, καὶ τοὺς πατρίους ἀποδιδόναι ναοὺς, καὶ ἑορτὰς καὶ θυσίας· οἱ δὲ τῶν ἐκκλησιῶν ὡς ἐπὶ Κωνσταντίου καὶ Οὐάλεντος πάλιν κρατήσειν ᾤοντο, εἰ βεβαίως σχοίη τὴν βασιλείαν. Καθότι καὶ βαπτισθεὶς ἦν παρὰ Σιγησαρίου τοῦ ἐπισκόπου τῶν Γότθων, καὶ καταθύμιος ἐπὶ τούτῳ πᾶσί τε αὐτοῖς καὶ ᾿Αλαρίχῳ ἐτύγχανεν. Οὐ πολλῷ δὲ ὕστερον ᾿Αλάριχος καταλαβών τὰς "Αλπεις (χωρίον δὲ τοῦτο ἀμφὶ τὰ ἑξήκοντα στάδια διεστὼς τῆς Ῥαβέννης), εἰς λόγους ἦλθε τῷ βασιλεῖ περὶ τῆς εἰρήνης. Σάρος δέ τις βάρβαρος τὸ γένος, εἰς ἄκρον τὰ πολέμια ἠσκημένος, ἀμφὶ τριακοσίους μόνους περὶ αὐτὸν ἔχων πάντας εὔνους καὶ ἀρίστους, ὕποπτος ὢν ᾿Αλαρίχῳ διὰ προτέραν ἔχθραν, ἐλογίσατο μὴ συνοίσειν αὐτῷ τὰς μεταξὺ Ῥωμαίων καὶ Γότθων σπονδάς. Καὶ ἐξαπίνης μετὰ τῶν ἰδίων ἐπανελθὼν, ἀναιρεῖ τινας τῶν βαρβάρων. Ἐκ τούτου δὲ εἰς ὀργὴν καὶ δέος καταστὰς ᾿Αλάριχος, τὴν αὐτὴν ὁδὸν ἀναστρέφει· καὶ περικαθεσθεὶς τὴν Ῥώμην εἶλε προδοσίᾳ· καὶ τοῖς ( αὐτοῦ πλήθεσιν ἐπέτρεψεν ἑκάστῳ, ὡς ἂν δύναιτο, τῶν Ῥωμαίων πλοῦτον ἁρπάζειν, καὶ πάντας τοὺς οἴκους ληΐζεσθαι· ἄτυλον εἶναι προστάξας, αἰδοῖ τῇ πρὸς τὸν ἀπόστολον Πέτρον, τὴν περὶ τὴν αὐτοῦ σορὸν ἐκκλησίαν, μεγάλην τε καὶ πολὺν χῶρον περιέχουσαν. Τουτὶ δὲ γέγονεν αἴτιον τοῦ μὴ ἄρδην ἀπολέσθαι τὴν Ῥώμην. Οἱ γὰρ ἐνθάδε διασωθέντες (πολλοὶ γὰρ ἦσαν) πάλιν τὴν πόλιν ᾤκησαν. ### English translation (Claude) At these events the pagans and the Christians of the Arian heresy were not a little vexed. For the former, judging from Attalus’s purpose and his former upbringing, thought he would openly turn pagan and restore the ancestral temples, festivals and sacrifices; while the latter thought they would again hold the churches as under Constantius and Valens, if he held the empire securely; for he had been baptized by Sigesarius, the bishop of the Goths, and for this reason was pleasing to them all and to Alaric. Not long after, Alaric, having occupied the Alps — this is a place about sixty stadia from Ravenna — came into talks with the emperor about peace. But a certain Sarus, a barbarian by race, highly trained in war, who had about him only some three hundred men, all well disposed and excellent, being suspect to Alaric through a former enmity, reckoned that a treaty between the Romans and the Goths would not be to his advantage. Suddenly returning with his men, he killed some of the barbarians. Thrown by this into anger and fear, Alaric turned back by the same road; and besieging Rome, he took it by treachery, and allowed his multitudes to seize the wealth of the Romans, each as he could, and to plunder all the houses; but out of reverence for the apostle Peter he ordered that the church about his tomb, which is large and encloses much space, should be a sanctuary. This was the reason that Rome was not utterly destroyed; for those saved there — and they were many — inhabited the city again. ### Translation notes - The first words of the staged text are the end of the chapter title and are removed by a correction. - Rome fell on 24 August 410. “The Alps” here is a place near Ravenna, so named in the Greek. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 9.9 (PG 67:1615; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/9-9). ## Church History 9.10 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/9-1/#p-9-10 - Source: PG 67:1615–1617 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: During the sack of Rome a Nicene Roman matron chooses death rather than be violated by an Arian Gothic soldier, who, admiring her chastity, takes her to St. Peter’s and pays for her keep until her husband can claim her. ### Greek text Οἷα δὲ εἰκὸς, ὡς ἐν ἁλώσει τοιᾶσδε πόλεως πολλῶν συμβεβηκότων, ὃ τότε μοι ἔδοξεν ἐκκλησιαστικῆς ἱστορίας ἄξιον γεγενῆσθαι ἀναγράψομαι. Δηλοῖ γὰρ ἀνδρὸς βαρβάρου πρᾶξιν εὐσεβῆ, καὶ γυναικὸς Ῥωμαίας ἀνδρείαν ἐπὶ φυλακῇ σωφροσύνης. Αμφοτέρων δὲ Χριστιανῶν, οὐκ ἀπὸ τῆς αὐτῆς αἱρέσεως· καθότι ὁ μὲν τὰ ᾿Αρείου, ἡ δὲ τῶν ἐν Νικαίᾳ τὴν πίστιν ἐζήλου. Ταύτην δὲ εὖ μάλα καλὴν ἰδών τις νέος τῶν ᾿Αλαρίχου στρατιωτῶν, ἡττήθη τοῦ κάλλους, καὶ εἰς συνουσίαν εἶλκεν. ᾿Ανθέλκουσαν δὲ καὶ βιαζομένην μηδὲν ἀσελγὲς