THE EARLY CHURCH FATHERS WRITINGS - VOLUME 79
The Chronicles and Church Histories of the Sixth Century
c. AD 495 – 594

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Texts are public domain except where marked in Sources and Credits.

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INTRODUCTION TO THIS VOLUME
===========================

HOW THIS BOOK IS ARRANGED

This is the seventy-ninth volume of a series that gathers the writings of the early Church
in order of date, from the generation after the apostles down to the eighth century. This
volume holds The Chronicles and Church Histories of the Sixth Century, from the period
about AD 495 – 594.

Within each work the text is divided into chapters and numbered sections, so that any
passage can be found again and cited. The small bold figures in the text are the section
numbers.

THE TRANSLATIONS

The text is in English only. Wherever a modern English version has been prepared for
SermonIndex it is used here; otherwise the book prints an older public-domain translation.
In both cases the wording is the translator’s own: older translations have not been
altered beyond dividing them into sections. The sources for every work are listed at the
back of the book, together with the licence under which each text is released. All the
works in this volume are printed in older public-domain translations.

IN THIS VOLUME

Joshua is named in later manuscripts as a stylite, a monk who lived on a pillar. His
Chronicle, written in Syriac about AD 507, tells of the years from AD 495 to 506. It
describes the locusts, famine and plague that struck Edessa and the Persian war of AD 502
to 506, and it is the work of a man who saw these things himself.

The Chronicle of Edessa is a short Syriac record of events in the city of Edessa, drawn
from the city archives. It runs from the beginning of the kingdom of Edessa in 132 BC to
AD 540. It notes floods, earthquakes, bishops, councils and the wars of Rome and Persia.

The Syriac Chronicle was compiled in AD 569 by a writer whose name is not known, and it
came to be attributed to Zachariah, bishop of Mitylene. In its middle books it follows the
lost Greek church history of Zachariah Rhetor, which covered the years from AD 450 to 491,
and the later books bring the story to the reign of Justinian. It is a main source for the
controversy over the Council of Chalcedon and for the Church in Syria and Egypt.

John was born about AD 507 near Amida in Mesopotamia and became a monk. Justinian sent him
to convert the pagans of Asia Minor, and about AD 558 he was made bishop of Ephesus for
the Syrian Orthodox. He wrote the Lives of the Eastern Saints and a Church History in
three parts, of which only the third part survives in full. He died about AD 588.

Evagrius was born about AD 536 at Epiphania in Syria and practised law at Antioch, which
is the meaning of the name Scholasticus. He served as adviser to the patriarch Gregory of
Antioch. His Ecclesiastical History in six books runs from the Council of Ephesus in AD
431 to AD 594, and it is rich in the history of the plague, earthquakes and wars of his
own age.

The histories in this volume record the wars, earthquakes, plagues and church struggles of
the sixth century as seen from Syria and Constantinople. They are printed in the order in
which they were written, from the chronicle of Joshua the Stylite to the Ecclesiastical
History of Evagrius.

DATES AND AUTHORSHIP

Dates are approximate and are debated by scholars. Each work begins with a short
introduction that states what is known about its author and its date, and what is
uncertain.


PREFACE TO THE CHRONICLE OF JOSHUA
==================================

PREFACE TO THE CHRONICLE OF JOSHUA Joshua the Stylite

fl. c. AD 507

William Wright’s preface to his edition and translation of the Chronicle of Joshua the
Stylite, published in 1882. It tells of the manuscript, of the author, and of the place of
the book among the sources of the time.

TRANSLATOR'S INTRODUCTION

THE CHRONICLE OF JOSHUA THE STYLITE. London: C. J. CLAY AND SON, CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY
PRESS WAREHOUSE, 17, PATERNOSTER ROW. Cambridge: DEIGHTON, BELL, AND CO. Leipzig: F. A.
BROCKHAUS. THE CHRONICLE OF JOSHUA THE STYLITE, COMPOSED IN SYRIAC A.D. 507, WITH A
TRANSLATION INTO ENGLISH AND NOTES BY W. WRIGHT, LL.D., PROFESSOR OF ARABIC IN THE
UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE. EDITED FOR THE SYNDICS OF THE UNIVERSITY PRESS. CAMBRIDGE: AT THE
UNIVERSITY PRESS. 1882 Cambridge: PRINTED BY C. J. CLAY, M.A. & SON, AT THE UNIVERSITY
PRESS. I. The Chronicle of Joshua (Yeshua or Jesus) the Stylite has been long known to
historians in the abridged Latin translation of Joseph Simon Assemani, which occupies pp.
262-283 of the first volume of his Bibliotheca Orientalis; and it is generally
acknowledged to be one of the most valuable authorities for the period with which it deals
. The first complete edition of the Syriac text did not, however, appear till 1876, when
it was edited for the German Oriental Society, with a French translation and many useful
notes , by the well known orientalist the Abbe P. Martin, to whose industry scholars are
indebted for various important Syriac publications.

That this editio princeps should be faulty in many respects was unavoidable, partly from
the fact that the editor had only a single not very clearly written manuscript for the
basis of his text, and partly because circumstances prevented him from re-collating his
copy with the original before putting it to press. It was reviewed by Professor Noeldeke
of Strassburg in the Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenlandischen Gesellschaft, Bd xxx, pp.
351-8, where he proposed many excellent emendations. Having read the book through several
times with pupils, I sent to Professor Noeldeke a further list of corrections, shortly
before the publication of his Syriac Grammar in 1880, and we exchanged several letters on
the subject. Since then another friend, Professor Ignazio Guidi of Rome, has most kindly
supplied me with a fresh collation of the entire work; and I am thus enabled to lay a
tolerably correct text before the reader, without having much recourse to conjectural
emendation. If I have not described certain readings of my text as corrections made by
this or that scholar, it is because I have ascertained, thanks to Guidi's unwearying
kindness, that they are the actual readings of the original manuscript. ... I have never
altered the actual readings of the manuscript, so far as I am aware, without giving due
warning thereof in the notes. I have, however, taken the liberty, with the view of
facilitating the task of the reader, of adding a considerable number of diacritical
points, especially in the verbal forms. From the interpunction of the manuscript, on the
other hand, I have but rarely deviated, and then only when it seemed to me to be
absolutely necessary.

In my translation I have striven to be as literal as the difference between the two idioms
will allow. My method is first to translate as closely as I can, and then to try if I can
improve the form of expression in any way without the sacrifice of truthfulness to the
original. I also endeavour to preserve a somewhat antiquated and Biblical style, as being
peculiarly adapted to the rendering into English of Oriental works, whether poetical or
historical. The Old Testament and the Kor'an, which are, of course, in many ways
strikingly similar in their diction, can both be easily made ridiculous by turning them
into our modern vernacular, particularly if we vulgarize with malice prepense. In my
version I have sometimes expressed the sense of a conjectural emendation rather than of
the manuscript reading. The comparison of the Syriac text and the critical notes will
readily show the attentive reader when this is the case. Words which I have found it
necessary to add for the sake of the English form of expression, or of greater clearness,
I have commonly put within parentheses ( ); but where an actual lacuna in the text is
supplied by conjecture, I have employed brackets [ ].

Of the notes I think it necessary to say no more than that they are intended chiefly for
non-orientalists and for those who are beginning their oriental studies. It seemed to me
to be quite superfluous to repeat the historical information contained in the copious
annotations of Assemani and of the Abbe Martin. In matters relating to the topography of
Edessa and its district I have had recourse to my friend Professor G. Hoffmann of Kiel,
who is probably the best acquainted of living orientalists with the geography of
Mesopotamia and the adjacent countries. A comprehensive work on the subject from his hand
would be a boon to all scholars. The plan of Edessa is taken from Carsten Niebuhr's Voyage
en Arabie, et en d'autres Pays circonvoisins, traduit de l'Allemand, 1780, t. ii, p. 330,
with additions and alterations suggested by Professor Hoffmann. As for the rough map of
the seat of war, it is only reproduced from an ordinary atlas.

I have endeavoured, for the convenience of readers, to conform my edition in externals, as
far as possible, to that of the Abbe Martin; and I would therefore have gladly adopted his
numeration of the chapters, but found it to be impossible. In the first place, I had to
strike out his seventh chapter, which is merely the final note of a scribe of much later
date. This reduces the number of chapters by one from VIII (now VII) to XCI (now XC). But,
in the second place, I had to unite his chapters XCI and XCII, the lacuna on p. 75 of his
edition being imaginary. Consequently the number of chapters from here to the end is
reduced by two, and Martin's ch. XCIII is in my edition XCI. II. We owe the preservation
of the short Chronicle of Joshua the Stylite to the care of a later historian, Dionysius
of Tell-Mahre , patriarch of the Jacobites (ob. A. Gr. 1156, A.D. 845) , who incorporated
it with his own larger work, which deserves to be made accessible to students of history
without further delay . The solitary manuscript of this work which has come down to our
times is preserved in the Vatican Library . It is in great part palimpsest, the underlying
text being Coptic. According to Assemani, Bibl. Orient, t. ii, pp. 98, 99, it was written
in the Nitrian desert when Moses of Nisibis was abbot of the convent of S. Mary Deipara,
that is to say, between A.D. 907 and 944 (see my Catalogue of Syriac MSS. in the British
Museum, General Index, p. 1310); but in his Catal. Codd. Manuscriptorum Biblioth. Apostol.
Vaticanae, t. iii, p. 328, no. CLXII, he asserts that it was one of those volumes which
Moses of Nisibis brought back with him to the Nitrian Convent in 932, after his visit to
Baghdad and his journey through Mesopotamia .

Of Joshua we know little more than what he has himself thought fit to tell us. He wrote
his Chronicle at the request of one Sergius, the abbot of a convent in the district of
Edessa (ch. I), to whom he repeatedly addresses himself in the course of it. The last date
which occurs in it is 28th November A.D. 506 (ch. C); and considering the tone of the
final chapter, I have thought myself justified in assigning the composition of the work to
that winter and the earlier part of the following year, which is also Noeldeke's opinion
(Zeitschrift d. D. M. G., Bd xxx, p. 352) . A more recent copyist, who supplied a lacuna
in the manuscript of Dionysius , adds some details regarding Joshua as follows (see
Martin's edition, p. 8). "Pray for the wretched Elisha, from the convent of Zuknin (near
Amid), who wrote this leaf, that he may find grace like the thief on the right hand. Amen
and Amen. May the mercy of the great God and our Redeemer Jesus Christ be upon the priest
Mar Yeshua (Joshua) the stylite, from the convent of Zuknin, who wrote this Chronicle of
the evil times that are past, and of the calamities and troubles which the (Persian)
tyrant wrought among men."

W. WRIGHT. Queens' College, Cambridge. 23 April, 1882. [These are the majority of the
footnotes, minus any Arabic and Syriac]


THE CHRONICLE OF JOSHUA THE STYLITE
===================================

THE CHRONICLE OF JOSHUA THE STYLITE fl. c. AD 507

Joshua wrote this chronicle as a letter to the abbot Sergius. It tells of the locusts and
famine at Edessa in AD 500–502, of the Persian invasion and siege of Amida and Edessa in
AD 502–506, and of the actions of the emperor Anastasius. The English is that of William
Wright (1882).

CHRONICLE COMPOSED IN SYRIAC IN A.D.507

A History of the Time of Affliction at Edessa and Amida and Throughout All Mesopotamia.

[Translated by William Wright] I. I have received the letter of your God-loving holiness,
O most excellent of men, Sergius, priest and abbot, in which you have bidden me write for
you, by way of record, (concerning the time) when the locusts came, and when the sun was
darkened, and when there was earthquake and famine and pestilence, and (about) the war
between the Romans and the Persians. But besides these things, there were found in it
great encomiums of myself, which made me much ashamed even when alone with my own soul,
because not one of them pertains to me in reality. Now I would like to write the things
that are in you, but the eye of my understanding is unable to examine and see, such as it
actually is, the marvellous robe which your energetic will has woven for you and clothed
you therewith; for it is clearly manifest that you burn with the love that fulfils the
law, since you care not only for the brethren that are under your authority at this time,
but also for all the lovers of learning that may hereafter enter your blessed monastery;
and in your diligence you wish to leave in writing memorials of the chastisements which
have been wrought in our times because of our sins, so that, when they read and see the
things that have happened to us, they may take warning by our sins and be delivered from
our punishments. One must wonder at the fulness of your love, which is poured out upon all
men, that it is not exhausted nor fails. Indeed I am unable to speak of it as it is,
because I have not been nigh unto its working; nor do I know how to tell about it from a
single interview which I have had with you.

II. Like Jonathan, the true friend, you have bound yourself to me in love. But that the
soul of Jonathan was drawn to the soul of David, after he saw that the giant was slain by
his hands and the camp delivered, is not so marvellous as this, because he loved him for
his good deeds; whereas you have loved me more than yourself, without having seen anything
that was good in me. Nor is Jonathan's delivering of David from death at the hands of Saul
deserving of wonder in comparison with this (doing) of yours, because he still requited
unto him something that was due to him; for he first delivered him from death, and gave
life unto him and all his father's house, that they should not die by the hands of the
Philistine. And though nothing like this has been done by me unto you, you are at all
times praying unto God for me, that I may be delivered from Satan, and that he may not
slay me through sins. But this I must say, that you love me as David did Saul; for you are
intoxicated by the greatness of your affection to such a degree that, because of the
fervency of your love, you know not what my limit is, but imagine regarding me things
which are far beyond me. For in the time preceding this, you supplied my deficiencies by
the teaching contained in your letters;

and you took such care for me as parents do, who, though they have not profited aught by
their children, yet care for everything that they need. And today in your discretion you
have humbled yourself, and have begged me to write for you things that are too hard for
me, that hereby you might be especially exalted; and though you know them better than I
do, you wish to learn them from me. So neither do I grudge you this, nor do I decline to
do what you have commanded. III. Know then that I too, when I saw these signs that were
wrought and the chastisements that came after them, was thinking that they were worthy of
being written down and preserved in some record, and not let fall into oblivion. But
whereas I considered the weakness of my mind and my own utter ignorance, I declined to do
this. Now however that you have bidden me do this very thing, I am in such fear as a man
who, not knowing how to swim well, is ordered to go down into deep waters. But because I
rely on your prayers to draw me out, which are constantly sent up by you unto God on my
behalf, I believe that I shall be providentially saved from drowning and drawn forth from
the sea into which you have cast me; since I shall swim as best I can in its shallows,
because its depths cannot be explored. For who is able to tell fittingly concerning those
things which God has wrought in His wisdom to wipe out sins and to chastise offences? For
the exact nature of God's government is hidden even from the angels, as you may learn from
the parable of the tares in the Gospel. For when his servants said unto the master of the
house, "Do you want us to go and gather them up? he that knew the things as they were said
unto them, "No, in case while you gather up the tares, you root up also the wheat with
them.

This then we say according to our knowledge, that because of the multitude of our sins our
chastisements were abundant; and had not the protection of God embraced the whole world so
that it should not be dissolved, the lives of all mankind would probably have perished.
For at what times did afflictions like these happen with such violence, save in these
(times) in which we live? And because the cause of them has not been removed, they have
not even yet ceased. In addition to that which we saw with our own eyes and heard with our
own ears, and amid which we lived, there terrified us also rumours from far and near, and
calamities that happened in various places; terrible earthquakes, overturnings of cities,
famines and pestilences, wars and tumults, captivity and deportation of whole districts,
razings and burning of churches. And whereas these things have amazed you by their
frequency, you have sent unto me to write them down with words of grief and sorrow, which
shall astonish both readers and hearers; and I know that you have said this through your
zeal for good things, that there may be contrition also in those who hear them, and that
they may draw nigh unto repentance.

IV. But know that it is one thing for a man to write sadly, and another (to write) truly;
for any man who is endowed with natural eloquence can, if he chooses, write sad and
melancholy tales. But I am a plain man in speech, and I record in this book those things
which all men that are in our country can testify to be true; and it is for them who read
and hear, when they have examined them, if they please, to draw nigh unto repentance. But
perchance one may say, "What profit have those who read from these things, if admonition
be not mingled with the recital? I for my part, as one who is not able to do this, say
that these chastisements which have come upon us are sufficient to rebuke us and our
posterity, and to teach us by the memory and reading of them that they were sent upon us
for our sins. If they did not teach us this, they would be quite useless to us. But this
cannot be said, because chastisements supply to us the place of teaching; and that they
are sent upon us for our sins all believers under heaven testify, in accordance with the
words of S. Paul, who says, "When we are chastened, we are chastened of the Lord, that we
should not be condemned with the world.

For the whole object of men being chastened in this world is that they may be restrained
from their sins, and that the judgement of the world to come may be made light for them.
As for those who are chastised because of sinners, whilst they themselves have not sinned,
a double reward shall be added unto them. But there is mercy at all times even for those
who are unworthy, because of the kindness and grace and longsuffering of God, who wills
that this world should last until the time that is decreed in His knowledge, and doesn't
forget. And that these things are so is clear both from the evidences of holy Scripture
and from the things that have taken place among us, which we purpose to write down. V. For
behold, there leaned heavily upon us the calamities of hunger and of pestilence in the
time of the locusts, so that we were well nigh going to destruction; but God had mercy
upon us, though we were unworthy, and gave us a little respite from the calamities that
pressed upon us. And this, as I have said, was because of His goodness. But He changed our
torments, after we had had some respite, and smote us by the hands of the Assyrian, who is
called the rod of anger. Now I do not wish to deny the free will of the Persians, when I
say that God smote us by their hands; nor do I, after God, bring forward any blame of
their wickedness; but reflecting that, because of our sins, He has not inflicted any
punishment on them, I have set it down that He smote us by their hands. Now the pleasure
of this wicked people is abundantly made evident by this, that they have not shown mercy
unto those who were delivered up unto them; for they have been accustomed to show their
pleasure and to rejoice in evil done to the children of men, wherewith the Prophet too
taunts them and says, prophesying regarding the desolation of Babylon as it were by the
mouth of the Lord: "I was wroth with my people, who defiled mine inheritance; and I
delivered them into your hands, and you showed them no mercy.

Unto us too, therefore, they have similarly wrought harm in their pitiless pleasure,
according to their wont. For though the rod of their chastisement did not reach our
bodies, and they were unable to make themselves masters of our city, (because it is not
possible for the promise of Christ to be made void, who promised the believing king Abgar,
saying, "Thy city shall be blessed, and no enemy shall ever make himself master of it";
yet, because of the believers who were spoiled and led away captive and slain and
destroyed in the other cities which were captured, and who were like mud in the streets,
all those have tasted no small degree of suffering who have learned to sympathise with
them that suffer. And those too who were far away from this (sight) have been tortured
with fear for their own lives by their lack of faith, for they thought that the enemy
would make himself master of Edessa too, as he had done of other cities. About which
things we are going to write unto you.

VI. Since then, according to the saying of the wise Solomon, "War is brought about by
provocation"; and you wish to learn this very thing, namely by what causes it was
provoked; it is my intention to inform you whence these causes took their rise, even at
the risk of its being thought that I speak of things the time of which is long past. And
then, after a little, I will make known to you too how these causes acquired strength. For
although this war was stirred up against us because of our sins, yet it took its origin in
certain obvious facts, which I am going to relate to you, that you may be clearly
acquainted with the whole subject, and not be led, along with some foolish persons, to
blame the all-ruling and believing emperor Anastasius. For he was not the exciting cause
of the war, but it was provoked from a much earlier time, as you may understand from the
things that I am going to write unto you.

VII. In the year 609 (A.D. 297-8) the Romans got possession of the city of Nisibis, and it
remained under their sway for sixty-five years. After the death of Julian in Persia, which
took place in the year 674 (A.D. 362-3), Jovinian , who reigned over the Romans after him,
preferred peace above everything; and for the sake of this he allowed the Persians to take
possession of Nisibis for one hundred and twenty years, after which they were to restore
it to its (former) masters. These years came to an end in the time of the Roman emperor
Zeno; but the Persians were unwilling to restore the city, and this thing stirred up
strife. VIII. Further, there was a treaty between the Romans and the Persians, that, if
they had need of one another when carrying on war with any nation, they should help one
another, by giving three hundred able-bodied men, with their arms and horses, or three
hundred staters in lieu of each man, according to the wish of the party that had need. Now
the Romans, by the help of God, the Lord of all, had never any need of assistance from the
Persians; for believing emperors have always reigned from that time until the present day,
and by the help of Heaven their power has been strengthened. But the kings of the Persians
have been sending ambassadors and receiving money for their needs; but it was not in the
way of tribute that they took it, as many thought.

IX. Even in our days Peroz, the king of the Persians, because of the wars that he had with
the Kushanaye or Huns, very often received money from the Romans, not however demanding it
as tribute, but exciting their religious zeal, as if he was carrying on his contests on
their behalf, "that," said he, "they may not pass over into your territory." What made
these words of his find credence was the devastation and depopulation which the Huns
wrought in the Roman territory in the year 707 (A.D. 395-6), in the days of the emperors
Honorius and Arcadius, the sons of Theodosius the Great, when all Syria was delivered into
their hands by the treachery of the prefect Rufinus and the supineness of the general
Addai. X. By the help of the money which he received from the Romans, Peroz subdued the
Huns, and took many places from their land and added them to his own kingdom; but at last
he was taken prisoner by them. When Zeno, the emperor of the Romans, heard this, he sent
money of his own and freed him, and reconciled him with them. Peroz made a treaty with the
Huns that he would not again cross the boundary of their territory to make war with them;
but he went back from and broke his covenant, like Zedekiah, and went to war, and like him
he was delivered into the hands of his enemies, and all his army was destroyed and
dispersed, and he himself was taken alive. He promised in his pride that he would give for
the safety of his life thirty mules laden with silver coin; and he sent to his country
over which he ruled, but he could hardly collect twenty loads, for by his former wars he
had completely emptied the treasury of the king who preceded him. Instead therefore of the
other ten loads, he placed with them as a pledge and hostage his son Kawad, until he
should send them, and he made an agreement with them for the second time that he would not
again go to war.

XI. When he returned to his kingdom, he imposed a poll-tax on his whole country, and sent
the ten loads of silver coin, and delivered his son. But he again collected an army and
went to war; and the word of the Prophet was in very reality fulfilled regarding him, who
says, " I saw the wicked uplifted like the trees of the forest, but when I passed by he
was not, and I sought him but did not find him." For when a battle took place, and the two
hosts were mingled together in confusion, his whole force was destroyed, and he himself
was sought but not found; nor to the present day is it known what became of him, whether
he was buried under the bodies of the slain, or threw himself into the sea, or hid himself
in a cave under ground and perished of hunger, or concealed himself in a wood and was
devoured by wild beasts.

XII. In the days of Peroz the Roman empire too was in disorder; for the officials of the
palace hated the emperor Zeno because he was an Isaurian by race, and Basiliscus rebelled
against him and became emperor in his stead. Afterwards, however, Zeno strengthened
himself and was reestablished on the throne. And because he had had experience of the
hatred of many towards him, he prepared for himself an impregnable fortress in his own
country; so that, if any harm should happen to him, it might be a place of refuge for him.
His confidant in this was the military governor of Antioch, by name Illus, who was
likewise an Isaurian; for he bestowed posts of honour and authority upon all his
countrymen, and for this reason he was much hated by the Romans. XIII. When the fortress
was fully equipped with everything necessary for it, and a countless sum of money had been
deposited there by Illus, he came to the capital (Constantinople) to inform Zeno that he
had executed his will. But Zeno, because he knew that he was a traitor and was aiming at
the throne, ordered one of the soldiers to kill him. After the person to whom this
commission had been given was for many days seeking an opportunity of executing it
secretly, but found none, he accidentally met Illus inside the palace, and drew his sword
and raised it to smite him. Instantly, however, one of the soldiers who formed the retinue
of Illus struck him with a knife on the arm, and the sword fell from his hand and merely
cut off Illus's ear. Zeno, in order that his treachery towards Illus might not be
disclosed, at once gave orders that that soldier's head should be cut off, without any
inquiry. But this very circumstance only made Illus think the more that Zeno had ordered
him; and he arose and departed thence and went down to Antioch, having made up his mind
that, whenever an opportunity offered, he would take measures to requite him.

XIV. Zeno, being afraid of Illus, because he knew his evil design, despatched to him at
Antioch certain men of standing, and sent him word to come up to him (to Constantinople),
as if he wished to make excuses to him, pretending that that treachery was not committed
at his instigation, but that he did not wish to kill him. However he could not soften the
hard heart of Illus; for he despised him, and did not choose to obey his command and go to
him. At last Zeno sent to him another general, whose name was Leontius, with the troops
under his orders, and bade him bring Illus up to him by force, and if he offered any
resistance even to kill him. When this man arrived at Antioch, he was corrupted by the
gold of Illus, and disclosed to him the order which had been given to him to put him to
death. And when Illus saw that he had hidden nothing from him, he too showed him a large
quantity of gold that he had in his hands, for the sake of which Zeno was wishing to kill
him; and he persuaded Leontius to conspire with him and to rebel along with him, pointing
out to him also the hatred of the Romans towards Zeno. After he had consented, Illus was
able to disclose his design, for alone he could not rebel nor make himself emperor,
because the Romans hated him too on account of his race and of his hardness of heart.

XV. Leontius then became emperor at Antioch in name, whilst Illus was in fact the
administrator of affairs. As some say, he was even scheming to kill Leontius, in case they
should overcome Zeno. But there was in their following a certain rascally conjuror, by
name Pamprepius, who confounded and upset all their plans by his perfidy. In order that
their throne might be firmly established, they sent ambassadors to Persia, with a large
sum of money, to conclude a treaty of friendship, ......... or, if they required an army
to help them, they should send it to them. When Zeno heard of what had happened at
Antioch, he sent thither one of his generals, whose name was John , with a large army.
XVI. When Illus and Leontius heard of the great force that was coming against them, their
hearts trembled; and the people of Antioch too were afraid that they might not be able to
stand a siege, and called on them tumultuously to quit the city, and, if they were able,
to meet [John in] battle. This caused Illus and Leontius much anxiety, and they formed
plans for quitting Antioch, and crossing the river Euphrates eastwards. And they sent one
of their partisans, whose name was Matronianus, with five hundred horsemen, to establish
their authority in Edessa as a seat of government. The Edessenes, however, rose up against
him, and closed the gates of the city, and guarded the wall after the fashion of war, and
did not let him enter.

XVII. When Illus and Leontius heard this, they were forced to meet John in battle; but
they were not strong enough for this, because John fell upon them manfully, and destroyed
the greater part of the troops that were with them, while the rest were scattered every
man to his city. They themselves, being unable to bear his onslaught, took those that were
left with them, and made their escape to the fortress of which I have said above that it
was impregnable and well provided with stores of every kind (ch. xii). John pursued after
them, but did not overtake them, and encamped around the fortress and kept watching it.
They, because they relied upon the impregnability of the fortress, let the troops that
were with them go down, retaining with them only chosen men and valiant. John appeased his
fury upon those who came down from the fortress, but was unable to harm Illus and Leontius
in any way. Now because of the difficulty of the natural position of the fortress, it was
also rendered wonderfully impregnable by the work of men's hands, and there was no path
leading up to it save one, by which, because of its narrowness, not even two persons could
ascend at once. However, after a considerable time, when all John's stratagems were
exhausted, Illus and Leontius were betrayed by those who were with them, and were taken
captive in their sleep. By the order of Zeno both of them were put to death, as well as
those who betrayed them, and the hands of all who were with them were cut off. Such were
the troubles of the Roman empire in the days of Peroz.

XVIII. After the sudden disappearance of Peroz, which I have mentioned above (ch. xi), his
brother Balash reigned over the Persians in his place. This was a humble man and fond of
peace. He found nothing in the Persian treasury, and his land was laid waste and
depopulated by the Huns, (for you in your wisdom dost not forget what expense and outlay
kings incur in wars, even when they are victorious, and how much more when they are
defeated,) and from the Romans he had no help of any kind such as his brother had. For he
sent ambassadors to Zeno, asking him to send him money; but because he was occupied with
the war against Illus and Leontius, and because he also remembered the money that had been
sent by them at the commencement of their rebellion, which still remained there in Persia,
he did not choose to send him anything, save this verbal message: "The taxes of Nisibis
which you receive are enough for you, which for many years past have been due to the
Romans."

XIX. Balash then, because he had no money to maintain his troops, was despised in their
eyes. The priesthood too hated him, because he was trying to abolish their laws, and
wishing to build baths in the cities for bathing; and when they saw that he was not
counted aught in the eyes of his troops, they took him and blinded him, and set up in his
stead Kawad, the son of his brother Peroz, whose name we have mentioned above (ch. x), who
was left as a hostage among the Huns, and who it was that stirred up the war with the
Romans, because they did not give him money. For he sent ambassadors, and a large elephant
as a present to the emperor, that he might send him money. But before the ambassadors
reached Antioch in Syria, Zen6n died, and Anastasius became emperor after him. When the
Persian ambassador informed his master Kawad of this change in the Roman government, he
sent him word to go up with diligence and to demand the customary money, or else to say to
the emperor, "Take war."

XX. And so, instead of speaking words of peace and salutation, as he ought to have done,
and of rejoicing with him on the commencement of the soverainty which had been newly
granted him by God, he irritated the mind of the believing emperor Anastasius with
threatening words. But when he heard his boastful language, and learned about his evil
conduct, and that he had reestablished the abominable sect of the magi which is called
that of the Zaradushtakan , (which teaches that women should be in common, and that every
one could sleep with whom he pleases,) and that he had wrought harm to the Armenians who
were under his sway, because they would not worship fire, he despised him, and did not
send him the money, but sent him word, saying, "As Zeno, who reigned before me, did not
send it, so neither will I send it, until you restore Nisibis to me; for the wars are not
trifling which I have to carry on with the barbarians who are called the Germans, and with
those who are called the Blemyes , and with many others: and I will not neglect the Roman
troops and feed yours."

XXI. When the Armenians who were under the rule of Kawad heard that he had not received a
peaceful answer from the Romans, they took courage and strengthened themselves, and
destroyed the fire-temples that had been built by the Persians in their land, and
massacred the magi who were among them. Kawad sent against them a general with an army to
chastise them and make them return to the worship of fire; but they fought with him, and
destroyed both him and his army, and sent ambassadors to our emperor, offering to become
his subjects. He however was unwilling to receive them, that he might not be thought to be
stirring up war with the Persians. Let those therefore who blame him because he did not
give the money, rather blame him who demanded what was not his as if by force; for had he
asked for it peaceably and by persuasion, it would have been sent to him; but he hardened
his heart like Pharaoh, and used threats of war. But we place our trust in the justice of
God, that He will bring upon him a greater punishment than that of the other because of
his filthy laws, for be wished to violate the law of nature and to destroy the path of the
fear of God.

XXII. Next the whole of the Kadishaye who were under his sway rebelled against him, and
wanted to enter Nisibis, and to set up in it a king of their own; and they fought against
it for a considerable time. The Tamuraye too, who dwell in the land of the Persians, when
they saw that nothing was given to them by him, rebelled against him. These placed their
trust in the lofty mountains amid which they dwelt, and used to come down and spoil and
plunder the villages around them, and (rob) the merchants, both foreigners and natives of
the place, and then go up again. The nobles too of his kingdom hated him, because he had
allowed their wives to commit adultery. The Arabs also who were under his sway, when they
saw the confusion of his kingdom, likewise made predatory raids, as far as their strength
permitted, throughout the whole Persian territory.

XXIII. There arose at this time another trouble in the Roman territory also; for the
Isaurians, after the death of Zeno, rebelled against the emperor Anastasius, and were
wishing to set up an emperor who was pleasing to themselves. When Kawad heard this, he
thought that he had found his opportunity, and sent ambassadors to the Roman territory,
thinking that they would be afraid and would send him money, since the Isaurians had
rebelled against them. But the emperor Anastasius sent him word, saying, "If you ask it as
a loan, I will send it to you; but if as a matter of custom, I will not neglect the Roman
armies, which are sore put to it in the war with the Isaurians, and become a helper of the
Persians." By these words the spirit of Kawad was humbled, because his plan had not
succeeded. The Isaurians were overcome and destroyed and slaughtered, and all their cities
were razed and burned. The Persian grandees plotted in secret to slay Kawad, on account of
his impure morals and perverse laws; and when this became known to him, he abandoned his
kingdom, and fled to the territory of the Huns, to the king at whose court he had been
brought up when he was a hostage.

XXIV. His brother Zamashp reigned in his stead over the Persians. Kawad himself took to
wife among the Huns his sister's daughter. His sister had been led captive thither in the
war in which his father was slain; and because she was a king's daughter, she became the
wife of the king of the Huns, and he had a daughter by her. When Kawad fled thither, she
gave him this daughter to wife. Being emboldened by having become the king's son-in-law,
he used to weep before him every day, imploring him to give him the aid of an army, that
he might go and kill the grandees and establish himself on his throne. His father-in-law
gave him a by no means small army, according to his request. When he reached the land of
the Persians, his brother heard of it, and fled before him, and he accomplished his wish
and slew the grandees. He also sent a message to the Tamuraye, threatening them that, if
they did not submit to him of their own accord, they would be conquered in war; but, if
they would join his army, that they should enter with him the Roman territory, and out of
the spoil of that country he would distribute to them all that had been wrongly withheld
from them (see ch. xxii). They were afraid of the Hunnish army, and yielded to him. The
Kadishaye, who were encamped against Nisibis (ch. xxii), when they heard this, submitted
likewise.

And the Arabs, when they learned that he was going to make war with the Romans, crowded to
him with great alacrity. The Armenians, on the other hand, who were afraid lest he should
take vengeance on them because of those fire-temples which they had razed in time past,
were unwilling to obey him. But he collected an army and went to war with them; and though
he was too strong for them, he did not destroy them, but promised them that he would not
even compel them to worship fire, if they would be his auxiliaries in the war with the
Romans. They consented most unwillingly, because they were afraid. What things Kawad did
after he entered the Roman borders, I will tell you hereafter in their proper time; but
just now, as you have bidden me to write unto you also about the signs and chastisements
which took place, in their due order, and about the locusts and the pestilence and the
dearth, and these are antecedent in point of time, I will turn my discourse unto them. And
that the narrative may not be confused, I will set down the years separately, one by one,
and under each of them, by and for itself, I will state what happened in it, God being my
helper by the aid of the prayers of you His elect.

XXV. The year of Alexander 806 (A.D. 494-5). Concerning then the cause of the war, and how
it was provoked, I have, as I think, sufficiently informed you, O our father, though I
have written down these narratives in brief terms, because I was anxious to avoid
prolixity. Some of them I found in old books; others I learned from meeting with men who
had acted as ambassadors to both monarchs; and others from those who were present at these
occurrences. But now I am going to inform you of the things that happened with us, because
with this year commenced the violent chastisements and the signs that have taken place in
our own days. XXVI. At this time our bodies were perfectly sound all over, but the pains
and diseases of our souls were many. But God, who finds pleasure in sinners when they
repent of their sins and live, made our bodies as it were a mirror for us, and filled our
whole bodies with sores, that by means of our exterior He might show us what our interior
was like unto, and that, by means of the scars of our bodies, we might learn how hideous
were the scars of our souls. And as all the people had sinned, all of them were smitten
with this plague. For there were swellings and tumours upon all the people of our city,
and the faces of many gathered and became full of matter, and they presented a horrid
sight. There were some whose whole bodies were full of boils or pustules, down even to the
palms of their hands and the soles of their feet; whilst others had large holes in their
several limbs. However, by the goodness of God which protected them, the pain did not last
long with any one, nor did any defect or injury result in the body; but, though the scars
of the sores were quite plain after healing, the limbs were preserved in such a state as
to fulfil their functions in the body. At this time thirty modii of wheat were sold at
Edessa for a dinar, and fifty of barley .

XXVII. The year 807 (A.D. 495-6). On the 17th of Iyar (May) in this year, when blessings
were sent down abundantly from heaven upon all men, and the crops by the blessing (of God)
were abundant, and, rain was falling, and the fruits of the earth were growing in their
season, the greater part of the citizens (of Edessa) cut off all hope of safety for their
lives by sinning openly. Being plunged in all sorts of luxurious pleasures, they did not
even send up thanks for the gifts of God, but were neglectful of [this duty], and
corrupted by the diseases of sins. And as if the secret and open sins in which they were
indulging were not enough for them, they were present on the day above specified, that is
to say, on the night between the Friday and Saturday, [at the place] where the dancer who
was named Trimerius was dancing. They kindled lamps without number in honour of this
festival, a custom which was previously unknown in this city. These were arranged by them
on the ground along the river from the gate of the Theatre as far as the gate of the
Arches . They placed on its bank lighted lamps, and hung them in the porticoes, in the
town-hall, in the upper streets , and in many (other) places. Because of this wickedness a
marvellous sign was wrought by God to reprove them.

For the symbol of the Cross, which the statue of the blessed emperor Constantine held in
its hand, receded from the hand of the statue about one cubit, and remained thus during
the Friday and Saturday until evening. On the Sunday the symbol came of its own accord and
drew nigh to its place, and the statue took it in its hand, as it had held it before. By
means of this sign the discreet understood that the thing that had been done was very far
removed from what was pleasing unto God. XXVIII. The year 808 (A.D. 496-7). This sign from
above was not sufficient for us to restrain us from our sins; on the contrary, we became
more audacious, and gave ourselves up easily to sins. The small slandered their
neighbours, and the great were full of respect of persons. Envy and treachery prevailed
among all of us; and adultery and fornication abounded. The plague of boils became more
prevalent among the people, and the eyes of many were destroyed both in the city and the
(surrounding) villages. Mar Cyrus the bishop displayed a seemly zeal, and exhorted the
citizens to make a small litter of silver in honour of the eucharistic vessels, that they
might be placed in it when they were going to minister with them at the commemoration of
one of the martyrs. Every one gave according to his means, but Eutychianus, the husband of
Aurelia, was the first to show right good will, giving a hundred dinars of his own
property.

XXIX. Anastasius the governor was dismissed, and Alexander came in his place at the end of
this year. He cleared the streets of the city of filth, and swept away the booths which
had been built by the artisans in the porticoes and streets. He also placed a box in front
of his palace, and made a hole in the lid of it, and wrote thereon, that, if any one
wished to make known anything, and it was not easy for him to do so openly, he should
write it down and throw it into it without fear. By reason of this he learned many things
which many people wrote down and threw into it. He used to sit regularly every Friday in
the church of S. John the Baptist and S. Addai the Apostle, and to settle legal causes
without any expense. And the wronged took courage against their wrongers, and the
plundered against their plunderers, and brought their causes before him, and he decided
them. Some causes which were more than fifty years old, and had never been inquired into,
were brought before him and settled. He constructed the covered walk, which was beside the
gate of the Arches. He began also to build the public bath, which had been planned years
before to be built beside the granary of corn. He gave orders that the artisans should
hang over their shops on the eve of Sunday crosses with five lighted lamps attached to
them.

XXX. The year 809 (a. d. 497-8). Whilst these things were taking place, there came round
again the time of that festival at which the heathen tales were sung; and the citizens (of
Edessa) took even more pains about it than usual. For seven days previously they were
going up in crowds to the theatre at eventide, clad in linen garments, and wearing
turbans, with their loins ungirt. Lamps were lighted before them, and they were burning
incense, and holding vigils the whole night, walking about the city and praising the
dancer until morning, with singing and shouting and lewd behaviour. For these reasons they
neglected also to go to prayer, and not one of them gave a thought to his duty, but in
their pride they mocked at the modesty of their fathers, who, they said, "did not know how
to do these things as we do"; and they kept saying that the inhabitants of the city in the
olden times were simpletons and fools. In this way they became daring in their impiety,
and there was none to warn or rebuke or admonish. For although Xenaias, the bishop of
Mabbog , was at the time in Edessa,----of whom beyond all others it was thought that he
had taken upon him to labour in teaching,----yet he did not speak with them on this
subject more than one day. But God in His mercy showed them clearly the care which He had
for them, that they might be restrained from their iniquity.

For the two colonnades and the tepidarium (or lukewarm-bathroom) of the summer bathhouse
fell down; but by God's goodness nobody was hurt there, although many people were at work
in it both inside and outside, and no one perished of them except two men, who were
crushed, as they were fleeing from the noise of the fall, at the door of the coldwater-
bathroom. Whilst they were laying hold of it from opposite sides, to make it revolve, they
were delayed by this struggle as to which of them should get out first, and the stones
fell upon them and they died. All sensible men gave thanks to God that He had preserved
the city from having to mourn for many; for this bath was to have been opened in a few
days. So complete was its downfall that even the lowest ranges of stone, which were laid
on the surface of the ground, were uprooted from their places.

XXXI. In this same year was issued an edict of the emperor Anastasius that the money
should be remitted which the artisans used to pay once in four years, and that they should
be freed from the impost. This edict was issued, not only in Edessa, but in all the cities
of the Roman empire. The Edessenes used to pay once in four years one hundred and forty
pounds of gold. The whole city rejoiced, and they all put on white garments, both small
and great, and carried lighted tapers and censers full of burning incense, and went forth
with psalms and hymns, giving thanks to God and praising the emperor, to the church of S.
Sergius and S. Simeon, where they celebrated the eucharist. They then reentered the city,
and kept a glad and merry festival during the whole week, and enacted that they should
celebrate this festival every year. All the artisans were reclining and enjoying
themselves, bathing, and feasting in the court of the (great) Church and in all the
porticoes of the city.

XXXII. In this year, on the 5th of the month of Khaziran (June), Mar Cyrus the bishop
departed this life, and Peter succeeded him. He added to the festivals of the year that of
Palm Sunday. He also established the custom of consecrating the water on the night
immediately preceding the feast of the Epiphany; and he prayed over the oil of unction on
the Thursday (in Passion Week) before the whole people; besides regulating the other
feasts. Alexander the governor was dismissed, and Demosthenes succeeded him. By his order
all the porticoes of the city were whitewashed, whereat persons of experience were much
annoyed, for they said that it was a warning sign of approaching evils that were to happen
to their home. XXXIII. The year 810 (A.D. 498-9). A proof of God's justice was manifested
towards us at this time, for the correction of our evil conduct; for in the month of Iyar
(May) of this year, when the day arrived for the celebration of that wicked heathen
festival, there came a vast quantity of locusts into our country from the south. They did
not, however, destroy or harm anything in this year, but merely laid their eggs in our
country in no small quantity. After their eggs were deposited in the ground, there were
terrible earthquakes in the land; and it is clear that they took place to awaken the
people out of the sin in which they were plunged, that they might not be (further)
chastised by famine and pestilence.

XXXIV. In the month of Ab (August) of this year there came an edict from the emperor
Anastasius that the fights of wild beasts in the amphitheatre should be suppressed in all
the cities of the Roman empire. In the month of Ilul (September) there was a violent
earthquake, and a great sound was heard from heaven over the land, so that the earth
trembled from its foundations at the sound; and all the villages and towns heard that
sound and felt the earthquake. Alarming rumours and evil reports came to us from all
quarters; and, as some said, a marvellous sign was seen in the river Euphrates and at the
hot-spring of Abarne, in that the water which flowed from their fountains was dried up
this day. It does not appear to me that this is false, because, whenever the earth is rent
by earthquakes, it happens that the running waters in those places that are cleft are
restrained from flowing, and are at times even turned into another direction; as the
blessed David too, when telling in the eighteenth psalm of the punishments that came from
God upon His enemies, by means of the shaking of the earth and the cleaving of the
mountains, and the like, lets us know that this also took place. For he says: "The
fountains of the waters were laid bare, and the foundations of the world were seen, at Thy
rebuke, O Lord.

There came too in the course of this month a letter, which was read in church before the
whole congregation, stating that Nicopolis had fallen to the ground of a sudden at
midnight and overwhelmed all its inhabitants. Some strangers too who were there, and
certain brethren from our schools who were travelling there and happened to be on the
spot, were buried (in the ruins). Their companions who came (back from thence) told us
(this). The whole wall of the city all round, and everything that was within it, was
overturned in that night, and not one person of them remained alive, save the bishop of
the town and two other men, who were sleeping behind the apse of the altar of the church.
When the ceiling of the room in which they were sleeping fell, one end of its beams was
propped up by the wall of the altar, and so it did not bury them. A certain brother, whose
veracity can be depended upon, has told me as follows. "At nightfall on the night when
Nicopolis fell, we were lying down inside the town, I and a companion of mine.

He was very restless, and said to me, 'Get up, and let us go and pass the night outside of
the town in yonder cave, as is our custom, for I cannot get rest here, because the air is
so sultry and sleep will not come to me.' So we got up, I and he, and went out of the
town, and passed the night in the cave, as was our custom. When the time of dawn drew
nigh, I awakened the brother who was with me, and said to him, 'Get up, for it is
daybreak, and let us go into the town, and attend to our business.' So we got up, I and
he, and came into the town, and found all its houses overturned, and the people and the
cattle, the oxen and the camels, buried therein; and the sound of their groaning was
coming up from under the ground. Those who came together to the spot took out the bishop
from beneath the beams (of the roof) by which he was sheltered. He asked for bread and
wine, wherewith to celebrate the eucharist, [but could get none,] because the whole town
was overturned and nothing in it left standing. Presently, however, there arrived a
wayfarer, a good man, who gave him some small pieces of bread and a little wine, and he
celebrated the eucharist and prayed, and made those who were there participate in the
mystery of life.

He resembled at this time, as it seems to me, the just Lot when he made his escape from
Sodom. Thus much is sufficient to tell. XXXV. Again, in the north there was a church
called that of Arsamosata, which was very strongly built and beautifully decorated. On a
fixed day in each year, namely on the day of the commemoration of the martyrs who were
deposited in it, many used to gather together thither from all quarters, partly for prayer
and partly for traffic; for great provision was made for the people who were assembled on
that occasion. When there was a great crowd collected of men and women and children, of
every age and class, there were terrible flashes of lightning and violent peals of thunder
and frightful noises; and all the people fled to the church, to seek refuge with the bones
of the saints. And while they were in great fear, and were engaged in prayer and service
at midnight, the church fell in and crushed beneath it the greater part of the people who
were in it. This happened on the same day on which Nicopolis fell.

XXXVI. The year 811 (A.D. 499-500). By all these earthquakes and calamities, however, not
a man of us was restrained from his evil ways, so that our country and our city remained
without excuse. Because we had been preserved from the chastisement inflicted on others,
and rumours from afar had not alarmed us, we were (presently) smitten with a stroke for
which there was no healing. Let us recognise therefore the justice of God and say,
"Righteous is the Lord, and very upright are His judgments; for lo, in His longsuffering
He was yet willing by means of signs and wonders to restrain us from our evil doings. In
the month of the first Teshrin (October) of this year, on the 23d, which was a Saturday,
at the rising of the sun, his brightness was taken away from him, and his sphere of light
appeared like silver. He had no perceptible rays, and our eyes could easily gaze upon him
without hindrance, for he had neither rays nor beams to hinder them from looking upon him.
Just as it is easy for us to look upon the moon, so we could look upon him. He continued
thus till towards the eighth hour. The ground over which shone the little light that there
was, seemed as if ashes or sulphur had been sprinkled upon it. On this day another
dreadful and terrible sign took place on the wall of the city.

This city, which, because of the faith of its king and the righteousness of its
inhabitants in days of old, was deemed worthy to receive a blessing from our Lord (see ch.
v), was well nigh overwhelming its inhabitants at the present day, because of the
multitude of their sins. For there was a breach in the wall from the south to the Great
Gate ; and some of the stones at this spot were scattered to no inconsiderable distance
from it. By the order of our father the bishop Mar Peter, public prayers were offered, and
every one besought mercy from God. He took all his clergy and all the members of religious
orders, both men and women, and all the lay members of the holy Church, both rich and
poor, men women and children, and they traversed all the streets of the city, carrying
crosses, with psalms and hymns, clad in black garments of humiliation. All the convents
too in our district kept up continual services with great diligence; and so, by the
prayers of all the holy ones, the light of the sun was restored to its place, and we were
a little cheered.

XXXVII. In the latter Teshri (November) we saw three signs in the sky at midday. One of
them was in the midst of the heavens in the south. It resembled in its colour the bow that
is in the clouds, and with its concave surface it looked upwards; that is to say, its
convex surface was downwards and its extremities were upwards. And there was one on the
east, and another also on the west. Again, in the latter Kanun (January), we saw another
sign in the exact southwest corner (of the heavens), which resembled a spear. Some people
said of it that it was the besom of destruction, and others said that it was the spear of
war. XXXVIII. Till now we were chastised (only) with rumours and signs; but for the future
who is able to tell of the affliction that surrounded our land on all sides? In the month
of Adar (March) of this year the locusts came upon us out of the ground, so that, because
of their number, we imagined that not only had the eggs that were in the ground been
hatched to our harm, but that the very air was vomiting them against us, and that they
were descending from the sky upon us. When they were only able to crawl, they devoured and
consumed all the Arab territory and all that of Ras-'ain and Tella and Edessa. But after
they were able to fly, the stretch of their radii was from the border of Assyria to the
Western Sea (the Mediterranean), and they went northwards as far as the boundary of the
Ortaye. They ate up and desolated these districts and utterly consumed everything that was
in them, so that, even before the war broke out, we could see with our own eyes what was
said of the Babylonian, "The land is as the garden of Eden before him, and behind him a
desolate wilderness. Had not the providence of God restrained them, they would have
devoured human beings and cattle, as we have heard that they actually did in a certain
village, where some people had put down a little baby in a field, while they were working;

and before they got from one end of the field to the other, the locusts leaped upon it and
deprived it of life. Presently after, in the month of Nisan (April), there began to be a
dearth of corn and of everything else, and four modii of wheat were sold for a dinar. In
the months of Khaziran (June) and Tammuz (July) the inhabitants of these districts were
reduced to all sorts of shifts to live. They sowed millet for their own use, but it was
not enough for them, because it did not thrive. Before the year came to an end, misery
from hunger had reduced the people to beggary, so that they sold their property for half
its worth, horses and oxen and sheep and pigs. And because the locusts had devoured all
the crop, and left neither pasture nor food for man or beast, many forsook their native
places and removed to other districts of the north and west. And the sick who were in the
villages, as well as the old men and boys and women and infants, and those who were
tortured by hunger, being unable to walk far and go to distant places, entered into the
cities to get a livelihood by begging; and thus many villages and hamlets were left
destitute of inhabitants. They did not, however, escape punishment, not even those who
went to far off places;

but, as it is written concerning the Children of Israel, "Whithersoever they went out, the
hand of the Lord was against them for evil," so also it fared with them; for the
pestilence came upon them in the places to which they went, and even overtook those who
entered into Edessa; about which I shall tell (you) presently to the best of my ability,
though no one, as I think, is able to describe it as it really was. XXXIX. Now, however, I
am going to write to you about the dearth, as you asked me. I did not, it is true, wish to
set down anything regarding this, but I have constrained myself to do so, so that you
don't think that I treated your order slightingly. Wheat was sold at this time at the rate
of four modii for a dinar, and barley six modii. Chickpeas were five hundred numia a kab;
beans, four hundred numia a kab; and lentils, three hundred and sixty numia a kab; but
meat was not as yet dear. As time went on, however, the dearth became greater, and the
pain of hunger afflicted the people more and more. Everything that was not edible was
cheap, such as clothes and household utensils and furniture, for these things were sold
for a half or a third of their value, and did not suffice for the maintenance of their
owners, because of the great dearth of bread. At this time our father Mar Peter set out to
visit the emperor (at Constantinople), in order to beg him to remit the tax. The governor,
however, laid hold of the landed proprietors, and used great violence to them and extorted
it from them, so that, before the bishop could persuade the emperor, the governor had sent
the money to the capital. When the emperor saw that the money had arrived, he did not like
to remit it; but, in order not to send our father away empty, he remitted two folles to
the villagers, and the price which they were paying , whilst he freed the citizens from
the obligation of drawing water for the Roman soldiery.

XL. The governor himself too set out to visit the emperor, girt with his sword , and left
Eusebius to hold his post and govern the city. When this Eusebius saw that the bakers were
not sufficient to make bread for the market, because of the multitude of country people,
of whom the city was full, and because of the poor who had no bread in their houses, he
gave an order that every one who chose might make bread and sell it in the market. And
there came Jewish women, to whom he gave wheat from the public granary, and they made
bread for the market. But even so the poor were in straits, because they had not money
wherewith to buy bread; and they wandered about the streets and porticoes and courtyards
to beg a morsel of bread, but there was no one in whose house bread was in superfluity.
And when one of them had begged (a few) pence, but was unable to buy bread therewith, he
used to purchase therewith a turnip or a cabbage or a mallow, and eat it raw. And for this
reason there was a scarcity of vegetables, and a lack of everything in the city and
villages, so that people actually dared to enter the holy places and for sheer hunger to
eat the consecrated bread as if it had been common bread. Others cut pieces off dead
carcases, that ought not to be eaten, and cooked and ate them; to which things you in your
truthfulness canst bear testimony.

XLI. The year 812 (a. d. 500-1). In this year, after the vintage, wine was sold at the
rate of six measures for a dinar, and a kab of raisins for three hundred numia. The famine
was sore in the villages and in the city; for those who were left in the villages were
eating bitter-vetches, and others Were frying the withered fallen grapes and eating them,
though even of them there was not enough to satisfy them. And those who were in the city
were wandering about the streets, picking up the stalks and leaves of vegetables, all
filthy with mud, and eating them. They were sleeping in the porticoes and streets, and
wailing by night and day from the pangs of hunger; and their bodies wasted away, and they
were in a sad plight, and became like jackals because of the leanness of their bodies. The
whole city was full of them, and they began to die in the porticoes and in the streets.

XLII. After the governor Demosthenes had gone up to the emperor, he informed him of this
calamity; and the emperor gave him no small sum of money to distribute among the poor. And
when he came back from his presence to Edessa, he sealed many of them on their necks with
leaden seals, and gave each of them a pound of bread a day. Still, however, they were not
able to live, because they were tortured by the pangs of hunger, which wasted them away.
The pestilence became worse about this time, namely the month of the latter Teshri
(November); and still more in the month of the first Kanun (December), when there began to
be frost and ice, because they were passing the nights in the porticoes and streets, and
the sleep of death came upon them during their natural sleep. Children and babes were
crying in every street. Of some the mothers were dead; others their mothers had left, and
had run away from them, when they asked for something to eat, because they had nothing to
give them. Dead bodies were lying exposed in every street, and the citizens were not able
to bury them, because, whilst they were carrying out the first that had died, the moment
that they returned, they found others. By the care of Mar Nonnus, the ξενοδόχος, the
brethren used afterwards to go about the city, and to collect these dead bodies.

And all the people of the city used to assemble at the gate of the ξενοδοχεῖον and go
forth and bury them, from morning to morning. The stewards of the (Great) Church, the
priest Mar Tewath-il and Mar Stratonicus (who some time afterwards was deemed worthy of
the office of bishop in the city of Harran), established an infirmary among the buildings
attached to the (Great) Church of Edessa. Those who were very ill used to go in and lie
down there; and many dead bodies were found in the infirmary, which they buried along with
those at the ξενοδοχεῖον. XLIII. The governor blocked up the gates of the colonnades
attached to the winter bath, and laid down in it straw and mats, and they used to sleep
there, but it was not sufficient for them. When the grandees of the city saw this, they
too established infirmaries, and many went in and found shelter in them. The Roman
soldiers too set up places in which the sick slept, and charged themselves with their
expenses. They died by a painful and melancholy death; and though many of them were buried
every day, the number still went on increasing. For a report had gone forth throughout the
province of Edessa, that the Edessenes took good care of those who were in want; and for
this reason a countless multitude of people entered the city. The bath too that was under
the Church of the Apostles, beside the Great Gate, was full of sick, and many dead bodies
were carried forth from it every day. All the inhabitants of the city were careful to
attend in a body the funeral of those who were carried forth from the ξενοδοχεῖον with
psalms and hymns and spiritual songs that were full of the hope of the resurrection. The
women too (were there) with bitter weeping and loud cries. And at their head went the
diligent shepherd Mar Peter; and with them too was the governor, and all the nobles. When
these were buried, then every one came back, and accompanied the funeral of those who had
died in his own neighbourhood.

And when the graves of the ξενοδοχεῖον and the Church were full, the governor went forth
and opened the old graves that were beside the church of Mar Kona, which had been
constructed by the ancients with great pains, and they filled them. Then they opened
others, and they were not sufficient for them; and at last they opened any old grave, no
matter what, and filled it. For more than a hundred bodies were carried out every day from
the ξενοδοχεῖον, and many a day a hundred and twenty, and up to a hundred and thirty, from
the beginning of the latter Teshri (November) till the end of Adar (March). During that
time nothing could be heard in all the streets of the city but either weeping over the
dead or the lamentable cries of those in pain. Many too were dying in the courts of the
(Great) Church, and in the courts of the city and in the inns: and they were dying also on
the roads, as they were coming to enter the city. In the month of Shebat (February) too
the dearth was very great, and the pestilence increased. Wheat was sold at the rate of
thirteen kabs for a dinar, and barley eighteen kabs. A pound of meat was a hundred numia,
and a pound of fowl three hundred numia, and an egg forty numia. In short there was a
dearth of everything edible.

XLIV. There were public prayers in the month of Adar (March) on account of the pestilence,
that it might be restrained from the strangers; and the people of the city, while
interceding on their behalf, resembled the blessed David when he was saying to the Angel
who destroyed his people, "If I have sinned and have done perversely, wherein have these
innocent sheep sinned? Let your hand be against me and against my father's house." In the
month of Msan (April) the pestilence began among the people of the city, and many biers
were carried out in one day, but no one could tell their number. And not only in Edessa
was this sword of the pestilence, but also from Antioch as far as Nisibis the people were
destroyed and tortured in the same way by famine and pestilence. Many of the rich died,
who were not starved; and many of the grandees too died in this year. In the months of
Khaziran (June) and Tammuz (July), after the harvest, we thought that we might now be
relieved from dearth. However our expectations were not fulfilled as we thought, but the
wheat of the new harvest was sold so dear as five modii for a dinar.

XLV. The year 813 (A.D. 501-2). After these afflictions of locusts and famine and
pestilence, about which I have written to you, a little respite was granted us by the
mercy of God, that we might be able to endure what was to come, as we learned from the
actual facts. There was an abundant vintage, and wine from the press was sold at the rate
of twenty-five measures for a dinar; and the poor were amply supplied from the vineyards
by means of the crop of dried grapes. For the husbandmen and farmers said that the crop of
dried grapes was more abundant than that of wheat, because there was a hot wind when the
grapes began to ripen, and the greater part of them dried up. By the discreet it was said
that this took place by the good providence of God, the Lord of all, and that this thing
was a mingling of mercy with chastisement, that the villagers might be supported by this
supply of dried grapes, and not die of hunger as in the past year; because at this time
wheat was sold at the rate of only four modii for a dinar, and barley six modii. During
the two Teshris (October and November) there was the following sign of mercy. The whole
winter of this year was excessively rainy; and the seed that was sown shot up here and
there to more than the height of a man, before the month of Nisan (April) was come.

Even barren spots of land produced nearly as much as those that were sown. The very roofs
of the houses produced much grass, which some people reaped and sold like the dog's grass
of the fields; and because it had spikes and was of the full height, the buyers did not
perceive (the difference). We were expecting and hoping this year too that corn would be
very cheap, as in the years of old; but our hopes came to nothing, for in the month of
Iyar (May) there blew a hot wind for three days, and all the corn of our land was dried up
save in a few places. XLVI. In this month, when the day came on which the wicked festival
of the tales of the (ancient) Romans was held, of which we have spoken above, there came
an edict from the emperor Anastasius that the dancers should not dance any more, not even
in a single city throughout his empire. Any one, therefore, who looks to the issue of
things, will not blame us because of our having said that, by reason of the wickedness
which the people of the city perpetrated at this festival, the chastisements of hunger and
pestilence came upon us in succession. For, behold, within thirty days after it was
abolished, wheat, which had been sold at the rate of four modii for a dinar, was sold at
the rate of twelve; and barley, which had been sold at the rate of six, was sold at the
rate of twenty-two. And it was clearly made known to every one, that the will of God is
able to bless a small crop, and to give abundance to those who repent of their sins; for
although the whole crop of grain was dried up, as I have said, yet from the little remnant
that was left came all this relief within thirty days.

Perhaps, however, even now some one may say that I have not reasoned well, for this
repentance was in no way a voluntary one, that mercy should be shown for it, seeing that
it was the emperor who abolished the festival by force, in that he ordered that the
dancers should not dance at all. We, on the contrary, say that God, because of the
multitude of His goodness, was seeking an occasion to show mercy even unto those who were
not worthy. Of this we have a proof from the fact that He had mercy upon Ahab, when he was
put to shame by the rebuke of Elijah, and did not bring in his days the evil which had
been before decreed against his house. I do not, however, by any means assert that this
was the only sin which was perpetrated in our city, for many were the sins that were
wrought secretly and openly; but because the rulers too participated in them, I do not
choose to specify these sins distinctly, that I may not give occasion to those who like it
of finding fault and of saying of me that I speak against the chiefs.

That I may not, however, leave the matter in complete obscurity,----because I promised
above to make known to you how this war was stirred up against us,----and that I may not
moreover say anything against the offenders, I will (merely) set down the words of the
Prophet, from which you may understand (my meaning), who, when he saw his fellow-citizens
committing acts like these which are this day committed in our city, especially where you
live, and throughout the whole province, said to them as if from the mouth of the Lord:
"Woe to him that says to a father, What are you fathering? and to the woman, What are you
giving birth to? About other matters it is better to be silent, for it is fitting to
hearken to the passage of Scripture which says: "Let him that is prudent keep silence in
that time, because it is a time of evil. But if our Lord grants that we see you in health,
we will speak with you of these things according as we are able.

XLVII. Now then listen to the calamities that happened in this year, and to the sign that
appeared on the day when they happened, for this too you have required at my hands. On the
22d of Ab (August) in this year, on the night preceding Friday , a great fire appeared to
us blazing in the northern quarter the whole night, and we thought that the whole earth
was going to be destroyed that night by a deluge of fire; but the mercy of our Lord
preserved us without harm. We received, however, a letter from some acquaintances of ours,
who were travelling to Jerusalem, in which it was stated that, on the same night in which
that great blazing fire appeared, the city of Ptolemais or 'Akko was overturned, and
nothing in it left standing. Again, a few days after, there came unto us some Tyrians and
Sidonians, and told us that, on the very same day on which the fire appeared and Ptolemais
was overturned, the half of their cities fell, namely of Tyre and Sidon. In Berytus
(Beirut) only the synagogue of the Jews fell down on the day when 'Akko was overturned.
The people of Nicomedia (in Bithynia) were delivered over to Satan to be chastised, and
many of them were tormented by demons, until they remembered the words of our Lord, and
persevered in fasting and prayer, and received healing.

XLVIII. On the very same day on which that fire was seen, Kawad, the son of Peroz, the
king of the Persians, collected the whole Persian army, and went up against the north. He
entered the Roman territory with the force of Huns that he had with him, and encamped
against Theodosiupolis of Armenia, and took it in a few days; for the governor of the
place, whose name was Constantine, rebelled against the Romans, and surrendered it,
because of some enmity that he had against the emperor. Kawad consequently plundered the
city, and destroyed and burned it; and he laid waste all the villages in the region of the
north, and the fugitives that were left he carried off captive. Constantine he made one of
his generals, and left a garrison in Theodosiupolis, and marched thence. XLIX. The year
814 (A.D. 502-3). On the region of Mesopotamia also, in which we dwell, great calamities
weighed heavily in this year, so that the things which Christ our Lord decreed in His
Gospel against Jerusalem, and actually brought to pass, and the things too which have been
spoken regarding the end of this world, would be well fitting to those which happened us
at this time. For after there had been earthquakes in various places, as I have written
unto you, and famines and pestilences, and alarms and terrors, and after great signs had
been shown from heaven, nation arose against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and we
fell by the edge of the sword, and were led away captive into every region, and our land
was trampled under foot by strange nations; so that, had it not been for the words of our
Lord, who has said, "When you hear of wars and tumults, do not be afraid, for these things
must needs first come to pass, but the end is not yet come," we would have dared to say
that the end of the world was come, because many thought and said thus. But we ourselves
reflected that this war did not extend over the whole world; and besides we remembered too
the words of S. Paul, wherewith he warned the Thessalonians concerning the coming of our
Lord, saying that they should not be astonished either by word, or by spirit, or by
beguiling epistle, as if it were from him, declaring the day of the Lord to be now come;
and (how) he showed that it is not possible that the end should be until the false Christ
is revealed. From these words then of our Lord and of His Apostle we understood that these
things did not happen to us because it was the latter time, but that they took place for
our chastisement, because our sins were great.

L. Kawad, the king of the Persians, came from the north on the fifth of the first Teshrt
(October), on a Saturday, and encamped against the city of Amid, which is beside us in
Mesopotamia, he and his whole army. When Anastasius, the Roman emperor, heard that Kawad
had collected his forces, he was unwilling to meet him in battle, that blood might not be
shed on both sides; but he sent him money by the hand of Rufinus, to whom he gave orders
that, if Kawad was on the frontier and had not yet crossed over into the Roman territory,
he should give him the money and send him away. But when Rufinus came to Caesarea of
Cappadocia, and heard that Kawad had laid waste Agel and Suph and Armenia and the Arabs,
he left the money at Caesarea, and went to him, and told him that he should recross the
border and take the money. He however would not, but seized Rufinus and ordered him to be
kept under guard. He fought against Amid, he and his whole army, with every manner of
warfare, by night and by day, and built against it (the mound called) a mule; but the
people of Amid built and added to the height of the wall. When the mule was raised high,
the Persians applied the battering-ram; and after they had struck the wall violently, the
part newly built became loosened, because it had not yet settled, and fell. But the
Amidenes dug a hole in the wall under the mule, and secretly drew away inside the city the
earth which was heaped up to form it, propping it up with beams as they worked; and so the
mule collapsed and fell.

LI. When Kawad found that he was not a match for the city, he sent Na'man, the king of the
Arabs (of al-Hirah), with his whole force, to go southwards to the district of Harran .
Some of the Persian troops advanced as far as the city of Constantina or Tella, and were
plundering and harrying and laying waste the whole country. On the 19th of the latter
Teshri (November) Olympius, the dux of Tella, and Eugenius, the dux of Melitene (who had
come down at that time), went forth, they and their troops, and destroyed the Persians
whom they found in the villages around Tella. And when they had turned to go back to the
city, some one told them that there were five hundred men in a ravine not very far from
them. They were ready to go against them, but the Roman troops that were with them had
dispersed themselves to strip the slain; and because it was night, Olympius gave orders to
light a fire on the top of an eminence and to blow trumpets, that those who were scattered
might rejoin them. But the Persian generals, who were encamped at the village of Tell
Beshmai, when they saw the light of the fire and heard the sound of the trumpets, armed
all their force and came against them. When the Roman cavalry saw that the Persians were
too many for them, they turned (their backs); but the infantry were unable to escape and
were constrained to fight.

So they came together and drew up in battle array, forming what is called the χελώνη or
tortoise, and fought for a long time. But as the army of the Persians was too many for
them, and there were added to these the Huns and Arabs, their ranks were broken, and they
were thrown into disorder, and mixed up among the cavalry, and trampled and crushed under
the hoofs of the horses of the Arabs. So many of the Romans were killed, and the rest were
made prisoners. LII. On the 26th of this month Na'man came from the south and entered the
territory of the Harranites, and laid waste and plundered and took captive the people and
cattle and property of the whole territory of Harran. He came also as far as Edessa,
harrying and plundering and taking captive all the villages. The number of persons whom he
led away into captivity was 18,500, besides those who were killed, and besides the cattle
and property and spoil of all kinds. The reason that all these people were found in the
villages was its being the time of the vintage, for not only did the villagers go out to
the vintage, but also many of the Harranites and Edessenes went out, and were taken
prisoners. Because of these things Edessa was closed and guarded, and ditches were dug,
and the wall was repaired; and the gates of the city were stopped up with blocks of stone,
because they were decayed. They were going to put new ones, and to make bars for the
sluices of the river, lest any one should enter thereby ; but they could not find iron
enough for the work, and an order was issued that every house in Edessa should furnish ten
pounds of iron. When this was done, the work was finished. When Eugenius saw that he could
not meet all the Persians (in battle), he took what troops were left him, and went against
the garrison which they had at Theodosiupolis, and destroyed those who were in it, and
retook the town.

LIII. Kawad was still fighting against Amid, and striving and labouring to set up again
the mule that had fallen in. He ordered the Persians to fill it up with stones and beams,
and to bring cloths of hair and wool and linen, and make them into bags or sacks, and fill
them with earth, and pile them up on the mule which they had made, so that it might be
raised quickly against the wall. Then the Amidenes constructed a machine which the
Persians named "the Crusher", because it thwarted all their labour and destroyed
themselves. For the Amidenes cast with this engine huge stones, each of which weighed more
than three hundred pounds; and so the cotton awning under which the Persians concealed
themselves was rent in pieces, and those who were standing beneath it were crushed. The
battering ram too was broken by the constant shower of stones which were cast without
cessation; for the Amidenes were not able to damage the Persians so much in any other way
as by means of large stones, because of the cotton awning which was folded many times over
(the mule). Upon this the Persians used to pour water, and it could neither be damaged by
arrows on account of its thickness, nor by fire because it was damp. But these large
stones that were hurled from "the Crusher" destroyed both awning and men and weapons.

In this way the Persians were discomfited, and gave up working at the mule, and took
counsel to return to their own country, because, during the three months that they had sat
before it, 50,000 of them had perished in the battles that were fought daily both by night
and day. But the Amidenes became overconfident in their victory, and fell into careless
ways, and did not guard the wall with the same diligence as before. On the 10th of the
month of the latter Kanun (January) the guardians of the wall drank a great deal of wine
because of the cold, and when it was night, they fell asleep and were sunk in a heavy
slumber; and some of them quitted their posts, because it was raining, and went down to
seek shelter in their houses. Whether then through this remissness, as we think, or by an
act of treachery, as people said, or as a chastisement from God, the Persians got
possession of the walls of Amid by means of a ladder, without the gates being opened or
the wall breached. They laid waste the city, and sacked all the property in it, and
trampled the eucharist under foot, and mocked at its service, and stripped bare its
churches, and led its inhabitants into captivity, except the old and the maimed and those
who hid themselves. They left there a garrison of three thousand men, and all (the rest)
of them went down to the mountains of Shigar.

That the Persians who remained might not be annoyed by the smell of the dead bodies of the
Amidenes, they carried them out and piled them up in two heaps outside of the north gate.
The number of those who were carried out by the north gate was more than 80,000; besides
those whom they led forth alive and stoned outside of the city, and those whom they
stabbed on the top of the mule that they had constructed, and those who were thrown into
the Tigris (Deklath), and those who died by all sorts of deaths, regarding which we are
unable to speak. LIV. Then Kawad let Rufinus go, that he might go and tell the emperor
what had been done; and he was speaking of these atrocities everywhere, and by these
reports the cities to the east of the Euphrates were alarmed, and (their inhabitants) made
ready to flee to the west. The honoured Jacob , the periodeutes, who has composed many
homilies on passages of the Scriptures, and written various poems and hymns regarding the
time of the locusts, was not neglectful at this time too of his duty, but wrote letters of
admonition to all the cities, bidding them trust in the Divine deliverance, and exhorting
them not to flee. The emperor Anastasius too, when he heard this, sent a large army of
Roman soldiers to winter in the cities and garrison them. All the booty that he had taken,
and the captives that he had carried off, were" not, however, enough for Kawad, nor was he
sated with the great quantity of blood that he had shed; but he (again) sent ambassadors
to the emperor, saying, "Send me the money or accept war. This was in the month of Nisan
(April). The emperor, however, did not send the money, but made preparations to avenge
himself and to exact satisfaction for those who had perished. In the month of Iyar (May)
he sent against him three generals, Areobindus, Patricius, and Hypatius, and many officers
with them. Areobindus went down and encamped on the border by Dara and 'Ammudin, towards
the city of Nisibis; he had with him 12,000 men.

