Church History 3.1–3.12
Greek text: GCS 19.English: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), public domain (CC0). Compare: Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 3 (1892), trans. B. Jackson.
Chapter 3
3.1GCS 19:177–179
Κωνστάντιος μὲν δὴ στένων καὶ ὀδυρόμενος ὑπεξῆλθε τὸν βίον ὅτι τῆς πατρῴας πίστεως παρετράπη᾽ Ιουλιανὸς δὲ ἀπὸ τῆς Πὐρώπης ὅδ εἰς τὴν ᾿σίαν διαβαίνων ἐπύθετο τοῦ Κωνσταντίου τὴν τελευτὴν καὶ θαρρήσας. ὡς οὐδένα ἀντίπαλον ἔχων, τὴν βασιλείαν παρέλαβεν. Οὗτος δέ, νέαν μὲν ἄγων τὴν ἡλικίαν σὺν Γάλλῳ τῷ ἀδελφῷ καὶ ἄνηβος ὧν ἔτι, τὴν τῆς εὐσεβοῦς διδασκαλίας εἶλχε θηλήν, καὶ μὲν δὴ καὶ πρόσηβος γενόμενος καὶ ἔφηβος τῆς αὐτῆς μετελάγχανε" δείσας δὲ τὸν Κωνστάντιον (τοὺς γὰρ γένει προσήκοντας ἀνήρει δειμαίνων τὰς τυραννίδας) τοῦ τῶν ἀναγνωστῶν ἠξιώθη χοροῦ καὶ τὰς ἱερὰς βίβλους ἐν τοῖς ἐκκλησιαστικοῖς συλλόγοις ὑπανεγίνωσκε τῷ λαῷ. καὶ σηκὸν μαρτύρων ἐδομήσατο μέν, οὐ προσεδέξαντο δὲ οἱ μάρτυρες τὴν εἰς ἀσέβειαν αὐτοῦ παρατροπὴν προθεώμενοι" τῶν τό γὰρ δὴ θεμελίων τὸ τῆς ἐκείνου γνώμης μιμησαμένων ἀβέβαιον, πρὶν ἱερωθῆναι κατέπεσε. τὰ μὲν δὴ τῆς πρώτης ἡλικίας αὐτοῦ καὶ τῆς δευτέρας τοιαῦτα ἦν. ᾿'πειδὴ δὲ εἰς τὴν Ἑσπέραν ἀπαίρων Κωνστάντιος (ἐκεῖσε γὰρ ἢ αὐτὸν εἷλκεν ὁ πρὸς Διαγνέντιον πόλεμος) Καίσαρα τῆς Ἑῴας τὸν Γάλλον ἀπέφηνεν, εὐσεβῆ τε ὄντα καὶ εἰς τέλος γε διαμείναντα, τὸ μὲν ὀνησιφόρον δέος Ἰουλιανὸς ἐσκέδασε τῆς ψυχῆς, θάρσος δὲ λαβὼν ὡς οὐκ ὥφελε, τῶν βασιλικῶν ἐπεθύμησε σκήπτρων. οὗ δὴ εἵνεκα τὴν Ἑλλάδα περινοστῶν μάντεις ἐπεζήτει καὶ χρησμολόγους, εἰ Ὁ τεύξεται τοῦ ποθουμένου μαθεῖν ἱμειρόμενος. περιτυγχάνει δὲ ἀνθρώπῳ ταῦτα προλέγειν ὑπισχνουμέγῳ, ὃς τοῦτον εἴς τινα τῶν εἰδωλικῶν σηκῶν ἀγαγὼν καὶ εἴσω γενέσθαι τῶν ἀδύτων παρασκευάσας, τοὺς ἀπατεῶνας ἐκάλεσε δαίμονας. ἐκείνων δὲ μετὰ τῆς συνήθους φαντασίας ἐπιφανέντων, ἠνάγκασε τοῦτο τὸ δέος ἐπιθεῖναι τῷ μετώπῳ τοῦ σταυροῦ τὸ σημεῖον" οἱ δὲ τοῦ δεσποτικοῦ τροπαίου τὸν τύπον ἰδόντες καὶ τῆς σφετέρας ἥττης ἀναμνησθέντες, φροῦδοι παραυτίκα ἐγένοντο. συνεὶς δὲ ὁ γόης ἐκεῖνος τῆς φυγῆς τὴν αἰτίαν ἐπεμέμψατο τούτῳ. Ἰουλιανὸς δὲ καὶ τὸ δέος ἐδήλ οδε καὶ τοῦ “σταυροῦ θαυμάξειν ἔφησε τὴν ἰσχύν" ἀπέδρασαν γὰρ οἱ δαίμονες τούτου τὸν 1ὅ τύπον οὐχ ἐνεγκόντες ἰδεῖν. "μὴ δὴ τοῦτο ὑπολάβῃς, ὦ ἀγαθέε, ὃ γόης ἔφη, οὐ γὰρ ἔδεισαν, ὡς γε σὺ φῇς, ἀλλὰ βδελυξάμενοι τὸ παρὰ σοῦ γενόμενον ῴχοντος. οὕτω βουχολήσας τὸν δείλαιον ἐμύησέ τε καὶ τοῦ μύσους ἐνέπλησε. καὶ ἡ τῆς βασιλείας ἐπιθυμία τῆς εὐσεβείας ἐγύμνωσε τὸν τρισάθλιον. Παραλαβὼν δὲ ὅμως τὴν δυναστείαν ἐπὶ πλεῖστον ἔκρυψε τὴν ἀσέβειαν" διαφερόντως γὰρ ἐδεδίει τοὺς στρατιώτας, τὰ τῆς εὐσεβείας εἰσδεδεγμένους μαθήματα. πρῶτον μὲν γὰρ αὐτοὺς ὁ πανεύφημος Κωνσταντῖνος, τῆς προτέρας ἐξαπάτης ἐλευθερώσας, ἐξεπαίδευσε τὰ τῆς ἀληθείας μαθήματα' ἔπειτα δὲ οἱ ἐκείνου παῖδες βεβαιοτέραν ἐν αὐτοῖς τὴν παρὰ τοῦ πατρὸς γεγενημένην διδασκαλίαν εἰργάσαντο. εἰ γὰρ καὶ τοῦ ὁμοουσίου τὸ πρόσρημα βουχκοληθεὶς ὑπὸ τῶν ἀγόντων αὐτὸν ὁ Κωνστάντιος οὐ προσίετο, τὴν γοῦν τούτου διάνοιαν ἄκραιφνῶς ὡμολόγει. γνήσιον γὰρ υἱὸν πρὸ τῶν αἰώνων ἐκ τοῦ πατρὸς γεγεννημένον τὸν θεὸν λόγον ονόμαξε καὶ τοὺ: κτίσμα λέγειν τολμῶντας ἄντικρυς ἀπεκήρυττε, τὴν δὲ τῶν εἰδώλων παντελῶς ἀπὴγόρευσε θεραπείαν. ἐρῶ δὲ αὐτοῦ καὶ ἕτερον ἀξιέπαινον, ἱκανὸν τεκμηριῶσαι τὴν περὶ τὰ θεῖα σπουδήν. ἐν γὰρ δὴ τῷ πρὸς δίαγνέντιον πολέμῳ ἅπασαν συναλίσας τὴν στρατιὰν μεταλαχεῖ ἅπαντας τῶν θείω συνεβούλευσε μυστηρίων, ἀεὶ μὲν ἄδηλον εἶναι λέγων τοῦ βίου τὸ τέλος, οὐχ ἥκιστα δὲ ἐν πολέμῳ. μερίων ἑκατέρωθεν ἀφιεμένων καὶ βελῶν καὶ πελτῶν καὶ δοράτων, καὶ μὲν δὴ καὶ ξιφῶν καὶ κοπίδων ἐπιφερομένων καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ὀργάνων δι ὧν ὁ βίαιος ἐπάγεται θάνατος. οὗ δὴ ἕνεκα χρὴ ἕκαστον τὴν ἀξιόκτητον ἐκείνην ἔχειν στολὴν ἧς ὅτι μάλιστα ἐν ἐκείνῳ τῷ βίῳ δεόμεθα. εἰ δέ τις τήνδε λαβεῖν τὴν ἀμπεχόνην ἀναβάλλεται, νῦν ἐντεῦθεν ἀπάρας οἴκαδε ἀπίτω" ἀμυήτοις γὰρ συμπολεμεῖν οὐκ ἀνέξομαι. ς
Kōnstantios men dē stenōn kai odyromenos hypexēlthe ton bion hoti tēs patrǭas pisteōs paretrapē᾽ Ioulianos de apo tēs Pyrōpēs hod eis tēn ᾿sian diabainōn epytheto tou Kōnstantiou tēn teleutēn kai tharrēsas. hōs oudena antipalon echōn, tēn basileian parelaben. Houtos de, nean men agōn tēn hēlikian syn Gallǭ tǭ adelphǭ kai anēbos hōn eti, tēn tēs eusebous didaskalias eilche thēlēn, kai men dē kai prosēbos genomenos kai ephēbos tēs autēs metelanchane" deisas de ton Kōnstantion (tous gar genei prosēkontas anērei deimainōn tas tyrannidas) tou tōn anagnōstōn ēxiōthē chorou kai tas hieras biblous en tois ekklēsiastikois syllogois hypaneginōske tǭ laǭ. kai sēkon martyrōn edomēsato men, ou prosedexanto de hoi martyres tēn eis asebeian autou paratropēn protheōmenoi" tōn to gar dē themeliōn to tēs ekeinou gnōmēs mimēsamenōn abebaion, prin hierōthēnai katepese. ta men dē tēs prōtēs hēlikias autou kai tēs deuteras toiauta ēn. ᾿'peidē de eis tēn Hesperan apairōn Kōnstantios (ekeise gar ē auton heilken ho pros Diagnention polemos) Kaisara tēs Heǭas ton Gallon apephēnen, eusebē te onta kai eis telos ge diameinanta, to men onēsiphoron deos Ioulianos eskedase tēs psychēs, tharsos de labōn hōs ouk hōphele, tōn basilikōn epethymēse skēptrōn. hou dē heineka tēn Hellada perinostōn manteis epezētei kai chrēsmologous, ei Ho teuxetai tou pothoumenou mathein himeiromenos. peritynchanei de anthrōpǭ tauta prolegein hypischnoumegǭ, hos touton eis tina tōn eidōlikōn sēkōn agagōn kai eisō genesthai tōn adytōn paraskeuasas, tous apateōnas ekalese daimonas. ekeinōn de meta tēs synēthous phantasias epiphanentōn, ēnankase touto to deos epitheinai tǭ metōpǭ tou staurou to sēmeion" hoi de tou despotikou tropaiou ton typon idontes kai tēs spheteras hēttēs anamnēsthentes, phroudoi parautika egenonto. syneis de ho goēs ekeinos tēs phygēs tēn aitian epemempsato toutǭ. Ioulianos de kai to deos edēl ode kai tou “staurou thaumaxein ephēse tēn ischyn" apedrasan gar hoi daimones toutou ton 1ho typon ouch enenkontes idein. "mē dē touto hypolabę̄s, ō agathee, ho goēs ephē, ou gar edeisan, hōs ge sy phę̄s, alla bdelyxamenoi to para sou genomenon ǭchontos. houtō boucholēsas ton deilaion emyēse te kai tou mysous eneplēse. kai hē tēs basileias epithymia tēs eusebeias egymnōse ton trisathlion. Paralabōn de homōs tēn dynasteian epi pleiston ekrypse tēn asebeian" diapherontōs gar edediei tous stratiōtas, ta tēs eusebeias eisdedegmenous mathēmata. prōton men gar autous ho paneuphēmos Kōnstantinos, tēs proteras exapatēs eleutherōsas, exepaideuse ta tēs alētheias mathēmata' epeita de hoi ekeinou paides bebaioteran en autois tēn para tou patros gegenēmenēn didaskalian eirgasanto. ei gar kai tou homoousiou to prosrēma bouchkolētheis hypo tōn agontōn auton ho Kōnstantios ou prosieto, tēn goun toutou dianoian akraiphnōs hōmologei. gnēsion gar huion pro tōn aiōnōn ek tou patros gegennēmenon ton theon logon onomaxe kai tou: ktisma legein tolmōntas antikrys apekērytte, tēn de tōn eidōlōn pantelōs apēgoreuse therapeian. erō de autou kai heteron axiepainon, hikanon tekmēriōsai tēn peri ta theia spoudēn. en gar dē tǭ pros diagnention polemǭ hapasan synalisas tēn stratian metalachei hapantas tōn theiō synebouleuse mystēriōn, aei men adēlon einai legōn tou biou to telos, ouch hēkista de en polemǭ. meriōn hekaterōthen aphiemenōn kai belōn kai peltōn kai doratōn, kai men dē kai xiphōn kai kopidōn epipheromenōn kai tōn allōn organōn di hōn ho biaios epagetai thanatos. hou dē heneka chrē hekaston tēn axioktēton ekeinēn echein stolēn hēs hoti malista en ekeinǭ tǭ biǭ deometha. ei de tis tēnde labein tēn ampechonēn anaballetai, nyn enteuthen aparas oikade apitō" amyētois gar sympolemein ouk anexomai. s
Constantius, then, departed this life groaning and lamenting that he had turned aside from his father's faith. Julian, crossing from Europe into Asia, learned of Constantius's death and, emboldened, since he had no rival, took over the empire.
This man, while he was young, with his brother Gallus, and still a boy, sucked the breast of pious teaching; and as a youth and young man too he shared in it. But fearing Constantius (for he was killing his relatives, dreading usurpations), he was enrolled in the order of readers and read the sacred books to the people in the church assemblies. He also built a shrine for martyrs; but the martyrs did not accept it, foreseeing his turning to impiety; for the foundations, imitating the instability of his mind, fell down before it was consecrated. Such was his first and second age. But when Constantius, setting out for the West (for the war against Magnentius drew him there), made Gallus Caesar of the East, a pious man who remained so to the end, Julian scattered from his soul the fear that had been profitable to him, and taking courage, as he ought not, he desired the imperial sceptre. For this reason he went about Greece looking for diviners and oracle-mongers, longing to learn whether he would obtain what he desired. He fell in with a man who promised to foretell this, who led him into one of the idol shrines, had him enter the inner sanctuary, and called up the deceitful demons. When they appeared with their usual apparitions, fear compelled him to put the sign of the cross on his forehead; and the demons, seeing the figure of the Lord's trophy and remembering their own defeat, at once vanished. The sorcerer, understanding the cause of their flight, blamed him. Julian confessed his fear and said that he wondered at the power of the cross; for the demons had fled, not bearing to see its figure. “Do not think that, my good man,” said the sorcerer; “they did not flee from fear, as you say, but went away in disgust at what you did.” Having thus beguiled the wretch, he initiated him and filled him with defilement. So desire for empire stripped the thrice-wretched man of true religion.
Yet even when he had taken power he long hid his impiety; for he was especially afraid of the soldiers, who had accepted the teachings of true religion. First the all-praiseworthy Constantine, freeing them from their former deception, had instructed them in the teachings of the truth; then his sons had made the teaching received from their father more firm in them. For although Constantius, beguiled by those who led him, did not accept the term “of the same essence,” he confessed its meaning purely; for he called God the Word a genuine Son begotten from the Father before the ages, he openly repudiated those who dared to call him a creature, and he utterly forbade the worship of idols. I shall tell another praiseworthy thing of his, enough to prove his zeal for divine things. In the war against Magnentius he gathered his whole army and advised all to share in the divine mysteries, saying that the end of life is always uncertain, and not least in war, when countless missiles, arrows, javelins, and spears are hurled from both sides, and swords and cleavers and the other instruments by which violent death is brought are wielded. “For this reason each one ought to have that precious robe which we most need in that life. And if anyone puts off receiving this garment, let him leave here now and go home; for I will not endure to fight alongside the uninitiated.”