παθεῖν, γυμνώσας τὸ ξίφος, ἠπείλησεν ἀναιρεῖν· καὶ μετὰ φειδοῦς, οἷά γε ἐρωτικῶς διακείμενος, ἐξ ἐπιπολῆς ἔπληξε τὸν τράχηλον. Πολλῷ δὲ περιῤῥεομένη τῷ αἵματι, τὸν αὐχένα τῷ ξίφει ὑπέσχεν, αἱρετώτερον ἐν σωφροσύνῃ λογισαμένη ἀποθανεῖν, ἢ ζῇν ἑτέρου πειρασθεῖσαν ἀνδρὸς μετὰ τὸν νόμῳ συνοικήσαντα. Ἐπεὶ δὲ πάλιν ὁ βάρβαρος καὶ φοβερώτερον ἐπιὼν, οὐδὲν πλέον ἤνυε, θαυμάσας αὐτῆς τὴν σωφροσύνην, ἤγαγεν εἰς τὸ Πέτρου ἀποστολεῖον· καὶ παραδοὺς τοῖς φύλαξι τῆς ἐκκλησίας, καὶ χρυσοὺς ἓξ εἰς ἀποτροφὴν αὐτῆς, ἐκέλευσε τῷ ἀνδρὶ φυλάττειν. ### English translation (Claude) As was likely, many things happened at the capture of so great a city; but I will record what seemed to me then worthy of church history. For it shows the pious act of a barbarian man and the courage of a Roman woman in guarding her chastity. Both were Christians, but not of the same heresy; for he was zealous for the faith of Arius, she for that of those who met at Nicaea. A young soldier of Alaric’s, seeing that she was very beautiful, was overcome by her beauty and tried to drag her to intercourse. When she pulled back and struggled not to suffer any outrage, he drew his sword and threatened to kill her; and with restraint, being in love with her, he struck her neck lightly. Streaming with much blood, she offered her neck to the sword, reckoning it more desirable to die in chastity than to live having known another man after her lawful husband. When the barbarian came at her again more fearfully and accomplished nothing more, admiring her chastity he led her to the church of the apostle Peter, and handing her over to the guardians of the church, with six gold pieces for her keep, ordered them to keep her for her husband. ### Translation notes - A displaced line at the opening of the section is restored by a correction. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 9.10 (PG 67:1615–1617; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/9-10). ## Church History 9.11 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/9-1/#p-9-11 - Source: PG 67:1617–1619 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The British army raises the usurpers Mark, Gratian and Constantine III, who takes Gaul and sends his son Constans to Spain, where Honorius’s kinsmen Didymus and Verenianus resist with an army of peasants and slaves. ### Greek text Ὑπὸ δὲ τοῦτον τὸν χρόνον, πολλῶν ἐπανισταμένων τυράννων ἐν τῇ πρὸς Δύσιν ἀρχῇ, οἱ μὲν πρὸς ἀλλήλων πίπτοντες, οἱ δὲ παραδόξως συλλαμβανόμενοι, οὐ τὴν τυχοῦσαν ἐπεμαρτύρουν Ονωρίῳ θεοφίλειαν. Πρῶτον μὲν γὰρ οἱ ἐν Βρεττανίᾳ στασιάσαντες τ στρατιῶται ἀναγορεύουσι Μάρκον | τύραννον · μετὰ δὲ τοῦτον Γρατιανὸν, ἀνελόντες Μάρκον· ἐπεὶ δὲ καὶ οὗτος οὐ πλέον τεσσάρων μηνῶν διελθόντων ἐφονεύθη παρ᾿ αὐτῶν, πάλιν Κωνσταντῖνον χειροτονοῦσιν, οἰηθέντες καθότι ταύτην εἶχε προσηγορίαν, καὶ βεβαίως αὐτὸν κρατήσειν τῆς βασιλείας. Ἐκ τοιαύτης γὰρ αἰτίας φαίνονται καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους εἰς τυραννίδα ἐπιλεξάμενοι. Περαιωθεὶς δὲ Κωνσταντῖνος ἀπὸ Βρεττανίας ἐπὶ Βουβονίαν πόλιν τῆς Γαλατίας παρὰ θάλασσαν κειμένην, προσηγάγετο τοὺς παρὰ Γαλάταις καὶ Ἀκουϊτανοῖς στρατιώτας· καὶ τοὺς τῇδε ὑπηκόους περιεποίησεν ἑαυτῷ, μέχρι τῶν μεταξὺ Ἰταλίας Γαλατίας 5, ἃς : οἱ Ῥωμαῖοι καλοῦσι. Κώνσταντα δὲ τὸν σβύτερον τῶν αὑτοῦ υἱέων, ὃν ὕστερον βασιλέως σχῆμα ἐνέδυσε, Καίσαρα τότε ἀναγορεύσας, πέπομφεν εἰς Σπανίας᾽ ὁ δὲ, τὸ ἔθνος χαταλαδὼν, ἄρχοντας ἰδίους κατέστησε. Καὶ δεσμίους αὐτῷ ἀχθῆναι προσέταξε Δίδυμον Βερενιανὸν, τοὺς ᾿θνωρίου συγγενεῖς " οἱ τὰ πρῶτα διαφερόμενοι πρὸς ἑαυτοὺς, εἰς κίνδυνον χαταστάντες ὡμονόησαν" καὶ πλῆθος ἀγροίχων καὶ οἰχετῶν συλλέξαντες, κοινῇ κατὰ τὴν Λυσιτανίαν παρετάξαντο, καὶ πολλοὺς ἀνεῖλον τῶν εἰς σύλληψιν αὐτῶν ἀποσταλέντων παρὰ τοῦ τυράννου στρατιωτῶν. ### English translation (Claude) About this time, when many usurpers rose up in the western empire, some falling at one another’s hands, others being unexpectedly captured, they bore witness to no ordinary love of God for Honorius. For first the soldiers in Britain, in revolt, proclaimed Mark usurper; after him Gratian, having