Patricius and Hypatius beseiged Amid, to drive out the Persian garrison there; they had
with them 40,000 men. There came down too at this time the hyparch Appion, and dwelt at
Edessa, to look after the provisioning of the Roman troops that were with them. As the
bakers were not able to make bread enough, he ordered that wheat should be supplied to all
the houses of Edessa and that they should make soldiers' bread at their own cost. The
Edessenes turned out at the first baking 630,000 modii. LV. When Kawad saw that those who
were with Areobindus were few in number, he sent against them the troops that he had with
him in Shigar, (namely) 20,000 Persians; but Areobindus routed them once and again, until
they were driven to the gate of Nisibis, and many of the fugitives were suffocated at the
gate as they were pressing to get in. In the month of Tammuz (July) the Huns and Arabs
joined the Persians to come against him, with Constantine (see ch. xlviii) at their head.
When he learned this from spies, he sent Calliopius the Aleppine to Patricius and
Hypatius, saying, "Come to me and help me, because a large army is about to come against
me." They, however, did not listen to him, but stayed where they were beside Amid. When
the Persians came against the army of Areobindus, he could not contend with them, but left
his camp, and made his escape to Tella and Edessa; and all their baggage was plundered and
carried off.

LVI. The troops of Patricius and Hypatius were (meanwhile) constructing three towers of
wood, wherewith to scale the walls of Amid. But when they had finished building the towers
at a great expense, and they were girded with iron so as not to be harmed by anything,
then they found out what had happened on the frontier, and they burned the towers, and
departed thence, and went after the Persians but did not overtake them. One of the
officers, whose name was Pharazman, and another named Theodore, sent by stratagem a flock
of sheep to pass by Amid, while they and their troops lay in ambush. When the Persians saw
the sheep from within Amid, about four hundred chosen men of them sallied forth to carry
them off; but the Romans who were lying in ambush arose and destroyed them, and took their
leader alive. He promised them that he would give up Amid to them, and for this reason
Patricius and Hypatius returned thither; but when that general was unable to fulfil his
promise, because those in the city would not be persuaded by him, the generals ordered him
to be impaled.

LVII. The Arabs of the Persian territory advanced as far as the Khabur, and Timostratus
the dux of Callinicus, went out against them and routed them. The Arabs of the Roman
territory also, who are called the Tha'labites , went to Hirta (the capital) of Na'man,
and found a caravan which was going up to him, and camels that were carrying up to
him......They fell upon them and destroyed them and took the camels, but they did not make
any stay at al-Hirah, because its inhabitants had withdrawn into the inner desert. Again,
in the month of Ab (August), the whole Persian army assembled, along with the Huns and the
Kadishaye and the Armenians, and came against Opadna. Patricius and his troops heard of
this, and arose to go against them; but while the Romans were yet on the march, and not
drawn up for battle, the Persians met the vanguard and smote them. When these who were
beaten fell back, the rest of the Roman army saw that the vanguard was smitten, and fear
fell upon them, and they did not wait to fight, but Patricius himself was the first to
turn, and all his army after him. They crossed the Euphrates, and made their escape to the
city of Shemishat. In this battle Na'man too, the king of the Persian Arabs, was wounded.
One of the Roman officers, whose name was Peter, fled to the castle of Ashparin; and when
the Persians surrounded the castle, the inhabitants were afraid of them, and gave him up
to them, and the Persians took him away prisoner. They slew the Roman soldiers who were
with him, but the people of the castle they did not harm in any way.

LVIII. Kawad, the king of the Persians, was thinking of going against Areobindus to
Edessa; for Na'man, the king of the Arabs, kept urging him on because of what had happened
to his caravan (see ch. lvii). But a shaikh from Hirta of Na'man, who was a Christian,
answered and said: "Let not your majesty take the trouble of going to war against Edessa,
because there is the infallible word of Christ, whom we worship, regarding it, that no
enemy shall ever make himself master of it" (see ch. v). When Na'man heard this, he
threatened that he would do at Edessa worse things than had been done at Amid, and uttered
blasphemous words. And Christ showed a manifest sign in him, for at the very time when he
blasphemed, the wound which he had received on his head swelled, and his whole head became
swollen, and he arose and went to his tent, and lingered in this pain for two days and
died . Not even this sign, however, restrained the wicked mind of Kawad from his evil
purpose; but he set up a king in place of Na'man, and arose and went to battle. When he
came to Tella, he encamped against it; and the Jews who were there plotted to surrender
the city to him. They dug a hole in the tower of their synagogue, which had been committed
to them to guard, and sent word to the Persians regarding it that they might dig into it
(from the outside) and enter by it.

This was found out by the count Peter, who was in captivity (see ch. lvii), and he
persuaded those who were guarding him to let him come near the wall, saying that there
were clothes and articles of his of different kinds which he had left in the city, and he
wished to ask the Tellenes to give them to him. The guards granted his request and let him
go near. He said to the soldiers who were standing on the wall to call the count Leontius,
who at that time had charge of the city, and they called him and the officers. Peter spoke
with them in Roman, and disclosed to them the treachery of the Jews. In order that the
matter might not become known to the Persians, he asked them to give him a pair of
trousers. They at first made a pretence of being angry with him; but afterwards they threw
down to him from the wall a pair of trousers, because in reality he had need of clothes to
wear. Then they went down from the wall, and as if they had learned nothing about the
treachery of the Jews and did not know which was the place, they went round and examined
the foundations of the whole wall, as if they wished to see whether it required
strengthening. This they did for the sake of Peter, lest the Persians might become aware
that he had disclosed the thing and might treat him much worse.

At last they came to the place which the Jews were guarding, and found that it was mined,
and that they had made ready in the centre of the tower a great hole, as they had been
told. When the Romans saw what was there, they sallied out against them with great fury,
and went round the whole city, and killed all the Jews whom they could find, men and
women, old men and children. This they did for (several) days, and they would scarcely
cease from killing them at the order of the count Leontius and the entreaty of the blessed
Bar-hadad the bishop. They guarded the city carefully by night and by day, and the holy
Bar-hadad himself used to go round and visit them and pray for them and bless them,
commending their care and encouraging them, and sprinkling holy water on them and on the
wall of the city. He also carried with him on his rounds the eucharist, in order to let
them receive the mystery at their stations, lest for this reason any one of them should
quit his post and come down from the wall. He also went out boldly to the king of the
Persians and spoke with him and appeased him. When Kawad saw the dignified bearing of the
man, and perceived too the vigilance of the Romans, it seemed to him of no use to remain
idle before Tella, with all that host which he had with him;

firstly, because sustenance could not be found for it in a district that had already been
ravaged; and secondly, because he was afraid lest the Roman generals might join one
another and come against him in a body. For these reasons he moved off quickly towards
Edessa, and encamped by the river Gallab, otherwise called (the river) of the Medes, for
about twenty days. LIX. Some of the more daring men in his army traversed the district and
laid it waste. On the 6th of Ilul (September) the Edessenes pulled down all the convents
and inns that were close to the wall, and burned the village of Kephar Selem, also called
Negbath. They cut down all the hedges of the gardens and parks that were around, and
felled the trees which were in them. They brought in the bones of all the martyrs (from
the churches) which were around the city; and set up engines on the wall, and tied
coverings of haircloth over the battlements. On the 9th of this month Kawad sent a message
to Areobindus, that he should either receive into the city his general, or come out to him
into the plain, as he wished to conclude a treaty of peace with him. He gave secret orders
however to his troops that, if Areobindus allowed them to enter the city, they should turn
and seize the gate and entrance, until he could come and enter after them; and that, if he
came forth to them, they should lie in ambush for him and carry him off alive and bring
him to him. But Areobindus, because he was afraid to allow them to enter the city, went
forth to them outside, without going very far from the city, but (only) as far as the
church of S. Sergius.

There came to him Bawi, who was the astabid, which is, being interpreted, the magister
(militum) of the Persians, and said to Areobindus, "If you wishest to make peace, give us
10,000 pounds of gold, and make an agreement with us that we shall receive every year the
customary sum of money. Areobindus promised to give as much as 7,000 pounds, but they
would not accept it, and kept wrangling with him from morning until the ninth hour. And
since they found no opportunity for their treachery, on account of the Roman soldiers who
were guarding him, and because they were afraid to make war again with Edessa in
consequence of what had happened to Na'man, they left Areobindus at Edessa, and went to
fight against Harran, whilst they sent all the Arabs to Serug. But the Rifite who was in
(command of) Harran sallied forth secretly from the city, and fell upon them, and slew of
them sixty men, and took alive the chief of the Huns. As this was a man of mark, and in
great honour with the king of the Persians, he promised the Harranites that he would not
make war upon them, if they would give him up alive; and they were afraid to fight and
gave up that Hun, sending along with him as a present to him fifteen hundred rams and
other things.

LX. The Persian Arabs, who had been sent to Serug, went as far as the Euphrates, laying
waste and taking captive and plundering all that they could. Patriciolus , one of the
Roman officers, with his son Vitalianus, came at this time from the west to go down to the
war; and he was confident and fearless, because he had not as yet been in the
neighbourhood of the things that had previously happened. When he crossed the River , he
met one of the Persian officers and fought with him and destroyed all the Persians that
were with him. Then he set his face to go to Edessa; but he heard from the fugitives that
Kawad had surrounded the city, so he recrossed the river and stopped at Shemishat
(Samosata). On the 17th of this month, which was Wednesday, we saw the words of Christ and
His promises to Abgar (see ch. v) really fulfilled. For Kawad collected his whole force,
and marched from the river Euphrates, and came and encamped against Edessa. His camp
extended from the church of SS. Cosmas and Damianus, past all the gardens and the church
of S. Sergius and the village of Bekin, as far as the church of the Confessors; and its
breadth was as far as the steep descent of Serrin. This whole host without number
surrounded Edessa in one day, besides the pickets which it had left on the hills and
rising grounds (to the west of the city). In fact the whole plain (to the E. and S.

was full of them. The gates of the city were all standing open, but the Persians were
unable to enter it because of the blessing of Christ. On the contrary, fear fell upon
them, and they remained at their posts, no one fighting with them, from morning till
towards the ninth hour. Then some went forth from the city and fought with them; and they
slew many Persians, but of them there fell but one man. Women too were bearing water, and
carrying it outside of the wall, that those who were fighting might drink; and little boys
were throwing stones with slings. So then a few people who had gone out of the city drove
them away and repulsed them far from the wall, for they were not farther off from it than
about a bowshot; and they went and encamped beside the village of Kubbe. LXI. Next day
Areobindus too went forth outside of the Great Gate; and while he was standing opposite
the Persian army, he sent word to Kawad, saying, "Now you see by experience that the city
is not yours, nor Anastasius', but it is the city of Christ, who blessed it, and has
withstood your hosts, so that they cannot become masters of it. Kawad sent word to him,
saying, "Give me hostages so that you will not come out after me when I have struck my
camp to depart; and send me those men whom you took yesterday, and the gold which you
promised, and I will go far away from the city. Areobindus gave him the count Basil, and
the men whom they had taken from him, who were fourteen in number, and made an agreement
with him to give him 2000 pounds of gold at [the end] of twelve days. Kawad struck his
camp, and went and pitched at Dahbana. He did not, however, wait till the appointed time,
but sent the very next day one of his men, named Hormizd, and ordered him to fetch three
hundred pounds of gold. Areobindus summoned to him the grandees of the city, that they
might consider how this money could be collected. When they saw that Hormizd had come in
haste, they strengthened themselves in reliance on Christ, and took heart and said to
Areobindus:

"We will not send the money to this false man, because, just as he has gone back from his
word, and has not waited till the day came which you appointed for him, so will he go back
and deceive when he has got the money. We believe that, if he fights with us, he will be
again put to shame, because Christ stands in front of our city. Then Areobindus too took
courage and sent to Kawad, saying: "Now we know that you are no king; for he is not a king
who says a word and goes back (from it) and deceives. And if he deceives, he is no king.
Therefore, as falsehood is manifest in you, send me back the count Basil, and do your
worst." LXII. Then Kawad became furious, and armed the elephants which were with him, and
set out, he and all his host, and came again to fight with Edessa, on the 24th of the
month of Ilul (September), a Wednesday. He surrounded the city on all sides, more than on
the former occasion, all its gates being open. Areobindus ordered the Roman soldiers not
to fight with him, that no falsehood might appear on his part; but some few of the
villagers who were in the city went out against him with slings, and smote many of his
mail-clad warriors, whilst of themselves not one fell. His legions were daring enough to
try to enter the city; but when they came near its gates, like an upraised mound of earth
, they were humbled and repressed and turned back. Because, however, of the swiftness of
the charge of their cavalry, the slingers became mixed up among them; and though the
Persians were shooting arrows, and the Huns were brandishing maces, and the Arabs were
levelling spears at them, they were unable to harm a single one of them; but like those
Philistines who went up against Samson, 'who, though they were many and armed, were unable
to slay him, whilst he, though destitute of weapons, slew a thousand of them with the jaw-
bone of an ass, so also the Persians and Huns and Arabs, though they and their horses were
falling by the stones which the slingers were throwing, were unable to slay even a single
one of them. After they saw that they were able neither to enter the city nor to harm the
unarmed men who were mixed up with them, they set fire to the church of S. Sergius and the
church of the Confessors and to all the convents that had been left (standing), and to the
church of (the village of) Negbath, which the people of the city had spared.

LXIII. When the general Areobindus saw the zeal of the villagers, and that they were not
put to shame, but that (the Divine) help went with them, he summoned all the villagers
that were in Edessa next day to the (Great) Church, and gave them three hundred dinars as
a present. Kawad departed from Edessa, and went and pitched on the river Euphrates; and
thence he sent ambassadors to the emperor to inform him of his coming. The Arabs that were
with him crossed the river westwards, and plundered and laid waste and took captive and
burned everything in their way. Some few of the Persian cavalry went to Batnan (Batnae),
and because its wall was broken down, they could not resist them, but admitted them
without fighting and surrendered the town to them. LXIV. The year 815 (A.D. 503-4). When
the Roman emperor learned what had happened, he sent his magister Celer with a large army.
When Kawad heard this, he directed his marches along the river Euphrates that he might go
and stay in that province of his which is called Beth Armaye. When he came nigh Callinicus
(ar-Rakkah), he sent thither a general to fight with them. The dux Timostratus came out
against him, and destroyed his whole army and took him alive. When Kawad arrived at the
city, he drew up his whole force against it, threatening to rase it and to put all its
inhabitants to the sword or carry them off as captives, if they did not give him up to
him. The dux was afraid of the vast host of the Persians, and gave him up.

LXV. When the magister Celerius arrived at Mabbog, which is on the river Euphrates , and
saw that Kawad had moved away his camp before him, and moreover that the winter season was
come, and that he could not go after him, he called the Roman generals, and rebuked them
because they had not hearkened one to another, and assigned them cities in which to winter
till the time for campaigning came again. LXVI. On the 25th of the first Kanun (December)
there came an edict from the emperor that the tax should be remitted to all Mesopotamia.
The Persians who were in Amid, when they saw that the Roman army had gone far away from
them, opened the gates of the city of Amid, and went forth and entered where they pleased,
and sold to the merchants copper and iron and lead and old clothes and whatever was to be
had in it, and established in it a public magazine. When Patricius heard this, he set out
from Melitene (Malatia), where he was wintering, and came and pitched against Amid. All
the merchants whom he found carrying down thither grain and oil, and those too who were
buying things from thence, he slew. He found also the Persians who were sent by Kawad to
convey thither arms and grain and cattle, and destroyed them, and took all that was with
them. When Kawad learned this, he sent against him a general to take vengeance on him.
When they came near one another to fight, the Romans, because of the fear inspired by
their former defeat, counselled Patricius to flee, and he hearkened to this. In their
haste, not knowing whither they were going, they came upon the river Kallath; and because
it was winter and there was a great flood in it, they were not able to cross it, but every
one of them who hastened to cross was drowned in the river with his horse.

When Patricius saw this, he exhorted the Romans, saying: "O men of Rome, let us not put to
shame our race and our profession, and flee from our enemies, but let us turn against
them, and perhaps we may be a match for them. And if they be too strong for us, it is
better to die by the edge of the sword with a good name for valour than to perish like
cowards by drowning. Then the Romans listened to his advice, being constrained by the
river; and they turned against the Persians with fury and destroyed them, and took their
generals alive. Thereafter they again encamped against Amid, and Patricius sent and
collected unto him artisans from other cities and many of the villagers, and bade them dig
in the ground and make a mine beneath the wall, that it might be weakened and fall. LXVII.
In the month of Adar (March), when the rest of the Romans were assembling to go down with
the magister, a certain sign was given them from God, that they might be encouraged and be
confident of victory. We were informed of this in writing by the people of the church of
Zeugma. That it may not be thought that I say anything on my own authority, or that I have
hearkened to and believed a false rumour, I quote the very words of the letter that came
to us, which are as follows.

LXVIII. "Listen now to a marvel and a glorious sight, such as has never been, because this
concerns us and you and all the Romans. For it is a wondrous thing, which it is hard for
the understanding of men to believe. But we have seen it with our eyes, and touched it
(with our hands), and read it with our lips. You should therefore believe it without any
scruple. On the 19th of Adar (March), a Friday, which is the day that our Saviour was
slain, a goose laid an egg in the village of 'Agar in the district of Zeugma, and thereon
were written Roman letters, fair and legible, which formed as it were the body of the egg
and were raised to the sight and touch, like the letters which monks trace on the
eucharistic cups, so that even the blind could feel their shape. They were thus. A cross
was traced on the side of the egg, and going completely round the egg, from it until it
came to it again, was written THE ROMANS. And again there was traced another cross, and
[going round the egg,] from it until it came to it again, was written SHALL CONQUER. The
crosses were traced one above the other, and the words were written one above the other.
There was none that saw this marvel, Christian or Jew, who restrained his mouth from
uttering praise. But as for the letters which the right hand of God traced in the ovary
(of the bird), we do not dare to imitate them, for they are very beautiful. Whosoever
therefore hears it, let him believe it without hesitation." These are the words of the
letter of the Zeugmatites. As for the egg, those in whose village it was laid gave it to
Areobindus.

LXIX. The Romans collected a large army, and went down and encamped beside the city of
Ras-'ain. By Kawad too about 10,000 men were sent to go against Patricius. They took up
their quarters in Nislbis, that they might rest there, and they sent their cattle to
pasture in the hills of Shigar. When the Magister heard this, he sent Timostratus, the dux
of Callinicus, with 6000 cavalry, and he went and fell upon those who were tending the
horses and destroyed them, and carried off the horses and sheep and much booty, and
returned to the Roman army at Ras-'ain. Then they all set out in a body, and went and
encamped against the city of Amid beside Patricius. LXX. In the month of Iyar (May)
Calliopius the Aleppine became hyparch. He came and settled at Edessa, and gave the
Edessenes wheat to make bread for the soldiers at their own expense. They baked at this
time 850,000 modii of wheat. Appion went to Alexandria, that he might make soldiers' bread
there also and send a supply.

LXXI. As soon as Patricius had got under the wall of Amid by means of the mine which he
had dug, he propped it up with beams and set fire to them, whereby the outer face of the
wall was loosened and fell down, but the inner part remained standing. He then thought of
digging on by that mine and entering the city. When they had carried the excavation
through, and the Romans had begun to ascend, a woman of Amid saw them and cried out
suddenly for joy, "The Romans are entering the city! The Persians heard her, and ran at
the first who came up and stabbed him. After him there came up a Goth, whose name was Ald
, who had been made tribune at Harran, and he stabbed three of those Persians. Not another
one of the Romans came up after him, because the Persians had perceived them. When Ald saw
that no one was coming up, he became afraid and turned back; but he thought that he would
take down with him the dead body of the Roman who had fallen, that the Persians might not
insult it. As he was dragging away the dead body and going down into the mouth of the
mine, the Persians smote him too and wounded him; and they directed thither the water from
a large well that was near to it, and drowned four of the mail-clad Romans who were about
to come up. The rest fled and escaped thence.

The Persians collected stones from within the city and blocked up the mine, and piled up a
great quantity of earth over it, and all of them kept watch carefully round it, lest it
should be excavated at some other spot. They dug ditches within along the whole wall all
round, and filled them with water, so that, if the Romans should make another mine, the
water might trickle into it, and it so become known. When Patricius heard this from a
deserter who had come down to him, he gave up constructing mines. LXXII. One day, when the
whole Roman army was still and quiet, fighting was stirred up in this way. A boy was
feeding the camels and asses; and an ass, as it grazed, walked gradually close up to the
wall. The boy was afraid to go in and fetch it; and one of the Persians, when he saw it,
descended by a rope from the wall, and was going to cut it in pieces and carry it up to be
food for them, for there was no meat at all inside the city. But one of the Roman
soldiers, a Galilaean by race, drew his sword, and took his shield in his left hand, and
ran at the Persian to kill him. As he had come close up to the wall, those who were
standing on the wall threw down a large stone and crushed the Galilaean; and the Persian
began to ascend to his place by the rope. When he had got halfway up the wall, one of the
Roman officers drew nigh, with two shield-bearers walking before him, and shot an arrow
from between them, and struck the Persian, and laid him beside the Galilaean. A shout went
up from both sides, and because of this they became excited and rose up to fight, All the
Roman troops surrounded the city in a dense mass, and there fell of them forty men, while
one hundred and fifty were wounded. Of the Persians who were on the wall only nine were
seen to be killed, and a few were wounded; for it was difficult to fight with them, the
more so as they were on the top of the wall, because they had made for themselves small
houses all along the wall, and they were standing within them and fighting, and could not
be seen by those who were without.

LXXIII. The Magister and the generals then thought that it was not fitting for them to
fight with them, because victory did not depend for the Romans upon the slaying of these,
seeing that they had to carry on war against the whole of the Persians; and if Kawad were
to be defeated, these would have to surrender or to perish in their prison. Therefore they
gave orders that no one should fight with them, lest by reason of those who were slain or
wounded among the Romans, a great part of the army should disperse out of fear. LXXIV. In
the month of Khaziran (June), Constantine, who had gone over to the Persians (see ch.
xlviii), after he saw that their cause did not prosper, fled from them, he and two women
of rank from Amid, who had been given to him (as wives) by the Persian king. For fourteen
days he travelled night and day through the uninhabited desert with a few followers; and
when he reached an inhabited spot, he made himself known to the Roman Arabs, and they took
him and brought him to the fort which is called Shura , and thence they sent him to
Edessa. When the emperor heard of his arrival (there), he sent for him (to
Constantinople); and when he had come up to him, he ordered one of the bishops to ordain
him priest, and bade him go and dwell in the city of Nicaea, and not come into his
presence nor meddle with affairs (of state).

LXXV. As Kawad, when he took Amid, had gone into its public bath and experienced the
benefit of bathing, he gave orders, as soon as he went down to his own country, that baths
should be built in all the towns of the Persian territory. 'Adid the Arab, who was under
the rule of the Persians, surrendered with all his troops and became subject to the
Romans. Again, in the month of Tammuz (July), the Romans fought with the Persians who were
in Amid, and Gainas, the dux of Arabia , smote many of them with arrows. When the day
became hot, his armour got too warm for him, and he loosened the belt of his mail a
little; whereupon they shot from Amid arrows from the ballistae, and smote him, and he
died. When the Magister saw that he suffered harm by sitting before Amid, he took his army
and went down to the Persian territory, leaving Patricius at Amid. Areobindus too took his
army and entered Persian Armenia; and they destroyed of the Armenians and Persians 10,000
men, and took captive 30,000 women and children, and plundered and burned many villages.
When they came back to return to Amid, they brought 120,000 sheep and oxen and horses. As
they were passing by Nisibis, the Romans lay in ambush, and the few whose charge it was
drove them past the city. When a certain general who was there saw that they were few in
number, he armed his troops and sallied forth to take them from them. They pretended to
flee, and the Persians took courage and pursued them. When they had gone a long way from
their supports, the Romans arose from the ambush and destroyed them, and not one of them
escaped. They were about 7000 men. Mushlek (Mushegh) the Armenian, who was under the
Persians, surrendered with his whole force and became subject to the Romans.

LXXVI. The year 816 (A.D. 504-5). The fugitives and those who had escaped the sword, that
were left in Amid of its inhabitants, were in sore trouble and distress from famine. The
Persians were afraid of them lest they should give up the city to the Romans; and they
bound all the men that were there, and threw them into the amphitheatre, and there they
perished of hunger and of endless bonds. But to the women they gave part of their food,
because they used them to satisfy their lust, and because they had need of them to grind
and bake for them. When, however, food became scarce, they neglected them, and left them
without sustenance. For none of them received more than one handful of barley daily during
this year; whilst of meat, or wine, or any other article of food, they had absolutely none
at all. And because they were very much afraid of the Romans, they never stirred from
their posts, but made for themselves small furnaces upon the wall, and brought up hand-
mills, and ground that handful of barley where they were, and baked and ate it. They also
brought up large kneading-troughs, and placed them between the battlements, and filled
them with earth, and sowed in them vegetables, and whatever grew in them they ate.

LXXVII. In narrating what the women of the place did, I may perhaps not be believed by
those who come after us, (but) at the present day there is no one of those who care to
learn things that has not heard all that was done, even though he be at a great distance
from us. Many women then met and conspired together, and used to go forth by stealth into
the streets of the city in the evening or morning; and whomsoever they met, woman or child
or man, for whom they were a match, they used to carry him by force into a house and kill
and eat him, either boiled or roasted. When this was betrayed by the smell of the
roasting, and the thing became known to the general who was there (in command), he made an
example of many of them and put them to death, and told the rest with threats that they
should not do this again nor kill any one. He gave them leave however to eat those that
were dead, and this they did openly, eating the flesh of dead men; and the rest of them
were picking up shoes and old soles and other nasty things from the streets and
courtyards, and eating them. To the Roman troops however nothing was lacking, but
everything was supplied to them in its season, and came down with great care by the order
of the emperor. Indeed the things that were sold in their camps were more abundant than in
the cities, whether meat or drink or shoes or clothing. All the cities were baking
soldiers' bread by their bakers, and sending it to them, especially the Edessenes; for the
citizens baked in their houses this year too. by order of Calliopius the hyparch, 630,000
modii, besides what the villagers baked throughout the whole district, and the bakers,
both strangers and natives.

LXXVIII. This year Mar Peter the bishop went up again to the emperor to ask him to remit
the tax. The emperor answered him harshly, and rebuked him for having neglected the charge
of the poor at a time like this and having come up to him (at Constantinople); for he said
that God himself would have put it into his heart, if it had been right, without any one
persuading him, to do a favour to the blessed city (of Edessa). Whilst the bishop was
still there, however, the emperor sent the remission for all Mesopotamia by the hands of
another, without his being aware of it. To the district of Mabbog also he remitted one-
third of the tax. LXXIX. The Roman generals who were encamped by Amid were going down on
forays into the Persian territory, plundering and taking captive and destroying, and the
Persians migrated before them, and crossed the Tigris. They found there the Persian
cavalry, who were gathered together to come against the Romans, and so they took heart
against them, and halted on the farther bank of the Tigris. The Romans crossed after them,
and destroyed all the Persian cavalry, who were about 10,000 men, and plundered the
property of all the fugitives. They burned many villages, and killed every male that was
in them from twelve years old and upwards, but the women and children they took prisoners.
For the Magister had thus commanded all the generals, that if any one of the Romans was
found saving a male from twelve years old and upwards, he should be put to death in his
stead; and whatsoever village they entered, that they should not leave a single house
standing in it. For this reason he set apart some stalwart men of the Romans, and many
villagers that accompanied them as they went down; and after the roofs were burned and the
fire was gone out, they used to pull down the walls too. They also cut down and destroyed
the vines and olives and all the trees. The Roman Arabs too crossed the Tigris in front of
them, and plundered and took captive and destroyed all that they found in the Persian
territory. As I know you study everything with great care, your holiness must be well
aware of this, that to the Arabs on both sides this war was a source of much profit, and
they wrought their will upon both kingdoms.

LXXX. When Kawad saw that the Romans were ravaging the country, and that there was no one
to oppose them, he wished to go and meet them. For this reason he sent an Astabid to the
Magister to speak of peace, having with him an army of about 20,000 men. He sent all the
men of note whom he had led captive from Amid, and Peter, whom he had brought from
Ashparin (see ch. lvii), and Basil, whom he had taken from Edessa as a hostage (see ch.
lxi). He sent also the dead body of the dux Olympius (see ch. li), who had gone down to
him on an embassy and died, sealed up in a coffin, to show that he had not died by any
other than a natural death, whereof his servants and those who came down with him were
witnesses. The Magister received them, and sent them to Edessa, with the exception of the
governor of Amid and the count Peter; for he was very angry and provoked, and wanted to
put them to death, saying that by their remissness the places which they guarded had been
betrayed, and the Persians themselves testified that the wall of Amid was impregnable. The
Astabid was begging and imploring of him to give him the Persians who were shut up in Amid
in place of those whom he had brought to him; because, though they were holding out from
fear, yet they were in great distress through hunger.

But the Magister said, "Do not mention the subject of these to me, because they are shut
up in our city, and they are our slaves. The Astabid says to him, "Well then, allow me to
send them food, for it is unseemly for you that your slaves should die of hunger; for
whenever you pleasest, it is easy for you to kill them. He says to him, "Send it. The
Astabid says, "Do you swear unto me, and all your generals and officers that are with you,
that no one shall kill those whom I send. They all took the oath, save the dux Nonnosus,
who was not with them by preconcerted arrangement, for the Magister had left him behind on
purpose, so that, if there should be any oath taken, he might not be bound by it. The
Astabid therefore sent three hundred camels laden with sacks of bread, in the middle of
which were placed arrows. Nonnosus fell upon them and took them from them, and slew those
who were with them. When the Astabid complained of this, and asked the Magister to punish
the man who had done it, the Magister said to him, "I cannot find out who has done this,
because of the great size of the army that is with me; but if you know who it is, and have
strength to take vengeance on him, I will not hinder you. The Astabid however was afraid
to do this, and kept asking for peace.

LXXXI. When many days had passed after his asking (for peace), great cold set in, with
much snow and ice, and the Romans left their camps, one by one. Each man carried off what
booty he had got, and set out to convey it to his own place. Those who remained and did
not go to their homes, went into Tella and Ras-'ain and Edessa, to shelter themselves from
the cold. When the Astabid saw that the Romans had become remiss and could not withstand
the cold, he sent word to the Magister, saying, "Either make peace, and let the Persians
go forth from Amid, or accept war." The Magister commanded the count Justin to reassemble
the army, but he was unable. When he saw that the greater part of the Romans were
dispersed and had left him, he made peace and let the Persians come out from Amid on these
terms, that, if the peace which they had concluded pleased the two soverains (Anastasius
and Kawad), and they set their seal to what they had done, (it should stand); but if not,
the war should go on between them. When the Roman emperor learned these things, he gave
orders that a public magazine should be established in every city, but especially at Amid,
with the view of putting an end to hostility and drawing closer the bonds of peace, he
also sent gifts and presents to Kawad by the hand of a man named Leon, and a service for
his table, all the pieces of which were of gold.

LXXXII. How much the Edessenes suffered, who conveyed corn down to Amid, no man knows but
those who were actually engaged in the work; for the greater part of them died by the way,
themselves and their cattle. LXXXIII. The excellent John, bishop of Amid, went to his rest
before the Persians laid siege to it; and its clergy went up to the holy and God-loving,
the adorned with all divine beauties, the strenuous and illustrious Mar Flavian ,
patriarch of Antioch, to ask him to appoint a bishop for them. He treated them with great
honour during the whole time that they stayed there. Afterwards, when the excellent
Nonnus, priest and steward of the church of Amid, escaped from captivity, the clergy asked
the patriarch and he made him their bishop. When the excellent Nonnus had been ordained
bishop, he sent his suffragan Thomas to Constantinople, to fetch the Amidenes who were
there and to ask a donation from the emperor. Those who were there conspired with him, and
asked the emperor that Thomas himself might be their bishop. The emperor granted their
prayer, and sent word to the patriarch not to constrain them. The emperor also gave them
the governor whom they asked for. The emperor and the patriarch gave presents to the
church of Amid, and a large sum of money to be distributed among the poor. For this reason
there flocked thither all those who were wandering about in other places, and they were
carrying forth the corpses of the dead every day out of Amid, and were then receiving what
was appointed for them.

LXXXIV. Urbicius, the emperor's minister, who had bestowed large gifts in the district of
Jerusalem and in other places, went down thither also, and gave there a dinar a piece (to
the inhabitants). He returned thence to Edessa, where he gave to every woman who chose to
take it a trimesion , and to every child a dirham. Nearly all the women took it, both
those that were needy and those that were not. LXXXV. In this same year, after the
fighting had ceased, the wild beasts became very ferocious against us. In consequence of
the great number of dead bodies of those who had fallen in these battles, they had
acquired a taste for eating human flesh; and when the bodies of the slain rotted and
disappeared, the wild beasts entered the villages and carried off children and devoured
them. They also fell upon single men on the roads and killed them. At last they became so
afraid that, at the time of threshing, not a man in the whole district would pass the
night in his threshing-floor without a hut (to shelter him), for fear of the beasts of
prey. But by the help of our Lord, who is always careful for us and delivers us from all
trials by His mercy, some of them fell by the hands of the villagers, who stabbed them,
and sent their dead carcases to Edessa; and others were caught by huntsmen, who bound them
and brought them (thither) alive, so that every one saw them and praised God, who has
said, "The fear of you and the dread of you I will put upon every beast of the earth." For
although, because of our sins, war and famine and pestilence and captivity and noxious
beasts and other chastisements, written and unwritten, were sent upon us, yet by His grace
we have been delivered from them all.

LXXXVI. Me too, a feeble man, He has strengthened because of His mercy, through your
prayers, that I should write to the best of my ability some of the things that have
happened, as a reminder to those who endured them, and for the instruction of those who
shall come after us, that, if they please, they may be enabled to become wise through
these few things which I have written. For the things that I have omitted are far more
than those which I have recorded; and indeed I said from the beginning that I was not able
to recount them all; because the sufferings which each individual alone endured, if they
were written down, would form long narratives, for which a big book would not suffice. And
you must know from what others have written, that those too who came to our aid under the
name of deliverers, both when going down and when coming up, plundered us almost as much
as enemies . Many poor people they turned out of their beds and slept in them, whilst
their owners lay on the ground in cold weather. Others they drove out of their own houses,
and went in and dwelt in them. The cattle of some they carried off by force as if it were
spoil of war; the clothes of others they stripped off their persons and took away. Some
they beat violently for a mere trifle; with others they quarrelled in the streets and
reviled them for a small cause.

They openly plundered every one's little stock of provisions, and the stores that some had
laid up in the villages and cities. Many they fell upon in the highways. Because the
houses and inns of the city (of Edessa) were not sufficient for them, they lodged with the
artisans in their shops. Before the eyes of every one they ill-used the women in the
streets and houses. From old women, widows and poor, they took oil, wood, salt, and other
things, for their own expenses; and they kept them from their own work to wait upon them.
In short, they harassed every one, both great and small, and there was not a person left
who did not suffer some harm from them. Even the nobles of the land, who were set to keep
them in order and to give them their billets, stretched out their hands for bribes; and as
they took them from every one, they spared nobody, but after a few days sent other
soldiers to those upon whom they had quartered them in the first instance. They were
billeted even upon the priests and deacons, though these had a letter from the emperor
exempting them from this. But why need I weary myself in setting forth many things, which
even those who are greater than I are unable to recount?

LXXXVII. After he had recrossed the river Euphrates westwards, the Magister went to the
emperor (at Constantinople); and Areobindus went to Antioch, Patricius to Melitene
(Malatia), Pharazman to Apameia (Famiyah), Theodore to Darmesuk (Damascus), and Calliopius
to Mabbog (Menbij). So there was a little breathing-space at Edessa, and the few people
that remained in it were glad. Eulogius the governor was busying himself in rebuilding the
town; and the emperor [gave him] two hundred pounds (of gold) for the expenses of the
building. He rebuilt and restored the [whole] outer wall that goes round the city. He also
restored and repaired the two aqueducts that come in from the village of Tell-Zema and
from Maudad ; and rebuilt and finished the public bath that fell down (see ch. xxx). He
likewise repaired his own palace, and built a great deal throughout the whole city. The
emperor too gave the bishop twenty pounds (of gold) for the expenses of repairing the
wall; and the minister Urbicius gave him ten pounds to build a church to the blessed Mary.
But the oil which had been supplied to the churches and convents from the public oil-
store, amounting to 6800 keste (per annum), the governor took away from them, and ordered
it to be used for burning in the porticoes of the city. The vergers besought him much
regarding it, but he would not listen to them. That he might not be thought, however, to
despise the churches built for God, he gave of his own property to every church two
hundred keste. Up to this year wheat had been sold at the rate of four modii for a dinar,
and barley six modii, and wine two measures; but after the new harvest wheat was sold at
the rate of six modii for a dinar, and barley ten modii.

LXXXVIII. The Persian Arabs were never at peace or rest, but they crossed over into the
Roman territory, without the Persians, and took captive (the people of) two villages. When
the general of the Persians, who was at Nisibis, learned this, he took their shaikhs and
put them to death. The Roman Arabs too crossed over without orders into the Persian
territory, and took captive (the people of) a hamlet. When the Magister heard this, for he
had gone down at the end of this year to Apameia, he sent (orders) to Timostratus, the dux
of Callinicus, and he seized five of their shaikhs, two of whom he slew with the sword and
impaled the other three. Pharazman set out from Apameia after the Magister had gone down
thither, and came and stayed at Edessa, and he received authority from the emperor to
become general in place of Hypatius. LXXXIX. The wall of Batnan-kastra, in Serug, which
was all out of repair and breached, was rebuilt and renovated by the care of Eulogius, the
governor of Edessa. The excellent priest Aedesius plated with copper the doors of the
men's aisle in the (Great) Church of Edessa. XC. The year 817 (A.D. 505-6). The generals
of the Roman army informed the emperor that the troops suffered great harm from their not
having any (fortified) town situated on the border. For whenever the Romans went forth
from Tella or Amid to go about on expeditions among the Arabs, they were in constant fear,
whenever they halted, of the treachery of enemies; and if it happened that they fell in
with a larger force than their own, and thought of turning back, they had to endure great
fatigue, because there was no town near them in which they could find shelter. For this
reason the emperor gave orders that a wall should be built for the village of Dara, which
is situated on the frontier. They selected workmen from all Syria (for this task), and
they went down thither and were building it; and the Persians were sallying forth from
Nisibis and forcing them to stop. On this account Pharazman set out from Edessa, and went
down and dwelt at Amid, whence he used to go forth to those who were building and to give
them aid. He also used to make great hunts after the wild beasts, especially the wild
boars, which had become numerous there after the country was laid waste. He used to catch
more than forty of these in one day; and as a proof of his skill he even sent some of them
to Edessa, both alive and dead.

XCI. The excellent Sergius, bishop of Birta-kastraf, which is situated beside us on the
river Euphrates, began likewise to build a wall to his town; and the emperor gave him no
small sum of money for his expenses. The Magister also gave orders that a wall should be
built to Europus, which is situated to the west of the River in the prefecture of Mabbog;
and the people of the place worked at it as best they could. XCII. After Pharazman went
down to Amid, the dux Romanus came in his place, and settled at Edessa with his troops,
and bestowed large alms upon the poor. The emperor added in this year to all his former
good deeds, and sent a remission of the tax to the whole of Mesopotamia, whereat all the
landed proprietors rejoiced and praised the emperor. XCIII. But the common people were
murmuring, and crying out and saying, "The Goths ought not to be billeted upon us, but
upon the landed proprietors, because they have been benefited by this remission." The
prefect gave orders that their request should be granted. When this began to be done, all
the grandees of the city assembled unto the dux Romanus and asked of him, saying, "Let
your highness give orders what each of these Goths should receive by the month, lest, when
they enter the houses of wealthy people, they plunder them as they have plundered the
common people." He granted their request, and ordered that they should receive an espada
of oil per month, and two hundred pounds of wood, and a bed and bedding between each two
of them.

XCIV. When the Goths heard this order, they ran to attack the dux Romanus in the house of
the family of Barsa and to kill him. As they were ascending the stairs of his lodging, he
heard the sound of their tumult and uproar, and perceived what they wanted to do. He
quickly put on his armour, and took up his weapons, and drew his sword, and stood at the
upper door of the house in which he lodged. He did not however kill any one of the Goths,
but (merely) kept brandishing his sword and hindering the first that came up from forcing
their way in upon him. Those who were below were in their anger compelling those who were
above them to ascend and force their way in upon him. Thus a great many people occupied
the stairs of the house, as your holiness well knows. When therefore the first who had
gone up were unable to get in, because of their fear of the sword, and those behind were
pressing upon them, many men occupied the stairs; and because of the weight they broke and
fell upon them. A few of them were killed, but many had their limbs broken and were
maimed, so that they could not be cured again. When Romanus had found an opportunity
because of this accident, he fled upon the roof from one house to another and made his
escape; but he said nothing more to them, and for this reason they remained where they
were billeted, behaving exactly as they pleased, for there was none to check them or
restrain or admonish them.

XCV. Our bishop Mar Peter was very dangerously ill all this year. In the month of Nisan
(April) the distress became again much greater in our city; for the Magister collected his
whole army, and arose to go down to the Persian territory to make and renew with them a
treaty of peace. When he entered Edessa, ambassadors from the Persians came to him and
informed him that the Astabid who had come to meet him and conclude a peace with him was
dead; and they begged of him and said that, if he came down for peace, he ought not to go
beyond Edessa until another Astabid should be sent by the Persian king. He granted their
request and stayed at Edessa for five months. And because the city was not sufficient for
the Goths who were with him, they were quartered also in the villages, and likewise in all
the convents, large and small, that were around the city. Not even those who lived in
solitude were allowed to dwell in the quiet which they loved, because upon them too they
were quartered in their convents.

XCVI. Because they did not live at their own expense from the very first day they came,
they became so gluttonous in their eating and drinking, that some of them, who had regaled
themselves on the tops of the houses, went forth by night, quite stupefied with too much
wine, and stepped out into empty space, and fell headlong down, and so departed this life
by an evil end. Others, as they were sitting and drinking, sank into slumber, and fell
from the housetops, and died on the spot. Others again suffered agonies on their beds from
eating too much. Some poured boiling water into the ears of those who waited upon them for
trifling faults. Others went into a garden to take vegetables, and when the gardener arose
to prevent them from taking them, they slew him with an arrow, and his blood was not
avenged. Others still, as their wickedness increased and there was no one to check them,
since those on whom they were quartered behaved with great discretion and did everything
exactly as they wished, because they gave them no opportunity for doing them harm, were
overcome by their own rage and slew one another. That there were among them others who
lived decently is not concealed from your knowledge; for it is impossible that in a large
army like this there should not be some such persons found. The wickedness of the bad,
however, went so far in evildoing that those too who were ill-disposed among the Edessenes
dared to do something unseemly;

for they wrote down on sheets of paper complaints against the Magister, and fastened them
up secretly in the customary places of the city (for public notices). When he heard this,
he was not angered, as he well might have been, neither did he make any search after those
who had done this, nor think of doing any harm to the city, because of his good nature;
but he used all the diligence possible to quit Edessa with haste and speed. XCVII. The
year 818 (A.D. 506-7) . The Magister therefore took his whole army, and went down to the
border. And there came to him a Persian ambassador to the town of Dara, bringing with him
hostages, who had been sent by the Astabid; and they also asked him, saying that, if he
wished to make peace, he too ought to send hostages in place of those whom he had
received, and afterwards both parties would draw nigh to one another in friendship, and
they would meet one another with five hundred horsemen apiece unarmed, and then they would
sit in council, and would do what was fitting. He agreed to do what they asked, and sent
hostages, and went unarmed to meet the Astabid on the day appointed. But because he was
afraid lest the Persians should commit some treachery against him, he drew up the whole
Roman army opposite them under arms, and gave them a sign, and ordered them, if they saw
that sign, to come to him quickly. When the Astabid too was come to meet him, and the
Romans and all the generals who were with them had seated themselves in council, one of
the Roman soldiers gave good heed and perceived that all those who had come with the
Astabid wore armour under their clothes.

He made this known to the general Pharazman and the dux Timostratus, and they displayed
that signal to the troops, whereupon they at once set up a shout and came to them, and
took prisoners the Astabid and those who were with him among them. The troops that were in
the Persian camp, when they learned that the Astabid and his companions were taken
prisoners, fled for fear of them, and entered Nisibis. The Romans wished to take the
Astabid and to kill those who were with him; but the Magister begged them not to give an
occasion for war and to drive away (all hopes of) peace. With difficulty did they consent,
but at last they hearkened to him, and let the Astabid and his companions depart from
among them, without having done them any hurt; for even when victorious, the Roman
generals were gentle. When the Astabid went to his camp, and saw that the Persians had
retired into Nisibis, he was afraid to remain alone, and went in also to join them. He
tried to force them to go out of the city with him, but they were unwilling to go out for
fear. In order that their fear might not become evident to the Romans, the Astabid sent
and fetched his daughter to Nisibis, and according to Persian custom took her to wife.

When the Magister sent him a message to say, "No man will harm you, even if you come forth
alone ", he returned for answer, "It is not out of fear that I do not go forth, but in
order that the days of the wedding-feast may be fulfilled. Although the Magister knew the
whole thing quite well, he passed it over just as if he did not. XCVIII. And some days
after, when the Astabid came out to him, he gave up, for love of peace, all the things
which he had determined to require of the Persians, and made a covenant with them, and
concluded peace. They drew up documents between them, and appointed a fixed time, during
which they were not to make war with one another; and all the armies were glad and
rejoiced in the peace that was made. XCIX. While they were still there on the frontier,
Celerius the magister and Calliopius received a letter from the emperor Anastasius, which
was full of care and compassion for the whole region of Mesopotamia; and thus he wrote to
them, that, if they thought that the tax ought to be remitted, they had full power to
remit it without delay. They decided that the whole tax should be remitted to the district
of Amid, and the half of it to that of Edessa, and they sent and made this known in
Edessa. And after a little while they sent another letter with the news of the peace.

C. On the 28th of the month of the latter Teshri (November A.D. 506), he took his whole
army and came up from the border. When he arrived at Edessa, the Magister had a mind not
to enter it, because of their murmuring against him (see ch. xcvi). But the blessed Bar-
hadad, bishop of Tella, begged him not to allow resentment to get the better of him, nor
to leave behind the feeling of vexation or annoyance in any one's mind. He readily acceded
to his request; and all the Edessenes too came forth with much alacrity to meet him,
carrying wax tapers, both young and old. All the clergy likewise, and the members of
religious orders, and the monks, came out with them; and they entered the city with great
rejoicing. He sent on all his troops the very same day to continue their march; but he
himself remained for three days, and gave the governor two hundred dinars to distribute in
presents. And the people of the city, rejoicing in the peace that was made, and exulting
in the immunity which they would henceforth enjoy from the distress in which they now
were, and dancing for joy at the hope of the good things which they expected to arrive,
and lauding God, who in His goodness and mercy had cast peace over the two kingdoms,
escorted him as he set forth with songs of praise that befitted him and him who had sent
him .

46. CI. If this emperor appears in a different aspect towards the end of his life, let no
one be offended at his praises, but let him remember the things that Solomon did at the
close of his life. These few things out of many I have written to the best of my ability
unto your charity, unwillingly and yet willingly. Unwillingly, on the one hand, in order
that I might not weary the wise friend who knows these things better than I do. Willingly,
on the other hand, for the sake of obeying your command. Now therefore I beg of you that
you too would fulfil the promise contained in your letter (see ch. i) to offer up prayer
constantly on behalf of me a sinner. For now that I have learned your wish, it shall be my
greatest care, and whatever happens in the times that are coming and is worthy of record,
I will write it down and send it to you my father, if I remain alive. Let us therefore
pray from this place, and you my father from yonder, and all the children of men
everywhere, that history may speak of the great change that is going to take place in the
world; and just as we have been unable to describe the wants of these evil times as they
really were, because of the abundance of their afflictions, so also may we be unable to
tell of those that are coming, because of the multitude of their blessings. And may our
words be too feeble to speak of the happy life of our fellow-citizens, and of the calm and
peace that shall reign throughout the world, and of the great plenty that there shall be,
and of the superabundance of the harvest of the blessing of God, who has said, "The former
troubles shall be forgotten and shall be hidden from before us." To Him be glory for ever
and ever, Amen.

[Extracts from the copious footnotes follow] 1. * On the promise of our Lord to king Abgar
that Edessa should never be captured by an enemy, see Cureton, Ancient Syriac Documents,
p. 10 and p. 152; Phillips, The Doctrine of Addai, p.D and p. 5. 2. § The era of
Alexander, or of the Romans, begins with October 312 B.C. 3. * That is, Jovian. 4. * The
first alternative in their proposal seems to have been accidentally omitted by the scribe.
5. + John the Scythian. 6. + The followers of Mazdak, the son of Bamdadh, who was the
disciple of Zaradusht, the son of Khoragan. 7. ++ Blemmyes, an Ethiopian or negro race who
used to harry Upper Egypt. 8. * The word in the original is marzebana or marzban, which
signifies in Persian "warden of the marches," or what the Germans call "Markgraf." It ia
nearly equivalent to the older term of "satrap." See Noeldeke, Gesch. d. Perser u. s. w.,
p. 102, note 2, and p. 446.

9. + They dwelt in the neighbourhood of Sinjar and Dara. 10. * In the text Taiyaye, which
originally designated the Arabs of the tribe of Taiyi, one of the most powerful in
northern Arabia. 11. + By dinar (the Latin denarius), is here meant the Byzantine aureus.
12. ++ The Daisan, or Kara Koyun, which now flows round the northern part of the city, but
in ancient times ran right through it from N.W. to S.E., parallel to, or perhaps
coinciding with, the modern 'Ain al-Khalil or 'Ain Ibrahim. 13. § This was apparently on
the eastern side of the city, at the exit of the Daisan. 14. My friend Professor G.
Hoffmann, of Kiel, reads "to the gate of the Grottoes" or "Tombs," meaning thereby the
grottoes or tombs cut out in the range of heights to the west of the city. At any rate,
this gate lay on the west side of the city, at or near the entrance of the Daisan.

15. ** If this conjecture is right, the "upper streets" are those in the S.W. corner of
the city, where there is a hill, on which lay the old town of king Abgar with its
buildings and fortifications. See the account of the great flood, A. Gr. 513, a. d. 201,
in Assemani, Bibl. Orient, t. i, pp. 390-3. The reading of the MS. is, however, very
uncertain. 16. * Mar, shortened from Mari, means "my lord." 17. ++ Mabbog or Mabug,
Hierapolis, now Membij. Xenaias or Philoxenus was the friend of Severus, patriarch of
Antioch. 18. By "the Church" par excellence we are, I suppose, to understand "the great
Church of S. Thomas the Apostle" (see Assemani, Bibl. Orient., t. i, p. 399). It is
uncertain, however, whether the actual reading of the manuscript is not "in the courts of
the churches." 19. § Another name for Emmaus, in Palestine, about halfway between Jaffa
and Jerusalem.

20. § The Great Gate lay at the S.E. corner of the town, leading out to Harran. 21. +
There is evidently some error or omission here in the text. 22. § To show that he was
still in office, and had not been deposed. 23. * We would say, "on Thursday night." This
display of the aurora borealis must have been unusually magnificent. 24. ** Carrae still
retains its ancient name of Harran. 25. ++ At this time the Daisan ran through the city,
not round it. 26. + Jacob, at present periodeutes or visitor, afterwards bishop of Batnan
(Batnae) in Serug, one of the most prolific of Syriac writers. He died A. Gr. 833 (A.D.
521). BL Add. 14587 contains several of the letters referred to in the text. 27. The Benu
Tha'labah, the leading branch of the great tribe of Bekr ibn Wail. (Wustenfeld, Tabellen,
2te Abth., b,c), who, in alliance with the southern tribe of Kindah (ibid., 1ste Abth.,
4), occupied a large portion of the Syrian desert, between the kingdom of al-Hirah on the
east and that of the Ghassanides on the west. They were ruled over by the kings of Kindah,
of the house of Akil al-morar, and the reigning king at this time was al-Harith ibn 'Amr.
See Lebeau, op. cit., t. vii, p. 250; Caussin de Perceval, Essai sur l'histoire des
Arabes, t. ii, p. 69; Reiske, Primae Lineae, p. 98; and above all the sketch by my
lamented friend Dr. O. Loth, at p. 10 of the pamphlet entitled " Otto Loth. Ein
Gedenkblatt fur seine Freunde. 1881."

28. ¶ al-Hirah, the chief town of the petty kingdom of the Lakhmite Arabs. See Caussin de
Perceval, Essai sur l'histoire des Arabes, t. ii, p. 1 sqq.; Reiske, Primae Lineae, p. 25
sqq. It lay within a few miles of the more modern town of al-Kufah. 29. * The word in the
Syriac text, if correctly written, is wholly unknown to me; but is evidently the name of
some valuable commodity. 30. * Of erysipelas, the natural result of his wound and of
exposure or excitement. 31. * Patricius, the son of Aspar, a Goth. 32. + The Euphrates,
33. + The comparison seems to be that of the compact mass of shield-bearing warriors in
their charge to a moving mound of earth. 34. + This is not strictly correct. 35. + I am
not at all sure that I have called the Gothic warrior by his right name. The Syriac
letters give us only Ald, Eld or Ild, which might be Aldo, Haldo (Forstemann, Altdeutsches
Namenbuch, Bd i, col. 45); or Helido, Allido (ibid., col. 597); or Hildi, Hildo (ibid.,
col. 665). The well known name of Alatheus, Alotheus, or Allothus (ibid., col. 41), would
probably have been spelled by our author with a soft t.

36. * The Latin word castrum remained appended to many Syrian names in the form of ... ,
(whence the Arabic ...), like caster, cester, Chester, in our own country. 37. + When we
last heard of this traitor, he was at Nisibis (ch. lv). He probably fled thence, and
crossed the desert in a southwesterly direction till he approached the Euphrates near
Suriyeh, above ar-Kakkah. There seems to be no reason for believing him to have been shut
up in Amid, as Lebeau thinks (op. cit., t. vii, p. 872), following Assemani (Bibl.
Orient., t. i, p. 279, col. 1). 38. ++ Meaning the district around Damascus. 39. + Flavian
II. 40. * ...the third of an aureus. 41. * The description of the Gothic mercenaries in
this and the following chapters is not without its peculiar interest and value. 42. * Both
these villages evidently lay to the N. of Edessa. The Germish-Chai rises, two or three
hours' journey from the city, near a place called Burac or Berik, a little south of which
are the remains of the arches of an ancient aqueduct, which entered Edessa on the north
side, somewhere near the Gate of Beth-Shemesh. In the neighbourhood of Burac, therefore,
Professor G. Hoffmann places Maudad (Modad) and Tell-Zema; though for the latter another
locality may, he thinks, be possibly found. In the valley of the Ras-al-'ain Chai, near a
place called Jurban, Julban, or Julman, the ruins of another ancient aqueduct have been
seen, and in this neighbourhood, a little way south of Dagouly or Tagula, Pococke mentions
a place named Zoumey, which may perhaps be identical with Tell-Zema.

43. + Say quarts. 44. * There was a bishop of Edessa of this name. See Assemani, Bibl.
Orient., t. i, pp. 396 and 398. 45. * In the MS. there is a marginal note, no longer
distinctly legible: "In this year died the holy Mar Shila (Silas) of the village of
B......." 47. * That befitted Celer and his master the emperor. 48. + This sentence is no
doubt a later addition, probably from the pen of Dionysius of Tell-Mahre.


THE CHRONICLE OF EDESSA
=======================

THE CHRONICLE OF EDESSA c. AD 540

A brief Syriac chronicle of the city of Edessa from the founding of the kingdom there to
AD 540. The translator’s introduction is printed first; the long footnotes have been left
out.

THE CHRONICLE OF EDESSA

SOME of the early Christian writers refer in very eulogistic terms to the archives of
Edessa. The archives were, of course, the public or royal library of the city, the
existence and value of which cannot be called in question. It included both Greek and
Oriental books, and was therefore a depository from which literary men could largely
benefit. Moses of Chorene consulted the books while compiling his history of Armenia.
Eusebius of Caesarea declares himself to have been indebted to this library for his
account of the conversion of Edessa, the correspondence between Jesus Christ and king
Abgar, and a few other matters true and false, to be read at the end of the first book of
the ecclesiastical history. We have substantial reasons for saying that in the particular
instance first mentioned, Eusebius was deceived; that the documents he quoted could not
have been long written, as appears from further portions of the same story now in the
British Museum, under the title of the Acts of Addi.The estimation in which the Edessene
archives were held, is shewn by the following sentence from an old Syriac chronicle, some
extracts of which are given in Cowper's Syrian Miscellanies:----"In the year 309 of the
era of Alexander of Macedon did our Redeemer appear in the world (i. e., about B.C. 2);
and he was in the world thirty-three years according to the evidence of the true books of
the archives of Edessa, which err in nothing, and which make everything known to us
truly." This is something like the stereotyped phraseology for allusions to, the
historical documents at Edessa.

The Maronite, Joseph Simon Assemani, devotes a chapter of his great work, the Bibliotheca
Orientalis, to the "Chronicle of Edessa." He gives the Syriac text of the Chronicle, with
a Latin translation, introduction, and notes. Considering that the matter is of some
importance, we propose to give a version of Assemani's introduction, and of the Chronicle
itself. The introduction is to the following effect:---- The Chronicle of Edessa. We have
hitherto not discovered who was the author of the Edessene Chronicle, nor in what age he
flourished. Yet it is sufficiently plain that he followed the Catholic faith, because he
declares that he admits four holy councils down to the year 838 of the Greeks, and also
because he expressly rejects the opposers of the councils of Ephesus and Chalcedon,
strongly commending their orthodoxy, which was a most certain mark of the Catholics of the
time in which he lived. He seems, indeed, to have lived about the year of Christ 550, for
he brought down his history to the year 540, as will shortly appear. That he copied it out
of the archives of the Edessene church is shewn by its beginning, course, and end. In the
beginning of the history he describes the flood of waters which overflowed Edessa under
the emperor Severus and king Abgar, according to the acts formerly drawn up by the
notaries, and preserved in the archives, and put by us into their proper place. Moreover,
the author is almost wholly occupied in registering the series of bishops of Edessa, and
in describing their deeds. He leaves off writing just when the Jacobite pastors began to
invade that church.

The epoch which he uses is that of the Greeks, also called that of the Seleucidae, or the
Syro-Macedonian. He affirms that the Christian era was later by 309 years, according to
the common opinion of the Edessenes. But if we look closely into the indictions which he
sometimes mentions, and the days of the month and of the week, which he often mentions, it
becomes evident that the aforesaid years are called 309, but are really 311; and,
therefore, the nativity of Christ, according to his view, fell in the three hundred and
eleventh year of the Greeks, and not in the three hundred and ninth. That is plainly the
case from what he writes of the earthquake at Antioch, and the death of Simeon Stylites,
who he affirms was taken to heaven in the year 771 of the Greeks, on the second of
September, and on the fourth day of the week, which answers to the vulgar era A.D. 460,
not 462. He relates that the earthquake at Antioch happened in the year 837 of the Greeks,
on the 29th of May, and on the sixth day of the week, which will be A.D. 526, when May
29th fell on the Friday, not A.D. 528, when it could not happen on a Friday. To the year
of the Greeks 850 he also adds the "second indiction," which nevertheless answers to 539
A.D., and not to 541. Therefore the vulgar Christian epoch, according to his view, must be
later than the era of the Greeks 311 years, and not 309.

He starts at the beginning of the kingdom of Edessa, which he ascribes to the year 180 of
the Greeks. He ends at the year of Christ 540, when the Persian war was waged between
Justinian and Chosroes. Although he sometimes neglects the order of time or disturbs it, I
think this is to be attributed rather to the copyist than to the author. In publishing it,
therefore, I shall first restore the events to their own place and order. Some notes which
seem to throw light upon it or other histories I shall place in the margin. The Chronicle
is intitled A history of events by way of compendium.

[Translation.]

1. In the year 180 kings began to rule in Edessa. 2. In the year 266 Augustus Caesar was
made emperor. 3. In the year 309 our Lord was born. 4. In the year 400 Abgar the king
built a mausoleum for himself. 5. In the year 449 Marcion forsook the Catholic Church. 6.
The year 465, in the month Tammuz, on the eleventh day (i.e., July 11th, 154 A.D.),
Bardesanes was born. 7. Lucius Caesar, with his brother, subjugated the Parthians to the
Romans in the fifth year of his reign. 8. In the year 513, in the reign of Severus, and in
the reign of Abgar the king, son of Maano the king, in the month Tishrin the latter (i.
e., November), the fountain of water which proceeds from the great palace of Abgar the
great king increased, and it prevailed, and it went up according to its former manner, and
overflowed and ran out on all sides, so that the courts and the porches and the royal
houses began to be filled with water. And when our lord Abgar the king saw it, he went up
to the level ground on the hill above his palace, where dwell and reside those who do the
work for the government. And while the wise men considered what to do to the waters which
had so greatly increased, it happened that there was a great and violent rain in the
night, and the Daisan (river) came, neither in its day, nor in its month. And strange
waters came; and they encountered the cataracts (? flood gates) which were fastened with
great pieces of iron which were overlaid upon them, and with bars of iron which supported
them. But not prevailing against them, the waters rose like a great sea beyond the walls
of the city. And the waters began to come down from the apertures of the wall into the
city.

And Abgar the king stood on the great tower which was called that of the Persians, and saw
the water by the light of torches, and he commanded, and they took away the gates and the
eight cataracts (? flood-gates) of the western wall of the city where the river flowed
out. But that very hour the waters broke down the western wall of the city, and entered
the city, and overthrew the great and beautiful palace of our lord the king, and they
carried away everything that was found before them, the desirable and beautiful edifices
of the city, whatever was near the river on the south and on the north of it. And they
destroyed the temple of the church of the Christians. And there were killed by that
occurrence more than two thousand men, upon many of whom as they slept in the night the
waters came suddenly, and they were drowned, and the city was filled with the sound of
lamentation.

And when Abgar the king saw this destruction which had befallen, he commanded that all the
craftsmen of the city should remove their cottages (or huts) from near the river, and that
no man should build near the river any cottage. And by the wisdom of measurers and men of
skill the cottages were placed so that the breadth of the river might be increased, and
they added to its former measure. For if the waters were many and strong, the width of the
river was too small to receive the water of twenty-five brooks with what they gathered
from all sides. And Abgar the king commanded that all who lived in the porch, and were
occupied over against the river, from Tishrin the former to Nisan (October to April),
should not lodge in their cottages, except the islanders (Gazireans) who kept the city,
five of whom should lodge on the wall above the place where the waters entered the city
all the time of winter, and when they perceived by night and heard the sound of strange
waters, which began to enter the city, and whoever heard the sound and neglected it, and
did not publish it, behold the waters should drown the contempt of him that despised the
command of the king. And this commandment was decreed from this time wherein it was so to
the end of the world.

Our lord Abgar the king commanded, and there was built for him a building for his royal
house----a winter house at Tabara ----and there he dwelt all the time of winter; and in
summer he came down to the new palace which was built for him at the fountain head. And
his nobles also built for themselves buildings to live in, in the neighbourhood in which
the king was, in the high street (?) which is called Beth Saharoye. And in order to
restore the welfare of the former city, Abgar the king commanded, and the tributes due
from those within, and from those who dwelt in towns, and in hamlets, were remitted: and
tribute was not demanded from them for five years, until the city was enriched with men,
and was crowned with buildings. Now Mar Yahab Bar Shemesh, and Kajuma Bar Magartat, the
scribes of Edessa, recorded this event, and the command of Abgar the king: and Bar Din and
Bulid, who are prefects over the archives of Edessa, received and deposited it within them
as trusted of the city (i.e., archivists.)

9. And in the year 517, Abgar built a palace in his own citadel (? town). 10. The year 551
Manes was born. 11. The year 614, were broken down the walls of Edessa the second time in
the days of Diocletian the king. 12. In the year 624, Conon the bishop laid the
foundations of the Church of Edessa; and Sha'ad, the bishop who came after him, built and
finished the structure. 13. In the year 635, the cemetery of Edessa was built, in the days
of Ethalaha the bishop, the year before the great synod of Nicea was held. 14. The year
635, Ethalaha became bishop in Edessa; and he constructed the cemetery, and the eastern
side of the church. 15. And the year after, a synod of three hundred and eighteen bishops
was assembled at Nicea. 16. The year 639, there was building and enlargement in the church
of Edessa.

17. In the year 649, died Mar Jacob, bishop of Nisibis. 18. The year 657, Abraham became
bishop in Edessa, and he built the house (or church) of the Confessors. 19. The year 660,
Constantius, the son of Constantine, built the city of Amida. 20. And in the year 661,
Constantius built Tela, a city which was before called Antipolis. 21. The year 667,
Abraham of Chidon, a recluse, became (bishop). 22. In the year 670, Nicomedia was
overthrown. 23. In the year 672, Mar Abraham, bishop of Edessa, left the world. 24. And in
the same year, Vologesh, bishop of Nisibis, departed from this world. 25. And in the same
year came Barses, the bishop from Haran to Edessa by command of the king (i. e., the
emperor Constantius, then in that region). 26. And in the year 674, in the month Haziran
(June), Julian went down and made war with the Persians, and died there.

27. In the year 675, in the month Shebat (February), Valentinian the Great became king,
and Valens his brother. 28. In the year 678, Mar Julian Saba departed from the world. 29.
The year 681, was built the great Beth-ma'amuditho (House of Baptizing) of Edessa. 30. In
the year 684, in the month Haziran (June), on the ninth in it, departed from the world Mar
Ephraim "of his wisdoms" (= the wise). 31. And in the month Elul (September) of that year,
the people departed from the church of Edessa, through the persecution of the Arians. 32.
In the year 689, in the month Adar, Mar Barses, bishop of Edessa, departed from the world.
33. And on the twenty-seventh day in the mouth Canun the former (December), of the same
year, the orthodox came in and recovered the church of Edessa. 34. And in those days Mar
Eulogius became bishop in the year that Theodosius the Great became king; and that Mar
Eulogius built the house of Mar Daniel, which was called the house of Mar Demet.

35. The year 692, Theodosius the Great built in Osrhoene the city Resaina. 36. The year
693, was gathered the synod of one hundred and fifty bishops in Constantinople. 37. In the
year 698, Mar Eulogius the bishop departed from the world on the Friday of the
crucifixion. 38. The year 705, in the month Ab (August), on the twenty-second day in it,
they brought the glossocom (i.e., coffin) of Mar Thomas the Apostle to his great temple in
the days of Mar Cyrus the bishop. 39. In the year 706, and on the seventeenth of Canun the
latter (January), departed from the world Theodosius the great king; and on the twenty-
seventh in Nisan (April), Arcadius entered Constantinople; and on the eighth in Tishrin
the latter (November), the body of Theodosius entered Constantinople. 40. And in the month
of Tammuz (July) of the same year, the Huns crossed over to the territory of the Romans.

41. In the year 707, in the month Tammuz (July), on its twenty-second, departed from the
world Mar Cyrus, bishop of Edessa. 42. And in the year 708 Mar Silvanus became bishop of
Edessa. 43. In the year 710, on the seventeenth of Tishrin the former (October), Mar
Silvanus, bishop of Edessa, departed from the world. 44. And on the twenty-third of the
month Tishrin the latter (November) of that year, Mar Pakida became bishop in Edessa. 45.
And in that year arose Johanan Chrysostomos, bishop in Constantinople. 46. The year 714
began Theodorus, bishop of Mompsesta, to expound the Scriptures. 47. The year 715,
'Absamia Kashisha (presbyter), son of the sister of the blessed Mar Ephraim, composed
madroshé (poems?) and discourses upon the coming of the Huns to the territory of the
Romans. 48. The year 720, Mar Diogenes became bishop in Edessa, and he began to build the
house of Mar Barlaha.

49. And in that year, in the neomenia of Ab (August), Mar Pakida, bishop of Edessa,
departed from the world. 50. The year 721, Cyrillus became bishop in Alexandria the great.
51. The year 723, Rabula became bishop in Edessa. And he built the house of Mar Stephanus,
which had been formerly a house of Sabbath (synagogue) of the Jews. Now he built it by
command of the king. 52. The year 724, the walls of Edessa were again broken down by water
the third time, in the days of Honorius and Arcadius the victorious kings. 53. The year
732, Eutychius the monk arose, who rejected the incarnation. 54. At that time the blessed
Jacob, the mutilated, was a martyr. 55. The year 739, the heresy of those who say that sin
is implanted in nature, became known. 56. The year 740, Andrew, bishop of Samosata, became
famous. 57. The year 741, dust came down from heaven.

58. The year 742, was assembled the first synod at Ephesus. 59. The year 746, Rabula,
bishop of Edessa, departed from the world on the eighth of Ab (August), and the great Hiba
became (bishop) instead of him. He built the new church which now is called the house of
the apostles. 60. The year 749, in. the days of the excellent Hiba, Senator brought a
great table of silver, in which were seven hundred and twenty pounds (of silver), and it
was put in the old church of Edessa. 61. The year 753, Anatolius, the stratelates
(military commander) made a coffin of silver, in honour of the bones of Thomas the holy
apostle. 62. The year 756, Dioscurus became bishop in Alexandria the great. 63. And there
was assembled again at Ephesus another synod. This anathematized the great Flavianus
bishop of Constantinople, and Domnus of Antioch, and Irenaeus of Tyre, and Hiba of Edessa,
and Eusebius of Dorylaeum, and Daniel of Haran, and Sophronius of Tela, and Theodoret of
Cyrus.

64. The year 759, Hibas the bishop departed from Edessa on the first day in the month
Canun the latter (January 1), and on the twenty-first day of the month Tammuz (July),
Nonnus came in in his stead, and continued two years, and made a hierateion (sacristy) in
the church. 65. Anno 760, arose Leo bishop in Rome. 66. Anno 762, a synod was assembled in
the city of Chalcedon. 67. An. 763, Mar Isaac, a composer (an author) and abbot (or
Archimandrite) was famous. 68. An. 769, in the month Tishriu the former (October), on the
twenty-eighth, Hiba, bishop of Edessa, went to rest; and Nonnus came into his place, and
built the house of Mar Johanan the Baptist, and (he constructed) a place for poor
invalids, outside the gate of Beth Shemesh; and in the place for the poor he built the
house of martyrs to Mar Cosma and Mar Damian. Now he built also convents and towers, and
made bridges, and levelled the roads.

69. In the year 771, departed the blessed Simeon of "his column" (Stylites) from the
world, on Elul the second (September 2), on Wednesday (the fourth day in the week), the
time the eleventh hour. 70. The year 777, Leo built Callinicns in Osrhoene, and named it
after his own name Leontopolis; and set in it also a bishop. 71. An. 782, Nonnus, bishop
of Edessa, rested, and Cyrus became (bishop) in his stead. 72. An. 795, Leontius rebelled
against Zeno, and reigned in Antioch two years. 73. An. 800, the school of the Persians
was eradicated from Edessa. 74. An. 809, the (tribute of) gold was remitted to the
artificers in all the land, in the month Iyar (May). 75. And on the sixth in the month
Haziran (June), Cyrus, bishop of Edessa, rested, and Peter became (bishop) in his stead,
and he entered Edessa on the twelfth of Elul (September) of the same year.

76. An. 810, many locusts appeared, but did no great damage that year: but the herbage
grew again. And there was a great earthquake. And the warm bath of the Iberians failed
three days. And the city of Nicopolis was overthrown, and buried in it all its
inhabitants, save the temple, and the bishop, and two Syncelli (sons of his cell). And a
sign that was like a spear appeared in heaven many days, in the month Canun the latter
(January). 77. Now Anastasius the king deposed Euphemius, bishop of Constantinople, from
his place, and Macedon became bishop in his stead. 78. An. 811, many locusts came and
destroyed and devoured all the produce. 79. An. 813, a great fire appeared on the side of
the north, which blazed all night on the twenty-second of Ab (August). 80. An. 814,
Cavades, king of the Persians, encamped against Amida, a city of Beth Naharotha
(Mesopotamia), on the fifth day in the month Tishrin the former (October), and fought with
it, and took it in ninety-seven days.