Gal 3:27 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Julian, raised as a Christian and even a reader, turns to paganism while seeking omens of power; at a pagan initiation the demons flee at his sign of the cross, but he is still initiated; as emperor he hides his apostasy for fear of the Christian soldiers, whose faith Constantine and Constantius had strengthened, Constantius even urging all his soldiers to be baptized before battle.
- “The divine mysteries” and “that precious robe” in Constantius's speech refer to baptism; “the uninitiated” are the unbaptized.
- Theodoret's assessment that Constantius held the meaning of “of the same essence” while rejecting the word is his own; translated as written.
- A line of OCR debris has been removed and a split word joined (logged).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR split and misread the word; line of OCR debris (running head and marginal matter) removed): ὅ--18 νρὶ]. ἄστρου. Ναχίθηζ. Οὐαὶ. ΤΥ δδ---ῦθ, θοζοτηθη. Ὗ ὅ-ῦ εἰ γὰρ → εἰ γὰρ; συμ μποζεμεῖν → συμπολεμεῖν.
Topics: Baptism, Christology
Cite (SBL): Theodoret, Hist. eccl. 3.1 (GCS 19:177–179; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-historia-ecclesiastica/3-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-historia-ecclesiastica/3-1
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-theodoret-historia-ecclesiastica-3-1) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Parmentier's Greek text (GCS 19, 1911; OCR by this project); every chapter compared afterwards with Jackson's English in NPNF² 3.
3.2GCS 19:179–181
Ἰαῦτα δὲ ἸΙουλιανὸς σαφῶς ἐπιστάμενος τὸ δυσσεβὲς τῆς ψυχῆς οὐκ ἐπίδηλον εἶχεν, εἰς εὔνοιαν δὲ ἅπαντας ἐφελκόμενος καὶ τοὺς ὑπὸ Κωνσταντίου τῶν ἐκκλησιῶν ἐξελαθέντας ἐπισκόπους καὶ τὰς ἐσχατιὰς τῆς οἰκουμένης οἰκοῦντας εἰς τὰς οἰκείας ἐπανελθεῖν ἐκκλησίας προσέταξε. τούτου δὴ οὖν τοῦ νόμου τεθέντος, εἰς μὲν τὴν Αἰντιοἃ χειαν ἐπανῆλθεν ὁ θεῖος Διελέτιος, εἰς δὲ τὴν ᾿λεξάνδρειαν ὁ πολυὕμνητος θανάσιος. Εὐσέβιος δὲ καὶ Ἰλάριος οἱ ἐκ τῆς Ἰταλίας καὶ “ουχίφερ ὁ Σαρδῶ τὴν νῆσον ποιμαίνειν λαχὼν ἐν τῇ Θηβαίων τῇ πρὸς Αἴγυπτον διῆγον" ἐκεῖ γὰρ αὐτοὺς ὁ Κωνστάντιος ἐξωστράκισεν. οὗτοι σὺν τοῖς ἄλλοις ὁμόφροσι κατὰ ταὐτὸν γενόμενοι χρῆναι τὰς ἐκκλησίας ἔλεγον εἰς μίαν συναγαγεῖν συμφωνίαν. οὐ γὰρ μόνον αὐτὰς οἱ τἀναντία φρονοῦντες ἐπολιόρκουν, ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐταὶ πρὸς ἑαυτὰς ἐστασίαζον. Καὶ γὰρ ἐν Ἀντιοχείᾳ διχῆ τὸ ὑγιαῖνον σῶμα τῆς ἐκκλησίας διήρητο᾽ οἵ τε γὰρ ἐξ ἀρχῆς Εὐσταθίου χάριν τοῦ πανευφήμου τῶν ἄλλων ἀποκριθέντες καθ' ἑαυτοὺς συνηθροίζοντο, καὶ οἱ μετὰ ΠΊελετίου τοῦ θαυμασίου τῆς Ἀρειανικῆς συμμορίας χωρισθέντες ἐν τῇ καλουμένῃ Παλαιᾷ τὰς λειτουργίας ἐπετέλουν τὰς θείας. καὶ ἦν μὲν τούτων κἀκείνων μία ἡ ὁμολογία τῆς πίστεως" ἑκάτερον γὰρ σύστημα τῆς ἐχτεθείσης ἐν ικαίᾳ διδασκαλίας ὑπερεμάχει. μόνη δὲ αὐτοὺς ἔρις ἀπ᾿ ἀλλήλων διίστη καὶ ἡ περὶ τοὺ: ἡγουμένους διάθεσις᾽ οὐδὲ γὰρ ἡ θάτέρου τελευτὴ διέλυσε τὴν διάστασιν. πρὸ γὰρ τῆς Λῆελετίου χειροτονίας Εὐσταθίου τετελευτηκότος καὶ τῶν τῆς εὐσεβείας ἄντεχομένων μετὰ τὴν Μελετίου μὲν ἐξορίαν Εὐζωΐου δὲ χειροτονίαν τῆς τῶν δυσσεβούντων κοινωνίας ἀποχριθέντων καὶ καθ' ἑαυτοὺς ἀθροιζομένων, συναφθῆναι τούτοις οἱ ἀπ᾿ Βὐσταθίου τὴν ἐπωνυμίαν ἔχοντες οὐκ ἐπείσθησαν. Τῆσδε τῆς συναφείας οἱ περὶ τὸν Εὐσέβιον καὶ Πουκίφερα πόρον ἐπεζήτουν εὑρεῖν καὶ Λουκίφερα μὲν ὁ Εὐσέβιος τὴν Ἀλεξάνδρειαν ἠξίου καταλαβεῖν καὶ ᾿ἀθανασίῳ τῷ μεγάλῳ περὶ τούτου κοινώσασθαι, αὐτὸς δέ γε τὸν περὶ τῆς συμβάσεως ἤθελεν ἀναδέξασθαι πόνον. Ἀλλ ὁ ΔΠουκίφερ εἰς μὲν τὴν Ἀλεξάνδρειαν οὐκ ἀφίκετο, τὴν Δντιόχου δὲ πόλιν κατέλαβε. πολλοὺς δὲ περὶ συμβάσεως λόγους καὶ τούτοις κἀκείνοις προσενεγκών, εἶτα ἰδὼν ἀντιλέγοντας τοὺς τῆς Πύσταθίου συμμορίας (ἡγεῖτο δὲ ταύτης Παυλῖνος πρεσβύτερος ὦν), ἐχειροτόνησεν αὐτοῖς, οὐκ εὖ γε ποιῶν, τὸν Παυλῖνον ἐπίσκοπον. τοῦτο τὴν διάστασιν ἐκείνην μακροτέραν εἰργάσατο᾽ πέντε γὰρ καὶ ὀγδοήκοντα διέμεινεν ἔτη μέχρι τῆς Ἰλεξάνδρου τοῦ πάσης εὐφημίας ἀξίου προεδρίας᾽ ὃς τῆς Ἀντιοχέων ἐκκλησίας ἐγχειρισθεὶς τὰ πηδάλια, πάντα πόρον κινήσας καὶ πᾶσαν ὑπὲρ τῆς ὁμονοίας εἰσενεγκὼν σπουδήν τε καὶ προθυμίᾳν, τὸ κεχωρισμένον μέλος τῷ λοιπῷ τῆς ἐκκλησίας συνήρμοσε σώματι. τότε δὴ τὴν διάστασιν ὁ Λουκίφερ αὐξήσας πλεῖστον ἐν Ἀντιοχείᾳ διέτριψε χρόνον. ὃ δέ γε Εὐσέβιος, εἰς τὴν Ἀντιόχειαν ἀφικόμενος καὶ γνοὺς ἐκ τῆς οὐκ ἀγαθῆς ἐατρείας δυσίατον τὸ πάθος γεγενημένον, εἰς τὴν Ἑσπέραν ἀπέπλευσεν. ὁ δὲ Λουχίφερ εἰς τὴν Σαρδῶ παραγενόμενος ἕτερά τινὰ τοῖς ἐκκλησιαστικοῖς προστέθεικε δόγμασιν. οἱ δὲ ταῦτα καταδεξάμενοι ἐκ τῆς τούτου προσὴηγορίας καὶ τὴν ἐπωνυμίαν ἐδέξαντο Λουκιφεριανοὶ γὰρ ἐπὶ πλεῖστον ὠνομάξοντο χρόνον. ἀπέσβη δὲ καὶ τοῦτο τὸ δόγμα καὶ παρεδόθη τῇ λήθῃ. ταῦτα μὲν οὖν μετὰ τὴν ἐπάνοδον τῶν ἐπισκόπων ἐγένετο.
Iauta de IIoulianos saphōs epistamenos to dyssebes tēs psychēs ouk epidēlon eichen, eis eunoian de hapantas ephelkomenos kai tous hypo Kōnstantiou tōn ekklēsiōn exelathentas episkopous kai tas eschatias tēs oikoumenēs oikountas eis tas oikeias epanelthein ekklēsias prosetaxe. toutou dē oun tou nomou tethentos, eis men tēn Aintioa cheian epanēlthen ho theios Dieletios, eis de tēn ᾿lexandreian ho polyymnētos thanasios. Eusebios de kai Ilarios hoi ek tēs Italias kai “ouchipher ho Sardō tēn nēson poimainein lachōn en tę̄ Thēbaiōn tę̄ pros Aigypton diēgon" ekei gar autous ho Kōnstantios exōstrakisen. houtoi syn tois allois homophrosi kata tauton genomenoi chrēnai tas ekklēsias elegon eis mian synagagein symphōnian. ou gar monon autas hoi tanantia phronountes epoliorkoun, alla kai autai pros heautas estasiazon. Kai gar en Antiocheią dichē to hygiainon sōma tēs ekklēsias diērēto᾽ hoi te gar ex archēs Eustathiou charin tou paneuphēmou tōn allōn apokrithentes kath' heautous synēthroizonto, kai hoi meta PIeletiou tou thaumasiou tēs Areianikēs symmorias chōristhentes en tę̄ kaloumenę̄ Palaią tas leitourgias epeteloun tas theias. kai ēn men toutōn kakeinōn mia hē homologia tēs pisteōs" hekateron gar systēma tēs echtetheisēs en ikaią didaskalias hyperemachei. monē de autous eris ap᾿ allēlōn diistē kai hē peri tou: hēgoumenous diathesis᾽ oude gar hē thaterou teleutē dielyse tēn diastasin. pro gar tēs Lēeletiou cheirotonias Eustathiou teteleutēkotos kai tōn tēs eusebeias antechomenōn meta tēn Meletiou men exorian Euzōïou de cheirotonian tēs tōn dyssebountōn koinōnias apochrithentōn kai kath' heautous athroizomenōn, synaphthēnai toutois hoi ap᾿ Bystathiou tēn epōnymian echontes ouk epeisthēsan. Tēsde tēs synapheias hoi peri ton Eusebion kai Poukiphera poron epezētoun heurein kai Loukiphera men ho Eusebios tēn Alexandreian ēxiou katalabein kai ᾿athanasiǭ tǭ megalǭ peri toutou koinōsasthai, autos de ge ton peri tēs symbaseōs ēthelen anadexasthai ponon. All ho DPoukipher eis men tēn Alexandreian ouk aphiketo, tēn Dntiochou de polin katelabe. pollous de peri symbaseōs logous kai toutois kakeinois prosenenkōn, eita idōn antilegontas tous tēs Pystathiou symmorias (hēgeito de tautēs Paulinos presbyteros ōn), echeirotonēsen autois, ouk eu ge poiōn, ton Paulinon episkopon. touto tēn diastasin ekeinēn makroteran eirgasato᾽ pente gar kai ogdoēkonta diemeinen etē mechri tēs Ilexandrou tou pasēs euphēmias axiou proedrias᾽ hos tēs Antiocheōn ekklēsias encheiristheis ta pēdalia, panta poron kinēsas kai pasan hyper tēs homonoias eisenenkōn spoudēn te kai prothymiąn, to kechōrismenon melos tǭ loipǭ tēs ekklēsias synērmose sōmati. tote dē tēn diastasin ho Loukipher auxēsas pleiston en Antiocheią dietripse chronon. ho de ge Eusebios, eis tēn Antiocheian aphikomenos kai gnous ek tēs ouk agathēs eatreias dysiaton to pathos gegenēmenon, eis tēn Hesperan apepleusen. ho de Louchipher eis tēn Sardō paragenomenos hetera tina tois ekklēsiastikois prostetheike dogmasin. hoi de tauta katadexamenoi ek tēs toutou prosēēgorias kai tēn epōnymian edexanto Loukipherianoi gar epi pleiston ōnomaxonto chronon. apesbē de kai touto to dogma kai paredothē tę̄ lēthę̄. tauta men oun meta tēn epanodon tōn episkopōn egeneto.
Julian, knowing this clearly, did not make the impiety of his soul evident, but, drawing all to goodwill, ordered the bishops driven from the churches by Constantius and living at the ends of the world to return to their own churches. When this law was laid down, the divine Meletius returned to Antioch and the celebrated Athanasius to Alexandria. Eusebius and Hilary, from Italy, and Lucifer, who had been allotted the shepherding of the island of Sardinia, were living in the Thebaid next to Egypt; for Constantius had banished them there. These, meeting with others of one mind with them, said that the churches must be brought together into one agreement. For not only were those of the opposite opinion besieging them, but they were also at strife among themselves.
For in Antioch the sound body of the church was divided in two. Those who had separated from the others from the beginning on account of the all-praiseworthy Eustathius assembled by themselves; and those who had separated from the Arian gang with the admirable Meletius performed the divine liturgy in the so-called Old Town. Both had one confession of faith, for each group defended the teaching set forth at Nicaea; only contention, and their attachment to their leaders, kept them apart from each other. Not even the death of one of them ended the division. For Eustathius had died before the ordination of Meletius; and when those who held to true religion, after the exile of Meletius and the ordination of Euzoius, had separated from the communion of the impious and were assembling by themselves, those named after Eustathius would not be persuaded to join them.
Eusebius and Lucifer sought a way to bring about this union. Eusebius asked Lucifer to go to Alexandria and confer with the great Athanasius about this, while he himself wished to take on the labour of the reconciliation. But Lucifer did not go to Alexandria, but went to the city of Antiochus. After offering many words about reconciliation to both parties, and then seeing those of Eustathius's party opposing it (their leader was Paulinus, who was a presbyter), he ordained Paulinus bishop for them, and in this he did not do well. This made that division longer; for it lasted eighty-five years, until the presidency of Alexander, worthy of all praise, who, entrusted with the helm of the church of the Antiochenes, moved every means and brought all zeal and eagerness to bear for concord, and joined the separated member to the rest of the body of the church. Lucifer, then, having increased the division, spent a very long time in Antioch. But Eusebius, coming to Antioch and learning that the illness had become hard to cure through the bad treatment, sailed away to the West. Lucifer, going to Sardinia, added some other things to the doctrines of the church; those who accepted them took their name from him, for they were long called Luciferians. But this doctrine too was extinguished and given over to forgetfulness. These things happened after the return of the bishops.
Notes and citation
Summary: Julian recalls the exiled bishops; Meletius returns to Antioch and Athanasius to Alexandria; Lucifer of Cagliari, sent to reconcile the two orthodox parties at Antioch, instead ordains Paulinus bishop of the Eustathians, prolonging a schism that lasted eighty-five years until Bishop Alexander healed it.
- The section opens with Theodoret's transitional sentence (“Julian, knowing this clearly ...”); it is kept as printed.
- “Eusebius” here is Eusebius of Vercelli, not Eusebius of Samosata; “Hilary” is the deacon Hilary, not Hilary of Poitiers (Theodoret does not distinguish).
- Alexander of Antioch healed the schism about 414.
Topics: Church office, Heresy
Cite (SBL): Theodoret, Hist. eccl. 3.2 (GCS 19:179–181; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-historia-ecclesiastica/3-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-historia-ecclesiastica/3-2
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-theodoret-historia-ecclesiastica-3-2) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Parmentier's Greek text (GCS 19, 1911; OCR by this project); every chapter compared afterwards with Jackson's English in NPNF² 3.