killed Mark; and when he too was murdered by them after not more than four months, they elected Constantine, thinking that because he had this name he would hold the empire securely; for it seems that for such a reason they also chose the others for usurpation. Constantine, crossing from Britain to Bononia, a city of Gaul lying by the sea, won over the soldiers among the Gauls and Aquitanians, and gained the subjects there for himself, as far as the Alps between Italy and Gaul which the Romans call the Cottian. Constans, the elder of his sons, on whom he later put the dress of emperor, he then proclaimed Caesar and sent to Spain. He, having seized the province, appointed officials of his own, and ordered Didymus and Verenianus, the kinsmen of Honorius, to be brought to him in chains. They, at odds with each other at first, became of one mind when in danger; and gathering a multitude of peasants and slaves, they took the field together in Lusitania, and killed many of the soldiers sent by the usurper to arrest them. ### Translation notes - Constantine III was proclaimed in 407. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 9.11 (PG 67:1617–1619; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/9-11). ## Church History 9.12 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/9-1/#p-9-12 - Source: PG 67:1619–1621 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Honorius’s kinsmen in Spain are captured and killed; Constans’s neglect of the Pyrenean passes lets Vandals, Alans and Suebi into Spain; Constantine III advances on Italy but retreats to Arles when his ally Allobichus is killed. ### Greek text Μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα συμμαχίας προστεθείσης τοῖς ἐναντίοις, ἐζωγρήθησαν, καὶ ἅμα ταῖς αὑτῶν γαμεταῖς ἀπήχθησαν, καὶ ὕστερον ἀνηῃρέϑησαν. Ἔν ἑτέραις δὲ ἐπαρχίαις διατρίβοντες Θεοδοσίωλος καὶ Λαγώδιος, αὐτῶν ἀδελφοὶ, φεύγουσι τὴν πατρίδα, διασώζονται, Θεοδοσίωλος μὲν, εἰς Ἰταλίαν πρὸς Ὁνώριον τὸν βασιλέα" Λαγώδιος δὲ, πρὸς Θεοδόσιον εἰς ᾿Ανατολήν. Καὶ ὁ μὲν Κώνστας ταῦτα διαπραξάμε. ἐπανῆλθε πρὸς τὸν πατέρα, φρουρὰν χαταστῆ ἀπὸ τῶν στρατιωτῶν τῆς ἐπὶ τὰς Σπανίας παρόδου" ἣν δεομένοις Σπάνοις κατὰ τὸ ἀρχαΐην ἔθος φυλάττειν, οὐκ ἐπέτρεψεν. Ὃ αἴτιον γέγονε μετὰ ταῦτα τῆς ἀπωλείας τῶν τῇδε, Καταπεσούσης γὰρ τῆς Κωνσταντίνου δυνάμεως, ἀναλαβόντες ἕαυτοὺς Οὐανδαλοί τε καὶ ᾿Αλανοὶ, ξῦνη βάρδαρα, τῆς παρόδου ἐκράτησαν, πολλὰ φρούρια πόλεις τῶν Ἱσπανῶν Γαλατῶν εἶλον, καὶ τοὺς ἄρχοντας τοῦ τυράννου. Κωνσταντῖνος δὲ τέως κατὰ γνώμην πράττειν δοκῶν, Κώνσταντα τὸν υἱὸν ἀντὶ Καίσαρος βασιλέα καταστήσας, ἐδουλεύετο τὴν Ἰταλίαν χαταλαδεῖν" παραμείψας τὰς Κοττίας "λλπεις, ἧκεν εἰς Λιθερῶνα πόλιν τῆς Λιγουρίας" μέλλων δὲ περαιοῦσθαι τὸν Ἠριδανὸν, τὴν αὐτὴν ὁδὸν ἀνέστρεψε, μαθὼν τὸν ᾿Αλαθίχου θάνατον " ὃν δὴ στρατηγὸν ᾿θνωρίου ὄντα, ὕποπτον ὡς Κωνσταντίνῳ πραγματευόμενον πᾶσαν τὴν πρὸς τὴν Δύσιν ἡγεμονίαν, ἀναιρεθῆναι συνέδη τότε, προηγούμενον ὡς ἔθος ἑπανιόντος ἐκ προόδου τινὸς τοῦ κρατοῦντος. Ἡνίκα δὴ ὁ βασιλεὺς αὖτίκα τοῦ ἵππου ἀποῦὰς, δημοσίᾳ εὐχαριστήρια τῷ Θεῷ ηὔξατο, ὡς προφανοῦς ἐπιδούλου ἀπαλλαγείς. Κωνσταντῖνος δὲ φεύγων, τὴν ᾿Αρήλατον χατέλαθδε, κατὰ ταυτὸν δὲ Κύνστας ὁ αὐτοῦ φεύγων ἐχ τῆς Ἰσπανίας. Καταπεσούσης γὰρ τῆς Κωνσταντίνου δυνάμεως, ἀναλαβόντες ἑαυτοὺς τε Σούϊβοι, καὶ ᾿Αλανοὶ, σπουδῇ τὸ Πυρηναῖον ὄρος κατέλαβον, εὐδαίμονα καὶ πλουσιωτάτην τὴν χώραν ἀκούοντες" παρημεληχότων τε τῶν ἐπιτραπέντων παρὰ Κώναταντος τὴν φρουρὰν τῆς παρόδου, παρἦλθον εἰς Ἰσπάνίαν. ### English translation (Claude) Afterwards, when allies had joined the enemy, they were taken alive, led away with their wives, and later put to death. Their brothers Theodosiolus and Lagodius, living in other provinces, fled their homeland and were saved, Theodosiolus to Italy to the emperor Honorius, Lagodius to Theodosius in the East. Constans, having accomplished this, returned to his father, having set a garrison of his own soldiers over the pass into Spain, which he did not allow the Spaniards, though they asked it, to guard according to ancient custom. This later became the cause of the ruin of