81. And in the month Elul (September) of that year, he came and encamped against Edessa,
and by the grace of God, did it no harm, except that he burnt the house of Mar Sergius and
the northern basilica of Beth-maudiné (the House of Confessors, see above, No. 18.) 82.
An. 821, Peter, bishop of Edessa, rested on the day of the Sabbath of the resurrection
(Saturday, April 10, 510 A.D.), and Paul was appointed instead of him. 83. And in the year
twenty-one of the reign of Anastus (Anastasius), he commanded them to open the coffin of
Euphemia the martyr, and to bring forth from thence the book which the synod that was
assembled at Chalcedon had put there, and to burn it; and there came forth fire from
thence, and smote upon the faces of those who wished to bring it out, and because of this
Anastasius refrained from taking it away from thence and burning it.

84. But he removed Macedon, the bishop of Constantinople, because he did not anathematize
the synod, and Timothy became (bishop) instead of him. 85. And in the twenty-fourth of the
same Anastasius Vitalian rebelled against him. 86. An. 829, in the month Tammuz (July), on
the ninth, Anastasius the king departed from the world, and Justin became (king) in his
stead. 87. And in the second year of the reign of Justin, which was An. 830, he thrust out
of Antioch Severus, and Xenaias from Mabug, and everybody that received not the four
synods. 88. Now such was the care and concern of the friend of God, king Justinian, that
he wrote in the diptychs of the church the four holy synods, that is to say, that of
Nicea, and that of Constantinople, and the first of Ephesus, and that of Chalcedon. 89.
And in An. 831 came the patrician (or Patricius) to Edessa to remove Paul in the month
Tishrin the latter (November) on the fourth, and he urged him to do one of two things,
either to receive the synod and continue on his seat, or if he would not be persuaded he
would remove him from his seat. But he was not persuaded to do one of these, but fled and
went in and stayed in the House of Baptism. Now when the patrician (or Patricius) saw that
he was unpersuaded to do one of these, and was afraid of the command of the king, he was
compelled to remove him from the House of Baptism, and conveyed him to Seleucia. And when
the king heard that he had taken him from the House of Baptism, he commanded that he
should return to his seat, in hope that he would repent and receive the synod. And Paul
re-entered his seat in forty-four days, and he was a long time without receiving the
synod, and when the king saw that he was not persuaded, he sent him to Euchata. And Paul
departed from Edessa on Tammuz (July) 27, of the year 833, and Asclepius was (bishop)
instead of him, and entered Edessa on the 23rd of Tishrin the former (October), of the
year 834, three months after Paul the bishop departed from Edessa.

90. And in the month Canun the former (December), on the 24th in it, after the entering of
Asclepius the bishop to Edessa, he expelled the Oriental monks, and all the monks their
allies who were like them, because they did not consent to the synod of Chalcedon. 91. And
in the year 836 many waters entered Edessa, the fourth time, and broke down the walls of
it, and overturned its dwellings and drowned its children, and made in it much
destruction. 92. And through this circumstance Asclepius fled from Edessa, and went up to
Antioch the city to Euphrasius the patriarch, and he was there, more or less, seventy
days, and he died there in Antioch on the 27th in the month Haziran of that year, and was
buried there in Antioch. And on the 4th in the month Elul of the same year they brought
his body from Antioch and buried it at Beth Mar Barlaha, by Mar Nonnus the bishop.

93. And when Paul heard that Asclepius was dead he repented and offered a petition to Mar
Justinian the patrician (Patricius), and he made also a libellum to Euphrasius the
patriarch, and because of the libellum that he made, and because of the epistle of the
illustrious and friend of God, Mar Justinian the patrician (Patricius), he was returned
and restored to his seat, and he entered Edessa on the 8th in Adar (March) of the year
837, eight months after the death of Asclepius. 94. Now Paul the bishop lived after he
returned to his seat the third time, eight months minus eight days; and on the 30th in the
month Tishrin the former (October) of the year 838 Paul the bishop rested. 95. And Andreas
became (bishop) in his stead, and entered Edessa on the 7th of the month Shebat of the
same year 838. 96. And in the year 837 in the month Iyar (May), on the 29th in it on
Friday at the seventh hour, there was a great and violent earthquake, and there fell by it
much of Antioch, and overwhelmed its children, and suffocated its inhabitants.

97. And in that earthquake died also Euphrasius the patriarch, and was buried under the
houses, and as they say he was crying out all day beneath the houses. Now after him
Ephraim of Amida became bishop in Antioch, who had been Comes of the East. 98. An. 838 on
day 1 in the month of Nisan, Mar Justinian became Caesar, and on the 10th in the month Ab
of the same year king Justinian (Justin) rested, and Mar Justinian reigned alone. 99. And
in An. 839, in the month Tishrin the latter, on the 15th in it, a great fire happened at
Antioch, and burned much of what remained from the earthquake; but whence the origin of
the fire remains unknown. 100. An. 842, in the month Tammuz, came down Mar Demosthenes to
Edessa to command the Roman forces. 101. And in the month Canun the former of An. 843, on
the 18th in the month, the Huns entered the Roman territory, and plundered and wasted as
far as the country of the Alepponians, and to the dodecaton [twelfth milestone] from
Antioch. And through this affliction Mar Demosthenes fell sick and died at the city of
Tela, on the 10th in the month Canun the latter of the same year.

102. And in An. 843, in the month Elul of the same year, Mar Rufinus the patrician made
peace between the Persians and the Romans, and this peace was prolonged to the year 851.
103. And in An. 844, in the month Canun the former in that year, Mar Andreas, bishop,
departed from the world, and he was deposited at Mar Barlaha's by the bones of Mar Nonnus
and Mar Asclepius; and Addi became bishop instead of him, and entered Edessa on the 28th
in the month Ab of An. 844. 104. In An. 13 of the reign of Justinian, which was the year
850, indiction deutra (the second), a sign like a spear appeared in heaven on the 5th of
Tishrin the former (October). 105. And in the same year in the month Iyar (May) Chosroes
king of the Persians broke the peace, and crossed over to the territory of the Romans, and
laid waste Shura, and Haleb (Aleppo) and Antioch, and also took possession of Apamea, and
turned and came as far as Edessa, but by the grace of God protecting it, he did no harm in
it; but the great men of the city brought out to him, and he took away two centenaria
(hundreds of pounds or talents) of gold, and he returned to his place.

106. As we learn from the former histories, behold the waters have four times broken down
the walls of the blessed [city] and overthrown its towers, and choked its children, since
Messiah ascended to his glorious Father. The first time its walls were broken down was in
the days of Severus the king of the Romans, which was An. 513, by the reckoning of the
Ionians (Greeks), in the month Tishrin the latter. And the second time its walls were
broken down was in the days of Diocletian the king, which was the year 614 in the month
Iyar. And the third time its walls were broken down was in the days of Honorius and
Theodosius the illustrious kings, which was. An. 724 in the month Adar, on the 18th in it,
on the 3rd in the week (Tuesday), when Mar Rabula had become bishop in Edessa. And the
fourth time they were broken down was in the days of Justin the king, which was the year
836, when Asclepius had become bishop in Edessa.


THE SYRIAC CHRONICLE
====================

THE SYRIAC CHRONICLE Pseudo-Zachariah of Mitylene

c. AD 569

This chronicle was put together in Syriac in AD 569. Its middle books are an abridgement
of the lost Greek church history of Zachariah Rhetor, and the later books carry on to the
reign of Justinian. It is the chief source for the Monophysite side of the controversy
over Chalcedon. The English is that of F. J. Hamilton and E. W. Brooks (1899). Book XI and
the first chapters of Book XII are lost.

BOOK I

A Volume of Records of Events which Have Happened in the World — Book I

THE first chapter, an apology for undertaking the work. The second chapter, an epistle
containing a request with regard to the table of generations in the book of Genesis. The
third chapter, a defence of the table of generations in the matter of the chronological
canons, which are set down below. The fourth chapter, an epistle containing a request with
regard to the translation of the Greek book of Asyath, which was found in the library of
the house of Beruya, the bishops from the city of Rhesaina. The fifth chapter, an answer
to the epistle. The sixth chapter, a translation of the book of Asyath. The seventh
chapter, a translation of "Silvester, Patriarch of Rome," relating the conversion and
baptism of Constantine, the believing king, and the disputations of the Jewish doctors.
The eighth chapter, the revelation of the repository of the bones of Stephen and Nicodemus
and Gamaliel and Habib his son.

The ninth chapter, about Isaac and Dodo, the Syriac doctors. THE FIRST CHAPTER MEN who
were moved like irrational beasts (and they were merely animal) by foul habits and wicked
customs and brutal instincts and earthly life and evil tradition handed down from one to
another, in the eager pursuit of passions, in the corruption of the flesh, and in the
impure desires of the body, men whom the Scripture named flesh, saying, "My spirit shall
not dwell with men for ever, for that they are flesh"; whom Solomon also calls ungodly,
saying, "Ungodly men with their words and with their works called upon death and thought
it their friend ; and they melted away and sware and made a covenant with it, because they
are worthy to be part of it. For they said in themselves (and they did not reason aright),
'Our life is short and in sorrow, and there is no further remedy at the death of a man,
and no man hath appeared who hath been released from Hades. For we were suddenly born, and
hereafter we shall return to be as though we had never been : for the breath in our
nostrils is as smoke,and reason as a spark stirred in our heart;

which being extinguished, our body shall be as ashes, and the breath shall be scattered
abroad as thin air, and our name shall be forgotten after a time, and no man shall
remember our works, and our life shall pass away as the trace of clouds, and as a mist
that is driven away before the beams of the sun, and its heat is heavy upon it. For our
life is a shadow that passeth away, and there is no remedy at our death: for it is sealed,
and there is none that returneth. Come on therefore, let us enjoy these good things: and
let us speedily use the creatures in our youth. Let us fill ourselves with choice wine and
ointments : and let no blossom of the air pass by us: let us crown ourselves with the
flowers of the rose-tree before it be withered : and let none of us be without
voluptuousness until our old age ; and in every place let us leave a token of our
voluptuousness : for this is our portion and this is our inheritance' " ;these did as
Moses bears witness: "The whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. And it came
to pass, when they removed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Sin'ar ;
and they dwelt there. And they said, each man to his fellow, 'Go to, let us cast bricks
and burn them with fire.' And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar.

And they said, 'Go to, let us build us a town and a tower whose top may reach unto heaven
; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the earth.'" And they toiled
and built zealously, and laboured in vain at the tower. And yet again the tribes of Reuben
and Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh, when they turned back from the rest of the tribes
of their brethren, who had taken possession of the land of promise, and came to Gilgal by
the side of Jordan in the land of Kh'na'an, built there with stones which they collected a
great altar to see to by the side of Jordan. And, when the rest of the tribes heard of it,
Phineas the son of Eli'azar the priest and the chiefs of the congregation, the captains of
the hosts of Israel, came to them and inquired at their hands concerning this; and they
returned them answer, "It is that it may be a witness between us and you, that your
children may not say to our children in time to come, 'What have ye to do with the Lord
God of Israel, ye children of Reuben and children of Gad ? For behold ! the Lord God hath
set a border between us and you, even this Jordan.' And we said, 'Let us take us occasion
and build us an altar, not for sacrifice, nor for offering, but for a witness between us
and you, and between our generations after us.'"

And again Gideon, after he had overthrown the Mid-ianites, spread a garment and asked each
man for the earrings of the prey which the men with him had gathered ; and the weight of
the earrings that he asked was a thousand and seven hundred measures of weight: and Gideon
took them and made thereof a lufro, and put it in his village, even in 'Ofrah : and the
children of Israel went astray after it, and it became a snare to Gideon and to his house.
And again the mother of Micah of Mount Ephraim, she also received eleven hundred measures
of silver from her son, and made a graven image and a molten image. And again Abshalom the
son of David "in his lifetime reared up for himself an image in the dale of the kings :
for he said, 'I have no one to keep my name in remembrance': and he called the image after
his name : and it was called 'Abshalom's hand,' unto this day." And Methodius also, bishop
of Olympus and martyr, in the work which he addressed to Aglaophon concerning the
resurrection of the dead, tells a story about Phidias, a craftsman and sculptor, who
wrought an ivory statue, beautiful to behold, and, in order that it might last a long time
and not be destroyed or spoilt, poured oil under its feet and anointed the rest of the
sculpture.

And we see images of divers persons in divers places, and we find records written on
papyrus concerning divers events which have happened in the world, and statues set up to
preserve the memory and extol the merits of those who are dead. How just and right is it
therefore for the discreet and earnest to see that the rest of the events which have
occurred from time to time after those chronicled in the three Ecclesiastical Histories of
Eusebius, Socrates, and Theodoret, which are scattered about and not collected in one
book, are, as far as is possible, collected together from epistles or manuscripts or
trustworthy reports and set down for the benefit of the believers and of those who care
for right instruction and mental excellence! May the recording of them have the help of
Christ our God, to whom we pray that He will give us wisdom and eloquence, that without
confusion we may write the true account of the things which have happened !

Now, since in the Syriac manuscripts of the table of generations in Genesis there is a
certain variation and divergence from the Greek, and no small deficiency in the number of
years, it is right for us and in harmony with our work and reasonable that it should begin
with the book of Genesis, and after this should continue with the book of Asyath, and
after that with that of Silvester and the conversion of Constantine the king and his
baptism, with regard to which Eusebius has failed to give an accurate account and Socrates
has missed the truth (for the king was not baptized at the end of his life, as he wrote,
since the story of his conversion by Silvester is also preserved in writing and in
pictures at Rome in several places, as those who have been there and come to us have seen
and tell), and further concerning the revelation of the repository of the bones of Stephen
and his companions, and concerning Isaac and Dodo, the Syriacdoctors.

And here we will end the first book; and afterwards, from such sources as we can find, we
will write about the succeeding events in books and in the chapters contained in them
severally, as written below, from the thirty-second year of Theodosius the son of Arcadius
to the year 880 of the Greeks. Now we beg that the readers or hearers will not blame us,
if we do not call the kings victorious and mighty, and the generals valiant and astute,
and the bishops pious and blessed, and the monks chaste and of honourable character,
because it is our object to relate facts, following in the footsteps of the Holy
Scriptures, and it is not our intention on our own account to praise and extol rulers with
flattering words, or to revile and insult with rebuke those who believe differently,
provided only we do not find something of the kind in the manuscripts and epistles which
we are about to translate.

[Note to the online edition: nothing is said here in the printed text, but the
introduction indicates that chapters 2-8 have been omitted as containing only derivative
material]

Chapter IX

THIS CHAPTER TELLS ABOUT THE SYRIAC DOCTORS, ISAAC AND DODO, WHO LIVED IN THE DAYS OF THE
BELIEVING KINGS ARCADIUS AND THEODOSIUS ISAAC the teacher, a native of Syria, issued forth
from one of the monastic dwellings of the West; and he in his diligence went up to Rome,
and he also travelled to other cities. And he had books which were full of profitable
teaching, containing all kinds of comments upon the Sacred Scriptures, following Ephraim
and his disciples. And Dodo also was a worthy monk of Samkè, a town belonging to the
district of Amida. And on account of the captivity and famine which occurred in his days
in that country, he was sent by the chiefs of the people to the king ; and he proved
himself very acceptable. And this man also had, as it appears to us, about three hundred
works, more or less, upon every matter taken from the Divine Scriptures, and concerning
holy men, and hymns.

[Note to the online edition: footnotes have been moved to the end. Footnotes concerned
only with bits of Syriac and Greek have been omitted because of the time it would take to
transcribe it.] 1. Cf. ch. 4 (p. 15, 1. 24, L.), "in the library of the memorable bishops
who were called the family of the house of Beruya from the city of Rhesaina, in the
possession of a lad of their kin named Mor'abdo . . ., I found a little book . . . called
the book of Asyath." 2. Gen. vi. 3. 3. Wisd. i. 16-ii. 9. 4. Gen. xi. 1-4. 5. Josh. xxii.
9-27. 6. Judg. viii. 24-27. 7. Judg. xvii. 1-4. 8. 2 Sam. xviii. 18. 9. Method. ap. Epiph.
Haer. lxiv. 18, Phot. Bibl. Cod. 234. 10. I.e. Eusebius; but perhaps we should read
[Syriac], "they wrote". 11. 569. The same date is given in ch. 3 ad fin.

12. . Cf. Socr. bk. 6, praef.

BOOK II

THE BEGINNING OF THE SECOND BOOK AFTER the Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius of Caesarea,
both Socrates and Theodoret, in the treatises which they successively composed, reaching
down to the thirty-second year of the reign of Theodosius the Less, wrote for the memory
and profit of the prudent, as best they were able, accounts of the transactions and
matters that occurred in various places, which they were diligent in learning from the
volumes, and letters, and records,and words of living speakers, that they examined. And
accordingly I also, insignificant though I be, am beginning to write, as you asked me, for
the instruction of the brethren, and for the gratification of the lovers of doctrine, and
for the confirmation of believers, Christ our Lord and God consenting and aiding and
giving the word of power—by your great advice, diligent brother, and while you pray that I
may write the truth with eloquence without confusion or cause for blame.

For when, making a commencement of this treatise of the second Book, I am relating, as
concisely as possible, without prolonging the discourse or being wearisome to the reader
or tedious to the hearer, what I was able to discover from records and Acts or from
letters,—truth that was carefully examined,— I shall set down here the truth of the
resurrection, which took place in the days of Theodosius the king, of the bodies of the
seven youths who were in a cave in the district of Ephesus, and the Syriac records ; both
to keep them in the memory of the saints and for the glory of God, Who is able to do all
things. And then I shall set down briefly in the form of chapters, so that the account may
not be enlarged of the events of one period which we write in detail in the Acts that are
found in every place, what happened during the ten remaining years of the life of
Theodosius, but in this Book I am writing them so to speak—what happened in Constantinople
respecting Eutyches the archimandrite and Flavian the chief priest, and the Synod of
thirty-one bishops and twenty-two archimandrites who met together and who brought about
the deprivation of Eutyches ; and also respecting the second Synod which was held in
Ephesus concerning Flavian in the days of Dioscorus and Juvenalis and Domnus, and the one
hundred and twenty-eight bishops who were with them.

And then I begin with the third Book.

Chapter 2. The Heresy of Eutyches the Presbyter, and his Deprivation

There was, in the days of king Theodosius, one Eutyches, a presbyter and archimandrite, a
recluse belonging to those who dwell in Constantinople. This man was visited by many (who
resorted to him ostensibly on account of his chastity and piety) who happened to be in the
city, and especially by the soldiers of the palace, who were lovers of doctrine. For at
that time Nestorius, who was ejected, was being justly reviled because of his filthy
doctrine. This Nestorius it was who held and taught base opinions respecting the
Incarnation of God the Word ; and he imagined that the two Natures existed separately in
Christ our God after the union ; and he held the precedence of the infant who was
conceived and formed in the Virgin, whom he also called Jesus and Christ; and he thought
that God the Word at length descended upon Him, views scarcely differing from those of
Paul of Samosata, and much the same as the teaching of the school of Diodorus, which he
studied, accepted, and loved; but he lightly and without compunction refused to call the .
ever-virgin, holy Mary, by the title "Theotokos," even though the true doctors who were
before him, Athanasius and Gregory and Basil and Julius, and the others, had so called her
; and, moreover, he also censured them, as the letter testifies which he wrote from Oasis
to the clergy and citizens. Whereupon, many being disturbed by his doctrine, a Synod,
consisting of one hundred and ninety-three bishops, was assembled at Ephesus ;

and it carefully examined his teaching ; and it called upon him three times, according to
the canonical rule of the Church, to apologise and to censure his own interpretations, and
at length to confess Jesus to be God the Word Who became incarnate, one Person and one
Nature, as the doctors of the holy Church teach. But he would not consent, as also
Socrates relates in the short account which he wrote of him, and which is fully told in
the original Acts.Consequently his deprivation took place in the days of Celestine, Cyril,
and Juvenalis, before the arrival of John of Antioch and his attendant bishops, who were
delayed. It was somewhere about this time that Eutyches, wishing to affirm the one Nature
in Christ, rejected the truth of the body derived from the Virgin, which God the Word took
in her and from her. And in the conversation which he held with those who came together to
him, this same Eutyches affirmed an inaccurate dogma, not having been well instructed. But
he taught many that (the Word became flesh) as the atmosphere assumes bodily form and
becomes rain or snow under the influence of the wind, or as water by reason of the cold
air becomes ice. And when the report of his vile teaching was published abroad it was
investigated by Eusebius of Dorylaeum, who happened to be in the city; and he informed
Flavian, the chief priest, concerning it, and he gave him an indictment. And he was called
upon three times by thirty-one bishops who were there and twenty-two. archimandrites, to
come forward and apologise for his opinions, and abjure them, and make a written statement
of the true confession. And at first, indeed, he would not do so, at one time saying that
it was his fixed determination to remain in perpetual seclusion, and again, that he was
sick, and had a cough, and was old; (and he made these excuses) relying upon the aid of
the soldiers of the palace, who were his friends. Now the king heard of these matters. But
at last, when his deprivation was decreed to take place, he was compelled to appear before
the council of bishops ; however, he did not recant his doctrine with whole-hearted
sincerity, but kept on saying, "Just as you teach two Natures in Christ, so do I say."

And, behold ! all these things are written expressly, one after another, in lengthened
discourse in the Acts of that Council. However, that we may not make our narrative too
long, but may compress much into small compass, as the wise man says, we refrain from
relating them again in detail and writing them down here. Then his deprivation took place.
Now in the accusations against him and in the interlocutions,and more especially in what
was said by Eusebius of Dorylaeum when contending with him, the two Natures after the
union were expressly taught in conformity with the doctrine of Nestorius. And the
interlocution of Flavian set forth the same views. And Eutyches, rejecting the party of
Flavian and Eusebius, who deposed him, sent a libel to Rome to Leo, who was the chief
priest there, begging that these matters should be investigated in another Synod ; with
regard to which libel he received a reply. And when the party of Flavian heard it they
also wrote, and sent the Acts of the Council concerning Eutyches to Leo. And the latter
wrote to Flavian the letter called the Tome, in which there are many heads that have been
condemned by the dogmatic doctors; which also were censured at that time by Dioscorus and
his followers, and again by Timothy the Great, who was with him, and by many treatises of
others, which we omit to mention again here and to write down.

Chapter 3

THE THIRD CHAPTER GIVES AN ACCOUNT IN CONCISE TERMS OF THE SECOND SYNOD WHICH WAS HELD IN
EPHESUS, ABOUT THE MATTER OF FLAVIAN THE CHIEF PRIEST AND EUTYCHES THE MONK Accordingly a
Synod was convened, the second in Ephesus, about the matter of Flavian and Eutyches; and
it was held in the presence of the legates of Leo, who were sent with his letter. And the
bishops came together there to the number of one hundred and eighty-eight, the chief
rulers among them being Dioscorus of Alexandria, and Juvenalis of Jerusalem, and Domnus of
Antioch. And the contents of the Acts of the Constantinopolitan Council concerning
Eutyches were examined; and Flavian and Eusebius were ejected. And an outcry was raised by
the bishops who were there ; and they anathematised every one who would say, " There are
two Natures in Christ after the union." But a question was also raised again there about
what Theodoret of Cyrrhus wrote censuring the twelve Heads which Cyril drew up against
Nestorius, who was previously banished ; and about the letter of Hibo of Edessa which he
wrote to Moris of Nisibis in opposition to Cyril and in favour of Nestorius ; and about
what he said in his interpretations concerning Jesus Christ and Mary, as his own deacons,
who were his accusers, testified. And besides these the partisans of John of Gaios and
others were deposed. But Eutyches the archimandrite was received, because he presented a
libel of recantation to the Synod, which was held there in Ephesus, and confessed the true
faith. But the Synod appointed Anatolius as bishop of Constantinople in the room of
Flavian, and then dispersed.

Chapter 4

THE FOURTH CHAPTER DESCRIBES THE REGULAR SUCCESSION OF THE CHIEF PRIESTS WHO HELD OFFICE
FROM THE FIRST SYNOD OF EPHESUS TO THE DEATH OF KING THEODOSIUS, IN THE DAYS OF
VALENTINUS,WHO WAS SUCCEEDED BY MARCIAN, THE CONVENER OF THE SYNOD OF CHALCEDON IN
BITHYNIA, WHICH MET IN THE YEAR SEVEN HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FOUR OF THE GREEK ERA OF ALEXANDER
With respect to the regular succession of the chief priests from the first Synod of
Ephesus to the death of Theodosius, it is pertinent to our subject to relate who they
were. In Rome, after Celestine, Leo was bishop for twenty-one years and forty-three days ;
and in Alexandria, after Cyril, Dioscorus was bishop for eight years and three months. And
in Constantinople, Maximus for two years and two months ; and after him, Proclus for two
years and two months; and after him, Flavian for six years ; and after him, Anatolius for
eight years. In Antioch, Domnus was bishop after John ; and after him Maximus. And in
Jerusalem, Juvenalis was bishop for thirty-six years, who, holding the same position, was
present at the three Synods, because the time of his years was protracted.

Chapter 5. The Letter of Proclus, Chief Priest of Constantinople, to the Armenians. It is
a Very Excellent Letter, Showing the Faith of the Man ; and to Preserve it in Memory We
Have Transcribed it Here for the Benefit of the Believing Brothers the Letter of Proclus

"Beloved, the mystery of the true faith is true love, and the pure undoubting confession
of the Trinity equal, undivided, and susceptible of no addition ; and a mind not varying
in its state, but steadfast in its faith towards God. That is the faith which we do not
possess on tables of stone, as in the type, but receive on the tables of our hearts, as in
a mystery; tables (I say) which are nailed to the cross, and are inscribed with the
sprinkling of the blood of God. And it is right for us not only to believe, but also to
follow earnestly after virtues and morals worthy of the faith. For virtue is to be chosen
by everyone, especially by those whose beauty of soul has not been corrupted by a hateful
life of lusts. There are indeed many kinds of virtue. For even the heathen, drowned in
error and lost in mind, wrote memorable things concerning this virtue. But as for this
nature which is visible and flows on without cessation, they only felt after it in their
written teaching. But either their sight was dim from length of time, or they were blinded
by error, so as to hinder them from the perception of the truth and from real virtue. For
they say in their teaching that there are four kinds of virtue, namely, justice, self-
restraint, wisdom, and fortitude; which things, though they are to be highly accounted,
yet are exercised here below and have their sphere upon the earth.

They say, indeed, that fortitude is the contest with fierce nature, and self-restraint the
triumph over the passions, and wisdom the distinguished government of cities, and justice
right division. And thus they ordered and arranged the world, according to that which is
in the law, and they defined wickedness on both sides. However, anything superior to and
transcending this visible scene they did not understand, nor were they able to describe it
in writing. But with the blindness of their mind they have contracted virtue itself, and
have shut it up within what is visible alone. The Christians, however, by whose own faith
the eyes of their heart have been enlightened, whose master and teacher is the blessed
Paul, have declared that to be virtue which lifts us up to God, and which governs in
orderly fashion the things that are on earth. This most illustrious Paul, then, considered
that there were many kinds of virtue; but he especially preached about these three,
namely, faith, hope, and love. For faith gives to men something which transcends human
nature, and causes that fleshly nature, as yet encompassed by many passions, to hold
converse with spiritual beings. For the knowledge of that which angels and spiritual hosts
did not know on account of its sublimity, faith imparts to men, who walk upon the earth
and wallow in the dust, and it brings them near to the Throne of the Kingdom, and it tells
them of that Nature which is without beginning and without end ;

and by the rays of light which it diffuses, it drives away darkness of thought from the
soul; and when it has cleared off all gloom and denseness from the heart, then it causes
that to be clearly seen which is comprehended in its invisibility, and also is seen in its
incomprehensibility. But hope shows things to come in the present, not as in a dream, one
can say, but forcibly; and, without a doubt, confirms in the mind that which is future as
if it were actually seen ; and it forms before a man's eyes, so to speak, what he is still
expecting. For this hope is superior to every restraint, and brings near, without delay,
the thing expected to him who is expecting it. "But love is the chief of all our
mysteries, for it persuaded God the Word, though He is always on the earth, near to all
and with all (heaven and earth being filled by Him), to become incarnate and come by means
of the flesh. And, being God, He became also man; He retained that which properly belonged
to Himself on His own part, and He became like us on our part. These two then agree
together, for faith is the mirror of love, and love is the completion of faith. We
believe, therefore, that God the Word became incarnate without undergoing any change; and
we rightly so believe, for this is the foundation of our salvation. For His nature
receives no change, nor does it cause any addition to the Trinity. Thus indeed do we also
ourselves believe.

"Every Christian, therefore, who is not rich in faith, hope, and love, is not what he is
named ; but even though he seem to have subdued his flesh and to have delivered himself
from the passions of his soul, he is not meet for the crown of victory, inasmuch as he
maintains the outward appearance of virtue, but he is not united to Him who crowns the
conquerors that have resolutely contended on behalf of virtue in faith and hope and love.
Faith, then, according to what we have said,is the chief of all blessings; let it
therefore be kept without guile, and let us not tarnish it by the falsehood of human
thoughts, neither let us toss it about in the midst of confusing voices, nor by the
explanations of those who are reputed to be wise: for faith is not to be explained ; faith
is a mystery. Let it then remain within the limits of the Gospel of the apostles; and let
no man dare to contend in his explanation with this faith by which he is saved, and which
he confessed in baptism by the signature of his tongue. For this lofty height of faith has
repelled every attack and all vaunting and rashness, not of man only, but also of every
spiritual nature.

And the blessed Paul testifies, crying out, 'If we or an angel from heaven should preach
anything beside what ye have received, let him be accursed,' For the angel has been
appointed to minister and not to preach doctrine, and he brings punishment upon any who
does not remain in his allotted station, but seeks after what is too high for his nature ;
but even though he displays the exaltation of his nature, let not the novelty of his
preaching be received. Let us then guard what we have received with sleepless care; and by
the bright shining of our faith let the eye of our soul be always open. But what have we
received from the Divine Scriptures except this, that God by His word created the world
out of nothing and brought the creation, which had no previous existence, into being; and
made man in His own image and likeness, and honoured him by the law of nature ; and gave
him the commandment when he was in a state of freedom ; and showed him how to help
himself, that by the choice of the good he should flee from the evil; and the propensity
of man being biassed towards the evil expelled disobedience from Paradise? And again, by
the fathers and patriarchs, and by the Law, the judges, and the prophets, our Creator
instructed our nature, that we should keep far away from sin, and should concern ourselves
about the good and do it.

And at last when sin established its kingdom over us by our own will, because the law of
nature had been corrupted on its part,and the written law had been despised, and the
prophets, after the manner of men, brought deeds to remembrance but did not raise up our
fleshly humanity from the depth of the evils, God the Word Himself, even He who is without
beginning and without end, incomprehensible, invisible, and almighty, God the Word (I say)
came and became incarnate ; for He could be whatsoever He willed. God the Word then, Who
is one of the Trinity, became incarnate; but He became incarnate because He so willed. And
wishing to show everywhere that He was really man, He was born from the Virgin. For the
evangelist did not say that He entered into a perfect man, but that He 'became flesh,'
meaning thereby His natural beginning and referring to the origin of His birth. For just
as a man who is naturally born does not come forth complete in the perfection of active
power all at once, but the seed of the nature at first becomes a body, and afterwards,
little by little, at length attains the strength of the passions and of the whole active
power; so God the Word went to meet the origin and root of the birth.

God the Word then became perfect man, and He did not take away anything from His own
unchangeable nature by the miracle which He wrought—a miracle which did not enter into the
heart of man to conceive, but which we learn by faith and have not comprehended by
investigation. And having become man, He saved by His flesh the whole human race, and He
paid the debt of sin, in that He died as man for all men; but as God the hater of evil, He
destroyed him that had the evil power of death, that is, Satan. But He showed the
capability of the Law by fulfilling all righteousness. And He gave to our nature its
pristine beauty ; and by becoming man He honoured the nature which was derived from the
earth, and showed Himself to be its Creator. There is therefore one Son, for we worship
the Trinity in unity, and we do not introduce a fourth into this number; but there is one
Son, begotten from the Father, without beginning and without end, through whom we believe
that the worlds were made, He Who was from that root, He Who without flux sprang from the
Father; that same God the Word Who, without change of place, issues from the Father, yet
remaining as He is. For although He became man and appeared on the earth, yet He did not
depart from Him who begat Him.

"God the Word therefore wished to save the being whom He created ; and He dwelt in the
womb which is the gate of the universal nature of all, and He revived and blessed the
womb, and by issuing forth from it He sealed it. And by His supernatural birth He showed
that He became incarnate in a manner transcending reason; for there are none among the
beings above and beneath who know how He became incarnate. There is not, then, one who is
Christ and another who is God the Word (away with such a thought!), for the divine nature
does not know two sons; He therefore was begotten the only One from One; for where there
is not copulation of parents, there duality of the offspring is not possible. 'In the name
of Jesus Christ,' indeed, 'every knee shall bow, of things in heaven and on earth, and of
things under the earth.' For if Christ is another and not God the Word, then of necessity
Christ must be mere man ; and how can the exalted nature of heavenly beings bow the knee
and worship His Name, if He be not God of God ? or how shall we receive the voices of
prophets, crying, 'God appeared upon earth and held converse with men'? For concerning His
Incarnation it is said, 'He appeared,' and the expression, 'He held converse,' is used
concerning His converse which He displayed with men in the end of the ages. For thus He
that is exalted in greatness showed His almighty power; and as the universal Ruler to Whom
everything is easy, He remained what He was on His own part, and became what He willed for
us.

"But if the swaddling clothes, and the lying in the manger, and the growth of the body,
and the sleeping in the ship, and the weariness on the journey, and the occasional hunger,
and all those things which happened to Him Who was truly man, be a cause of stumbling to
some persons, let them know that if they be in doubt concerning His sufferings, they deny
the dispensation; but when they deny the dispensation they do not believe in the
Incarnation, but when they do not believe in the Incarnation they lose their own lives.
For if from the foundation of the world a man was not born who trod a way of birth like
this, let these new Jewish wranglersshow it, and then indeed their troublesome contention
will be disclosed. But if this is the universal beginning of nature, and God the Word
truly became man, how then, while confessing with us the dispensation, do they deny the
sufferings ? Let them therefore choose for themselves one of two things: either let them
by denying the sufferings deny also the dispensation and be reckoned among the ungodly;
or, if they accept the benefit which is derived from the dispensation, let them not be
ashamed of the sufferings. I am amazed indeed at the blindness of their heart, who by a
newly invented way have trodden the path that leads to error. For I myself know and have
rightly learned from the Holy Scriptures only one Son ;

and I believe in one nature of God the Word Who became man, and the same endured the
sufferings and wrought the miracles, Who was begotten from His Father before all things,
and became incarnate in the end of the ages, and was born from Mary, the Theotokos. And we
confess that He is God over all, and we introduce no foreign element into the nature of
the Deity, for no addition is possible to the Trinity in Unity; but the same Lord Jesus
Christ, by Whom were all things, also endured our sufferings and carried our infirmities,
as the prophet says; and He, being the same, wrought the miracles and suffered in our
stead. "But perhaps in their contention these new Jews will strive with us, inventing
thoughts weaker than a spider's web, and say that if indeed the Trinity be one essence
then the Trinity is without suffering; and our Lord Jesus Christ is reckoned in the
Trinity, and He is God the Word, therefore He is without suffering; consequently He Who
was crucified must be another, and not God the Word Who is without suffering. Truly they
who speak in this fashion are weaving the texture of a spider's web, and they who
excogitate these new definitions are writing upon water; and 'thinking themselves to be
wise they have become foolish, and their silly heart is darkened.' For the eye, which has
been dazzled by the brilliant light of the sun, cannot see clearly; and the mind that is
sick cannot receive the sublimity of the faith.

"What then do we say ? That, so far as the Godhead is concerned, the Trinity is one
essence, and is exalted above all sufferings. And when we say that the Son suffered, we do
not mean that He suffered according to Nature, for His Nature is above sufferings. But in
confessing that God the Word, one of the Trinity, became incarnate, we give a reason for
the understanding of those who in faith ask us why He became incarnate. Because man who
was formed in the image of God, and to whom imperial freedom was given, erred in this
freedom, and was led by the counsel of the deceiver; and he gave himself up to error, and
he became the slave of lustful passions—passions all of which exercise dominion over a
composite being—passions whose end is death—passions which none among the created beings
is able to destroy. God the Word willed to destroy those passions whose end is death. He
willed, indeed, to become incarnate and to be a composite being ; that is, a perfect man
in all points like us, sin only excepted; because it was not possible for that Nature,
which is incorruptible, intangible, and invisible, to receive passions, for all passions
are struggles of all composite beings. For with that exalted Nature of the Godhead, which
alone is uplifted high above all things, there is no composition ; passion therefore was
unable to enter where composition could not be.

God the Word then willed to destroy the passions which reign over nature subject to
passions (as we said before) whose citadel was death; and He became flesh from the Virgin,
in a manner that He, God the Word, knew; and He became man perfectly, being at the same
time God over all. For He did not abandon what properly belonged to Him when He became
like us; but being God, He became man, for such was His will. He emptied Himself,
therefore, by His own will by taking the likeness of a slave, and He became man, and
suffered in our stead, by His own will, though His Godhead was not in any respect limited;
and thus He saved the whole human race. Wherefore Gabriel also, when announcing the might
and dominion of Him that should be born, said to Mary, 'He shall save His people from
their sins.'

"But the people are not the people of a man but of God, and a man cannot deliver the world
from sins, because he also entered into the world in a state of corruption. But
necessarily He is the same ; He is not divided into two (away with such a thought!) ; but
being one, by being born from a woman, He shows that He is truly man ; but by becoming man
without copulation, and preserving His mother's virginity, He declared Himself to be God.
The Lord Jesus Christ, therefore, Who came into the world and held converse with men, as
the Holy Scriptures testify, saved the world. Now, if Christ be man, and not God the Word,
how did He create everything in the beginning, when He Himself had no existence ? For if
man was later than the (other) created things, it is evident that this Christ also did not
bring into being what had existence before Him. How then does Paul cry, saying, 'There is
one Lord Christ, through Whom were all things'? For if all things were through Christ, it
is evident that Christ is God the Word. The evangelist also testifies, saying, 'In the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

He was in the beginning with God, and all things were by Him.' If, therefore, the
evangelist cries that all things were by the Word, and Paul, interpreting this expression,
says, There is one Lord Jesus Christ, by Whom were all things, it is evident that Christ
is God over all. But if the objectors bring forward to us the voices of the Scriptures, in
which He is called man, namely, that of Peter, who says, 'Jesus of Nazareth, a man'; and
of Paul, who says, 'By that man in Whom God has ordained that we should believe'; and of
our Lord Himself, Who says respecting Himself, 'Why do ye seek to kill Me, a man?' let
them know that either through their dulness they have been hindered from the understanding
of Scripture, or through their wickedness they are perverting what is well written,
according to their own deceitfulness. For also Christ is truly man ; but He became man,
not having been so before, but only God ; for just as He is uncreated God, so also He, the
same, is man, truly, personally, and certainly, without change and without any kind of
phantasy. And we do not confess that the body of our Lord is from heaven ; indeed we
excommunicate everyone who says so; but we confess that it is by the Holy Ghost and the
power of the Highest which overshadowed the holy Virgin Mary, the Theotokos. But if the
Virgin did not bear God, then she who remained undefiled is not deserving of admiration.

But if the voices of the prophets foretelling the incomprehensible nature of our mystery,
cried out, 'Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and they shall call His name
Immanuel, which is, God with us,' why do they take away from the glory of His mother,
seeing that He Who was born in lowly fashion is God over all ? But perhaps the objectors
will raise this objection, that truly every one who is born is of the same nature as the
mother who bore him ; if, then, she who bore him was human, it necessarily follows that he
who was born was human also. Ye say well, O vain babblers ! but then the child is of the
same nature as she whom the birth-pangs smite when he who is born comes according to the
natural course; however, the naturally-born child is corrupt from the beginning, because
copulation precedes corruption. But where this reproach did not even enter the mind, but
there was an ineffable miracle, the birth having been supernatural, there He that was born
was God. We confess Him to be the same who created the world, and gave the Law, and put
the Spirit in the prophets, and in the end of the times for the sake of the life and
salvation of men became incarnate and was made man ; and He inspired the apostles, and
sent them forth for the salvation of people and nations. Let us flee, then, my brothers,
from these troubled streams of error;

I mean the doctrines that fight against God—namely, from the mad folly of Arius, who was
dividing the indivisible Trinity; and from the rashness of Eunomius, who limited beneath
his science the incomprehensible nature; and from the frenzy of Macedonius, who would
sever from the Godhead the Spirit proceeding not departing; along with all the other
heretics lost in their error; but especially from this new doctrine and blasphemy
formulated by Nestorius, who far surpasses the Jews in his blasphemy. For those former
heretics were despising the everlasting Son, Who is from all eternity with the Father, and
depriving the root of its fruit; but these teachers of our day by their doctrine are
bringing in another in addition to Him Who is from all eternity, Who became man for our
salvation, so that they make a plurality of sons in that one and incorruptible Nature
which is from one essence. Let us say, then, with Paul, that Christ is He Who ' made both
one'; for of Jews and heathen through baptism, He has created one new man, and by His
power He made that one, which, through the exercise of its freedom was divided. Let these
impious teachers, then, dread the sentence of judgment if what was divided has been
brought into unity, but that one Person Who made both one is, after their manner of
reasoning, divided.

"But now we shall leave the multitude of words and come to the concise statement of true
doctrine. Whoever desires to know that the alone and only-begotten Son, Who was before the
life of Abraham—that the same became incarnate in the end of the times, let him ask Paul,
who thunders with his voice, declaring rightly that He Who was born from the Jews in the
flesh is the everlasting God ; for, while telling and declaring the contempt of the Jews
and the contention of the people with God, and the root which is the Father, and the seed
which is Christ our Lord, he says thus, 'Whose is the adoption'—for God cried through His
prophets, 'Israel is My son; My firstborn and My glory'; and indeed they reaped
immeasurable glories from the constant miracles and the covenants with Abraham, which told
of the multitude of the people and the blessings—'and the. giving of the law,'—that of
Mount Sinai, which was written by the finger of God,— 'and the promises,'—both the land of
Palestine and that in the seed of Abraham the nations should be blessed,—'whose are the
fathers,'—for in the night of error they arose and as stars of the,faith—'from whom Jesus
Christ appeared in the flesh, Who is God over all.' And he does not say this only and deem
it sufficient; for also indeed the beginning of God the Word, Who is without beginning and
without end, is not from the time of His birth by Mary. Who then is this Christ?

He Who was begotten of the Father before the worlds in a manner which the mind of created
beings cannot comprehend, and in the end of the times took flesh and became man from the
Virgin Mary, the Theotokos; He Who was shut up in the womb and in the cave, in a manner
which He Himself knows ; He Who was laid in the manger; He Who grew in the flesh ; He Who
came down to the lower parts of the earth, and by His own will endured all the sufferings
of men, that He might be believed to be man, and to be no other than the One Who came down
; but He Who came down and He Who went up is the same; however, He did not go up first,
but came down. For He did not become God by addition (away with such a thought!), but He
became man by the dispensation, for the race of men was in need of this. And you shall not
hear this from me or from any other, but from Peter and from Paul—Peter when he says,
'Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God';

and Paul also, who learned by revelation from the Father concerning the Son, and says,
'When God Who separated me from my mother's womb and called me by His grace, was pleased
to reveal His Son by my means.' This Paul has truly taught you who Jesus Christ is when he
cries and says, 'Of whom is Christ in the flesh, Who is God over all, blessed for ever.'
What occasion of calumny does not the word of Peter and Paul drive away from those who
love calumny! for he called Him 'Christ' to show that He truly became man ; he said of
Him, 'Who is of the Jews in the flesh,' to show that His existence does not date only from
the time when He became incarnate; he said of Him, 'He is,' to tell us by his mode of
expression that He is without beginning; he said of Him, 'Who is over all,' to proclaim
Him Lord of created things; he said of Him, 'Who is God,' that we should not be drawn
aside by the outward appearance and sufferings so as to deny his incorruptible Nature; he
said of Him, 'blessed,' that we should worship Him as the Ruler of all, and not regard Him
as a fellow-slave; he said of Him, 'Who is for ever,' to show that it is He Who by His
word created all things, visible and invisible, whereby His Godhead is glorified.

We have, then, Christ Who is God over all, Whom we shall worship, and we shall say to the
heretics, 'In whomsoever the Spirit of Christ is not, he is none of His.' For we have the
mind of Christ, and therefore we look for the revelation of God our Saviour, the Lord
Jesus Christ, Who Himself shall reward the well-doers with the crown of victory, but the
despisers with the recompense of their rashness. See, then, my brothers, that no man rob
you by impious words, or turn you aside by false science from the simplicity and unadorned
modesty of the pure beauty of the faith. But again, I repeat to you the word of Paul,
'Beware lest any man rob you by the vain philosophy of the traditions of men'—men who are
inventors of vain things, who have not taught us as the prophets and apostles teach, but
have gone astray by their own wisdom and followed the interpretation of their own mind;
wherefore their teaching is a stumbling-block to the Church of God, which He purchased
with His precious blood. For other foundation of the true faith can no man lay except that
which is laid, that there is one God, the Father, Ruler of all, and one Lord Jesus Christ,
by Whom were all things, Who is from all eternity with the Father, from Him and of the
same Nature with Him ;

and one Holy Spirit, the Lord and Life-giver, Who proceeds from the Father, and together
with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified. Stand, then, in one spirit and
one mind, and fight for the faith, and be not in anything troubled by the adversaries, but
keep the tradition which you have received from the blessed Fathers, who, out of the whole
creation, met together by the operation of the Holy Spirit, and preached to us the true
and undefiled faith, which we have from one end of the earth to the other." The end of the
letter which the blessed Proclus, bishop of Constantinople, wrote to Great Armenia of the
Persians, concerning the true faith. But Theodosius lived, as the Chronicle informs us,
fifty years ; of these he reigned forty-two years, for he was eight years old when he
began to reign. And the acts of thirty-two years of his reign are related in the
ecclesiastical history of Socrates, and those of the other ten years more are written
concisely above in this second Book. He died then in the three hundred and eighth Olympiad
; and Marcian succeeded him in the kingdom. And in the year seven hundred and sixty-four
by the reckoning of the Greek era of Alexander, he gathered to Chalcedon a Synod of five
hundred and sixty-seven bishops, whose acts we shall describe as concisely as possible in
this third Book which is written below, and in its chapters, which have been taken for the
most part from the history of Zachariah the Rhetorician, which he wrote in Greek to a man
called Eupraxius, who lived in the royal palace and was engaged in the service of kings.
But the body of the holy John the bishop, who is called Chrysostom, had been brought back
from the place of his banishment, and it was honoured with a procession in Constantinople.
And Eudocia the queen, the wife of Theodosius, went to Jerusalem for prayer, and returned,
and then died. But Geiseric subdued Carthage of Africa and reigned over it. And John the
general was killed by the servants of Arbindus, and there were earthquakes in various
places. And then Theodosius died.

[Note to the online edition: footnotes have been moved to the end. Footnotes concerned
only with bits of Syriac and Greek have been omitted because of the time it would take to
transcribe it.] 1. It is impossible to give in English the exact equivalent of this
theological term ; neither "God-bearer " nor "mother of God " quite meet the case. 2.
Mich. fol. iii. v; Greg. H. E. i. p. 159 ff. 3. Some such words must have dropped out of
the text; both Michael and Barheb. supply the omission as above. 4. Liberat. 11. 5.
Liberat. II. 6. Sir. xxxii. (LXX. xxxv.) 8. 7. This seems to be the sense of the passage,
but the text is evidently corrupt. 8. Liberat. II. 9. Or petitions ... For this letter see
Leo, Ep. 21 (Migne, Patr. Lat. vol. liv.). 10. Leo, Ep. 22, 26. 11. Liberat. 12. 12. An
exact translation of the text as it stands is impossible. Perhaps ... we should ... render
it, "And they searched in the Acts for what was done in Constantinople concerning
Eutyches."

13. . . . No doubt John of Aegae is meant (Brooks). 14. I.e. Valentinian. 15. I.e.
Maximian. 16. Migne, Patr. Graec. vol. lxv. p. 856, and Patr. Lat. vol. lxvii. p. 409. 17.
Down to this point the Syriac text is quite different from the Greek. 18. Gal. i. 9. 19.
Or, and punishment comes. 20. Or, had become obsolete. 21. Phil. ii. 10. 22. Bar. iii. 37.
23. Isa. liii. 4. 24. Rom. i. 21, 22. 25. There seems to be a confusion between Matt. i.
21 and Luke i. 31-33. 26. i Cor. viii. 6. 27. J ohn i. 1-3. 28. Acts ii. 22. 29. Acts
xvii. 31. 1 30. John viii. 40. 31. Isa. vii. 14; Matt. i. 23. 32. Or, proceeding
immutably. 33. Eph. ii. 14. 34. Rom. ix. 4. 35. Ex. iv. 22 and Isa. xlvi. 13. 36. Matt.
xvi. 16. 37. Gal. i. 15, 16.

38. Rom. ix. 5. 39. Col. ii. 8. 40. From this point the Greek and Latin are different from
our text. 41. Mich. fol. 115 v. 42. ... i.e. Areobindus (Brooks).


THE SYRIAC CHRONICLE
====================

THE SYRIAC CHRONICLE continued

BOOK III

THE beginning of the third Book, which (inasmuch as it is from the history of Zachanah the
believer, who wrote in Greek to one Eupraxius by name, a minister of the king, and engaged
in his service) records the events that took place in the Synod, which met at Chalcedon,
after the death of Theodosius, in the days of Marcian, in the year seven hundred and
sixty-four by the reckoning of the Greeks. And the number of the bishops was five hundred
arid, sixty-seven, who were brought together in consequence of the exertion ,of Leo of
Rome, and the letter that he wrote to the king and his wife Pulcheria. And the Synod sent
Dioscorus of Alexandria away to Gangra of Thrace, and appointed Proterius bishop in his
stead, and received the letter of Leo, which is called the Tome. And the other matters,
which occurred in Jerusalem, or in Alexandria, or in other places during, the life of
Marcian, that is, a space of six years and a half; behold they are written down here
distinctly in these twelve Books below and the chapters contained in them.

The first chapter relates the events which occurred in the Synod of Chalcedon, until the
public address of Marcian the king to the bishops assembled there. The second chapter
tells about the banishment of Dioscorus to Gangra, and the consecration of Proterius in
his stead ; and the events which occurred in Alexandria upon his entry there. The third
chapter relates the events which occurred in Palestine, concerning Juvenalis of Jerusalem,
who broke his promises, and separated from Dioscorus, and agreed to the Synod. And when
the citizens of Jerusalem and the Palestinian monks learned this, they appointed, as
bishop in his stead, one Theodosius, a monk; who, in his zeal, had attended and watched
the Synod closely, and then went back to Palestine and told what had occurred at
Chalcedon. The fourth chapter tells of Peter the hostage, the son of the king of the
Iberians, a wonderful man, who was taken by the people of Gaza; and they brought him to
Theodosius of Jerusalem, by whom he was consecrated as their bishop.

The fifth chapter tells about the flight of Theodosius of Jerusalem, in consequence of the
king's threats; and also about the return of Juvenalis, by force, to Jerusalem, and the
great slaughter that ensued upon his entry there. The sixth chapter gives an account of a
certain blind Samaritan, who smeared his eyes with the blood of the slain, and they were
opened. The seventh chapter tells how Christ appeared in vision to Peter the Iberian,
bishop of Gaza, and told him to depart from thence, and also himself to suffer banishment
of his own accord. The eighth chapter tells about a certain monk, named Solomon, who acted
cunningly, and went in to Juvenalis of Jerusalem, and threw a basketful of dust upon his
head, and reproached him. The ninth chapter tells how Theodosius of Jerusalem was taken,
and was imprisoned in a house containing lime, and there he ended his life.

The tenth chapter tells about the heresy of John the Rhetorican, and how this heresy was
anathematised by Timothy, the bishop of Alexandria, after him. The eleventh chapter tells
about the mission of John the Silentarius, from the king to Alexandria. The twelfth
chapter tells about Anthemius, and Severus, and Olybrius, and Leo the Less, and what
happened in the seven years of their reign.

Chapter 1

THE FIRST CHAPTER OF THIS BOOK TELLS ABOUT THE EVENTS WHICH OCCURRED IN THE SYNOD, BEING
TAKEN FROM THE HISTORY OF ONE ZACHARIAH BY NAME, WHO BEGINS TO WRITE IN GREEK TO EUPRAXIUS
AS FOLLOWS Since it is acceptable unto you, and desired by you, Christ-loving Eupraxius,
who are dwelling in the royal palace, and are occupied in the service of kings, to learn
what happened, in the reign of Marcian, to the holy Church of God ; and who they were who,
in regular succession, were the chief priests in Alexandria, and Rome, and Constantinople,
and Antioch, and Jerusalem, from the time of the Council of Chalcedon—that Council which,
ostensibly convened about the matter of Eutyches, introduced and increased the heresy of
Nestorius; and shook all the world ; and added evil upon evil; and set the two heresies,
one against the other; and filled the world with divisions; and confounded the faith
delivered by the apostles, and the good order of the Church ; and tore into ten thousand
rents the perfect Robe of Christ, woven from the top throughout : therefore we,
anathematising those two heresies, and every wicked teacher of doctrine corrupt and
contrary to the Church of God, and to the orthodox faith of the three holy Synods, which
skilfully maintained the true doctrine; shall, to that end, employ this history which you
urged us to undertake.

After the death of the holy Cyril of Alexandria, who carried on the conflict against many
corrupt doctrines, and exposed them, Dioscorus received the throne as his successor ; and
he was a peaceable man, and also a champion;although he had not the same promptitude and
boldness as Cyril. At that time Theodoret and Hibo, who, along with Flavian of
Constantinople and Eusebius, were deposed by the second Synod of Ephesus, which met there
in the days of Theodosius, about the matter of Eutyches, and Flavian— Theodoret of
Cyrrhus, because he wrote twelve censures upon Cyril's Heads against Nestorius ; and Hibo
of Edessa, because he wrote a letter to Moris of Nisibis, reviling Cyril -- were, both of
them, upholding the doctrine of Theodore and Diodorus. And Theodoret went up to Leo of
Rome, and informed him about all these matters ; and, with the gift which blinds the eyes
of the soul, he got the better of him. Whereupon Leo composed that letter which is called
the Tome, and which was ostensibly written to Flavian against Eutychianism. But Leo also
wrote to Marcian the king, and his wife Pulcheria, and warmly commended Theodoret to them.

This Marcian favoured the doctrine of Nestorius, and was well disposed towards him ; and
so he sent by John the Tribune, to recall Nestorius from his place of banishment in Oasis
; and to recall also Dorotheus, the bishop who was with him. And it happened while he was
returning, that he set at naught the holy Virgin, the Theotokos, and said, "What is Mary?
Why should she indeed be called the Theotokos!" And the righteous judgment of God speedily
overtook him (as had been the case formerly with Arius, who blasphemed against the Son of
God). Accordingly he fell from his mule, and the tongue of this Nestorius was cut off, and
his mouth was eaten by worms, and he died on the roadway. And his companion Dorotheus died
also. And the king, hearing of it, was greatly grieved; and he was thinking upon what had
occurred, and he was in doubt as to what he should do.

However, written directions from Marcian the king were delivered by John the Tribune to
Dioscorus and Juvenalis, calling upon them to meet in Council, and John also informed them
of what had happened to Nestorius and to Dorotheus. And when the bishops of every place,
who were summoned, were preparing to meet at Nicea, Providence did not allow them; for the
king issued a new order that the assembly should be convened to Chalcedon, so that Nicea
might not be the meeting-place of rebels. Then the Nestorian party earnestly urged and
besought the king that Theodoret should be appointed the president of the Synod, and that,
according to his word, every matter should be decided there. And when they met at
Chalcedon, Theodoret entered in and lived there boldly, like an honoured bishop ; he who a
little time before had been ejected from the priesthood by their means. And Dioscorus and
the chief bishops were vexed and troubled on account of the haughty insolence which the
man displayed ; but they could not put a stop to it, because of the royal authority,
though they saw that the canons were despised by him, and by Hibo also, with the help of
the Roman legates of Leo, who were aiding and abetting them.

And when Dioscorus was proclaiming the doctrine of the faith in the Synod, and with him
Juvenalis, and Thalassius of Cappadocia, and Anatolius, and Amphilochius of Side, and
Eusebius of Ancyra, and Eustace of Berytus ; then, as by a miracle, Eusebius of Dorylaeum
also agreed with them ; for they saw that the Nestorian doctrine of the two natures was
confirmed, and established there, by the co-operation of John of Germanicia, who fiercely
contended, in the course of the dispute there, with the side which said, "It is right for
us to confess Christ after His incarnation as one Nature from two, according to the belief
of the rest of the Fathers, and not to introduce any innovation or add any novelty to the
faith." Wherefore, John of Germanicia, and the rest of the Nestorian party, with Theodoret
at their head, brought about the deprivation of Dioscorus ; because he said, "It is right
for us to believe that Christ became incarnate from two natures ; and we should not
confess two natures after the union, like Nestorius.

And then Anatolius, the bishop of the royal city, cried out in words to this effect, "Not
for the faith is Dioscorus deposed ; but he is set at nought for refusing to hold
communion with the chief priest, my lord Leo." And after the outcry of many, and after the
things had been spoken which have been written in the Acts of that Council, at last those
bishops being forced to do so, defined our Lord Jesus Christ to be in two natures. And
they praised the Tome of Leo, and they called that an orthodox definition which said,
"There are two Persons, and two Natures, with their properties and their operations." And
this being so, they were required to subscribe under compulsion ; those very priests who,
a little time before in the days of the blessed Theodosius, being assembled at the second
Council of Ephesus, cried out many times, "If anyone shall say 'Two natures to two,' let
the Silentiarius come up !"

And when they repeated this over to Dioscorus, by means of John the chief of the
Silentiarii, and asked him to agree to it, and to subscribe, and get back his throne ; he
said, courageously, "Sooner would Dioscorus see his own hand cut off, and the blood
falling on the paper, than do such a thing as that." Whereupon he was sent into banishment
to Gangra, because the Nestorian party published the report about him, that his opinions
were the same as those of Eutyches. And I think it well, omitting many of his sayings,
both what he spoke and wrote to Domnus of Antioch, and in the Synod of Chalcedon itself,
which testify concerning the faith of the man, that his faith was like that of Athanasius,
and Cyril, and the other doctors, I think it well (I say) to make a written extract out of
what he wrote from his place of banishment to. Secundinus, in the following words :—

"Omitting many urgent matters, this I declare, that no man shall say that the holy flesh,
which our Lord took from the Virgin Mary, by the operation of the Holy Spirit, in a manner
which He Himself knows, was different to and foreign from our body. And, indeed, since
this is so, they who affirm that Christ did not become incarnate for us, give the lie to
Paul. For he has said, 'Not from angels did He take (the nature), but from the seed of the
House of Abraham' ; to which seed Mary was no stranger, as the Scriptures teach us. And
again,' It was right that in everything He should be made like unto His brethren,' and
that word 'in everything' does not suffer the subtraction of any part of our nature :
since in nerves, and hair, and bones, and veins, and belly, and heart, and kidneys, and
liver, and lungs, and, in short, in all those things that belong to our nature, the flesh
which was born from Mary was compacted with the soul of our Redeemer, that reasonable and
intelligent soul, without the seed of man, and the gratification and cohabitation of
sleep.

"For if, as the heretics think, this was not so, how is He named 'our brother,' supposing
that He used a body different from ours ? And how, again, is that true which He said to
His Father, 'I will declare Thy name to My brethren ?'Let us not reject, neither let us
despise, those who think in this way. For He was like us, for us, and with us, not in
phantasy, nor in mere semblance, according to the heresy of the Manichaeans, but rather in
actual reality from Mary, the Theotokos. To comfort the desolate and to repair the vessel
that had been broken, He came to us new. And as Immanuel, indeed, He is confessed ; for He
became poor for us, according to the saying of Paul, 'that we, by His humiliation, might
be made rich.' He became, by the dispensation, like us ; that we, by His tender mercy,
might be like Him. He became man, and yet He did not destroy that which is His nature,
that He is Son of God ; that we, by grace, might become the sons of God. This I think and
believe; and, if any man does not think thus, he is a stranger to the faith of the
apostles."

And although this apostolic man had been well versed in this confession of faith from the
beginning of his life, yet he was deposed and sent into banishment, because he would not
worship the image, with its two faces, which was set up by Leo and by the Council of
Chalcedon ; and because he refused to hold communion with Theodoret and Hibo, who had been
deprived on account of their blasphemies. But the story goes that when, oh one occasion,
he saw Theodoret sitting upon the throne in the Council, and speaking from it, and not
standing and making his defence, as one should who had been canonically deposed from the
priesthood ; then he himself arose and descended from the throne and sat upon the
pavement, saying, "I Will not sit with the wicked, nor with vain persons will I enter in."
Whereupon the partisans of Theodoret cried out, "He has deposed himself." But the other
bishops cried out, "Our faith is perishing. If Theodoret, who holds the opinions of
Nestorius, be accepted, we reject Cyril." And then Basil, the bishop of Tripolis, stood up
and said, "We ourselves have deposed Theodoret."

But they say that Amphilochius was beaten on his head by Aetius the deacon, to make him
sign. It was this Aetius who went to Theodoret by night, and made a complete copy for him
of the Symbol of the two Natures ; and when it was accepted by the bishops, and they
agreed to it, then Theodoret insolently derided them, saying, "See how I have made them
taste the leaven of the doctrine of Nestorius, and they are delighted with it ! " "But
Eustace of Berytus, when he signed the document, wrote in short hand, "This have I written
under compulsion, not agreeing with it." And he wept very much, as did also others who
proclaimed the compulsion and exposed the hypocritical profession of faith which was made,
because the chief senators were present time after time at the discussions, and closely
watched the proceedings of the Synod. But, at last, the king came there, with his wife
Pulcheria, and he delivered a public address in the Martyr Church of Euphemia in the
following terms :—

"From the first time that we were chosen and accounted Worthy of the kingdom by God,
amidst all the care of public business, no concern whatever in which we might be involved
was allowed to hinder us, but we made it our choice to honour the true faith of the
Christians, and to accustom the minds of men to it, with purity; all novelty of false
doctrines and preachings that do not agree with the well proved doctrine of the Fathers,
being taken out of our midst. Therefore we summoned this holy Synod that it might cleanse
away all darkness, and put away filth of thoughts : that so, in pure mind, the doctrine of
the faith which is in our Lord Jesus Christ might be established," and so on, to the same
effect. When the king had finished his public address, the bishops praised him and the
Senate, and also the letter of Leo, affirming with respect to it that it agreed with the
faith of the Apostle Peter.

Chapter 2

THE SECOND CHAPTER TELLS ABOUT THE BANISHMENT OF DIOSCORUS, AND THE CONSECRATION OF
PROTERIUS IN HIS STEAD ; AND ABOUT THE SLAUGHTER WHICH ENSUED UPON HIS COMING IN ; AND THE
CHURCH FUNDS, WHICH HE EXPENDED UPON HIS ALLIES THE ROMANS, BUT WHICH, BY RIGHT, BELONGED
TO THE POOR The Synod having received such an end as this, Dioscorus was decreed to be a
confessor, and was sent away to live in Gangra ; and Proterius was appointed bishop in
Alexandria, in his stead. This Proterius had been a presbyter on his side, and had
contended earnestly against the Synod at first, but afterwards, with the object of
snatching the see for himself, he became like Judas, a betrayer of his master, and like
Absalom, of his father; and he showed himself a rapacious wolf in the midst of the flock.
And many who were unwilling he afflicted and ill-treated, to force them into agreement
with himself. And he sent them into banishment, and he seized their property by means of
the governors who obeyed him in. consequence of the king's command.

Whereupon, indeed, the priests, and the monks, and many of the people, perceiving that the
faith had been polluted, both by the unjust deposition of Dioscorus and the oppressive
conduct of Proterius and his wickedness, assembled by themselves in the monasteries, and
severed themselves from his communion. And they proclaimed Dioscorus, and wrote his name
in the book of life as a chosen and faithful priest of God. And Proterius was very
indignant, and he gave gifts into the hand of the Romans, and he armed them against the
people, and he filled their hands with the blood of believers, who were slain ; for they
also strengthened themselves, and made war. And many died at the very Altar, and in the
Baptistery, who had fled and taken refuge there.

Chapter 3. The Events which Occurred in Palestine Respecting Juvenalis of Jerusalem, who
Broke his Promises, and Separated Himself from Dioscorus

AND THE MONKS AND THE CITIZENS OF JERUSALEM HEARD OF THE MATTER FROM THEODOSIUS, A MONK,
WHO, THROUGH ZEAL, WAS PRESENT AT CHALCEDON, AND WHO, AFTER HAVING CAREFULLY WATCHED THE
PROCEEDINGS THERE, CAME TO JERUSALEM AND GAVE INFORMATION ABOUT THEM; AND THEY MADE HIM
BISHOP BY FORCE, INSTEAD OF JUVENALIS And in Palestine, indeed, there were evils like
these, and worse. But from what cause I shall now tell. When Juvenalis was summoned to
Chalcedon, and he learned from John the Tribune the will of the king; and also that
Nestorius, who had been recalled, died on his return from banishment; then he (inasmuch as
he was persuaded that the doctrine of the Tome, which favoured the opinion of Nestorius,
was corrupt) summoned the clergy, and gathered the monks and the people together ; and he
exposed this false doctrine, and anathematised it. And he confirmed the souls of many in
the true faith. And he charged them all, that if he should be perverted in the Synod, they
should hold communion with him no more.

And at first when he went there, he made a great struggle, along with Dioscorus, on behalf
of the faith. But because the royal pressure was brought to bear ; and because of the
flattery and compliments of the king, who himself waited personally upon the bishops at
the banquet, and showed great condescension to them ; and because the king also promised
that he would give the three provinces of Palestine to the honour of the see of Jerusalem
; then the eyes of his mind were darkened, and he left Dioscorus the champion alone, and
he went over to the opposite side. And he treated with contempt the oaths which he had
made in the name of God. And both he and the bishops who were with him agreed and
subscribed. And when Theodosius the monk, and his companions who were in close fellowship
with him, and who zealously watched what was taking place in the Synod, heard about this
they returned quickly to Palestine ; and they came to Jerusalem, and told about the
betrayal of the faith. And they called all the monks together, and gave full information
to them.

And the monks assembled, and prepared themselves, and went to meet Juvenalis as he was
coming. And they reminded him of his promises, and that he had failed to keep them. And
they made this one request of him, that he would censure the proceedings which had taken
place, and anathematise them. But he showed himself like Pilate, saying, "What I have
written, I have written." And the monks said to him, "We will not receive you then, for
you have broken your oaths and your promises." So he returned to the king. But the
assembly of monks and clergy went back to Jerusalem. And the people, and the bishops who
were with them, were distressed, and they consulted together as to what they should do.
And they decided to appoint another bishop instead of Juvenalis. When they were speaking
of the chaste monks, Romanus and Marcian, and of other men of wonderful excellence ; at
length it was agreed that they should appoint Theodosius, who had been found zealous, and
who also had contended for years on behalf of the faith. And they took him by force, while
he persisted in refusing, and conjuring them not to do so, and begging them to allow him
to be the helper of the person whom they appointed from amongst themselves. However, they
would not yield to his entreaties ; but blessed him and placed him on the throne. And when
the other cities of Palestine heard it; inasmuch as they knew him to be a man of
surpassing virtue, and zealous for the truth ; they severally brought persons to receive
his blessing and be admitted to the priesthood.

Chapter 4

THE FOURTH CHAPTER TELLS ABOUT PETER THE IBERIAN; AND HOW HE ALSO WAS TAKEN, AND WAS
BROUGHT TO THEODOSIUS BY THE PEOPLE OF GAZA; AND HE BECAME THEIR BISHOP Among these also
was Peter the Iberian, a man wonderfully celebrated throughout the world, a king's son,
who had been given as a hostage to Theodosius ; and who was beloved by him and by his wife
Eudocia, on account of his excellent parts. And he was brought up in the king's palace ;
and he was placed in charge of the royal horses. But he resigned this appointment, and
gave himself up to the discipline of Christ along with John the Eunuch also, who was his
sponsor, and his father by water and the Spirit. And they prospered, and God wrought signs
by their means in Constantinople. And they fled from thence, and betook themselves next to
the wilderness of Palestine, and there they loved and cultivated the monastic life. And
although after this manner they desired to be hidden, yet they became greatly celebrated ;
and they wrought signs like the apostles.

And as they were changing from place to place, they arrived opposite to Gaza and Majuma.
And the men and the women and the people of all ranks and ages went out and seized Peter,
and brought him to Jerusalem to Theodosius, whom they besought to make him their bishop.
And he laid many charges against himself, and refused ordination. And against his will
Theodosius laid his hand upon his head and consecrated him, for he knew the man. And when
he became violently agitated, and called himself a heretic ; then Theodosius hesitated a
little, and said to him, "My cause and thine are before the Judgment Seat of Christ." And
he changed his words, saying, "A heretic indeed I am not, but a sinner." And Theodosius,
being well acquainted with the man, blessed him as priest for the people of Gaza. But
there were other excellent deeds done by this man, which, however, I omit, lest I should
make my narrative too long.

Chapter 5

THE FIFTH CHAPTER TELLS ABOUT THE FLIGHT OF THEODOSIUS OF JERUSALEM, IN CONSEQUENCE OF THE
KING'S THREATS ; ALSO ABOUT JUVENALIS, WHO RETURNED WITH AN ARMY OF ROMANS ; AND THE GREAT
SLAUGHTER THAT ENSUED UPON HIS ENTRY THERE And when Theodosius was prospering in this
manner, the report of all that he was doing reached Marcian the king. And Juvenalis
returned, having with him Count Dorotheus and an army ; for the purpose of taking
Theodosius, and making him a prisoner, and deposing all the bishops whom he had made in
his district, and punishing the monks and the people, and expelling them in consequence of
their insolence and rashness in setting up Theodosius as bishop in Jerusalem. But, by the
desire of the queen, Peter the Iberian alone was to be spared ; even though he should not
consent to hold communion with the other bishops. And when Juvenalis arrived at Neapolis,
he found a large number of monks there ; and at first he tried to seduce them, simple men
as they were, and single-minded, whose arms and helmet were the true faith and works of
righteousness. These he endeavoured to persuade to hold communion with himself. And when
they turned away from this proposal with disgust, unless he would anathematise the violent
transactions of Chalcedon; he then said, "It is the king's will."

And they still refused. Whereupon he gave orders to the Romans and the Samaritans, who
smote and killed these monks, while they were singing psalms and saying, "O God, the
heathen are come into Thine inheritance, and they have defiled Thy holy temple; and behold
they are making Jerusalem a waste place!" And some of the Romans were overcome with pity,
and wept. But some of them, along with the Samaritans, killed many of the monks, whose
blood also was poured out upon the ground.

Chapter 6

THE SIXTH CHAPTER TELLS ABOUT A CERTAIN BLIND SAMARITAN WHO DREW NEAR WITH FAITH, AND
SMEARED HIS EYES WITH THE BLOOD OF THOSE THAT WERE SLAIN ; AND HIS SIGHT WAS RESTORED
There was a certain blind Samaritan who deceived his own guide, and said, "Since mine eyes
cannot see the blood of the slaughter of these Christians, so that I may delight myself in
it; bring me near and I shall feel it." And when the guide brought him near and caused him
to feel it, he dipped his hands in the blood. And he prostrated himself upon the ground ;
and he wept, with prayer and supplication, that he might be a sharer in their martyrdom.
Then he arose, and smeared his eyes, and lifted up his hands to heaven ; and his eyes were
opened, and he received his sight. And all who were witnesses of this miracle, were
astonished and believed in God. And the blind man also believed, and was baptized.