3.3GCS 19:181–185
Ἰουλιανοῦ δὲ τὴν οἰκείαν ἀσέβειαν ἐχκαλύψαντος, αἱ πόλεις στάσεῶν ἐνεπλήσθησαν. ἀναθαρρήσαντες γὰρ οἱ τῇ τῶν εἰδώλων πλάνῃ δεδουλωμένοι ἀνέφξαν μὲν τοὺς τῶν εἰδώλων σηκούς, τὰς δὲ μυσαρὰς ἐκείνας καὶ λήθης ἀξίας τελετὰς ἐπετέλουν" καὶ ἧπτον μὲν τὸ ἐπιβώμιον πῦρ, τὴν δὲ γῆν τῷ αἵματι τῶν θυμάτων μιαίνοντες ἐμόλυνον κνίσῃ καὶ καπνῷ τὸν ἀέρα. ὑπὸ δὲ τῶν θεραπευομένων βακχευόμενοι δαιμόνων, λυττῶντες καὶ κορυβαντιῶντες τὰς ἀγυιὰς περιέθεον θωμολοχίαις τε καὶ κωμῳδίαις κατὰ τῶν ἁγίων ἐχρῶντο, καὶ λοιδοθίας καὶ πομπείας οὐδὲν εἶδος ἀπῆν. οἱ δὲ τῆς εὐσεβείας θιασῶται, φέρειν τὰς τούτων οὐ δυνάμενοι βλασφημίας. ἀντελοιδοροῦντο καὶ τὴν ῇὉῇπ ἐκείνων πρεσβευομένην διήλεγχον πλάνην. χαλεπαίνοντες δὲ οἵ τῆς ἀσεβείας ἐργάται καὶ θρασύτητος ἐφόδιον ἔχοντες τὴν ἀπὸ τοῦ κρατοῦντος αὐτοῖς προσγενομένην παρρησίαν, πληγὰς αὐτοῖς ἀνηκέστους ἐπέφερον. ὃ γὰρ παμμίαρος βασιλεύς, δέον προμηθεῖσθαι τῆς τῶν ἀρχομένων εἰρήνης, αὐτὸς τοὺς δήμους κατ᾽ ἀλλήλων ἐξέμηνε. περιεώρα γὰρ τὰ παρὰ τῶν θρασυτέρων κατὰ τῶν ἐπιεικεστέρων τολμώμενα, καὶ τὰς πολιτικὰς δὲ καὶ στρατιωτικὰς ἀρχὰς τοῖς οὐμοτάτοις καὶ δυσσεβεστάτοις ἐπίστευεν, οἱ προφανῶς μὲν θύειν τοὺς τῆς εὐσεβείας ἐραστὰς οὐχ ἠνάγκαζον, πᾶν δ᾽ εἶδος αὐτοῖς ἐπετίθεσαν ἀτιμίας. ἀφείλετο γὰρ καὶ τὰ γέρα τὰ παρὰ τοῦ μεγάλου Κωνοσταντίνου τοῖς ἱερωμένοις ἀπονενεμημένα. Ὁποῖα δὲ οἱ τῇ τῶν εἰδώλων ἀπάτῃ προσδεδεμένοι κατ᾽ ἐκεῖνον ἐτόλμησα τὸν καιρόν, πάμπολλα μέν ἐστι καὶ συγγραφῆς ἰδίας δεόμενα ἐγὼ δὲ ὀλίγα ἐκ πολλῶν διηγήσομαι. ἐν Ἀσκάλωνε μὲν γὰρ καὶ Γάζῃ (πόλεις δὲ αὗται τῆς Παλαιστίνης) ἀνδρῶν ἱερωσύνης ἠξιωμένων καὶ γυναικῶν διὰ βίου τὴν παρθενίαν ἐπηγγελμένων ἀναρρήἔαντες τὰς γαστέρας, εἶτα κριθῶν ἐμπλήσαντες, προύθηκαν χοίροις βοράν. ἐν Σεβαστῇ δὲ (καὶ αὕτη δὲ εἰς τὸ προειρημένον ἔθνος τελεῖ) ᾿ωάννου τοῦ βαπτιστοῦ τὴν θήκην ἀνέῳξαν πυρί τε παρέδοσαν τὰ ὀστᾶ καὶ τὴν κόνιν ἐσχέδασαν. τὸ δὲ ἐν Φοινίκῃ τολμηθὲν μύσος πῶς ἂν τις ἀδαχρυτὶ διηγήσαιτο; ἐν Ἡλιουπόλει γὰρ τῇ πρὸς τῷ “ιβάνῳ Κύριλλός τις διάκονος ἢ. οὗτος ἐν τῇ Κωνσταντίνου βασιλείᾳ ζήλῳ πυρπολούμενος θείῳ πολλὰ τῶν ἐκεῖ προσκυνουμένων εἰδώλων συνέτριψε. ταύτης μεμνημένοι τῆς πράξεως οἱ δυσώνυμοι οὐ μόνον αὐτὸν ἀνεῖλον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν γαστέρα τεμόντες τοῦ ἥπατος ἀπεγεύσαντο. τὸν μέντοι πάντα ἐφορῶντα ὀφθαλμὸν οὐ διέφυγον, ἀλλ ἔδοσαν ἀξίας τοῦ τολμήματος δίκας. ὅσοι γὰρ δὴ ἐκείνου τοῦ μύσους μετέλαχον ἐστερήθησαν μὲν τῶν ὀδόντων πάντων κατὰ ταὐτὸν ἐκπεπτωκότων, ἐστερήθησαν δὲ γλωττῶν" διέρευσαν γὰρ καὶ αὗται σηπεδόνι περιπεσοῦσαι" ἀφηρέθησαν δὲ καὶ τὸ βλέπειν καὶ διὰ τῶν παθημάτων ἐχήρυττον τῆς εὐσεβείας τὴν δύναμι. ἐν Ἐμέσῃ δὲ τῇ ὁμόρῳ πόλει Διονύσῳ τῷ γύννιδι τὴν νεόδμητον ἀφιέρωσαν ἐκκλησίαν, τὸ καταγέλαστον καὶ ἀνδρόγυνον ἐν αὐτῇ ἱδρύσαντες ἄγαλμα. ἐν Δοροστόλῳ δὲ (πόλις δὲ αὕτη τῆς Θράκης ἐπίσημος) “Πἰμιλεανὸς ὃ γιχκηρόρος ἀγωνιστὴς ὑπὸ Καπετωλίνου τοῦ τῆς Θράκης ἁπάσης ἄρχοντος παρεδόθη πυρί. Τὸ δέ γε διάρκου τοῦ Ἀρεθουσίων ἐπισκόπου δρᾶμα τῆς “ἰσχύλου καὶ Σοφοκλέοις μεγαληγορίας δεῖται, ἵν᾿ ἀξίως τὰ ἐκείνου τραγῳδήσωσι πάθη. ἐπειδὴ γὰρ οὗτος ἐν τοῖς Κωνσταντίου καιροῖς εἰδωλικόν τινα καταλύσας σηκὸν ἐκκλησίαν ἐδείματο, τὸν Ἰουλιανοῦ μεμαθηκότες ᾿Δρεθούσιοι σκοπὸν ἐγύμνωσαν τὴν θυσμένειαν. ὃ δὲ πρῶτον μὲν ἀποδρᾶναι κατὰ τὸν εὐαγγελικὸν ἐπειράθη νόμον" ἐπειδὴ δὲ ἔγνω τῶν ὑπ᾽ αὐτὸν ἀντ᾽ αὐτοῦ συνειλῆφθαί τινας, ἐπανῆκέ τε καὶ ἑαυτὸν τοῖς μιαιφόνοις ἐξέδωκεν. οἱ δὲ λαβόντες οὔτε ὠκτειραν ὡς πρεσβύτην οὔτε ἠδέσθησαν οὑς ἀρετῆς φροντιστήν, ἀλλὰ καὶ βίῳ καὶ λόγῳ τὸν ἄνδρα κοσμούμενον πρῶτον μὲν ἠκίσαντο, τὸ σῶμα γυμνώσαντες καὶ τοῖς μέλεσιν ἅπασιν ἐπιθέντες τὰς μάστιγας" εἶτα εἰς ὑπονόμους δυσώδεις ἐμβαλόντες κἀκεῖθεν ἀναγαγόντες τῷ πλήθει τῶν μειρακίων παρέδοσαν, ἀφειδῶς αὐτὸν κατακεντεῖν ταῖς γραφίσι κελεύσαντες. μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα εἰς γύργαθον ἐμβαλόντες καὶ γάρῳ καὶ μέλιτι χρίσαντες, ὑπαίθριον ἠώρησαν ἐν θέρους ἀκμῇ, σφῆκας ὁμοῦ καὶ μελίττας εἰς θοίνην προκαλούμενοι. ταῦτα δὲ ἔδρων, δυοῖν θάτερον ἀναγκάζοντες, ἢ τὸν σηκὸν τὸν καταλυθέντα δομήσασθαι ἢ τὴν τῆς οἰκοδομίας ἐχτῖσαι δαπάνην. ὁ δὲ τῶν μὲν χαλεπῶν ἐκείνων παθημάτων ἠνείχετο, δράσειν δὲ τῶν προτεινομένων οὐδὲν ἐπηγγέλλετο. ἐκεῖνοι δὲ διὰ πενίαν αὐτὸν μὴ παρέχειν ὑπειληφότες τὰ χρήματα, τὰ μὲν ἡμίση τῶν προταθέντων ἠφίεσαν, τἄλλα δὲ ἐχτένειν ἐκέλευον᾽ ὁ δὲ ἐξηρτημένος καὶ ὑπό τε τῶν γραφίδων κχεντούμενος ὑπό τε τῶν σφηκῶν καὶ τῶν μελιττῶν ἐσθιόμενος, οὐ μόνον οὐκ ἐδήλου τὰς ἀλγηδόνας, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐπετώθαζε τοῖς ἀνοσίοις καὶ ἔλεγεν αὐτοὺς μὲν εἶναι χαμαιζήλους καὶ περιγείους, ἑαυτὸν ὁὲ ὑψηλὸν καὶ μετέωρον. τέλος δὲ βραχύ τι μόριον τῶν χρημάτων ἐξήτησα" ὁ δὲ ἴσον εἰς ἀσέβειαν ἔφη τὸ ὀβολὸν γοῦν ἕνα δοῦναι τῷ πᾶντα δοῦναι. οὕτως ἡττηθέντες ἀπέλυσα:, ὑπεραγασθέντες τὴν καρτερίαν καὶ διὰ τῶν ἐναντίων εἰς τἀναντία μετατεθέντες. διὰ γὰρ τῆς ἐκείνου γλώττης μετέμαθον τὴν εὐσέβειαν.
Ioulianou de tēn oikeian asebeian echkalypsantos, hai poleis staseōn eneplēsthēsan. anatharrēsantes gar hoi tę̄ tōn eidōlōn planę̄ dedoulōmenoi anephxan men tous tōn eidōlōn sēkous, tas de mysaras ekeinas kai lēthēs axias teletas epeteloun" kai hēpton men to epibōmion pyr, tēn de gēn tǭ haimati tōn thymatōn miainontes emolynon knisę̄ kai kapnǭ ton aera. hypo de tōn therapeuomenōn bakcheuomenoi daimonōn, lyttōntes kai korybantiōntes tas aguias perietheon thōmolochiais te kai kōmǭdiais kata tōn hagiōn echrōnto, kai loidothias kai pompeias ouden eidos apēn. hoi de tēs eusebeias thiasōtai, pherein tas toutōn ou dynamenoi blasphēmias. anteloidorounto kai tēn hę̄Oę̄p ekeinōn presbeuomenēn diēlenchon planēn. chalepainontes de hoi tēs asebeias ergatai kai thrasytētos ephodion echontes tēn apo tou kratountos autois prosgenomenēn parrēsian, plēgas autois anēkestous epepheron. ho gar pammiaros basileus, deon promētheisthai tēs tōn archomenōn eirēnēs, autos tous dēmous kat᾽ allēlōn exemēne. perieōra gar ta para tōn thrasyterōn kata tōn epieikesterōn tolmōmena, kai tas politikas de kai stratiōtikas archas tois oumotatois kai dyssebestatois episteuen, hoi prophanōs men thyein tous tēs eusebeias erastas ouch ēnankazon, pan d᾽ eidos autois epetithesan atimias. apheileto gar kai ta gera ta para tou megalou Kōnostantinou tois hierōmenois aponenemēmena. Hopoia de hoi tę̄ tōn eidōlōn apatę̄ prosdedemenoi kat᾽ ekeinon etolmēsa ton kairon, pampolla men esti kai syngraphēs idias deomena egō de oliga ek pollōn diēgēsomai. en Askalōne men gar kai Gazę̄ (poleis de hautai tēs Palaistinēs) andrōn hierōsynēs ēxiōmenōn kai gynaikōn dia biou tēn parthenian epēngelmenōn anarrēeantes tas gasteras, eita krithōn emplēsantes, prouthēkan choirois boran. en Sebastę̄ de (kai hautē de eis to proeirēmenon ethnos telei) ᾿ōannou tou baptistou tēn thēkēn aneǭxan pyri te paredosan ta osta kai tēn konin eschedasan. to de en Phoinikę̄ tolmēthen mysos pōs an tis adachryti diēgēsaito? en Hēlioupolei gar tę̄ pros tǭ “ibanǭ Kyrillos tis diakonos ē. houtos en tę̄ Kōnstantinou basileią zēlǭ pyrpoloumenos theiǭ polla tōn ekei proskynoumenōn eidōlōn synetripse. tautēs memnēmenoi tēs praxeōs hoi dysōnymoi ou monon auton aneilon, alla kai tēn gastera temontes tou hēpatos apegeusanto. ton mentoi panta ephorōnta ophthalmon ou diephygon, all edosan axias tou tolmēmatos dikas. hosoi gar dē ekeinou tou mysous metelachon esterēthēsan men tōn odontōn pantōn kata tauton ekpeptōkotōn, esterēthēsan de glōttōn" diereusan gar kai hautai sēpedoni peripesousai" aphērethēsan de kai to blepein kai dia tōn pathēmatōn echērytton tēs eusebeias tēn dynami. en Emesę̄ de tę̄ homorǭ polei Dionysǭ tǭ gynnidi tēn neodmēton aphierōsan ekklēsian, to katagelaston kai androgynon en autę̄ hidrysantes agalma. en Dorostolǭ de (polis de hautē tēs Thrakēs episēmos) “Pimileanos ho gichkēroros agōnistēs hypo Kapetōlinou tou tēs Thrakēs hapasēs archontos paredothē pyri. To de ge diarkou tou Arethousiōn episkopou drama tēs “ischylou kai Sophokleois megalēgorias deitai, hin᾿ axiōs ta ekeinou tragǭdēsōsi pathē. epeidē gar houtos en tois Kōnstantiou kairois eidōlikon tina katalysas sēkon ekklēsian edeimato, ton Ioulianou memathēkotes ᾿Drethousioi skopon egymnōsan tēn thysmeneian. ho de prōton men apodranai kata ton euangelikon epeirathē nomon" epeidē de egnō tōn hyp᾽ auton ant᾽ autou syneilēphthai tinas, epanēke te kai heauton tois miaiphonois exedōken. hoi de labontes oute ōkteiran hōs presbytēn oute ēdesthēsan hous aretēs phrontistēn, alla kai biǭ kai logǭ ton andra kosmoumenon prōton men ēkisanto, to sōma gymnōsantes kai tois melesin hapasin epithentes tas mastigas" eita eis hyponomous dysōdeis embalontes kakeithen anagagontes tǭ plēthei tōn meirakiōn paredosan, apheidōs auton katakentein tais graphisi keleusantes. meta de tauta eis gyrgathon embalontes kai garǭ kai meliti chrisantes, hypaithrion ēōrēsan en therous akmę̄, sphēkas homou kai melittas eis thoinēn prokaloumenoi. tauta de edrōn, dyoin thateron anankazontes, ē ton sēkon ton katalythenta domēsasthai ē tēn tēs oikodomias echtisai dapanēn. ho de tōn men chalepōn ekeinōn pathēmatōn ēneicheto, drasein de tōn proteinomenōn ouden epēngelleto. ekeinoi de dia penian auton mē parechein hypeilēphotes ta chrēmata, ta men hēmisē tōn protathentōn ēphiesan, talla de echtenein ekeleuon᾽ ho de exērtēmenos kai hypo te tōn graphidōn kchentoumenos hypo te tōn sphēkōn kai tōn melittōn esthiomenos, ou monon ouk edēlou tas algēdonas, alla kai epetōthaze tois anosiois kai elegen autous men einai chamaizēlous kai perigeious, heauton hoe hypsēlon kai meteōron. telos de brachy ti morion tōn chrēmatōn exētēsa" ho de ison eis asebeian ephē to obolon goun hena dounai tǭ panta dounai. houtōs hēttēthentes apelysa:, hyperagasthentes tēn karterian kai dia tōn enantiōn eis tanantia metatethentes. dia gar tēs ekeinou glōttēs metemathon tēn eusebeian.