those there. For when the power of Constantine collapsed, the Vandals and Alans, barbarian nations, recovering themselves, seized the pass, took many forts and cities of the Spaniards and Gauls, and the usurper’s officials. Constantine, meanwhile seeming to fare as he wished, made his son Constans emperor instead of Caesar, and planned to seize Italy; and passing the Cottian Alps, he came to Liberona, a city of Liguria. But when about to cross the Eridanus, he turned back by the same road, learning of the death of Allobichus. For this man, being Honorius’s general, was suspected of working to secure the whole western rule for Constantine, and it happened that he was then killed as he was leading the way, as was the custom, for the ruler returning from a procession. Then the emperor at once dismounted from his horse and publicly offered thanks to God, as freed from a manifest plotter. Constantine, fleeing, seized Arles; and at the same time Constans his son, fleeing from Spain. For when the power of Constantine collapsed, the Suebi, Vandals and Alans, recovering themselves, eagerly seized the Pyrenees mountains, hearing that the country was prosperous and very rich; and since those entrusted by Constans with the guarding of the pass had neglected it, they passed into Spain. ### Translation notes - The barbarian crossing of the Pyrenees took place in 409. Some words are garbled in the scan and are translated by sense. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 9.12 (PG 67:1619–1621; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/9-12). ## Church History 9.13 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/9-13/#p-9-13 - Source: PG 67:1621–1623 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Gerontius, Constantine III’s general, rebels and sets up Maximus as emperor, kills Constans, besieges Arles, but flees before Honorius’s general Constantius; besieged by his own soldiers, he kills his Alan companion, his Christian wife at her plea, and himself. ### Greek text τούτῳ δὲ Γερόντιος, ὁ τῶν Κωνσταντίνου στρατηγῶν ἄριστος, δυσμενὴς αὐτῷ γέγονεν " ἐπιτήδειόν τε εἰς τυραννίδα Μάξιμον τὸν αὐτοῦ οἰκεῖον νουἱσας, βασιλικὴν ἐνέδυσεν ἐσθῆτα, ἐν Ταῤῥαχόνῃ διάγειν εἴασεν. Αὐτὸς δὲ Κωνσταντίνῳ ἐπεστράτευσεν, ἐν παρόδῳ Κώνσταντα τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ, ἐν Βιέννῃ ὄντα ἀναιρεθῆναι παρασκευάσας. Ἐπεὶ δὲ ἔμαθε εἰ ; Κωνσταντῖνος τὰ Μάξιμον, Ἐδόδιχον μὲν τὸν αὖτοῦ στρατηγὸν πέραν τοῦ Ῥήνου πέπομφεν, Φράγ. χων τε καὶ ᾿Αλαμανῶν συμμαχίαν προτρεψάμενον. Κώνσταντι δὲ τῷ αὐτοῦ παιδὶ Βιέννης καὶ τῶν τῇδε πόλεων τὴν φυλακὴν ἐπέτρεψε. Καὶ Γερόντιος μὲν ἐπὶ τὴν ᾿Αρήλατον ἐλάσας, ἐπολιόρκει τὴν πόλιν. οὐ πολὺ δὲ στρατιᾶς ᾿θνωρίου κατὰ τοῦ τυράννου παραγενομένης, ἧς ἡγεῖτο Κωνστάντιος ὁ τοῦ Οὐσλεντινιανοῦ τοῦ βασιλέως πατὴρ, φεύγει παραχρῆμα μετ᾽ ὀλίγων στρατιωτῶν. Οἱ γὰρ πλείους τοῖς ἀμφὶ τὸν Κωνστάντιον προσεχώρησαν δὲ ἐν Ἵσπανίᾳ στρατιῶται εὐκαταφρόνητον ἀπὸ τῆς φυγῆς δέξαντα τὸν Γερόντιον ἐβουλεύσαντο ἀνελεῖν " οἱ φραξάμενοι, νύκτωρ αὐτοῦ τὴν οἰκίαν κατέδραμον. Ὁ δὲ, μεθ" ἑνὸς ᾿Αλανοῦ ἐπιτηδείου ὀλίγων χετῶν, ἄνωθεν τοξεύων, ὑπὲρ τοὺς τριακοσίους ἀνστρατιώτας. Ἐπιλειψάντων δὲ τῶν βελῶν, φεύγουσιν οἰχέται, καθέντες αὑτοὺς τοῦ οἰκήματος λάθρα. Γερόντιος δὲ τὸν ἴσον τρόπον διασωθῆνα: δυνάμενος, οὐχ εἵλετο, χατασχεθεὶς ἔρωτι Νοννιχίας πῆς αὐτοῦ γαμετῆς. Περὶ δὲ τὴν ἔω πῦρ ἐμβαλόντων τῇ οἰχέᾳ τῶν στρατιωτῶν, οὐχ ἔχων λοιπὸν σωτηρίας ἐλπίδα, ἑκόντος τοῦ συνόντος αὐτῷ ᾿Αλανοῦ ἀποτέμνει τὴν κεφαλήν' μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα τῆς ἰδίας γαμετῆς ὀλοφυρομένης, καὶ μετὰ δακρύων προσωθούσης ἑαυτὴν τῷ ξίφει, καὶ πρὶν ὑφ᾽ ἑτέροις γενέσθαι, παρὰ τοῦ ἀνδρὸς ἀποθανεῖν αἰτούσης, καὶ τοῦτο τὸ δῶρον ὕστατον παῤ᾽ αὐτοῦ λαθεῖν ἀντιδολούσης. Καὶ ἡ μὲν γυνὴ, ἀνδρείᾳ τῆς θρησκείας ἐπαξίως φανεῖσα (ἣν γὰρ Χριστιανὴ), ὧδε τέθνηκε, κρείττονα λήθης τὴν περὶ αὐτῆς μνήμην τῷ χρόνῳ παραδοῦσα. Γερόντιος δὲ τρίτον ἑαυτὸν τῷ ξίφει παίσας, ὡς οὐ καιρίαν λαδὼν ἤσθετο, σπασάμενος τὸ παρὰ τὸν μηρὸν ξιφίδιον, κατὰ τῆς χαρδίας ἤλασε. ### English translation (Claude) Meanwhile Gerontius, the