But the party who administered the king's orders, laid hold upon the surviving believers,
and expelled them from the whole district.

Chapter 7

THE SEVENTH CHAPTER RELATES HOW OUR LORD APPEARED TO PETER THE IBERIAN, OF GAZA; AND TOLD
HIM THAT HE MUST DEPART ALONG WITH THOSE WHO WERE EXPELLED But they say that Peter the
Illustrious was at rest, being left undisturbed by all, both on account of the king's
orders, and the loving care of the queen for him. But he saw the Lord in a vision, saying
to him indignantly, "How now, Peter! Am I being expelled in My believing servants, and art
thou remaining quiet and at rest?" Then Peter repented and obeyed, and he arose and left
Gaza; and he joined those who were expelled, and departed with them.

Chapter 8

THE EIGHTH CHAPTER TELLS ABOUT A CERTAIN ZEALOUS MONK, NAMED SOLOMON ; WHO ACTED
CUNNINGLY, AND WENT IN TO JUVENALIS, AS IF HE DESIRED TO BE BLESSED BY HIM, AND THREW A
BASKETFUL OF DUST UPON HIS HEAD, AND REPROACHED HIM And Juvenalis, having by means of the
armed force of the Romans expelled the believers and the monks who were in the country
district, arrived at Jerusalem and sat upon the throne. And he paid no regard at all to
his promises, nor to the slaughter which had occurred upon his entry there, nor to the
falsehood of his oaths. Then a certain monk, Solomon by name, was stirred in his spirit;
and in this honourable garb of chastity, and as if desiring to be blessed by the chief
priest himself, acted cunningly, and filled a basket with dust and ashes, and placed it
under his armpit, and drew near to Juvenalis. And the latter was glad when the monk came
in to him. And Solomon, being received by him, said to him, "Let my lord bless me."

And, as the Roman guard permitted him to draw near and come close to Juvenalis, he took
out the basket of dust and emptied it on his head, saying, "Shame upon thee, shame upon
thee, liar and persecutor! "And when the Roman guard were about to strike him, Juvenalis
would not allow it. And he was not enraged, but was rather moved to penitence by this, and
shook the dust from his head. So they only put out the monk from his presence. And he
ordered that money for his expenses should be given to him, and that he should leave his
country. The monk, however, refused the money, but left the country.

Chapter 9

THE NINTH CHAPTER TELLS HOW THEODOSIUS, BEING SOUGHT FOR BY THE ROMAN ARMY, WAS TAKEN AND
IMPRISONED IN A HOUSE CONTAINING LIME; WHERE AT LENGTH HE DIED But Theodosius, when he was
sought for by the king's orders through the whole province, assumed the garb of a Roman,
having on his head hair and a helmet; and he went about confirming and encouraging the
believers. At length, however, when he arrived at the parts about Sidon, he was taken and
delivered up to the Romans by one of his own friends. And the Nestorian party were so
enraged against him, because he had been going about through the whole world, and exposing
and anathematising the false doctrine of Nestorius, that they went up to the king, and
persuaded him to grant that the man should be given into their charge and keeping. And
they took him and imprisoned him in a small house, belonging to the monks, in which there
was quicklime.

And these followers of Nestorius used to go to him in troops, and dispute with him, hoping
that under pressure of great affliction he would change his mind, and agree to their will.
And he prevailed over them all and repulsed them; and as they departed from him ashamed
and confounded, he said, "Even though I am imprisoned and thereby prevented from going
about in the different places, according to my former custom ; yet as long as the breath
is in my nostrils, the word of God shall not be imprisoned in me; but it shall preach that
which is true and right in the ears of the hearers." But the Eutychian party also imagined
that he would agree with them; and they came together to him, and entered into discusssion
with him. And in like manner, contrary to their expectation, he showed them to be in
agreement with Valentinus, and Manes, and Marcion ; and that their heresy was a wicked
one, worse even than that of Paul of Samosata, and Apollinaris, and Nestorius. And so
they, in their turn, departed from him, being condemned by him.

And because they laid one affliction after another upon him, his soul also continued
steadfast in the good fight. While there he met with some writings of John the Rhetorician
from Alexandria, which were full of false doctrine and very defective, and it is a heresy;
and he exposed the man and anathematised him. And having finished his course, and
contended in the fight, and kept his faith, at length he died. And departing from the
prison, he went to be with Christ our Lord. And he left the example of courage to the
believers.

Chapter 10

THE TENTH CHAPTER GIVES A RECORD OF THE HERESY OF JOHN THE RHETORICIAN OF ALEXANDRIA; AND
HOW IT WAS REJECTED AND ANATHEMATISED John was an adherent of Palladius the Alexandrian
sophist, and was second to him; and for that reason he was called the Rhetorician; because
that next to sophistry comes rhetoric, and therefore by that name the philosopher is
surnamed. This man, in the days of Proterius who succeeded Dioscorus, saw that the whole
city of Alexandria hated Proterius, some in consequence of their zeal for the faith, and
others because they had been plundered and persecuted by him, with the object of making
them agree to the Synod and accept the Tome. He then sought to ingratiate himself with the
people, and to present a fine appearance, and to collect money for himself, and to be
celebrated with this empty glory. And not having read the Holy Scriptures, and not
understanding the meaning of their mysteries, and not having exercised himself in the
writings of the ancient doctors of the holy Church, and not knowing what he was saying, or
that about which he was contending, he was puffed up to write a sort of proof that, after
the manner of a seed, God the Word was wrapped up in the body; and that He suffered in His
own Nature, if indeed He suffered at all. But he denied that the Word was united to a
human body; and he would not confess the natures from which One Christ appeared. But he
prepared and collected words, saying, "It can by no means be called a nature, as indeed
without the seed of a man in the Virgin the Incarnation took place." And he said,
"Therefore Christ was neither by her nor from her." And he did not agree with the doctors
of the Church, who declare that the human nature was united to God the Word, and that He
became man.

And with vain words such as these he used to chatter; and he also wrote books. And in
these he was self-contradictory; sometimes agreeing with Apollinaris, sometimes with
Eutyches ; and again, stating what was quite new. And because he was in doubt about the
subject of his writings, lest they should be reviled, he did not subscribe his books with
his own name. But at one time he wrote the name of Theodosius, the bishop of Jerusalem,
upon one; and again, the name of Peter the Iberian upon another; that even the believers
might be deceived by them and accept them. But they say, that on one occasion, Peter the
Iberian met with one of them, which had been written in his own name, in a certain
monastery; and when he took it and read it he was full of indignation, and he
anathematised the man who wrote it. And not there alone, but also in Alexandria, and in
Palestine, and in Syria, both he and Theodosius anathematised the writings of this man.

Chapter 11

THE ELEVENTH CHAPTER TELLS HOW JOHN THE SILENTIARIUS WAS SENT BY THE KING, AFTER THE DEATH
OF DIOSCORUS AT GANGRA, TO EXHORT THE ALEXANDRIANS TO BE UNITED TO PROTERIUS But when the
report of the death of Dioscorus reached the Alexandrians, there was great trouble and
sorrow. And after his death, on account of the love that they had for him, they proclaimed
him as a living man, and his name was set in the Diptych. But let no man even of those,
whose endeavour it is to revile what is not done in exact order, find fault. But the
believing party were desirous of appointing a bishop instead of Dioscorus. However, they
were afraid of the threats of Marcian the king; for he was sending letters in every
direction, and fulminations against all who would not agree to the Synod and receive the
Tome. For so it was, that when he heard of the men of Alexandria, and of their intention
to appoint a bishop for themselves after the death of Dioscorus, he sent John, the chief
of the Silentiarii, with a letter from himself exhorting the Alexandrians to be united to
Proterius.

And this John was of the same mind as the king, and he was an astute man. And when he came
and saw the crowd, the numbers of monks arrayed in chastity, and possessing readiness of
speech in defence of the faith, and also the strong body of the common people who were
believers, with whom he had to deal, he was astounded, and said, "I am ready, if the Lord
will, to inform the king and to plead with him on your behalf." And he received from them
a petition— which gave information concerning their faith; and concerning all that
happened to them at the hands of Proterius; and concerning the impious conduct of the man,
and his wickedness, and the Church property which he expended upon vanity—written at
length in words which I omit to reproduce here, lest I should be tedious to the reader.
And when John returned to the king and told him about these matters, he said to him, "We
sent you, indeed, to persuade and exhort the Egyptians to obey our will: but you have
returned to us, not according as we wished, since we find you an Egyptian." However, when
he perceived the things that were written about Proterius, in the petition which the monks
sent, he blamed the pride and the craftiness of the man. And while he was occupied with
this matter, he died, having reigned six years and a half.

But Morian also, who reigned four years along with him, died. And after him, Anthemius,
and Severus, and Olybrius received the kingdom. And one year after, Leo the First was
associated with them. So that the lives of these four made up seven years.

Chapter 12

THE TWELFTH CHAPTER TELLS ABOUT ANTHEMIUS, AND SEVERUS, AND OLYBRIUS, AND LEO; WHO REIGNED
TOGETHER AND IN SUCCESSION, SEVEN YEARS When Anthemius had reigned five years he was
killed by Ricimer. And Severus, having reigned one year with him, died. And Olybrius, who
reigned after Severus along with Anthemius for one year, died. And Leo the First also
died, having reigned with Anthemius for three years, and two years after. In the first
year of Leo indeed, Antioch was overturned by the earthquakes which occurred; and there
was also a great fire. And in the second year of his reign, Sulifos, the Gothic tyrant,
was killed. And in the third year of his reign, Aspar the general and his sons were
killed. But there is in this third Book and in its chapters, which are written above, a
period of thirteen and a half years. And it is made up in the following manner:—Of Marcian
and Morian six years and a half; and of Anthemius, and Severus, and Olybrius, and Leo the
First, who reigned in succession and together, seven years.

And this period begins from the third year of the three hundred and fifth Olympiad, and it
ends in the three hundred and eighth Olympiad. [Note to the online edition: footnotes have
been moved to the end. Footnotes concerned only with bits of Syriac and Greek have been
omitted because of the time it would take to transcribe it.] 1. Here the text adds, "The
thirteenth Book tells about the accession of Marcian, and about the council of bishops
which came to Chalcedon, and what took place in the council until the public address of
the king to the bishops." 2. Evag. ii. 4, 18 ; Liberat. 13. 3. ... " Eupraxius of
illustrious and Christ-loving memory, who was one of the eunuchs of the royal
bedchambers," das Leben des Severus (ed. Spanuth), p. 28. 4. Jo. Eph. ap. "Dion." See
Introd. p. 4, note. 5. Here an extract in Cod. Rom. begins.

6. Evag. ii. 2. 7. Evag. i. 7. 8. Evag. ii. 2; Liberat. 13. 9. Jo. Eph. (Anecd. Syr. ii.
p. 363). See Introd. l.c. 10. Here extract in Cod. Rom. ends. 11. Mansi, vol. vii. p. 104.
12. Ps. xxii. 22. 13. 2 Cor. viii. 9. 14. Here an extract in Cod. Rom. begins. 15. The
faith (Cod. Rom.). 16. Jo. Eph. Fr. (Anecd. Syr. ii. p. 363). See Introd. l.c. 17. Here an
extract in Cod. Rom. ends. 18. Mansi, vol. vii. p. 132. 19. Evag. ii. 5 ; Liberat. 14. 20.
Here begins an extract in Cod. Rom. which continues to end of chap. viii. 21. Or, "became
exasperated." 22. Evag. ii. 5. 23. Evag. ii. 5. 24. Evag. ii. 5. 25. Ps. lxxix. I. 26. An
exact translation of this passage is impossible. I have tried to give what appears to be
the sense of it.

27. Or, remain unknown. 28. I.e. Majorian.


THE SYRIAC CHRONICLE
====================

THE SYRIAC CHRONICLE continued

BOOK IV

THIS fourth Book also, inasmuch as it is from the History of Zachariah the Rhetorican,
relates (in its twelve chapters that are written down distinctly below) and makes known
the events occurring after the death of Marcian, and Morian, and Anthemius, and Severus,
and Olybrius, who reigned in all twelve years, as the Chronicle testifies—these events (I
say) it makes known which took place in Alexandria, and in Ephesus, in the days of Leo,
and Leo, during a period of twenty years. It tells about the consecration of Timothy the
Great, surnamed the "Weasel." And how Proterius, who was appointed as the successor of
Dioscorus by the Synod of Chalcedon, was killed; and how, after his death, his clergy
presented a libel to Timothy, and sought to come to the Church; but the zealous priests,
on the side of Timothy, and the people would not allow them. Whereupon they went to Rome,
and informed Leo about the matter; who wrote a letter to Leo the king censuring the
consecration of Timothy.

But this Book, further, tells about the letter of Timothy to Leo censuring the additions
which had been made in the Synod, and the Tome. And, moreover, it tells about John, who
was the bishop in Ephesus after the resignation of Bassianus; and about the encyclical
letter of Leo the king, which he wrote to the bishops, with the object of eliciting from
them their written opinions respecting the definitions that were made in the Synod. And
they all, with the exception of Amphilochius of Side, wrote in praise of these
definitions. This Book, further, tells how Timothy was banished to Gangra, and from Gangra
to Cherson ; and that his successor was one of the Proterian party, another Timothy
surnamed Salophaciolus. And it, moreover, tells about Isaiah the bishop, and Theophilus
the presbyter, who showed themselves to be Eutychians; and about the letter which Timothy
wrote respecting them, and by which he exposed them.

The first chapter tells about the consecration of Timothy the Great, surnamed the
"Weasel"; and the events which then occurred. The second chapter shows how Proterius was
killed, and dragged away; and his body was burned with fire. The third chapter explains
how after Timothy appeared as the sole bishop, the other clergy also, who were adherents
of Proterius, presented a libel by which they showed themselves desirous of coming to the
Church; but the zealous priests, on the side of Timothy, would not allow them. The fourth
chapter tells how these men, because they were not received by Timothy, got ready and went
up to Rome and gave information to the chief priest Leo (respecting the matter). The fifth
chapter tells about Timothy; and also what happened in Ephesus to John the successor of
Bassianus. The sixth chapter, moreover, explains about the petitionof Timothy which he
wrote to the king, which contained a censure upon Leo and his letter.

The seventh chapter tells about the replies to the Encyclical respecting the Synod, which
were sent to Leo the king by the bishops; and how Amphilochius did not agree with the
others in what he wrote. The eighth chapter tells about the letter of Anatolius to the
king, proving him to have influenced the bishops, as to the purport of their replies
respecting the Synod. The ninth chapter tells about the banishment of Timothy, and the
events which happened at his departure from Alexandria. The tenth chapter explains about
the other Timothy, who was the bishop of the Proterian party, and was called
Salophaciolus. The eleventh chapter tells about the removal of Timothy from Gangra to
Cherson. The twelfth chapter tells about Isaiah and Theophilus, the Eutychians; and about
the letter which Timothy wrote respecting them, and by which he exposed them. But the time
occupied by this Book is two or three years of Leo the First, and seventeen years of Leo
the Second, less by two months, as the Chronicle informs us. For Timothy the Great was
about two years, more or less, bishop in Alexandria; and then he was banished to Gangra,
and after the lapse of eighteen years he returned to his see; and he very soon died.

This fourth Book is a narrative of the consecration of Timothy, and of the events which
occurred in the days of King Leo the First, and Leo the Second.

Chapter 1. The Fourth Book, Telling About the Consecration of Timothy the Great, Surnamed
Aelurus, and the Events which Happened Then

The Alexandrian Church being in the condition that we have described above, suddenly the
report of the death of Marcian reached them, and they all took courage, and consulted with
the whole order of the monks as to whom they should make the bishop of the believing
party. For at that time Dionysius the general was not there, but was on a visit to Egypt.
And they agreed upon Timothy, a man expert in business and of ascetic life ; who had been
brought from the wilderness, by force, to Cyril, and ordained as presbyter by him.
Moreover, he was of the same faith as Dioscorus ; and he was well versed in all the truth
of the faith of the doctors of the Church. This man the people of Alexandria along with
the monks seized, and brought to the great Church which is called Caesarian. And they
sought for three bishops, according to the canonical statute, to consecrate him. And since
two Egyptian bishops were present, it was necessary that some other bishop should be
found. And on making diligent inquiry, some of the people heard of Peter the Iberian, who
had left Palestine and was sojourning there in Alexandria. And they ran quickly and laid
hold of the man ; and carried him on their shoulders, not letting him touch the ground.

And as they were bringing him along, a voice was heard in the minds of the clergy, and of
the monks, and of the believing citizens, like that voice which Philip heard respecting
the eunuch of Candace the queen, saying, "Consecrate him by force, even though he be
unwilling, and set him on the throne of Mark. And he was weak in body through much self-
mortification; so that, on account of his emaciation, the Proterian party used jestingly
to style him the "Weasel. And when Dionysius the general heard of the matter, he became
uneasy, lest he might receive blame for there being two bishops in the city, when the king
heard it. And accordingly he returned, and taking the whole Roman force with him, he made
Timothy prisoner. And many were killed. And Dionysius gave orders that they should carry
him off to a place called Cabarsarin. And upon his departure the conflict between the
citizens and the Romans became severe. And there was a great tumult, and slaughters were
matters of daily occurrence; more especially as he (Dionysius) kept inciting and urging on
the Romans called Cartadon, who were passionate men and Arians. And so the custodian of
the Church funds expended them upon the Romans who were contending with the people. But it
happened that numbers of them and of their wives fell and perished in the conflict. And
they were divided into parties, and fought one against another.

And when confusion like this had prevailed in the city for many days, Dionysius was at his
wits' end, so he brought a certain monk Longinus, celebrated for chastity and virtue, and
he intrusted Timothy to him ; that he might restore the bishop to the city and to his
church, upon the condition that the fighting should cease, and that there should be no
more slaughter. And when Timothy had returned to the great church from which he had been
forcibly removed, and Proterius had taken for himself the church which is called
Quirinian, and Easter time came round, children without number were brought to Timothy to
be baptized; so that because of their multitude those who were writing and reading out
their names became weary; but only five were brought to Proterius. And the people were so
devotedly attached to Timothy that they drove Proterius out of the church of Quirinus ;
and slaughter ensued.

Chapter 2

THE SECOND CHAPTER SHOWS HOW PROTERIUS WAS SLAIN, AND DRAGGED THROUGH THE CITY ; AND HOW
HIS BODY WAS, AT LAST, BURNED WITH FIRE And when Proterius continued to threaten the
Romans, and to display his rage against them ; because they took his gold, but did not
fill their hands with the blood of his enemies : then, indeed, a certain Roman was stirred
to anger in his heart, and was boiling over with rage ; and he invited Proterius to look
round and he would show him the corpses of the slain as they lay. And suddenly and
secretly, he drew his sword and stabbed Proterius in the ribs along with his Roman
comrades, and they despatched him, and dragged him to the Tetrapylum, calling out
respecting him as they went along, "This is Proterius." And others suspected that it was
some crafty plot. But the Romans left the body, and went away. Then the people, perceiving
this, became also greatly excited, and they dragged off the corpse, and burnt it with fire
in the Hippodrome. Thus the end of death overtook Proterius, who had done evil to the
Alexandrians, iust as George the Arian, and he suffered at their hands in like manner, and
so was it done to him.

Chapter 3

THE THIRD CHAPTER TELLS HOW, AFTER TIMOTHY APPEARED AS THE SOLE BISHOP, THE OTHER CLERGY
ALSO EXPRESSED, BY MEANS OF A LIBEL, THEIR DESIRE TO REPENT AND BE UNITED WITH HIM ; BUT
THE PEOPLE AND THE ZEALOUS PRIESTS OF HIS PARTY WOULD NOT ALLOW THEM But Timothy, when he
appeared before them as the only chief priest of Alexandria, showed that he was really
what a priest should be. For the silver and the gold that were given to the Romans in the
days of Proterius, he expended upon the poor, and the widows, and the entertaining of
strangers, and upon the needy in the city. So that, in a short time, the rich men,
perceiving his honourable conduct, lovingly and devotedly supplied him with funds, both
gold and silver. But the presbyters and all the clergy belonging to the Proterian party,
since they knew all his virtues and his angelic mode of life, and the devotion of the
citizens to him, joined themselves together and made libels in which they entreated him
that they might be received. They also promised that they would go to Rome to Leo, and
admonish him concerning the novelties which he had written in the Tome. Among these
persons there were some who were ready and eloquent, and of great wealth and dignity, and
of high birth also, who had been called to the clerical order by Cyril; and who were
honoured in the eyes of the citizens of Rome; and they presented the petition on their
behalf to Timothy. And Eustace of Berytus wrote, also recommending their reception.

But the jealousy and hatred of the citizens against these persons were great, on account
of the events which had occurred in the days of Proterius, and the various sufferings
which they had endured. So they would not consent to their reception, but they prepared
the others to cry out, "Not one of them shall set his foot here, neither shall the
transgressors be received."

Chapter 4

THE FOURTH CHAPTER TELLS HOW THESE MEN GOT READY AND WENT UP TO ROME, AND GAVE INFORMATION
RESPECTING THE TREATMENT WHICH THEY HAD SUFFERED This was the reason why matters were
disturbed and thrown into confusion. For when these men were ignominiously refused, they
betook themselves to Rome, and there they told about the contempt of the canons, and about
the dreadful death of Proterius; and they said that he died for the sake of the Synod and
for the honour of Leo; and that they themselves, also, had endured many indignities; and
further, that Timothy had come forward in a lawless manner and taken the priesthood. So
they rendered the latter odious, and made the whole business appear disgraceful in the
eyes of Leo; and they stirred him up against Timothy.

Chapter 5

THE FIFTH CHAPTER TELLS THE FOLLOWING MATTERS RESPECTING TIMOTHY; AND ALSO WHAT HAPPENED
IN EPHESUS TO JOHN THE SUCCESSOR OF BASSIANUS But how it came about that Timothy was given
up, I shall now relate. Marcian the king having died, and Anthemius, and Severus, and
Olybrius having reigned for only short lives, in Italy and the regions beyond, Leo the
First received the kingdom in the territory of Europe in conjunction with them and after
them. And he was both a believer and vigorous, but simple in the faith. And when Leo the
king learned the evils which occurred in Egypt, and in Alexandria, and in Palestine, and
in every place; and that many had been disturbed on account of the Synod. And also that in
Ephesus there had been much slaughter, upon the entrance of John, after Bassianus had
resigned and fled because he would not subscribe the transactions of Chalcedon. But this
John, being inflamed with desire for pre-eminence, betrayed the rights and honours of the
see; so that in Ephesus they call him "the traitor" unto this day; and they blotted his
name out of the book of life. He accordingly, when he received a letter from Timothy of
Alexandria, was willing to convene a Synod. But Anatolius, the bishop of the royal city,
prevented him; not, indeed, that he was able to find any fault with the written statement
of Timothy, but he was very uneasy lest, if a Synod were assembled, it might put an end to
all the transactions of Chalcedon. And his anxiety was not for the faith, but rather for
the privileges and honours which had been unjustly granted to the see of the royal city.

Accordingly, Anatolius persuaded the king not to assemble a Synod, but by means of written
letters, called Encyclicals, to inquire what the mind of the bishops was respecting the
Synod of Chalcedon and the consecration of Timothy. And the king began to write to the
bishops about Timothy and the Synod of Chalcedon, in the encyclical letter, to the
following effect:— "Do ye, without fear of man or partiality, and unbiassed by influence
or by favour, setting the fear of God alone before your eyes, and considering that to Him
alone ye must make your defence and give your account, tell me briefly the common opinion
held by you the priests in our dominion, what ye think right, after having carefully
investigated the transactions of Chalcedon, and concerning the consecration of Timothy of
Alexandria." And when a letter such as this from the king was given to Leo of Rome, he
wrote two letters to Leo the king; one concerning Timothy, and the other on behalf of the
Proterian party, in which he also asserted of the clergy of Constantinople that they were
of the same mind as Timothy; and he called Anatolius indolent; and he defended the Tome
which he himself wrote respecting Eutyches, and which was accepted in the Council of
Chalcedon. However, in a similar strain he wrote distinctly concerning the taking of the
Manhood by Christ in this letter also. And Leo the king sent it on to Timothy of
Alexandria. And, upon the receipt of it, the latter wrote a petition to the king as
follows.

Chapter 6. Declaring, by his Petition, the Faith of Timothy and the Charges that He Made
against the Letter of Leo

"O kind and indulgent king! Since among wise men there is nothing more honourable than the
soul, and also we have learned to despise the things of the flesh, and not to lose the
soul; therefore, as far as in me lies and with all my might, I am careful to keep my soul,
lest before the time of judgment I may be condemned as a lover of the flesh, and prepare
for myself the fire of Hell. And this I think, that all who are wise concerning that which
is good, desire that nothing hateful to their brethren should ever occur. And accordingly,
in writing this petition I assure your Serenity that from my youth I have learned the Holy
Scriptures, and I have studied the divine mysteries contained in them. And even until now,
I have ever been careful to hold the true faith as it was delivered to us by the apostles,
and by my fathers the doctors. And, being united to them by the grace of God our Saviour,
I have reached my present age. And I confess the one faith which our Redeemer and Creator
Jesus Christ delivered when He became incarnate, and sent out the blessed apostles,
saying, 'Go, teach all nations; baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and
the Holy Spirit.' For the Trinity is perfect, equal of Nature, in glory and blessedness;
and there is not in It anything less or more.

For thus also the three hundred and eighteen blessed fathers taught concerning the true
Incarnation of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, that He became man, according to His
dispensation, which He Himself knows. And with them I agree and believe, as do all others
who prosper in the true faith. For in it there is nothing difficult, neither does the
definition of the faith which the fathers proclaimed require addition. And all (whoever
they be) holding other opinions and corrupted by heresy, are rejected by me. And I also
myself flee from them. For this is a disease which destroys the soul, namely, the doctrine
of Apollinaris, and the blasphemies of Nestorius, both those who hold erroneous views
about the Incarnation of Jesus Christ, Who became flesh from us; and introduce into Him
the cleavage in two, and divide asunder even the dispensation of the only-begotten Son of
God: and those, on the other hand, who say with respect to His Body that it was taken from
Heaven, or that God the Word was changed, or that He suffered in His own Nature; and who
do not confess that to a human body what pertains to the soul derived from us was united.

"And I say to any who have fallen into one or other of these heresies, 'Ye are in grievous
error, and ye know not the Scriptures.' And with such I do not hold communion, nor do I
love them as believers. But I am joined, and united, and truly agreeing with the faith
which was defined at Nicea; and it is my care to live in accordance with it. "But when
Diomedes, the distinguished Silentiarius, came to me and gave me the letter of the bishop
of Rome, and I studied it, and I was not pleased with its contents; then lest the Church,
O Christ-loving man, should be disturbed, I neither, as yet, have publicly read nor
censured it. "But I believe that God has put it into the mind of your Serenity to set
right the statements in this letter, which are a cause of stumbling to the believers; for
these statements are in accord, and agreement, and conjunction with the doctrine of
Nestorius; who was condemned for cleaving asunder and dividing the Incarnation of our Lord
Jesus Christ, in respect of natures, and persons, and properties, and names, and
operations; who also interpreted the words of Scripture to mean two (natures), which are
not contained in the Confession of Faith of the three hundred and eighteen. For they
declared that the only-begotten Son of God, Who is of the same Nature with the Father,
came down, and became incarnate, and was made man; and suffered, and rose again, and
ascended to Heaven; and shall come to judge the quick and the dead. And natures, and
persons, and properties were not mentioned by them, nor did they divide them. But they
confessed the divine and the human properties to be of One by the dispensation.

"Accordingly, I do not agree with the transactions of Chalcedon, because I find in them
divisions and cleavage of the dispensation. "And now, O victorious king, receive me, for I
am speaking this confidently on behalf of the truth; that your Highness may prosper as on
earth, so also in Heaven. And accept this my petition with goodwill, for in this letter
from the West there runs confusion likely to cause stumbling; for it cleaves asunder the
dispensation. And I pray that this letter may be annulled, so that God Christ may be
purelyconfessed by all tongues that He truly suffered in the flesh; while He remained
without suffering in His Godhead, which He has with the Father and the Spirit. "And I
entreat and beseech your honoured Majesty that orders be sent to all men to hold the
Confession of the faith, as defined by our three hundred and eighteen fathers, which, in a
few words, declares the truth to all the Churches, and puts an end to every heresy and all
false doctrine and causes of stumbling; and which itself stands in no need of correction.
But the matters in this letter which appear to me to require correction" (which are not
repeated) "are these—" and because they are given at length with quotations refuting them,
we do not repeat them here, lest the reader should be wearied. For believers may find, in
all places, the censures upon them that have been made by wise men. In the first place, by
Dioscorus; and after him, by this Timothy; and after him by Peter; and by Akhs'noyo of
Hierapolis; and by the learned Severus, the chief priest of Antioch, in his work Against
the Grammarian; and by Cosmas; and by Simeon of L'gino; and by the letter of the
Alexandrines.

Chapter 7

THE SEVENTH CHAPTER TELLS WHAT THE OTHER BISHOPS WROTE TO LEO; AND HOW THEY ALL (WITH THE
EXCEPTION OF AMPLILOCHIUS OF SIDE) MADE KNOWN THEIR VIEWS IN CONFORMITY WITH THE DOCTRINE
OF THE SYNOD, AND AGREED TO IT But Timothy wrote confidently, as above, concerning the
letter of Leo and the Synod of Chalcedon. The other bishops, however, the Metropolitans of
every place, having received the encyclical letter of the king, testified to what was done
by them in Chalcedon, to which also they agreed.And they censured the consecration of
Timothy, whom Leo, the bishop of Rome, even named "the Antichrist." They say, indeed, that
the other bishops also were influenced to write thus by the instigation of Anatolius, and
his letters to them. But Amphilochius of Side alone showed truth and uprightness without
fear. And he and the bishops of his province wrote confidently, censuring and reviling the
transactions of the Synod, and the doctrine of the Tome, telling of the violence and
partiality there displayed, and confirming their statements by proofs and copious
testimony from the Holy Scriptures and the Fathers. He, moreover, besought the king that
the transactions of Chalcedon should be cancelled, since they were a cause of stumbling to
the believers, as well as of confusion. Nevertheless, he censured the consecration of
Timothy, and said that it had been done in an uncanonical manner. This man, indeed, who
testified thus confidently and truly to the king respecting the Synod, fell into danger
from the Nestorian party, in consequence of the malignity and treachery which they
exhibited towards him; for he was the only one of all the bishops who had the courage to
revile the Synod with its transactions, and also the Tome. But Aspar, who was general at
that time, although he was an Arian, pleaded and begged for him that such a truthful
priest should not be exposed to danger. And thus, indeed, Amphilochius was delivered from
danger.

But in his endeavour to correct the evils which were done in the days of Marcian, the king
was hindered by the bishops. And by their means also Timothy was condemned to banishment
in Gangra. Now that Anatolius of Constantinople was the one to instigate the bishops to
make these statements to the king in the Encyclicals, you will learn from his letter to
the king which I have written below.

Chapter 8. Indeed, Tells About

THE LETTER OF ANATOLIUS TO THE KING ABOUT THE SYNOD, SAYING THAT HE HAD INFLUENCED THE
BISHOPS BY WRITING "Anatolius, bishop of Constantinople, to the believing and Christ-
loving king, victorious Augustus, Leo the emperor. It is a subject of prayer with me,
Christ-loving and believing king," etc. And a little further on he says: "Those audacious
acts which have been committed In Alexandria, do not suffer me to remain silent. But, as
becomes one holding the priesthood of this your royal city, being attached to the
peaceable will of your Majesty, which desires that the canons of the Fathers should not be
despised, but that the laws should be maintained, I have testified thus to the pious chief
priest Leo and the chaste Metropolitans of your dominion. And I weep for the canons which
have been despised by the wicked deeds of Timothy; since the records sent to your Majesty
respecting him declare that he has trampled upon the laws of the Church and of the world;
and that he has loved vainglory, according to the saying of Scripture, that 'the wicked
man is a despiser, even when he is falling into the depth of evils.' "

And the rest of his letter will be understood from this specimen; how he was the cause of
the letters sent by the bishops to the emperor, in which they agreed to the transaction of
the Synod. But many senators and citizens, having learned this respecting Anatolius,
withdrew from his communion.

Chapter 9

THE NINTH CHAPTER TELLS ABOUT THE BANISHMENT OF TIMOTHY, AND THE EVENTS WHICH HAPPENED AT
HIS DEPARTURE FROM ALEXANDRIA But, because the king's order respecting the departure of
Timothy was sent to Alexandria at this time, the generalwas consequently much distressed,
and felt himself constrained to suffer many things rather than that the city should lose
such a priest. However, since he saw the slaughter which was threatened against him by the
Proterian party, and especially as the members of that party had taken refugewith the
king, and were aided by all the bishops; this same Stilas the general thought it well that
he and the bishop should betake themselves for refuge to the Baptistery of the great
Church. And he did so for two reasons: one was, that they themselves might be preserved
from harm; and the other, that they might not be the cause of the loss of life and of
slaughter.

But when Timothy had taken refuge at the font of the Baptistery, the clergy of the
Proterian party paid no regard either to the priesthood, or to the chastity, or to the
age, or to the ascetic life, or to the labours of the man, or indeed to the place where he
had taken refuge; but with an armed force, they snatched the chief priest from the very
font, and dragged him away. And, as soon as the report of this reached the people, they
killed more than ten thousand there to rescue the priest from them. However, after the
Romans had slain many of the Alexandrians, the man was taken; and he went out across Egypt
to Palestine, that his journey might be along the sea of Phoenice. But when the cities and
the inhabitants of Palestine and the seacoast heard it, they came to him to be sanctified,
and that the sick among them gain healing for their diseases through the grace of God
which was attached to his person; and they snatched torn pieces of stuff from his
garments, that they might have them as charms to protect them from evil.

And when he arrived at Berytus, Eustace the bishop urged the citizens there to receive him
with public honour. And he begged Timothy, upon his entry into the city, to pray for it;
and the latter stood in the midst of the city and made supplications and prayers to God
for it, and blessed it. But Auxonius, the brother of Eustace, who was at that time an
interpreter of the law, acting upon the advice of his brother, spent the whole night with
Timothy, speaking earnestly about the faith, and against Nestorius. And during the whole
of his long discourse Timothy was a silent listener; but when at length Auxonius, after
many words, ceased speaking, Timothy said to him, "Who could persuade me that these three
fingers should write upon the paper of Chalcedon?" And, upon hearing this, Auxonius was
very sad, and began to weep. Then Timothy, encouraging both him and his brother Eustace,
who afterwards joined them, said,

"Attach yourselves to me, and let us contend together for the faith, and let us prevail;
so that either we shall recover our bishoprics, or else we shall be driven into banishment
by our enemies, and live a sincere life with God." And he alleged as an excuse the
dedication of a church, a great temple which Eustace built and named "Anastasia"; and
Timothy said, "Shall we wait for the dedication of an earthly temple? But if you obey me,
then we shall hold our festival in the heavenly Jerusalem?" And Timothy received the same
kind of honour along the way, until he reached Gangra.

Chapter 10

THE TENTH CHAPTER EXPLAINS ABOUT ANOTHER TIMOTHY, WHO WAS THE BISHOP OF THE PROTERIAN
PARTY, AND WAS CALLED SALOPHACIOLUS But the members of the Proterian party, because of the
order of the king and the governors of the cities who were obedient to the command,
elected one of themselves, also called Timothy Salophaciolus, and placed him upon the
episcopal throne. He was a man who sought popularity;and was soft in his manners and
feeble in his actions; as events, indeed, proved. For when all the people of the city
forsook the church, and assembled, along with the believing clergy, in the monasteries, he
was neither enraged nor distressed. But when his own clergy were anxious to restrain the
people by means of the Roman armed force, he would not allow them. Now it happened that a
certain woman met him carrying her child, who had just been baptized by the believers, and
was being borne along in triumph according to the usual custom. And his attendants were
very indignant at it. But he ordered them to bring her to him quietly; and he took up the
child and kissed him, and he urged the mother to take whatever she wanted. And he said to
his own followers,

"Let us and these Christians, each as he thinks right, believe and honour our Lord."
Nevertheless, though he did all this, he could not appease the rage of the citizens; and
because he dreaded the fate of Proterius, he would not walk abroad without the Romans. And
just in proportion as the people loved Timothy the believer, so they hated this man. And
they never ceased imploring and entreating the king that Timothy should be restored to
them from banishment. But they say of this Salophaciolus that he tried hard to persuade
the Alexandrians to hold communion with him; and, as if rejecting the Synod, he wrote in
the Diptych the name of Dioscorus. And when Leo of Rome heard it, he excommunicated him.
And on one occasion, when he went up to Constantinople, he had a great dispute with
Gennadius, the successor of Anatolius, in the king's presence. And he said, "I do not
accept the Synod which would make your see the next in importance to Rome, and cast
contempt upon the honour of my see." And the king laughed when he saw them, and heard the
two priests contending for the pre-eminence.

And he wrote to tell about this dispute to the bishop of Rome; who at that time replied in
writing, that the privileges of each see should be restored according to their original
constitution. And he made this known to the king. So much about this Timothy
Salophaciolus.

Chapter 11

THE ELEVENTH CHAPTER TELLS HOW TIMOTHY WAS DRIVEN FROM GANGRA TO CHERSON, IN CONSEQUENCE
OF THE HATRED WHICH THE PARTY OF CHALCEDON ENTERTAINED AGAINST HIM But Gennadius of
Constantinople and his adherents did not desist from their persecution of Timothy, even
when he was in banishment. For they persuaded the king to command his removal from Gangra
to Cherson, which is a region inhabited by barbarous and uncivilised men. But the bishop
of Gangra heartily consented to this, on account of the envy which he felt towards the
believing, virtuous, and miracle-working Timothy, the friend of the poor; because he used
to receive gifts from the believers of Alexandria and Egypt and other places, and to make
liberal distribution for the relief of the needy. And having embarked on board ship, and
launched upon the sea, though he was tossed in the midst of the winter, yet he reached
Cherson without danger. And when the inhabitants of the country learned the reason, they
were filled with admiration for him; and they became followers of his faith, and submitted
themselves to his authority.

But the hatred which the Nestorian party entertained against him was caused by his
diligence in continually writing reproaches and censures upon the Synod and the Tome, and
sending them forth on all sides; thereby encouraging the believers. And he corroborated
his words from the Holy Scriptures, and the doctors of the Church, from the time of
Christ's preaching even to his own day. In consequence of these writings, those persons
who understood the matter left Gennadius of Constantinople and joined in communion with
Acacius the presbyter and Master of the Orphans, the brother of Timocletus the composer,
who joined the believers, and strenuously opposed the Nestorians; and he also set verses
to music, and they used to sing them. And the people were delighted with them, and they
flocked in crowds to the Orphan Hospital. But the king ordered that the blessed Mary
should be proclaimed and written in the book of life as Theotokos, on account of Martyrius
of Antioch, who was an avowed Nestorian, and would not now consent to teach these things,
who also was deposed.

But Gregory of Nyssa (a believing and virtuous man, the namesake of the learned Gregory)
was summoned by the king to put an end to the doctrine of the Nestorians at that time; as
some monks went on a mission to the king about the matter of Martyrius. And Gennadius had
died; and Acacius, the Master of the Orphan Hospital, was appointed as his successor. And
a promise had been made by the latter that he would put an end to the Tome of Leo, and the
Synod of Chalcedon, and the innovations and additions which had been imposed upon the
faith in it.

Chapter 12

THE TWELFTH CHAPTER TELLS ABOUT THE EUTYCHIANISTS, ISAIAH, BISHOP OF HERMOPOLIS, AND
THEOPHILUS, A PRESBYTER OF ALEXANDRIA; AND ABOUT THE LETTER WRITTEN BY TIMOTHY RESPECTING
THEM, IN WHICH HE EXPOSED THEIR ERRORS The affairs of the Church of the royal city,
indeed, were in the condition described above. But Timothy, when in banishment, wrote not
alone against the Nestorians, but also against the Eutychianists. And this appears from
his letters to Alexandria and Palestine, against those who hold the opinions of Eutyches,
and do not confess Christ to be of the same nature with us in the flesh as well as of the
same Nature with the Father in the Godhead. And it so happened that the Eutychianists,
Isaiah, bishop of Hermopolis, and Theophilus, a presbyter of Alexandria, were sojourning
in the royal city with the desire of making money. And they circulated a report that
Timothy also was of their way of thinking. And when he heard this he wrote a letter
dealing with the doctrines of Eutyches and Nestorius, which he sent to Constantinople
signed with his own signature. And when the bearers of this letter became known, they were
treated by these men with contempt; and were exposed to danger, because he called the
followers of Isaiah "deceivers." Whereupon he sent again another letter respecting them,
confirming it by quotations from the fathers. And it was to the following effect:—

THE LETTER OF TIMOTHY "Our Lord and God, Jesus Christ, in order that He might redeem us
and set us free from the dominion of Satan, and make us meet for the blessings of Heaven,
appointed for us, through the holy fathers, the law of those things which are pleasing to
Himself. And He gave commandment that no man, thinking to honour, should insult the
Merciful One; but that He should receive the dispensation for our redemption. And He said,
'Turn not aside to the right hand or to the left, but walk in the way of the kingdom.' And
again He said, 'Be not righteous overmuch, nor count thyself too wise, lest thou fall into
error. And do not fall deeply into error, nor be stubborn, lest thou die before the time';
the meaning of which is, lest the evil one should infuse into thee anything contrary to My
commandments, and set a stumbling-block for thee on the way of the kingdom along which
thou art walking, and slay thee. For he said, 'In the way wherein I walked they laid
snares for me.' Take heed, therefore, to thyself, and do not turn aside nor depart from
the way of the kingdom. For this is the desire of the evil one, who, if thou shalt fill up
much wickedness, will meet thee, and thou wilt fall into danger.

"For, suppose a man seeking to enter a city surrounded by water; if he attempt to pass
through on foot he will sink and be drowned in its depth; if, on the other hand, he be
afraid to pass over, he cannot enter the city at all; but if there be a convenient ford,
and he try to cross over by it, then he can enter the city. In like manner also we being
anxious to enter Jerusalem, which is above, if we do not follow the Law of God, which we
have learned from the holy doctors, cannot indeed stand upon the rock of our leader Peter
Kepho, the true faith. 'For thou shalt indeed be called Kepho, and upon this rock I will
build My Church; and the bars of Sheol shall not prevail against it.' Let no man be so led
astray by the evil one as to imagine that he can subvert the true faith; and if he is
contending, it is against his own soul that he contends; but nothing can overcome the
faith. And this is the meaning of the expression, 'The bars of Sheol shall not prevail
against it.' Wherefore, if any man stand not upon the truth of the faith, but is righteous
overmuch, when he thinks to confer honour, he rather offers insult; but if he accept the
Law of the Lord, which has been laid down for us by the saints, he survives visions of
death and the verge of Sheol. For we have learned that apart from the standard of the
faith, we cannot please God.

"These things I have written, because I have heard that some persons are contentious, and
are not obedient unto the Law of the Lord which has been laid down for us by the saints;
and which declares that our Lord, by His incarnation, was of the same nature with us in
the flesh which He took from us, which doctrine they have even rejected if they are not of
this mind. "Accordingly, let no one, thinking to honour God, insult His mercy by refusing
to obey the doctrine of the holy fathers, who have declared that our Lord Jesus Christ is
of the same nature with us in the flesh, and is one with His flesh. For I have heard also
the holy apostle teaching and saying, 'Forasmuch as the children were partakers of the
flesh and the blood, He also (partook of the same) in like manner; that by means of death
He might destroy the power of death, who is Satan; and might deliver all who were held in
the fear of death, and were subject to bondage, that so they might live for ever. For He
did not take (the nature) from angels, but He took it from the seed of Abraham. And it was
fitting that He should be made in all points like unto His brethren, and that He should be
a merciful priest, and faithful with God; and that He should make reconciliation for the
sins of the people. For in that He suffered being tempted, He is able to succour them that
are tempted.' For this expression, 'He was made like us in all points,' teaches all who
desire to be meet for the blessings of heaven and to be redeemed, that they must confess
the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ as being from Mary the holy Virgin and Theotokos;
Christ Who was of the same nature with her and with us in the flesh, and is of the same
Nature with the Father in His Godhead.

"For the fathers anathematised, and we also agreeing with them anathematise in like
manner, any who do not hold their doctrines. "But we have, moreover, in our letter added
some quotations from them, attesting the truth of this doctrine :— "OF ATHANASIUS " 'For
this, indeed, the apostle writes expressly, that, "other foundation can no man lay (than
that which is laid),even Christ; but let every man take heed how he builds."Now it is
necessary that a foundation such as this should be in conformity and likeness with those
who are built upon it. God the Word, because He is the Word and the only-begotten one, has
no peers who could be the sons of the Godhead in the same manner as He. But inasmuch as He
became man, of our nature, and clothed Himself with our body, we are of the same nature
with Him. Accordingly, in the matter of our humanity He is the foundation; so that we may
be precious stones, and be built upon Him, and be a temple for the indwelling of the Holy
Spirit.

" 'For, in like manner as He is the foundation and we are the stones built upon Him, so
also He is the vine and we are the branches, hanging from Him and in Him; not indeed in
the nature of the Godhead, for that would not be possible, but in the manhood. Now it is
fitting that the branches should be like the vine, because we also are like Him in that
body which He took from us. " 'And we confess that He is the Son of God, and God in the
Spirit, and man in the flesh. And there are not two natures in one Son, one to be
worshipped and the other unworthy of worship; but there is one Nature of God the Word, Who
became incarnate, and Who, along with the flesh in which He is clothed, is to be
worshipped with one worship.' "OF THE SAME, IN HIS LETTER TO EPICTETUS " 'Now there are
many, hiding themselves and blushing, who imagine that, if we affirm the body of our Lord
to be from Mary, we introduce a fourth Person into the Trinity; but if we affirm the body
to be of the same Nature with the Word, the Trinity thereby remains without the addition
of any foreign element. While if we maintain with respect to His body that it is human;
then since the body is foreign to the Nature of God, when the Word is in it, there must of
necessity be a Quaternity instead of a Trinity, in consequence of the addition of the
body. " 'When they talk in this way they do not consider how their own argument breaks
down and fails. For even if they deny the body to be from Mary, they, no less than those
who hold a distinct body, also seem to hold a Quaternity. For in like manner as the Son is
of the same Nature with the Father, and is not the Father but the Son in Person, yet being
of the same Nature with the Father; so also, if the body is of the same Nature with the
Word, it is not the Word, and since there is another, the Trinity, even according to their
showing, is found to be a Quaternity.

" 'But the true, indivisible and perfect Trinity can never receive any addition. What then
must be the mind of these persons, and how can they be Christians who hold that there is
another besides Him who is God? ' "OF THE SAME, FROM THE SAME LETTER " 'The body of our
Redeemer, derived from Mary, was in reality and truth human in nature, because it was like
our body; since Mary is our sister, we being all descended from our father Adam.' "OF
JULIUS OF ROME "' And there is no change whatsoever in the Divine Nature, for It is not
subject to diminution or increase. And when He says, "Glorify Me," that is the voice of
the body, and is spoken concerning the body. For glory was affirmed with respect to His
whole Being, for He is all one. And by this the "glory which I had with Thee before the
world was," He testified concerning His Godhead that It is always glorified, for such
glory properly belongs to It, even though this affirmation was made equally concerning His
whole Being. So in the Spirit He is of the same Nature with the Father invisibly; and
since the body also was united to Him in His Nature, it is equally included under the
name. And again, also, His Godhead is comprehended under the name because It is united to
our nature, and the nature of the body is not converted into the nature of God by the
union, and conjunction of the name of the nature. Just as the nature of the Godhead was
not changed by the conjunction of the human body, and by the appellation of a body of our
nature.'

" OF THE SAME, FROM HIS LETTER TO DIONYSIUS " 'They indeed, who confess that the God of
heaven became incarnate from the Virgin, and that He being joined to His flesh was one,
give themselves needless trouble in contending with the maintainers of the opposite view,
who affirm (as I have heard) that there are two natures. Since John proved our Lord to be
one by saying, "The Word became flesh." And Paul by saying, "There is one Lord Jesus
Christ, through Whom are all things." Now, if He Who was born from the Virgin was named
Jesus, and He it is through Whom were ail things; He is one nature because He is one
Person, Who is not divided into two. For the nature of the body was not separate, nor yet
did the Nature of the Godhead remain distinct at the Incarnation; but just as man,
composed of body and soul, is one nature, so also He, Who is in the likeness of men, is
one Jesus Christ.'

"OF GREGORY THE MIRACLE-WORKER " 'Whosoever says that Christ appeared in the world in
phantasy, and does not confess Him to have come in the body, as it is written : let him be
accursed. " 'Whosoever says concerning the body of Christ that it was without soul and
without mind, and does not confess His humanity to be perfect, He being the same,
according as it is written : let him be accursed. " 'Whosoever says that Christ took a
part of man only, and does not confess Him to have been in all points like as we are, yet
without sin : let him be accursed. " 'Whosoever says that Christ was liable to change
andvariation, and does not confess Him to be unchanged in Spirit, and uncorrupt in the
flesh, as it is written : let him be accursed. " 'Whosoever says that Christ was perfect
man separately (and God the Word separately), and does not confess Him to be one Lord
Jesus Christ: let him be accursed.

. " 'Whosoever says that there was One Who suffered and Another Who did not suffer, and
does not confess God the Word, Himself impassible, to have suffered in His flesh, as it is
written : let him be accursed. " 'Whosoever says that there was One Who existed before the
worlds, the Son of God, and another, who at length came into being; and does not confess
Him to be the same Who was before the worlds and at length came into being, according as
it is written, "Christ yesterday and to-day ": let him be accursed. " 'Whosoever says that
Christ was of the seed of a man in like manner as the rest of mankind, and does not
confess Him to have been incarnate, and to have become man, of the Holy Spirit and also of
the Virgin Mary, of the seed of the house of David, as it is written : let him be
accursed.

" 'Whosoever says that the body of Christ was of the same nature as His Godhead, and does
not confess Him to be God before all worlds, Who "emptied Himself and took upon Him the
form of a servant," as it is written: let him be accursed. " 'Whosoever says that the body
of Christ was not a created body, and does not confess the uncreated God the Word to have
received incarnation and manhood from created man, as it is written : let him be accursed.
" 'For how can one affirm the body of Christ to be uncreated; since that which is not
created is not susceptible of suffering, or wounds, or contact. But Christ Himself, after
His resurrection from the dead, showed His disciples the prints of the nails and the wound
of the spear, and afforded them bodily contact with Himself. And although the doors were
shut He entered, that He might display the power of His Godhead and the reality of His
body. For the flesh which comes into being after lapse of time, cannot be said to be of
the same nature with the eternal Godhead. For whatsoever in nature and property is
incapable of change is of the same nature.

" 'And He is the true incorporeal God who appeared in the flesh, a perfect Being; He is
not two persons nor two natures. For we do not worship Four, God, and the Son of God, and
a man, and the Holy Spirit; but, on the contrary, we anathematise those who act so
wickedly, and who would place man in the glory of God. But we hold that God the Word
became man for the sake of our redemption, and that He took our likeness upon Him, and
that He who came in our likeness is in His true Nature the Son of God, but in the flesh a
man, our Lord Jesus Christ.' "OF BASIL OF CAESAREA " 'That which is made is not of the
same nature as its maker, but that which is begotten is of the same essence as its
begetter. Accordingly, that which is created and that which is born are not one and the
same.' And again, 'The children have the same nature as the parent, even though he that
was born has come into being in a different fashion. For Abel, who was born as the result
of copulation, was in no respect different from Adam who was not born, but was formed.'
And again, 'If they who are different in the manner of their creation are different also
in their essential being, then men must be unlike one another in nature. For there is one
creation of Adam, who was formed out of the earth; and another creation of Eve, who was
made from a rib; and another of Abel, who was from copulation; and another of Him Who was
from Mary, who was from a virgin alone. And, indeed, the same might be said with respect
to birds and beasts.'

"OF GREGORY, HIS BROTHER " 'The nature, indeed, of those who are begotten must of
necessity be like their begetters.' "OF GREGORY OF NAZIANZUM " 'Now these are generally
accepted doctrines, that He Who was exalted far above us, for our sake took our qualities
upon Him and became man; not that through the body He should thenceforth be limited to the
body, for He is not so limited, since His Nature is infinite; but that He might sanctify
man by His body He became as leaven to the whole lump, and drew it to Himself. And him who
was guilty he released from his guilt. He was, for our sake, in all points like as we are,
sin only excepted, in body, soul, mind, of which the ordinary mortal man is composed. He
Who manifested Himself was God in respect of His spiritual being, but human in respect of
Adam and the Virgin from whom He was derived; from the former as His ancestor, but from
the latter who was His mother according to the (natural) law, and who gave Him birth in a
manner superior to nature, and not after the (natural) law.'

"OF JULIUS OF ROME " 'But, again, with respect to the dispensation of our Redeemer in the
flesh, we believe that God the Word remaining unchanged, became flesh, with the object of
renewing mankind. And He, being the true Son of God by the eternal generation, became man
by the birth from the Virgin. And He, Who is perfect God in His Godhead of the same Nature
with the Father, and also perfect man of the same bodily nature with mankind by birth from
the Virgin, is one and the same. But whosoever says that Christ had a body from heaven, or
that His body was of His nature: let him be accursed. " 'Whosoever denies that the flesh
of our Lord is from the Virgin, of the same nature as ours : let him be accursed. "
'Whosoever holds concerning our Lord and Saviour Who was from the Holy Spirit and from
Mary the Virgin in the flesh, that He was incomposite and without consciousness, and
without reason, and without mind : let him be accursed.

" 'Whosoever shall dare to say with respect to Christ that He suffered in His Godhead, and
not in the flesh, as it is written : let him be accursed. " 'Whosoever would separate and
divide our Lord and Saviour, and say that God the Word is one Son, and the man whom He
took another, and does not confess Him to be one and the same : let him be accursed.' "OF
JOHN CHRYSOSTOM " 'He Who transcends all our conceptions and surpasses all our thoughts,
and is exalted above angels and above all intelligent powers, was content to become man;
and He took flesh, which was formed; from the earth and the clay. And this He did by
entering the Virgin's womb, where He was carried for the period of nine months; and after
His birth He sucked milk; and indeed He suffered all things pertaining to the human lot.
Why was He called a Table? Because when I eat the mystery which is upon Him, I am
refreshed. Why was He called a House? Because I dwell in Him. Why was He called an
Indweller? Because I am His temple. Why was He called a Head? Because I am His member.
When He set His love upon a harlot, what did He do? He did not call her up; for He would
not bring a harlot up to Heaven. But He came down; as she was not able to ascend to Him,
He descended to her. And coming to her hovel, He Himself was not ashamed; and He found her
drunk. And how did He come? Not openly in His own Nature; but He became like the harlot
herself in nature though not in will; lest, when she saw Him, she might be confounded
through terror and flee. He came to her having become man. And how did He become man? He
was conceived in the womb, and He grew gradually.'

"OF THE SAME " 'This is the day on which the Eternal One was born and became man, a thing
which never took place before, though He did not change from being God, for it was not by
a change of the Godhead that He became man; neither from a human original by growth did He
become God; but the impassible Word suffered no change in His Nature by becoming flesh. He
that is seated upon the throne high and lifted up, was laid in the manger. He that is
simple and without body, and cannot be touched, was embraced by human hands. He Who severs
the chains of sin, was wrapped in swathing-bands.' "OF ATHANASIUS " 'If any man teaches
doctrine contrary to the Holy Scriptures, and says that the Son of God is One, and he who
is man from Mary is another, who became a son by grace as we; so that there would be Two
dwelling in the Deity; One, of the same Nature with God, and the other who became so by
grace, the man from Mary : and whosoever, further, says that the body of our Lord was from
above, and not from the Virgin Mary; or that the Godhead was converted into flesh; or that
It was confounded or changed; or that the Godhead of our Lord suffered; or that the body
of Christ, inasmuch as it is from men, should not be worshipped, and not that the body is
to be worshipped because it is that of our Lord and God;—the man who asserts these things
we anathematise, for we obey the apostle when he says,

"Whosoever preaches to you a gospel different from that which we have preached to you, let
him be accursed." ' "OF BISHOP AMBROSE " 'He is the same Person Who speaks, though not
always in the same manner. But He had regard in it at one time to the glory of God, and at
another time to the passions of men. As God, He teaches divine things, because He is the
Word; and as man, He teaches human things, because He speaks in our nature.' "OF
THEOPHILUS OF ALEXANDRIA " 'The Word, the living God, the Lord of all, and Creator of the
worlds, did not clothe Himself in a heavenly body as in some costly substance and come to
us, but He displayed in clay the greatness of the skill of His art. For, when He would
restore and renew man who was formed from the clay, He was born as man from the Virgin,
who, corresponding to us in all points, sin only excepted, and coming into being by a
miracle, shone upon us and blessed our human nature.

" 'However, the first man also came into being in a manner different and distinct from us,
as the intercourse and association of man and woman did not minister to his creation. And
if they allow, in his case, that he was formed out of the earth by the will of God, no
parents having ministered to his birth by the conjunction of male and female; why do they
quarrel with the Incarnation of our Lord and Saviour, which was from the Virgin? And when
they oppose us in this matter, we ask them whether is it easier that a man should come
into being from the earth without parents, or that our Saviour Christ should be born from
the Virgin, with flesh, and soul, and consciousness? And the first man, indeed, who was
from the earth, partook of flesh and blood in all the likeness of humanity; but our
Saviour, by His own power, created and prepared from the Virgin a body for Himself with
flesh, and blood, and soul, and consciousness. And we confess that He consorted with men,
even though in His holy Incarnation the sensual intercourse of man and woman had no part.'

"OF THE SAME " 'Now it was not difficult for God the Word to prepare for Himself a temple
from the Virgin's body, for the purpose of our redemption. For consider, indeed, that God
also is never polluted by natural copulation when He creates man; and how much more then,
by His mercy, may He become incarnate from the blood of the Virgin, for the purpose of our
redemption.' "OF CYRIL " 'So, truly, the Theotokos still remained a virgin after giving
birth to Christ by a miracle; and He was partaker, in like manner as we, of flesh and
blood, not of His own nature, as the heretics say, but of our nature, according to the
saying, "He took the seed of Abraham." ' "OF THE SAME " 'We assert that the body of the
Word was His own, and not that of some other man separately and distinctly who is held to
be different from Christ the Son. And as the body of each one of us is said to be his own,
so also we believe respecting the one Christ. And although He took the body from our race
and our nature, because He was born of the Virgin; yet it must be held and declared to be
His own body. And, since God the Word is the Life in His own Nature, He declared His body
to be a life-giving one. And therefore He became to us a blessing, giving life to all. And
if it be not so, how then is He like us, while yet remaining as He was before, God the
Word? However, grant to Him that in the unity of the Person His body is not separated, and
do not denude Him of His flesh. And thus I rightly worship one Son, Who is of the same
Nature indeed with the Father in the Godhead, but of the same nature with us in the
manhood. And as for those who delight to believe this truth, Christ will enlighten their
knowledge also of Himself by His mysteries.'

"OF THE SAME " 'It is right, indeed, for us to say and believe that God the Word, still
remaining of the same Nature with God the Father, was sent and became man, of the same
nature with us. He is and He remains as He is, and by becoming man He was not changed. And
He was sent to preach deliverance to the captives and light to the blind.' "OF THE SAME,
FROM HIS LETTER TO SUCCENSUS " 'They say, if Christ be perfect God and perfect man, and
the same is of the Nature of the Father in the Godhead and of our nature in the manhood,
how is He perfect if His human nature is not seen? and how is He of our nature if that
actual and self-same nature which is ours be not seen? The answer which we have given at
the beginning should suffice to enlighten them. For if, when speaking of one nature of the
Word, we refrained from saying "incarnate," rejecting the dispensation, their word would
be plausible when they ask, "How can He be perfect in manhood and in Nature?" But since
our word indeed testifies that He is perfect in manhood and in Nature by saying that He
became flesh, therefore let them cease from these objections, and not lean upon a broken
reed.'

"OF THE SAME " 'In the might, indeed, of His Godhead He took the hand of the daughter of
Jairus, saying, "Maid, arise." And He did not give the command in word merely, and the
work was accomplished according to His own will. But that we might believe that His holy
body was of the same nature with our bodies, while it also was glorious, and divine, and
raised above our measure, it being also His own, He wrought in it. For which reason, also,
He called His own body the "Bread of Life."' "And so these fathers and holy men like them
have with one consent anathematised every man who is not obedient to their doctrine. "And
I have written to Alexandria, to the clergy, to the monks, to the sisters the virgins in
Christ, and to the believing people; and I have sent the letter to you, my dear friends;
and that ye may know what I have written, I, Timothy, have marked the salutation with my
own handwriting.

"Whosoever does not believe in the doctrine of the holy fathers, in accordance with the
tradition of our Lord Jesus Christ: let him be accursed. For it is right for each one of
us either to stand fast in the faith and to live in it, or else to die on behalf of it,
and to live for evermore. "My brother Anatolius the presbyter, and Theophilus, and Cyrus,
and Christodorus, and Gennadius the deacons, and the members of the brotherhood who are
with me, send you their greeting." The foregoing letter, with the quotations appended
thereto, we have written down here. By reading and considering it, lovers of the doctrine
will find in it a sufficient refutation of the notion of Nestorius, who holds that there
are two Natures in the unity of Christ; and also of the teaching of Eutyches, who does not
confess that God the Word became perfect Man, and remained without change God the Word,
One Person who became flesh.

And, besides this letter, we have subjoined another explaining the right method of
reception in the case of those who repent and turn from heresy. THE LETTER OF TIMOTHY
WHICH HE WROTE TO ALEXANDRIA, AND BY WHICH HE CUT OFF ISAIAH AND THEOPHILUS FROM COMMUNION
WITH THE BELIEVERS "Timothy to the God-loving bishops, and presbyters, and deacons, and
archimandrites, and sisters, and faithful people in the Lord, greeting— "Inasmuch as
Isaiah and Theophilus have been for a long time heretics in secret, whom I admonished by
letter, urging them to agree to the holy doctrine of the fathers, and they have not been
obedient to the letters which I wrote to them to Constantinople, containing proofs from
Scripture, and the doctors of the Church, that our Lord Jesus Christ was of the same
nature with us in the body; and furthermore they have shown no respect for my sufferings
in being banished from place to place, but have behaved treacherously towards the bearers
of my letter, and also informed the prefects against them, and they stirred up others,
saying, 'It is a forgery,' even though they knew my signature which was on the letter. And
I waited a considerable time for them though I knew their disposition, and they made no
reply, either by word of mouth or in writing. And upon reflection, I thought it right to
send them another letter; so I wrote urging them to come and confess the true faith. And
in my admonition I reminded them that God does not condemn nor reject those who repent.
And I cited the examples of holy men who sinned and denied the Lord, but who afterwards
repented; and God accepted their repentance, and accounted them worthy of their former
dignity; such was the case of David, and Peter, and Paul.

"And I wrote to them that in like manner, if they would repent and confess the body of
Christ to be of the same nature as ours, I would continue to entertain my old esteem and
love for them; and I would maintain them in the honour of their rank. And they showed no
affection for me, but treated me with contempt. "And after this I waited four years more
for them, without exposing them by name. And they still persevered in their disobedience,
and showed no sign of repentance, and they neither received the doctrine of the holy
fathers nor me. And they associated with some heretics who openly deny that our Lord took
a human body, and that He became perfect man from us. And they creep into houses, and
greedily grasp at gain, which they hold as their god, while they are sojourning in the
royal city. And I wrote to them that they should depart from it, but they would not. And
they continued to lead simple folk astray, and to circulate other rumours respecting me,
with the object of doing me great harm. And being distressed and saddened by them, I was
compelled to excommunicate them by their names lest they should cause many to stumble and
err.

"And I now give sentence upon Isaiah and Theophilus, who say that the body of the Lord is
of His own divine Nature, and not of ours, and who deny His true humanity, thereby cutting
themselves off from the fellowship of the holy fathers and mine; that no man henceforth
hold communion with them. For John the evangelist commands, saying, 'My brethren, believe
not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they be of God; for indeed, many false
prophets have appeared in the world. And hereby the spirit which is from God is known,
every spirit which confesses that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God, and every
spirit which does not confess Jesus is not from God. And this is the spirit of the false
Christ. Because many deceivers have gone forth into the world, who do not confess Jesus
Christ to have come in the flesh; this is a deceiver and a false Christ.' And again, 'If
any man comes to you not preaching this doctrine, do not either receive him into the house
or greet him, for he that greets him is partaker with his evil deeds.' And because of the
apostle who says, 'Whosoever preaches to you a gospel different from what we have preached
to you, let him be accursed.'

"I am clear from their blood and from that of their associates; for I have not ceased to
show them, according to the will of God, what is for their good. For Paul further exhorts
us, saying, 'After thou hast warned an heretic once or twice, and he has refused thine
admonition, avoid him; since by continuing in his sin he is corrupted and guilty.'But the
blessed Dioscorus the Confessor wrote sentiments agreeable to these of the holy fathers,
and after the same manner, in his letter to Secundinus." . . . And the letter goes on to
say, "Now, I beseech you, brethren, by the Lord Jesus Christ, and by the love of the
Spirit, concerning those who repent and turn from the heresy of the Diphysites, as I wrote
in a letter a year ago, that you, the bishops, and clergy, and other believers, all who
are subject to you, help them, and extend the hand to them in the Lord.

"And when anyone is converted let him have one year of repentance, and after that let him
be established in his former rank, and his dignity be restored to him. And if there be no
believing bishop, let the clergy or the believing bishops, who from any cause happen to be
in the country, fill the place in the love of God, even though those who repent are not
subject to them in jurisdiction. "This same order and regulation Cyril and Dioscorus
observed of one year's repentance for bishops, presbyters, and deacons; after which they
should be established in their former rank. "Pray for me that God may help me in this
conflict; the Lord be with you. Amen!" Such letters he wrote advising them how they should
receive converts from the Proterian party. And he became so celebrated, even with the
people of India, that when their bishop died they, being of the same faith with him, sent
a request to him that he would appoint a bishop for them.

But, indeed, the Alexandrians never ceased sending petitions and supplications to the king
on his behalf, time after time, and stirring up popular tumult for him. For as soon as
they heard of the death of Leo and the succession of Basiliscus, they sent a deputation of
certain chosen monks, Paul the Sophist, and James, and Theopompus. But the chief priests
who held office from the Council of Chalcedon until the time of Basiliscus, and the
encyclical letters which he and Marcus, wrote, and up to the reign of Zeno, who became
emperor, are as follows:— Of Rome, Leo, and his successor Hilary. Of Alexandria,
Proterius, who was killed. And his successor was Timothy the Great, who was banished. And
until he returned by means of the Encyclicals, they appointed another Timothy, called
Salophaciolus. In Constantinople, Anatolius, and his successor Gennadius, who was
succeeded by Acacius. In Ephesus, John, who took the place of Bassian; and Paul, who was
banished, and who returned by means of the Encyclicals, but was banished again.

In Antioch, Domnus, and his successor was Maximus, and then Martyrius, who was driven out;
and after him Julian, who was succeeded by Stephen; and then another Stephen, who was
driven out; and Peter, who returned from banishment two or three times. And in Jerusalem,
Juvenalis, and Anastasius his successor. Now King Leo the emperor died, and there arose
after him Basiliscus, and Marcus, and Zeno, who had retired for a little time to the
strongholds of Salmon; but he afterwards returned and became emperor, and Basiliscus and
Marcus were driven out. [Note to the online edition: footnotes have been moved to the end.
Footnotes concerned only with bits of Syriac and Greek have been omitted because of the
time it would take to transcribe it.] 1. Or, "being, so far as it goes, drawn from," etc.
This maybe an intimation that our Syriac text is a compilation of extracts from the
original Greek.

2. Evag. ii. 8 ; Liberat. 15. 3. I.e. Upper Egypt, see Evag. 4. ... the name was taken to
mean "Tomb of Osiris" (Brooks). 5. Evag. ii. 8 ; Liberat. 15. 6. Liberat. 15; Evag. ii. 9.
7. Evag. ii. 10. 8. Matt. xxviii. 19. 9. Migne, Patr. Graec, vi. p. 274. 10. Matt. xxii.
29. 11. See bk. 7, ch. 10. 12. Mansi, vol. vii. p. 539 ff. 13. Leo, Ep. 156, ch. ii. 14.
Evag. ii. 10. 15. Evag. ii. 11. 16. Mansi, vol. vii. p. 537. 17. Prov. xviii. 3 (LXX). 18.
Liberat. 15 and 16. 19. ... i.e. ... the province of Phoenice Maritima. 20. Liberat. 16.
21. Evag. ii. 11. 22. Num. xx. 17; Prov. iv. 27. 23. A free quotation from Eccles. vii.
16-18. 24. Ps. cxlii. (Syr. cxli.) 3. 25. John i. 42; Matt. xvi. 18. 26. Heb. ii. 14-18.
27. Orat. ii., contra Arian. 74.

28. 1 Cor. iii. 11, 12. 29. De Incarn. Dei Verbi (Migne, Patr. Graec. vol. xxviii. p. 25).
30. Athan. ad Epict. 8, 9. 31. This is the best I can make of it, the text may be corrupt.
32. Ibid. 7. 33. Migne, Patr. Lat. vol. viii. p. 874. 34. John xvii. 5. 35. Migne, Patr.
Lat, vol. viii. p. 929. John i. 14. 36. 1 Cor. vi. 8. 37. Migne, Patr. Graec. vol. x. p.
1128ff. 38. Supplied from the Greek. 39. Heb. xiii. 8. This quotation is not in the Greek.
40. Phil. ii. 7. 41. Luke xxiv. 36-43; John xx. 19-27. 42. Migne, Patr: Graec. vol. x. p.
1117. Here Mich. has "OF THE SAME." 43. This is only an attempt at translating the
sentence; a comparison with the Greek shows that the text is corrupt. 44. Migne, Patr.
Graec, vol. xxix. pp. 673, 680, 681.

45. Ibid. vol. xlv. p. 601. 46. The source of this quotation we are not able to find. 47.
Not in any of the extant works of Pseudo-Julius. 48. De Capt. Eutrop. 8. Here, and at the
beginning of the next quotation, Mich. has "OF THE SAME," which must therefore have
dropped out of our text (Brooks). 49. Ibid. 11. 50. This quotation does not occur in
either of the extant sermons on the Nativity. 51. Migne, Patr. Graec. vol. xxviii. p. 28.
52. .Gal. i. 8, 9. 53. Sixth Paschal Letter, Migne, Patr. Grac. vol. lxv. p. 60. 54. This
and the latter part of the preceding are probably from the lost part of the fifth Paschal
Letter. 55. Heb. ii. 16. 56. Migne, Patr. Graec. vol. lxxvi. p. 372. The rest is not in
the Greek. Mich. has "OF THE SAME," which must therefore have dropped out of our text
(Brooks).

57. Cyr. Ep. 46. 3. 58. Mark v. 41. 59. Pusey's Libr. of the Fathers (Cyr. 5 Tomes, p.
368); cf. Migne, Patr. Graec. 76, p. 1429, where, however, the extract begins after this
sentence. 60. John vi. 48. 61. I John iv. 1-3; 2 John 7. 62. 2 John 10, 11. 63. Gal. i. 8.
64. Tit. iii. 10, 11.


THE SYRIAC CHRONICLE
====================

THE SYRIAC CHRONICLE continued

BOOK V

THE fifth Book (in its twelve chapters, which are written down distinctly below) tells of
Basiliscus and Marcus the Illustrious;and the encyclical letter which they Wrote to the
bishops of their dominion, in which also they anathematised the Synod of Chalcedon and the
Tome. For after eighteen years of banishment in Gangra and Cherson, Timothy the Great
returned and arrived at Constantinople; and then he and Paul the Sophist, and James, and
Theopompus, his chosen monks, persuaded Basiliscus to write the Encyclical. It also tells
about the petition sent by the bishops of Asia, who met at Ephesus and subscribed to the
Encyclical. Moreover, it tells about some Eutychian monks then residing at Constantinople,
who, along with Zenaia the king's wife, basely conspired against Timothy to have him sent
again into banishment. Whereupon he departed to Ephesus. And by means of a Synod, which he
convened, he reinstated Paul there, and gave him the rights of the Patriarchate that the
Synod of Chalcedon had taken away from him, and had given to the royal city, through the
flattery and treachery of John, whom they made bishop instead of Bassian. For the latter
resigned, and departed and went into banishment. Now Timothy was received with much state.
And without any rancour he admitted to his communion the penitents from the Proterian
party and from that of Timothy Salophaciolus, who was driven out before him by the king's
command.

But this Book also relates the deeds of Acacius in Constantinople, and how he raised an
insurrection and rebellion against Basiliscus ; and he took possession of the Churches;
and he compelled Basiliscus to write the Antencyclical, and to deny his former letter. And
the bishops again subscribed to this Antencyclical, with the exception of Amphilochius of
Side and Epiphanius of Magdolum. And then Zeno returned and became emperor, and he thrust
out Basiliscus, and cancelled every law and enactment which he had made. And when he was
wishing to depose Timothy, the latter died, having retained his See to the end; and Peter,
who became bishop in his stead, hid from the threats of Zeno. Then Timothy Salophaciolus
returned, and took possession of the church, and sought for Peter. But this Book further
tells about John the archimandrite, who was sent to Zeno with the petition of the party of
Timothy Salophaciolus, praying for an order that, after the death of Timothy, one of their
side should be the bishop in Alexandria. Now this John coveted the see for himself. And
Zeno heard it; and, with the object of trying him, he required from him an oath in the
presence of the Senate, and also of Bishop Acacius, that he would not take the bishopric.

And John then returned to Alexandria, bearing an order from the king that, in succession
to Timothy, any of his party whom the citizens might desire should be appointed as bishop.
But about the same time it happened that this Timothy Salophaciolus died. And then John
transgressed his oath, and used bribery to get the bishopric there for himself. But when
Zeno heard of it, through the report of eminent believers among the monks there who went
up to him and informed him of all the events which had occurred in Alexandria from the
time of the Synod, he was greatly moved; and he changed his mind, and wrote a letter
called the "Henotikon." And he gave orders that Peter should return to his place, upon the
condition of his receiving the Henotikon, and that John the liar should be deprived.
Whereupon John repaired to Rome, and declared that he had suffered deprivation for the
sake of the Synod and the Tome. And then Zeno wrote to the Patriarch there, and exposed
John.

But Peter of Antioch also returned and convened a Synod, and received the Henotikon. And
in like manner, Acacius of Constantinople and Martyrius of Jerusalem, the successor of
Anastasius. And they all, except the bishop of Rome, wrote synodical letters, and received
Peter of Alexandria into their communion. But certain zealous monks withdrew from Peter
and became separatists, because he had received the Henotikon in which there was no
express anathema of the Synod. And Peter thrust them out from their monasteries.
Accordingly some of them went up to Zeno and persuaded him to send back with them Cosmas
the Spatharius, to inquire into their matter; and at another time he sent Arsenius the
prefect, and a prolonged dispute ensued. These, indeed, are the matters which are written
expressly in the twelve chapters of this fifth Book, which (so to speak) has been
translated from the same Greek History of Zachariah, and has here been written in the
Syriac language for the study and instruction of the diligent, that they may learn the
events that occurred in former times.

Chapter 1

THE FIRST CHAPTER OF THIS BOOK TELLS HOW TIMOTHY RETURNED FROM BANISHMENT AFTER THE DEATH
OF LEO; AND THAT IT WAS HE WHO URGED BASILISCUS TO WRITE THE ENCYCLICAL LETTER When
Timothy had completed eighteen years in banishment, and Leo the emperor was dead, and
Zeno, his successor, had received the kingdom, the people of Alexandria, observing this
crisis in imperial affairs, sent a petition by certain chosen, and (as we may say)
illustrious and noble monks, among them Amon who was called the wild bull, and Paul who
had been a sophist, and Theorion and James the miracle-workers, and Theopompus the brother
of the master of the offices. However, in consequence of a rebellion that was raised
against Zeno by Basiliscus, the brother of Verina the wife of Leo, who had been associated
with Zeno in the command of the army in the days of Leo, Zeno had betaken himself to the
strongholds called Salmon; and Basiliscus had assumed the crown. And he appointed
Theoctistus his physician, an Alexandrian, the brother of this Theopompus the monk, as
master of the offices.

Now when these monks entered into the royal presence, the king, and the courtiers, and the
queen were struck with admiration of them. But also Theoctistus the master of the offices
and Acacius the bishop rendered them assistance. So Basiliscus issued an order that
Timothy should return from banishment. And at first Acacius was preparing a lodging for
him at the church called Irene; and he was setting apart some of his own clergy for his
retinue and service. But afterwards, because he thought that they were forming a plan to
make Theopompus bishop at the royal city instead of him, Acacius was distressed and
indignant; and he endeavoured to put a stop to Timothy's coming. However, he did not
succeed. For he returned, and was welcomed with great state by the Alexandrian sailors and
the people who happened to be then in Constantinople. And he went to lodge in the king's
palace. And large numbers were coming to him to be blessed, and to be sanctified, and to
receive healing from him. And becoming intimate both with Basiliscus and his wife,
Timothy,along with those who happened to be there with him and on his behalf, persuaded
the king, so that he consented to write encyclical letters, in which he would anathematise
the Tome and the addition which was made at Chalcedon. For Paul the monk, who was a
rhetorician and a sophist, drew them up. And it was he who, in a discussion with Acacius
the patriarch, was able to show that the heresies of Nestorius and Eutyches are one and
the same; though they are generally thought to be diametrically opposed to each other.

For the one, indeed, making objection declares that it would be a degradation to God to be
born of a woman, and to be made in all points like as we are, by becoming partaker of
flesh and blood; whereas He was only partaker by identity of name, and by power and
indwelling, and by operation. But the other, indeed, for the purpose of liberating and
exalting God, so that He should not suffer degradation and contempt by association with a
human body, publishes the doctrine that He became incarnate from His own essence, and that
He assumed a heavenly body; and that just as there is no part of the seal left upon the
wax, nor of the golden signet upon the clay, so neither did there cleave to Christ any
portion of humanity whatsoever. And when he spoke in this way, Acacius was astonished at
the solidity of his reasoning, and he assented and agreed. And he went to Timothy and
conversed with him, in a friendly manner, respecting the rights of his see. However, when
he was requested by Timothy to sign the Encyclical, he hesitated.

Chapter 2

THE SECOND CHAPTER TELLS ABOUT THE ENCYCLICAL LETTER OF BASILISCUS AND MARCUS, WHICH IS TO
THE FOLLOWING EFFECT "The king Basiliscus, the believing, victorious, all-virtuous ruler,
Augustus, along with Marcus the most illustrious Caesar, to Timothy the reverend and God-
loving archbishop of the great city Alexandria. Concerning all the laws justly and
righteously enacted by the believing and memorable kings who have gone before us, for the
salvation and good guidance of all the world, and in defence of the true faith as taught
by the apostles and holy fathers ; it is our will that all these laws should be ratified,
and not lightly annulled. Rather do we agree to them, and hold them to be of equal
validity with our own. "And earnestly desiring to honour the fear of God more than any
affair of man, through zeal for the Lord Jesus Christ our God, to Whom we owe our
creation, exaltation, and glory; moreover also, being fully persuaded that the unity of
His flock is the salvation of ourselves and our people, and is the sure and immovable
foundation, and the lofty bulwark of our kingdom ; we now, moved by a wise impulse, are
bringing union and unity to the Church of Christ in every part of our dominion, namely,
the faith of the three hundred and eighteen bishops, who being previously prepared by the
Holy Ghost, assembled at Nicea, the security and well-being of human life, the faith which
we hold, like all who have been before us, and in which we believe and are baptized, that
it may hold and ruleall the Churches with their chosen canons: the faith which is complete
and perfect in all piety and true belief, and which rejects and exposes all heresies, and
thrusts them out of the Church: the faith which the one hundred and fifty bishops, being
assembled here to oppose and condemn the fighters against the Spirit, the Holy Lord
confirmed, and with which they concurred and agreed : the faith which was also confirmed
by the transactions of the two Councils at Ephesus, along with the chief priests of Rome
and Alexandria, Celestine and Cyril, and Dioscorus, in condemnation of the heretic
Nestorius, and all who after him have held similar opinions, and have confounded the order
of the Church, and disturbed the peace of the world, and cleft asunder the unity; we mean
the Tome of Leo, and the decrees of Chalcedon, whether by way of definition of the faith,
or doctrine, or interpretation, or addition, or whatsoever other innovation was said or
done contrary to the faith and the definition of the three hundred and eighteen.

"And therefore we command that wherever, here or elsewhere, such written doctrine be
found, it shall be anathematised and burnt in the fire. For in accordance with this order,
our blessed predecessors in the kingdom, Constantine the Great and Theodosius, in like
manner, commanded and ordained. And also, the three subsequent Synods, that of the one
hundred and fifty bishops here, and the two of Ephesus, ratified only the faith of Nicea,
and agreed to the true definition there made. "Moreover, we anathematise everyone who does
not confess that the only-begotten Son of God truly became incarnate by the Holy Ghost
from the Virgin Mary; not taking a body from heaven, in mere semblance or phantasy. And
also we anathematise all the false teaching of all those heresies which are contrary to
the true faith of the fathers," and so on with the rest of the Encyclical. To this
document Timothy agreed and subscribed ; as did also Peter of Antioch and Paul of Ephesus,
who were recalled from banishment, and the bishops of Asia and the East, and Anastasius of
Jerusalem, and those of his jurisdiction ; so that the number of bishops who subscribed to
the Encyclical is found to be about seven hundred, less or more. And they anathematised
the Tome of Leo and the Synod ; and they sent a petition to Basiliscus and Marcus, which
was as follows:—

Chapter 3

THE THIRD CHAPTER GIVES INFORMATION RESPECTING THE PETITION OF THE BISHOPS OF ASIA, WHO
WERE ASSEMBLED AT EPHESUS, AND SIGNED THE ENCYCLICAL, AND WHO WROTE TO BASILISCUS AND
MARCUS TO THE FOLLOWING EFFECT "To the believing, and Christ-loving, victorious kings
Basiliscus and Marcus the Augusti—Paul and Pergamius, and Gennadius, and Zenodotus, and
Zoticus, and Gennadius, and Theophilus, and the other bishops assembled at Ephesus:— In
all things ye have shown yourselves to be believing and Christ-loving beings; so that when
the true faith suffered persecution by the malice of men, ye also were persecuted along
with it. For there are rebellious and vainglorious men, of a corrupt mind, foolish and
void of the faith of the Son of God, Who humbled Himself for our sake and became
incarnate, and rendered us meet for the adoption of sons. Be glad, then, and rejoice, and
exult, and glory that ye have been counted worthy to suffer persecution with the faith.
For there is reserved for these men the everlasting judgment of fire which devours the
persecutors, and also the threat of your punishment which is upon them; because they have
despised us, and slandered and belied us, and forced us with violence to agree to their
doctrine.

"But now that the light of the true faith has arisen upon us, and the dark cloud of error
been rolled away from us, we make known by this declaration our true faith to your
Majesties and to all the world. And we say that freely and with willing consent, by the
aid of John the Evangelist as our teacher, we have signed this Encyclical; and we agree to
it and to everything in it, without compulsion, or fear, or favour of man. And if at any
future time violence shall meet us from man, we are prepared to despise fire and sword and
banishment and the spoiling of our goods, and to treat all bodily suffering with contempt;
so that we may adhere to the true faith. We have anathematised and we do anathematise the
Tome of Leo and the decrees of Chalcedon ; which have been the cause of much blood-
shedding, and confusion, and tumult, and trouble, and divisions, and strifes in all the
world. For we are satisfied with the doctrine and faith of the apostles and of the holy
fathers, the three hundred and eighteen bishops; to which also the illustrious Council of
the one hundred and fifty in the Royal City, and the two other holy Synods at Ephesus
adhered, and which they confirmed. And we join with them in anathematising Nestorius, and
everyone who does not confess that the only-begotten Son of God was incarnate by the Holy
Ghost, of the Virgin Mary; He becoming perfect man, while yet He remained, without change
and the same, perfect God ; and that He was not incarnate from Heaven in semblance or
phantasy. And we further anathematise all other heresies." But they wrote down some other
things. And they applauded with loud voice and approved.

But the other bishops also of the various districts wrote another declaration, the
beginning of which was to this effect: "With the consent of our heart, we hold your
Majesties to be in such accord with our fathers, the three hundred and eighteen bishops,
as to make the three hundred and nineteenth : for you are very zealous for their true
faith, that it may prosper and be preached among all nations in your dominion."

Chapter 4

THE FOURTH CHAPTER OF THIS SAME FIFTH BOOK NARRATES THE EVENTS WHICH OCCURRED IN
CONSTANTINOPLE AND EPHESUS AFTER THE PUBLICATION OF THE ENCYCLICAL When the purport of the
king's Encyclical letters became generally known, certain monks holding opinions similar
to those of Eutyches, who happened to be in the Royal City, came in a body to Timothy,
supposing him to be of their way of thinking, and disputed with him about the terms of the
Encyclical; because it anathematised everyone who affirmed that Christ was incarnate in
semblance. But when he said to them, "What then is your opinion respecting the
Incarnation?" then they brought up to him the illustration of the signet-ring which, after
the impression, leaves no part of its substance upon the wax or the clay. And having
discovered their sentiments, he admonished and instructed them, that the Scriptures teach
us that Christ was made in all points like unto us, and took our nature perfectly, yet
without the motions of sin. And although He was born supernaturally without copulation,
nevertheless He became perfect Man, having been conceived in the Virgin Mary, and from her
born, through the Holy Ghost. And being incarnate He yet remained the same and without
change in His Godhead.

Then Timothy, having learned by the whole tenor of the conversation of those who came to
him what their mind was, made a written statement, declaring that Christ was like unto us
in everything belonging to humanity. Whereupon the monks of the place separated themselves
from him, saying, "We will have no communion with the Alexandrians." But the others,
having discovered that he had no tendency to the Eutychian doctrine, attached themselves
to him. Then the Eutychianists, joining with their fellows, advised Zenona, the wife of
King Basiliscus, a professor of their creed, that Timothy should be banished again.
However, Theoctistus, the master of the offices, having heard what was likely to befall
him, urged him to leave the city and to proceed without delay to Alexandria. And he left;
and having, on his journey, arrived at Ephesus, he convened a Synod, and he reinstated
Paul who had formerly been the bishop there, but was in exile at that time for not
accepting the decrees of Chalcedon. To him Timothy canonically restored the rights of his
see, which the Council of Chalcedon had snatched from it, and had given by partiality to
the throne of the royal city.

And Timothy arrived at Alexandria, and he was received with great state, with torches, and
also songs of praise by the various people and languages there, and even by the members of
the Proterian party, who beheld the affection for him displayed by the citizens. But the
band of the priests, and the monks, and the sisters in Christ, and all the people in a
body, chanting their hymns, and saying, "Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the
Lord," conducted him into the great church. For Timothy Salophaciolus had by the king's
command gone out before him. And inasmuch as he was a peaceable and kind man, and also
gentle in his words, and by no means passionate, he remitted to the members of the
Proterian party the term of repentance, which he had written and appointed for the
penitents when he was in banishment. And even Prolatius (?) himself, who had taken and
dragged him from the font of the Baptistery, he received just as kindly and peaceably as
the others, weeping and comforting him as to his former rebellious and insolent conduct
towards himself.

For, such is the rule of the leaders of the Church, which Timothy truly showed towards the
many, that brotherly charity which seeks not her own, and is not easily provoked. But
certain persons, who were ignorant of the rights of divine love, severed themselves from
him on account of his gentleness and mildness towards the penitents, in that he required
nothing else from them except that they should anathematise the Synod and the Tome, and
confess the true faith; and because he did not hold them aloof, even for a little while,
from the communion which they had made desolate. But at the head of these persons was
Theodoret the bishop of Joppa, who had been consecrated by Theodosius some time before.
And he was then filled with envy because he had not also been received back again to his
see. And, lo! the illustrious Peter the Iberian did not return to Gaza; and he did not at
all agree with this faction, but he was warmly attached to Timothy, and he proved that his
conduct and actions were in conformity with the will of God. But the Separatists who sided
with Theodotus fell into such error that they even practised reanointing, and they were
called Anachristo-Novatians.

But the affection of the people for Timothy being great was increased the more because, by
the king's command, he brought the bones of Dioscorus and of Anatolius his brother, along
with him, in a silver coffin, and he buried him with great state, laying him in the place
of the bishops, and honouring him as a confessor. But his charity was so profuse that of
his own free will he appointed that one denarius a day should be given by the Church, for
expenditure and use, to Timothy, who was deposed, and who had been since then supporting
himself by the work of his hands, by weaving baskets and selling them. And he gave to the
great men and rulers of the city a gift, assigning to each of them three paxamatia apiece.
And to King Basiliscus and to the patricians he only sent the same. And at one time the
tax-gatherer came to him with a royal letter, and he gave him just the same; and he
answered and said, "I want a gift of denarii." And he said, "It is the duty of the Church
to expend them upon the widows and orphans."

But the people heard that the prefect there, Boetius by name, was an Eutychian ; and they
cried out in the church, "Pope! pronounce an anathema upon Nestorius and Eutyches." And he
at once anathematised them by word of mouth in the presence of the prefect. And thereby he
was cleared from the suspicion of associating with the prefect as an Eutychian. Such were
the transactions at Alexandria.

Chapter 5

THE FIFTH CHAPTER OF THIS SAME FIFTH BOOK TELLS ABOUT THE PREPARATIONS WHICH WERE MADE BY
ACACIUS OF CONSTANTINOPLE; AND ABOUT THE "ANTENCYCLICALS" ; AND ALSO ABOUT PETER AND PAUL
OF ANTIOCH AND OF EPHESUS, WHO WERE AGAIN DEPOSED WHEN ZENO THE KING RETURNED AND
BASILISCUS WAS DRIVEN OUT But Acacius of Constantinople, having heard respecting Paul of
Ephesus that the rightful authority of his see, according to its former constitution, had
been restored to him by Timothy; and further, that Peter had returned to Antioch ; and
that they were preparing to hold a Synod against him at Jerusalem with the intention of
deposing himself and appointing Theopompus, brother of the master of the offices, in his
stead : he, having heard all this, stirred up the monks and urged them on, and brought
down Daniel from the pillar, and took possession of the churches, and raised an
insurrection against Basiliscus, declaring that he was a heretic. Whereupon Basiliscus,
for the report reached him at the same time that Zeno was returning with a great army, was
compelled to make the "Antencyclicals," by which he cancelled his former letter.

Then Zeno, upon his return, and the ejection of Basiliscus, passed a law whereby all the
proceedings of Basiliscus were to be cancelled. He also deposed Peter of Antioch and Paul
of Ephesus; and he uttered severe threats against Timothy. However, the latter died,
departing to be with his Lord ; and he was buried with great state, the obsequies being
performed by Peter, who was canonically consecrated as his successor by the bishops of the
country. But the bishops of Asia made a libel to Acacius, finding fault with the
"Encyclicals"; and they subscribed to the Antencyclicals. In like manner also, the Eastern
bishops made a libel to Calandion, Peter's successor, whereby they, too, anathematised the
"Encyclicals." But Anastasius of Jerusalem persevered in his integrity, holding with him
the three provinces of Palestine; and he would not give himself over to this party, nor
would he deny the Encyclicals ; although he freely associated with the bishops who came
together to him.

In like manner also Epiphanius of Magdolum of Pamphylia, impelled by the greatness of his
soul, departed to Alexandria, and was sojourning in the monasteries there, and was
honoured by Timothy and by his successor Peter. But King Zeno was greatly enraged when he
heard about Peter; and he sent threats of which Peter had previous intimation, and he hid
himself in the city by moving about from one house to another. But, by the command of King
Zeno, Timothy Salophaciolus, who had been ejected, returned and took possession of the
great church, and a tumult and slaughter ensued upon his entry there. And Theoctistus, the
prefect of the city, was searching for Peter to apprehend him, when a Voice was heard,
saying, "I will hide him, and I will protect him, because he has known My Name; he shall
call upon Me, and I will answer him ; in the day of trouble I will sustain him, and I will
honour him."

But Timothy exerted himself by all ways and means to keep the people on his side. He
preached the faith of Nicea and of the one hundred and fifty; he confessed and agreed to
the transactions of Ephesus; he anathematised Nestorius; and he wrote in the diptych the
names of Cyril and Dioscorus, and read them out; and he did more besides, and yet he was
unable to draw the people to himself.

Chapter 6

THE SIXTH CHAPTER OF THIS SAME BOOK TELLS ABOUT MARTYRIUS, WHO WAS THE SUCCESSOR OF
ANASTASIUS IN JERUSALEM ; THAT HE ALSO WAS PREACHING THE TRUE FAITH TO THE PEOPLE, AND WAS
ANATHEMATISING NESTORIUS AND THE SYNOD OF CHALCEDON And Martyrius of Jerusalem was also
one of those who, following Anastasius his predecessor, separated himself from the
Antencyclical, and exerted himself greatly to unite the people. And he gained over
Marcianus, an excellent monk ; and this man received him, and admonished the other monks
to do the same. But those who did not receive him he expelled. And they say that, after
his death, one of his disciples, who was quite blind, prayed to God, saying, "If the
doctrine of our master be indeed the right one, when I lay mine eyes upon his corpse, let
them receive their sight" ; and he received his sight. THE PUBLIC ADDRESS OF MARTYRIUS

"Christ is our peace, Who hath made both one, and has taken down the middle wall of
partition, and has destroyed the enmity by His flesh. For, behold, the Church is receiving
back her sons, who never, indeed, of their own accord, departed far from her! And now they
have shown this to us by deed, and it is time for us to say, 'Glory to God in the highest,
and peace upon earth.' "Wherefore, to their face we the God-loving bishops have blamed
these chaste archimandrites and the excellent clergy, in order in your presence to
convince the rest of our brethren that we have no other true definition of the faith but
that into which we have been and are being baptized. For thus have they been baptized, and
believe as we do. "Whosoever, then, holds or has held or learned doctrine contrary to this
definition of the faith which was framed by the three hundred and eighteen holy fathers,
the bishops assembled at Nicea; to which definition the one hundred and fifty believing
and true bishops, assembled in the royal city, adhered, ratifying and confirming the same,
as did also the Synod held in Ephesus: whosoever (I say) holds or has held or learned what
is contrary to this definition, let him be accursed, if he have any other teaching or
doctrine defined elsewhere, whether in Rimini, or in Sardica, or in Chalcedon, or in any
other place whatsoever, according to the saying of the apostle, 'If any man preaches to
you more than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed.' "

And again, the same Martyrius spoke in the following terms: "If any man teaches, or brings
in as new, or thinks or interprets, or holds any other definition or faith contrary to
this approved and orthodox doctrine of faith of the three hundred and eighteen holy
bishops and the one hundred and fifty, and them of Ephesus, he is an alien to the holy
Church. "And, behold, I adjure you in the sight of God and His Christ, and the Holy
Spirit, and the elect angels, that you do not suffer any man to lead you astray from this
faith! But the confession, signed with your own signatures, lo, it is recorded in Heaven
above! And you shall give account before the fearful and righteous Judgment-Seat, if you
accept anything more or less than the true faith. I am clear from your blood ; I have not
desisted from speaking unto you."

By using language such as this, the bishops were admonishing those who separated from
them. But in Alexandria not one believer would consent to hold communion with Timothy and
his followers. Then the monks and certain learned and wise men took counsel together, and
they made a supplication to the chiefs of the cities, begging of them that, in the event
of the death of Timothy, they would not accept as bishop any other member of his party;
but that they would only be satisfied with Peter the believer, who was the lawfully-
appointed bishop, although he was then hidden in retirement. And the partisans of Timothy
having heard of this, drew up a petition and sent it to the king by John, a presbyter of
the Martyr Church of St. John the Baptist, a monk, and also one of the Tabennesiots. And
in it they besought the king that, in the event of the death of Timothy, none but a member
of his party should be made bishop, and that the people of Alexandria should not receive
Peter.

And when John was admitted into the presence of the king, the latter said to him, for the
purpose of trying him, "We think it well that you should yourself be the bishop there."
For the king had previously learned that he was in league with Julius the general, who, on
account of his command over the king's army, was preparing an insurrection against the
king, in conjunction with Leontius and Euprepius. And John disclosed this to Julius; and
he said to the king, "I am not worthy." Then he told him to take counsel upon it. And when
Julius heard it he said to him, "Conceal your feelings, and be careful not to disclose
them before the king." Then he took an oath in the presence of Acacius and the senators
that he would never be the bishop. And the king issued an order, and gave it to John, to
the effect that any brother whom the clergy and the people of the city might choose,
should be the successor of Timothy.

But when he returned to the city, he delivered a letter from Julius to Theognostus the
prefect there, who was one of the conspirators with Julius, and he promised that if he
should become bishop he would give the royal vessels which Arcadius the king devoted to
the sanctuary, and presented to Theophilus, who was the bishop at that time, and he built
a church there and called it after his name.

Chapter 7

THE SEVENTH CHAPTER OF THE FIFTH BOOK TELLS ABOUT JOHN, HOW HE LIED, AND OBTAINED THE
BISHOPRIC BY BRIBERY, AFTER THE DEATH OF TIMOTHY ; AND ABOUT CYRUS THE PRESBYTER, WHO WAS
IN LEAGUE WITH HIM ; AND ALSO HOW PETER RETURNED TO HIS SEE After a few more days of life
only, Timothy died. Then John belied his own sworn promises, and gave a bribe to
Theognostus, and obtained the bishopric for himself. But he drew over to his side Cyrus a
presbyter, one of those who had formerly been in association with Dioscorus, and had
afterwards forsaken him. This man also coveting the primacy, at one time would attach
himself to Acacius of Constantinople, and at another time to that Timothy who died; and
again, he would mock and revile Timothy the Great and Peter his successor. So that the
Alexandrians used to ridicule him on account of his tergiversations, holding up unripe
dates before him in the public street, and charging him with vile conduct in connexion
with a married woman. The blessed Dioscorus cursed this man, asying, "As God is true,
Cyrus will die a layman." And so, indeed, it happened to him, as is written below.

But the king, when he heard about John, was very indignant, because the latter had belied
his sworn promises, and obtained the bishopric for himself. But there were in
Constantinople at that time some chosen monks who were pleading for Peter. And they showed
him, by written documents respecting them, the sad afflictions which, time after time, had
occurred in Alexandria, and in Egypt, and in the other adjacent districts, on account of
the Synod, And the king acceded to their request, and he issued an order that John should
be ejected from the see as a liar, and that Peter should be restored to the Church, upon
the condition of his subscribing to the Henotikon which Zeno wrote and sent there, and to
Egypt, and to Pentapolis, and of his receiving and holding communion with all the other
bishops who would agree to the Henotikon ; and, moreover, with those in Alexandria called
Proterians, as many of them as would confess that they agreed to the doctrines of the
Henotikon, which indeed was framed by the counsel of Acacius the bishop, and was sent to
Alexandria in the charge of Pergamius, the newly-appointed prefect there in the room of
Theognostus.

This Pergamius, upon his arrival at the city, managed the matter prudently. For having
discovered that John had escaped by flight, he sought out Peter, and informed him of the
king's order. And he showed him the Henotikon, saying, "You must, after having carefully
studied it, subscribe and agree to it; and further, you must receive the bishops and the
other members of the Proterian party without any animosity whatsoever, if only they agree
to all that the king has laid down in the same Henotikon." And Peter, having considered
the contents of this document, found that its provisions were framed faithfully and with
all righteousness. But he hesitated somewhat, because there was no clear and express
anathema of the Synod and the Tome in it, and consequently he feared that it might prove a
stumbling-block to the people. However, he decided to accept it, inasmuch as it proclaimed
the definition of the faith laid down by the three hundred and eighteen ; and it confessed
the truth of the one hundred and fifty bishops; and it also agreed to the twelve Heads of
Cyril; and it anathematised Nestorius and Eutyches ; and it also confessed that the body
of Christ, derived from the Virgin, was of the same nature as our body. Accordingly he
subscribed to it. And he also promised that, if the others would repent and accept all the
provisions of the Henotikon, and persuade the people to that effect, he would receive them
into communion with himself from all orders.

Then the prefect, and the duke, and the chief men, and the clergy, and the monks, and the
sisters, and the believing people assembled together at the place where he was ; and they
set him upon a chariot, and with pomp and praise as one who kept the true faith, and doing
homage before him, they brought him to the great church. And Pergamius urged him to
receive the other members of the Proterian party, But he first declared to the people the
interpretation of the meaning of the Henotikon, and explained it, saying, "It is well and
faithfully written, inasmuch as it accepts the twelve Heads of Cyril, and it anathematises
Nestorius and Eutyches, and it confesses the body of Christ, derived from the Virgin, to
be of the same nature as our body, and that the sufferings which He endured in the flesh,
and the miracles which He wrought, belong to the same God Christ. And this document
further cancels and condemns the whole doctrine of Chalcedon and the Tome, because
Dioscorus and Timothy the Great also thought and expounded similarly."

And he delivered a further address to the people, to the following effect: "It is right
for all of us, men, women, and children, to offer with the open mouth of thanksgiving,
prayer, and supplication to our Lord and God, on behalf of the faithful reign of the
victorious King Zeno, whose noble actions and' virtuous morals are urging the prudent in
every place to this. For when our fathers, the chaste monks, presented a petition to him
concerning the reformation of the faith, and informed him of the occurrences here, and of
the tumults from which our people had suffered time after time; then he wept, and he
looked up to heaven, and called God to help him, and to put it into his heart to command
whatever would be in conformity with the divine will, and would conduce to the welfare of
men and the unity of the people, by exerting himself to abolish the stumbling-blocks which
were in all the Churches, on account of all the rash innovations and additions which were
made at Chalcedon.

"And now, beloved children, we have the light of the true faith of the holy fathers in
this written statement of his Orthodoxy, which will now be read aloud in your presence,
and heard by your ears. For by confessing herein the true faith, and accepting the twelve
Heads of the blessed Cyril, and anathematising Nestorius and Eutyches, and proclaiming
that God the Word, Who became incarnate, is one nature, sufferings and miracles; by all
this he rejects the whole teaching of the Diphysites. For their doctrine and that of the
Tome is quite the opposite of this; and against them our holy fathers, Dioscorus and
Timothy, true witnesses of Christ, earnestly contended. "But pray for him, that the Lord
may keep him in the true proportion of his love and faith. For we trust, by the mercy of
Christ our God, that when your praises and prayers are heard, we shall not fail to obtain
any of those other petitions which we are rightly asking of Him ; but that He may freely
receive your supplication and grant your requests."

"Hear this honourable document, the Henotikon, which he faithfully ordained, and which
will now be read in your presence."

Chapter 8. Comes Next, Containing the Henotikon of Zeno

"Imperial Caesar, Zeno the king, believing, victorious, triumphant, mighty, ever-
worshipful, Augustus, to the bishops and the people in Alexandria, and in Egypt, and in
Libya, and also in Pentapolis. Since we know that the origin and stability and invincible
might of our empire is the only right and true faith, which, by Divine Inspiration the
three hundred and eighteen holy fathers in Council at Nicea declared, and which in like
manner the one hundred and fifty holy fathers gathered at Constantinople, attested: We, by
night and by day, employ constant prayers, and diligence, and enactments, that thereby the
Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church in every place, which is the incorruptible and
imperishable mother of the sceptre of our kingdom, may be increased. That thus the
believing people, being kept in godly peace and concord, may offer up, in conjunction with
the pious and holy bishops, and the God-fearing clergy, and the archimandrites and monks,
acceptable prayers on behalf of our empire. For if the great God and our Saviour Jesus
Christ, Who became incarnate from Mary the holy Virgin and Theotokos, shall approve and
readily receive our unanimous praise and service, the race of enemies shall be destroyed
and obliterated ; and all men will bow the neck to our sway, which is next to that of God
; and then peace, and its consequent blessings, and genial temperature, and abundance of
fruits, and all those things which are adapted for man's good, shall be liberally granted.

This unblemished faith, then, being thus the preserver of ourselves and of the Roman
affairs, petitions have been presented to us by God-loving archimandrites and other
hermits entreating us with tears that there may be unity to the Holy Churches ; and that
the limbs may be joined together which the haters of good have for a long time been
striving to separate; because they knew that when one makes war with the whole and perfect
body of the Church he is defeated. "For it has happened that of the generations without
number which Time, during these many years of life, has removed ; some, deprived of the
Laver of Regeneration, have passed away; and others, without participation in the divine
Communion, have been carried off by the inevitable journey of mankind. And they have been
wasted by myriads of murders; and through the profuse blood-shedding, not the earth alone,
but even the very air itself has been defiled. Who would not pray that this state of
things may be exchanged for a good one ? For which reason, then, we desired you to know
that both we and the holy Churches of the orthodox everywhere, and the God-loving priests
who rule them, neither hold, nor have held, nor know any man holding, any other symbol, or
doctrine, or seal of the faith, or creed, than that which we have mentioned above, the
holy symbol of the three hundred and eighteen holy fathers, which was also attested by the
one hundred and fifty holy fathers who met in Council here. And if there be any man
holding such, we account him an alien. For, as we have already said, we are confident that
this only preserves our kingdom; and also all people who are counted worthy of life-giving
Baptism are baptized upon the simple reception of this creed alone. And, moreover, all the
holy fathers, who met in Council at Ephesus, and deposed the wicked Nestorius and all his
successors in doctrine, followed the same faith.

"This Nestorius, together with Eutyches, inasmuch as they held doctrines contrary to what
have been here declared, we anathematise. And we also receive the twelve Heads delivered
by the ever-memorable. God-loving Cyril, formerly archbishop of the Catholic Church of
Alexandria. But we confess that the only-begotten Son of God, Himself God, our Lord Jesus
Christ, Who truly became man; He Who is of the same nature with the Father in the Godhead
; He Who is also of the same nature with us in the manhood; He Who came down and assumed
flesh, through the Holy Ghost, and from Mary the Virgin and Theotokos,— is one Son and not
two. For we affirm that the miracles which He wrought, and the sufferings which He freely
endured in the flesh, belong to one Son of God alone. Moreover, we altogether reject those
who either divide or confound, or introduce the phantasy. For the true and sinless
Incarnation from the Theotokos did not cause the addition of a Son. For the Trinity
remained even though God the Word, Who is one of the Trinity, became incarnate.

"Since, then, you know that both the Holy Orthodox Churches everywhere and the God-loving
priests who rule them, and our own Royalty, neither have received nor do receive any other
symbol or definition of the faith than the holy doctrine which has been declared above; be
united together without doubting. For we have written this, not to make any innovation in
the faith, but to assure you. "And here we anathematise all who have held, or hold, now or
at any time, whether in Chalcedon or in any other Synod whatsoever, any different belief;
but chiefly those already mentioned, Nestorius and Eutyches and all their followers in the
doctrine. "Be joined, then, to your spiritual mother, the Church, and delight in her,
together with us, in divine fellowship, according to that one definition of the faith
alone which was framed by the holy fathers, as we have declared above. For our all-holy
mother, the Church, longs for you, that she may embrace you as beloved children. And, for
a considerable time, she has been eager to hear your sweet voice.

"Hasten, therefore! For by so doing you will attract to yourselves the goodwill of our God
and Saviour Christ; and you will also be commended by our own Royalty."

Chapter 9

THE NINTH CHAPTER OF THIS FIFTH BOOK TELLS ABOUT THE SEPARATISTS These matters having been
thus transacted, some of the more ardent spirits were very indignant; because in the
king's document, the Henotikon, there was no express anathema of the additions imposed at
Chalcedon. However, they all remained in communion with Peter because he defended himself
before them ; and especially as he said, "The king will not fail us in any of the requests
that we shall make to him." Then the rest of the Proterians, seeing how matters were, went
off to a suburb of the city, called Canopus, and they kept crying out evil words. However,
they were feeble and few, and at their head were some readers, and Cyrus the presbyter,
concerning whom we have already stated that he was at one time a follower of Dioscorus,
but he afterwards deserted him. Pergamius, hearing of this secession, sent for Cyrus to
have a conversation with him. And the latter agreed to do what he was asked. So when he
returned to them, he pleaded earnestly with his companions at Canopus, saying, "It is
right for us to join in fellowship with the others, and to obey the king's command." But
the zealous and believing priests who were on Peter's side, hearing about it, were greatly
distressed. And they refused to hold communion with Cyrus. And although they received a
large number of his associates upon their subscribing to the Henotikon, and anathematising
everyone who thought differently from what was in it; yet they refused Cyrus himself. And
even when he subscribed they would not have him. For they said to Pergamius that the very
sight of him would be enough to bring his deeds into the remembrance of the people, and to
put a stumbling-block in the way of many. So Cyrus remained a layman ; and thus he died,
according to the curse of the holy Dioscorus.

Then they were all associated in fellowship with Peter and Peter the Iberian, wonderfully
celebrated, and the ablemonk Isaiah, and the other Palestinians, certain blessed monks of
the monasteries of Romanus and Theodore. And Peter, the bishop of Alexandria, sent Paul,
surnamed Arcadius, to the king about certain matters of one kind and another that required
correction. But John, who had been bishop, went off to Rome; and there, with tears, he
told Simplicius the patriarch what had befallen him ; alleging that he continued in danger
for the sake of the Synod and the Tome. Whereupon the king, hearing of it, wrote a letter
and sent it to the same Simplicius by the hand of Uranius the tax-gatherer, in which he
set forth to him all the wickedness and lying treachery of John, and declared that by his
own command Peter had been appointed bishop there in Alexandria, with the object of
bringing the people into one communion.

But Calandion of Antioch, having heard about the Alexandrian affairs, was much distressed,
and wrote letters to Acacius, and to Zeno the king, and to Simplicius of Rome, in which he
called Peter a false teacher, and he praised the Tome and the Synod. But he was closely
attached to Nestorius, because in his letter he called Cyril a fool. However, as he took
the side of Julius, and Leontius, and Euprepius, in the rebellion which they eventually
raised against Zeno the king in the East, he was ejected from his place. And by the king's
commands, Peter, who had once and twice contended and suffered on behalf of the true
faith, was restored to his see. And the people of Antioch received him with great pomp and
glory as Simon Peter. Then he convened the Synod of his province, and he healed and closed
the divisions, and set matters right. The Synod also, which he convened, drew up a letter
of fellowship in canonical fashion, and sent it to Peter of Alexandria. It was to the
following effect:—

Chapter 10

THE TENTH CHAPTER OF THIS FIFTH BOOK TELLS ABOUT THE SYNODICAL LETTER, WHICH WAS SENT TO
PETER OF ALEXANDRIA BY THE COUNCIL THAT WAS CONVENED AT ANTIOCH, IN THE DAYS WHEN PETER
WAS BISHOP THERE "To our Father, the God-loving, holy, Archbishop Peter, from the Synod
now convened at Antioch. "Just as Joshua the son of Nun, the leader of the host,and
invested with the mysteries of Jesus Christ our God, showed care and solicitude for the
possession and rights of the tribes of Reuben, and Gad, and Manasseh ; when, according to
the command of Moses, who delivered to him the leadership, they in conjunction with their
brethren crossed the Jordan armed, and entered the land of promise to possess it ; and
continued to help in the war until God caused their brethren, like themselves, to rest in
peace there: in like manner we judge it to be the endeavour of thine Excellency, O bishop,
that we also, being the bishops from Arabia and Libanus of Phoenice, and Syria Secunda,
and Euphratesia, and Cilicia, should come to Antioch armed, until our Eastern brethren
shall possess the inheritance of their Churches from God. But how, after the troubles and
conflicts that have befallen us, we are earnestly desirous of peace; and how, by the
letters of the indulgent king, we have been now called to meet at Antioch ; thy son the
beloved and illustrious Uranius the tax-gatherer will tell thee. For he, in the execution
of the king's will and command, communicated and showed to us the letter sent by him to
thy Holiness, and to the chaste monks, and to the believing people.

"But we, having met together and been received with the rights of divine love by our
believing father Peter the patriarch, who showed us kindness and meekness with prudence,
were in concord with him in all matters and he with us ; and we joined in fellowship one
with the other in spiritual ministration. We were honoured also by the citizens, who met
and welcomed him with joy and gladness, and with ministering praise; and extolled him as
Peter Kepho our leader the Apostle. And, moreover, we heard about the transactions in the
royal city, how, from the jurisdiction of the holy Archbishop Acacius, they had met
together by the king's command ; and about their unity with him and with one another; and
how he wrote to thy Blessedness, showing and explaining the will of the believing king;
and that the contents of his excellent document the Henotikon were in complete accord with
the faith of the holy fathers of Nicea; in which also the one hundred and fifty assembled
in the royal city concurred ; and which was confirmed by the Council of Ephesus in the
days of Celestine and Cyril ; the latter of whom also in the twelve Heads exposed and
anathematised all the false doctrine of Nestorius and Eutyches, and the other heresies.

"These things, indeed, brought the Egyptians into full accord with the Easterns, or
rather, we should say, with all who in every place are devoted to peace, and who love
unity and the true faith. "And we believe and are confident that the diligence and prayers
of Thy Holiness have tended to bring about this happy result for the believing people
everywhere, by the will of our Lord and Brother Jesus Christ, Whom we beseech to preserve
for us the life of thy Chastity, prospering in all virtue, and rejoicing in the Lord at
what was done here upon the return of thine honourable brother our chaste father, through
the diligence of this thy son Uranius, whom we commend to thy godly love, that thou mayest
write and send thanks to the believing king. For he is indeed serving him with all his
might, by carrying out his command, and earnestly endeavouring to promote the unity of the
Churches of Christ, and to impart peace to His beloved sons."

Chapter 11

THE ELEVENTH CHAPTER CONTAINS THE LETTER OF ACACIUS OF CONSTANTINOPLE TO PETER OF
ALEXANDRIA Acacius, indeed, desisting from his former mind, which was in favour of the
Synod, and connecting himself in loving agreement with the principles of the Henotikon,
also wrote a letter to Peter of Alexandria in the following terms:— "To our pious and God-
loving fellow-minister and brother Peter, Acacius sends greeting. The very name of peace,
indeed, is delightful ; but its effect is very sweet. For when, in accordance with the
unity and the faith of the Church, it is perfected, it imparts the more abundant grace to
the prudent, and works in them joy, for it announces great things. "Now we were blest with
such joy as this in the congregations of our own city, when reports reached us respecting
thy faith, which troubled us. And, moreover, they produced agitation and distress among
many of the chaste monks here, and the people, and our excellent clergy. However, thine
honoured letter, having been conveyed and delivered to us and to the illustrious chiefs
here, exposed the entire falsehood of the rumour respecting thee, and rolled away the
darkness of the cloud, and displayed the brilliancy and the purity of thy godly virtues.
So that it is now time for us to say, 'Glory to God in the highest.' For it is producing
and manifesting the peace, which is in the land of our faith, and the goodwill amongst the
men of our great God and Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ. And, therefore, that glory of
which the angels from heaven in their companies were the first to sing in the ears of the
shepherds over the earth, at Bethlehem, that same glory the shepherds and leaders of the
sheep, His people, being joined together hand in hand in their union and concord, now
ascribe in their song of praise to our Lord God, Who is the true Head and Shepherd of the
flock.

"But also the triumphant Star of Christ from the East is now the believing and God-fearing
king. "And just as that star guided those of old to Christ our God, that they might repair
to the cave and offer gifts for the honour of His worship ; so he also now has manifested
and caused to shine forth the splendour of the true faith to the whole cave of his
dominion. And he has also taken down the middle wall of partition that divided and cleft
asunder the unity of the members of the holy Church; thereby making them grow into a
perfect man of complete stature. So that he has displayed the body in one Person and
figure, and he has made of two one. For we understand also from the thankful letter of thy
Holiness that he too like David, in prophesying and in reigning, has now slain Goliath in
the field with the Cross alone ; and having smitten the evil one as with a sling, he has
overthrown and destroyedhim by his faithful letter which he wrote ; and by the true sword
of the Spirit which he displayed, he has cut off and taken away those heresies and
stumbling-blocks which are the very heads of the Dragon ; whom also having overthrown, he
has thrust into outer darkness, and has bound and imprisoned him in the lower parts of the
earth.

"Accordingly Jerusalem above, the mother of the firstborn, shall rejoice, and also in her
daughters the Churches she shall exult and sing, giving praise to God. with prayer for the
triumph of the king, and saying, 'Glory be to the Most High Lord, Who is greatly to be
praised.' For we also were amazed at the triumph of God, when we learned from thy letter
that the Henotikon, which in our own presence was despatched to thy Holiness by the hands
of Pergamius, had reached thee, and that thou hast agreed to it. And we exult in thy
faith, and we pray that the Lord may preservefor us the life of this believing king who
has united us to the truth. And now I, and those who are with me, sending greetings to thy
Chastity, and to the excellent clergy, and to the chaste monks, and to the believing
people, have written this letter of reply."

The end of the letter of Acacius of Constantinople.

Chapter 12

THE TWELFTH CHAPTER TELLS ABOUT THE LETTER OF MARTYRIUS OF JERUSALEM, WHICH HE WROTE TO
PETER WHO HAD BECOME BISHOP IN ALEXANDRIA, IN THE FOLLOWING TERMS "Martyrius of Jerusalem
— to the pious and Christ-loving chief priest, my lord, and brother, and fellow-minister
Peter. "It is time for us now to say, like the prophet, 'I praise Thee, O Lord God ; and I
glorify Thy Name: for Thou hast done marvellous things ; for Thy will is true of old.
Amen, O Lord!' For our mouth is filled with gladness and our tongue with praise ; because
we have certainly seen the heart of the king in the Hand of the Lord, fulfilling His will
in truth continually; and he has united again the severed members. "And now that we have
received thine Affection's reply, our people join with this prophet in crying aloud, 'Lift
up thine eyes round about thee, and behold thy children gathering together unto thee.' For
which blessing, as is right, we exult; and we greet thy Holiness in the Lord. And, singing
psalms with the prophet David, we say, 'May the Lord increase you more and more, you and
your children ; blessed are ye of the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.'I and those who are
with me, send our best respects in the Lord also to the priests who are with thy Chastity,
and to the believing people, and to the pious monks."

The end of this letter of Martyrius of Jerusalem. [Note to the online edition: footnotes
have been moved to the end. Footnotes concerned only with bits of Syriac and Greek have
been omitted because of the time it would take to transcribe it.] 1. Evag. iii. 3. 2.
Evag. iii. 4. 3. Evag. iii. 4. 4. Evag. iii. 4. 5. Evag. iii. 5 ; Liberat. 16. 6. Evag.
iii. 5. 7. Evag. iii. 5. 8. Evag. iii. 6. 9. Evidently a mistake for Theodotus ; see
below, and Evag. iii. 6. 10. Evag. iii. 7. 11. The text has, "Paul of Antioch and Peter of
Ephesus," an evident mistake. 12. I.e. Magyda. 13. Ps. xci. 14, 15. 14. Gal. 1. 8, 9. 15.
Evag. iii. 12 ; Liberat. 16. 16. ... MS.; but in Das Leben des Severus (ed. Spanuth), p.
6, it is written [Syriac], and said to be the name of a monastery situated in
Canopus.—"Presbyter Tabennesiotis" (Lib.).

17. I.e. Illus. 18. Evag. ii. 12 ; Liberat. 17. 19. Liberat. 18. 20. Evag. iii. 13. 21.
The rendering of this passage is somewhat conjectural, owing to defects in the MS. 22. Or,
"when the report of your praises and prayers reaches him, he will not fail us in any of
the other things which we justly ask from him, but will readily receive your petition and
grant your requests." 23. Evag. iii. 14; Liberat. 17. 24. Evag. iii. 15 ; Liberat. 18. 25.
Evag. iii. 16; Liberat. 18. 26. Literally, "an adulterer" ; perhaps it is intended to
express illegal occupation of the see. 27. See Mansi, vol. iv. p. 893. 28. Cf. Evag. iii.
16. 29. Cf. Evag. iii. 16. 30. Isa. xxv. 1. 31. Isa. lx. 4. 32. Ps. cxv. 14, 15.

BOOK VI

THE sixth Book taken from the work of Zachariah, containing seven chapters. The first
tells about the Separatists from the communion of Peter, because he received the
Henotikon. The second tells of Cosmas the Spatharius who was sent by Zeno ; and the
transactions which took place in Alexandria with the seceding monks. In the third there is
an account of Peter and Isaiah the monk. In the fourth we are told about Arsenius the
prefect, who was sent to Alexandria; and how he acted towards the Separatists. Then the
fifth tells of the letter of Fravitta, who was bishop in Constantinople, to Peter. The
sixth contains a record of the letter of Peter to Fravitta. The seventh gives information
respecting the chief priests who were in the days of Zeno ; and also concerning the length
of Zeno's life.

Chapter 1

THE FIRST CHAPTER OF THIS SIXTH BOOK TELLS ABOUT THOSE WHO SECEDED FROM THE COMMUNION OF
PETER, BECAUSE THERE WAS NO EXPRESS ANATHEMA OF THE SYNOD OF CHALCEDON AND THE TOME OF
LEO, EITHER IN THE HENOTIKON OR IN THE LETTERS OF THE CHIEF PRIESTS TO HIM Matters having
been thus arranged by the king's Henotikon, and three or four of the chief priests,
namely, the bishops of Ephesus, and of Jerusalem, and of Alexandria, and of Antioch,
together with the bishops in their jurisdictions, being united and agreed together
according to the purport of this Henotikon of Zeno, and having received and subscribed to
it; then Julian and John, presbyters of Alexandria, and Helladius and Serapion, deacons,
venerable men belonging to the Church there, and Theodore the bishop of Antinoe, and John
and another Egyptian, and Andrew the great archimandrite,and Paul the Sophist, and other
illustrious monks, seceded from the communion of Peter of Alexandria. But they took this
course because there was no clear and decided anathema of the Synod and the Tome, either
in the Henotikon or in the letters of the chief priests to Peter. And gradually the number
of these Separatists was increased, and they received a considerable accession to their
numbers in the monastery. And Acacius of the royal city, having heard it, wrote to urge
them to be reunited.

But Peter in his public address, and the other apologies which he made before the people,
continued to revile the Synod. And, at length, Acacius heard this also, and he sent his
presbyter to inquire into the freedom and the faith of Peter. And there ensued an
investigation before the judge of the city on this point, that the Synod had not been
expressly anathematised by Peter, and the report of this reached the ears of many and
proved a stumbling-block to them. And many demands were made of him by the seceding
archimandrite and bishop. Then Peter the Iberian, the bishop of Gaza, who was sojourning
there, and Elijah the monk, sur-named the potter, were appointed to consider and examine
into these matters. And having examined into them, together with the council of the monks,
they selected four of Peter's discourses concerning the faith, and they said to him, "If
thou dost agree to these, sign them"; and he signed them. Whereupon several of them
entered into communion with him, because he thereby anathematised the Synod and the Tome,
when he delivered those discourses in the ears of the people. However, the others remained
unwilling to hold communion with Peter. And the latter, seeing this, took away the
monastery of Bishop Theodore, and thrust out that wonderful man, who had opened the eyes
of a blind man by the aspersion of water from the baptismal font. Upon which there arose a
great agitation among the monks, and they sent Nephalius, who was one of those that had
been ejected by Peter, and was also a disturber of the people, to Zeno the king.

Chapter 2

THE SECOND CHAPTER OF THIS SIXTH BOOK TELLS ABOUT NEPHALIUS, WHO WENT UP TO THE KING, AND
MADE A COMPLAINT AGAINST PETER ; AND HOW COSMAS THE SPATHARIUS WAS SENT (TO ALEXANDRIA),
AND WHAT WAS DONE UPON HIS ENTRY THERE Nephalius, a monk, and by his disposition and
habits a disturber of the people, made preparations and went up to Zeno the king, bringing
with him a letter from his fellow Separatists ; in which they testified against Peter that
he had plundered them, and ejected them, and taken away their monasteries. And the king,
when he heard it, was very angry with Peter, and sent Cosmas his Spatharius with a letter
containing threats against Peter, and declaring that his Majesty had been so indulgent as
to appoint him the bishop of Alexandria, with the object of uniting the people together,
and not keeping them divided into two parts. And Cosmas having arrived, in company with
Nephalius, and the letter having been delivered to Peter: then the monks assembled at the
Martyr Church of St. Euphemia, to the number of about thirty thousand, and ten bishops
with them. But a message was sent to them, that they should not enter the city lest the
people should be excited, and a tumultshould ensue. However, Theodore the bishop, and
John, and Julian and John the presbyters, and Palladius and Serapion the deacons, and
Andrew the Great, and Paul the Sophist, with about two hundred archimandrites, were
selected as representatives ; and they entered the great church to have an interview with
Peter. Then they had a long conversation with Cosmas the Spatharius and the prefect of the
city. And the king's letter was read aloud. Then Peter delivered an apologetic address to
them, anathematising, in their ears, the Synod and the Tome. And he further wrote in his
own hand to the following effect: "I, Peter, the bishop of Alexandria, do now, as I have
often before, anathematise all that was said and devised in Chalcedon against the true
faith of the holy fathers, the three hundred and eighteen bishops; and also the Tome of
Leo. And I confess that these are my own works, and that anyone not agreeing with them,
whether bishop, or presbyter, or deacon, or monk, or layman, is an alien. And if I (or any
other person) shall ever write in agreement with the transactions of the Synod and the
contents of the Tome, I shall become thereby a castaway from the Holy Trinity."

However, the monks would not accept this confession, for they said that Peter associated
in communion with the chief priests, who had uttered no express anathema against the Synod
and the Tome, as he had done. And Peter replied, "My reason for holding communion with
them is that they have accepted the king's Henotikon, which cancels all additions, and the
transactions of every place, except the three holy Synods, I mean those of Nicea, Ephesus,
and Constantinople. And in my public address I explained the Henotikon, and showed you how
it nullified the Synod of Chalcedon, by accepting the twelve Heads of the blessed Cyril,
and by anathematising Nestorius, and Eutyches, and every other who would assert the
duality of the Natures in Christ, and would ascribe the miracles to one and the sufferings
to the other, and would divide the Persons in properties and in operations. But after all
this discussion, even then only a few of the monks consorted with Peter. And the others
presented a libel against him to Cosmas. And they took their monasteries and dwelt in
them, assembling by themselves. But they endeavoured to appoint a bishop instead of Peter.
However, Theodore the bishop, being an orderly man, restrained them, saying, "It is not
fitting treatment for one who believes as we do, and anathematises the Synod and the Tome
(even though he may hold communion with those that have received and signed the
Henotikon), lest we be blamed for rejecting him, and be accounted as disorderly persons."
But they say that Theodore took this course because he was one of the bishops who laid
hands upon Peter.

The people, however, since they received Peter without dispute when he anathematised the
Synod, were greatly incensed against the monks. But they were restrained by the chiefs and
by Peter, so that there was no public tumult.

Chapter 3

THE THIRD CHAPTER TELLS HOW COSMAS, WHEN RETURNING TO THE KING, PASSED THROUGH TO
PALESTINE, IN ORDER TO TAKE WITH HIM PETER THE IBERIAN AND ISAIAH THE MONK, ACCORDING TO
THE KING'S ORDERS But Cosmas on his return passed through Palestine, and sought for Peter
the Illustrious and Isaiah the able monk. However, he could not find Peter, because the
latter had previous intimation of his coming, and had departed from before him. But Isaiah
prayed to God that a sickness might overtake him ; lest, if he were to go up to the royal
city, he might show himself a flatterer of the rich men there. And so it befell him. And
when Cosmas reached him and gave him the king's letter, he showed him his sickness and
infirmity, saying, "As I am a sick man, I cannot possibly endure to embark upon the sea,
lest I die at once. And then I could not appear before the king; and you would be censured
both by God and the king if you were to carry a corpse round the world." And in this way
he succeeded in escaping. And shortly afterwards he recovered. And he persevered in the
exercise of his habits, and of his conflicts all the days of his life. This man was indeed
a seer, a sharer (as we may say) in the name and in the actions of the prophet Isaiah.

Chapter 4

THE FOURTH CHAPTER TELLS HOW ARSENIUS WAS SENT AS PREFECT TO ALEXANDRIA BY THE KING, WHEN
THE LATTER LEARNED THE STATE OF AFFAIRS FROM COSMAS RESPECTING THE SEPARATIST MONKS AND
THE ORDERS THEN GIVEN BY THE PREFECT When Cosmas the Spatharius returned to the king, and
presented a written communication informing him of the affairs in Alexandria, and about
the Separatist monks, and their leaders, and the bishops; then he sent Arsenius there as
prefect, and also gave him authority over the Romans. And he ordered that Theodore and
John the bishops, and Agathon, and Julian, and John the presbyters, and Helladius and
Serapion the deacons, and Paul and Andrew the archimandrites, and all the others should be
called to unity, according to the terms of the faith laid down in the Henotikon, once or
twice, by Peter the bishop of Alexandria ; and that, in the event of their refusing to
join in communion with him, they should be ejected from their monasteries.

And upon the arrival of Arsenius, this Nephalius, the disturber of the people, again
attached himself to him. Then he brought together the bishops and the presbyters and the
archimandrites; and he showed them the king's command, which he read aloud in their
hearing. And Peter also readily repeated to them his explanation and anathema, at the same
time entreating them to join in communion with himself. However, they would neither accept
nor be satisfied with this. But Theodore the bishop said to him, "If you make a written
statement abjuring the communion of the other chief priests and sign it, then we will
enter into communion with you." And Peter, in reply, made the same defence as before,
saying, "It is right for me to associate with those who receive the Henotikon, which
teaches the true faith." Whereupon these men were compelled by Arsenius to go to the king,
and personally to lay their petitions and wishes before him; so that then his command
might be fully carried out. And they all went, with the exception of Theodore, who
withdrew himself. And when they appeared before the king, he was astonished both at their
chastity and at their reasoning with him about everything which was displeasing to them in
his transactions.

But while they were there, Acacius the bishop of Constantinople died. And Fravitta was
appointed as his successor; a gentle and believing man, who wrote a letter, after the
canonical manner, and sent it by some clergy, to Peter of Alexandria. And Peter received
it gladly; and he also wrote a reply, in which he expressly anathematised the Synod and
the Tome of Leo. And while this was on its way, Fravitta died. And Euphemius, a man of
Apamea, who was educated at Alexandria, was appointed as his successor. However, he was
tainted with the Nestorian heresy. And when he received the letter he was very indignant.
And he was even angry with Longinus the presbyter and Andrew the deacon, the clergy who
conveyed this letter; and he brought an accusation against them. But they deprecated his
accusation by showing the zeal of the people of Alexandria. And Euphemius severed himself
from Peter's communion ; and he sought to bring about the deprivation of Peter, intending
for that purpose to convene a separate Synod. But Archelaus the bishop of Caesarea, a man
of wonderful learning, restrained him, saying, "It is not possible for the great bishop of
Alexandria to be accused and ejected by a Synod of one province; only a General Council
could do that." But when Peter heard it, he also uttered threats against Euphemius; that,
just as the blessed Cyril had sent Nestorius to Oasis, so he would in like manner eject
Euphemius from his see. However, Peter also departed this life. But his letter was seen in
Constantinople, and it convinced many that he was a believer. And John and Julian the
Alexandrians, and the rest of their associates who happened to be there, the Separatists,
on seeing his letter to Fravitta, changed their minds; and they were ready on their return
to Alexandria to join in communion with him. But while they were returning, he died. And
his successor was Athanasius, an eloquent, believing, and peace-loving man. He, desiring
and exerting himself to bring the Separatist monks into communion with the Church, in the
course of his address to the people mentioned the names of Dioscorus and Timothy, but he
purposely omitted to mention the name of Peter in order to try them. Whereupon they became
greatly excited (and they would not be quiet) until he named Peter also in his discourse.

Chapter 5

THE FIFTH CHAPTER OF THIS BOOK GIVES THE LETTER OF FRAVITTA OF CONSTANTINOPLE TO PETER OF
ALEXANDRIA, IN THE FOLLOWING TERMS "To our holy father, and God-loving fellow - minister,
Peter, from Fravitta, who sends greetings in the Lord. When I weigh mine own natural
weakness, and I wonder at the merciful acts of God towards me, I truly perceive that it is
absolutely (?) that 'He raises up the poor from the dunghill to set him with the princes
of the people.' And it is well known that this mercy of God is not the consequence of any
meritorious deeds on man's part; but that it results from the divine grace which arises,
time after time, upon the sons of the Church, through the love of the Father. So that it
is not the wise, nor the disputers, nor the eloquent of this world whom grace raises up as
leaders by the election.

"Now, before the Law, Abel, though not learned, was acceptable to God; as were also the
righteous fathers who came after him. But under the Law, grace marked out shepherds and
herdsmen, and gatherers of sycamore fruit, and raised them up as prophets. And after the
Law, the same grace appointed fishermen, and a tent-maker, to be the preachers of the
living word from heaven. That thus the power of God might be truly known to be made
manifest and perfect in the weak. And such are the mysteries of Christians who hold fast
the Incarnation of Christ; according to His own word in the Gospel, 'I thank Thee, O
Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that Thou hast hidden these things from the wise and
prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes: even so, Father, for such is Thine own will.'
"For Jesus Christ our God is the foundation and the corner-stone of the Holy Church. And
therefore these blessings, which we have received, are not a strange display of His mercy.
But we hope that from them we shall understand His equal mercy towards other men ; and we
shall show ourselves gentle and kind to our brethren in the flesh and in the faith, and to
the priests who are our fellow-ministers and Christ-loving brothers. Thus we shall
endeavour to rule the Holy Church everywhere in the same right faith, and in perfect love.
And by the events which are taking place (the Lord helping us) we shall show the rational
flock which has been intrusted to our care in all places to be one; that of the Great
Shepherd, Who has appointed us to be the leaders of His flock. And we shall drive out
those grievous wolves, the accursed heresies, more especially of Nestorius and Eutyches,
by preaching and holding the faith of the holy fathers, who maintained the truth and
preserved the order of the Church, and in our day teaching the right faith to the people
and to mankind, as well as they.

"But, using brotherly love and concord in my salutation, I now present to thy Holiness the
pledge of my affection, by the hands of Longinus the presbyter and Andrew the deacon. And
to complete what is right, I send my greetings to all the pastors, and the honourable
priests, and the chaste monks, and the believing people of thy jurisdiction. We, moreover,
entreat thy Holiness to pray along with us, that we may show ourselves wise men and rulers
in all matters, like Solomon, and like Paul and Peter and the rest of the apostles, in
preaching the truth to the sons of the Church; and that in everything about which you
refer to us, we may be able, to the best of our ability, to render fitting aid to the
other Churches; and also in those matters taking place in the Christ-loving city, through
the enactment of the Christ-loving and indulgent king, who is watchful and studious and
desirous to bring about the peace of the Churches, and the concord of the priests, and the
unity of the people.

"I and the brethren with me send our best respects to thy Chastity, and to the brethren
with thee."

Chapter 6

THE SIXTH CHAPTER OF THIS SIXTH BOOK TELLS ABOUT THE LETTER OF PETER THE BISHOP OF
ALEXANDRIA, WHICH HE WROTE IN REPLY TO FRAVITTA OF CONSTANTINOPLE, IN THE FOLLOWING TERMS
"To my pious and God-loving brother and fellow-minister, my lord Fravitta, from Peter, who
sends greetings in the Lord. "In consequence of the election of thine Eminence, it is time
now for us to say, 'Ye heavens above be glad, and let the earth with her fulness rejoice,
and let her sing with joy,' according to the word of the prophet. "For also, our Lord
Jesus Christ, Who is the one only-begotten Son of God the Father, has not redeemed us with
corruptible things, as silver and gold; but He rather laid down His life for us, as a lamb
without blemish; and He offered a sacrifice of sweet savour to God His Father; and gave
His body as a substitute for the life of the whole human race. He Who is honoured by all
creation, and is equal to the Father, God the Word, became incarnate; yet He suffered
thereby no variation nor change; but He as man remains the same, and He is in truth alive
for ever, the Word of His Father, and of the same nature. Come then, as with one tongue
and one believing, Christ-loving mind, let us offer to Him thanksgiving, and say with the
blessed Baruch, This is our God, there is none other beside Him. He found out the whole
way of wisdom, and gave it to Jacob His servant, and to Israel His beloved. And
afterwards, He appeared upon the earth, and had converse with men.' For there was not
indeed One the Son of God, Who existed before the times and ages, through Whom all things
were made; and another who, in the last time, was born in the flesh from the Theotokos;
according to the notion of Nestorius. But rather He, being the same, took the seed of
Abraham, according to the word of the blessed Paul;

and also He was partaker of our flesh and blood, and was made like us in all points, sin
only excepted. For neither do we say that the body of our Lord Jesus Christ is from
heaven, as Eutyches in his folly affirms; nor that He became incarnate in semblance or
imagination; on the contrary, we anathematise all such teachers. But we confess one only-
begotten Son of God the Father, Who is our Lord Jesus Christ. And we know that He, God the
Word of the Father, Who became incarnate for our redemption, in His divine nature took the
likeness of a servant, by the dispensation. "This is the faith of the Church of
Alexandria, by which we are all adorned, both we, and the God-fearing bishops and clergy,
and the monks, and all the people of God. And the congregation of the people grows and
multiplies exceedingly in the Churches, while we are obedient to the apostle, who says,
"If any man shall preach to you any other gospel than what we have preached, let him be
accursed.' "But the cause of all these blessings so dear and acceptable to us, was the
election of thy Piety's Eminence, which has been mentioned above ; and also the goodwill
of the believing and Christ-loving King Zeno, who consented to thine election. And he
also, for the sake of the unity of the people, and that we might be established in power
and in the truth, by what he wrote so faithfully in the Henotikon, anathematised all the
rash thoughts and words of Chalcedon and the Tome of Leo.

"And we consent to this same document; and we preach it, by word of mouth and by writing,
to the believing nations; as also our ever-memorable and holy brother and fellow-minister
Acacius was seen to hold and teach until his death, when the Alexandrians testified to us
his true faith, as thy Holiness is also persuaded. For it is right for the Christ-loving
king, not only to subdue enemies, and to set the Barbarian races beneath his feet; but
also to expose the snares of these intellectual enemies, and to cause the true faith to
shine upon the believing people. For thy Holiness has risen up and bloomed forth for us
like the plant of peace. And this is the gift of the believing king to us, by the will of
God, Who chose him before, as we have already said. And, therefore, we are delighted at
this, that such a good priest should arise and appear for the believing nations. May God
keep him, and may He adorn him with the heavenly crown by His own rich Hand, as we hope
and pray that he may be found walking in the whole way of the truth, in the footsteps of
the holy fathers, a believing chosen priest, by the mercy of our Saviour Christ, through
Whom, to the Father, with the Holy Spirit, be glory for evermore!

"But we welcomed affectionately the bearers of the letter of thy Righteousness the
excellent Longinus the presbyter and Andrew the deacon; and we now send them back in peace
to thy Holiness." But Athanasius also wrote in the same strain, two years afterwards, to
Palladius, who was Peter's successor in Antioch, expressly anathematising the Synod, and
quoting freely from the Henotikon. And John was appointed as the successor of Athanasius;
and when anyone would ask him to give an anathema of the Synod and the Tome in writing, he
would give it cheerfully and without fear. Now Flavian, who was the successor of Palladius
in Antioch, sent Solomon, a presbyter of his Church, to this John of Alexandria. And
Solomon asked John for a letter to Flavian, concerning the concord in the faith. But John
would not consent to do this for him, until he should receive from him a sworn statement
that he would send him a letter from Flavian in which there would be an anathema of the
Synod and the Tome. And John, his namesake and successor, was believing and acting in like
manner. . Now after Zeno had reigned seventeen years, and matters had been thus carried on
in the Church; and also the tyrants Basiliscus and Marcus had risen up against him, and
been driven out, as we have related above; and again, Illus and Leontius and Euprepius had
rebelled against him and been slain in the East; and again, in his days, one Theodoric a
tyrant had taken captives from Thrace and many other places, and had gone to Rome and
subdued it, because Odoacer the Anti-Caesar there fled before him to Ravenna a city of
Italy; Zeno died in the year eight hundred and two, according to the Greek mode of
reckoning.

And Anastasius, his successor, received the kingdom on the fourth day of the Great Week;
when Euphemius was the bishop of Constantinople; and Flavian of Antioch; and Athanasius of
Alexandria; and Sallustius, the successor of Martyrius, of Jerusalem ; and Felix, the
successor of Simplicius, of Rome.

Chapter 7

THE SEVENTH CHAPTER TELLS WHO WERE THE CHIEF PRIESTS IN THE DAYS OF ZENO But the following
were the chief priests in the days of Zeno. In Rome, after Hilarus, Simplicius, the author
of the letter to Zeno respecting John the liar, who was ejected from Alexandria; and after
him Felix, who was still living when Anastasius became the emperor. In Alexandria, Timothy
the Great, who was recalled from banishment; and Timothy Salophiaciolus; and John, who was
forthwith ejected; and Peter; and his successor, Athanasius. In Jerusalem, Anastasius; and
Martyrius; and Sallustius. In Antioch, Martyrius, who was ejected ; and Julian ; and
Stephen; and the other Stephen ; and Peter the Believer; and Calandion, who was ejected;
and Palladius ; and Flavian, his successor, who was ejected in the days of Anastasius. In
Constantinople, after Gennadius, Acacius ; and Fravitta, his successor; and Euphemius, his
successor, who was ejected in the days of Anastasius.

But in this sixth Book and in the fifth Book preceding it, which have been translated
concisely and briefly (so to speak) in contracted style, for the information of the Syriac
reader, from the Greek History of Zachariah the Rhetorician; which he wrote thus far, in
protracted style, after the manner of Greek amplification; there is a period of seventeen
years, comprising only the life of the Emperor Zeno. [Note to the online edition:
footnotes have been moved to the end. Footnotes concerned only with bits of Syriac and
Greek have been omitted because of the time it would take to transcribe it.] 1. Evag. iii.
22. 2. A similar account of him is given in das Leben des Severus (ed. Spanuth), pp. 26
and 27. 3. ... we should probably read ... Helladius. 4. Evag. iii. 22. 5. Evag. iii. 23.
6. Evag. iii. 23. - Ps. cxiii. 7, 8.

7. Amos vii. 14 (Syriac). 8. Luke x. 21. 9. It seems to be a free quotation from Isa.
xliv. 23 or xlix. 13. 10. Bar, iii. 35-37. 11. Heb. ii. 16. 12. Gal. i. 8 and 9. 13. Evag.
iii. 23. 14. Or using more freedom of speech than the Henotikon. 15. Liberat. 18.


THE SYRIAC CHRONICLE
====================

THE SYRIAC CHRONICLE continued

BOOK VII

THIS seventh Book, in the fifteen chapters which are contained in it as given below, tells
about the events that occurred in the reign of Anastasius; in the first chapter, about the
beginning of his reign, and how Epiphanius the bishop was ejected; and in the second
chapter, about the Isaurians who rebelled and were subdued, and the tyrants at the head of
them were killed; and in the third chapter, about Theodosiopolis and Amida, the cities
which were subdued; and in the fourth, about the manner in which the city of Amida was
subdued; and the fifth, about the famine that was in it, and how the Persians departed
from it; the sixth, about Dara, how the city was built; the seventh, about the expulsion
of Macedonius, who was ejected from Constantinople; the eighth, containing the letter of
Simeon the presbyter, giving information concerning his expulsion; the ninth, about his
successor Timothy, and how the expression, "Who was crucified for us," was proclaimed in
Constantinople in his days; the tenth, about the Synod which was held in Sidon in the days
of Flavian and Akhs'noyo the bishops, in the fifth year, the eight hundred and twenty-
third year of the Greeks; the eleventh, about the petition which was framed by the monks
of the East and Cosmas of Antioch, and presented to the Synod; the twelfth chapter, about
the Synod that was held in Tyre in the days of Severus and Akhs'noyo, which anathematised
the Council of Chalcedon and the Tome of Leo with great freedom of speech;

the thirteenth chapter, about Ariadne the queen, who died, and about Vitalian the tyrant,
who took Hypatius prisoner in war; the fourteenth chapter, about Timothy, who died, and
his successor was John; and about demons that entered into the Egyptians, and
Alexandrians, and Arabians who came to the dedication festival at Jerusalem, and barked at
the Cross and then ceased; the fifteenth, telling who were chief priests in the days of
Anastasius the king. Anastasius, then, died in the eight hundred and twenty-ninth year of
the Greeks, in the three hundred and twenty-fourth Olympiad.