When Julian revealed his own impiety, the cities were filled with riots. For those enslaved to the error of idols, taking courage, opened the shrines of the idols and performed those abominable rites worthy of oblivion; they lit the fire on the altars, defiled the earth with the blood of victims and polluted the air with the reek and smoke. Frenzied by the demons they served, raving and in a Corybantic frenzy, they ran about the streets, using buffoonery and ribaldry against the saints, and no kind of abuse and insult was lacking. The members of true religion, unable to bear their blasphemies, answered abuse with abuse and exposed the error they championed. The workers of impiety, angered, and having as fuel for their boldness the licence given them by the ruler, inflicted incurable blows on them. For the utterly foul emperor, when he ought to have cared for the peace of his subjects, himself drove the peoples mad against one another. For he overlooked what was dared by the bolder against the more moderate, and he entrusted civil and military offices to the most savage and impious men, who did not openly compel the lovers of true religion to sacrifice, but heaped every kind of dishonour on them. He also took away the privileges granted by the great Constantine to the clergy.
What those bound to the deceit of idols dared at that time is very much and needs a history of its own; I shall relate a few things out of many. In Ascalon and Gaza (these are cities of Palestine) they ripped open the bellies of men who had been honoured with the priesthood and of women who had vowed lifelong virginity, filled them with barley, and set them before swine as food. In Sebaste (this too belongs to the same province) they opened the tomb of John the Baptist, burned the bones, and scattered the ashes. As for the abomination dared in Phoenicia, how could anyone relate it without tears? In Heliopolis by Lebanon there was a certain deacon Cyril. In the reign of Constantine, burning with divine zeal, he had broken many of the idols worshipped there. Remembering this deed, the accursed men not only killed him but cut open his belly and tasted his liver. Yet they did not escape the all-seeing eye, but paid the due penalty for their daring. For all who shared in that abomination lost their teeth, which all fell out at once; they lost their tongues too, which rotted and decayed; and they were deprived of sight, and by their sufferings proclaimed the power of true religion. In Emesa, the neighbouring city, they dedicated the newly built church to Dionysus the effeminate, setting up in it his ridiculous and androgynous statue. In Dorostolum (a famous city of Thrace) Aemilian, the victorious champion, was given to the fire by Capitolinus, the governor of all Thrace.
The drama of Mark, bishop of Arethusa, needs the grandeur of Aeschylus and Sophocles to put his sufferings worthily on the tragic stage. In the times of Constantius he had destroyed an idol shrine and built a church; so the people of Arethusa, learning Julian's purpose, laid bare their hostility. He first tried to flee, according to the law of the gospel; but when he learned that some of those under him had been arrested in his place, he returned and gave himself up to the murderers. When they had him, they neither pitied him as an old man nor respected him as one devoted to virtue; but this man, adorned in life and in speech, they first maltreated, stripping his body and laying the lash on all his limbs; then they threw him into foul sewers, and bringing him up from there handed him over to the crowd of youths, ordering them to stab him unsparingly with their writing styluses. After this they put him in a basket, smeared him with fish sauce and honey, and hung him up in the open air at the height of summer, inviting wasps and bees to the feast. They did this to compel one of two things: either that he rebuild the shrine that had been destroyed or pay the cost of the building. He endured those grievous sufferings but promised to do none of the things proposed. They, supposing that he did not provide the money because of poverty, remitted half of the amount and ordered him to pay the rest. But he, hanging up, pierced by the styluses and eaten by the wasps and bees, not only did not show his pains but mocked the unholy men, saying that they were low and grovelling on the earth, while he was lofty and raised on high. At last they asked for a small part of the money; but he said that to give even one obol was equal in impiety to giving the whole. So, defeated, they let him go, greatly admiring his endurance and changed by opposite means to the opposite; for through his tongue they learned true religion.
Matt 10:23 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Under Julian pagans attack Christians across the empire: clergy and virgins are disembowelled at Ascalon and Gaza, John the Baptist's bones burned at Sebaste, the deacon Cyril killed at Heliopolis, a church given to Dionysus at Emesa, Aemilian burned at Dorostolum, and Bishop Mark of Arethusa tortured for refusing to rebuild a temple, until his endurance wins over his tormentors.
- Theodoret's accounts of these atrocities and of the punishment of Cyril's murderers are his own; translated as written. Gregory of Nazianzus (Or. 4.88–91) and Sozomen (5.10) also tell the story of Mark of Arethusa.
- “According to the law of the gospel”: Matt 10:23.
- “Fish sauce” renders γάρος (garum).
Topics: Persecution, Martyrdom
Cite (SBL): Theodoret, Hist. eccl. 3.3 (GCS 19:181–185; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-historia-ecclesiastica/3-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-historia-ecclesiastica/3-3
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-theodoret-historia-ecclesiastica-3-3) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Parmentier's Greek text (GCS 19, 1911; OCR by this project); every chapter compared afterwards with Jackson's English in NPNF² 3.
3.4GCS 19:185
Καὶ ἕτερα δὲ μυρία πανταχοῦ γῆς καὶ θαλάττης κατ᾽ ἐκεῖνον τὸν καιρὸν ὑπὸ τῶν δυσσεβῶν κατὰ τῶν εὐσεβῶν ἐτολμήθη. καὶ γὰρ προφανῶς λοιπὸν ὁ θεομισὴς κατὰ τῆς εὐσεβείας ἐνομοθ ἔτει. καὶ πρῶτον μὲν ἀπηγόρευσε τῶν Γαλιλαίων τοὺς παῖδας (οὕτω γὰρ τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν τοὺς θιασώτας ὠνόμαζε) ποιητικῶν καὶ ῥητορικῶν καὶ φιλοσόφων μεταλαγχάνειν λόγων. ντοῖς οἰκείοις γάρε, φησί, πτεροῖς κατὰ τὴν παροιμίαν βαλλόμεθα᾽ ἐκ γὰρ τῶν ἡμετέρων σιγγραμμάτων καθοπλιξόμενοι τὸν καθ᾽ ἡμῶν ἀναδέχονται πόλεμονε. μετὰ τοῦτον ἕτερον τέθειχε νόμον τοὺς Γαλιλαίους κελεύων τῆς στρατιᾶς ἐξελαύνεσθαι.
Kai hetera de myria pantachou gēs kai thalattēs kat᾽ ekeinon ton kairon hypo tōn dyssebōn kata tōn eusebōn etolmēthē. kai gar prophanōs loipon ho theomisēs kata tēs eusebeias enomoth etei. kai prōton men apēgoreuse tōn Galilaiōn tous paidas (houtō gar tou sōtēros hēmōn tous thiasōtas ōnomaze) poiētikōn kai rhētorikōn kai philosophōn metalanchanein logōn. ntois oikeiois gare, phēsi, pterois kata tēn paroimian ballometha᾽ ek gar tōn hēmeterōn singrammatōn kathoplixomenoi ton kath᾽ hēmōn anadechontai polemone. meta touton heteron tetheiche nomon tous Galilaious keleuōn tēs stratias exelaunesthai.
Countless other things too were dared at that time by the impious against the pious everywhere on land and sea. For from then on the God-hated man openly legislated against true religion. First he forbade the children of the Galileans (for so he called the followers of our Saviour) to share in the study of poetry, rhetoric, and philosophy. “For,” he said, “we are struck, as the proverb has it, by our own feathers; for arming themselves from our writings they take up war against us.” After this he laid down another law, ordering the Galileans to be driven out of the army.
Notes and citation
Summary: Julian forbids Christians, whom he calls Galileans, to study and teach classical literature and philosophy, and expels them from the army.
- “Struck by our own feathers”: a proverb (from an arrow fletched with the eagle's own feathers, as in Aeschylus, fr. 139).
Extrabiblical texts: Aeschylus, fr. 139 (Aeschylus (plays and fragments); allusion)
Topics: Persecution
Cite (SBL): Theodoret, Hist. eccl. 3.4 (GCS 19:185; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-historia-ecclesiastica/3-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-historia-ecclesiastica/3-4
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-theodoret-historia-ecclesiastica-3-4) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Parmentier's Greek text (GCS 19, 1911; OCR by this project); every chapter compared afterwards with Jackson's English in NPNF² 3.
3.5GCS 19:185–186
Κατὰ τοῦτον τὸν χρόνον Ἀθανάσιος πάλιν ὁ πένταθλος τῆς ἀληθείας ἀγωνιστὴς ἕτερον ὑπέμεινε κίνδυνον. οὐχ ἐνεγχόντες γὰρ οἱ δαίμονες τῆς Ἀθανασίου γλώττης καὶ προσευχῆς τὴ ἰσχύν, τοὺς οἰκείους ὑπουργοὺς εἰς τὰς κατ᾽ ἐχείνου λοιδορίας καθώπλισαν. καὶ πολλὰς μὲν καὶ ἄλλας ἀφῆκαν φονάς, ἀντιβολοῦντες τὸν προστάτην τῆς ἀσεβείας ἐξελάσαι τὸν ᾿θανάσιον, προσέθεσαν δὲ καὶ ταύτην" εἰ Ἰθανάσιος μένοι, οὐδεὶς Ἕλλην μενεῖ; ἅπαντας γὰρ εἰς τὸν οἰκεῖον μεταστήσει χορόνε. ταύτας Ἰουλιανὸς τὰς ἱκετείας δεξάμενος οὐχ ἐξελαθῆναι μόνον προσέταξεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀναιρεθῆναι τὸν ᾿48ανάσιον. τῶν δὲ θιασωτῶν ὀρρωδούντων, προειρηκέναι λέγεται τὴν ταχεῖαν τοῦ θορύβου κατάλυσιν" νέφος γὰρ αὐτὸν προσηγόρευσε διαλυόμενον ὅτι τάχιστα. ὑπεχώρησε δὲ ὅμως, ἐληλυθέναι τοὺς ὃ ἀπεσταλμένους μεμαθηκος" καὶ πορθμεῖον εὑρὼν παρὰ τὴν ὀχθὴν τοῦ ποταμοῦ ἐπὶ τὴν Θηβαίων χώραν ἀνήγετο. ὁ δὲ ἀνελεῖν αὐτὸν προστεταγμένος, πυθόμενος τὴν φυγήν, κατὰ κράτος ἐδίωκεν. ἑτέρου δέ τινος τῶν γνωρίμων προειληφότος καὶ σφόδρα ἐλαύνειν, αὐτὸν εἰρηκότος, τινὲς μὲν τῶν συνόντων ἐπὶ τὴν ἔρημον ἐκκλίνειν ἱκέτευον" αὐτὸς δὲ τῷ κυβερνήτῃ ἐπὶ τὴν Ἀλεξάνδρειαν ἰθῦναι τὸ πορθμεῖον ἐκέλευεν. οὕτω δὴ αὐτῶν καταντικρὺ τοῦ διώκοντος φερομένω, ἦκεν ὁ τοῦ θανάτου τὰς ἐντολὰς δεδεγμένος καὶ πόσον ἀφέστηκεν ὁ Ἀθανάσιος ἤρετο. ὁ δὲ πελάζειν τοῦτον εἰπὼν ἐκεῖνον μὲν ἀπέπεμψεν, αὐτὸς δὲ τὴν Ἀλεξάνδρεια κατέλαβε καὶ τὸ λειπόμενον τῆς Ἰουλιανοῦ βιοτῆς αὐτόθι διέλαθεν.
Kata touton ton chronon Athanasios palin ho pentathlos tēs alētheias agōnistēs heteron hypemeine kindynon. ouch enenchontes gar hoi daimones tēs Athanasiou glōttēs kai proseuchēs tē ischyn, tous oikeious hypourgous eis tas kat᾽ echeinou loidorias kathōplisan. kai pollas men kai allas aphēkan phonas, antibolountes ton prostatēn tēs asebeias exelasai ton ᾿thanasion, prosethesan de kai tautēn" ei Ithanasios menoi, oudeis Hellēn menei? hapantas gar eis ton oikeion metastēsei chorone. tautas Ioulianos tas hiketeias dexamenos ouch exelathēnai monon prosetaxen, alla kai anairethēnai ton ᾿48anasion. tōn de thiasōtōn orrōdountōn, proeirēkenai legetai tēn tacheian tou thorybou katalysin" nephos gar auton prosēgoreuse dialyomenon hoti tachista. hypechōrēse de homōs, elēlythenai tous ho apestalmenous memathēkos" kai porthmeion heurōn para tēn ochthēn tou potamou epi tēn Thēbaiōn chōran anēgeto. ho de anelein auton prostetagmenos, pythomenos tēn phygēn, kata kratos ediōken. heterou de tinos tōn gnōrimōn proeilēphotos kai sphodra elaunein, auton eirēkotos, tines men tōn synontōn epi tēn erēmon ekklinein hiketeuon" autos de tǭ kybernētę̄ epi tēn Alexandreian ithynai to porthmeion ekeleuen. houtō dē autōn katantikry tou diōkontos pheromenō, ēken ho tou thanatou tas entolas dedegmenos kai poson aphestēken ho Athanasios ēreto. ho de pelazein touton eipōn ekeinon men apepempsen, autos de tēn Alexandreia katelabe kai to leipomenon tēs Ioulianou biotēs autothi dielathen.
At this time Athanasius, the all-round champion of the truth, underwent another danger. For the demons, not bearing the power of Athanasius's tongue and prayer, armed their own servants for abuse against him. They uttered many other cries, begging the patron of impiety to drive out Athanasius, and added this: “If Athanasius stays, no Greek will remain; for he will bring all over to his own choir.” Julian, receiving these petitions, ordered Athanasius not only to be driven out but also to be killed. When his followers were alarmed, he is said to have foretold the quick end of the disturbance; for he called it a cloud that would very soon dissolve. Nevertheless he withdrew, learning that those sent had arrived; and finding a boat by the bank of the river, he was sailing up toward the Thebaid. The man ordered to kill him, learning of his flight, pursued him with all speed. When one of his acquaintances had gone ahead and told him that he was hotly pursued, some of those with him begged him to turn off into the desert; but he ordered the helmsman to steer the boat toward Alexandria. So, as they were carried straight toward the pursuer, the man who had received the orders for his death came up and asked how far Athanasius was away. He said that he was near, sent him off, and himself reached Alexandria and stayed hidden there for the rest of Julian's life.
Notes and citation
Summary: At the pagans' petition Julian orders Athanasius to be killed; Athanasius, saying the storm is a passing cloud, flees by boat up the Nile, then turns back toward his pursuers, tells them Athanasius is near, and hides in Alexandria until Julian's death.
- “The all-round champion” renders πένταθλος (“pentathlete”).
- “Greek” here means pagan.
Topics: Persecution, Church office
Cite (SBL): Theodoret, Hist. eccl. 3.5 (GCS 19:185–186; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-historia-ecclesiastica/3-5). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-historia-ecclesiastica/3-5
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-theodoret-historia-ecclesiastica-3-5) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Parmentier's Greek text (GCS 19, 1911; OCR by this project); every chapter compared afterwards with Jackson's English in NPNF² 3.