best of Constantine’s generals, became hostile to him; and thinking Maximus, his intimate friend, suitable for usurpation, he put the imperial dress on him and let him live at Tarraco. He himself marched against Constantine, arranging on the way for his son Constans, who was at Vienne, to be killed. When Constantine learned of Maximus’s affairs, he sent his general Edobichus beyond the Rhine to obtain the alliance of the Franks and Alamanni, and entrusted to Constans his son the guarding of Vienne and the cities there. Gerontius, marching to Arles, besieged the city. But not long after, when an army of Honorius came against the usurper, led by Constantius, the father of the emperor Valentinian, he fled at once with a few soldiers; for most went over to Constantius. The soldiers in Spain, thinking Gerontius contemptible because of his flight, resolved to kill him; and, armed, they ran upon his house by night. He, with one Alan, his friend, and a few slaves, shooting from above, killed more than three hundred soldiers. When the missiles ran out, the slaves fled, letting themselves down from the building secretly. Gerontius, though able to save himself in the same way, would not choose it, held back by his love for Nonnichia, his wife. About dawn, when the soldiers set fire to the house, having no further hope of safety, he cut off the head of the Alan who was with him, at the Alan’s own wish. After this, his own wife lamenting and with tears thrusting herself on the sword, and asking to die by her husband before coming into the power of others, and begging to receive this last gift from him — the woman, showing a courage worthy of her religion, for she was a Christian, died thus, handing down to time a memory of herself stronger than forgetfulness. Gerontius struck himself three times with the sword; and when he perceived that he had not received a mortal blow, he drew the dagger at his thigh and drove it into his heart. ### Translation notes - Sozomen praises Nonnichia’s choice of death as worthy of her religion; translated as written. These events are dated 411. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 9.13 (PG 67:1621–1623; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/9-13). ## Church History 9.14 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/9-13/#p-9-14 - Source: PG 67:1623–1625 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Constantius and Ulfilas defeat Edobichus’s relief army at the Rhône; Edobichus is beheaded by his treacherous host Ecdicius, whom Constantius sends away unrewarded. ### Greek text Κωνσταντῖνος δὲ, περιχαθημένης τῆς Ὁνωρίου στρατιᾶς, ἔτι πρὸς τὴν πολιορκίαν ἀντεῖχεν, ἀγγελοἱ θέντος Ἐδοδίχου μετὰ πλείστης συμμαχίας ἥξειν. Τοῦτο δὲ καὶ τοὺς στρατηγοὺς οὐ μετρίως ἐφόθδει, Βουλευσαμένων τε αὐτῶν ἀναστρέφειν εἰς Ἰταλίαν, πειραθῆναι τοῦ πολέμου, ἐπειδὴ τοῦτο συνεδόκει, πλησίον ἀγγελθέντος Ἐδοδίχου, περῶσι Ῥοδανὸν τὸν ποταμόν. Καὶ Κωνστάντιος μὲν ἔχων τοὺς πεζοὺς, ἐπιόντας περιμένει τοὺς πολεμίους “ Οὐλφίλας δὲ ὁ Κωνσταντίου συστρατηγὸς, οὗ πόῤῥωθεν ἀποχρυθεὶς μετὰ τῶν ἱππέων ἐλάνθανεν. Ἐπεὶ δὲ παραμείψαντες οἱ πολέμιοι τοῦ Οὐλφίλα τῇ στρατιᾷ, ἔμελλον εἰς χεῖρας ἱέναι τῶν ἀμφὶ τὸν Κωνστάντιον, σημείου δοθέντος, ἐξαπίνης ἀναφανεὶς Οὐλφίλας, κατὰ νώτον τῶν πολεμίων ἤλαυνεν " αὖτίκα τε τροπῆς γενομένης, οἱ μὲν φεύγουσι, οἱ δ᾽ ἀναιροῦνται, οἱ δὲ πλείους τὰ ὅπλα ἀποθέμενοι, συγγνώμην ἤἥτησαν, φειδοῦς ἠξιώθησαν. Ἐδόδιδὲ ἵππον ἐπιδὰς, ἔφυγεν εἰς ἀγρόν τινα πρὸς Ἐχδίχιον τὸν χεχτημένον, πλεῖστα παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ Ἐδοδίχου πρότερον εὐηργετημένον, φίλον νομιζόμενον. Ὁ δὲ, τὴν αὐτοῦ κεφαλὴν ἀποτεμὼν, προσφέρει τοῖς ᾿σνωρίον στρατηγοῖς, ἐπ᾽ ἐλπίδι μεγάλων δώρων καὶ τιμῆς. Κωνστάντιος δὲ τὴν μὲν κεφαλὴν 380 δεχθῆναι προσέταξε, χάριν ἔχειν Ἐκδικίῳ τὸ δημόσιον εἰπὼν τῆς Οὐλφίλα πράξεως· συνεῖναι δὲ σπουδάζοντα αὐτὸν ἀναχωρεῖν ἐκέλευσεν, οὐκ ἀγαθὴν ἡγησάμενος κακοῦ ξενοδόχου τὴν συνουσίαν ἔσεσθαι αὐτῷ ἢ τῇ στρατιᾷ. Καὶ ὁ μὲν, φίλου ἀνδρὸς καὶ ξένου ἐν δυσπραγίᾳ διακειμένου ἀνοσιώτατον φόνον τολμήσας, κατὰ κενῆς, τοῦτο δὴ τοῦ λόγου, χανὼν ἀπῆλθε. ### English translation (Claude) Constantine, besieged by Honorius’s army, still held out against the siege, since it had been announced that Edobichus would come with a very great allied force. This frightened the generals not a little. When they had deliberated whether to return to Italy or to try the war, and decided on the latter, as Edobichus was reported near, they crossed the river Rhône. Constantius with the infantry awaited the enemy’s approach, while Ulfilas, Constantius’s fellow general, hidden not far off with the cavalry, escaped notice. When the enemy, having passed Ulfilas’s army, were about to come to blows with Constantius’s men, a signal was given; Ulfilas suddenly appeared and charged the enemy’s rear. At once there was a rout; some fled, others were killed, and most, laying down their arms, asked for pardon and were spared. Edobichus, mounting a horse, fled to an estate, to Ecdicius its owner, who had formerly received very many benefits from Edobichus and was thought a friend. But he cut off his head and brought it to Honorius’s generals, in the hope of great gifts and honour. Constantius ordered the head to be received, saying that the state was grateful to Ecdicius for Ulfilas’s deed; but when he was eager to stay with them, he ordered him to depart, not thinking that the company of an evil host would be good for himself or the army. And he, having dared a most unholy murder of a friend and guest in misfortune, went away, as the saying goes, having gaped in vain. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 9.14 (PG 67:1623–1625; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/9-14). ## Church History 9.15 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/9-13/#p-9-15 - Source: PG 67:1625 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Constantine III abdicates, is ordained presbyter at Arles, surrenders, and is killed on the way to Italy (411); other usurpers soon fall. ### Greek text Μετὰ δὲ τὴν νίκην ἀντιπεραιωθείσης αὖθις πρὸς τὴν πόλιν τῆς Ονωρίου στρατιᾶς, μαθὼν Κωνσταντῖνος ἀναιρεῖσθαι Ἐδόβιχον, αὐτὸς ἐξ ἑαυτοῦ τὴν ἀλουργίδα· καὶ τὰ σύμβολα τῆς βασιλείας ἀπέθετο · καὶ καταλαβὼν τὴν ἐκκλησίαν, χειροτονεῖται πρεσβύτερος. Ὅρκους τε πρότερον λαβόντες οἱ ἔσω τειχῶν, ἀνοίγουσι τὰς πύλας, καὶ φειδοῦς ἀξιοῦνται πάντες. Καὶ τὸ ἐξ ἐκείνου πάλιν τὸ τῇδε ὑπήκοον εἰς τὴν Ονωρίου ἡγεμονίαν ἐπανῆλθε, καὶ τοῖς ὑπ' αὐτὸν ἄρχουσιν ἐπείθετο. Κωνσταντίνος δὲ ἅμα Ἰουλιανῷ τῷ παιδὶ παραπεμφθεὶς εἰς Ἰταλίαν, πρὶν φθάσαι, κατὰ τὴν ὁδὸν κτίννυται. Οὐ πολλῷ δὲ ὕστερον ἀδοκήτως ἀναιροῦνται Ἰοβιανός τε καὶ Μάξιμος Η οἱ προειρημένοι τύραννοι, καὶ Σάρος, καὶ ἄλλοι πλεῖστοι ἐπὶ τούτοις, ἐπιβουλεύσαντες τῇ Ονωρίου βασιλείᾳ. ### English translation (Claude) After the victory Honorius’s army crossed back again to the city. When Constantine learned that Edobichus had been killed, he of his own accord laid aside the purple and the insignia of empire, and taking refuge in the church was ordained presbyter. Those within the walls, having first received oaths, opened the gates, and all were spared. From that time the subjects there returned again to the rule of Honorius and obeyed the officials under him. Constantine, sent with his son Julian to Italy, was killed on the way before arriving. Not long after, the usurpers mentioned, Jovinus and Maximus, were unexpectedly killed, and Sarus, and very many others besides who had plotted against the rule of Honorius. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 9.15 (PG 67:1625; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/9-15). ## Church History 9.16 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/9-13/#p-9-16 - Source: PG 67:1627 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Sozomen draws the lesson that piety guards an emperor; Galla Placidia marries Constantius, who briefly shares the western throne and fathers Valentinian III; God favours the eastern reign by revealing the relics of Zechariah and Stephen. ### Greek text Ταῦτα δὲ καταλέγειν, οὐκ ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος καιροῦ · ὅμως δ' οὖν ἀναγκαίως ἐμνήσθην, ὡς ἂν ἔχοιμεν εἰδέναι, ἀρκεῖν βασιλεῖ πρὸς φυλακὴν τοῦ κράτους, ἐπιμελῶς τὸ θεῖον πρεσβεύειν, ὁποῖος καὶ οὐτοσὶ ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐγένετο. Τούτῳ δὲ συνῆν καὶ Γάλλα Πλακιδία, ὁμοπατρία αὐτοῦ ἀδελφὴ, παραπλησίως πολὺν ποιουμένη λόγον τῆς θρησκείας καὶ τῶν Ἐκκλησίων. "Αγεται δὲ ταύτην Κωνστάντιος ὁ τὴν Κωνσταντίνου τυραννίδα καθελὼν, ἀνὴρ μαχιμώτατος καὶ στρατηγικός· ὃν ὁ βασιλεὺς γεραίρων, τῇ ἀδελφῇ στεφάνῳ καὶ ἁλουργίδι καὶ τῇ κοινωνίᾳ τοῦ κράτους ἐτίμησεν. Ὀλίγον δὲ χρόνον ἐπιβιώσας, ἐτελεύτησεν, Οὐαλεντινιανὸν τὸν Ονωρίου διάδοχον καὶ Ὀνωρίαν παῖδας καταλιπών. Ἐν τούτῳ δὲ, τὰ μὲν πρὸς Ἕω τῆς ἀρχομένης πολεμίων ἀπήλλακτο, καὶ σὺν κόσμῳ πολλῷ τὰ τῇδε ἰθύνετο παρὰ τὴν πάντων δόξαν · ἦν γὰρ ἔτι νέος ὁ κρατῶν. Ἐδόκει δὲ ὁ Θεὸς προφανῶς ἤδεσθαι τῇ παρούσῃ βασιλείᾳ, οὐ μόνον ἐξ ἀπροσδοκήτου τὰ περὶ τοὺς πολέμους ὧδε διατεθεὶς, ἀλλὰ καὶ πολλῶν ἐπὶ εὐσεβείᾳ πάλαι εὐδοκιμηκότων τὰ ἱερὰ σώματα ἀναφαίνων · οἷον δὴ καὶ τότε γενέσθαι συνέβη ἐπὶ Ζαχαρία τῷ παλαιοτέρῳ προφήτῃ, καὶ Στεφάνῳ τῷ διακόνῳ χειροτονηθέντι παρὰ τῶν ἀποστόλων. Ἑκατέρου δὲ τῆς εὑρέσεως παραδόξου καὶ θείας οὔσης, ἀναγκαῖον εἰπεῖν τὸν τρόπον. ### English translation (Claude) To recount these things is not for the present occasion; yet I have mentioned them of necessity, so that we may know that for the guarding of his power it suffices an emperor to honour the divine diligently, as this emperor did. With him was also Galla Placidia, his half-sister on the father’s side, who likewise made much account of religion and the churches. Constantius, who had overthrown Constantine’s usurpation, married her, a most warlike man and able general; and the emperor, honouring him because of his sister, honoured him with crown and purple and partnership in power. Having lived a short time, he died, leaving children, Valentinian, the successor of Honorius, and Honoria. Meanwhile the eastern part of the empire was free of enemies, and affairs there were governed with great order, contrary to everyone’s expectation; for the ruler was still young. God seemed plainly to take pleasure in the present reign, not only arranging the affairs of war so unexpectedly, but also revealing the sacred bodies of many who had long been renowned for piety; as happened then too with Zechariah the ancient prophet, and Stephen, who was ordained deacon by the apostles. Since the finding of each was wonderful and divine, it is necessary to tell the manner. ### Scripture references - Acts 6:5: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The first word of the staged text is the end of the chapter title and is removed by a correction. - Stephen: Acts 6:5. The finding of Stephen’s relics (415) is not narrated in what survives. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 9.16 (PG 67:1627; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/9-16). ## Church History 9.17 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/sozomen-historia/9-13/#p-9-17 - Source: PG 67:1627–1629 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The relics of the prophet Zechariah, son of Jehoiada, are found near Eleutheropolis through a vision to the serf Calemerus, with a royally clad child at his feet, explained from an apocryphal writing as the son of King Joash; the history breaks off here. ### Greek text ῎Αρξομαι δὲ τοῦ προφήτου. Χαφὰρ Ζαχαρία κώμη ἐστὶν ἐν ὁρίοις Ἐλευθεροπόλεως τῆς Παλαιστίνης. Ἐπετρόπευε δὲ ταύτην Καλήμερός τις ὁμόδουλος τῷ ἀγρῷ, εὔνους μὲν τῷ κεκτημένῳ, χαλεπὸς δὲ καὶ δύσκολος, καὶ περὶ τοὺς ὁμόρους ἀγροίκους ἄδικος. Τοιούτῳ δὲ ὄντι ὕπαρ ἐπιστὰς ὁ προφήτης, ἑαυτὸν κατεμήνυσε· καὶ κῆπόν τινα ἐπι· δείξας, ῎Αγε δὴ ἐνθάδε ὄρυξον δύο πήχεις, ἔφη, ἀναμετρήσας ἀπὸ τῆς αἱμασιᾶς ἐπὶ τὸν κῆπον, παρὰ τὴν ὁδὸν τὴν ἐπὶ Βιϑθερέδιν τὴν πόλιν ἄγουσαν. Εὑρήσεις δὲ λάρνακα διπλῆν, ξυλίνην τὴν ἔνδον, ἐν μολυθδίνῃ τῇ ἔξωθεν " ἀμφὶ δὲ τὴν λάρνακα, ὑέλινον σχεῦος πλῆρες ὑδάτων, καὶ δύο ὄφεις μεγέθει μετρίους, καὶ πράους καὶ ἀβλαβεῖς, ὡς δοκεῖν χειροήθεις εἶναι. Κατὰ δὲ τὴν σύνταξιν τοῦ προφήτου