Chapter 1. This Seventh Book Treats of the Reign of the Emperor Anastasius who Received
the Kingdom After Zeno, and of Euphemius the Bishop There, who Was Ejected

Zeno, having reigned seventeen years, as is recorded above in the sixth Book and its
chapters, died in the three hundred and seventeenth Olympiad, in the eight hundred and
second year by the reckoning of the Greeks, the fourteenth Indiction, on the fourth day of
the Great Week. And Anastasius, who was silentiary decurion, received the kingdom. This
man was from the city of Dyrrhachium, and was powerful in aspect, vigorous in mind, and a
believer. When he was a soldier he had confidential friendship with Ariadne the queen, who
desired and agreed to make him king. To this man a few days before he became king [it
happened as follows]. There was a certain person named John the Scholastic, brother of
Dith, a native of Amida, a valiant man, and just and upright, fearing God and forsaking
evil; but by his own accord and freewill he was constant in the ministry, being a
scholastic of the Church. And when he was in Constantinople on a confidential mission on
behalf of his city, he saw a vision once, and again a second time, showing that Anastasius
the silentiary should be made king. And he called him, and said to him, "In accordance
with the rectitude and the virtues and the honour of thy soul, that thou mayest fulfil the
goodwill of God, do thou be peaceable and gentle and modest and upright, and show thyself
towards everyone quiet and kind for the benefit of all men, who are thy kindred.

It is not because I want anything from thee, or because I would flatter thee, that I
reveal to thee that thou shalt be made king very soon. And because this John was
celebrated and honoured for his merits, and was known also to many, and, moreover, because
he was a learned man, Anastasius believed him, and took it as true; and he was constant
with him there in the vigil of the church. But it happened that when he received the
kingdom, and he was desirous of rewarding his friend with gifts of gratitude such as are
sought after by and visible to men, this John would not take anything at all from him; but
he soon left the city and returned to his own country : being content with the documents
which Zeno had drawn up, he only took assurance from Anastasius that they should be
received. But Euphemius the bishop there had been threatening Peter of Alexandria that he
would decree his deprivation, because he wrote expressly a reply to Fravitta the
predecessor of Euphemius, and also because in his synodical letter which was sent by some
clergy, Longinus the presbyter and Andrew the deacon, he had anathematised the Synod of
Chalcedon and the Tome. But at that time Euphemius was prevented from doing this by the
advice of Archelaus, bishop of Caesarea, a wise man who happened to be there. And when
Peter died, Euphemius maintained the same hatred against Athanasius, Peter's successor in
the bishopric of Alexandria, who more openly and authoritatively anathematised the Synod
and the Tome; against him Euphemius was making preparations to depose him, and called in
Felix of Rome to his aid. And when his machination became known to Athanasius through his
Apokrisiarioi there, who wrote and also sent to him a copy of the letter which had been
sent by him to Felix, then Athanasius made preparation, and wrote to Sallust of Jerusalem,
and received a reply from him concerning the agreement of the faith. And they both
informed Anastasius the king respecting Euphemius that he was a heretic, and showed a copy
of his letter in confirmation (of their charge). And when his deeds were examined by
certain bishops who happened to be in Constantinople, and also by believing monks from
Alexandria and the East, he was banished and ejected from his see; and Macedonius, who
also was ejected fifteen years later, as is recorded below, became bishop in his stead.

Chapter 2

THE SECOND CHAPTER OF THIS BOOK TELLS US HOW ISAURIA REVOLTED Now the Isaurians prospered
in the days of Zeno (who withdrew before Basiliscus and Marcus the tyrants, and dweltas a
refugee in the strongholds there called Salmon); and they also had free intercourse in the
kingdom in his days, and he was their rewarder, and he counted them worthy to receive good
things of all kinds from him; and on that account they could not bear their good fortune,
but were proud and insolent when Anastasius became king. And they raised a rebellion
against him, and they appointed a tyrant for themselves, and they refused the gifts which
were sent to them by Anastasius, and they would not consent to give him tribute, but they
even raided the provinces round about them. And when an outcry and accusation against them
was brought to the king, he sent an army and made preparations against them. And the
Isaurians were defeated in battle; and they showed themselves to be weak, and were
subdued, and the tyrants were killed.

But an earthquake occurred. And locusts invaded 'Arab of Mesopotamia. And there was a
famine in the year nine,of which James the doctor of Batnae wrote an account, in the
eleventh (year) of the reign of Anastasius. And many of the Arabs died, both in Amida,
whither they retired, and in various other places.

Chapter 3. This Seventh Book Makes Known how Theodosiopolis of Armenia Was Subdued, and
Concerning the City Amida of Mesopotamia

When Piroz, king of the Persians, was reigning in his own country, in the thirteenth
(year) of Anastasius, the Huns issued forth from the gates that were guarded by the
Persians, and from the mountainous region there, and invaded the territory of the
Persians. And Piroz became alarmed, and he gathered an army and went to meet them. And
when he inquired from them the reason of their preparation and invasion of his country,
they said to him, "What the kingdom of the Persians gives to us by way of tribute is not
sufficient for us Barbarians, who, like rapacious wild beasts, reject God in the North-
West region; and we live by our weapons, our bow and our sword; and we support ourselves
by flesh-food of all kinds; and the king of the Romans has promised by his ambassadors to
give us twice as much tribute whenever we shall dissolve our friendship with you Persians;
and accordingly we made our preparations, and we have come here, that either you shall
give us as much as the Romans, and we will ratify our treaty with you, or else if you do
not give it to us, take war. And when Piroz perceived the determination of the Huns,
although they were much fewer in number than his own army, he thought it well to play them
false and deceive them; and he promised them to give it.

And four hundred of the chief men of the Huns assembled, and they had with them Eustace, a
merchant of Apamea, a clever man, by whose advice they were guided. But Piroz also and
four hundred men with him met together. And they went up into a mountain; and they made a
treaty, and they ate together, and they swore, lifting up their hands to heaven. And when
few remained along with the four hundred men who were to receive the tribute money which
was being collected, and the rest of the Huns had dispersed to return to their own
country; after ten days Piroz broke faith with them, and prepared war, both against the
Huns who had dispersed, and against the four hundred who remained and those with them. But
Eustace the merchant encouraged the Huns that they should not be alarmed even though they
were very much fewer. And in the place where the oaths were made, they cast musk and
spices upon coals of fire, and made an offering to God according to the advice of Eustace,
that he might overthrow the liars. And they joined battle with Piroz, and killed him and a
great number of his army; and they pillaged the Persian territory, and returned to their
own country. And the body of Piroz was not found; and in his country they call him the
liar.

But Kawad, who succeeded him in the kingdom, and his nobles cherished hatred against the
Romans, saying that they had caused the incursion of the Huns, and the pillage and the
devastation of their country. And Kawad gathered an army, and went out against
Theodosiopolis in Armenia of the Romans, and subdued the city; and he treated its
inhabitants mercifully, because he had not been insulted by them; but he took Constantine,
the ruler of their city, prisoner. And in the month of October he reached Amida of
Mesopotamia. (But though he assailed it) with fierce assaults of sharp arrows and with
battering-rams, which thrust the wall to overthrow it, and pent-houses, which protected
those who brought together the materials for the besiegers' mound and raised it up and
made it equal in height with the wall, for three months, day after day, yet he could not
take the city by storm; while his own people were suffering much hardship through work and
fighting, and he was constantly hearing in his ears the insults of disorderly men on the
wall, and their ridicule and mockery, and he was reduced to great straits. And indignation
and regret took possession of him, because the winter came upon him in its severity, and
because the Persians, being clad in their loose garments, showed themselves inefficient;
and their bows were greatly relaxed by the moisture of the atmosphere; and their
battering-rams did not hurt the wall or make any breaches in it, for (the defenders) were
binding bundles of rushes from the beds with chains, and receiving upon them the violence
of the battering-rams, and thus preventing them from breaking the wall. But they
themselves made a breach in the wall from inside, and they carried the material of the
mound from without into the fortress within, and they gradually propped up the cavity with
beams from beneath.

And when chosen Persian warriors ascended the mound and laid beams upon the wall to effect
an entrance (now they were clad in armour, and the king was near with his army outside,
and was supporting them with display of strength and shooting of arrows, and encouraging
them with shouting, and stimulating them and urging them forward by his presence and
appearance, they being about five hundred men), the defenders threw strings of skin just
flayed from an ox, and soaked vetch mixed with myrrh-oil from the wall upon the beams, and
poured the liquid from the vetch upon the skins to make them slippery, and they placed
fire among the props which were beneath the mound. And when they had engaged in a conflict
with each other for about six hours, and (the besiegers) had failed to effect an entrance,
the fire blazed up and consumed the wood of the props, and immediately also the rest of
the materialwas reduced to ashes by the violence of the fire, and the mound was destroyed
and fell. And the Persians who were on the top of it were burned, and they were also
bruised, being struck with stones by those on the wall. And the king retired with shame
and grief, being more than ever mocked and insulted by those daring, proud, and boastful
men. For there was no bishop in that city to be their teacher and to keep them in order.
For John the bishop, a chaste and noble man of honoured character, had died a few days
before.

This man was called from the monastery of Karthamin, and he, having been elected, came,
and he became their bishop. However, he did not change his asceticism and self-
mortification and habit of life, but was constant (in them) by day and by night. And he
warned and rebuked the rich men of the city at the time of the famine and the incursion of
the Arabs and the pestilence, saying that they should not. keep back the corn in the time
of distress, but should sell it and give to the poor; lest if they kept it back, they
might be only hoarding it for the enemy, according to the word of Scripture. And so, in
fact, it happened. To him an angel appeared openly, standing beside the altar-table, and
he foretold to him the incursion of the enemy, and that he should be taken away as a
righteous man from the face of the enemy; and he revealed the saying, and published it in
the presence of the people of the city, that they might turn and be saved from the wrath.

Chapter 4. This Seventh Book Tells how the City of Amida Was Subdued, and what Befell its
Inhabitants

When Kawad and his army had been defeated in the various assaults which they made upon the
city, and a large number of his soldiers had perished, his hands were weakened; and he
asked that a small gift of silver should be given to him, and he would withdraw from the
city. But Leontius, the son of Pappus, the chief councillor, and Cyrus the governor,and
Paul Bar Zainab the steward, by the messengers whom they sent to Kawad, demanded from him
the price of the garden vegetables which his army had eaten, as well as for the corn and
wine which they gathered and brought away from the villages. And when he was greatly
grieved at this, and was preparing to withdraw in disgrace, Christ appeared to him in a
vision of the night, as he himself afterwards related it, and said to him, that within
three days He would deliver up to him the inhabitants of the city, because they had sinned
against Him; and this took place as follows:— On the western side of the city by the
Tripyrgion was a guard of monks who were told off from the monastery of John of Anzetene,
and their archimandrite was a Persian. And on the outside, right opposite this watch-
tower, a certain Marzban,named Kanarak the Lame, was encamped. And day after day,
vigilantly watching by night and by day, he was diligent and clever in devising plans for
the subjugation of the city.

For there was one whom they called in the city Kutrigo, a turbulent and thievish fellow;
this man was very daring in all kinds of attacks upon the Persians, and he used to make
raids and snatch away from them cattle and goods; so that they also, being accustomed to
hear the men on the wall crying out, used to call him Kutrigo. Kanarak observed this man,
and perceived that he went out by the aqueducts adjoining the Tripyrgion, and snatched up
spoil, and went in again. And for a time the Persians let him accomplish his will, marking
and examining his actions, and they ran after him and saw the place from which he came out
and where he went in. But it happened on that night on which the city was subdued, that
there was darkness, and a dense cloud sending clown soft rain; and a certain man gave a
friendly entertainment to the monks who guarded the Tripyrgion, and he gave them wine to
drink late in the night, and consequently sleep overtook them, and they did not watch
diligently upon their guard, according to their usual custom. And when Kanarak and a few
soldiers came up, pursuing Kutrigo, and drew near to the wall, the monks did not cry out
nor cast stones; and the man perceived that they were asleep, and he sent for scaling-
ladders and for his troops; and his followers went in by the aqueducts, and climbed the
tower of the monks, and killed them. And they took the tower and also the battlement; and
they set up the scaling-ladders against the wall, and sent to the king.

But when those who were in charge of another tower, their neighbours, heard it, they cried
out, and tried to come to the monks who were being killed, and were not able; but some of
them were wounded by arrows from the Persians, and died. And when the report reached Cyrus
the governor, and he came up and torches were held close to him, he was easily struck by
an arrow from the Persians, who stood in the darkness and were themselves unhurt by the
archers; and he withdrew wounded. But when it was morning, and the king and his army
reached the place, they set scaling-ladders against the wall; and he ordered his troops to
go up; and many of those who went up perished, being wounded by arrows and by stones, and
driven back by spears. And those who through fear turned and fled down the scaling-ladders
were killed by the king's command, as cowards and fugitives from the battle. Whereupon the
Persians took courage and set themselves either to gain the victory by conquering and
subduing the city, or being smitten in the actual conflict to escape reproach and
slaughter from their king; for he was near, and was a spectator of their struggle. But the
citizens tried to loose from beneath the keystone of the arch of the tower in which the
Persians were, and they were engaged in loosening the supports; and while this was taking
place, another tower was subdued, and another and another in succession, and the guards of
the wall were killed.

But Peter, a man of huge stature, a native of 'Amkhoro, being clad in an iron coat of
mail, held the battlement of one side alone by himself; and did not allow the Persians to
pass, and repelled and hurled back with a spear those who assailed him from without and
within, holding his ground and standing like a hero : until at length, when five or six
towers on another side were subdued, he also fled and was not killed. And the Persians
first got possession of the whole wall and held it; and they spent a night and a day and
the following night in killing and driving back the guards. And at last they descended and
opened the gates, and the army entered, having received the king's command to destroy the
men and women of all classes and ages for three days and three nights. But a certain
Christian prince of the country of Arran pleaded with the king on behalf of a church
called the Great Church of the Forty Martyrs; and he spared it, being full of people. And
after three days and three nights the slaughter ceased by the king's command. And men went
in to guard the treasures of the Church and of the great men of the city, that the king
might have whatever was found in them.

But the order also was given that the corpses of those who were slain in the streets and
of those whom they had crucified should be collected and brought round to the northern
side of the city, so that the king, who was on the south side, might enter in. And they
were collected, and they were numbered as they were brought out, eighty thousand; besides
those that were heaped up in the taverns, and were thrown into the aqueducts, and were
left in the houses. And then the king entered the treasury of the Church, and seeing there
an image of the Lord Jesus, depicted in the likeness of a Galilean, he asked who it was.
And they answered him, "It is God"; and he bowed his head before it, and said, "He it was
Who said to me, 'Stay, and receive from Me the city and its inhabitants, for they have
sinned against Me.' " But he took away a quantity of silver and gold of the holy vessels,
and costly garments formerly belonging to Isaac Bar Bar'ai, a consul and a rich man of the
city, which came to the Church by inheritance a few years before. But he found there also
good wine dried into its dregs, which used to be brought out and placed in the sun for
seven years together, and at last it became dry; from this the stewards, when on their
journeys, were accustomed to take some, ground to dust, in clean linen pouches.

And they would put a little of it into water so as to make a mixture, which, when they
drank it, afforded the sweetness and flavour of wine. And they told the ignorant that it
was "h'nono. And the king admired it greatly, and took it away. And the art of making this
agreeable beverage was lost to the sons of the Church from that time. But the gold and
silver belonging to the great men's houses, and the beautiful garments, were collected
together and given to the king's treasurers. But they also took down all the statues of
the city, and the sun-dials, and the marble; and they collected the bronze and everything
that pleased them, and they placed them upon wooden rafts that they made, and sent them by
the river Tigris, which flows past the east of the city and penetrates into their country.
But the king sought for the chiefs and great men of the city; and Leontius, and Cyrus the
governor, who was wounded by the arrow, and the rest of the great men, were brought to
him; but the Persians had killed Paul Bar Zainab the steward, lest he should make known to
the king that they had found a quantity of gold in his possession. But they clothed
Leontius and Cyrus in filthy garments, and put swine-ropes on their necks, and made them
carry pigs, and led them about proclaiming and exposing them, and saying," Rulers who do
not rule their city well nor restrain its people from insulting the king, deserve such
insult as this." But at last the great men, and all the chief craftsmen, were bound and
brought together, and set apart as the king's captives; and they were sent to his country
with the military escort which brought them down. But influential men of the king's army
drew near and said to him, "Our kinsmen and brethren were killed in battle by the
inhabitants of the city," and they asked him that one-tenth of the men should be given to
them for the exaction of vengeance. And they brought them together and counted them, and
gave to them in proportion from the men; and they put them to death, killing them in all
sorts of ways.

But the king bathed himself in the bath of Paul Bar Zainab, and after winter he departed
from the city. And he left in it Glon the general as governor, and two Marzbans, and about
three thousand soldiers to guard the city, and John Bar Habloho, one of the rich men, and
Sergius Bar Zabduni, to rule the people. And then in the summer the Romans came, and their
leaders were Patrick the commander-in-chief, an old man, upright and a believer, but
deficient in mental power, and Hypatius, and Celer the master of the offices, and at
length also Areobindus; moreover, Count Justin, who received the kingdom after Anastasius,
accompanied them. And they met together, and they attacked the city with wooden towers and
excavations, and all kinds of engines; and they set fire also to the gate of the city,
which was called the gate of Mâr Z''uro, to effect an entrance upon the Persians; however,
they were hindered because they were resting, and they did not rush in, for the Persians
shut the gate. And the Romans did not subdue it nor take it from them by assault; although
the inhabitants were reduced to misery from famine, day after day, until at last the
people there were eating one another. But how this happened, although the story is
horrible and wretched, yet because it is true, I shall relate how in the following fifth
chapter of this seventh Book.

Chapter 5

THE FIFTH CHAPTER OF THIS SEVENTH BOOK TELLS ABOUT THE FAMINE WHICH OCCURRED WHEN AMIDA
WAS BEING SUBDUED, AND HOW THE PERSIANS WENT OUT FROM IT AND DEPARTED TO THEIR OWN COUNTRY
King Kawad, as stated above, on his departure with his army from Amida to his own country,
left in it Glon, a general, and two Marzbans, and about three thousand soldiers to guard
the city; and also two or three rich men and some private inhabitants. These the Roman
generals did not overcome, nor did they subdue and take the city. But at last Patrick went
down to Arzanene of the Persians, and carried off captives, and subdued fortresses there.
And Areobindus and Hypatius went down to Nisibis and did not subdue it, although the
citizens were favourably inclined towards the Romans, and showed themselves lazy in the
fight. However, the king of the Persians hearing of it, came with an army against the
Romans; and they fled before him, and they left their tents and the heavy baggage which
they had with them. Areobindus fled from Arzamena and Aphphadana, and Hypatius and Patrick
and others from Thelkatsro. And they lost many horses and their riders, who fell from the
cliffs of the mountains, and were bruised, and perished, and were mangled. But Farzman
alone, a warlike man, prospered in battle several times; and he was celebrated and dreaded
amongst the Persians, and his very name terrified them, and his exploits wasted and
weakened them; and they proved themselves to be cowards in his presence, and fell before
him. This man at last came to Amida with five hundred horsemen, and he watched the
Persians who went out to the villages, and he killed some of them, and he took the animals
which they had with them, and also their horses.

Now a certain crafty fellow, Gadono by name, of the town of Akhorè, whom I myself know,
introduced himself to him, and made a compact with him, that he would beguile and bring
out to him, on some pretext, Glon, the Persian general, and three or four hundred
horsemen. And because this aforesaid Gadono was a hunter of wild animals, and partridge,
and fish, he used to go in freely to Glon, carrying in his hands a present of game for
him; and he ate bread in his presence, and received from him out of the property of the
city what was equal in value to the game. And at last he told him that there were about
one hundred Romans and five hundred horses nearly seven miles away from the city, at a
place called 'Afotho Ro''en; and as a friend he advised him to go out and take possession
of the beasts, to kill the Romans, and make a name for himself.

And he sent scouts, who saw a few Romans and the horses, and returned and gave him the
information. Then he made preparation and took with him four hundred horsemen, and this
Gadono upon a mule; and he led him and set him in the midst of the ambush of the Romans,
who were on the watch for him. So the Romans cut the Persians to pieces, and they brought
away the head of Glon to Constantia. Upon this, distress and rage seized the son of Glon
and the Marzbans, who used to allow the inhabitants who happened to be shut up in the city
to go out to the market, which was held beside the wall by peasants from the villages.
These peasants brought wine and wheat and other produce, and sold them both to the
Persians and to the citizens, while horsemen were stationed close to them, and escorted
them, a certain number at a time, and conducted them in. And by an excellent law of the
Persians, no one dared to take anything from the villagers, who sold what they liked and
received the price in money and kind from the city; consequently they attended the market
diligently. However, in consequence of the slaughter of Glon and the horsemen, the market
was held no more. And the great men who were left in the city, and about ten thousand
persons besides, were arrested and shut up in the Stadium, and they were kept there
without food; and they ate their shoes, and they also ate and drank their excrements. And
at last they attacked one another; and now when they were almost perishing, those who were
left in the Stadium were let loose like the dead from their graves in the midst of the
city. And famishing women, who were found there in troops, laid hold of some of the men by
means of blandishments and guile and artifices, and overcame them, and killed and ate
them;

and more than five hundred men were eaten by women. And the famine which was in this city
being so grievous, the distress surpassed the blockade of Samaria and the destruction of
Jerusalem, which is recorded in Scripture and Josephus relates. But at last Farzman came
to the city, and he made a treaty with the Persians there, for they, too, were weak. And
the chiefs of the Romans and the Persians sat by the gate of the city, while the Persians
went out carrying as much as they could, and they were not searched. And if any of the
citizens accompanied them they were asked whether they desired to remain or would like to
go with the Persians. So the evacuation of the city took place. But eleven hundred pounds
of gold were given to Kawad by Celer, the master of the offices, for the ransom of the
city and for peace. And when the documents were drawn up they brought the drafts to the
king for his signature. And the king fell asleep, and it was told him in a vision that he
should not make peace; and when he awoke he tore up the paper, and departed to his own
country, taking the gold with him. But Farzman remained in the city to govern its
inhabitants and the country. (Now a remission of tribute was granted by the king for seven
years.) And he dealt kindly with the inhabitants of the city. And he bestowed gifts
lavishly on those who returned from captivity, and he received them peaceably, every man
according to his rank. And the city was at peace and was inhabited. And building was added
to the wall. And, by the advice of Dith, a merciful bishop was sent again to the city, a
quiet and affable man, a monk, and a councillor, Thomas by name. And, besides, the
providence of God summoned and conveyed thither Samuel the Just, from the monastery of the
Katharoi, a miracle-worker and a "dissolver of doubts";and he also sustained the city by
his prayers, and aided its inhabitants.

Chapter 6. This Seventh Book Tells About the Town of Dara of Mesopotamia, how it Was Built
on the Border of the Roman and Persian Territories in the Days of Anastasius the King, and
Thomas the Bishop of the City of Amida

Anastasius the king brought severe censures against the Roman generals and commanders who
betook themselves to the royal city after the conflict with the Persians, because they did
not, according to his will, under the Lord, prosper and succeed in the war, and conquer
the Persians or drive them out from Amida, except by the gifts and the gold that were sent
from him. And they alleged in their defence to him, that it was hard for generals to
contend with a king who according to the word of God, although he was an Assyrian and an
enemy, was sent by the Lord to the country of the Romans for the punishment of sins, and,
moreover, on account of the greatness of the army which he had with him; and that it was
no easy matter for them in his absence also to subdue Nisibis; because they had no engines
ready, nor any refuge in which to rest. For the fortresses were far away and were too
small to receive the army, and neither the supply of water in them nor the vegetables were
sufficient. And they begged of him that a city should be built by his command beside the
mountain, as a refuge for the army in which they might rest, and for the preparation of
weapons, and to guard the country of the Arabs from the inroads of the Persians and
Saracens. And some of them spoke to him in favour of Dara, and some in favour of Ammodis.

Then he sent a message to Thomas the bishop of Amida, and he despatched engineers who drew
up a plan, and this holy Thomas brought it up with him to the king. And the king and the
great men agreed that Dara should be built as a city. And at that time Felicissimus was
commander, an energetic and wise man; and he was not at all covetous, but was upright, and
a friend of the peasants and the poor. Now King Kawad was fighting with the Tamuroye and
other enemies of his country. And the king gave gold to Thomas the bishop as the price of
the village which belonged to the Church; and he bought it for the treasury. And he
liberated all the serfs who were in it, and granted to each of them his land and his
house. And for the building of the church of the city he gave several hundred pounds of
gold. And he promised with an oath that he would give with liberal hand whatever the
bishop might expend, and that he would not disown the obligation. And at last he issued a
royal decree,and in full detail, providing that the work of building the city should be
carried out according to the direction of the bishop without delay, gain and profit
thereby accruing to the craftsmen and slaves and peasants who were required for the
collection of material there. And he sent a number of stonecutters and masons;

and he commanded that no man should be deprived of the wages he earned, because he rightly
perceived and cleverly understood that by that means a city could quickly be built upon
the frontier. And when they began by the help of the Lord and commenced the work, there
were there as overseers and commissaries over it Cyrus 'Adon and Eutychian the presbyters,
and Paphnout and Sergius and John the deacons, and others from the clergy of Amida. And
the bishop himself paid frequent personal visits to the place. And gold was given in
abundance without any stint to the craftsmen and for work of every kind, at the following
rate, the regular sum of four keratin a day for each workman, and if he had an ass with
him, of eight. And consequently many grew rich and wealthy. And since the report was
published abroad that the work was honest and that the wages were given, from the East to
the West workmen and craftsmen flocked together. And the overseers who were over the work
also received a liberal allowance, and their wallets were filled; for they found the man
generous, gentle, and kind; and, moreover, he believed in the just king, and in his
promises which he made to him. And in two or three years the city was built, and, as we
may say, suddenly sprang up on the frontier.

And when Kawad heard of it, and sought to put a stop to the work, he was unable, for the
wall was raised, and built high enough to be a protection for those who took refuge behind
it. And a large public bath and a spacious storehouse were built. And a conduit was
constructed which passed along the lower part of the mountain, and wonderful cisterns
within the city to receive the water. And persons to hasten the work were frequently sent
from the king to the bishop, and they all brought back excellent reports of his integrity
and justice to the king; and he was greatly pleased with the man, and sent gold in answer
to the man's requests, and fulfilled them without delay. And at last the number of hundred
pounds which he sent was counted, and the bishop forwarded a written statement to the
king, that, speaking in the presence of God, the money had been expended upon the work,
and that no part of it remained in his hand or had been given to his Church. And he
readily sent him a royal decree containing a receipt of the exchequer to the effect that
all the gold which had been sent by him had been expended upon the building in the city.
And Dara was completed, and it was named Anastasiopolis, after the name of the just king.

And he swore by his crown that no statement of accounts should be required from Thomas or
from his Church, either by himself or by any of his successors in the kingdom. And he
appointed there and consecrated as first bishop Eutychian the presbyter, a zealous man,
and accustomed to the transaction of business; and he gave the privilege of certain rights
to his Church, taken from the jurisdiction of the Church of Amida. And attached to him was
John, one of the Roman soldiers from Amida. Him Eutychian tonsured, and made him a
presbyter and master of the hostelry; and when he went up to the royal city this John
accompanied him. And the king, upon his being presented to him, gave him an endowment for
his church. But Abraham Bar Kili of Thel-midè was notary at that time, who was the son of
Ephraim of Constantia, and he also attached himself to Eutychian the bishop, who made him
a presbyter. And he was sent as overseer of the work and the building of the bath; and at
last he became steward of the Church.

But the king gave Eutychian gifts of holy vessels and gold for the building of the great
church, and sent him away. And the bishop having lived but a little longer, died. And his
successor there was Thomas Bar 'Abdiyo of Resaina, who had been a Roman soldier, and had
been appointed steward of the Church of Amida; and he also was vigilant and well versed in
business. And John the master of the hostelry, being an honourable and chaste man, was
faithful to him and beloved by him. And when this holy Thomas withdrew from his see on
account of his zeal for the faith, this believing John joined him, and he appointed him as
his suffragan; and for about seventeen years he lived in exile in different places. And he
sent him (John) to Berroea, where he died in the year three (when Khosrun went up to
Antioch), having joined the monks who had withdrawn from Marde before the enemy; and he
was buried in the monastery of Beth-Thiri; and he was laid beside his bishop, who entered
into rest before him.

Chapter 7. The Seventh Book Concerning the Expulsion of Macedonius the Heretic from the
Royal City

Macedonius, who was bishop of Constantinople, omitted no intrigue of heart to conceal his
opinions. But, like the fruit which bursts open in its day, according to the saying of
Job, and "what is covered shall be revealed, and what is done in the secret chamber shall
be proclaimed upon the house-tops," as is said, again, in the Gospel. This man (was
attached) to the monks of the monastery of the Akoimetoi, of whom there were about one
thousand, and who lived luxuriously in baths and in other bodily indulgences, and
outwardly appeared to men honourable, and were adorned with the semblance of chastity, but
were inwardly like whited sepulchres, full of all uncleanness. And they agreed to the mind
of Macedonius; and he used to celebrate the memory of Nestorius every year, and they used
to celebrate it with him in their monastery and in the other monastic dwellings where the
same opinions were held. And consequently they had great freedom of intercourse with this
Macedonius. And they were continually reading the writings of the school of Diodorus and
Theodore; and Macedonius himself compiled a book of quotations from them, and from the
work which was drawn up by Theodoret concerning the Acts of the Synod (not the one that is
translated into the Syriac language); and he ornamented it with gold; and he said, "It is
from the holy fathers and the doctors of the Church. And when he showed it to the king, he
would not receive it;

and he said to him, "You have no need of such things, go rather and burn this. And when he
saw the mind of the king he formed a plan for actually raising a rebellion against him;
and he was in the habit of calling him a heretic and a Manichaean. And the Master of the
Offices, because he was lavishly supplied with gifts by him, was favourably inclined
towards him. And the report was brought to the king by some true men who were no framers
of flattering words. And he held a Council; and in the presence of his patricians he told
of the insult which had been offered to him by Macedonius; and he was distressed, and
wept, and adjured them not to be influenced by fear; but if, in truth, their king was
displeasing to them, or if they knew that he was infected with the deceit of heresy, they
should take his dominion from him, and he should be cast out as an unbeliever. And they
fell upon their faces before him, weeping. And they inveighed against the audacity of
Macedonius, crying out and reviling him; and they praised the king; and they decreed the
bishop's banishment. And in order that the Master of the Offices, who aided him, might be
humiliated, he was commanded to expel him, so that he should be sent to Oasis.

And also Pascasius the deacon, who was attached to and beloved by Macedonius, was arrested
(and he Wrote, in the presence of the prefect, in the records of the Acts, all his deeds),
he and certain monks and others who caused a tumult in the city to prevent the words, "God
Who was crucified for us," being proclaimed there, as they had been proclaimed in the
whole jurisdiction of Antioch from the days of Eustace the bishop. And to show when and
how these things were done, behold I have written down accurately, for the instruction of
the readers, the letter of Simeon the presbyter and his brethren the monks who were with
him, who happened to be at that time in the royal city having come from the East, and who
wrote to Samuel their archimandrite concerning the expulsion of Macedonius, as follows :—

Chapter 8. This Seventh Book Tells About the Letter that Was Sent from Constantinople
Concerning the Expulsion of Macedonius

"To the virtuous, elect, and God-loving presbyter and archimandrite Samuel, and to the
presbyters and deacons, together with all the other brethren, from Simeon the presbyter,
in the royal city, and the brethren who are with him, greeting. After we wrote the former
letter to your Holiness concerning all that Macedonius did in the monastery of Dalmatus
against the whole truth, God stirred up the spirit of the believing king like a lion to
the prey, and he roared, and made the whole faction of the enemies of the truth to
tremble; for it is said, 'As a watercourse in the hands of the gardener, so is the heart
of the king in the hands of the Lord.' May He Who has not turned away from the prayer of
His elect, and Who has not suffered the desire of those who worship man instead of God to
come to pass, grant that the matter may receive a righteous fulfilment through your
prayers; yea and amen! We testify to you that after Macedonius did that of which we sent
information to your Piety, and anathematised those reprobate persons and the accursed
Council on the 20th of July, there was on the 22nd (the sixth day of the week) a
dedication festival at the Martyr Church in the Hebdomon; and the king himself was
present. And neither he nor the queen would receive the oblation from him; on the
contrary, he even addressed him in severe terms.

But on the 24th (the first day of the week) the monks of this place went in and
communicated in the church with Macedonius, and the king was vexed with them for going in.
And on the 25th (the second day of the week) a few brethren, who seceded from these monks,
entered in and went to Mar Patrick the general, and gave him a libel to present to the
king, saying, 'We declare that he celebrated the memory of Nestorius, and that he used to
send orders to us, and we also did the same in our monasteries every year.' And they wrote
other things against him, testifying that transactions such as these took place in their
monasteries. On that same day the king commanded, and the water which supplied the baths
was cut off from their monasteries, and only that which they drank was left to them. And
also he took away the denarii which they used to receive from the treasury. And on the
26th, one of the senators called Romanus went in to the king and gave him a written
statement of all the things which were done at the bishop's house; and he said to the king
that Pascasius the deacon, along with Macedonius, was the author of all the mischief; and
he said besides, 'They have made a certain large book containing extracts from all the
heresies, and it is overlaid with gold.' And the king sent for it, and took it to himself,
that he might see all its blasphemies.

But on the 27th the king convened a Council; and when the patricians went in the king said
to them, 'Have you not seen what this Jew who is amongst us did, for in my presence and
that of your excellencies he did what he did, and he anathematised the accursed Synod and
those reprobate persons; and when, to avoid great trouble, we accepted his act, he then
went off, and in the monastery of Dalmatus reversed everything which he himself had done,
and he contradicted the whole truth, and lied unto God and before me and unto you. Is this
a fair statement?' And at once Clementinus the patrician said before them all, 'May God
Himself cast him out from his priesthood who has lied unto God!' And forthwith the king
commanded the great prefect to go out into the city and bring together all the orthodox
who were wounded when they cried out, 'Who was crucified for us,' that he might learn who
their assailants were. And the prefect went out and did as he was commanded. And on the
28th he took the names of all the Nestorians who were the life of Macedonius, and brought
them in to the king; and the king commanded that they should be arrested.

"And on the 29th the king assembled all the commanders of the forces and all the officers
of the Scholarians and the patricians, and he said to them, 'According to my regular
custom I wish to give a donative.' For so it had been his practice to give it once in five
years ever since he became king, at the same time requiring oaths from all the Romans to
the effect that they would not act treacherously against the kingdom. But on this occasion
he required them to take the oath in the following manner: A copy of the gospel being
placed for them, they went in and received five denarii each, and they swore as follows,
'By this law of God and by the words which are written in it, we will contend with all our
might for the true faith and for the kingdom, and we will not act treacherously either
against the truth or the king.' In this manner, indeed, he required them to take the oath,
because he heard that Macedonius was trying to raise a rebellion against him.

"On the 30th of July the king gave a largess to the whole army. On the same day the
presbyters and deacons, who separated from his clergy lest they should be implicated in
his wickedness, presented a libel against Macedonius to the king, charging him, in
addition to all his other wickedness, with calling his Majesty a Manichaean and a
Eutychianist. And on the 31st of July (the first day of the week) they went in to the
king's presence with great fear, and found him filled with rage and agitation. And when
they had waited a long time, and everyone was watching in fear to see what commands would
issue from him, he opened his mouth and began to speak thus, 'Do you not know that from my
childhood I have been brought up in the faith; have any of you ever seen in me any
departure from the truth?' And they said, 'Far be it from us, lord.' And at once he
rejoined to them, 'Since Macedonius calls me a Manichaean and a Eutychianist, behold!
before God the Judge of all I make my defence, affirming that I neither have held nor do
hold any opinion foreign to the faith of the three hundred and eighteen holy fathers, and
of the one hundred and fifty; and I confess that One of the Persons of the Trinity, God
the Word, came down from heaven, and became incarnate from Mary the Theotokos and ever
virgin; and He was crucified for us, and He suffered and died;

and He rose again in three days, according to His own will; and He is the Judge of the
dead and of the living. I adjure you by the Holy Trinity, that if you know anything else
in me, or if you are not persuaded of the truth of what I have said, you take this robe
and crown off me and burn them in the midst of this city.' And when he said this there was
great weeping; and all the patricians cast themselves down before him, and Patrick the
general said, 'God will not forgive, nor will your Majesty and the canons of the Church
have mercy on him who has done this.' And the king said, 'Everyone, then, who goes to
confer with Macedonius or to hold communion with him, is thereby alienated from me.' And
while they stood before him, he spoke against the Master of the Offices, saying, 'The
riches and the honour which God gave us were not sufficient, but we must needs take a
bribe in a matter of the life of all men, and we shall lose our own life.' And while he
was speaking he looked at the Master of the Offices, who had inflicted many evils upon the
believers; and the Lord, forasmuch as He is the Judge of the dead and the living, rewarded
him according to his works.

And on the same day the king set guards of Romans at the gates of the city and the
harbours, lest any of those monks here should come in to the city. And on the first of
August Pascasius the deacon was arrested, and he went in before the prefect and confessed
everything which was done in the bishop's house, saying that Macedonius was even trying to
raise a rebellion against the king. And on the day after some Nestorians were arrested,
and they affirmed that they had some forged books of this heresy; and the prefect sent and
brought them to the Praetorium, and he showed them to the king and to the Senate. "And on
the sixth day of the month there was a General Council, and the orthodox and the
Nestorians who undertook the defence of Macedonius came in before them. And they found the
king standing, because some bishops belonging to our party had entered. And the king said
to these clergy of Macedonius, 'Why have you come?' and they replied, 'If your Majesty
commands, your servant will come to your Clemency.' And he said, 'Let him go to those
before whom he proclaimed his wickedness, and who obeyed him; for, at one time, he had a
certain ornamented book, and he affirmed it was taken from the fathers, and that they
taught two Natures after the Incarnation; and I said to him, 'There is no need for you to
use this, go and burn it.' And he said to the clergy, 'What are the two Natures and the
Synod of Chalcedon which God has overturned from its very foundations? Ye are accursed
Jews, I declare to you that there is not one God-fearing man among you who is grieved for
what has been done in His Church.' And they went out from his presence in great fear and
distress. And the orthodox were loud in his praises. And when the clergy returned to
Macedonius they said to him, 'The lord of the world has, in the presence of the Senate,
anathematised the Synod of Chalcedon and everyone who says two Natures.' And he replied to
them, 'I, in my turn, anathematise everyone who does not receive the Synod, and say two
Natures.' And his archdeacon cried out, 'Far be it from us, then, ever to have any more
part or communion with you.'

"And on the first day of the week, which was the seventh of the month, the believers came
and entered the church, and it was filled from end to end. And when the passage from the
apostle was read, all the people began to cry out together, 'Let not him who has taken
away from the Trinity enter the church; let not him who has blasphemed against the Son of
God come in hither; no one wants the Jewish bishop; where Nestorius went, there let his
disciples also go. Long live the king, the second Constantine, the upholder of the faith;
the gospel to the throne!' And at that instant the clergy took the gospel and placed it on
the throne. And when the clergy saw the whole congregation of the church crying out
together, they also showed themselves, and cried out, shaking their stoles, and saying,
'The victorious king has gained the victory for our Church.' And as soon as they ceased,
the great prefect delivered an address to them in the following terms: 'We accept your
goodwill and your zeal on behalf of the truth; and the lord of the world is, as you know,
very solicitous for the preservation of orthodoxy and the peace of all the Churches; and
your acclamations on behalf of the true faith we will bring to his hearing.' And when the
deacon made the proclamation and did not mention his name, and it was not read in the
Diptych, the mysteries were celebrated :

and as our Lord willed that he should go out, the king commanded, and his banishment was
decreed. And, with the object of humiliating the Master of the Offices, he sent him to
expel him; and he found him in the church, whither he had fled, sitting-down, with his
head between his knees; and he said to him, 'The lord of the world has decreed your
banishment'; and the other asked, 'Whither?' and he replied, 'Where your comrade went.'
And the stewards of the Church interposed, saying to him, 'We entreat your Lordship, have
pity on his old age, and let him not depart in the daytime, lest the people of the city
strike him and stone him, but in the evening time let him go.' And when they swore that
they would keep him, then he (the Master of the Offices) also left an auxiliary forcewith
them. And they said to him, ' The king has commanded you to give up that book of the Synod
which you have with you'; and he replied, 'I will not give it.' But, being forced to do
so, he laid it on the table; and the clergy took it up and gave it to the Master's
officer, and he brought it to the king. And in the evening of the seventh day of the month
the Master of the Offices arrived with a military force and expelled him, and gave him up
to those who were appointed to carry him away. And all the orthodox were in great fear.

"Now, my lord, we have truly informed your Holiness of what has occurred, and we shall
declare to you hereafter whatever the Lord may bring to pass. Pray for us, O elect of
God!" But the former defence made by the king proves to us that Akhs'noyo, the believing
doctor, the bishop of Hierapolis, who was a zealous man, having learned that Macedonius
was a heretic, sent a written statement of the true faith to the king (as he had done also
in the days of Zeno), and it was read before the Senate; and he showed that opinions in
opposition to it were held by the school of Diodorus and Theodore, and by Nestorius, their
disciple, who was ejected, and by Theodoret, and Hibo, and Andrew, and John, and
Aetheric—the men who set up the Synod of Chalcedon and received the Tome, and cleft
asunder the unity of God the Word, Who became incarnate, dividing it into two natures with
their properties, by what they taught concerning Christ after His Incarnation. And at the
same time he (Akhs'noyo) urged the king, saying, "It is right that they should be
anathematised by all who make a public boast of their own orthodoxy, and of agreeing to
the faith of your Majesty." And when Macedonius was required to do this, he anathematised
them under compulsion; but after that he used secretly to celebrate their memory in the
monastery of Dalmatus, as has been written above.

Chapter 9. This Seventh Book Tells About Timothy the Successor of Macedonius, and how in
the Days of Anastasius the King, the Words, "who Was Crucified for Us," Were Proclaimed in
the Royal City

After Macedonius, Timothy became bishop in Constantinople; and he was a believing man, and
his deeds were in conformity with his name, for it means "God-honouring. And in his days
there was one Marinus of Apamea, a vigilant and clever man, well-versed in business, wise
and learned, who was, moreover, true in the faith, the friend and confidant of the king,
and a chartularius and his counsellor. And when he was walking in the street or sitting
anywhere, he would tell his secretaries to commit in concise form whatever thought he had
to writing. And at night also, he had a pen-and-ink stand hanging by his bedside, and a
lamp burning by his pillow, so that he could write down his thoughts on a roll; and in the
daytime he would tell them to the king, and advise him as to how he should act. And
accordingly, as he was from the district of Antioch, all of which ever since the days of
Eustace the bishop had been so full of zeal that it was the first to proclaim,"Who was
crucified for us," he also vehementlyurged and advised King Anastasius to do the same.

And when some heretics heard of his ardour, they went to him together, and said to him,
"You desire and incite men on earth to go beyond the holy hymn of praise which the angels
offer to the Trinity, saying, 'Holy, Holy, Holy, mighty Lord, of whose praises heaven and
earth are full.'" Immediately, God the Word Himself, Who in the flesh was crucified for us
men, prepared a defence in his mouth to this effect, "The angels, indeed, offer the hymn
of praise, which contains their confession to the adorable and co-equal Trinity, rightly,
and do not proclaim that He was crucified for them; but we, on the other hand, in the hymn
of praise, which contains our confession, rightly say that He was crucified for us men,
for He became incarnate from us, and did not invest Himself with the nature of angels. And
so he put them to silence, and he instructed the king, who thereupon commanded that the
words, "Who was crucified for us," should be proclaimed in the royal city as in the
district of Antioch. And at the same time a wonderful sign occurred, proving to wise men
that Christ, Who was crucified in the flesh at Jerusalem, was God; namely, an eclipse of
the sun, which took place in those days, and produced darkness from the sixth hour unto
the ninth hour.

Chapter 10. This Seventh Book Gives Information Respecting the Synod which Was Held at
Zidon in the Year Five, the Eight Hundred and Twenty-third Year of the Greeks, and of the
Antiochenes the Five Hundred and Sixtieth

Akhs'noyo, a learned man and a Syriac doctor, and zealous in the faith, the bishop of
Hierapolis, in the days of Zeno sent a written statement of the faith, and asked Zeno some
questions about his faith, and received a reply. And it was he who exposed Calandion of
Antioch, and ejected him from his See. But he had his suspicions also about Flavian, that
he was a heretic; and he sent a letter and urgent messengers to King Anastasius, begging
that a Synod should be held at Sidon. And the king gave the order, and the Synod assembled
in the five hundred and sixtieth year of the Antiochene era. And he urged the believing
and zealous monks of the East, and Cosmas a learned man from the monastery of Mar 'Akiba
at Chalcis, who was residing in Antioch, and they drew up a petition and presented it to
Flavian and to the Council of bishops who were with him at Sidon. And they wrote, in an
able and logical manner, a list of censures in seventy-seven Heads, with many quotations
from the holy doctors confirming the censure upon the Synod of Chalcedon and the Tome of
Leo, and they presented this also to the Synod, at the same "time begging and adjuring the
priests to effect reforms, and take stumbling-blocks out of the way of the Church and
purge it, by openly anathematising the Synod. But Flavian the chief priest and some of the
priests who were with him deferred the matter, saying, "We are content with a document
anathematising the school of Diodorus, the censures of certain persons upon the twelve
Heads of Cyril, and Nestorius, lest we should arouse the sleeping dragon and corrupt many
with his poison." And so the Synod was dissolved.

But the zeal of Akhs'noyo urged the monks again, and they went up to Anastasius and
informed him of what had occurred in the Synod, and concerning Flavian, that he was a
heretic; and having received an order for his ejection, and returned to the East, they
assembled at Antioch against him. And some of them were wounded, and others were killed;
but nevertheless Flavian was ejected from his See. And his successor was Severus, a
learned and well-tried monk from the monastery of Theodore the ex-pleader at Gaza, who was
apokrisiarios at the royal city, and was a confidant and friend of Probus, and his
kinsmen. This man had previously written the Philalethes, and also he had made a solution
of the seven questions of the Diphysites. And he was ready in dispute with the heretics,
and he was well known to the king by means of Probus; and he was appointed chief priest of
Antioch. And afterwards, when there was a Synod in Tyre, he joined with Akhs'noyo, and the
priests of his district, and those of Pheenice Libani, and Arabia, and Euphratesia, and
Mesopotamia in expounding the Henotikon of Zeno, showing that its effect was to abrogate
the Council of Chalcedon. And the bishops assembled at Tyre openly anathematised the Synod
of Chalcedon and the Tome. And they wrote to John of Alexandria and to Timothy of the
royal city; and received replies from them and from Elijah of Jerusalem, who was
eventually ejected, and was succeeded by John.

And because Sergius, a grammarian there, composed shortly afterwards a book of censure
upon that Synod, and gave it to the monks from Palestine who were of his way of thinking,
this holy Severus, hearing about it, wrote a refutation of it at great length, and by
quotations and proofs derived from the true doctors of the Church he confirmed his
doctrine in three volumes, entitled, Against the Grammarian. But the other treatises of
this doctor Severus, and his commentaries, and his Catechism, and his work, Against Julian
the Phantasiast, and his wonderful Dogmatic Letter, afford great profit and instruction to
the lovers of doctrine.

Chapter 11. This Seventh Book Tells About the Petition which Was Drawn Up by Monks of the
East and Cosmas of Chalcis, and Was Presented to the Council which Met at Zidon in the
Days of Flavian and Akhs'noyo the Bishops, in the Five Hundred and Sixtieth Year of the
Antiochene Era

"Before all things we give thanks to Christ, Who is God over all, and we also thank our
merciful Christ-loving king, who has aroused you all to zeal for religion, and called this
your holy Council to one meeting place, in the name of one only Christ the Son of God,
that in Him you may bring all men together to the one faith, which the Holy Scriptures
have delivered and the fathers have ever kept, standing steadfastly in one mind, and being
united and agreeing together in one good man, and teaching all men the divine doctrine
through the Holy Spirit, Who spoke by them. For our Lord has accounted you to be worthy,
and chosen you at this time for the sake of the unity of his holy Churches, not that you
should make a new faith for them; because that written definition, which was made by the
three hundred and eighteen holy fathers who assembled at Nicea, is sufficient for the
affirmation of the Holy Scriptures; but that you should build up the faith which has
always existed, and which many persons have rashly sought to destroy, speaking 'not from
the mouth of the Lord,' as the prophet says, but 'from their own belly,' and by their
wicked artifices they have severed from one another those who in the simplicity of their
hearts kept the tradition of the holy fathers and were united together in the true faith.
For Christ is He, O holy men ! Who is divided by them;

and, therefore, as long as He is denied, it is not possible for the Church ever to come to
any agreement; seeing that it is rent asunder by these persons through the inventions of
different words. For it is written, 'No kingdom that is divided against itself shall
stand'; and again, 'If ye bite and devour one another, take heed lest ye be consumed one
of another.' Since,then, we are one body in Christ, and we are members of His members,
according to the word of the divine apostle, we draw near to your Holinesses with
confidence as to pastors, entreating you to keep the true faith for the whole world,
without spot, like the fair dove spoken of in the Song of Songs; and that you separate it
from all heresies which have the outward appearance of religion, and stand around it like
queens and concubines and damsels, and are anxious to associate and to be one and the same
with it, and through it to be received as true. But by doing this you shall receive a
reward, and you shall hear the Lord saying, 'Him that confesses Me before men, will I
confess before My Father Who is in heaven.' Separate, then, as stewards of the divine
words, between the pure and the corrupt, as He says; and cast out those who mingle the
tares with the pure wheat, and their evil doctrine along with them, for He says, 'Put away
the evil-doer from the congregation, and victory shall go forth with it.'

"Now, though what has been said is manifest and well known, it was necessary to explain it
above and prove it clearly, even as the holy fathers agreeing in one true faith bound all
men together in one concord. But the heretics have mingled lawless wranglings with the
words of the holy fathers, and confound with them schismatical impieties, and have
separated the holy Churches; whom the prophet rebuked, saying, 'Thy tavern-keepers mingle
water with wine.' " And so the petition goes on, and has many quotations from the fathers
in proof of the seventy-seven censures upon the Council of Chalcedon.

Chapter 12

THE TWELFTH CHAPTER, WHICH TELLS ABOUT THE SYNOD THAT WAS HELD IN TYRE, IN THE DAYS OF
SEVERUS AND AKHS'NOYO THE DOCTORS, AND THE BISHOPS WHO WERE WITH THEM, WHO EXPRESSLY AND
OPENLY ANATHEMATISED THE SYNOD AND TOME Now Severus, who succeeded Flavian in Antioch, was
a learned man by reading the wisdom of the Greeks, and he was an ascetic and a well-tried
monk, and he was also zealous for the true faith and well-versed in it, and he had read
the Holy Scriptures with understanding and the expositions made by the ancient authors who
were disciples of the apostles, namely, Hierotheus, and Dionysius, and Titus, and also
Timothy; and after them Ignatius, and Clement, and Irenaeus, and such writers as Gregory,
and Basil, and Athanasius, and Julius, and the other chief priests and true doctors of the
holy Church. And like a "scribe who is instructed for the kingdom of heaven, who brings
from his treasures things old and new," so also he had thoroughly studied many histories,
and they were rooted in his mind clearly to be seen.

And this Akhs'noyo, also, was a Syriac doctor, and he had diligently studied the works
existing in that language, and besides these he was well-versed in the doctrine of the
school of Diodorus and Theodore and the others; but, nevertheless, as his actions proved
to the wise, this old and zealous man was truly a believer. These men gave full and clear
information to King Anastasius, who rejected the Council of Chalcedon with all his heart;
and he commanded that, for the purpose of effecting needed reforms, a Synod of Orientals
should be assembled at Tyre. And it was assembled, consisting of the bishops of the
districts of Antioch, and Apamea, and Euphratesia, and Osrhoene, and Mesopotamia, and
Arabia, and Phoenice Libani. And, making the true faith clear, he (i.e. Severus) expounded
the Henotikon of Zeno as meaning the abrogation of the transactions of Chalcedon; and he
openly there anathematised the addition which it had made to the faith. And the bishops in
Council assembled, along with Severus and Akhs'noyo the believers and doctors who
zealously stood at their head, proclaimed the whole truth; and they wrote letters of
agreement both to John of Alexandria, and to Timothy of the royal city, and also Elijah of
Jerusalem at that time assented to the letters, although shortly after he was ejected, and
was succeeded by John. Consequently the priests were again united in this concord of the
faith, with the exception of the see of Rome. (And the reason of this exception was) that
Alimeric was the anti-Caesar there, and he had rebelled against Anastasius in the Western
region, and he held the kingdom in Rome. And he was a warlike man; and in his day he
rendered great service to the people of Italy, by delivering them from the barbarians and
Goths. And he also conferred many benefits upon his city, Rome, erecting buildings and
granting privileges. However, he was a Diphysite, having been converted from the heresy of
Arius. Consequently there could not be any assent on the part of Symmachus and his
successor Hormisda, the chief priests of Rome, to what was done in the East. And zealous
persons can gain information respecting these matters from the letter which Akhs'noyo
wrote after his expulsion.

Chapter 13. Ariadne the Queen, who Died, and how the Tyrant Vitalian Came upon the Scene,
who Took Hypatius Prisoner in War

Ariadne the queen, the wife of Zeno, was allied to this Anastasius after the death of her
husband, and she made him king; and she held the kingdom for many years, as many as forty,
in the state of first and second marriage; and she died in the year eight hundred and
twenty-four of the Greeks. And her husband remained on, keeping the holy truth; even
though he was advanced in years, and he was occupied with the business of his kingdom. And
he had anxiety and trouble, because of one Vitalian a Goth, who was a general, and
warlike, and courageous and daring, and cunning in war. To this man many savage people
attached themselves; and he gave them gold with a liberal hand, and, besides, they
enriched themselves with the spoil which they took from the dominions of Anastasius. And
when he had been for a long time at peace, Vitalian broke his word; and he rebelled and
injured the Roman dominions, and oppressed the kingdom, and treated it with contempt; and
he haughtily advanced to the very suburbs of Constantinople without any fear. And at one
time troops, with Hypatius at their head, were sent against him by Anastasius; and they
were routed by him, and Hypatius was taken prisoner; and he treated him with great
indignity, and to insult him he even shut him up in a pig-sty. And upon one occasion he
put him to open shame, carrying him about through the army in the most humiliating
fashion, because Hypatius once took the wife of this Vitalian prisoner and treated her
insultingly. And in consequence of this Vitalian's indignation against him was very
strong. For in the impetuosity of his youth this Hypatius was carnal and wanton in lust
after women. And at last he was ransomed by a large sum of gold that was sent for him, and
he returned from captivity with Vitalian, possessing the wisdom that results from
punishment.

Chapter 14

THE FOURTEENTH CHAPTER OF THE SEVENTH BOOK TELLS ABOUT TIMOTHY, WHO DIED, AND WHOSE
SUCCESSOR WAS JOHN; AND OF SOME PEOPLE WHO CAME TO JERUSALEM FOR THE FESTIVAL, AND THEY
WERE POSSESSED BY DEMONS, WHO BARKED AT THE CROSS DURING THE DEDICATION Timothy, having
lived six or seven years, died in the year eleven. And John succeeded him. And in the year
in which Anastasius the king died, there were some Egyptians and Alexandrians and men from
beyond the Jordan, Edomites and Arabians, who came to the festival of the dedication which
is the making of the Cross at Jerusalem, which was held on the fourteenth of September;
and demons took possession of many of them, and they barked at the Cross, and then ceased
and went out. And this caused anxiety and distress to the prudent; they did not, however,
accurately understand the reason, until the event occurred, and it signified the wrangling
about the faith, and the stumbling-block afterwards caused thereby. This God made known
beforehand, that we might consider the temptation and be proved by it; and by our enduring
it and persevering in the faith we might have joy; as James the apostle says, "Let it be
all joy to you, my brethren, when you enter into divers and many temptations; for you know
that the trial of faith procures patience for you. But let patience have its perfect work,
that you may be complete and perfect, wanting nothing."

Now Anastasius died on the ninth day of July. And his successor was Justin, who went down
with the army in company with the generals, at the time that Kawad, king of the Persians,
came to Amida. And he was a handsome old man with white hair, but he was unlearned; and he
shared in the opinions of the people of Rome respecting the faith, because he belonged to
that jurisdiction, being from the campcalled Mauriana, the water of which is bad, and
turns to blood when it is boiled. There is in this Book a period of twenty-seven years,
three months and a half, the lifetime of Anastasius.

Chapter 15

THE FIFTEENTH CHAPTER OF THE SEVENTH BOOK, STATING WHO WERE CHIEF PRIESTS IN THE DAYS OF
ANASTASIUS THE KING Now the following were the chief priests in the days of Anastasius. Of
the Diphysites:—Of Rome—Felix, and Symmachus his successor, and Hormisda who is still
living. Of Alexandria, the believers—Athanasius, and John his successor, and again another
John, and Dioscorus who now occupies the See. In Antioch—Flavian who was ejected, and
Severus the believer. In Constantinople—Euphemius, and Macedonius who was ejected, and
Timothy the believer, and John his successor, who received the Synod in the beginning of
the reign of Justin and died shortly after, and Epiphanius was his successor. Of
Jerusalem—Sallust, and Elijah his successor who was ejected, and John who received the
Synod in the days of Justin, and Peter his successor. [Note to the online edition:
footnotes have been moved to the end. Footnotes concerned only with bits of Syriac and
Greek have been omitted because of the time it would take to transcribe it.]

1. I.e. of the Indiction = A.D. 512. 2. Called Epiphanius in the Introduction to this
Book. 3. Here begins an extract in Cod. Rom. 4. The words in brackets are not in the
Syriac, but they must be understood. 5. ... Here the extract in Cod. Rom. ends. 6. I.e. by
Euphemius. 7. " 'Arab," a name applied to certain districts in Mesopotamia. 9. This and
the three following chapters are contained in Cod. Rom. 10. Mich. fol. 156v ff.; Greg. p.
75 ff. 11. There appears to be some confusion in both texts; by a few slight alterations
it might be made to yield this meaning, "and consumed the wood of the props, and
immediately it was reduced to ashes; and the rest of the mound which escaped the violence
of the fire was loosened and fell." 12. So the text; but it may be corrupt, and the
reference be to the invasion of " 'Arab" by locusts (see ch. 2).

13. Cod. Rom. and Mich. add "of the Nazarenes." 14. Mich. fol. 158 v. 15. 1 1/3 obols. 16.
Thomas, bishop of Amida, seems to be the subject of this sentence, not the king. 18. Job
xxxii. 19 (Syr.). 19. St. Luke xii. 2, 3. 20. Text, " Magisterian." 21. Prov. xxi. 1. 22.
Probably Euphemius, who was also banished to Euchaita. 23. "Magistrian," an attendant upon
the Master of the Offices. The whole passage is a troublesome one, and I am much indebted
to M. Nau, who has published an analysis of the unedited parts of the Chronicle attributed
to Dionysius of Tellmahrè, and who, through Mr. Brooks, kindly supplied a MS. extract from
fol. 147 of the account of the expulsion of Macedonius. 24. The corresponding expression
in the Chronicle of "Dionysius" is ... a large auxiliary force." 25. Assem., B. O. vol.
ii. p. 34. 26. This chap, is in Cod. Rom.

27. Mich. fol. 156 r. 28. Greg. H. E. i. p. 185. 29. Mich. fol. 160 r ff. 31. St. Mark
iii. 24. 32. Gal. v.15. 33. Rom. xii. 5. 34. St. Matt. x. 32. 35. Mal. iii. 18. 36. Isa.
i. 22. 37. Matt. xiii. 52. 38. Here begins an extract in Cod. Rom. 39. Here an extract in
Cod. Rom. ends. 40. Or literally, "And punishment is wisdom." 41. This chap, is in Cod.
Rom. 42. So Cod. Rom. The MS. has "the event." 43. Jas. i. 2-4. 44. Or Bederiana, as Mai
writes here.


THE SYRIAC CHRONICLE
====================

THE SYRIAC CHRONICLE continued

BOOK VIII

THE eighth Book in the chapters, as given below, gives information, the first about the
accession of Justin and about Amantius the provost, who was killed in the palace, and
about Theocritus his domestic, and Andrew the chamberlain; in the second it treats of
Vitalian the tyrant, who was killed in the palace, he and Paul his notary and Celer his
domestic; in the third chapter it tells the story of the martyrs who were killed in
Nagrin, in the royal city of the land of the Homerites, by the Jewish tyrant; in the
fourth chapter it describes the flood of water which entered Edessa, and how the flow of
the waters of Shiluho in Jerusalem was stopped, and how Antioch was overthrown by an
earthquake, and the temple of Solomon in the city of Heliopolis was burnt; in the fifth
chapter it gives an account of the negotiations which were held on the frontier, and of
Mundhir, king of the Saracens, who invaded the Roman territory, and of the bishops who
were banished; the sixth chapter, stating who were chief priests in the days of this king
Justin ; the seventh chapter, concerning the prologue of Moro the bishop.

Chapter 1

THE FIRST CHAPTER OF THE BOOK, CONCERNING THE ACCESSION OF JUSTIN In the year eight
hundred and twenty-nine according to the reckoning of the Greeks, on the tenth of July,
when the year eleven was already drawing to an end, on the death of Anastasius, Justin
became king after him ; and he was an old man of a handsome presence with white hair and
was cura palati, and he was illiterate. This man Marinus of Apamea, an able man, who was
chartulary, depicted in the public baths, as he had come from the fortress of Mauriana in
Illyricum to Constantinople with all the history of his entry into Constantinople, and how
he had been advanced from step to step until he became king. And, when this same Marinus
was accused on this ground and came into danger, trusting in his astuteness, he readily
rendered an answer, saying, "I have represented these things in pictures for the
consideration of the observant and the understanding of the discerning, in order that
magnates and rich men and men of high family may not trust in their power and their riches
and the greatness of their noble family, but in God, who raises the poor man out of the
mire and places him as chief over the people, and rules in the kingdom of men to give it
to whom He will, and to set the lowest among men over it, and chooses men of low birth in
the world, and men that are rejected, and men that are not, that he may bring to naught
men that are." And he was accepted, and escaped from the danger.

Now Amantius the provost, he and Andrew the chamberlain, his associate, favoured and
cherished Theocritus his domestic ; and after the death of Anastasius he gave a large sum
of gold to this old man, the cura palati Justin, for the purpose of making largesses to
the scholarians and the other soldiers, in order that they might make Theocritus king. But
he by giving the gold to these men gained their favour, and they made him king, because
the Lord willed it. And, because he shared the opinions of the inhabitants of Rome, he
gave strict orders that the Synod and the Tome of Leo should be proclaimed. And this
Amantius tried to prevent it, saying, "The signature of the three patriarchs and the
principal bishops of your dominions, who have written and anathematised the Synod, is not
yet dry." And, because he spoke with freedom, this same Amantius the provost was
immediately put to death, and so were Theocritus his domestic and Andrew the chamberlain.
Now a year afterwards John, the bishop of the city, died, and Epiphanius succeeded him.
And, since Severus withdrew from Antioch for fear of the threats of the king, who had
ordered his tongue to be cut out, Paul succeeded him, who was called "the Jew." And,
because he celebrated the memory of Nestorius, he was driven out, and Euphrasius succeeded
him, who was burnt in a cauldron blazing with aromatic wax during the earthquake of
Antioch.

Chapter 2. The Eighth Book Treats of Vitalian the Tyrant, how He Was Killed in the Palace,
He and Paul his Notary and Celer his Domestic

Vitalian the tyrant was general in the days of Anastasius; and he was a Goth and a stout-
hearted warrior, and barbarians followed him. Of him it was said that he wished to raise a
rebellion against Anastasius; and he exacted an oath from him, and he did not keep it, but
rebelled and induced barbarian tribes to follow him, and made an attack upon the dominions
of Anastasius, and took cities and their villages; and he marched forward as far as the
royal city, and blockaded it, and he annoyed the king in many ways; and he caused him
anxiety, because he had taken Hypatius, who had gone out against him, prisoner and routed
his army, and carried him about with him, treating him with indignity and insult, and
exposing him to contumely ; but for a large sum of gold which he received for him he sent
him back. And, when Anastasius was dead, a letter was written to him by this old man
Justin, entreating him and appeasing him, in order that he might not again act unjustly
and rebel in his days, as he was accustomed to do. And then various tribes also followed
him, and the Goth came confidently; and the king went out to the Martyr's Chapel of
Euphemia at Chalcedon, and they swore oaths to one another and entered the city; and he
became one of the generals-in-chief; and in the fulness of power he went in and out of the
palace, and presided over the conduct of affairs.

And he was united by a spiritual relationship to Flavian of Antioch, who was driven out;
and he nursed great resentment against the holy Severus, who succeeded Flavian, but he was
not able to injure him in the days of Anastasius. However, at the beginning of the reign
of this old man Justin an order was issued that, wherever he was caught, his tongue should
be cut out, they say, by the advice of Vitalian. Now it happened some days afterwards
that, while Vitalian was bathing in the royal city, he received a command from the king to
come to a banquet, he and Justinian the general, his colleague; and he was coming from the
baths, he and Paul his notary and Celer his domestic, and, men having been posted ready to
stab him as he was going from one house to the other, he was killed, he and his notary and
his domestic ; and God requited him for the evil which he did in the days of Anastasius
and the violation of his oaths; and his army did no injury.

Chapter 3

THE THIRD CHAPTER OF THE BOOK TREATS OF THE MARTYRS WHO WERE KILLED IN NAGRIN, THE ROYAL
CITY OF THE COUNTRY OF THE HOMERITES, IN THE YEAR EIGHT HUNDRED AND THIRTY-FIVE OF THE
GREEKS, THE SIXTH YEAR OF THE REIGN OF JUSTIN, AS SIMEON, BISHOP AND APOKRISIARIOS OF THE
BELIEVERS IN THE LAND OF THE PERSIANS, WROTE TO SIMEON, ARCHIMANDRITE OF GABBULA, AS
FOLLOWS "We inform your affection that on the twentieth of January in this year eight
hundred and thirty - five of the Greeks we left the camp of Nu'man in company with Abraham
the presbyter, the son of Euphrasius, who had been sent to Mundhir by Justin the king to
make peace, of which we wrote also in our former epistle; and here we, even all the
believers, express our thanks to him for his assistance to our side; and he knows what we
wrote formerly and what we are writing now. For we travelled ten days' journey through the
desert towards the south-east, and we came upon Mundhir over against the hills called 'the
hills of sand,' and in the Saracen language 'Ramlah.' And, as we were entering the
encampment of Mundhir, some Saracens, heathens and Ma'doye, met us, and said to us, 'What
can you do? for, behold! your Christ has been expelled by the Romans and the Persians and
the Homerites. And when we were insulted by the Saracens it distressed us; and in addition
to the distress sorrow also fell upon us, because, while we were present, there came an
envoy, who had been sent by the king of the Homerites to Mundhir, and gave him an epistle
full of boasting; and in it he had written to him as follows: 'The king whom the
Ethiopians set up in our country died;

and, because the winter season had begun, they were not able to march out into our country
and appoint a Christian king, as they generally do. Accordingly, I became king over the
whole country of the Homerites, and I resolved first to slay all the Christians who
confessed Christ, unless they became Jews like us. And I killed two hundred and eighty
men, the priests who were found, and besides them also the Ethiopians who were guarding
the church. And I made their church into a synagogue for us. And then with a force of
120,000 men I went to Nagrin, their royal city. And, when I had sat down before it for
some days and was not able to take it, I swore oaths to them, and their chiefs came out to
me; but I judged it right not to keep my word to the Christians, my enemies. And I
arrested them, and required them to bring their gold and their silver and their
possessions; and they brought them to me, and I took them. And I asked for Paul their
bishop; and, when they told me that he was dead, I did not believe them, until they showed
me his grave: and I dug up his bones and burnt them, as well as their church and their
priests and everyone who was found seeking refuge there. And the rest I urged to deny
Christ and the Cross, and become Jews;

and they would not, but, confessing that He is God and the Son of the Blessed, they even
chose to die for His sake. And their chief said many things against us, and insulted us.
And I ordered all their magnates to be put to death. And we fetched their wives, and told
them, now that they had seen their husbands put to death for Christ, to deny, and have
mercy on their sons and on their daughters. And we urged them, and they would not ; but
the nuns strove hard to be put to death first; and the wives of the magnates were angry
with them, and said, "We ought to die after our husbands. And they were all put to death
by our order except Rhumi, the wife of the king who was to have reigned there, whom we
would not permit to die ; but we kept requiring her to deny Christ and live, having mercy
upon her daughters, and retaining everything which she possessed by becoming a Jew. And we
bade her go and take counsel, attended by guards from our army. And she went out, going
round the streets and squares of the city with her head uncovered, a woman whose person no
one had seen in the street since she grew up. And she cried and said, "Women of Nagrin, my
Christian companions, and the rest of you also who are Jews and heathens, listen! My birth
and my family, and whose Christian daughter I am, you know;

and that I have gold and silver and slaves, male and female,' and many lands and revenues;
and, now that my husband has been put to death for Christ's sake, if I wish to be married
to a husband, I have 40,000 denarii, and gold ornaments, and much silver and pearls and
raiment, splendid and magnificent, besides the treasures of my husband; and that these
things have not been falsely spoken by me you know of yourselves; and that to a woman
there are no days of joy like the days of her marriage; for from that time forward there
are distresses and lamentation, at the birth of children, and whenshe is deprived of them,
and when she buries them ; but I from this day forward am free from them all. And on the
days of my first marriage I was full of joy, and now, behold! it is in the gladness of my
heart that I have adorned my five virgin daughters for Christ. Look upon me, my
companions, for, lo! you have twice seen me, at my first marriage, and at this second one;
for it was with my face exposed before you all that I went to my former bridegroom ; and
now it is with my face exposed that I am going to Christ, my Lord and my God, and the Lord
and God of my daughters, even as He in His love humbled Himself and came to us and
suffered for our sake.

" ' " Imitate me and my daughters, and consider that I am not inferior to you in beauty ;
and, behold! I am going to Christ my Lord resplendent in that beauty, undefiled, as it is,
by Jewish denial, that my beauty may be a witness before my Lord that it could not lead me
astray to commit the sin of denial, and my gold and silver and all that I have may be
witnesses that I did not love them as I loved my God. And that rebellious king permitted
me to deny and live. Far be it from me, my companions, far be it from me to deny Christ my
God in whom I have believed! and I and my daughters have been baptized in the name of the
Trinity, and I worship His cross, and for His sake I and my daughters joyfully die, even
as He suffered in the flesh for our sake. Behold! I resign everything that is pleasant to
the eyes and to the bodily senses on the earth and passes away, that I may go and receive
from my Lord that which does not pass away. Blessed are you, my companions, if you will
hear my words and know the truth and love Christ, for whose sake I and my daughters die.
Then shall there be rest and peace to the people of God. The blood of my brothers and my
sisters who have been slain for Christ shall be a wall to this city, if it hold fast to
Christ my Lord. Behold, with my face exposed I pass away from this city, in which I have
been as in a temporary tabernacle, that I may go with my daughters to an everlasting city,
for it is there that I have betrothed them. Pray for me, my companions, that Christ my
Lord may receive me and may pardon me for having remained alive these three days after my
husband."