3.6GCS 19:186–187
Ἰουλιανὸς δὲ Πέρσαις ἐπιστρατεῦσαι βουλόμενος εἰς ἅπαντα μὲν τὰ κατὰ τὴν Ῥωμαίων ἡγεμονίαν χρηστήρια τοὺς εὐνουστάτους τῶν ὑπηκόων ἐξέπεμψεν, αὐτὸς δὲ τὸν Πύθιον τὸν Δαφναῖον ἱκέτευε δηλῶσαί οἱ τὰ ἐσόμενα. ὁ δὲ τοὺς γειτονεύοντας νεχροὺς ἔφη ἐμποδὼν γίγνεσθαι τῇ μαντείᾳ, καὶ χρῆναι τούτους πρότερον εἰς ἕτερον μετατεθῆναι χωρίον, εἶθ᾽ οὕτως ἀπαγγεῖλαι τὴν πρόρ θῆσιν" οὐ γὰρ ἂν εἴποιμί τι, μὴ τοῦ τεμένους ἐκκαθαρθέντος. κατ᾽ ἐκεῖνον δὲ τὸν καιρὸν αὐτόθι κχατέχειτο τοῦ καλλινίκου μάρτυρος βαβυλᾷ καὶ τῶν συναθλησάντων αὐτῷ μειρακίων τὰ λείψανα" καὶ δῆλος ἣν ὁ φευδόμαντις ὑπὸ τῆς ἐκείνου χάριτος τῆς συνήθους ψευδολογίας εἰργόμενος. τοῦτο δὴ καὶ Ἰουλιανὸς συνεὶς (ἐκ γὰρ τῆς παλαιᾶς εὐσεβείας ἐγνώκει τῶν μαρτύρων τὴν δύναμιν) ἄλλο μὲν ἐκεῖθεν οὐδὲν νεκρὸν μετεκόμισε σῶμα, μόνον δὲ τῶν νικηφόρον μαρτύρων τὰ λείψανα τοῖς τοῦ Χριστοῦ θιασώταις μετενεγκεῖν παρηγγύησεν. οἱ δὲ ἄσμενοι τὸ ἄλσος καταλαβόντες καὶ ἐπὶ ζεύγους τεθεικότες τὴν λάρνακα, πανδημεὶ ταύτης ἡγοῦντο, χορεύουτες καὶ τὴν Δαιϊτιχὴν ἄδοντες μελῳδίαν καὶ καθ᾽ ἕκαστον χῶλο ἐπιφθεγγόμενοι" αἰσχυνθήτωσαν πάντες οἱ προσκυνοῦντες τοῖς γλυπτοῖςς. ἧτταν γὰρ τοῦ δαίμονος ὑπελάμβαν ον τοῦ μάρτυρος τὴν μετάθεσι.
Ioulianos de Persais epistrateusai boulomenos eis hapanta men ta kata tēn Rhōmaiōn hēgemonian chrēstēria tous eunoustatous tōn hypēkoōn exepempsen, autos de ton Pythion ton Daphnaion hiketeue dēlōsai hoi ta esomena. ho de tous geitoneuontas nechrous ephē empodōn gignesthai tę̄ manteią, kai chrēnai toutous proteron eis heteron metatethēnai chōrion, eith᾽ houtōs apangeilai tēn pror thēsin" ou gar an eipoimi ti, mē tou temenous ekkatharthentos. kat᾽ ekeinon de ton kairon autothi kchatecheito tou kallinikou martyros babylą kai tōn synathlēsantōn autǭ meirakiōn ta leipsana" kai dēlos hēn ho pheudomantis hypo tēs ekeinou charitos tēs synēthous pseudologias eirgomenos. touto dē kai Ioulianos syneis (ek gar tēs palaias eusebeias egnōkei tōn martyrōn tēn dynamin) allo men ekeithen ouden nekron metekomise sōma, monon de tōn nikēphoron martyrōn ta leipsana tois tou Christou thiasōtais metenenkein parēngyēsen. hoi de asmenoi to alsos katalabontes kai epi zeugous tetheikotes tēn larnaka, pandēmei tautēs hēgounto, choreuoutes kai tēn Daiïtichēn adontes melǭdian kai kath᾽ hekaston chōlo epiphthengomenoi" aischynthētōsan pantes hoi proskynountes tois glyptoiss. hēttan gar tou daimonos hypelamban on tou martyros tēn metathesi.
Julian, wishing to make war on the Persians, sent the most loyal of his subjects to all the oracles in the Roman empire, and he himself begged the Pythian Apollo of Daphne to reveal the future to him. The god said that the dead lying nearby were a hindrance to the prophecy, and that they must first be moved to another place, and then he would declare the prediction: “For I would say nothing until the precinct is cleansed.” At that time the remains of the gloriously victorious martyr Babylas and of the youths who had contended with him lay there; and it was plain that the false prophet was prevented by his grace from his usual lying. Julian understood this too (for from his former piety he knew the power of the martyrs), and he moved no other dead body from there, but ordered only the remains of the victorious martyrs to be moved by the followers of Christ. They gladly came to the grove, put the coffin on a cart, and led it with the whole people, dancing and singing the melody of David, and at each verse adding, “Let all who worship graven images be put to shame.” For they considered the removal of the martyr a defeat of the demon.
Ps 97:7 (96:7 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: When the oracle of Apollo at Daphne refuses to speak while the bones of the martyr Babylas lie nearby, Julian has the Christians remove the relics, and they carry them in procession singing a psalm against idol worshippers.
- The refrain is Ps 97:7 (LXX 96:7).
- Babylas, bishop of Antioch, died under Decius (about 250).
Topics: Martyrdom, Persecution
Cite (SBL): Theodoret, Hist. eccl. 3.6 (GCS 19:186–187; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-historia-ecclesiastica/3-6). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-historia-ecclesiastica/3-6
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-theodoret-historia-ecclesiastica-3-6) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Parmentier's Greek text (GCS 19, 1911; OCR by this project); every chapter compared afterwards with Jackson's English in NPNF² 3.
3.7GCS 19:187–188
᾿ουλιανὸς δὲ τὴν ἐντεῦθεν αὐτῷ προσγενομένην αἰσχύνην οὐχ ἐνεγκὼν τῇ ὑστεραίᾳ τοὺς τῆς χορείας ἐκείνης ἡγεμόνας συλληφθῆγαι προσέταξε. Σαλούστιος: δὲ ὕπαρχος ὧν τηνικαῦτα, καίτοι τῇ δυοσεβείᾳ δουλεύων, πεῖσαι τὸν τύραννον ἐπειράθη δόξης ἐφιεμένοις τοῖς Χριστιανοῖς μὴ παρασχεῖν τὸ ποθούμενον. ἰδὼν δὲ ὅμως τὸν βασιλέα ἐγκρατῆ γενέσθαι τοῦ θυμοῦ μὴ δυνάμενον, νέον τινὰ ζήλῳ θείῳ κοσμούμενον βαδίξοντα κατὰ τὴν ἀγορὰν ἁρπάσας καὶ δημοσίᾳ τοῦτον ἐπὶ ξύλου κρεμάσας, ἱμᾶσι μὲν τὰ νῶτα κατέξηνεν, ὄνυξι ὁὲ διώρυξε τὰς πλευράς" καὶ τοῦτο ποιῶν διετέλεσεν" ἕοθεν ἀρξάμενος μέχρι ληγούσης ἡμέρας. εἶτα αὐτῷ τὰ ἐκ σιδήρου δεσμὰ περιθεὶς φυλαχθῆναι προσέταξε. ταῦτα ἕοθεν τὸν Ἰουλιανὸν διδάξας καὶ τοῦ νέου τὴν καρτερίαν ἀπαγγείλας, ἑαυτῶν μὲν ἧτταν εἶναι, τῶν δὲ Χριστιανῶν εὔκλειαν ἔλεγε τὰ γινόμενα. οὕτω πεισθεὶς ὁ θεομισὴς ταῦτα παθεῖν ἑτέρους οὐχ εἴασε, καὶ μέν τοι καὶ τὸν Θεόδωρον ἐκέλευσε τῆς εἱρκτῆς ἀφεθῆναι" τοῦτο γὰρ ἣν ὄνομα τῷ νέῳ ἐκείνῳ καὶ γενναίῳ τῆς ἀληθείας, ἀγωνιστῇ. τοῦτο ἤροντό τινὲς εἰ τῆς ὀδύνης ἐπήσθετο τὰς πικρὰς ἐκείνας καὶ ὠμοτάτας ὑπομείνας βασάνους. ὁ δὲ ἔφη τὴν μὲν ἀρχὴν ὀλίγης ἀλγηδόνος αἰσθέσθαι, εἶτά οἱ ἐπιφανῆναί τινα ὀθόνῃ μαλακῇ τε καὶ ψυχρᾷ τοῦ προσώπου συνεχῶς ἐχματτόμενον τὸν ἱδρῶτα καὶ παρεγγυῶντα θαρρεῖν" διά τοι τοῦτο καὶ τῶν δημίων παυσαμένων οὐχ ἡσθῆναι ἀλλ᾽ ἀνιαθῆναι ἔφη" συναποστῆναι γὰρ ἔλεγεν καὶ τὸν τὴν ψυχαγωγίαν προσφέροντα. Ὁ δὲ ψευδόμαντις δαίμων τοῦ μὲν μάρτυρος τὸ κλέος ἐπηύξησε, τὸ δὲ οἰκεῖον ἐγύμνωσε ψεῦδος. σκηπτὸς γὰρ οὐρανόθεν καταπεμφθεὶς τὸν σηκὸν ἐνέπρησεν ἅπαντα καὶ αὐτὸ τοῦ Πυθίου τὸ ἄγαλμα κόνιν λεπτοτάτην ἀπέφηνε" ξύλινον γὰρ ἢν, ἔξωθεν ἀληλιμμένον χρυσῷ. τοῦτο ἸΙουλιανὸς ὁ Ἰουλιανοῦ θεῖος νύκτωρ μαθὼν (τῆς Ἕφας δὲ ὕπαρχος ἢν) κατὰ τάχος ἐλαύνων τὴν Δάφνην κατέλαβεν, ἐπικουρῆσαι σπουδάζων τῷ παρ᾽ αὐτῶν προσκυνουμένῳ θεῷ. ἰδὼν δὲ τὸν καλούμενον θεὸν κόνιν γεγενημένον, τοὺς νεωκόρους ηἠκίζετο, παρὰ Χριστιανοῦ τινὸς τὸν ἐμπρησμὸν γεγενῆσθαι τοπάζων. οἱ δὲ καὶ αἰκιζόμενοι φάναι τι ψευδὲς οὐκ ἠνέσχοντο" τὸν γὰρ ἐμπρησμὸν ἔλεγον οὐ κάτωθεν ἀλλ᾽ ἄνωθεν λαβεῖν τὴν ἀρχήν, καὶ τῶν πλησιοχώρων δὲ ἀγροίκων τινὲς ἀφικόμενοι ἔφασαν οὐρανόθεν τὸν πρηστῆρα φερόμενον τεθεᾶσθαι.
᾿oulianos de tēn enteuthen autǭ prosgenomenēn aischynēn ouch enenkōn tę̄ hysteraią tous tēs choreias ekeinēs hēgemonas syllēphthēgai prosetaxe. Saloustios: de hyparchos hōn tēnikauta, kaitoi tę̄ dyosebeią douleuōn, peisai ton tyrannon epeirathē doxēs ephiemenois tois Christianois mē paraschein to pothoumenon. idōn de homōs ton basilea enkratē genesthai tou thymou mē dynamenon, neon tina zēlǭ theiǭ kosmoumenon badixonta kata tēn agoran harpasas kai dēmosią touton epi xylou kremasas, himasi men ta nōta katexēnen, onyxi hoe diōryxe tas pleuras" kai touto poiōn dietelesen" heothen arxamenos mechri lēgousēs hēmeras. eita autǭ ta ek sidērou desma peritheis phylachthēnai prosetaxe. tauta heothen ton Ioulianon didaxas kai tou neou tēn karterian apangeilas, heautōn men hēttan einai, tōn de Christianōn eukleian elege ta ginomena. houtō peistheis ho theomisēs tauta pathein heterous ouch eiase, kai men toi kai ton Theodōron ekeleuse tēs heirktēs aphethēnai" touto gar hēn onoma tǭ neǭ ekeinǭ kai gennaiǭ tēs alētheias, agōnistę̄. touto ēronto tines ei tēs odynēs epēstheto tas pikras ekeinas kai ōmotatas hypomeinas basanous. ho de ephē tēn men archēn oligēs algēdonos aisthesthai, eita hoi epiphanēnai tina othonę̄ malakę̄ te kai psychrą tou prosōpou synechōs echmattomenon ton hidrōta kai parengyōnta tharrein" dia toi touto kai tōn dēmiōn pausamenōn ouch hēsthēnai all᾽ aniathēnai ephē" synapostēnai gar elegen kai ton tēn psychagōgian prospheronta. Ho de pseudomantis daimōn tou men martyros to kleos epēuxēse, to de oikeion egymnōse pseudos. skēptos gar ouranothen katapemphtheis ton sēkon eneprēsen hapanta kai auto tou Pythiou to agalma konin leptotatēn apephēne" xylinon gar ēn, exōthen alēlimmenon chrysǭ. touto IIoulianos ho Ioulianou theios nyktōr mathōn (tēs Hephas de hyparchos ēn) kata tachos elaunōn tēn Daphnēn katelaben, epikourēsai spoudazōn tǭ par᾽ autōn proskynoumenǭ theǭ. idōn de ton kaloumenon theon konin gegenēmenon, tous neōkorous ēēkizeto, para Christianou tinos ton emprēsmon gegenēsthai topazōn. hoi de kai aikizomenoi phanai ti pseudes ouk ēneschonto" ton gar emprēsmon elegon ou katōthen all᾽ anōthen labein tēn archēn, kai tōn plēsiochōrōn de agroikōn tines aphikomenoi ephasan ouranothen ton prēstēra pheromenon tetheasthai.
Julian, not bearing the shame that came to him from this, ordered the leaders of that dance to be arrested the next day. Sallustius, who was then prefect, though a slave to impiety, tried to persuade the tyrant not to give the Christians, who longed for glory, what they desired. Yet seeing that the emperor could not master his anger, he seized a young man adorned with divine zeal who was walking through the market-place, hung him up publicly on a wooden frame, tore his back with thongs and furrowed his sides with claws; and he kept doing this from dawn to the end of the day. Then he put iron fetters on him and ordered him to be kept under guard. At dawn he informed Julian of this and reported the young man's endurance, saying that what was happening was a defeat for themselves and glory for the Christians. Persuaded in this way, the God-hated man did not let others suffer these things, and he even ordered Theodore to be released from prison; for this was the name of that young and noble champion of the truth. Some asked him whether he had felt pain while enduring those bitter and most cruel tortures. He said that at the beginning he felt a little pain, but then someone appeared to him who kept wiping the sweat from his face with a soft, cool linen cloth and urged him to take courage; for this reason, when the executioners stopped, he was not pleased but grieved, for he said that the one who brought him refreshment withdrew too.
The lying prophet demon increased the martyr's fame and exposed his own falsehood. For a thunderbolt sent down from heaven burned the whole shrine and reduced the very statue of the Pythian to the finest dust; for it was wooden, gilded on the outside. Julian, Julian's uncle (he was prefect of the East), learning of this by night, rode at full speed to Daphne, eager to help the god they worshipped. Seeing the so-called god turned to dust, he tortured the temple wardens, guessing that the fire had been caused by some Christian. But even under torture they would not say anything false; for they said that the fire had begun not from below but from above; and some of the neighbouring country people came and said that they had seen the fiery bolt coming down from heaven.
Notes and citation
Summary: Julian orders the arrest of the Christians who led the procession; the prefect Sallustius has a young man, Theodore, tortured all day, but Theodore later says an unseen figure comforted him; then lightning burns Apollo's temple at Daphne and its statue, and even under torture the temple wardens say the fire came from heaven.