παραγενόμενος Καλήμερος ἐπὶ τὸν δηλωθέντα τόπον, σπουδῇ τοῦ ἔργον εἴχετο. Ὑπὸ δὲ τοῖς προειρημένοις συμθόλοις ἀναχαλυφθείσης τῆς ἱερᾶς θήκης, ἀνεφάνη ὁ θεῖος προφήτης, λευχὴν στολὴν ἠμφιεσμένος, οἷά γε, οἶμαι, καὶ ἱερεὺς " ὑπὸ δὲ τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ ἔξωθεν τῆς λάρναχος, παιδίον ἔκειτο βασιλικῆς ἠξιωμένον ταφῆς. Εἶχε μὲν γὰρ, ἐπὶ μὲν τῆς κεφαλῆς, χρυσοῦν στέφανον χρυσᾶ δὲ τὰ ὑποδήματα, καὶ τὴν ἐσθῆτα τιμίαν. ᾿Απορούντων δὲ τῶν τότε σοφῶν καὶ ἱερέων περὶ τούτου τοῦ παιδίου, τίς τε εἴη πόθεν, καὶ οὗ χάριν τοιάδε ἡμφίεστο, λέγεται Ζαχαρίαν τὸν ἡγούμενον τῆς ἐν Γεράροις μοναχικῆς συνοικίας, παλαιᾷ περιτυχεῖν γραφῇ, οὐ τῶν ἐχχλησιαζομένων. Ἐδήλου δὲ ὡς ἡνίκα Ζαχαρίαν τὸν προφήτην ἀνεῖλεν Ἰωὰς ὁ τῆς Ἰουδαίας βασιλεὺς, οὐχ εἰς μακρὰν περὶ τὸν οἶχον χαλεπῇ ἐχρήσατο συμφορᾷ. γὰρ ἡμέρᾳ τῆς ἀναιρέσεως τοῦ προφήτου, ἐξαπίνης αὐτῷ μάλα χεχαρισμένυς ὁ παῖς ἀπολώλει. Συμδαλὼν δὲ κατὰ θεομηνίαν τοιούτῳ παθήματι περιπεσεῖν, ὑπὸ τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ τὸ μειράκιον ἔθαψεν, ἀπολογούμενος ταύτῃ ὑπὲρ ὧν εἰς αὐτὸν ἥμαρτε. Καὶ τὰ μὲν ὧδε ἔγνων. Ὁ δὲ προφήτης, καίπερ πρὸ πλείστων γενεῶν ὑπὸ γῆν κείμενος, σῶος ἀνεφάνη, ἐν χρῷ χεχαρμένος, εὐθύῤῥις, γενειάδα μετρίως χαθειμένην ἔχων, τὴν δὲ κεφαλὴν βραχυτέραν, τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ὀλίγον ἐν βάθει ταῖς ὀφρύσι χαλυπτομένους. σὺν τῇ ἁγίᾳ Τριάδι. ### English translation (Claude) I will begin with the prophet. Kaphar Zacharia is a village in the territory of Eleutheropolis in Palestine. It was managed by a certain Calemerus, a serf of the estate, well disposed to its owner but harsh and difficult and unjust to the neighbouring countrymen. To him, such as he was, the prophet appeared in a waking vision and made himself known; and pointing out a certain garden, he said: “Come, dig here two cubits, measuring from the hedge to the garden, by the road that leads to the city of Bitheribis. You will find a double coffin, the inner of wood, in an outer one of lead; and about the coffin a glass vessel full of water, and two snakes of moderate size, gentle and harmless, so as to seem tame.” Calemerus, coming to the place indicated according to the prophet’s instruction, set to the work zealously. When the sacred tomb had been uncovered with the signs described, the divine prophet appeared, clothed in a white robe, as a priest, I think; and under his feet, outside the coffin, lay a child who had been thought worthy of a royal burial; for he had on his head a golden crown, golden shoes, and a costly garment. When the wise men and priests of the time were at a loss about this child — who he was, whence, and why he was so dressed — it is said that Zacharias, the head of the monastic community at Gerara, came upon an old writing, not one of those read in the churches. It showed that when Joash, king of Judah, had killed the prophet Zechariah, not long after he met with a grievous calamity in his house. For on the … day of the prophet’s killing, his son, who was very dear to him, suddenly died. Concluding that he had fallen into such suffering through the wrath of God, he buried the boy under the prophet’s feet, making amends in this way for his sin against him. So I have learned. The prophet, though he had lain under the earth for very many generations, appeared intact, his hair cut close, his nose straight, with a moderately long beard, his head rather small, his eyes a little sunken and covered by his eyebrows. [… with the Holy Trinity.] ### Scripture references - 2 Chr 24:20–22: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Joash and Zechariah: 2 Chr 24:20–22. The apocryphal writing is not identified. - Book 9 breaks off unfinished, as in the manuscripts; the closing words “with the Holy Trinity” are a fragment of a scribe’s ending and are given in brackets. - A word giving the day is lost in the scan (marked “…”); NPNF² 2, from a fuller text, reads “seventh”. ### Citation (SBL) Sozomen, Hist. eccl. 9.17 (PG 67:1627–1629; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/sozomen-historia/9-17).