" 'And, when we heard a cry of lamentation from the city, and those who had been sent came
back and, when asked, told us that, as we have written above, Rhumi had gone round the
city, speaking to the women her companions and encouraging them, and a cry of woe was
being raised in the city, then we were enraged with the guards, so much so that, had we
not been persuaded not to do so, we would have put them to death for allowing her to act
in this manner. But at last she came out from the city like a madwoman, with her head
uncovered, accompanied by her daughters; and she came and stood before me without shame,
and holding her daughters, who were attired as for marriage, by the hand. And she loosened
the bands of her hair and turned them round with her hands, and stretched out her neck,
and bowed her head, crying, "I am a Christian, and so are my daughters ; for Christ's sake
we die. Cut off our heads, that we may go and find our brothers and our sisters and the
father of my daughters. But after all this madness I exhorted her to deny Christ, and only
to say that He was a man; and she would not, but one of her daughters insulted us for
saying this.

And, since I saw that it was not possible to induce her to deny Christ, for the sake of
striking terror into the other Christians I gave orders, and they threw her to the ground,
and her daughters' throats were cut, and their blood ran down into her mouth, and
afterwards her head was cut off. And by Adonai I swear that I was much distressed because
of her beauty and that of her daughters. Now the chief priests and I thought that in
accordance with the purport of the laws children ought not to die because of parents; and
I distributed them, both the boys and the girls, among the army to bring them up ; and, as
soon as they are grown up, if they become Jews, they shall live ; and, if they confess
Christ, they shall die. And these things I have described and related to your Majesty, and
I beg you not to suffer a Christian among your people, unless he denies and stands on your
side. Now, as for the Jews also, my brethren, who are in your dominions, treat them
kindly, my brother, and write and send me word what you wish me to send you in return for
this.'

"All these things were written to him after we had reachedthe place : and he assembled his
army, and the epistle was read before him, and the envoy related how the Christians had
been put to death and banished from the land of the Homerites. And Mundhir said to the
Christians in his army, 'Behold ! you have heard what has happened. Deny Christ; for I am
no better than the other kings who have persecuted the Christians.' And a certain man of
high position in his army, who was a Christian, was moved with zeal, and boldly said to
the king, 'It was not in your time that we became Christians, that we should deny Christ.'
And Mundhir was enraged, and said, 'Do you dare to speak in my presence?' And he said,
'Because of the fear of God I speak without fear, and no one shall stop me ; for my sword
is no shorter than the swords of others, and I will not shrink from fighting unto death.'
And because of his birth, and because he was a great and distinguished man and valiant in
war, Mundhir was silent.

"And, when we returned to the camp of Nu'man in the first week of the fast, we found a
Christian envoy, who had been sent by the king of the Homerites before he died. This man,
when he heard about the people who had been slaughtered by this Jewish tyrant, immediately
hired a man from the camp of Nu'man, and sent him to Nagrin to bring him intelligence of
what he saw and learned as to the events which had happened there. And, when he returned,
he also in our presence related to the former Christian envoy the things which are
recorded above, and that three hundred and forty of the magnates had been put to death,
who had come out to him from the city, and he swore to them, and perjured himself to them
; and as to their chief, Harith the son of Khanab, the husband of Rhumi, that the Jew
insulted him, and said to him, 'Trusting in Christ, you have rebelled against me ; but
have mercy upon your old age and deny Him, or else you shall die with your companions.'
And he answered and said to him, 'Truly I am distressed for all my companions and my
brothers, because they would not listen to me when I told them that you were lying, and
said that we should not go out to you nor trust your words, but fight with you.

And I trusted in Christ that I should have overcome you, and the city would not have been
taken, for there was nothing lacking in it. And you are not a king, but a perjurer: and I
have myself seen many kings who are truthful and do not lie. And I will not deny Christ my
God to become a Jew like you, and a liar. And now I know that He loves me; and I have
lived long in the world, and have had children and grandchildren, and I have daughters and
many kinsmen, and I have won renown in wars by the power of Christ. And I am sure that,
even as a vine which is pruned and gives forth much fruit, so shall our Christian people
be multiplied in this city; and the church, which has been burnt by you, shall increase
and be built up, and Christianity shall have dominion and give commands to kings, and
shall reign, and your Judaism shall be blotted out, and your kingdom shall pass away, and
your dominion shall come to an end. Boast not that you have done anything, nor be puffed
up with glorying.'

"And, when the great Harith the son of Khanab, the venerable old man, had said these
things, he turned round and said in a loud voice to his believing companions who
surrounded him, 'Did you hear, my brothers, what I said to this Jew?' And they said, 'We
heard everything which you said, father ours.' And again he said, 'Is it true or not?' And
they cried, 'It is true.' And he said, 'If any man fears the sword and denies Christ, let
him be separated from among us.' And they cried, 'Far be it from us! Be of good cheer,
father ours: we are all like you, and with you will we die for Christ's sake, and no one
amongst us will remain after you.' And he cried and said, 'Ye Christian people who
surround me, and ye heathens and Jews, hear. If any man of my family and my relations and
of my kin denies Christ and joins this Jew, he has no part with me, and he shall not
inherit anything that is mine, but all that belongs to me shall go to the expenses of the
church that shall be built. But, if any man of my kin does not deny Christ and survives
me, he shall inherit my property ; but three fields, whichever the Church shall choose in
my estate, shall go to the expenses of the Church.' And, when he had said these things, he
turned to the king and said, 'You and everyone who denies Christ I deny. Behold!

we stand before you.' And his companions were emboldened, and said, 'Behold! Abraham the
patriarch will look upon you and us with you; but everyone who denies Christ and remains
alive after you we deny.' And he ordered them to be taken to the gully called Wadiya, and
their heads to be cut off and their bodies thrown into it. And they stretched out their
hands to heaven and said, 'Christ, our God, come to our aid, and put strength within us,
and receive our souls. And may the blood of Thy bondservants, which is shed for Thy sake,
smell sweet unto Thee; and make us worthy of Thy sight ; and confess us before Thy Father,
as Thou promisedst. And may the church be built, and may a bishop be appointed in the
stead of Paul, Thy bond-servant, whose bones they burnt.' And they bade one another
farewell; and the old man Harith made the sign over them, and he bowed his head and
received the sword. And his companions rushed forward and crowded together and smeared
themselves with his blood ; and they were all martyred.

"And a child of three years old, whose mother was coming out to be put to death and was
holding him with her hand, ran up (and it happened that, when he saw the king sitting clad
in royal apparel, he left his mother and ran up and kissed the king on the knees) ; and
the king took hold of him and began to caress him and to say to him, 'Which would you
like, to go and die with your mother, or to stay with me?' The boy said to him, 'By our
Lord, I would like to die with my mother; and for this purpose I am going with my mother;
for she said to me, "Come, my son, let us go and die for Christ's sake. But release me,
that I may go to my mother, lest she die and I do not see her, because she says to me,
"The king of the Jews has commanded that everyone who does not deny Christ shall die," and
I will not deny Him.' And he said to him, 'Whence do you know Christ?' The boy said to
him, 'Every day I see Him in the church with my mother, whenever I go to the church.' And
he said to him, 'Do you love me, or your mother?' And again he said to him, 'Do you love
me, or Christ?' He said to him, 'Christ more than you.' And he said to him, 'Why did you
come and kiss my knees?' The boy said to him, 'I thought that you were the Christian king,
whom I used to see in the church, and I did not know that you were the Jew.' He said to
him, 'I will give you nuts and almonds and figs.' And the boy said, 'No, by Christ, I will
not eat the Jews' nuts;

but let me go to my mother.' And he said to him, 'Stay with me, and you shall be a son to
me.' And the boy said, 'No, by Christ, I will not stay with you, because your smell is
foul and fetid, and not sweet like my mother.' And the king said to those that were
standing by, 'Look at this evil root, whom from his boyhood Christ has deceived so as to
make him love Him.' And one of the magnates said to the boy, 'Come with me, and I will
take you, that you may be a son to the queen.' And the boy said to him, 'You are smitten
on the face. My mother, who takes me to the church, is more to me than the queen.' And,
when he saw that they held him tight, he bit the king on the thigh, and said, 'Release me,
you wicked Jew, that I may go to my mother and die with her.' And he gave him to one of
the magnates, and said, 'Take care of him until he grows up ; and, if he denies Christ, he
shall live; and, if not, he shall die.' And, while this man's slave was carrying him off,
he struggled with his feet and cried to his mother, 'My mother, come and take me, that I
may go with you to the church.' And, crying out before him, she said, 'Go, my son; you are
intrusted to Christ's care; do not weep;

wait for me in the church in Christ's presence till I come.' And, when she had said this,
they cut off her head. "And owing to this letter and the reports that have been received
distress has fallen upon all the Christians here. And, in order that the things which have
happened in the land of the Homerites may be made known to the pious believing bishops,
and that they may celebrate the memory of the illustrious martyrs, we have written these
things; and we beg your affection to let them be made known at once to the archimandrites
and bishops, and especially to the chief priest of Alexandria, in order that he may write
to the king of the Ethiopians to come at once and help the Homerites. But let the chief
priests of the Jews in Tiberias also be arrested, and be compelled to send to this Jewish
king, who has appeared, and tell him to put an end to the tribulation and persecution in
the land of the Homerites." And so the rest, consisting of salutations to the chief
priests and bishops of that time and the believing archimandrites, which are contained in
the epistle.

Chapter 4. The Eighth Book Treats of the Flood of Water which Entered Edessa, and how the
Flow of the Waters of Shiluho in Jerusalem Was Stopped, and Antioch Was Overthrown by an
Earthquake, and the Temple of Solomon in the City of Heliopolis Was Burnt

While Asclepius Bar Malohe, the brother of Andrew and of Demosthenes the prefect, held the
see of Edessa, having become bishop there after Paul, who showed an outward appearance of
being orthodox,—(Now this man was ostentatious in his person, and polished. And, when he
was a bishop in Edessa in the days of Flavian, before Asclepius, he drew up a written
statement for him, which did not anathematise the Synod, because he had been his
synkellos: and this book came into the hands of the holy Severus, who succeeded Flavian;
and, when this Paul went up to salute him, he gave it him, and in divine love forgave him
his offence, that is, on his assurance that he was a believer ; and this wise man, who
kept knowledge hidden, as it is written, did not expose him. And in the days of this king
he at first firmly refused to accept the Synod, while the people of Edessa supported him,
and even suffered loss and outrage on his account every day; however, on being banished to
Euchaita he conformed, and returned to Edessa; and after surviving a short time he was
struck with shame and soon after died, and Asclepius succeeded him. And he was a
Nestorian; but he was just in his deeds, and showed kindness to the tillers of the soil,
and was gentle towards them, and was not greedy after bribes. In his body he was chaste,
and in outward matters he did much good to his church, and paid its debts. But he was
active and violent against the believers ; and many were banished by him and outraged with
every kind of torture, or died under the hard treatment inflicted on them at the hands of
Liberius, a Goth, a cruel governor, who was called "the bull-eater.")

And, while affairs in Edessa were in this position, in the year eight hundred and thirty-
six of the Greeks, the year three,on the twenty-second of April, the river Scirtus, which
enters and passes through the city, rose and overflowed, and overthrew two sides of the
wall, and drowned many persons ; for it was supper-time, and while their food was in their
mouth the waters rushed in upon them, the flooded Scirtus. But this Asclepius escaped, and
so did Liberius. And the flow of the waters of Shiluho, which are in Jerusalem, in the
southern quarter of it, was stopped for fifteen years; and the temple of Solomon in the
city of Heliopolis in the forest of Lebanon, as to which Scripture mentions that Solomon
built it and stored arms in it [was burnt]. And to the south of it are three wonderful
stones, on which nothing is built, but they stand by themselves, joined and united
together and touching one another; and all three are distinguished by effigies, and they
are very large. And in a mystical sense they are set, as it were, to represent the temple
of the knowledge of the faith in the adorable Trinity, the calling of the nations by the
preaching of the gospel tidings. There came down lightning from heaven, while the rain
fell in small quantities: it struck the temple and reduced its stones to powder by the
heat, and overthrew its pillars, and broke it to pieces and destroyed it. But the three
stones it did not touch, but they remain perfect; and now a house of prayer has been built
there, dedicated to Mary the Holy Virgin, the Theotokos.

And a year afterwards, in the year four, Antioch was overthrown by a great earthquake of
unwonted severity, and countless myriads of people perished in it. For it was summer time
; and, while they were feasting, and their food was in their mouth, their houses were
thrown down upon them, as upon the sons of Job in the proving of Satan. And Euphrasius was
chief priest there, who succeeded Paul who was called "the Jew"; and he fell into a
boiling cauldron of wax, and perished. And his successor was Ephraim of Amida, who was
Comes Orientis at that time. And this man in the authority which he exercised in various
countries was a man just in his deeds, and was not greedy after bribes, and was able and
successful. And for years he had been infected with the teaching of the Diphysites through
some books which his mother Mako (?) had inherited from a certain Bar Shalumo of
Constantia, of the school of Diodorus and Theodore; and he corrupted and won over many
persons, some by subtilty and moderation, and some by the threats of the king, who was
fond of him, and paid attention to what he wrote to him.

Chapter 5

THE FIFTH CHAPTER OF THE SAME EIGHTH BOOK TREATS OF THE NEGOTIATIONS WHICH WERE HELD UPON
THE FRONTIER ; AND OF MUNDHIR, KING OF THE SARACENS, WHO WENT UP INTO THE TERRITORY OF
EMESA AND APAMEA, AND TOOK A LARGE NUMBER OF CAPTIVES AND CARRIED THEM AWAY WITH HIM ; AND
OF THE BELIEVING BISHOPS OF THE EAST WHO WERE BANISHED AND WITHDREW FROM THEIR CHURCHES
Kawad, king of the Persians, kept making pressing demands for the payment of the tribute
of 500 Ibs. weight of gold which was paid to him by the king of the Romans on account of
the expense of the Persian force which guarded the gates facing the land of the Huns; and.
for this reason he used from time to time to send his own Saracens into the territory of
the Romans, and they plundered and carried oft captives. The Romans also invaded Arzanene,
a country which belonged to him, and the district of Nisibis, and did damage. On this
account negotiations were held, and the two kings sent envoys, Justin sending Hypatius and
the old man Farzman, and Kawad Asthebid; and much discussion took place on the frontier,
which was reported to the two kings by their magnates through couriers; and no peaceful
message was sent by them, but they were hostile to one another.

And Mundhir, the Saracen king, went up into the territory of Emesa and Apamea and the
district of Antioch on two occasions; and he carried off many people, and took them away
with him. And four hundred virgins, who were suddenly made captive among the congregation
in the church of Thomas the Apostle at Emesa (?), he sacrificed in one day in honour of
'Uzzai. Dodo also the anchorite, an old man, who was made captive among the congregation,
saw it with his eyes, and told me. Now of the bishops of the East, and especially those in
the jurisdiction of the learned Severus, some were banished, and others withdrew to
Alexandria and various other countries, walking in the footsteps of the chief priest,
Severus the doctor. And Akhs'noyo of Hierapolis had been sent into exile at Gangra; and he
was imprisoned over the kitchen in the hospital there, and was suffocated by the smoke, as
he states in his epistle; and at last he died. And Antoninus of Berrhoea, and Thomas of
Damascus, and Thomas of Dara, and John of Constantia, and Thomas of Amrin (?), and Peter
of Rhesaina, and Constantine of Laodicea, and Peter of Apamea, and others withdrew, and.
lived in hiding wherever it was convenient for them. But the see of Alexandria had not
been disturbed, and Timothy succeeded Dioscorus ; and he did not withdraw nor accept the
Synod in the days of Justin ; and the fugitive believing priests who sought refuge with
him he received affectionately, and honoured and encouraged them.

Now Nonnus of Seleucia, who came from Amida, had withdrawn to his own city and taken up
his abode in his mansion there, because he came of a wealthy family, and had been governor
and great steward of the Church in his city in the days of John the bishop, who came from
the monastery of Karthamin, a righteous man. He in his days blessed Nonnus, and said, "I
am confident in my Lord that you will die as bishop in my see." And the event was delayed,
inasmuch as after the captivity of Amida the gracious Thomas became bishop there, who
built Dara. He, when the couriers came to seize him, in order that either he might accept
the Synod or they might drive him out, fell ill in accordance with his prayer, and died
suddenly and at once while in possession of his see, the couriers being in the city ; and
this caused many to marvel. Accordingly, in order that the blessing of John might be
fulfilled, the men of Amida seized Nonnus and appointed him bishop there; and he lived a
few months, and departed.

And in succession to him again, in the presence of three bishops, as the canons require,
Nonnus of Martyropolis, Arathu (? of Ingila, and Aaron of Arsamosata, who were on the
spot, they ordained Moro Bar Kustant, the governor,who was steward of the Church, an
abstemious man and righteous in his deeds, chaste and believing ; and he was fluent and
practised in the Greek tongue, having been educated in the monastery of St. Thomas the
Apostle of Seleucia, which in zealous faith had removed and had settled at Kenneshre on
the river Euphrates, and there been rebuilt by John the archimandrite, a learned man, who
was at that time an ex-pleader (?), a native of Edessa, the son of Aphthonia. And this
Moro had been trained up in all kinds of right instruction and mental excellence from his
boyhood by Sh'muni and Morutho, his grave, chaste, and believing sisters. And after
remaining a short time in his see he was banished to Petra, and from Petra to Alexandria;
and he stayed there for a time, and formed a library there containing many admirable
books; and in them there is abundance of great profit for those who love instruction, the
discerning and studious. These were transferred to the treasury of the Church of Amida
after the man's death. And in every matter which I record, in order not to cause annoyance
by blaming one man or praising another, I have related whatever the truth of the matter is
without any falsehood.

However, the man progressed more and more in reading in Alexandria, and there he fell
asleep. And his body was conveyed, by his sisters, who were with him and ministered to
him, comforting him in affliction, as it is written, and laid in his own Martyrs' Chapel
in the village of Beth Shuro. And as a record of the eloquent expression of his love of
instruction I will set down at the end of this Book the prologue composed by him in the
Greek tongue and inserted in his Tetreuangelion. Now the believing cloistered monks in the
East had also, moreover, been expelled and had withdrawn from the year three until the
year nine, one week, that is, of years, from their cloisters in the district of Antioch
and in Euphratesia, and also in Osrhoene and Mesopotamia. And the cloister of Thomas at
Seleucia with the brotherhood came to Kenneshre on the Euphrates, and was there settled by
the learned John the archimandrite, the son of Aphthonia. And Cyrus, archimandrite of the
Syrians in Antioch, was expelled, together with the brotherhood of the monastery of Thel
'Addo, and the monastery of Romanus, and Simeon of L'gino, and Ignatius, archimandrite of
the monastery of 'Akibo at Chalcis, and the monastery of S'nun, and John, archimandrite of
Khafro d'Birtho, and the monastery of my lord Bassus, and John of the Orientals, and the
monks of the Arches, and the monastery of Magnus (?), and Sergius of the Quarry, and
Thomas of the house of Natsih, and Isaac of the house of ''bedyeshu', and the cloisters of
'Arab in Mesopotamia and Izlo and Beth Gaugal, and five metropolitan cloisters in Amida,
Hananyo and Abraham called "the humble," a worker of miracles, and Daniel, visitor of the
cloister of Edessa, and Elijah of the house of Ishokuni, and Simai and Cosmas of the
foundation of John the Anzetenian, and Maron of the Orientals, and Solomon of the house of
my lord Samuel, and Cyrus of Sugo, and the monks of the Watch-tower and of Thiri, near
Rhesaina.

Now for this reason four or five communities of hermits also settled in the desert: at
Ramsho Mori, a chaste man and of honourable character; and at Natfo Sergius, a plain and
simple man, and after him Antony, a mild and peaceful man, and that kindly old man Elijah,
our countryman, and Simeon of Chalcis, and Sergius, who has now rebuilt Sodakthe (?), and
the community on the Harmosho (?), the monastery founded by my lord John at Hauro. And
Simeon, archimandrite of the monastery of my lord Isaac at Gabbula, which is now polluted
with the heresy of Julian the Phantasiast, was at that time zealous in the faith, he and
those who were with him ; and Bar Hakino of the house of my lord Hanino, a worker of
miracles, was similarly moved with zeal, insomuch as to go up to the royal city and in his
own person admonish and reprove the king, although he was not received ; and this is
witnessed by Akhs'noyo's epistle of thanks which he wrote to him from Gangra ; and
similarly with the monks of the house of my lord Zakhkhai at Callinicus, and of the
foundation of my lord Abbo, and of Beth R'kum.

And so the desert was at peace, and was abundantly supplied with a population of believers
who lived in it, and fresh ones who were every day added to them and aided in swelling the
numbers of their brethren, some from a desire to visit their brethren out of Christian
love, and others again because they were being driven from country to country by the
bishops in the cities. And there grew up, as it were, a commonwealth of illustrious and
believing priests, and a tranquil brotherhood with them ; and they were united in love and
abounded in mutual affection, and they were beloved and acceptable in the sight of
everyone ; and nothing was lacking, for the honoured heads of the corporation, which is
composed of all the members of the body, accompanied them, the pious John of Constantia, a
religious and ascetic man, (he would not even partake of the desirable bread, "the
foundation of the life of man," and so he progressed in the reading of the Scriptures and
became a gnostic and a theoretic; for he used to raise his understanding upwards by the
study of spiritual things for the space of three hours, marvelling and meditating on the
wisdom of the works of God ; and for three hours more, from the sixth to the ninth, he
continued in joy and peace with every man, in intercourse with those who came to him upon
necessary business)—and Thomas of Dara again, while undergoing many labours, conversed
much upon physics.

Now in the year nine, in the fifth year of the reign of this serene king, Justinian, the
king of our day, being moved by God our Lord, who had foreknowledge of his deeds, he
distributed justice, and ordered that all orders should return from exile and from the
countries to which they had withdrawn in zeal for the faith, while he summoned the
believing bishops to come up to him. And, after this had happened in the year nine, in the
year ten a multitude of Huns entered the Roman territory and massacred those whom they
found outside the cities; and they crossed the river Euphrates, and advanced as far as the
district of Antioch. Accordingly, under the direction of God, as he said, "My people,
enter thou into thy chambers, and hide thyself until My indignation be overpast," and by
order of the king, the believers in the East again retired into hiding. But John the
hermit of Anastasia, a man of honourable character, had been killed in the desert by the
Huns; but Simeon the hermit, who was called "the horned," had not been hurt.

Chapter 6

THE SIXTH CHAPTER OF THE EIGHTH BOOK, STATING WHO WERE CHIEF PRIESTS IN THE DAYS OF
JUSTIN, WHO, AFTER REIGNING NINE YEARS DIED IN THE YEAR FIVE, AND THIS JUSTINIAN OF OUR
DAY, HIS SISTER'S SON, BECAME KING AFTER HIM The chief priests in the days of Justin are
as follows :— Of Rome, Hormisda; of Alexandria, Timothy ; of Jerusalem, Peter, who
succeeded John; and of Antioch, Paul the Jew, who was driven out, and after him
Euphrasius, who was burnt in the earthquake of Antioch in the year four, and after him was
Ephraim of Amida; of Constantinople, Epiphanius. There is comprised in this space of time
a space of nine years.

Chapter 7

IN IT IS CONTAINED BELOW THE PROLOGUE COMPOSED BY MORO, BISHOP OF AMIDA, IN THE GREEK
TONGUE IN THE TETREUANGELION "In order to gather together the sense of a long treatise a
man stores up a knowledge of these things succinctly under a few heads in his mind and
memory and understanding. And we may understand these things from the heads which are set
down in this book ; and these again cause the inner meaning of all that is in them to pass
rapidly and succinctly into the mind, when heard and considered in due order. For, if a
man gathers together the record of the Gospels, he will learn from it that God became
incarnate, and that divineas well as human properties are His, by which He made the
foundations of the world, which at His second coming He will make clearly to appear. And
so everyone who examines these things severally will find first a notice of the census
before His Incarnation, and then next the birth of John the Baptist for a testimony to the
God of Israel, which happened in accordance with the previous annunciation of the angel ;
and he will find that the supernatural birth of Jesus, who is God, took place in the
Virgin Mary and from her, and that every man has his beginning from the earth according to
the saying of the Baptist, but He who is not from the earth is Jesus from heaven.

"Now the testimonies to His Incarnation mentioned in the book of the Gospel are those
spoken in the spirit by Elizabeth and by the angel to the Virgin and Joseph and the
shepherds at the annunciation of His birth by the assembly of watching angels ; and again
the prophecy of Zachariah, and the rising of the star, which betokened the indestructible
reign of the Son of God, who was born; and the prophecy of Simeon the priest and Anna
about the coming of Christ for the salvation of the world and of Israel; and besides these
also the proclamation of the Baptist, who testified that he was from earth and our Saviour
from heaven. And, further, in the Gospel-record a man will understand His divine
dispensation, which was effected by infinite wisdom, and not through book-wisdom and the
pursuit of learning; and His power of performing wonderful mighty works in deed and word,
and His knowledge about everything, and that He did no sin ; and again that it was at His
own pleasure to suffer in His own time and not to suffer when it was not time ; and that
it was in His power to destroy sufferings by His voluntary sufferings in the body, and to
do away death by His Resurrection and to ascend to heaven. And the record plainly states
that He became incarnate of the Virgin in flesh endowed with a soul and an intellect;

it states His nine months' human conception, His natural and supernatural birth, and that
He was wrapped in swaddling-clothes and sucked milk, and was also circumcised according to
law; and, further, that He fled before the threats of Herod into Egypt, carried by His
mother, and that He came up: from Egypt for the renovation of Israel and after the manner
of Israel; and again, that He increased in stature, and was subject to His mother and to
Joseph her husband, and was baptized with water by John to signify the renovating birth of
mankind, which is in him renewed in a figure, because His baptism bestowed upon us the
holy birth of the Spirit; and He was tempted by the devil as a man, but as God easily
overcame the tempter in the contest and the argument ; and He was ministered to by angels;
and He gave peace to our race by restoring us to Paradise ; further, He associated with
the disciples in human fashion, and withdrew at one time from the persecutors, and
hungered and thirsted and was weary ; but He showed that He did not submit to these things
merely from the necessity of nature in human fashion, as though He were not God, by the
fact that it is testified that He verily fasted forty days and was afterwards hungry (in a
similar manner He also slept;

but, because He was on a mountain in quiet, He kept watch in prayer, and this prayer He
made to the Father in human fashion on behalf of men ; but on the sea and in the storm He
slept in the ship for the instruction of the disciples, that they might believe that it is
He who stills the storms of the seas and the sound of their waves) ; and, further, that,
when they sought to throw Him down from the brow of the hill they could not do so, but,
while they stood all around Him, He passed through the midst of them and went His way;
and, when wounded by the lance on the Cross, His life did not pass away of necessity, but
He bowed His head and gave up the ghost ; and in every respect divine and human qualities
are His. But the reforms which Christ effected in the world are His rebuke of the
deceiver, and the demons which He drove out, and the fiends which He ejected, and the sore
diseases which He healed, and the dead which He raised, and the divers temptations which
He thrust away, and certain passions which He brought to naught; which reforms were types
and figures of the future world, which shall be far removed from evil, the world which is
looked for by us with hope and faith and love.

And the teaching of our Saviour draws men away from the passion of the love of money and
the love of glory and pleasure, and raises them up that they may serve God in uprightness
of will." Now there was inserted in the Gospel of the holy Moro the bishop, in the eighty-
ninth canon, a chapter which is related only by John in his Gospel, and is not found in
other manuscripts, a section running thus: "It happened one day, while Jesus was teaching,
they brought Him a woman who had been found to be with child of adultery, and told Him
about her. And Jesus said to them (since as God He knew their shameful passions and also
their deeds), 'What does He command in the law?' And they said to Him, 'That at the mouth
of two or three witnesses she should be stoned.' But He answered and said to them, 'In
accordance with the law, whoever is pure and free from these sinful passions, and can bear
witness with confidence and authority, as being under no blame in respect of this sin, let
him bear witness against her, and let him first throw a stone at her, and then those that
are after him, and she shall be stoned.' But they, because they were subject to
condemnation and blameworthy in respect of this sinful passion, went out one by one from
before Him and left the woman. And, when they had gone, Jesus looked upon the ground and,
writing in the dust there, said to the woman, 'They who brought thee here and wished to
bear witness against thee, having understood what I said to them, which thou hast heard,
have left thee and departed. Do thou also, therefore, go thy way, and commit not this sin
again.' "

[Note to the online edition: footnotes have been moved to the end. Footnotes concerned
only with bits of Syriac and Greek have been omitted because of the time it would take to
transcribe it.] 1. vii. 14. 3. vii. 14; Mich. fol. 161 r; cf. Jo. Mal. p. 410. 4. Cf. Jo.
Mal. pp. 410, 411. 5. Mich. loc. cit. 6. Cf. Jo. Mal. loc. cit. 7. Cf. Theoph. A.M. 6012.
8. Cf. Evag. iv. 4. 9. vii. 13. 10. Cf. Jo. Mal. p. 412 ; Evag. iv. 3. 11. Cf. Evag. iv.
4. 12. There is probably some mistake in the heading, as a bishop could not be an
apokrisiarios. Jo. Eph. (ap. "Dion.") omits the word, ... 13. This chapter is contained in
Cod. Rom. Mai's text is, however, not taken from the MS. but is a copy of that of Assemani
(B. 0. vol. i. p. 364 ff.), taken not from our author, but from John of Ephesus (ap.
"Dion."). The letter also exists in a much longer form in Brit. Mus. Add. MS. 14,650, fol.
155, and in a MS. in the Museum Borgianum at Rome, which has been edited by Prof. Guidi
(Atti dell' Accademia de'Lincei, Ser. 3, Tom. 7, 1881). It exists also in Brit. Mus. Add.
MS. 14,641, fol. 157, where the text is not a copy of 14,650, as Guidi states on the
authority of Wright, but is similar to that in our author and in Jo. Eph., and, being
followed by the later history of the little boy, as in Jo. Eph., is plainly derived from
that author. A Greek account of the same events, derived in part from this letter, is
contained in the Martyrium Arethae (Boissonade, Anecd. Graec. vol. v.), and a slightly
different one in Simeon Metaphrastes (Migne, Patr. Graec. 115, p. 1249 ff.).

14. Jo. Eph. ap. "Dion." (Assem., B. O. p. 364 ff.); Mich. fol. 166 ff. 16. I.e. emigrants
or nomads, a name applied to certain Arab tribes : Ar. Ma'addiyya. 17. I.e. "son of
sailors." 18. Here the sentence breaks off, being taken up again lower down. 19. Prov. x.
14. 20. Mich. fol. 161 r, 164 v. 22. Mich. fol. 164. 23. 1 Kings ix. 18, 19. 25. Mich.
fol. 165 v; Greg. H. E. i. p. 201. 26. Two leaves in the MS. have here been transposed. I
pass on from p. 244, 1. 26 (Land) to p. 246, 1. 16. The intermediate portion has nothing
to do with the subject of this chapter, but belongs to the next. This is also evident from
a comparison with Michael and Gregory. 27. Mich. fol. 164 r; Greg. p. 78, 28. The name
meant is Spahpat ... , the title of the Persian commander-in-chief (Josh. Styl. 59, and
Wright's note). Cf. also 9. 4.

29. Mich. fol. 162 r. 30. Jo. Eph. ap. Mich. fol. 161 v, Greg. H. E. pp. 195, 197, from
Philox. Ep. ad Man. Sen. (Brit. Mus. Add. MS. 14,597, fol. 35 ff.). 31. Cf. 7. 12. 32. Cf.
Jo. Eph. I.e. 33. Mich. fol. 162 r. 34. Jo. Eph. ap. "Dion." (Assem., B. O. 2, pp. 48, 49)
; Mich. l.c. 35. At this point we go back to fol. 140 (see p. 205, note 6). 36. Not
Aphthonius ; see John's life in Brit. Mus. Add. MS. 12,174, fol. 84. 37. 2 Cor. i. 4(?); I
Thess. iii. 7 (?). 38. In Jo. Eph. (Land, Anecd. Syr. ii. p. no, 1. 3) "Beth Shuro."
"Dion." "in the temple of Beth Shilo." 39. Mich. fol. 163. 41. Mich. " was expelled
together with the brotherhood, and the monks of the monastery ..." 42. See bk. 7, ch. 4
(p. 156, note 2).

43. Or, "near Harmosho." I find no trace of either of these names, and suspect both to be
corrupt. Mich. omits both, writing merely "Sergius, and the monastery . . . Hauro." 44. At
this point we return to fol. 142. 45. Mich. has the masculine, " who is now polluted." 46.
Sir. xxix. 21. 47. I.e. learned in the inner or allegorical meaning. 50. 3 Isa. xxvi. 20.
51. Cf. Mich. fol. 167 v. 53. This chapter is contained in Cod. Rom., where the heading
is, "The prologue composed concisely under heads by the holy Moro, bishop of Amida, a man
deserving of blessed memory, upon the Gospel and the dispensation of Christ in the
flesh."—Cf. p. 221. 54. Mich. fol. 162 ff. 55. John iii. 31. 56. Cod. Rom., "that it is
now in His power." 57. John viii. 1-11.


THE SYRIAC CHRONICLE
====================

THE SYRIAC CHRONICLE continued

BOOK IX

ALSO this ninth Book, concerning the reign of Justinian, states how he became Anti-Caesar
on the fifth day of the week in the last week of the fast; and, after he had governed for
three months in conjunction with Justin his uncle, who died at the end of July, when the
year five was now ending, this Justinian became emperor, in the year eight hundred and
thirty-eight of the Greeks, in the three hundred and twenty-seventh Olympiad. And the
events which happened during his reign down to the year fifteen, a space of ten years,
which is contained in the sections below, are set down in this ninth Book, consisting of
twenty-six chapters. Behold! they are set down below, and are as follows :— The first
chapter of the ninth Book deals with the fighting which went on in the summer of the year
five before Nisibis and Thebetha, a Persian fortress.

The second chapter of the Book treats of the battle which was fought in the desert of
Thannuris. The third chapter of the Book gives an account of the battle which was fought
before the city of Dara on the frontier. The fourth chapter of the Book gives information
about the battle which was fought on the Euphrates in the year nine. The fifth chapter
tells of Gadar the Kadisene, a Persian general, how he was killed; and Izdegerd, who was
with him, a nephew of the Ptehasha of Arzanene, was taken prisoner. The sixth chapter
deals with the battle which was fought before Martyropolis on the frontier, and the large
numbers of Huns who invaded the territory of the Romans in the year ten. The seventh
chapter explains how in the summer of the year eleven peace was made between the Romans
and the Persians by the ambassadors, Rufinus and Hermogenes, the master of the offices.

The eighth chapter of the ninth Book treats of the Samaritans who rebelled and set up a
tyrant of their own in the country of Palestine. The ninth chapter of the Book, concerning
the heresy of Julian the Phantasiast, bishop of the city of Halicarnassus,how it appeared.
The tenth chapter sets forth the first epistle of Julian to Severus, with a question about
the body of Christ our God. The eleventh chapter of the Book treats of the answer to the
epistle of Julian, which the doctor Severus, the chief priest, wrote to him. The twelfth
chapter of the Book imparts information about the second epistle of Julian, which he wrote
to Severus. The thirteenth chapter tells of the answer made by Severus the patriarch to
this second epistle of Julian. The fourteenth chapter of the Book treats of the riot which
took place in the royal city, and describes how Hypatius and Pompeius were put to death,
and large numbers of the people were massacred in the circus in the year ten.

The fifteenth chapter treats of the request contained in the petition which the believing
bishops who had been summoned from exile to the royal city presented to King Justinian
concerning their faith. The sixteenth chapter of the ninth Book sets forth the defence
made by Severus the chief priest in his epistle to King Justinian, refusing to come, when
summoned by him to the royal city. The seventeenth chapter of the ninth Book treats of
Carthage, the chief city of the country of Africa, how it was taken by Belisarius the
general and a Roman army, and made subject to King Justinian. The eighteenth chapter of
the ninth Book deals with Rome and Naples in the country of Italy, and how they were taken
by Belisarius the general and a Roman army. The nineteenth chapter of the ninth Book again
treats of Severus the patriarch, who went up to the royal city and appeared before the
king, and was received in the palace, and remained there till the end of the month of
March in the year fourteen, and then departed.

The twentieth chapter of the ninth Book treats of the epistle of Severus the patriarch to
the order of priests and the society of monks in the East, dealing with his expulsion from
the royal city. The twenty-first [chapter] of the ninth Book sets forth the canonical
epistle of union and concord which was sent by Anthimus, chief priest of the royal city,
to Severus the patriarch. The twenty-second chapter of the ninth Book treats of the
epistle of concord and union canonically sent by Severus in answer to Anthimus, chief
priest of Constantinople, the royal city. The twenty-third chapter of the ninth Book
introduces the epistle of concord and union which was canonically sent by Severus to
Theodosius of Alexandria. The twenty-fourth chapter of the ninth Book treats further of
the canonical epistle of union and concord which was sent by Theodosius the patriarch in
answer to Severus the doctor.

The twenty-fifth chapter of the ninth Book gives information about the canonical epistle
of concord which was sent by Anthimus, chief priest of the royal city, to Theodosius,
patriarch of the great city of Alexandria. The twenty-sixth chapter of the ninth Book
recordsthe answer to the epistle, which was canonically sent by Theodosius, archbishop of
Alexandria, to Anthimus, chief priest of the royal city, in concord and brotherhood. There
is inserted also in it, at the end of this ninth Book, the prologue given above, which was
composed concisely under heads by the holy Moro, bishop of Amicla, a man deserving of
blessed memory, upon the Gospel and the dispensation of Christ in the flesh, and also a
story which is contained in the eighty-ninth canon, taken from the Gospel of John and
mentioned by him alone, about a woman with child by adultery, who was brought to Him by
the Jewish doctors.

Chapter 1

THE FIRST CHAPTER OF THE NINTH BOOK, TREATING OF THE ACCESSION OF JUSTINIAN, AND OF THE
FIGHTING WHICH WENT ON BEFORE NISIBIS AND THE FORTRESS OF THEBETHA In the year five, when
Justin was king, that old man of whom we related above that he came from the country of
Illyricum, he made his sister's son, who was general, Anti-Caesar; and Justinian became
Anti-Caesar on the fifth day of the week in the last week of the fast. And, after he had
governed for three months, his uncle died, at the end of July, and he became emperor, in
the year eight hundred and thirty-eight of the Greeks, in the three hundred and twenty-
seventh Olympiad. And as to his own Castra Mauriana he gave orders, and a great city was
built, and privileges were granted to it, and a military force was also stationed in it;
and water was brought into it from a distance, because its own water was bad.

And, behold! from the beginning of his reign down to this day he has indeed devoted
attention to building, refoundingcities in various countries, and repairing walls in
various places for the protection of his dominions. But, since the Persians and the Romans
were at enmity with one another in those times, while Timus (?), the master of the
soldiers, was duke on the frontier, the army with its officers was mustered round him to
fight against Nisibis; and they fought, but could not take it, and retired thence to the
fortress of Thebetha; and the army came close up to the wall and made a breach in it; and
it was the hottest part of the summer. And through some cause or other they were prevented
from effecting their purpose, and did not get possession of the fortress, which was about
fifteen parasangs from Dara. And the army was ordered to return to Dara; and, because they
greedily ate honey and the flesh of large numbers of swine, some of the infantry died of
thirst on the march and were lost to the army, and others threw themselves into the wells
of the desert and were drowned, and the rest were burnt up by the heat on the march, but
the cavalry reached Dara; and so the army was broken up.

Chapter 2

THE SECOND CHAPTER OF THE NINTH BOOK, CONCERNING THE BATTLE WHICH WAS FOUGHT IN THE DESERT
OF THANNURIS During the lifetime of Justin the king, who had learned that Thannuris was a
convenient place for a city to be built as a place of refuge in the desert, and for a
military force to be stationed to protect 'Arab against the marauding bands of Saracens,
Thomas the silentiary, a native of Aphphadana, had been sent to build such a city. And,
when he had made but inconsiderable progress, then the works which had begun to be carried
out were destroyed by the Saracens and Kadisenes from Singara and Thebetha. Now, because
the Romans, as we have stated above, had taken the field and fought against Nisibis and
Thebetha, therefore afterwards the Persians also similarly came and made an entrenchment
(?) in the desert of Thannuris. And, Duke Timus, the master of the soldiers,having died,
Belisarius had succeeded him; and he was not greedy after bribes, and was kind to the
peasants, and did not allow the army to injure them. For he was accompanied by Solomon, a
eunuch from the fortress of Edribath (?); and he was an astute man, and well-versed in the
affairs of the world; and he had been notary to Felicissimus the duke, and had been
attached to the other governors; and he had gained cunning through experience of
difficulties.

Accordingly, a Roman army was mustered for the purpose of marching into the desert of
Thannuris against the Persians under the leadership of Belisarius, Cutzes, the brother of
Butzes, Basil, Vincent, and other commanders, and Atafar, the chief of the Saracens. And,
when the Persians heard of it, they devised a stratagem, and dug several ditches among
their trenches, and concealed them (?) all round outside by triangular stakes of wood, and
left several openings. And, when the Roman army came up, they did not perceive the
Persians' deceitful stratagem in time, but the generals entered the Persian entrenchment
at full speed, and, falling into the pits, were taken prisoners, and Cutzes was killed.
And of the Roman army those who were mounted turned back and returned in flight to Dara
with Belisarius; but the infantry, who did not escape, were killed and taken captive. And
Atafar, the Saracen king, during his flight was struck (?) from a short distance off, and
perished; and he was a warlike and an able man, and he had had much experience in the use
of Roman arms, and in various places had won distinction and renown in war.

Chapter 3

THE THIRD CHAPTER OF THE NINTH BOOK, CONCERNING THE BATTLE BEFORE DARA The Persians were
proud and puffed up and boastful; and, indeed, the Mihran and the marzbans assembled an
army and came against Dara and encamped at Ammodis, being fully confident in the
expectation of taking the city, because the Roman army had been diminished by their sword.
And their cavalry and infantry approached and came up on the south side of the city,
intending to encompass it all round for the purpose of blockading it; but a Roman force
met them by the help of our Lord, who chastises but does not utterly deliver over unto
death. For a certain Sunica, a general, who was a Hun, and, having taken refuge with the
Romans, had been baptized, and Simuth (?), a Roman tribune, and their armour-bearers with
twenty men each drove the whole Persian army away from the city several times, passing
boldly and vigorously from one part of the field to another, and cutting men down right
and left with the lance. And they were practised in the use of the sword; and their cry
was loud and terrific, and made them appear terrible to the Persians, so that they fell
before them : and two of their leaders were killed, besides no small number of horsemen;
while of the faige, who are the Persian infantry, many were cut down and hurled back by
the Helurians, under Butzes, to the east of the city.

And the Persians, when they saw how great the number of the dead was, acted craftily, and
sent to Nisibis, asking them to bring as many baggage-animals as possible and come at once
to Dara, and take as much spoil as they could. And, when large numbers came, they laded
them with the bodies of their slain, and then they returned in shame. However, the rest of
the Persian force invaded Roman 'Arab, and burned it with fire.

Chapter 4

THE FOURTH CHAPTER, CONCERNING THE BATTLE WHICH WAS FOUGHT ON THE EUPHRATES IN THE YEAR
NINE The Persians, having learned wisdom by experience through the great injury which they
had suffered from the attacks of the Romans whenever they approached the city and went out
against them, went up into the desert portion of the Roman territory and encamped on the
Euphrates; and according to their usual practice they made a trench. And Belisarius at the
head of a Roman force and tribunes came up against them to battle; and they arrived in the
last week of the fast. And the Persians were found to be as a little flock, and so they
appeared in their eyes : and Asthebid their commander was afraid of them, and those who
were with him; and he sent to the Romans, asking them to respect the feast, "for the sake
of the Nazarenes and Jews who are in the army that is with me, and for the sake of
yourselves, who are Christians." And, when Belisarius the general had considered this, he
was willing to agree; but the commanders murmured greatly, and would not consent to wait
and respect the day. And, when they went out to battle on the eve of the first day of the
week, the day of unleavened bread, it was a cold day, with the wind in the face of the
Romans; and they showed themselves feeble, and turned and fled before the Persian attack;
and many fell into the Euphrates and were drowned, and others were killed; but Belisarius
escaped, while the nephew of Butzes was taken prisoner (for he himself was ill at Amida,
and did not go to the battle, but sent his army to Abgersatum under Domitziolus), and went
down to Persia, but eventually returned : and how this happened I will relate in this next
chapter.

Chapter 5. The Ninth Book, Concerning Gadar the Kadisene, a Persian General, how He Was
Killed; and Izdegerd, who Was with Him, and Was Nephew of Hormizd, Ptehasha of Arzanene,
Was Taken Prisoner

The Romans, when Belisarius was duke, in the year five, having been prevented from
building Thannuris on the frontier, wished to make a city at Melebasa; whereforeGadar the
Kadisene was sent with an army by Kawad; and he prevented the Romans from effecting their
purpose, and put them to flight in a battle which he fought with them on the hill of
Melebasa. And he was high in the confidence of Kawad, and had been stationed with an army
to guard the frontier eastwards from Melebasa in the country of Arzanene as far as
Martyropolis. And this man uttered many boasts and vain words against the Romans, and
blasphemed like Rab Shaken, who was sent by Sennacherib. And he brought about seven
hundred armed cavalry, and some infantry, who accompanied them for the sake of amassing
plunder; and they crossed the Tigris into the district of Attachae in the territory of
Amida. And Bessa was duke in Martyropolis; and it was summer time in this year nine. And
with Gadar was Izdegerd, the nephew of the Ptekasha, who, as a neighbour, knew the region
of Attachae. And when Eessa heard of it he went out against him with about five hundred
horsemen from Martyropolis, which was about four (?) stades distant. And he met him at
Beth Helte and routed his army on the Tigris, and killed Gadar, and took Izdegerd prisoner
and brought him to Martyropolis. This man after the peace, which was made in the year ten,
was given in exchange for Domitziolus, who returned from Persia. But Bessa the duke after
routing Gadar and the Persian cavalry, who were guarding the frontier of Arzanene, entered
the country and did much damage there; and he carried off captives and brought them to
Martyropolis.

Chapter 6

THE SIXTH CHAPTER INFORMS US IN THIS NINTH BOOK ABOUT THE FIGHTING WHICH WENT ON BEFORE
MARTYROPOLIS, AND ABOUT THE GREAT HOST OF HUNS WHICH INVADED THE TERRITORY OF THE ROMANS
The villages in the country of Arzanene are the property of the Persian crown, and no
small sum is collected as poll-tax from their inhabitants for the king's treasury and for
the office of the Ptehasha, who is stationed there (he is the king's prefect). To this
country, as related above, Bessa the duke did much injury; who took the nephew of the
Ptehasha captive, and also kept him prisoner in Martyropolis. And King Kawad was much
distressed when he heard from the Ptehasha about the devastation of the country: which
same Hormizd left no stone unturned, using force and cunning (?) against Martyropolis, in
order to get possession of it, for it acts as an ambush and a place of refuge for a Roman
army, enabling it to ravage Arzanene. And an army was, so to speak, equipped by the
Persian army: Mihr Girowi was sent to hire a large number of Huns and bring them to their
assistance. And they came and were gathered together against Martyropolis at the begining
of the year ten; and they made a trench against it, and a "mule" and many mines; and they
made assaults upon it, and pressed it hard. And in it was Butzes and a Roman force of no
small size, and they drove large numbers of Persians back in battle. But Nonnus also, the
bishop of the city, had died.

Now Belisarius, being held culpable by the king on account of the rout which had been
inflicted on the Roman army by the Persians at Thannuris and on the Euphrates, had been
dismissed from his command, and went up to the king; and he was succeeded at Dara by
Constantine. And a large Roman army was mustered, and Sittas was general; and Bar Gabala,
the Saracen king, was with them. And they reached Amida in November (?) of the year
ten;and John, the hermit of Anastasia, a man of honourable character, who had been elected
to the bishopric, accompanied them. And, when they had gone to Martyropolis and the winter
came on (and the country is northerly and cold), the Persians were impeded by rain and
mud, and underwenthardships, while they were also afraid of the numbers of the Roman army;
and Kawad their king also had died while they were there; and they made a compact with the
Romans to withdraw from the city.

And, soon after they had withdrawn and Martyropolis had been freed from blockade, and the
Roman army had returned, the Huns, who had been hired by the Persians, arrived. This great
people suddenly attacked the territory of the Romans, and massacred and slew many of the
tillers of the soil, and burned villages and their churches; and they crossed the
Euphrates and advanced as far as Antioch; and no one stood before them or did them any
harm except only the same Bessa, the duke of Martyropolis, who fell upon a detachment of
them during their retreat and killed them, and captured about five hundred horses and much
spoil; and the man became rich. And at the fortress of Citharizon the duke there repulsed
a party of them, consisting of about four hundred men, and captured their baggage-animals.
Now after Kawad Khosru his son became king. His mother during the lifetime of Kawad her
husband had been vexed by a demon; and all the magians and sorcerers and enchanters, who
had been summoned by Kawad her husband, who loved her greatly, did her no good, but, to
say the truth, added demons to demons in her. She in the year four, in the days of
Liberius the duke, was sent to the blessed Moses, who was a monk close to Dara, about two
parasangs' space distant, and was a famous man. And she was with him a few days, and was
cleansed, and returned to her own land, having received from this holy Moses of the
monastery called Tarmel an amulet taken from the bones of Cyriac the martyr to protect
her, that in it she might find refuge, so that the spirit should not return upon her. And,
to do him honour, she, under a certain symbolical form (?), built him a house of prayer in
her own country, and he is worshipped there. And, remembering the grace wrought in her
through this blessed Moses of Tarmel, she did a service to the land of the Romans in the
manner and on the occasion set forth below.

Chapter 7. The Ninth Book, how Peace Was Made Between the Romans and the Persians, and
Lasted Six or Seven Years, in the Days of Rufinus and of Hermogenes, the Master of the
Offices

Justinian the king, considering the things which had happened in his dominions between the
rivers, and the forces which had at various times been destroyed by the Persians, and the
tillers of the soil who had been slain and made captive by the Huns, and the land which
had been burnt with the villages upon it, was not inclined again to send an army to
contend in war with Khosru, who became king after Kawad his father. And, since this man
was friendly to Rufinus, and it was he who had advised his father to make him his
successor, he used to make assertion to the king, and encourage him, and to undertake
that, if he showed himself before him in his own country, he would for the sake of the
peace desired by the king accept what he justly asked of him. And so this Rufinus and
Hermogenes, the master of the offices, were sent as ambassadors to Khosru in the year
eleven; and they had much speech with him. And, because this Rufinus was well known there,
inasmuch as he had been several times sent to Kawad, and was his friend, and used to give
many presents to the magnates of his kingdom, and the queen, the mother of Khosru, was
friendly to him, because he had advised Kawad to make her son king, and she owed gratitude
to Moses the blessed monk of Tarmel after God for her healing, she earnestly entreated
Khosru her son, and on consideration of a sum of gold which he received, which was sent by
King Justinian according to the message transmitted to him by Rufinus and Hermogenes his
ambassadors, he made peace; and a written treaty was drawn up and ratified. And the stars
in the sky had appeared dancing in a strange manner, and it was the summer of the year
eleven. And it lasted about six or seven years, until the year three.

Chapter 8. The Ninth Book, Concerning the Samaritans, who Rebelled and Set Up a Tyrant of
their Own in the Country of Palestine

The Samaritans in the country of Palestine who live near the city of Neapolis, not far
from Caesarea, having heard that the Persians had from time to time attacked and invaded
the Roman territory, and supposing that they had shown themselves weak before them, were
emboldened by the thought that they had been sent from Khuth and Babylon, and from 'Awa
and from Hamath and from S'farwayim by Shalman'asar, king of Assyria, and settled in the
land of Samaria; and, having rebelled, they set a tyrant at their head; and they entered
Neapolis, and killed Mommuno the bishop there; and they made an insurrection, and wrought
havoc in the country, wishing to help the Persians, because it was out of their country
that they had been settled in the territory of the Romans; and they burnt many temples of
the saints; and they occupied the city and amassed spoil. And, when the king heard of
this, he sent Hadrian the tribune; and there were gathered together also the duke of the
country, who was with him, and an army of Romans, and the Saracens of Arabia; and they
marched against the Samaritans. And they were cut to pieces by the Romans; and they killed
the tyrant, and took the city and restored it to its former normal condition of subjection
to their authority. And a bishop was also appointed in it; and a military force was
stationed there, to guard it and to keep order among the inhabitants of the country.

Chapter 9

THE NINTH CHAPTER OF THE NINTH BOOK, CONCERNING THE PHANTASIASTIC HERESY OF JULIAN OF
HALICARNASSUS, HOW IT APPEARED Julian, bishop of the city of Halicarnassus, withdrew from
his see through zeal with the other believing bishops; and he was an old man. and he was
zealous in the faith: and in his desire to avoid speaking of two natures he, like Eutyches
and the monks who have not a right knowledge of the true order of things, fell into the
heresy of Eutyches. (And he was an acquaintance and a friend of the learned Severus the
chief priest; and once this same Julian on being questioned by someone composed a treatise
against the Diphysites, and he produced it (?) at no great length without cause of
offence.) However, though that wise combatant Severus had heard of it, he had kept this
knowledge hidden, fearing lest, if he corrected it, house should be divided against house,
and he should cause a division in love, which no man had been able to separate, being
patiently determined to accept his poverty, which is according to right (?).

And, when in this way reason was added to reason, as our Lord brought it about, in order,
that is, that the learning of Severus might be made manifest, the beauty of his true
faith, for the benefit of the discerning and of those who love instruction, [he was
compelled to expose the matter]. And, to show the nature of the original subject of
contention, I insert some epistles, which, taken in order, supply information to the
reader, in the following chapters of this ninth Book.

Chapter 10

THE TENTH CHAPTER, CONCERNING THE FIRST EPISTLE OF JULIAN TO SEVERUS, WITH A QUESTION
ABOUT THE BODY OF CHRIST "Certain men have appeared here who say that the body of our Lord
was corruptible, making use of testimony from the holy Cyril; in the first place from what
he wrote to Succensus, saying, 'After the Resurrection it was the body which had suffered,
though it no longer supported human infirmities but was incorruptible'; and from this they
wish to prove that before the Resurrection it was corruptible, inasmuch as it was of our
nature, but after the Resurrection it received incorruptibility: and in the second place
from what he wrote to Theodosius the king, saying, 'It is a marvel and a miracle that a
body naturally subject to corruption rose without corruption.' "And they quoted such
things as these by way of extracts; but I, who set down the whole passage, made it my
endeavour to show the opinion held, by numerous doctors. But they brought me also his
sixty-seventh treatise, which was written by him on the subject of the holy Virgin, the
Theotokos, and in it are contained the words, 'The body of our Lord was in no way
subjected to the sin which belongs to corruption, hut was susceptible of death and of true
burial, and He destroyed them in it.' And I indeed considered it to be an error in
writing. And so, in order that the dispute may be solved by our being examined by you, I
have also sent what I have written, and I am convinced that our fathers agree with it. And
write to me at once, that I may know what opinions to hold on these matters, because I do
not consider it right that we should again say that that which was not corrupted was
susceptible of corruption. And pray that our life may be in unison with the grace of God."

Chapter 11. The Response to this Epistle of Julian, which Severus Wrote to Him, as Follows

"When first I received your piety's epistle, I rejoiced in accordance with my custom at
your greeting, with which I was well pleased. Since in it you urge me to read the tome
composed by you, which you sent with it, written to those who, you say, think and say
concerning the body of our Lord and God, Jesus Christ our Saviour, that it was
corruptible, and you ask me to write a criticism of it and send it to the love of God that
is you, in obedience to you I have readily done this, I, a man who change about from one
place to another and have no convenient time even for other things that are required.
Still, so far as it was possible for it to be written, I have written it, partly by
collecting in my memory passages from the teaching of the fathers, partly also from the
few volumes of their works which were here. For I know well that there was a similar
question in the royal city also, and by means of the proofs from the fathers drawn up by
me the controversy and dispute were brought to an end.

And so, since there appeared to me to be something unseemly in the things written by you,
since I find that the doctors of the holy Church, who have been from time to time, have
instructed me differently on these matters, I have delayed sending what I have written to
your piety (as indeed was right), lest some in ignorance should suppose that the
controversy conducted in these words was a strife between us, and, although a discussion
such as I knew it was would abound in love, yet some might suppose it to be hostility.
Accordingly, let me know at once what your pleasure is upon these things, for I am ready
to perform whatever is agreeable to your affection, holding as my warrant the saying of
the apostle, who said, 'Let everything that is done by you be done in love.'"

Chapter 12

THE TWELFTH CHAPTER, THE SECOND EPISTLE OF JULIAN TO SEVERUS, WRITTEN IN ANSWER TO THE
PRECEDING, AS A RESPONSE TO IT "You write that there appeared to you to be something
unseemly in the things which I have written; and you ought to have informed me at once in
the epistle, and released me from anxiety. But I believe that in all that I have written I
have truly confessed the Incarnation derived from us, and I have exerted myself to prove
that the fathers were in accord with one another; for I do not consider it possible for us
to believe and hold that which is corruptible and that which is incorruptible to be the
same. And, while we confess Him who by His stripes healed all men to be passible, yet we
also know Him to be raised and exalted above passions; and, if He was mortal, yet we also
confess that He trampled on death, and gave life to mortals through His death. Accordingly
you have only caused me anxiety by saying that I have written something that is unseemly,
and not telling me what it is, that I may defend it. But condescend to write and tell me
what is stated by the fathers, by Athanasius and Cyril and others, for I wish to know your
mind also. But I believe that I have followed the intention of the fathers, who are not at
variance with themselves or at variance with one another, even as Paul, who says that
salvation is not by works but by faith, is not at variance with James, who says that faith
without works is dead. They did not say these things in opposition to one another, but in
concord.

"But pray that we may be enlightened by God, and may not through passion yield to our own
wills, while at the same time you cause the word in a brief compass to shine upon us. "The
holy Cyril writes, 'It is not easy for us to say that corruption can ever take hold of the
flesh which was united to the Word'; and five lines lower down, 'It is a wonder and a
miracle that a body naturally subject to corruption was raised.' And what is the idea
which he wishes to bring out (for he is not at variance with himself in these things), if
he was not in these words thinking of the corruption of universal nature? For He bore our
infirmities of His own will and not by compulsion of nature ; and He took up our sins in
His body on the tree, dying for our sin."

Chapter 13

THE THIRTEENTH CHAPTER, THE RESPONSE TO THIS EPISTLE, ADDRESSED TO THE SAME JULIAN BY
SEVERUS "It seems to me a very strange thing, when I call to mind the few words which I
wrote, that the love of God that is in you says that you were in great anxiety; since I
performed your request for no other reason than to free you from anxiety and disturbance.
For, if you had sent me a small question and problem, then I might perhaps have used few
words in making answer; but, since it is a tome of many lines and a fully-completed work
that you have sent me to examine, after considering the things contained in it every day
according to my ability, I will make my opinion clear to you. "Now in respect of what is
fitting I have found much which I will do readily for your piety; and, to show that I am
not speaking falsely, listen to what you wrote, as follows: 'In order to bring about an
understanding of the matter in dispute, I have sent what I have written; but test it to
see whether it is in accord with the Holy Scriptures, because I believe that our fathers
were in accord with these. Write and tell me what opinion I am to hold.' Since, therefore,
you have given me matter for much discussion, how is it that in your second epistle you
have required me to treat of many matters in a few lines and in a single utterance, as you
say, a thing which needs many words and proofs from the fathers, who spoke under the
inspiration of God? For the Holy Scripture says, 'It is the Lord that teacheth
intelligence and knowledge'; and again in another place, 'The Lord giveth wisdom; and from
His presence cometh knowledge and understanding. And lie giveth salvation to the
righteous.' For, if your piety and we endeavour in this way to prove with respect to these
fathers that they are not in opposition to one another, there is nothing to prevent us
from examining the matter carefully and knowing that they have never in anyway shown
themselves to be in opposition either to one another or to themselves.

"For you rightly and justly say that the doctors are not in opposition to one another,
even as Paul is not in opposition to James when the one says, 'By faith is a man justified
without works,' while the other wrote, 'Faith without works is dead'; because Paul spoke
of faith before baptism, which is the perfection of confession out of a pure heart, when
it has not previously displayed good works in the world, but such a man is justified by
believing and confessing and being baptized; while James referred to faith after baptism,
when he said that it is dead without works, if a man does not confirm it by right action.
For baptism is the earnest of a good conversation; since even our Lord, who was to us an
instructor, after He had hallowed the water and been baptized by John and given us the
institution of baptism, Went up to the mountain and underwent a struggle with the tempter
and destroyed all his power, thereby guiding us, that we might know that after the divine
cleansing we ought to display a contest in deed and to struggle according to law with the
adversary, therein displaying our virtues.

"But someone will object, and say, 'Behold! Paul took Abraham as a proof that a man is
justified by faith without works, saying, "Therefore they that are in the faith are
blessed with the believing Abraham"; and, "To him that hath not worked but hath believed
on Him that can justify sinners his faith is reckoned for righteousness"; while James
proved by the case of Abraham that a man is not justified by faith only, but by works
confirmed by faith. And how are these not contradictory? for the same Abraham is an
example of those who have not worked but believed, and of those who have shown faith by
works.' "I am ready to explain from the Holy Scriptures. For he who examines the periods
of Abraham's life [will see] that he is an instance of both, of the faith which before
baptism confesses salvation by believing in Christ, and of that after baptism which is
joined with works, which is a reproduction of the old circumcision of the flesh, which
drives away the denial of uncircumcision and brings to us the adoption as sons by God;
wherefore Moses also was ordered to say thus to Far'oh; 'And say thou unto Far'oh, "Israel
is my son, my firstborn."' Wherefore Paul writes to the Colossians and says, ' In whom ye
were circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, in the putting off of the flesh
of sins and in the circumcision of Christ, and ye were buried with Him in baptism.'
Wherefore he said of Abraham also that he was justified by faith without works while he
was in uncircumcision, before he was circumcised, thus pointing to confession before
baptism without works, writing to the Romans, 'To Abraham his faith was reckoned for
righteousness. How? Not through circumcision, but in uncircumcision.' And he did not speak
falsely; for the words of Moses are witness, which say of God that He said to Abraham,
'Look toward heaven and tell the stars, if thou. be able to tell them'; and He said, 'So
shall thy seed be': and Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him for
righteousness.

"But again our master James also took the same Abraham as an example in the faith which
saves by works after baptism, he being then circumcised and not in uncircumcision. And we
may learn from the Scripture; for he writes thus : 'Wilt thou know, O man, that faith
without works is dead? For our father Abraham was justified by works, when he offered
Isaac his son as a burnt-sacrifice. Thou seest that faith wrought with his works, and by
works was made perfect. And the Scripture was fulfilled which saith, "Abraham believed
God, and it was reckoned to him for righteousness: and He was called his friend."' It is
easy again for one .who reads the writings of Moses to learn from the book of Genesis that
Abraham, after he was circumcised, offered Isaac as a burnt-sacrifice and fulfilled the
commandment and was justified by works, giving us an instance of faith after baptism,
which is a spiritual circumcision, justifying a man by works; for it is written, 'Abraham
was circumcised, and Ishmael his son, and those born in his house, and those bought with
his money from strange peoples'; and then God, trying Abraham, said to him, 'Take thy son,
whom thou lovest, even Isaac, and get thee to the high land;

and offer him there as a burnt-sacrifice.' Accordingly these words of the apostles and
those written in the old law do not seem to be in opposition to one another, but to be
one, and to have been spoken by one spirit concerning faith before baptism, which
justifies the man who presents himself upon a short confession only without action,
baptism being full salvation if a man depart from the world forthwith, and another faith,
which is after baptism, which requires the proof of good works and also raises the man to
the measure of perfection and to high place. And so also James very properly says of it
that faith is made perfect by works; since the wise Paul also in another place gives
similar teaching respecting faith, saying that it is made perfect through works: for the
Galatians, after they had been baptized and been reckoned sons of God through the Spirit,
were perverted to Judaism and were circumcised, since they vainly supposed that by the
circumcision of their flesh they gained something in Christ beyond the uncircumcised; and
he wrote to reprove them, saying, 'In Jesus Christ neither circumcision nor uncircumcision
availeth anything; but faith which is worked out by love.' From this also, therefore, it
is plain that that kind of faith after baptism is of avail and saves with which work is
joined and united in love; and what work done in love is Paul declares and says, 'Love is
long-suffering and kind;

love is not envious and excited and puffed up, nor is it ashamed; and it seeketh not its
own, and is not provoked; and it imputeth no evil; and rejoiceth not in iniquity, but
rejoiceth in the truth; and it hopeth all things, and endureth all things. Love doth not
quickly fail.' These things are for the direction of action and labour and toil, that many
may be profited and be saved, when united to faith. And who will dare to find fault? for
respecting this our Lord also said, 'If ye love Me, keep My commandments.' "As, therefore,
the Holy Scriptures and our fathers have been consistent in the teaching given to us, so
upon this question too they are in accord in teaching those who do not read negligently:
wherefore, as it is written, 'Everything is known to the understanding, and plain to them
that find knowledge'; which knowledge I have endeavoured to send in a discreet manner to
your affection, as is the duty of Christians.

"But, since I have learned from several quarters that you have published the tome
containing your work, which was addressed to me, not only in the great city of Alexandria
but also in various places, in accordance, as I am persuaded, with Christ, even God the
Lawgiver, I have in love again sent and written to our brother the presbyter Thomas not to
publish my work, but to keep it to himself, because I hoped that by the counsel of two
persons, as by one mouth and soul, my writings and those of your Holiness might be made
known. For after this fashion I once and again examined the teaching of the memorable
Akhs'noyo and Eleusinus the bishops, and the books which they composed upon abstruse
matters concerning the faith; and I never found in their case any declaration of the
relations which we had with one another in love during our discussions, when by the help
of our Lord we were alike of one mind. For I never produced either book or treatise in
order to gain distinction with men, or to win renown beyond the measure of my feebleness,
but in the rectitude of the Gospel in accordance with the teaching and legislation of the
apostles. However, it is also unseemly that at such a time as this we should abandon the
struggle against the heretics and contend and write against one another, lest the saying
of the apostle be fulfilled against us, who says, 'If ye bite and devour one another, take
heed that ye be not consumed one of another.' Such contentions it is the duty of those who
love our Lord to shun with all their power, and to love one another, that peace may abound
and may visit the Israel of God. Greet the brotherhood that is with you. The one that is
with me salutes you in our Lord."

When Julian received this epistle also from this learned Severus, he was very indignant,
and was moved with anger; and he wrote, saying that his request had been refused by him
for a year and a month, and he had not received the respect due to him, and he had been
tricked (?). And then Severus again wrote a long treatise abounding in proofs from the
true doctors of the holy Church, who say that the body of Christ which He received from us
was susceptible of innocent passions except sin until the Resurrection. And for this
reason, in order that it may be known, I have set down the above epistles for the
discerning. There were many books addressed to Julian and Felicissimus and Romanus and
others who shared his opinions, and in them there is also much material for profit in
study for those that love instruction. And they became known to the sagacious and
intelligent of the true party of the faith concerning the Incarnation of our Saviour, and
the simple were preserved and enlightened so as not to become Eutychianists, and
especially the monks.

Chapter 14. The Ninth Book, Concerning the Riot which Happened at Constantinople, and how
Hypatius and Pompeius Were Killed, and Large Numbers of the People Were Massacred in the
Circus

In the year ten the slaughter wrought by the many Huns who invaded the territory of the
Romans, and harried it, and killed many people who were in the country, and burned, as
recorded above, was not enough, but in the royal city also many persons perished there in
a riot which broke out. For, when John of Caesarea in Cappadocia was prefect there, by
sedulously inventing pretexts against persons by the use of trickery and cunning, there
and in various cities, he amassed a large quantity of gold for the royal treasury from all
classes, both magnates and craftsmen; and he was listened to with attention in the palace,
and was formidable to everyone, since he stood so high in the confidence of the king that
he made false accusations against many persons; and he was surrounded by flatterers and
informers. And there were present in the royal city no small number of people from every
quarter who had complaints against him, and favoured and supported one of the factions.
Wherefore there were constant outcriesagainst him and against the king; and the factions
united and were in accord with one another for several days; and the workshops were shut,
and they began to plunder everything that came in their way, and to burn. And the king was
alarmed ; and at last the palace was shut. And the parties collected in the circus and
raised a great riot; and they kept crying out that Hypatius should be king; and, if not,
they would burn the city.

And Hypatius was compelled to come out, and Pompeius accompanied him. And they took a
necklace belonging to one of the soldiers and set it on his head and enthroned him king,
and they cried out at him and praised him. And, when this happened, by the advice of
certain persons they set fire to the great church of the city, in order that upon
receiving the news of the disaster the assembled people might be scattered; for King
Justinian was in distress and alarm in the palace. And Mundus, a general, and his troops
were present there; and he and the Scholarians and all the troops who were at hand
received orders, and they shut the door of the circus, and they massacred and slew all
classes of people who were present there; and there were no means of fleeing and escaping
from the massacre. And more than 80,000 persons perished there in this riot. And Hypatius
and Pompeius were at last arrested, and came in before the king. And, when he understood
the state of the case, he wished to spare the men's lives; but he was not able to do so,
for his consort was enraged, and swore by God and by him, and adjured him also to have the
men put to death. And they were sent to the seashore and killed and thrown into the sea.

Chapter 15

THE FIFTEENTH CHAPTER, CONCERNING THE BELIEVING BISHOPS WHO WERE RECALLED FROM EXILE TO
THE ROYAL CITY AND PRESENTED A SUPPLICATION TO THE KING CONCERNING THEIR FAITH, WHICH RUNS
AS FOLLOWS "Various other men crown your believing head, O victorious king, with a crown
of praises—men who take occasion from the case of other persons to write words about your
favours towards them; but we, who have been ourselves judged worthy to experience your
virtues, render thanks to you with a crown of laudation, which we weave with splendour.
And, while in the desert, and, so to speak, at the end of the world, we have been this
long time dwelling in quietness, praying to the good and merciful God during such days as
those on behalf of your Majesty and on behalf of our sins: and your tranquillity has
inclined towards our vileness and in your believing letters summoned us to come to you.
And the thing is a wonder to us that you did not receive this our request with scorn, but,
with the kindness innate in you, sympathised with us, so as to bring us out of affliction,
making the pretext that this or that man had interceded for us.

"Now we, since it is our duty to obey when commanded, immediately left the desert, and,
journeying quietly along the road in peace without our voice being heard, have come before
your feet; and we pray God, the bountiful giver, on our behalf to reward your serenity and
the God-loving queen with good gifts from on high, and to bestow peace and tranquillity
upon you, and to set every rebellious people as a stool beneath your feet. "However, now
that we have come, we present a supplication to your peacefulnesses containing our true
faith, not wishing to hold an argument with any man on any matter that is not profitable,
as it is written, lest we annoy your ears; for it is very hard for a man to convince
persons of a contentious disposition, although he make the truth manifest. And so, as we
have said, we refuse to engage in a dispute with the contentious, who will not receive
instructors; for our master the apostle said, 'We have no such custom, neither the
Churches of God.'