- “Claws” renders ὄνυξι, iron hooks used in torture; the OCR text has the word damaged.
- Julian's uncle, also named Julian, was comes Orientis.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR misread the word): ΟΥ ὑξι → ὄνυξι.
Topics: Martyrdom, Persecution
Cite (SBL): Theodoret, Hist. eccl. 3.7 (GCS 19:187–188; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-historia-ecclesiastica/3-7). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-historia-ecclesiastica/3-7
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-theodoret-historia-ecclesiastica-3-7) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Parmentier's Greek text (GCS 19, 1911; OCR by this project); every chapter compared afterwards with Jackson's English in NPNF² 3.
3.8GCS 19:188–189
Ἀλλὰ καὶ ταῦτα οὕτως γεγενῆσθαε μεμαθηκότες οἱ θυσσεβεῖς κατὰ τοῦ θεοῦ τῶν ὅλων ὠπλίζοντο' καὶ τά τε ἱερὰ σκεύη τοῖς βασιλικοῖς ταμιείοις ὁ τύραννος παραδοθῆναι προσέταξε καὶ τῆς μεγάλης ἐκκλησίας, ἣν Κωνσταντῖνος ἐδείματο, καθηλώσας τὰς θύρας ἄβατον τοῖς εἰς αὐτὴν ἀθροιζομένοις ἀπέφηνεν. οἱ δὲ τῆς ᾿ἀρείου συμμορίας ταύτην τηνικαῦτα κατεῖχον. ουλιανῷ δέ γε τῷ τῆς ἙἙώας ὑπάρχῳ συνεισῆλθεν εἰς τὸν θεῖον νεὼν Φίλιξ μέν, ταμίας ὧν τῶν βασιλικῶν θησαυρῶν, Ἐλπίδιος δέ, τῶν ἰδίων τοῦ βασιλέως χρημάτων τε καὶ κτημάτων τὴν ἡγεμονίαν πεπιστευμένος" κόμητα δὲ πριβάτων τὸν τοιοῦτον Ῥωμαῖοι προσαγορεύειν εἰώθασιν. καὶ τὸν Φίλικα δὲ καὶ τὸν Ἐλπίδιόν φασι Χριστιανοὺς ὄντας ἀποστῆναι. τῆς εὐσεβείας, χαριζομένους τῷ δυσσεβεῖ βασιλεῖ. ὁ δὲ Ἰουλιανὸς οὖρον μὲν κατὰ τῆς ἱερᾶς τραπέξ ζῆς ἐξέκρινε, τὸν ὁὲ Εὐξόώϊον πειραθέντα κωλῦσαι κατὰ τῆς πόρρης ἐπάταξε" φάναι δὲ λέγεται ὡς ἔρημα τὰ Χριστιανῶν τῆς θείας ὑπάρχεε κηδεμονίας. ὁ δὲ Φίλιξ τῶν ἱερῶν σκευῶν τὴν πολυτέλειαν θεασάμενος (Κωνσταντῖνος γὰρ καὶ Κωνστάντιος φιλοτίμως ταῦτα κατεσκεύασαν)" νἰδούε, ἔφη, ἐν ὁποίοις σκεύεσιν ὑπηρετεῖται ὁ διαρίας υἱόςς. ᾿λλὰ τῶν δυσσεβῶν τούτων καὶ μανικῶν τολμημάτων οὐχ εἰς μακρὰν ἔτισαν δίκας.
Alla kai tauta houtōs gegenēsthae memathēkotes hoi thyssebeis kata tou theou tōn holōn ōplizonto' kai ta te hiera skeuē tois basilikois tamieiois ho tyrannos paradothēnai prosetaxe kai tēs megalēs ekklēsias, hēn Kōnstantinos edeimato, kathēlōsas tas thyras abaton tois eis autēn athroizomenois apephēnen. hoi de tēs ᾿areiou symmorias tautēn tēnikauta kateichon. oulianǭ de ge tǭ tēs HeEōas hyparchǭ syneisēlthen eis ton theion neōn Philix men, tamias hōn tōn basilikōn thēsaurōn, Elpidios de, tōn idiōn tou basileōs chrēmatōn te kai ktēmatōn tēn hēgemonian pepisteumenos" komēta de pribatōn ton toiouton Rhōmaioi prosagoreuein eiōthasin. kai ton Philika de kai ton Elpidion phasi Christianous ontas apostēnai. tēs eusebeias, charizomenous tǭ dyssebei basilei. ho de Ioulianos ouron men kata tēs hieras trapex zēs exekrine, ton hoe Euxoōïon peirathenta kōlysai kata tēs porrēs epataxe" phanai de legetai hōs erēma ta Christianōn tēs theias hyparchee kēdemonias. ho de Philix tōn hierōn skeuōn tēn polyteleian theasamenos (Kōnstantinos gar kai Kōnstantios philotimōs tauta kateskeuasan)" nidoue, ephē, en hopoiois skeuesin hypēreteitai ho diarias huioss. ᾿lla tōn dyssebōn toutōn kai manikōn tolmēmatōn ouch eis makran etisan dikas.
Even when they had learned that these things had happened in this way, the impious armed themselves against the God of the universe. The tyrant ordered the sacred vessels to be handed over to the imperial treasury, and he nailed shut the doors of the great church built by Constantine and made it inaccessible to those who assembled in it; the members of Arius's gang held it at that time. With Julian, prefect of the East, there went into the divine church Felix, the treasurer of the imperial treasures, and Elpidius, who had been entrusted with the management of the emperor's private funds and estates (the Romans call such an official “count of the privy purse”). They say that Felix and Elpidius were Christians and fell away from true religion to please the impious emperor. Julian urinated on the holy table, and when Euzoius tried to stop him, struck him on the temple, and is said to have said that the affairs of the Christians are bereft of divine care. Felix, seeing the magnificence of the sacred vessels (for Constantine and Constantius had made them lavishly), said: “See in what vessels the son of Mary is served.” But they paid the penalty for these impious and mad acts of daring before long.
Notes and citation
Summary: Julian closes the great church of Antioch and confiscates its vessels; his uncle Julian desecrates the altar and strikes Bishop Euzoius, and the treasurer Felix mocks the costly vessels used for the son of Mary.
- The great church of Antioch was then held by the Arians under Euzoius.
- Theodoret introduces the defection of Felix and Elpidius with “they say”; translated as written.
Topics: Persecution, Eucharist
Cite (SBL): Theodoret, Hist. eccl. 3.8 (GCS 19:188–189; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-historia-ecclesiastica/3-8). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-historia-ecclesiastica/3-8
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-theodoret-historia-ecclesiastica-3-8) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Parmentier's Greek text (GCS 19, 1911; OCR by this project); every chapter compared afterwards with Jackson's English in NPNF² 3.
3.9GCS 19:189–190
Ἰουλιανὸς μὲν γὰρ παραυτίκα νόσῳ χαλεπῇ περιπεσὼν ὑπὸ σηπεδόνος διεφθάρη τὰ ἔγκατα, καὶ τὴν κόπρον οὐκέτι διὰ τῶν ἀποχριτικῶν μορίων παρέπεμπεν, ἀλλὰ τὸ μυσαρὸν στόμα, τὸ τῆς βλασφημίας γενόμενον ὄργανον, ἀποκρίσεως ἐγένετο μόριον. φασὶ δὲ αὐτοῦ τὴν γυναῖκα πίστει λαμπρυνομένην ταῦτα φάναι πρὸς δι τὸν ὁμός ξυγα" ἱμνεῖν, ὦ ἄνερ, προσήκει τὸν σωτῆρα Χριστόν, ὅτι σοι διὰ τῆς παιδείας τὴν οἰκείαν ὑπέδειξε δύναμιν: οὐ γὰρ ἂν ἔγνως τίς ὁ παρὰ σοῦ πολεμούμενος, εἰ τῇ συνήθει μαχροθυμίᾳ χρησάμενος ταύτας σοι τὰς θεηλάτους πληγὰς οὐκ ἐπήγαγενε. ἐκ τῶνδε τῶν λόγων καὶ τῶν ἐπικειμένων παθῶν συνεὶς τῆς νόσου τὴν αἰτίαν ὁ δείλαιος ἀποδοῦναι τὴν ἐχχλ ησίαν τὸν βασιλέ. ἕά ἱκέτευσε τοῖς ταύτης ἐστερημένοις" ἀλλ᾽ οὔτε ἐκεῖνον ἔπεισε καὶ αὐτὸς τοῦ βίου τὸ τέλος ἐδέξατο. ὁ δὲ Φίλιξ ἐξαπίνης θεήλατον καὶ αὐτὸς δεξ ξάμενος μάστιγα αἷμα πανημέριόν τε καὶ παννύχιον ἐκ τοῦ στόματος ἔφερε, τῶν ἀγγείων τοῦ σώματος πάντοθεν εἰς τοῦτο συρρεόντων τὸ μόριον. οὕτω δὲ παντὸς δαπανηθέντος τοῦ αἵματος, ἀπέσβη καὶ οὗτος καὶ τῷ αἰωνίῳ παρεπέμφθη θανάτῳ. οὗτοι μὲν οὖν τῆς δυσσεβείας ταύτας ἔτισαν τὰς δίκας.
Ioulianos men gar parautika nosǭ chalepę̄ peripesōn hypo sēpedonos diephtharē ta enkata, kai tēn kopron ouketi dia tōn apochritikōn moriōn parepempen, alla to mysaron stoma, to tēs blasphēmias genomenon organon, apokriseōs egeneto morion. phasi de autou tēn gynaika pistei lamprynomenēn tauta phanai pros di ton homos xyga" himnein, ō aner, prosēkei ton sōtēra Christon, hoti soi dia tēs paideias tēn oikeian hypedeixe dynamin: ou gar an egnōs tis ho para sou polemoumenos, ei tę̄ synēthei machrothymią chrēsamenos tautas soi tas theēlatous plēgas ouk epēgagene. ek tōnde tōn logōn kai tōn epikeimenōn pathōn syneis tēs nosou tēn aitian ho deilaios apodounai tēn echchl ēsian ton basile. hea hiketeuse tois tautēs esterēmenois" all᾽ oute ekeinon epeise kai autos tou biou to telos edexato. ho de Philix exapinēs theēlaton kai autos dex xamenos mastiga haima panēmerion te kai pannychion ek tou stomatos ephere, tōn angeiōn tou sōmatos pantothen eis touto syrreontōn to morion. houtō de pantos dapanēthentos tou haimatos, apesbē kai houtos kai tǭ aiōniǭ parepemphthē thanatǭ. houtoi men oun tēs dyssebeias tautas etisan tas dikas.
For Julian at once fell into a grievous disease: his bowels were destroyed by putrefaction, and he no longer passed his excrement through the organs of excretion, but his foul mouth, which had become the instrument of blasphemy, became the organ of excretion. They say that his wife, who was distinguished for faith, said to her husband: “You ought to praise Christ the Saviour, husband, because through this chastisement he has shown you his own power; for you would not have known who it is you are fighting against, if, using his usual long-suffering, he had not brought these God-sent blows upon you.” From these words and from the sufferings pressing on him, the wretch understood the cause of his disease and begged the emperor to give the church back to those who had been deprived of it; but he did not persuade him, and he himself came to the end of his life. Felix too suddenly received a God-sent scourge, and brought up blood from his mouth all day and all night, the vessels of his body flowing together from every side to this one part. When all his blood had been spent in this way, he too was extinguished and sent off to eternal death. These men, then, paid these penalties for their impiety.
Notes and citation
Summary: Julian's uncle dies of a loathsome disease after begging in vain that the church be restored, and the treasurer Felix dies vomiting blood, as punishment for their sacrilege.
- “The emperor” is Julian the emperor; the dying man is his uncle Julian, prefect of the East.
- The account of their deaths as divine punishment is Theodoret's; translated as written.
Topics: Persecution
Cite (SBL): Theodoret, Hist. eccl. 3.9 (GCS 19:189–190; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-historia-ecclesiastica/3-9). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-historia-ecclesiastica/3-9
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-theodoret-historia-ecclesiastica-3-9) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Parmentier's Greek text (GCS 19, 1911; OCR by this project); every chapter compared afterwards with Jackson's English in NPNF² 3.
3.10GCS 19:190–192
Νέος δέ τις ἱερέως υἱὸς ἐν δυσσεβείᾳ τραφεὶς κατ᾽ ἐκεῖνον τὸν καιρὸν εἰς τὸν τῶν εὐσεβῶν μετέστη χορόν. γυνὴ γάρ τις ἐπίσημος ἐν εὐλαβείᾳ καὶ τοῦ τῆς διακονίας ἠξιωμένη χαρίσματος συνήθης τῆς τούτου μητρός. αὕτη τοῦτον μετὰ τῆς μητρὸς ἀφικνούμενον (ἔτι γὰρ μειρακύλλιον ἦν) ἠσπάξετό τε καὶ προύτρεπεν εἰς εὐσέβειαν. καὶ τῆς μητρὸς δὲ τελευτησάσης, ἀφικνεῖτο πρὸς ταύτην ὃ νέος καὶ τῆς συνήθους διδασκαλίας ἀπήλαυε; παγίως δὲ τὰς συμβουλὰ ἃς εἰσδεξάμενος ἤρετο τὴν διδάσκαλον τίς: ἂν γένοιτο πόρος δι᾿ οὐ δυνατὸν καὶ τὴν τοῦ πατρὸς δεισιδαιμονίαν φυγεῖν καὶ τῆς παρ᾽ αὐτῶν κὴηρυττομένης ἀληθείας μεταλαχεῖν. ἡ δὲ ἔλεγεν χρῆναι τὸν πατέρα φυγεῖν καὶ προτιμῆσαι τὸν αὐτοῦ τε κἀκείνου δημιουργόν, καὶ πόλιν ἑτέραν καταλαβεῖν ἐν ἡ λαθεῖν δυνατὸν καὶ διαδρᾶναι τοῦ δυσσεβοῦς βασιλέως τὰς χεῖρας" ὑπισχνεῖτο δὲ τούτου προνοήσει αὐτή. ἀτάρε, ἔφη ὁ νέος, νἥξω λοιπὸν καὶ τὴν ἐμαυτοῦ σοι παραδώσω ψυχήνε. ὀλίγων δὲ διελθουσῶν ἡμερῶν. Ἰουλιανὸς μὲν εἰς τὴν Δάφν Ἵ δημοθοινίαν ἐπιτελέσων ἀνῆλθε; συνανῆλθε δὲ καὶ ὁ τούτου πατήρ, ἱερεύς τε ὧν καὶ εἰωθὼς συνέπεσθαι τῷ βασιλεῖ. τῷ ὁὲ πατρὶ συνῆν Ὁ καὶ οὗτος καὶ ὁ τούτου γε ἀδελφός" νεωκόρω γὰρ ἤστην, τὰ βασιλέως ἐδέσματα περιρραίνοντες. ἑπτὰ ὁὀὲ ἡμέρας ἐν τῇ Δάφνῃ πανηγυρίζει εἰοθεσαν. ᾿ Τῇ οὖν ἡμέρᾳ τῇ πρώτῃ παραστὰς οὗτος τῇ βασιλέως στιβάσι καὶ τὰ ὄψα κατὰ τὸ ἔθος διαρράνας καὶ τοῦ μύσους ἐμπλήσας, δρόμῳ χρησάμενος τὴν Ἀντιόχου πόλιν κατέλαβε, καὶ πρὸς τὴν θαυμασίαν ἐκείνην ἀφικόμενος ἄνθρωπον" ἐγὼ μὲν ἥκω σοιε. ἔφη. μὴ ψευσάμενος τὴν ὑπόσχεσιν" σὺ ὁὲ σωτηρίας ἑκατέρας ἐπιμελήθητι καὶ τὴν ἐπαγγελίαν ἐχπλήρωσονε. παραυτίκα δὴ οὖν ἐκείνη διωναστᾶσα πρὸς τὸν τοῦ θεοῦ ἄνθρωπον Μᾶελέτιον τὸν νέον ἀπήγαγεν" ὁ δὲ τέως αὐτὸν 1ῦῷ ἄνω διάγειν ἐν τῷ καταγωγίῳ προσέταξεν. ὁ δὲ πατὴρ τὸν παῖδα ἐπιζητῶν τήν τε Δάφνην περιενόστει καὶ εἰς τὸ ἄστυ ἀφιχόμεγος περιήει τὰς ἀγυιὰς καὶ τοὺς στενωπούς, πάντοσε περιάγων τὼ ὀφθαλμὼ καὶ τοῦτον ἀνιχνεῦσαι ποθῶν. ἐπειδὴ δὲ κατ᾽ ἐχεῖνο τὸ χωρίον ἐγένετο ἔνθα τὸ χαταγώγιον ὃ θεῖος εἶχε Μελέτιος. ἀναβλέψας εἶδεν ἐκεῖνον ἀπὸ τοῦ δρυφάκτου ὀιακύπτοντα καὶ δραμὼν εἵλκυσέ τε καὶ χατήγαγε, καὶ εἰς τὴν οἰκίαν ἀπαγαγὼν πρῶτον μὲν αὐτῷ μάστιγας παμπόλλας ἐπήγαγεν, εἶτα ὀβελοὺς πυρακτώσας καὶ ταῖς χερσὶ καὶ τοῖς ποσὶ καὶ τοῖς γτώτοις ἐπέθηχεν, ἔπειτα χαθείρξας ἐν τῷ θαλάμῳ καὶ κλεῖθρα ἔξωθεν ἐπιθεὶς εἰς τὴν Δάφνην ου ἀνῆλθε. ταῦτα ἐγὼ τοῦ ἀνδρὸς πρεσβύτου ἤδη γεγονότος διηγουμένου ἀκήκοα. προστέθειχε δὲ καὶ ταῦτα, ὡς ἔνθους γενόμενος “αὶ θείας χάριτος ἐμπλησθεὶς συνέτριψε μὲν ἅπαντα τοῦ πατρὸς τὰ εἴδωλα, ἐκωμῴδει δὲ αὐτῶν τὴν ἀσθένειαν᾽ ὕστερον δὲ εἰς νοῦν λαβὼν ὅπερ ἔδρασεν, ἔδεισέ τε τοῦ πατρὸς τὴν παρουσίαν καὶ τὸν δεσπότην Χριστὸν ἠντιβόλησε νεῦσαι καὶ συντρῖψαι τὰ κλεῖθρα καὶ τὰς θύρας ἀναπετάσαι" σοῦ γὰρ δὴ ἕνεχας, ἔφη, νταῦτα πέπονθά τε καὶ δέδρακα. ταῦτά μους, ἔφη, λέγοντος, ἐξέπεσε μὲν τὰ κλεῖθρα, ἀνεῴχθησαν δὲ αἱ θύραι" ἐγὼ δὲ πάλιν πρὸς τὴν διδάσκαλον ἔδραμον. ἢ δὲ σχῆμά μοι γυναικὸς περιθεῖσα καὶ σὺν αὐτῇ γε εἰς τὴν καμάραν καθίσασα τῷ θείῳ μὲ πάλιν Μελετίῳ προσήγαγεν. ὁ δὲ τῷ τῶν Ἱεροσολύμων με παρέδωκεν ἐπισκόπῳ (Λύριλλος δὲ τηνικαῦτα ἦν), καὶ οὕτω νύκτωρ εἰς τὴν Παλαιστίνην ὧρ μήσαμενε. μετὰ δὲ τὴν ἸΙουλιανοῦ τελευτὴν καὶ τὸν πατέρα οὗτος πρὸς τὴν ἀλήθειαν ἐποδήγησε" καὶ τοῦτο γὰρ ἡμᾶς μετὰ τῶν ἄλλων ἐδίδαξε. τοῦτον μὲν δὴ τὸν τρόπον οὗτοι πρὸς θεογνωσίαν ποὐηγηθέντ. “ἢ τῆς σωτηρίας μετέλαχον.
Neos de tis hiereōs huios en dyssebeią trapheis kat᾽ ekeinon ton kairon eis ton tōn eusebōn metestē choron. gynē gar tis episēmos en eulabeią kai tou tēs diakonias ēxiōmenē charismatos synēthēs tēs toutou mētros. hautē touton meta tēs mētros aphiknoumenon (eti gar meirakyllion ēn) ēspaxeto te kai proutrepen eis eusebeian. kai tēs mētros de teleutēsasēs, aphikneito pros tautēn ho neos kai tēs synēthous didaskalias apēlaue? pagiōs de tas symboula has eisdexamenos ēreto tēn didaskalon tis: an genoito poros di᾿ ou dynaton kai tēn tou patros deisidaimonian phygein kai tēs par᾽ autōn kēēryttomenēs alētheias metalachein. hē de elegen chrēnai ton patera phygein kai protimēsai ton autou te kakeinou dēmiourgon, kai polin heteran katalabein en hē lathein dynaton kai diadranai tou dyssebous basileōs tas cheiras" hypischneito de toutou pronoēsei autē. atare, ephē ho neos, nēxō loipon kai tēn emautou soi paradōsō psychēne. oligōn de dielthousōn hēmerōn. Ioulianos men eis tēn Daphn Hi dēmothoinian epitelesōn anēlthe? synanēlthe de kai ho toutou patēr, hiereus te hōn kai eiōthōs synepesthai tǭ basilei. tǭ hoe patri synēn Ho kai houtos kai ho toutou ge adelphos" neōkorō gar ēstēn, ta basileōs edesmata perirrainontes. hepta hooe hēmeras en tę̄ Daphnę̄ panēgyrizei eiothesan. ᾿ Tę̄ oun hēmerą tę̄ prōtę̄ parastas houtos tę̄ basileōs stibasi kai ta opsa kata to ethos diarranas kai tou mysous emplēsas, dromǭ chrēsamenos tēn Antiochou polin katelabe, kai pros tēn thaumasian ekeinēn aphikomenos anthrōpon" egō men hēkō soie. ephē. mē pseusamenos tēn hyposchesin" sy hoe sōtērias hekateras epimelēthēti kai tēn epangelian echplērōsone. parautika dē oun ekeinē diōnastasa pros ton tou theou anthrōpon Maeletion ton neon apēgagen" ho de teōs auton 1yǭ anō diagein en tǭ katagōgiǭ prosetaxen. ho de patēr ton paida epizētōn tēn te Daphnēn perienostei kai eis to asty aphichomegos periēei tas aguias kai tous stenōpous, pantose periagōn tō ophthalmō kai touton anichneusai pothōn. epeidē de kat᾽ echeino to chōrion egeneto entha to chatagōgion ho theios eiche Meletios. anablepsas eiden ekeinon apo tou dryphaktou oiakyptonta kai dramōn heilkyse te kai chatēgage, kai eis tēn oikian apagagōn prōton men autǭ mastigas pampollas epēgagen, eita obelous pyraktōsas kai tais chersi kai tois posi kai tois gtōtois epethēchen, epeita chatheirxas en tǭ thalamǭ kai kleithra exōthen epitheis eis tēn Daphnēn ou anēlthe. tauta egō tou andros presbytou ēdē gegonotos diēgoumenou akēkoa. prostetheiche de kai tauta, hōs enthous genomenos “ai theias charitos emplēstheis synetripse men hapanta tou patros ta eidōla, ekōmǭdei de autōn tēn astheneian᾽ hysteron de eis noun labōn hoper edrasen, edeise te tou patros tēn parousian kai ton despotēn Christon ēntibolēse neusai kai syntripsai ta kleithra kai tas thyras anapetasai" sou gar dē henechas, ephē, ntauta pepontha te kai dedraka. tauta mous, ephē, legontos, exepese men ta kleithra, aneǭchthēsan de hai thyrai" egō de palin pros tēn didaskalon edramon. ē de schēma moi gynaikos peritheisa kai syn autę̄ ge eis tēn kamaran kathisasa tǭ theiǭ me palin Meletiǭ prosēgagen. ho de tǭ tōn Hierosolymōn me paredōken episkopǭ (Lyrillos de tēnikauta ēn), kai houtō nyktōr eis tēn Palaistinēn hōr mēsamene. meta de tēn IIoulianou teleutēn kai ton patera houtos pros tēn alētheian epodēgēse" kai touto gar hēmas meta tōn allōn edidaxe. touton men dē ton tropon houtoi pros theognōsian pouēgēthent. “ē tēs sōtērias metelachon.
At that time a young man, the son of a pagan priest and brought up in impiety, passed over into the choir of the pious. For a woman distinguished for piety and honoured with the gift of the diaconate was an acquaintance of his mother. When he came with his mother (for he was still a lad), she would welcome him and urge him toward true religion. When his mother died, the young man continued to come to her and enjoyed her usual teaching. Having firmly accepted her counsels, he asked his teacher what way there might be by which it would be possible both to escape his father's superstition and to share in the truth they proclaimed. She said that he must flee his father and prefer the Creator of both himself and his father, and go to another city where it would be possible to stay hidden and escape the hands of the impious emperor; and she promised to provide for this herself. “Then,” said the young man, “I shall come from now on and hand over my soul to you.”
A few days later Julian went up to Daphne to hold a public feast; and the young man's father went up with him, being a priest and accustomed to attend the emperor. The young man went with his father, and his brother too; for the two were temple attendants, sprinkling the emperor's food. They were accustomed to keep festival in Daphne for seven days. On the first day, then, he stood by the emperor's couch and, having sprinkled the dishes as usual and filled them with defilement, he ran at full speed to the city of Antiochus, came to that admirable woman and said: “I have come to you, not having broken my promise; now take care of my salvation in both respects and fulfil your undertaking.” At once she got up and led the young man to the man of God, Meletius; and he ordered him to stay for the time being upstairs in his lodging. The father, looking for his son, went all round Daphne, and coming to the city went round the streets and alleys, casting his eyes everywhere and longing to track him down. When he came to the place where the divine Meletius had his lodging, he looked up and saw him peeping out through the lattice; and running in he dragged him off and brought him down, and taking him home he first gave him a great many lashes, then heated spits and applied them to his hands, his feet, and his back; then, shutting him in his room and putting bolts on the outside, he went back up to Daphne.
I heard these things myself from the man, when he was already old, telling them. He added this too: that, being inspired and filled with divine grace, he broke all his father's idols and mocked their weakness. “But afterwards,” he said, “reflecting on what I had done, I feared my father's coming and begged the Master Christ to consent to break the bolts and open the doors; ‘for it is for your sake,’ I said, ‘that I have suffered and done these things.’ As I was saying this,” he said, “the bolts fell out and the doors opened; and I ran back to my teacher. She dressed me in women's clothes and, seating me with her in the covered carriage, brought me again to the divine Meletius. He handed me over to the bishop of Jerusalem (it was then Cyril), and so we set off by night for Palestine.” After Julian's death this man guided his father too to the truth; for he told us this along with the rest. In this way these men were guided to the knowledge of God and shared in salvation.
Notes and citation
Summary: The son of a pagan priest, taught by a deaconess, flees to Meletius; his father finds him, tortures him with hot spits and locks him up, but the door's bolts fall away at his prayer, and disguised as a woman he escapes to Cyril of Jerusalem; later he converts his father, and Theodoret heard the story from him in old age.
- “Honoured with the gift of the diaconate”: the woman was a deaconess.
- Theodoret says he heard the story from the man himself.
Topics: Persecution, Church office, Prayer
Cite (SBL): Theodoret, Hist. eccl. 3.10 (GCS 19:190–192; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-historia-ecclesiastica/3-10). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-historia-ecclesiastica/3-10
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-theodoret-historia-ecclesiastica-3-10) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Parmentier's Greek text (GCS 19, 1911; OCR by this project); every chapter compared afterwards with Jackson's English in NPNF² 3.
3.11GCS 19:192–194
ἸΙουλιανὸς δὲ παρρησιέστερον, μᾶλλον δὲ ἀναιδέστερον, κατὰ τῆς εὐσεβείας ὡπλίζετο, τὸ μὲν τῆς ἐπιεικείας περικείμενος προσωπεῖον, πάγας δὲ κατασκευάζων καὶ θήρατρα πρὸς τὸν τῆς ἀσεβείας ὄλεθρον τοὺς ἐξαπατωμένους ἀγρεύοντα. πρῶτον μὲν γὰρ τὰς ἐν τῷ ἄστει καὶ τὰς ἐν Δάφνῃ πηγὰς ταῖς μυσαραῖς θυσίαις ἐμόλυνεν ἵν᾽ ἕκαστος ἀπολαύων τοῦ νάματος μεταλαγχάνῃ τοῦ μύσους, ἔπειτα δὲ καὶ τὰ κατὰ τὴν ἀγορὰν προκείμενα τοῦ μιάσματος ἐνεπίμπλα' περιερραίγοντὸ γὰρ καὶ ἄρτοι καὶ χρέα καὶ ὀπῶραι καὶ λάχανα καὶ τἄλλα ὕσα ἐδώδιμα. ταῦτα ὁρῶντες οἱ τῆς τοῦ σεσωχότος προσηγορίας τετυχηχότες ἔστενον μὲν καὶ ὠλοφύροντο βδελυττόμενοι τὰ γινόμενα, μετελάμβανον δὲ ὅμως ἀποστολικῷ πειθόμενοι νόμῳ᾽ πᾶν γάρςε, φησί, τὸ ἐν μακέλλῳ πωλούμενον ἐσθίετε, μηδὲν ἀνακρίνοντες διὰ τὴν συνείδησενε. Δύο δέ τινες ἐν στρατείᾳ διαπρέποντες (ἀσπιδηφόροι γὰρ ἦσαν καὶ βασιλέως πεζέταιροι) ἔν τινὲ συμποσίῳ θερμότερον τῶν γιγνομένων τὸ μύσος ἐθρήνησαν καὶ τοῖς θαυμασίοις τῶν ἐν Βαβυλῶνι διαπρεψάντων μειρακίων ἐχρήσαντο ῥήμασι" "παρέδωκας γὰρ ἡμᾶςς, ἔλεγον, βασιλεῖ παρανόμῳ ἀποστάτῃ παρὰ πάντα τὰ ἔθνη τὰ ὄντα ἐπὶ τῆς γῆςς. ταῦτά τις τῶν ὁμοτραπέζων ἐκείνῳ μεμήνυκεν. ὁ δὲ παραυτίκα γε ἀγαγὼν τοὺς ἀρίστους ἄνδρας ἐκείνους ἐπυνθάνετο τίνα εἴη τὰ εἰρημένα. οἱ δὲ παρρησίας ἀφορμὴν ὑπειληφότες τὴν τοῦ βασιλέως ἐρώτησιν, τὸν ἀξιέπαινον παραθήξαντες ζῆλον, εἶπον τοιάδε" νἐν εὐσεβείᾳ τραφέντες, ὦ βασιλεῦ, καὶ νόμοις ἀξιεπαίνοις δεδουλευκότες (Κωνσταντίνου γὰρ καὶ τῶν ἐκείνου παίδον ἦσαν οἱ νόμοι), ὀλοφυρόμεθα νὺν μύσους ἅπαντα πεπληρωμένα θεώμενοι χκεὼ ταῖς ἐναγέσι θυσίαις καὶ τὰ βρώματα καὶ τὰ πόματα μολυνόμενα. ταῦτα καὶ οἴκοι τεθρηνήκαμεν καὶ σοῦ παρόντος ἀποδυρόμεθα᾽ τοῦτο γὰρ δὴ μόνον τῆς σῆς δυσχεραίνομεν βασιλείαςε. τούτων ἀχοΐσας τῶν λόγων ὁ πραότατος καὶ φιλοσοφώτατος παρά τῶν ἐκείνῳ προσομοίων ὀνομαζόμενος τὸ μὲν τῆς ἐπιεικείας ἀπεδύὄατο προσωπεῖον, τὸ δὲ τῆς δυσσεβείας ἐγύμνωσε πρόσωπον. καὶ πικρὰς αὐτοῖς καὶ χαλεπὰς αἰκίας ἐπιθεῖναι κελεύσας, ἐστέρησε μὲν τῆς παρούσης ζωῆς, μᾶλλον δὲ ἠλευθέρωσεν ἐκείνου τοῦ δυστήνου καιροῦ καὶ τοὺς νικηφόρους στεφάνους προὐξένησεν. αἰτίαν ὁὲ τῇ τιμωρίᾳ συνήρμοσεν, οὐ τὴν εὐσέβειαν ὑπὲρ ἧς ἀνῃρέθησαν, ἀλλὰ τὴν παροινίαν" οςς βασιλέα γὰρ ὑβρικότας ἔφησε τιμωρήσασθαι. ταῦτα δὲ θρυλεῖσθαι προσέταξε. φρθονῶν τοῖς τῆς ἀληθείας ἀθληταῖς τῆς τῶν μαρτύρων προσηγορίας τε καὶ τιμῆς. τούτων ὁ μὲν Ἰοβεντῖνος, ὁ δὲ Μαξιμῖνος προσηγορεύετο. τούτους ἡ Ἀντιόχου πόλις ὡς ἀγωγιστὰς εὐσεβείας τιμήσασα πολυτελεῖ παραδέδωκε θήκῃ, καὶ μέχρι δὲ τήμερον ἐτησίῳ δημοθοινίς: γεραίρονται.
IIoulianos de parrēsiesteron, mallon de anaidesteron, kata tēs eusebeias hōplizeto, to men tēs epieikeias perikeimenos prosōpeion, pagas de kataskeuazōn kai thēratra pros ton tēs asebeias olethron tous exapatōmenous agreuonta. prōton men gar tas en tǭ astei kai tas en Daphnę̄ pēgas tais mysarais thysiais emolynen hin᾽ hekastos apolauōn tou namatos metalanchanę̄ tou mysous, epeita de kai ta kata tēn agoran prokeimena tou miasmatos enepimpla' perierraigonto gar kai artoi kai chrea kai opōrai kai lachana kai talla hysa edōdima. tauta horōntes hoi tēs tou sesōchotos prosēgorias tetychēchotes estenon men kai ōlophyronto bdelyttomenoi ta ginomena, metelambanon de homōs apostolikǭ peithomenoi nomǭ᾽ pan garse, phēsi, to en makellǭ pōloumenon esthiete, mēden anakrinontes dia tēn syneidēsene. Dyo de tines en strateią diaprepontes (aspidēphoroi gar ēsan kai basileōs pezetairoi) en tine symposiǭ thermoteron tōn gignomenōn to mysos ethrēnēsan kai tois thaumasiois tōn en Babylōni diaprepsantōn meirakiōn echrēsanto rhēmasi" "paredōkas gar hēmass, elegon, basilei paranomǭ apostatę̄ para panta ta ethnē ta onta epi tēs gēss. tauta tis tōn homotrapezōn ekeinǭ memēnyken. ho de parautika ge agagōn tous aristous andras ekeinous epynthaneto tina eiē ta eirēmena. hoi de parrēsias aphormēn hypeilēphotes tēn tou basileōs erōtēsin, ton axiepainon parathēxantes zēlon, eipon toiade" nen eusebeią traphentes, ō basileu, kai nomois axiepainois dedouleukotes (Kōnstantinou gar kai tōn ekeinou paidon ēsan hoi nomoi), olophyrometha nyn mysous hapanta peplērōmena theōmenoi chkeō tais enagesi thysiais kai ta brōmata kai ta pomata molynomena. tauta kai oikoi tethrēnēkamen kai sou parontos apodyrometha᾽ touto gar dē monon tēs sēs dyscherainomen basileiase. toutōn achoïsas tōn logōn ho praotatos kai philosophōtatos para tōn ekeinǭ prosomoiōn onomazomenos to men tēs epieikeias apedyoato prosōpeion, to de tēs dyssebeias egymnōse prosōpon. kai pikras autois kai chalepas aikias epitheinai keleusas, esterēse men tēs parousēs zōēs, mallon de ēleutherōsen ekeinou tou dystēnou kairou kai tous nikēphorous stephanous prouxenēsen. aitian hoe tę̄ timōrią synērmosen, ou tēn eusebeian hyper hēs anę̄rethēsan, alla tēn paroinian" oss basilea gar hybrikotas ephēse timōrēsasthai. tauta de thryleisthai prosetaxe. phrthonōn tois tēs alētheias athlētais tēs tōn martyrōn prosēgorias te kai timēs. toutōn ho men Iobentinos, ho de Maximinos prosēgoreueto. toutous hē Antiochou polis hōs agōgistas eusebeias timēsasa polytelei paradedōke thēkę̄, kai mechri de tēmeron etēsiǭ dēmothoinis: gerairontai.
Julian armed himself against true religion more openly, or rather more shamelessly, wearing the mask of gentleness while preparing snares and traps that caught the deceived for the ruin of impiety. First he defiled the springs in the city and in Daphne with abominable sacrifices, so that everyone who enjoyed the water should share in the defilement; then he filled with pollution what was set out for sale in the market-place too; for bread, meat, fruit, vegetables, and all other foods were sprinkled. Those who had received the name of the Saviour, seeing this, groaned and lamented, abhorring what was done, but nevertheless partook, obeying the apostolic law; for it says: “Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience.”
Two men distinguished in the army (they were shield-bearers and foot guards of the emperor), at a certain banquet, lamented rather warmly the defilement of what was being done, and used the words of the admirable youths who were distinguished in Babylon: “For you have handed us over,” they said, “to a lawless king, an apostate beyond all the nations that are on the earth.” One of their table companions reported this to him. At once he had those excellent men brought and asked them what it was that had been said. They, taking the emperor's question as an opportunity for boldness and whetting their praiseworthy zeal, spoke thus: “Brought up in true religion, emperor, and serving praiseworthy laws (for they were the laws of Constantine and his sons), we lament now, seeing everything filled with defilement and food and drink polluted with accursed sacrifices. We have lamented this at home and we bewail it in your presence; for this is the one thing in your reign that we object to.” On hearing these words, he who is called most gentle and most philosophical by those like him took off the mask of gentleness and laid bare the face of impiety. He ordered bitter and grievous tortures to be inflicted on them and deprived them of the present life, or rather freed them from that wretched time and procured for them the crowns of victory. But he attached to the punishment as its cause not the true religion for which they were killed, but drunken insolence; for he said that he had punished them for having insulted the emperor. He ordered this to be spread about, grudging the athletes of the truth the name and honour of martyrs. One of them was called Juventinus, the other Maximinus. The city of Antiochus, honouring them as champions of true religion, laid them in a costly tomb, and to this day they are honoured with an annual public festival.
1 Cor 10:25 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Julian pollutes the springs and market food of Antioch with sacrificial water; Christians eat it according to Paul's rule; two guardsmen, Juventinus and Maximinus, who lament the defilement in Daniel's words, are tortured and executed on a charge of insulting the emperor, and Antioch honours them as martyrs.
- “Eat whatever is sold ...”: 1 Cor 10:25.
- “You have handed us over to a lawless king ...”: Prayer of Azariah (Dan 3:32 LXX, Greek addition), counted on this site as an extrabiblical text.
- “Most gentle and most philosophical”: ironic, as in the Greek.
Extrabiblical texts: Pr Azar 9 (Prayer of Azariah and Song of the Three Young Men [in RC, EO, ETH canons]; quotation)
Topics: Martyrdom, Persecution
Cite (SBL): Theodoret, Hist. eccl. 3.11 (GCS 19:192–194; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-historia-ecclesiastica/3-11). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-historia-ecclesiastica/3-11
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-theodoret-historia-ecclesiastica-3-11) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Parmentier's Greek text (GCS 19, 1911; OCR by this project); every chapter compared afterwards with Jackson's English in NPNF² 3.
3.12GCS 19:194–195
Καὶ ἄλλοι δὲ τῶν ἐν τέλει καὶ ἀξιωτάτων παραπλησίῳ παρρησίᾳ χρησάμενοι τῶν ἴσων στεφάνων ἀπήλαυσαν. καὶ γὰρ Βαλεντινιανὸς ἐκεῖνος ὁ μικρὸν ὕστερον βασιλεύσας (χιλίαρχος δὲ ἣν τηνικαῦτα τῶν περὶ τὰ βασίλεια τεταγμένον λογχοφόρων ἡγούμενος) ὃν εἶχεν ὑπὲρ τῆς εὐσεβείας οὐχ: ἀπέχρυϊε δῆλον. ὃ μὲν γὰρ ἐμβρόντητος ἐκεῖνος εἰς τὸ τῆς Ἰύχης τέμενος εἰσήει χορεύων, ἑκατέρωθεν δὲ τῶν θυρῶν εἱστήκεισαν γεωχόροι περιρραντηρίοις τοὺς εἰσιόντας προχαθαίροντες ὡς ἐνόμιζον ἐπειδὴ δὲ τοῦ βασιλέως ἡγούμεν ος τῇ χλα ανίδι ῥανίδα πελάσασαν εἶδεν Βαλεντινιανός, ὃ βασιλείας ἑκατέρας τούτου χάριν τετυχηκώς, πὺξ ἔπαισε τὸ νεωχόρον, μεμολύνθαι φήσας, οὐ κεκαθάρθαι. θεασάμενος δὲ τὸ γεγονὸς ὁ ἐξάγιστος εἰς φρούριον αὐτὸν παρὰ τὴν ἔρημον κείμενον ἐξέπεμψεν, αὐτόθιε διάγειν προστεταχώς. ἀλλ᾽ ἐκεῖνος μὲν ἐνιαυτοῦ καὶ μηνῶν διεληλυθότων ὀλίγων μισθὸν τῆς ὁμολογίας τὴν βασιλείαν ἐδέξατο. οὐ γὰρ μόνον ἐν ἐκείνῳ τῷ βίῳ ὃ τοὺς τῶν θείων ἐπιμελουμένους ὁ δίκαιος γεραίρει κριτής, ἀλλ᾽ ἔστιν ὅτε καὶ παραυτίκα τῶν ἀγαθῶν πόνων ὀρέγει τὰ: ἀντιδόσεις. ταῖς ἄρτι χορηγουμέναις δωρεαῖς τὰς ἐλπιξομένας πιστούμενος. Ὁ δὲ τύραννος καὶ ἕτερον κατὰ τῆς εὐσεβείας ἐξεῦρε μηχάνημα. τοῖς γὰρ στρατιωτικοῖς χαταλύγοις κατὰ τὸ παλαιὸν ἔθος διανέμων χρυσίον, χαθῆστο μὲν αὐτὸς ἐπὶ θρόνου βασιλικοῦ, προύθηκε δὲ παρὰ τὸ ἔθος βωμὸν ἀνθράχων πλήρη, καὶ λιβανωτὸν ἐπί τινος τραπέζης παρέθηκε. προσέταξε δὲ τῶν τὸ χρυσίον χομιζομένων ἕχαστον πρότερον ἐπιβαλεῖν τῷ βωμῷ τὸν λιβανωτόν, εἶτα τὸ χρυσίον παρὰ τῆς αὐτοῦ κομίσασθαι δεξιᾶς. τήνδε τὴν πάγην οἱ πλεῖστοι μὲν ἠγνόησαν παντελῶς" οἱ δὲ προμεμαθηχότες, σχηψάμενοι νόσον, τὴν χαλεπὴν ἐκείνη διέφυγον θήραν" ἄλλοι δὲ τῶν χρημάτων ὀρεγόμενοι τῆς σφετέρας κατωλιγώρησαν σωτηρίας" ἕτεροι δὲ δειλίᾳ προύδωκαν
Kai alloi de tōn en telei kai axiōtatōn paraplēsiǭ parrēsią chrēsamenoi tōn isōn stephanōn apēlausan. kai gar Balentinianos ekeinos ho mikron hysteron basileusas (chiliarchos de hēn tēnikauta tōn peri ta basileia tetagmenon lonchophorōn hēgoumenos) hon eichen hyper tēs eusebeias ouch: apechryïe dēlon. ho men gar embrontētos ekeinos eis to tēs Iychēs temenos eisēei choreuōn, hekaterōthen de tōn thyrōn heistēkeisan geōchoroi perirrantēriois tous eisiontas prochathairontes hōs enomizon epeidē de tou basileōs hēgoumen os tę̄ chla anidi rhanida pelasasan eiden Balentinianos, ho basileias hekateras toutou charin tetychēkōs, pyx epaise to neōchoron, memolynthai phēsas, ou kekatharthai. theasamenos de to gegonos ho exagistos eis phrourion auton para tēn erēmon keimenon exepempsen, autothie diagein prostetachōs. all᾽ ekeinos men eniautou kai mēnōn dielēlythotōn oligōn misthon tēs homologias tēn basileian edexato. ou gar monon en ekeinǭ tǭ biǭ ho tous tōn theiōn epimeloumenous ho dikaios gerairei kritēs, all᾽ estin hote kai parautika tōn agathōn ponōn oregei ta: antidoseis. tais arti chorēgoumenais dōreais tas elpixomenas pistoumenos. Ho de tyrannos kai heteron kata tēs eusebeias exeure mēchanēma. tois gar stratiōtikois chatalygois kata to palaion ethos dianemōn chrysion, chathēsto men autos epi thronou basilikou, prouthēke de para to ethos bōmon anthrachōn plērē, kai libanōton epi tinos trapezēs parethēke. prosetaxe de tōn to chrysion chomizomenōn hechaston proteron epibalein tǭ bōmǭ ton libanōton, eita to chrysion para tēs autou komisasthai dexias. tēnde tēn pagēn hoi pleistoi men ēgnoēsan pantelōs" hoi de promemathēchotes, schēpsamenoi noson, tēn chalepēn ekeinē diephygon thēran" alloi de tōn chrēmatōn oregomenoi tēs spheteras katōligōrēsan sōtērias" heteroi de deilią proudōkan
Other officials and men of the highest rank, using similar boldness, won the same crowns. For that Valentinian who reigned a little later (he was then a tribune commanding the lance-bearers stationed at the palace) did not hide the zeal he had for true religion. When that thunderstruck man was going in dancing into the precinct of Fortune, temple attendants stood on either side of the doors, purifying, as they thought, those who went in with sprinkling water. When Valentinian, walking in front of the emperor, saw a drop come near his cloak, he struck the temple attendant with his fist, saying that he had been defiled, not purified. (On account of this he obtained both kingdoms.) Seeing what had happened, the accursed man sent him off to a fortress lying by the desert, ordering him to live there. But he, after a year and a few months had passed, received the empire as the reward for his confession. For the just Judge honours those who care for divine things not only in that life, but sometimes also gives the rewards of good labours at once, confirming the gifts hoped for by those granted now.
The tyrant devised another device against true religion. When he was distributing gold to the military rolls according to the ancient custom, he sat on the imperial throne, but contrary to custom he set beside it an altar full of coals and placed incense on a table. He ordered each of those receiving the gold first to throw the incense on the altar and then to receive the gold from his right hand. Most did not perceive this snare at all; those who had learned of it beforehand pretended to be ill and escaped that grievous trap; others, reaching for the money, neglected their own salvation; still others betrayed it through cowardice.
Notes and citation
Summary: Valentinian, a guards officer, strikes a temple attendant who sprinkled him and is exiled, later receiving the empire; Julian tricks soldiers into offering incense at an altar set beside him when they receive their donative.
- The section opens with Theodoret's transitional sentence linking the guardsmen of 3.11 with Valentinian; it is kept as printed.
- “On account of this he obtained both kingdoms”: the earthly and the heavenly; Theodoret's parenthesis is translated where it stands.
- “The precinct of Fortune”: a temple of Tyche.
Topics: Persecution
Cite (SBL): Theodoret, Hist. eccl. 3.12 (GCS 19:194–195; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-historia-ecclesiastica/3-12). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-historia-ecclesiastica/3-12
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-theodoret-historia-ecclesiastica-3-12) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Parmentier's Greek text (GCS 19, 1911; OCR by this project); every chapter compared afterwards with Jackson's English in NPNF² 3.