"Accordingly, victorious king, we do now also declare the freedom of our faith, although
in the desert, when we received your edict at the hands of Theodotus the duke, we wrote
and declared what we think, and your Majesties gave us a message of truth free from
affliction in that you were graciously moved and summoned us to your presence. And, since
we have been judged worthy of the mercies of God, we do in this supplication inform your
orthodoxies that by the grace of God we have from our earliest infancy received the faith
of the apostles, and have been brought up in it and with it, and we think and believe even
as our three hundred and eighteen God-inspired holy fathers, who drew up the faith of life
and salvation, which was confirmed by our one hundred and fifty holy fathers who once met
here, and ratified by the pious bishops who assembled at Ephesus and rejected the impious
Nestorius. And so in this faith of the apostles we have been baptized and do baptize, and
this saving knowledge is grounded in our hearts, and this same doctrine alone we recognise
as a rule in the faith, and beyond it we receive no other; because it is perfect in all
points, and it does not grow old nor need renovation.

"Now we acknowledge a worshipful and holy Trinity of one nature, power, and honour, which
is made known in three persons; for we worship the Father and His only Son, God the Word,
Who was begotten of Him eternally beyond all times, and is with Him always without
variation, and 'the Holy Spirit, which proceeds from the Father, and is of the nature of
the Father and of the Son. One of the persons of this holy Trinity, that is, God the Word,
we say by the will of the Father in the last days for the salvation of men took flesh of
the Holy Spirit and of the holy Virgin the Theotokos Mary in a body endowed with a
rational and intellectual soul, passible after our nature, and became man, and was not
changed from that which He was. And so we confess that, while in the Godhead He was of the
nature of the Father, He was also of our nature in the manhood. Accordingly He Who is the
perfect Word, the invariable Son of God, became perfect man, and left nothing wanting for
us in respect of our salvation, as the foolish Apollinaris said, saying that the
Humanisation of God the Word was not perfect, and deprives us, according to his opinion,
of things that are of prime importance in our salvation. For, if our intellect was not
united with Him, as he absurdly says, then we are not saved, and in the matter of
salvation have fallen short of that which is of the highest consequence for us. But these
things are not as he said; for the perfect God for our sake became perfect man without
variation, and God the Word did not leave anything wanting in the Humanisation, as we have
said, nor yet was it a phantom of Him, as the impious Mani supposes, and the erring
Eutyches.

"And, since Christ is truth and does not know how to lie and does not deceive, because He
is God, therefore God the Word truly became incarnate, in truth again, and not in
semblance, with natural and innocent passions, because of His own will He for our sake
among the things which He took upon Himself in the passible flesh of our nature of His own
will endured also our death, which He made life for us by a Resurrection befitting God,
for he first restored incorruption and immortality to human nature. "And, indeed, as God
the Word left nothing wanting and was not phantasmal in the Incarnation and Humanisation,
so He did not divide it into two persons and two natures according to the doctrine
introduced by Nestorius the man-worshipper and those who formerly thought like him, and
those who in our day so think. "And the faith contained in your confession refutes the
doctrine of these men and contends with it, because in your earnestness you said thus :
'God appeared, Who became incarnate. He is in all points like the Father except the
individuality of His Father. He became a sharer of our nature, and was called Son of Man.
Being one and the same, God and man, He showed Himself to us, and was born as a babe for
our sake; and, being God, He for men and for the sake of their salvation became man.'

"If those who dispute with us adhered to these things in truth and were not content to
hold them in appearance only, but rather consented to believe as we do and you do and as
our holy God-inspired fathers did, they would have abstained from this stirring of strife.
For that Christ was joined by composition, and that God the Word is joined by composition
with a body endowed with a rational and intellectual soul the all-wise doctors of the
Church have plainly stated. Dionysius, who from the Areopagus and from the darkness and
error of heathendom attained to the supreme light of the knowledge of God through our
master Paul, in the treatise which he composed about the divine names of the Holy Trinity
says, 'Praising it as kindly, we say, as is right, that it is kindly,because it in truth
partook perfectly of our attributes in one of its persons, drawing to itself and raising-
the lowliness of our manhood, out of which the simple Jesus became joined by. composition
in a manner that cannot be described; and He who was from eternity and beyond all times
took upon Him a temporal existence, and He who was raised and exalted above all orders and
natures became in the likeness of our nature without variation and confusion.' And
Athanasius again in the treatise upon the faith named the unity of God the Word with soul-
possessing flesh a composition, speaking thus : 'What is the relationship to the unbelief
of those who call it an indwelling instead of an Incarnation, and instead of a union and
composition a human energy? '

"If, therefore, according to our holy fathers, whom your peacefulnesses have followed, God
the Word, who was before simple and not composite, became incarnate of the Virgin, the
Theotokos Mary, and united soul-possessing and intellectual flesh to Himself personally
and made it His own and was joined with it by composition in the dispensation, it is
manifest that according to our fathers we ought to confess one nature of God the Word, who
took flesh and became perfectly man. Accordingly God the Word, who was before simple, is
not recognised to have become composite in a body, if He is again divided after the union
by being called two natures. But, just as an ordinary man, who is made up of various
natures, soul and body and so forth, is not divided into two natures because a soul has
been joined by composition with a body to make up the one nature and person of a man, so
also God the Word, who was personally united and joined by composition with soul-
possessing flesh, is not divided into or in two natures because of His union and
composition with a body. For according to the words of our fathers, whom the fear of God
that is in you has followed, God the Word, Who was formerly simple, consented for our sake
to be united by composition with soul-possessing and intellectual flesh and without change
to become man. Accordingly one nature and person of God the Word, Who took flesh, is
glorified, and there is one energy of the Word of God which is made known, which is
exalted and glorious and fitting for God, and is also lowly and human. How is it that some
are not corrected?"

And they are urgent and refuse to accept what Leo wrote in the Tome in opposition to these
things, he and those of his opinions; and they produced quotations from him, and from
Nestorius and Theodore and Diodorus and Theodoret and the Synod of Chalcedon, who speak of
two natures after the Incarnation of God the Word, and two persons; and they provided a
copious refutation of these with proofs drawn from the fathers who have at various times
held opinions contrary to these and taught one nature and person in the Church, saying
that God the Word was in truth humanised without change and became perfect man, and the
same remained perfect God, besides things which I forbear to record here on account of
their length, and because they were everywhere to be found in works against the
Diphysites. And at the end of their petition they said thus: "And for this reason we do
not accept either the Tome or the definition of Chalcedon, O victorious king, because we
keep the canon and law of our fathers who assembled at Ephesus and anathematised and
deprived Nestorius and excommunicated any who should presume to compose any other
definition of faith besides that of Nicaea, which was correctly and believingly laid down
by the Holy Spirit. These we reject and anathematise. And this definition and canon those
who assembled at Chalcedon deliberately set at naught and transgressed, as they state in
the Acts of that Synod; and they are subject to punishment and blame from our holy fathers
in that they have introduced a new definition of faith, which is contrary to the truth of
the doctrine of those who from time to time have been after a pure manner doctors of the
Church, who, we believe, are now also entreating Christ with us, that you may aid the
truth of their faith, honouring the contests undergone by their priesthoods, by which the
Church has been exalted and glorified. For thus shall peace reign in your reign by the
power of the right hand of God Almighty, to whom we pray on your behalf that without toil
or struggle in arms He will set your enemies as a stool beneath your feet.

And, when the letter of defence for the faith, as given above, had been presented to the
king and been read, and many words had been spoken during the no small space of one year
and more by the believing bishops who had come thither to the royal city by the king's
command, as recorded above, with whom was the learned John the archimandrite, the son of
Aphthonia, (and he wrote a record of the discussions), the king would not banish the Synod
of Chalcedon from the Church, while he summoned by letter the holy Severus the chief
priest, who was hiding in various places. And, since he rejected the king's request and
refused to come to him, the believing bishops who were in Constantinople returned each one
of them to any place he chose to hide himself, according as he judged convenient for him.
And then after a time, in the year thirteen, after many letters from the king, the holy
Severus also came to him and was received, and he was in the palace till March of the year
fourteen, while the Diphysite bishops everywhere were disturbed and annoyed and also
alarmed, and especially Ephraim of Antioch, until in their anxiety they stirred up
Agapetus, chief priest of Rome, who shared their opinions, and invited and brought him to
the royal city. Moreover, how it came about and what happened will be made known in a
chapter which I am going to write below. The end of the petition contained in the
fifteenth [chapter]concerning the monks who assembled at Constantinople.

Chapter 16. The Ninth Book Treats of the Defence, which Severus, when Refusing to Come to
the Royal City, Wrote in an Epistle to the King, as Follows

"The eternal Word of the Father, the Son of God, Who had in the end taken flesh and was
not changed, and, moreover, became perfectly man by the Holy Spirit and Mary the holy
Virgin, the Theotokos, and in everything was truly made like unto us except sin,
fulfilling the teaching of salvation in parables, [sowed] the seed from it in His
disciples, that they too and all throughout the whole world who by their means received
the word, if anything that was good sprang up from it in the way of righteousness and
pious deeds, might ascribe this not to themselves but to the power of that which He sowed
in the beginning, as by grace, and, when among valleys and boulders and stone rocks in the
wilderness, might with loud and strong voices cry out, making utterance. Similarly,
therefore, has your serene Mightiness also sown the seed of kindliness that is in my
vileness, and has caused this letter to spring forth from me; not as the offspring of
presumption, for how was it possible that in answer to the powerful and strong voice of
your Majesty, which reached my ears, an utterance should not be emitted by me? For, when
those who bitterly despised my vileness thought that they had everywhere shut the doors in
my face without mercy, then indeed, as by an unexpected miracle, you by your letter summon
me to yourself, me, a man who am, as it were, driven about and banished by enemies.

And this same thing is like God, who to them that were pursued by foemen, when they
thought themselves shut in and caught by them, provided a broad way of safety, worthy of
His wisdom and His great might; a way which worked a miracle upon Far'oh, who had let them
go after their long time of subjection, and again pursued after them to bring them into
subjection to his. hard yoke, and with his horsemen surrounded them in the wilderness of
the Sea of Rushes and barred the way, thinking in his heart and saying, 'These men are
entangled in the land, for the wilderness hath shut them in. But the marvellous God to
those who thought themselves hemmed in by warriors made a way of grace over the sea dry,
that they might cross it on foot; who commanded Moses to raise his staff over the sea and
cause it to be divided. And so in close resemblance to these things you also with your
Majesty's wand of peace have divided the sea in the wilderness which hemmed me in; and the
way which, it was thought, could not be traversed you have again caused to be traversed by
me.

"And it is a great proof of your gentleness that you unhesitatingly indited your letter to
me even with oaths, promising me immunity from injury; in this also after the manner of
God, because He too, condescending to the weakness of men, oftentimes sent forth His
promises with oaths, as Scripture teaches, and Paul made mention of it, saying, 'When God
made promise to Abraham, because He had none greater than Himself by whom He could swear,
He sware by Himself and said, "Blessing, I will bless thee; and multiplying, I will
multiply thee."' But I, the vile one, am bold to say that I was in no need of such
security, since I trust the word that comes out of your mouth only, believing it to be a
perfect safeguard to me, even as the wise Koheleth said, 'Observe the mouth of the king,
and be not anxious in regard to the word of the oaths of God.' But I have confidence in
the test which springs from the deeds which in truth bear witness more than oaths to your
peacefulness as well asto your inclination to the mercies which belong to a gentle soul.
For, as soon as you have taken upon yourself the cares of the kingdom, you release from
sorrow all classes of men sentenced to exile, chief priests and magnates and common
people, having regard to that which is equally esteemed by all men, the light of the sun,
and rain, and the temperate air which it brings, and the other things which are required
for and conduce to the life of men.

"But I will not, by drinking from the copiousness of this rich stream of your gentleness,
cause myself to err, and be rendered proud; but I have determined to declare what is in my
mind. For I am afraid lest, if my meanness be openly seen in the royal city, many persons
may be alarmed, and, though I am in truth nothing but merely a vile person bound under
this heavy yoke of sins, when they hear of this, many persons may be roused to anger and
inflamed by this paltry anxiety, as by a little coal of fire, so as to trouble and annoy
even your Mightiness owing to your affection towards me : and I think that it will not
seem to you fitting nor to others profitable. Now this I say, not as though I had any
power against your Majesty's Mightiness, for it is written, 'When a righteous king sitteth
upon a throne, no evil riseth up against his eyes,' but because I am persuaded that, as
this power belongs to you by grace from on high, so you are clad in understanding and
wisdom, and make it your endeavour to do many things, not by this sword, but by sagacity
befitting kingship.

And this we are taught by the Scripture, which says, 'A wise king winnoweth and scattereth
the wicked.' And, just as it is easy for those who are winnowed by the wind, which blows
away the chaff, to hold aloof from sinners, so also is it simple for your serenity, my
lord, with the all-considering heart and with the mercy of a gracious father, to separate
those that are under subjection to you from those of the contrary part, in order that the
Churches in union may be reckoned worthy of friendship. For I know that it was for this
reason also that you judged it right that my feebleness too should come to your feet,
because, when also you reckoned this same thingworthy of a letter from you to the pious
bishops of the East, who are men that pray for the safety and preservation of your
Majesty, they also, after they had written to you what they thought, informed my
feebleness of this your will, urging us according to the custom of the Church to help you
by prayer on your behalf.

"Now in your great city of Alexandria nothing has been done by me of the things falsely
asserted against me. And it is easy for me to show the folly of the informers; for they
have slandered me, saying that by means of a large sum of gold which I distributed there,
I stirred up riotous contention. And this same thing is known to those who hate me greatly
that, though involved in the passions of other sins, I do not seek hastily to amass money;
and this by no light reasons, but my life is habitually frugal, insomuch that not even the
renowned bishopric drew me away from this habit. For, as it is the approved custom for a
priest to perform priestly functions, in the same way it is the approved custom for him to
be poor: wherefore also the law given by Moses ordained that the chosen tribe of Levi
should have no inheritance in the land, but for their necessary food the appropriated
oblation should be sufficient, being associated in this with the widows and the needy and
the orphans, because they are accustomed to poverty, saying, 'And the Levite shall come
(because he hath no part or inheritance with thee), and the stranger and the orphan and
the widow, which are in thy villages, and they shall eat and rejoice;

that the Lord thy God may bless thee in all thy works which thou cloest.' But, since, as
it is written, 'Righteous lips are acceptable to the king, and he loveth upright speech,'
your Mightiness may learn from the governors who have been at any time in Alexandria, and
now from their officials, whom nothing escapes, whether anything of the kind has been done
by me even in word, or has been reported to have been done, as they have falsely and
maliciously asserted of me. But about these informers I will not say anything, because it
does not escape your knowledge what kind of men they are: but I await a judgment with
them, after we have been separated from this world of toil, before the tribunal of Christ,
where we shall give an account for idle words and for vain thoughts; and especially shall
we bishops, to whom much has been intrusted, be judged, although here we delight in bodily
things and dally in them.

"But, if some apply the term turbulence to what I wrote to Julian, bishop of
Halicarnassus, who has been perverted to the heresy of the Manichees and reckons the
voluntary saving passions of Christ, the great God, as a phantasy, I do with ten thousand
mouths and tongues confess and do not deny what I wrote, even as no one will hastily order
me to deny my faith: for this is the opinion of your orthodoxy also, who more than the
affairs of the world care to hold fast the things which belong to the Spirit. And I was
not impelled to do this by my own will or my own motion, but I was greatly pressed by him
to write, because he thought that I agreed with his doctrine. For, when I had gone through
what he sent to me (and I am far away from Alexandria), in the things which he wrote I
found that under the name of incorruptibility he covered, as it were with a sheepskin, the
blasphemies of Mani, because there are many things which I will forbear to mention.

"This foolish man, who confesses the passions with his lips only, hiding his impiety,
wrote thus: 'Incorruptibility was always attached to the body of our Lord, which was
passible of His own will for the sake of others.' And in brotherly love I wrote and asked
him : 'What do you mean by "incorruptible," and "suffered of His own will for the sake of
others," and "was attached to the body of our Lord," if without any falsehood you confess
it to be by nature passible? For, if by the incorruptibility possessed by it you mean
holiness without sin, we all confess this with you, that the holy body from the womb which
He united to Himself originally by the Holy Spirit of the pure Virgin, the Theotokos, was
conceived and born in the flesh without sin and conversed with us men, because "He did no
sin, neither was guile found in His mouth," according to the testimony of the Scriptures.
But, if you call impassibility and immortality incorruptibility, and say that the body
which suffered in the flesh on our behalf was not one that was capable of suffering with
voluntary passions and dying in the flesh, you reduce the saving passions on our behalf to
a phantasy; for a thing which does not suffer also does not die, and it is a thing
incapable of suffering.' And upon receiving such remarks as these from me he openly
refused to call the holy body of Emmanuel passible in respect of voluntary passions;

and therefore he did not hesitate to write thus, without shame and openly: 'We do not call
Him of our nature in respect of passions, but in respect of essence. Therefore, even if He
is impassible, and even if He is incorruptible, yet He is of our nature in respect of
nature.'" And the rest of the erring fatuity of Julian, which is contained at great length
in the epistle, I forbear to record now, matters which are to be found in the many books
which this holy Severus composed against Julian. But at the end of the epistle he wrote,
saying thus : "I therefore entreat you and take hold of your feet, again repeating the
request that you will leave my meanness alone, and not again bring me forth among men,
because I am enfeebled in my body and in my mind; wherefore also I am weak, since true are
the words of Scripture which say, 'The mind falleth among blows(?).' And there are now
many white hairs on my head, which bear witness to me of death, the departure from this
weary life, and it appears to me to be a thing very good and beneficial to sit hidden in a
corner and bear in my mind the separation of soul from body, awaiting my grave; for 'the
earth is the home of everyone that dieth,' as Job said; because in the case of other
animals who live on the earth their hair does not change, but in the case of this rational
animal, man, because he was destined to come to judgment and have his deeds examined in
the future world, as soon as he reaches old age, the hair of his head turns white, such
appearance making announcement to him and inciting him, as far as those who have delayed
are concerned, to prepare his deeds for his departure; and the Scripture also bears
testimony to him, saying, 'Lift up thine eyes and look on the fields, for they are white
and prepared for harvest'; for the separation of the soul from the body is in truth a
harvest, and, as with a sickle, He cutteth it away from it, and it is bereft. So I beg
that your Mightiness will grant me this simple request, that I may dwell hidden where I
am, because the rest of my days in the world I am determined to live in secret, as in a
corner; for such is the life of a monk.

"May Christ, who is God over all, give you dominion over your enemies, with perfect peace
and concord among the Churches, that you may be crowned with this also. And, if I am
committing any fault or presumption in this my letter of petition, I entreat you to
forgive me, as on other points; for it is very becoming in a Christ-loving king to
overcome evil with good, as the apostle said, a duty which you display in deed, and are
therefore rightly called Victorious." The signature of Severus to the epistle— "May the
only Trinity, for that is our God, preserve your orthodoxy many years, keeping the
dominion of the commonwealth of the Romans in peace, and may He bring every nation of
Romans and barbarians into subjection to you, and grant to the holy Churches by your means
perfect concord in sound faith; and may He reckon you worthy to receive a crown in the
kingdom of heaven."

Now after this epistle the holy Severus remained till the year thirteen, and then came to
the royal city, because he was pressed by letters from the king.

Chapter 17

THE. SEVENTEENTH CHAPTER, CONCERNING AFRICA, WHICH WAS CONQUERED BY BELISARIUS THE GENERAL
When in the summer of the year eleven Rufinus and Hermogenes, the master of the offices,
had by the help of our Lord made peace between the Romans and the Persians on the terms
contained in the written treaty, and the Roman generals and army in the East had come to
the royal city, they received blame from the king and incurred his displeasure, because
they had not acted worthily of the high honour and rank which he had bestowed on them by
showing themselves brave and astute in the struggle against the Persians, and especially
Belisarius, because of the loss of the army under his orders, which had been defeated in
battle at Thannuris and on the Euphrates; and he made his defence to the king on the
ground of the impatience of the army, and the lack of disciplineamong the men under him.

Now there were in Constantinople certain magnates from Africa, who, owing to a quarrel
which they had with the prince of the land, had left their country and taken refuge with
the king, and they gave him information about the country and incited him, saying that it
was very extensive and very peaceful, and that it had no thought of a war with the Romans,
but was engaged in a struggle with the Moors, a people who are settled in the desert and
live by robbery and devastation like the Saracens. And they pointed out to the king that
this country had been torn and snatched from the Roman Empire since the days of Zirzeric,
who took Rome, and also carried off valuable objects of gold and silver and other precious
substances, and withdrew to Carthage in Africa, a distinguished city, which he took and
occupied; and he settled there, and stored and placed the treasures in it.

And so the king made ready an army under Belisarius and Martin and Archelaus the prefect,
and many ships carryingarms and accoutrements (?) for the army; and they sailed over the
sea; and, because God willed this expedition and assisted it, they arrived in a few days
and suddenly appeared before the royal city of Carthage. And the prince of the land was
not there, but was engaged in war with the Moors in the desert; but a small force, which
was in the city, which came out and met the Romans, was defeated in battle and was
vanquished and retreated. And the city was surrendered, and the Romans entered and
occupied it. And they collected spoil; and the prince's treasure was kept for the king of
the Romans. Now the Romans also occupied a few of the cities of the country, because they
were betrayed to them by certain men who were with them, who betrayed the country and knew
it well; and it is a spacious land, extending over about fifty days' journey, and contains
more than one hundred and thirty cities, and is rich and fertile. But the king and the
chief priests of the land and the magnates of the people were Arimenites.

Now, when the prince heard it and came with an army, it was found to be small and
contemptible before the Romans; and, when he understood that his kinsmen had been taken,
and his magnates had surrendered, and his treasure had been carried away, he was weakened,
and on condition that his life should be spared he surrendered. And he was taken away in
company with Belisarius in the year twelve, and was publicly presented to the king in the
circus before the people, with the treasure and his kinsmen and his magnates. And an
ambassador of Khosru, king of the Persians, was there and was present and saw these
things. And from that time Africa has been subject to the Romans. And gradually the other
cities in the region of Africa were reduced : only the Moors continue their accustomed
hostilities there.

Chapter 18

THE EIGHTEENTH CHAPTER OF THE NINTH BOOK, CONCERNING ROME, WHICH WAS TAKEN BY BELISARIUS
Alimeric the tyrant held possession of Rome by rebellion in the days of Zeno and
Anastasius; and he was a warlike man and an able, and he added great strength to the
country of Italy, and he rebuilt Rome and kept the barbarians out of it. And he had died,
and his successors one after another held and governed the country of the Romans in
rebellion against the kingdom of Constantinople. Now a certain Dominic, one of the chief
men of the country, had a quarrel with the tyrant, and took refuge with King Justinian,
and gave him information about the country. And he was an old man, well read in the
Scriptures, a Diphysite; and he often engaged in disputation, and I know him. Now the
king, having conquered Africa in the manner described above, was eager to conquer Rome
also. And, observing that Belisarius had been successful in the war in Africa without
doing any injury to the population of the country or diminishing it by bloodshed, but had
been content with the necessary demands of tribute, taxes, and subjection, he made ready
an army for him and sent him to Rome. And John the chief priest there had died during
those days, and Agapetus had succeeded him.

And, when the army had reached a place called Naples, a celebrated city, not far from
Rome, and had taken it, the Senate in Rome and their council, together with their
chief,were disturbed and afraid, because they had already heard how Carthage and the
tyrant of that country of Africa had been conquered; and, observing these things, they
anticipated matters by sending a petition, asking for peace, and promising to surrender
the city; and later they also sent hostages. And afterwards Belisarius arrived there with
the army and was received in the city with the praises of its inhabitants, and he occupied
it and did no injury in it. And he was there for a time, while occupying the other cities
also and bringing them into subjection to the king, without doing any hurt by slaying or
destroying the population. And the king gained renown by these things and rejoiced in the
year fourteen.

Chapter 19

THE NINETEENTH CHAPTER, CONCERNING SEVERUS, WHO AGAIN WENT UP TO CONSTANTINOPLE AND
APPEARED BEFORE THE KING Now the well-tried Severus, after receiving pressing summonses
from the king, at last came to Constantinople in the year fourteen, and was received in a
friendly manner in the palace by the king, who was disposed and incited thereto by
Theodora the queen, who was devoted to Severus, and he was honourable and venerable in her
eyes. And, Epiphanius, the chief priest of the city, having died, Anthimus had succeeded
him; and he was an ascetic man and a practiser of poverty, and a friend of the needy and a
believer. He was bishop of Trebizond, and, happening for some reason to be present there,
and being a man of virtuous character and known to the king and the magnates for his
chastity, he was appointed patriarch; and he would not receive the Synod of Chalcedon into
the faith.

And in Alexandria, after Gaian had been driven out, who was a Julianist, and was there for
three months after the death of Timothy, Theodosius became bishop, a man of conspicuous
faith and learned and kind and gentle; and he was an acquaintance and a friend of the holy
Severus. When these three chief priests were joined together in love, and in faith were
not divided from one another, Ephraim of Antioch was alarmed and greatly disturbed, and
yet more so because Peter of Jerusalem was not of his own inclination a lover of discord
or a heretic, although through weakness and lack of energy and vigour he conducted himself
according to the times. Now it happened that in those days Sergius, an archiatros of
Rhesaina, went up to Antioch to make a complaint against Asylus, the bishop of that city,
telling Ephraim the patriarch that he had been injured by him. And this man was a man of
eloquence and practised in the reading of many books of the Greeks and in the teaching of
Origen, while for some time he had been reading commentaries on the Scriptures by other
doctors in Alexandria (and he was skilled in the Syriac tongue, reading and speaking) and
books of medicine. And of his own inclination he was a believer, to which evidence is also
borne by the prologue and the very apt translation of Dionysius which he made and the
treatise composed by him on the faith in the days of the illustrious Peter, the believing
bishop. However, as regards his character, this Sergius was very wanton in the lust of
women, and he was incontinent and not chaste, while he was greedy in respect of the love
of money.

Of this man Ephraim made trial, and, finding him to be a man of experience, promised to do
for him anything that he asked, if he would go as his emissary to Rome with an epistle to
Agapetus, the chief priest there, and return. And he accepted. And he was furnished with
presents by Ephraim, and received a letter for the man, while he was accompanied by a lad
named Eustace, an architect, from Amida, who spreads about a strange story about Sergius;
but, lest it should do harm to the reader, I do not record it. These men also accordingly
came to Rome to Agapetus, and they delivered the epistle and were received; and the man
was pleased with their epistle, in which he found agreement with his opinions. And he came
with them to Constantinople in the month of March in the year fourteen; and Severus was
there, and Anthimus was chief priest. And the whole city was disturbed at the arrival of
Agapetus; and the earth with all that is upon it quaked; and the sun began to be darkened
by day and the moon by night, while ocean was tumultuous with spray (?) from the 24th of
March in this year till the 24th of June in the following year fifteen. And Agapetus, when
he appeared before the king, had a splendid reception from him, because he spoke the same
language and was chief priest of the country of Italy, which had been conquered and
brought into subjection to him. And he was instructed in the outward words of Scripture
but did not understand its meaning; and he held an ignoble opinion upon the Incarnation of
Jesus, our Lord Christ, God the Word, and he would not consent to call the Virgin Mary the
Theotokos, and divided the unity into two natures, since he held the priority of the
conception of the babe, like those of the school of Diodorus and Nestorius. And he
abstained from communion with Anthimus and Severus, and they yet more from communion with
him; and one of them he called an adulterer and the other a Eutychianist: and he perverted
the love of the king towards them and made him hostile to them; and he drove them from the
city.

And Anthimus and Severus and Theodosius of Alexandria made union with one another in
epistles, which we have set down below; and Anthimus and Severus left the city to live
each of them in hiding wherever was convenient for him. Now Menas became bishop in the
royal city after Anthimus. And Sergius the archiatros died suddenly there, and Agapetus
died after him in those days by a miracle, his tongue being eaten away and rending him in
his lifetime;and Silverius became bishop in Rome after him.

Chapter 20

THE TWENTIETH CHAPTER, THE EPISTLE OF SEVERUS TO THE ORDER OF PRIESTS AND MONKS IN THE
EAST, TREATING OF HIS EXPULSION FROM THE ROYAL CITY "To the God-loving presbyters and
deacons and archimandrites and priors and all the holy order of monks in the East Severus
greeting in our Lord. "That I have passed outside the city which is ruler among cities and
beyond the pursuit of men, some of you, O holy ones, being present, have seen with their
own eyes, I who have reckoned it right to indite this short letter on my part and to stir
you up to the expression (? of thanksgiving for what I even reckon as my glory (?), and to
state clearly that the actions of the divine providence towards us are in truth beneficial
to us for the preservation of the orthodox faith and the formation of a new will, with
which, as one may say, it is right to clothe oneself after the fashion of a new garment,
and for shunning every heretical opinion and contention. For Jacob also the patriarch, the
great in endurance of labours and in trust in God, when he fled from intercourse with the
barbarians in Sh'khem and from the dangers that surrounded him there, urged those that
dwelt with him to the same course to which I have urged you, as he says in Scripture: 'And
Jacob said to his household and to all them that were with him, Put away from among you
the strange gods, and be clean, and change your garments:

and let us arise and go up to Beth El and build there an altar unto God, who answered me
in the day of distress and delivered me in the way which I went.' For he has in truth
delivered me from all the expectation of the adversaries, who hate me without a cause, and
mocked at me and wagged their heads and said, as in Job, 'His foot hath fallen into a gin,
and he hath been caught in a net. Let gins come upon him, and they shall prevail against
him, as thirsting for him. His noose is hid in the ground, and the net is over his paths.'
But, as for the wickedness of these men, it is not sated with blood; the Christ-
worshipping queen was a sufficient protection for me, and God, who through your prayers
directed her to that which is good in His sight, even as He cries in Isaiah the prophet to
those that trust in Him, 'Fear not, because I have delivered thee. I have called thee by
thy name, because thou art Mine. If thou pass through water, I am with thee, and rivers
shall not overflow thee; and in fire thou shalt not be burned, and flame shall not scorch
thee. Because I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, that delivereth thee.'

"And He that said these things has not only given me a marvellous deliverance, but has
further also added an addition to the portion of the believers, to say truth, to the
portion of the Lord and to the possession of His inheritance, Israel, that it may not be
as those whom the Scripture blames, saying, 'Ye shall sow your seed in vain.' For the
pious Anthimus, archbishop of the royal city, who received the chief chair, even when he
was in possession of it, would not retain it, but in upright fashion and with true
judgment and knowledge hated the impiety of these men, and accepted the communion of us
and of Pope Theodosius of Alexandria and of all the pastors who belong to our confession.
Accordingly they vainly lead men astray who say that they do not receive the Synod of
Chalcedon in respect of the definition of faith, but in respect of the rejection of
Eutyches and Nestorius, clokes which Flavian also used but did not succeed in leading your
zeal astray, and you were not overreached by Satan, and are able to say like Paul, 'His
devices do not escape us.'"

And so on with the rest of the epistle.

Chapter 21

FIRST CHAPTER, THE EPISTLE OF ANTHIMUS TO SEVERUS OF ANTIOCH "To our pious and holy
brother and fellow-minister, the patriarch, my lord . Severus, Anthimus greeting in our
Lord. "Bearing in my mind the utterance of the Lord which says, 'To whomsoever much has
been committed, from him shall much be required,' and the saying of the Psalmist, 'Who
shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? and who shall stand in His holy place?' and the
apostle, who ordains of what sort a man must be who is set apart for God, I have been in
no small fear. For, if those great patriarchs called themselves, one 'dust and ashes' and
another 'a worm and no man,' what shall I say, the small and contemptible, who have
attained to the height of this ministry without being worthy of it? For the disturbance of
the holy Churches also agitates my soul greatly; for certain men, being held fast in sins
and, as if displaying an appearance of avoiding variation and confusion, which does not
exist, wantonly divide God the Word, who is one and indivisible, and became incarnate
without variation. And for this reason I am in great sorrow, as it is said in the
Psalmist, 'Sorrow hath taken hold upon me because of the sinners that have forsaken Thy
law.' But trust in God gives me joy, and I believe that He will surely perform His
promises and will give us all that we mean creatures need, not because we are His friends
but because of importunity, and He will make requisition for all His elect;

who has also for a long time preserved your Holiness from sins through your apostolic
contests and labours and your spiritual teachings, which by grace have been vouchsafed
unto you, as a stone that cannot be moved, as well as us, His holy Churches, to be an
invariable foundation of the faith. It is therefore the same God who assigns exaltation to
the lowly and greatness to the small and strength to the weak, as the divine apostle says,
'By grace are we all justified.' And these things, being by divine power made strong in
weakness, have by an ineffable judgment brought our weakness also to be ruler in the holy
Church in this royal city. Acknowledging therefore His grace, we beg you, pious one, to
entreat Christ our God to assist our worthlessness; and, because different men have
different marks, the mark of priests is also the preaching of the gospel, for, 'Speak,' He
says, 'priests, and, when you go up upon the high mountains, make proclamation.'

"In this first spiritual and love-abounding greeting I communicate with you, O holy one;
for, while rejoicing in union and. also in conjunction with you and in spiritual ties in
accordance, with the laws of the Church, I declare that I cleave to the one only
definition of faith, that which was laid down by the three hundred and eighteen holy
fathers who assembled at Nicaea under the direction of the Holy Spirit, and to this I pray
that I may cleave unto the end; which definition was ratified by the Synod of one hundred
and fifty holy fathers which assembled in this royal city against the impious fighters
against the Spirit; and not only so, but also by the holy Synod which assembled at Ephesus
against the impious Nestorius, the leaders of which were the archbishops, memorable for
piety and love of God, Celestine of the Romans and. Cyril of Alexandria, who in his twelve
chapters overthrew Nestorius the man-worshipper. To these chapters I assent together with
all his writings and embrace them as a holy law, while together with these holy teachings
of Cyril I receive also the formula of. Zeno uniting the Churches, which aims at the
consummation of religion for the annulling of the Synod of Chalcedon and the impious Tome
of Leo.

I confess that God the Word, who was begotten before the ages of God the Father, the only
Son, connatural and coeternal with the Father, through whom all things were made and
through whom all things were established, the Light of Light, the invariable image and
invisible will of the Father, in the last days became incarnate and became perfectly man
of the Holy Spirit and of the holy Theotokos and ever-virgin Mary, and united to Himself
personally flesh of our nature, having a rational and intellectual soul, and without
variation and confusion and sin took our resemblance upon Him. For He remained immutable
as God, and even in assuming our attributes He did not at the same time also diminish His
own divine properties; and that which was derived from us He made His own by dispensation
by a junction consisting in a natural union. For He who was begotten without time and
without a body of God the Father, the same submitted to a second birth in a body; and,
after He had in an ineffable manner become incarnate of a virgin mother, she that bore Him
also continued a virgin even after the birth. Wherefore also we truly confess her to be
the Theotokos, and that He who was born of her in the flesh is perfect God and perfect
man, the same out of two natures one Son, one Lord, one Christ, and one nature of the
incarnate Word;

and He became perfectly man, while each one of the natures remained without confusion in
its sphere of manifestation, the natures which combined to form an indivisible unity. So
also He is very rightly one of the holy and connatural Trinity, before the Incarnation and
after the Incarnation, inasmuch as He did not add a number to the Trinity, the number of a
quaternity; and He is impassible in that He is of the nature of the Father, but passible
in the flesh in that He is of our nature. For God the Word did not suffer in His own
nature, but in flesh of our nature; and He who personally united this to Himself suffers
in our likeness. And Gregory the Theologian defined the matter and called Him impassible
in the Godhead, passible in the assumption of flesh. And He is one and the same in the
miracles and also in the passions; and by dispensation He made our passions His own,
voluntary and innocent ones, in flesh which was passible and mortal and of our nature,
intellectually and rationally possessed of a soul. And this all the time of the
dispensation He allowed to be passible and mortal for the purpose mentioned above with
respect to His Humanisation, I mean that He suffered not in semblance but in reality. For
in the flesh that was capable of suffering He endured voluntary and natural and innocent
passions and the death by the Cross;

and by a miracle befitting God, that of the Resurrection, He made and rendered it
impassible and immortal and in every way therefore incorruptible, since it came from the
union and existence in the womb, whichwas holy and without sin. While recognising,
therefore, the distinction between the elements which have combined to form the unity of
nature, I mean the divine and the human nature, we do not separate them from one another;
also we do not cut the One and ineffable into or in two natures, nor yet do we confound
Him by rejecting the distinction between the Godhead and the manhood, but we confess Him
to be one out of two, Emmanuel. "And, thus believing and taking my stand upon this belief,
as upon a rock, I also anathematise the deviations from the truth which have been made by
both sides, and the impious and erring men who went before them as their leaders (I refer
to Valentine and Marcion and Arius and Macedonius and Eunomius and Apollinaris and
Eutyches), and those also who owing to the union with the Word have vainly and impiously
confessed the flesh which was derived from us and was personally united to God the Word to
be impassible and immortal, and have introduced a semblance and a phantasy as belonging to
the great mystery of the immutable and veritable Humanisation of the Lord; and I
anathematise also Paul of Samosata and Photinus and Diodorus and Theodore and Nestorius,
and also Theodoret and Andrew and Hibo and Eutherius and Alexander of Hierapolis and
Irenaeus the twice-married and Cyrus and John and Bar Tsaumo the Persian and the Synod of
Chalcedon and the Tome of Leo and those who say that He is made known and exists in two
natures, i.e. our Lord Jesus Christ after the ineffable union, and do not confess that
there is one aspect, one person and nature of God the Word, who became incarnate and
became man.

On the basis of these apostolic and divine and blameless doctrines, holy brother ours, I
give you the right hand of communion, a communion which I will hold fast till my last
breath, while I will not consent to hold communion with any man who thinks differently
from this, because Basil says, 'He who communicates without discrimination with the
foolishis separated from the freedom of Christ.' For I know that you also, pious one, hold
these things fast, and have for a long time laboured. For who is there who in our times
has undergone such a contest, removing from place to place, that his faith may not be
shaken? And in you I see the doctors of the Church, because you have duly set the lamp
visibly on a stand, shining, as you do, in deed and word. It will be worthy therefore of
your piety in consideration of these things to gladden us by instruction in return for our
letter. And the rest, consisting of the greeting of the epistle.

Chapter 22

THE TWENTY-SECOND CHAPTER, THE EPISTLE OF SEVERUS TO ANTHIMUS "To our all-pious and all-
holy brother and fellow-minister, the patriarch Anthimus, Severus greeting in our Lord
Jesus Christ our God. "For the letter of your chastity Paul the apostle shall give me a
precedent for crying aloud in very opportune time, 'Thanks be unto God for His ineffable
gift': for immediately upon your accession to the see of the patriarchal throne of the.
Church in the royal city you determined in the exaltation of the primatial see for the
sake of the right religion to despise that which to others is an occasion for betraying
their faith. For in those who wish to follow the divine commandments and, as it is
written, to go after the Lord, the wisdom of the Most High places fitting thoughts, in
deacons and presbyters and patriarchs according to the order of their priesthood; insomuch
that the patriarch Abraham, after he had settled in many and divers countries, came to a
certain country and drank copiously from a well that sprang from it, which was named the
Well of Oaths, becausehe made oaths and treaties with the barbarians who lived near the
country, and he planted fair and fruitful plantations; and, lest his thoughts should be
dissipated in them, he called there upon the name of the Lord, the everlasting God, and,
as he said to Him, 'Thy thoughts shall not go after the beauty of things that are seen and
forget God in the pleasant delight of the sight, for He alone is from everlasting, and
hath made the things that are seen bright to the eyes and pleasant to the taste':

and Scripture goes on to relate thus: 'Abraham planted a piece of land by the Well of
Oaths and called there on the name of the Lord, the everlasting God' (and some have
explained it to be wood-land and some plantation-land). In the same way, therefore, your
piety after having settled in other countries has come to the head of the oaths, as to a
piece of land fair in produce, I mean the see of the royal city, which is rich in the pomp
of the world, and drinks from the plentiful abundance of the stream. And, when you
perceived that certain men wish to be perverted to a reprobate mind, differing from the
pure unadulterated coinage, well tried in the orthodox faith, you did not allow the eyes
of your mind to go astray through the beauty of the world and the splendour of its
vanities, which pass away; but, after the pattern of the patriarch Abraham, you called
there upon the name of the Lord, the everlasting God,whose merciful Word became incarnate
and became man, that is, in order that the second Adam might in truth die the death that
had prevailed over us and overthrow its eternal dominion, a death which it was not
possible for impassible and immortal flesh to endure, because that which is impassible and
immortal is not capable of suffering and dying.

For, if He did not die our death for our sins and destroy this death in flesh resembling
our passions when He rose from the dead, we are strangers and alien to the benefit of the
Resurrection. For 'Christ died for our sins,' cries Paul; and again, 'Since by man came
death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For, as in Adam all die, so in
Christ shall all live'; and again, 'Since the children partook of flesh and blood, He also
in like manner partook of the same, that through death He might bring to naught him that
had the power of death, that is, Satan, and might deliver them who through fear of death
were all their lifetime under subjection to bondage. For He received not of angels, but of
the seed of Abraham did He receive. Wherefore it was right that in all things He should be
made like unto His brethren.'Now the seed of Abraham was the passible body of our race,
which God the Word, the Ruler of All, united to Himself personally from the Holy Virgin,
in order that with Him He might raise our race, which had fallen under the power of death,
inasmuch as He was the firstfruits of our race. So also, since He is one nature and
person, it is manifest that the incarnate Word of God of His own will endured the assay
and assault of human and natural and innocent passions.

And the signs, even the human ones, He utters in a divine fashion (?), and performs some
of them in a manner befitting God and some in human fashion. And we do not on account of
the difference of the energies and the utterances and the miracles and the passions fall
into the division of the two natures after the ineffable union and divide these things,
the utterances and tokens and energies, forasmuch as we know that it is the same who
wrought the miracles and who suffered and spoke in a divine manner and after the
dispensation. "These, to speak briefly, are the foundations on which the faith and
confession of Christ rest, and 'to them nothing can be added, and from them nothing can be
taken away.' I use opportunely in connexion with these things the holy words of Koheleth,
and with application to those who have swerved from the king's highway and have gone in a
crooked way and rejoice in evil perversity, but, as the Scripture said, 'in the Spirit
which speaks parables,' according to the law which was before delivered unto the Church by
the apostles." And again a little lower down in the epistle he says,"On these terms I
undertake to participate in communion and also in inseparable conjunction with your piety
and with those only who hold and also preach these things with you, and those who hold or
say anything different I reject as strangers and aliens to our communion; and I avoid the
foolishness that is in these men, as also your messenger said, as a thing that makes us
alien to the boldness of Christ and supplies many with an occasion to sin. But, as one of
those men of wisdom in divinity also says, 'By reason of foolishness many have sinned.'
For, if so be that we stand upon this watch-tower and place of observation and proclaim
this to those who are under our power, we shall hear from them combs of honey, even good
words, and the sweetness of them is healing to the soul.

"Since therefore you have chosen for yourself to contend in a good struggle and have
confessed a good confession, cry out like the prophet Habakkuk, ' I will stand upon my
watch and walk upon a rock,' and despise them that strive below. And, if so be they place
you under curses and anathemas, say to God with David with great fitness, 'They shall
curse,and Thou shalt be blessed: let them that rise up against me be ashamed, but Thy
bond-servant shall rejoice.' For also those who profess a sound faith according to the
utterance of the apostle 'are come unto Mount Tsiyon, and unto the city of the living God,
unto Jerusalem in heaven, and to innumerable companies of angels, and to the Church of the
firstborn, which are written in heaven.' Now, how can a man, shooting from the earth, hit
those that are in the Church that is in heaven and mingle with it? For in vain will he
toil and without profit will he stretch his bow, even if he dare to shoot upwards; for
upon himself will the arrows that are shot come down : for we listen also to one of the
wise men, who says thus: 'He that casteth a stone upwards casteth against his own pate';
only if so be we continue unto the end, armed in the breastplate of the right faith and
girt about in every place with all kinds of spirits.

Now of this conjunction with your piety, which has been brought about for us by this
canonical letter, tending both to unity of spirit and to be a bond of peace, as the
apostle said, I will send information to our fellow-minister my lord Theodosius, the holy
Pope and archbishop of the 'great and Christ-loving city of Alexandria, who labours in
apostolic fashion, and undergoes a contest and stands in danger on behalf of the true
word, and increases the efficacy of the talents intrusted to him every day by means of
industry, and rejoices constantly in the manifestation of them. And do you write to him,
even as you have written to us, and grasp him with the same hands of concord, and write
and enter into communication with him by a communicatory letter in accordance with the
rules and laws of the holy Church. Wherefore the love of God that is in you should take
care to perform your part towards him also, and it shall be to you, according to the
prophecy of Isaiah, 'a wall and an outwork'; as shall come to pass. And greet your
brotherhood. That which is with me greets you in our Lord."

Chapter 23

THE TWENTY-THIRD CHAPTER, THE EPISTLE OF SEVERUS TO THEODOSIUS "To our all-pious and all-
holy brother and fellow-minister, the chief priest", my lord Theodosius, Severus greeting
in our Lord. "In the Book of the Judges, which is the Book of the Tribes, he said that the
tribe of Judah invited the tribe of Simeon his brother to community of lots, urging him,
as to brotherly assistance, in these words: 'And Judah said unto Simeon his brother, Come
with me into my lot, and let us fight with the Canaanites; and I likewise will go into thy
lot. And Simeon went with him.' But I invite your person, holy brother, not to the
community of war and fighting and to give a helping hand for the sake of lots of
inheritance, but rather to the community of peace and concord, and on account of a gain
made by the Church which Christ, even God, purchased with His own blood, a wonderful
addition. For the holy Anthimus, the chief priest, who has been judged worthy to tend the
Church of the royal city, severing the bonds and snares of the bitterness of the heretics,
and repelling now their deceitful arts, now his open attacks, has embraced our communion,
holding the sound and pure faith. And to my meanness he has sent a letter, containing a
covenant of communion upon a perfectly orthodox confession, and he has anathematised by
name everyone who is a heretic and an alien; and his mind is not estranged from the
commandments and ordinances of the Lord, which our spiritual fathers left as holy laws,
upon which we all ought to gaze earnestly and say, like the enduring Job, 'Gazing upon
righteousness, I will not turn away.' So I eagerly and with goodwill welcomed this event
which has happened as the gift of God, and I repeated the saying of the divine Scripture,
'This day we know that the Lord is with us, that all the peoples of the earth may know
that the power of God is mighty.' For this is written in Joshua the son of Nun.

"And it would indeed have been right that the holy archbishop Anthimus should first apply
to your evangelicalthrone and offer to you the firstfruits of concord; but the necessity
of this time and the distance of the country and the hurry of events changed the due order
of things; and because this was done in secret; for as a wise doctor of divine doctrines
you know what is written in the record by John the Theologian rather than Evangelist, that
the disciples were assembled with the doors shut for fear of the Jews, and that the great
God and our Saviour, Jesus Christ, while the doors were shut, appeared inside by a
miracle, and stood in the midst and said, ' Peace be with you.' "I have therefore attached
to this letter a copy of my own letter of concord and that of the God-loving chief priest,
the man above mentioned, which were composed under fear of the Jews, and have sent them to
your Holiness. But the religious presbyter and steward, Theopompus, also has certainly
already given you an account of this proceeding (for he also has communicated with you in
this counsel and action), because I believed that the love of God that is in you would
rejoice and exult over it, especially when you met with the canonical letters containing
the covenants.

"But know, O pious brother, beloved by me above all things, that these demands of the
Chalcedonians differ in no way whatever from the promised covenant of Nahash the Ammonite,
which he wished to make with the Children of Israel, who said to him, 'Make a covenant
with us, and we will serve thee'; but he cruelly and barbarously returned answer, 'On this
condition will I make a covenant with you, that you pluck out all your right eyes; and I
will lay a reproach upon Israel.' We are therefore in need of 'much watching and of
immutable faith, and of prayers and entreaties that He that keeps Israel will not slumber
nor sleep, and that He will turn the reproach upon those that are rich and boastful, and
we may not become 'a scorn and a reproach to them that are round about us,' as David
somewhere sings, while falling from divine things, they also confess human things; for no
trust is to be placed in unbelievers and enemies of God. But to you, who are understanding
in divine things, what is here said is matter of knowledge."

Chapter 24

THE TWENTY-FOURTH CHAPTER, THE EPISTLE OF THEODOSIUS TO SEVERUS "To our all-pious and all-
holy brother and fellow-minister, the patriarch, my lord Severus, Theodosius greeting in
our Lord. "O being beloved by me above all things, rock of Christ, and guardian of the
pure faith who cannot be shaken, very excellent is the blessing granted to our time, which
has displayed your spiritual constancy to the holy Churches of God. We are also in good
hope and are confident that the blameless pattern of your virtue, which we possess, will
be preserved for you. But I do not know which of your virtues to admire; for what is there
among your qualities which is either defective or which stands in need of superfluous
description? If so be I admire the severe manner of your lovely life, the virtue of
chastity attracts me to it, and the glorious purity of right faith, which justly demands
to be placed before them all, and your life of labours endured for a long time for God's
sake, and your flight from place to place, and the fact that in everything you have chosen
to suffer, in order that we may not be perverted from the right faith. In the same faith
how many times have you under stress of events boldly cried with Paul, 'Who shall separate
me from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation or distress or persecution?' But in what
category shall we place the exactitude of your teaching, whereby those that err are
reproved and deceit is plucked out by the roots, while those that believe are delivered
and are planted into the right faith?

And it seems to me as if I heard Christ, even God, saying to you what He said to Jeremiah
the divine prophet: 'Behold! I have put My words in thy mouth. Behold! I have this day set
thee over nations and over kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to
build, and to plant'; and again what He said about Paul: 'He is a chosen vessel unto Me,
to bear My name before the nations, and before kingdoms, and before all Israel.' "These
are your qualities, O divine father,— qualities which it is perhaps easy to admire, but
difficult to carry fully into action, even as now also by the watchful labours of your
pious soul good deeds have been done to the Church of God. For in Christ Jesus those who
were before far off have become near. The pious Anthimus, who will be henceforth renowned
for character and faith, the chief priest and true pastor of the Church of the royal city,
has of his own will become a communicator with you, pious one, and with us, and walked
after our right faith; who has banished and rejected snares and disturbances, and has
trampled on transitory and unstable profit, inasmuch as he has learned to believe that
human greatness is nothing, and has boldly proclaimed the right and unfailing faith; so
that on account of this which has happened how we rejoiced and how we gave thanks to God
and what spiritual festival we celebrated, O honoured father ours, it is not possible to
say in words.

"Now he has made a firm covenant in a canonical letter and sent it to our evangelical
throne, as indeed your Holiness also has already stated even in your honoured letter. And
in the things which he has written he has declared the whole exactitude of the sound and
right faith, while he has spurned with the anathemas everything that is deceitful and
heretical, professing that he holds and proclaims these things with us, and says these
things, since he is a communicator with those in whose communion our holy Church also
rejoices, and professing that from those from whom we turn away he also turns away. He has
therefore mentioned by name and anathematised those other names of the impious heresy, and
the impious Synod held at Chalcedon, and the epistle of Leo. And, when we had with all
possible care considered the things written to us by the pious man and minutely examined
them all, and had found that nothing in them was alien from the right faith, and we saw
that there also everyone who is opposed to us was attacked, we all the more admired your
judgment upon them; for with the things which were canonically written to you, holy one,
by the pious Anthimus upon the divine doctrines we found those also which were written to
us to be in accord. Since, therefore, we have found the letter of concord and communion of
the holy Anthimus to be of such sort, I will, like the prophet, cry out in due season,
'Let the heavens rejoice from above, and let the clouds sprinkle righteousness,' because
the Lord has had mercy on His people, and such good reforms have been brought to pass for
the holy Church of God.

"With outstretched hand, therefore, we have accepted the event, and on our own part also
hasten to conclude similar covenants; and we have admitted the pious man to the closest
communion with us, and have indited a return letter to him, in which we have clearly set
forth the right faith of the fathers and exposed the evil character of the faith which
pollutes feeble understandings. And of the document on account of which we have entered
into communion with him, and will give it to any who shall be hereafter, of this we have
sent a copy to your fatherhood, because we did not wish that any of your rights should
cause you jealousy, and especially those which have to do with our holy Church. And then
of necessity I say that the fact that you observe towards the evangelical see the prime
honour which is due to it, and express the same in writing, as the things written to me
declared you to do, was in truth worthy of your holy soul, which is careful to do
everything with judgment and in accordance with the will of God. But I plainly declare my
feeling that my chief honour, and one which gives me great joy, is that honour which is
justly paid to you by everyone. With confidence, therefore, pious father ours, I
unhesitatingly assent to whatever rightly seems good to you with regard to the holy
Church, considering that, as befits your fatherhood, you will not cease from action and
advice which will be of benefit to the Church.

"But so much for these things. But as to ourselves, O honoured father ours, by what
distresses and human humiliation we are now surrounded, every kind of plot being concerted
against us, in order that we may either flee of our own accord, or that we may be expelled
by force by others, while they may be granted time here also to do their own deeds and
lead astray the holy Church, I wished to declare in this letter also (for thus especially
should we incite you, who sympathise with us, to prayer on our behalf), but it is not
right for us to add load to load and burden to burden. But by only saying this much about
the greatness of the stress I make it plain that we are in very truth in need of your
pious prayers." And so on with the rest of the epistle.

Chapter 25

THE TWENTY-FIFTH CHAPTER, THE EPISTLE OF ANTHIMUS TO THEODOSIUS OF ALEXANDRIA "To our all-
pious and all-holy brother and fellow-minister, the patriarch, my lord Theodosius,
Anthimus greeting in our Lord. "Christ Jesus our God, who called simple and unlearned men
and fishermen to be apostles and teachers, and called those who were before these from
feeding a flock to be kings and prophets, who has chosen weak things and despised things,
as the divine apostle said, He it is who has now called me also, the mean one, to the work
of this spiritual ministry in the judgments which He knows, to be the head of this holy
Church of Constantinople. I therefore, the sinner, remembering the utterance of the Lord
spoken through Ezekiel, 'As for thee, son of man, I have given thee as a watchman unto
them of the house of Israel; and, if thou hear the word at My mouth, and give forewarning
from Me, saying unto the sinner, If thou sin, thou shalt die the death, and thou tell not
the sinner, that he may take warning, nor yet the impious, that he may turn from his way
and live, the wicked man shall die in his wickedness, but his blood will I require at
thine hands,' and the commandment of the apostle to Timothy about the blameless-ness of
the bishop's office, am beset with fear and trembling.

And, when besides these things I contemplate also the turmoil which is increasing in the
holy Churches and on the side of those who do not believe rightly, because they have
reckoned religion as a means of profit for a time, and speak wickedness on high against
their head, and divide God the Word, who became incarnate without variation and became
perfectly man, I am beset with weeping and groans, and I mourn over myself, because I am
unworthy. But trust in God comforts me, as it is said, 'Look at the generations of old and
see; who hath trusted in the Lord and been confounded? or who hath abode in His fear and
been forsaken? or hath called upon Him and He turned away from him? Because the Lord is
compassionate and merciful, and forgiveth sins and saveth in time of affliction.'
Therefore all my hope and my thoughtsare set upon Him, that He will see our state and will
hear, He who made the eyes and planted the ears, and that He will reprove the turbulence
of those who prevent right ways, and will call like the true shepherd who laid down his
life for his sheep, because He said, 'No man shall snatch them out of mine hands':

for He foreordained your Holiness to stand at the head of the people of Alexandria the
great, and established you as a tiller of the Church, not in calm, but in the turmoil of
storms, that you might guide the ship above the waves into the peace of the harbour of
Christ our God by the holy and adored Spirit. For by the prayers of your holy fathers, the
former rulers, you have, as it were, received the trust of standing at the head of a
people which walks after the teaching of the fathers, and contends for its pastor unto
death in word and deed. "Embracing, therefore, union with you and brotherly unanimity in
Christ and the laws of the Church, we declare by this Synodical epistle that we cleave to
the one definition of faith, that of our three hundred and eighteen holy fathers at
Nicaea, which also the one hundred and fifty who assembled here against the fighters
against the Spirit ratified, and to the holy Synod which met at Ephesus with the assent of
Celestine and in the presence of Cyril, who in the twelve chapters demolished the doctrine
of Nestorius. To these I assent, and I embrace the rest of his writings; and I receive the
formula of Zeno uniting the Churches, which aimed at the annulling of the Synod of
Chalcedon and of the Tome of Leo. And I confess that God the Word, the only Son, who was
begotten of the Father in eternity, through whom all things were made, Light of Light,
living image of the Father and sharing His nature, in the last times became incarnate by
the Holy Spirit and of Mary the Virgin, and became a man perfectly without variation and
confusion, in everything like unto us except sin; and He remained God immutable, and, when
He assumed our attributes, He was not diminished in His Godhead; and that which was
derived from us He made His own by dispensation by a natural union.

For He who was begotten without time and without a body of God the Father, the same
underwent a second birth in flesh, inasmuch as in an ineffable manner He became incarnate
of a virgin mother; and, after she had borne Him, she continued in her virginity; and we
justly confess her to be the Theotokos, and that He who was born of her in the flesh is
perfect God and perfect man, the same out of two natures one Son, one Lord, and one
Christ, and one nature of God the Word who became incarnate; and each one of the natures
which combined to form an indivisible unity remained without confusion. And so He is very
rightly one of the holy and connatural Trinity, both before He took flesh and after He
took flesh, and a fourth number was not added to the Trinity; and He is impassible in that
He is of the nature of the Father, but passible in the flesh in that He is of our nature.
For God the Word did not suffer in His own nature, but in flesh of our nature; and He who
personally united this to Himself suffered in our likeness. And Gregory the Theologian
defined the matter and called Him impassible in His Godhead, passible in the assumption of
flesh.

And He is one in the miracles, and also in the passions, and by dispensation He made our
passions His own, voluntary and innocent ones, in flesh which was passible and mortal
after our nature, endowed with a soul and an intellect, and passible and mortal all the
time of the dispensation; for He suffered not in semblance but in reality, and in flesh
that was capable of suffering He suffered and died on the cross; and by a Resurrection
befitting God He made and rendered it impassible and immortal, and in every way
incorruptible, since it came from the union of the womb, whichwas holy and without sin.
While recognising, therefore, the distinction between the elements which have combined to
form the unity of nature, I mean between the Godhead and the manhood, we yet do not
separate them from one another; also we do not cut the One into or in two natures, nor yet
do we confound Him by rejecting the distinction between the Godhead and the manhood, but
we confess Him to be one out of two, Emmanuel.

"And, thus believing and taking my stand upon this belief, as upon a rock, I also
anathematise the deviations from the truth of such and such men." And the rest, consisting
of the greeting in the epistle.

Chapter 26

THE TWENTY-SIXTH CHAPTER OF THE NINTH BOOK, THE EPISTLE OF THEODOSIUS TO ANTHIMUS THE
CHIEF PRIEST "To our all-pious and all-holy brother and fellow-minister, the archbishop
and patriarch, my lord Anthimus, Theodosius greeting in our Lord. "And how else could it
have come about that you, a chief priest wise and watchful towards the Creator of all
things and their Saviour and God, should in the midst of events openly show yourself
crying out like Jeremiah the divine prophet, 'I have not wearied of going after thee, and
the day of a man have I not desired,' except that you despised such human honour, and
placed the observance of religion before all things? The thing, therefore, which has been
thus done by your Holiness is great without controversy, and all the believers who have
heard of it are already wondering at it, while hereafter also all the bond-servants of the
Lord who shall be hereafter will wonder at it, when it is duly proclaimed in all the holy
Churches. But it is no higher than the rest of your apostolic and truly sublime and holy
life. For it was truly fitting for you, who by unceasing energy in ascetic exercise have
mortified your earthly members, that you might speak in the words of Scripture, and with
Paul are able to say, 'I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live, yet now not I, but
Christ liveth in me,' after the manner of Moses the great to esteem the reproach of Christ
greater riches than the treasures of this world, and to choose rather to be afflicted with
the people of God than to enjoy the temporal pleasure of sin.

"For I, who am feeble, judge that it is on account of my shortcomings that I endure all
the troubles which befall me; but, since I am bound to represent the Church which is under
the evangelical throne, which is now enduring many ills (and how many it is enduring is
not easy to say), therefore in due season I say as the divine Paul said, 'As the
sufferings of Christ abound in us, so also is our consolation great in Christ.' For the
fact that you, the pious chief priest and patriarch of the royal city, should use boldness
on behalf of the right and apostolic faith, and should be eager to show that in respect of
the strict observance of the divine doctrines you are of one mind and one accord with
Severus, the holy patriarch of the Eastern Churches, has almost made me forget in the
evangelical see and acceptation of the divine Mark the whole of the troubles which are
upon us. For, 'what thanks can we render to God?' For this apostolic saying also do I use
on account of the help with which He has helped His holy Churches, who has now stablished
you as a stablisher of these, and as a foremost fighter in the danger to religion. For you
have shown, O pious man, that you have dwelling in you the holy utterance of the Lord,
which says, 'Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul; but
rather fear Him which is able to destroy soul and body in hell,' and that you 'reckon that
the sufferings of this time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be
revealed in us.' While, therefore, your spiritual light so shines before men, God is
glorified in this great increase of those that are being saved, which His true Church
receives.

"So it is with joyful exultation and delight that I have canonically received your piety's
letter of concord and union, which has just been brought to me, because the holy patriarch
Severus above mentioned told me beforehand that it was coming to me, who is the cause of
all blessings and benefits to the Church of Christ and to me; and he has also sent me, as
befitted him, a copy of what you canonically wrote to one another, which also made it
clear that your communion was brought about with great caution and great benefit. And,
while inditing this letter with my whole heart, I say the same things to your Holiness
which also I wrote to him, that I confess as the one definition of faith and accept that
which was laid down by our three hundred and eighteen holy fathers at Nicaea through the
Holy Spirit, and ratified by the Synod of one hundred and fifty and by that at Ephesus,
which was assembled by our father Cyril, who in the twelve chapters rejected Nestorius;

and I accept also the formula of Zeno uniting the Churches, which aimed at the annulling
of the Synod of Chalcedon and of the Tome of Leo, while I confess that God the Word, of
the nature of the eternal Father, Light of Light, Very God of Very God, became incarnate
and also became man by the Holy Spirit and of Mary the ever-virgin, in flesh endowed with
a soul and an intellect after our nature, and was made like unto us in everything except
sin, for, 'sin He did not, neither was guile found in His mouth,' as the Scripture said.
For it was right and just that the nature which was vanquished in Adam should in Christ
put on a crown of triumph over death. And so also the apostle said, 'Since the children
partook of flesh and blood, He also in like manner partook of the same, that through death
He might bring to naught him that had the power of death, that is, Satan, and might
deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to sin.' But, if we
were vanquished in another nature, and the Word of God did not partake of it or make the
same flesh which was assumed from us and personally united to Him impassible and immortal
through the union with Him, as some foolishly say, our faith is vain, because it is no
great thing that Satan should be vanquished by the Lord;

but in a body which was passible and of our nature He suffered innocent passions, and
underwent death, and trampled on the sting of sin, and dissolved the power of death. Now,
if He received the seed of Abraham, and in everything was made like unto us His brethren
except sin, as the wise Paul said, and through death, which He underwent in His own flesh,
vanquished Satan, who had the power of death, while He remained beyond the assault of
passions in that He is recognised to be and is justly God, on account of His victory we
glory, because we have been delivered from the yoke of bondage. Who is there, therefore,
who will not marvel at the accuracy of the divine words, which everywhere supply due
direction and in the same words refute the 'semblance' of Eutyches, and those who are like
him, and the doctrine of Nestorius? For he says that Christ partook of our likeness in
flesh and blood; and, that no one might think that He did so in phantasy, he went on to
say that He partook of the same that through death He might bring to naught the power of
death.

"Moreover they contend against those who divide the one Christ into two natures by the
example of children. For, as the child and the man, who is made up of soul and body, is
one out of two, and the two are called one nature, though the soul was not converted into
flesh nor the body changed into the essence of the soul; so also Christ, who consists of
the two elements, the Godhead and also the manhood, which have a perfect existence, each
in its proper sphere, is one and is not divided; and the union is not confused in Him in
that [He united to Himself personally flesh of our nature and] allowed it in all the
dispensation to be passible and mortal (but the same was holy without sin), and by the
Resurrection made and rendered it impassible and immortal and in every way incorruptible.
For our former father Cyril said, 'He first raised His body in incorruption, and He first
exalted it to heaven.' So believing therefore, I anathematise such and such."

And the rest, consisting of the greeting in the epistle. [Note to the online edition:
footnotes have been moved to the end. Footnotes concerned only with bits of Syriac and
Greek have been omitted because of the time it would take to transcribe it.] 1. Cf. bk. 6,
ch. 6. 4. The text has "Alexandria," but Halicarnassus is obviously meant, as in the
heading of the chapter below. 5. This seems to refer to the MS. from which the scribe was
copying, as the prologue of Moro is not inserted at this place in our MS. 7. Bk. 7, ch.
14; 8, 1. 8. See bk. 6, ch. 6. 9. Mich. fol. 167 v, 168 r; Greg. p. 78. 11. Mich. fol. 162
r. 12. Mich. fol. 161 r. 13. Probably Timostratus (Wright, C. B. M. p. 559). 14. The text
has "Justinian," but clearly Justin must be meant. 15. Perhaps Hieriphthum (Gelzer, Geo.
Cypr, p. 159).

16. Perhaps the "Simas" of Procopius {Bell. Pers. i. 13). 17. ...The Herulians, whom the
Greeks frequently called Helouroi, are meant. 19. Mich. fol. 168r; Greg. pp. 78, 79, 22.
Syr. " sister's son." 23. The native title of the tribal chief: Arm. bdeashkh. See
Noeldeke, I.e. note 2. 24. This number cannot be right, as Martyropolis was N. of the
Tigris, 240 stades from Amida and 100 from Attachae (Proc. Bell. Pers. i. 21). 26. Lit.
"was moving all the stones." 28. Seebk. 7, ch. 3 (p. 153). 29. Or October. It is not
stated whether it was the 1st or the 2nd Theshrin. 31. The rest of this chapter and the
following chapter are contained in Cod. Rom. 32. Mich. fol. 168 r. 35. "Dion." fol. 182
v*; cf. Jo. Mal. p. 477. * In the Paris transcript. I take the reference from the analysis
of " Dionysius," published by M. Nau in the Revue de l'Orient Chrétien, Suppl. trim. 1897,
fasc. 4.

38. Mich. fol. 168 r; Greg. p. 79. 39. Mich. fol. 181 r; Greg. H. E. p. 211. 40. Perhaps
something has fallen out before this sentence. Mich. has "but, after Julian had written
that it was his opinion, and the holy man had answered him twice, and he would not obey."
41. I supply these words from Mich. 42. These letters are contained in Add. MS. 17,200 and
in Cod. Syr. Vat. 140, from which last extracts are given by the Assemani (Bibl. Vat. MSS.
Catal. vol. iii. p. 323 ff.). Both these give the Syriac translation of Paul of
Callinicus. Our author's translation is independent. 43. Mich. fol. 181 r. 44. Cyr. Ep. 45
(Migne, Patrol. Graec. vol. lxxvii. p. 236). 45. Cyr. de Rect. Fid. ad Theod. Imp. 22. 46.
I cannot find this in the Quod Beata Maria Sit Deipara. 47. Possibly something has dropped
out here. See the quotation in ch. 13 (p. 238); and so Paul. Call. Mich., however, has the
same as our text, so that no alteration should be made in it.

48. i Cor. xvi. 14. 49. Mich. fol. 181 v. 50. Text, "Theodosius." Paul of Callinicus,
however, has "Athanasius," and so Mich. 51. Here begins a short extract in Cod. Rom. 52.
Here the extract in Cod. Rom. ends. 53. Cyr. de Rect. Fid. ad Theod. Imp. 21. 54. Cyr. op.
cit. 22. 55. Mich. fol. 181 ff. 56. Job xxi. 22. 57. Prov. ii. 6, 7. 58. Here begins an
extract in Cod. Rom. 59. Rom. iii. 28. 60. Jas. ii. 20. 61. Gal. iii. 9. 62. Rom. iv. 5.
63. Jas. ii. 21-24. 64. Ex. iv. 22. 65. Col. ii. 11, 12. 66. Rom. iv. 9, 10. 67. Gen. xv.
5, 6. 68. Jas. ii. 20-23. 69. Gen. xvii. 26, 27. 70. Gen. xxii. 2. 71. Cod. Rom. here
inserts in the margin a sentence from bk. 10, ch. 9 (see p. 313), which Mai prints as if
it were part of the text.

72. Gal. v. 6. 73. I Cor. xiii. 4-8. 74. John xiv. 15. 75. Prov. viii. 9. 76. Here the
extract in Cod. Rom. ends. 77. Paul. Call. has "Felicissimus." 78. Gal. v. 15. 79. Ep.
III. ad Sev. (Add. 17,200, fol. 9 r). 80. Add. 17,200, fol. 38 ff. (Latin translation in
Mai Spicilegium Romanum, x. p. 169). 82. Mich. fol. 171 ff. 83. Tit. iii. 9. 84. i Cor.
xi. 16. 85. I do not know whence this is taken. 86. Dion. Areop. de Div. Nom. i. 4. 87.
This is not in the extant portions of the Sermo de Fide. 88. Mansi, vii. pp. 456, 457. 89.
Jo. Eph. Frag. (Anecd. Syr. ii. p. 386). 92. This is not in the text. 93. According to the
heading the petitioners were not monks but bishops. In Mich., however, they are called
"bishops and monks." 94. Cf. Evag. iv. ii.

95. Ex. xiv. 3. 96. Heb. vi. 13, 14. 97. Eccles. viii. 2. 98. Prov. xx. 8. 99. Prov. xx.
26. 100. Deut. xiv. 29. 101. Prov. xvi. 13. 102. i Pet. ii. 22. 103. Quoted shortly from
the third letter of Severus to Julian (Add. MS. 17,200, fol. 17). 104. Job xxx. 23. 105.
John iv. 35. 106. Rom. xii. 21. 109. The rest of this sentence is contained in Cod. Rom.
Instead, however, of "and is rich and fertile," it has "and the chief city and capital of
the country is called Carthage." 110. I.e. Arians—followers of the Synod of Ariminum. 112.
Cf. Jo. Mal. p. 479. 113. I.e. Theodoric; see bk. 7. ch. 12. 114. Or Demonicus. 115. Lit.
"from the reading of the Scriptures." Possibly some words have fallen out. 116. Jo. Eph.
Fragm. (Anecd. Syr. ii. p. 386). 117. 535-6. In chs. 15 and 16 the date is rightly given
as the thirteenth year of :he Indiction (534-5).

118. Cf. Evag. iv. 10. 119. Mich. fol. 170. 120. What follows is contained in an
abbreviated form in Add. MS. 12,154, fol. 151. 121. Mich. I.e.; Greg. H. E. p. 205 ff.
122. ... Asylus of Rhesaina is mentioned in Elijah's life of John of Constantia (ed.
Kleyn, p. 59), whence I follow the reading of 17,202. 123. Wright, C. B. M. pp. 493-501.
124. This sentence is not in 17,202, but, being in 12,154 (which, however, omits the
portents following) and in Mich., it must be presumed to have formed part of the original
text. 126. Cf. Evag. iv. 11. 127. Here the extract in 12,154 breaks off owing to the loss
of a leaf in the MS. 128. This passage is repeated in a ninth cent, chronicle in Brit.
Mus. Add. MS. 14,642, fol. 29 v, which, however, in place of ... has ..., "and he tore it
with his teeth."

129. Mich. fol. 178. 130. Gen. xxxv. 2, 3. 131. Job xviii. 8-10. 132. Isa. xliii. 1-3.
133. Lev. xxvi. 16. 134. 2 Cor. ii. 11. 135. Mich. fol. 174. 136. Luke xii. 48. 137. Ps.
xxiv. 3. 138. Gen. xviii. 27. 139. Ps. xxii. 6. 140. Ps. cxix. 53. 141. Tit. iii. 7. 142.
The reference seems to be to Isa. xl. 9. 143. Greg. Naz. Or. xl. 45. 144. After this name
the names of Theodoret and Andrew are accidentally repeated in the MS. 145. I do not know
from what part of Basil's works this quotation is taken. 146. Given by Mich. 147. Mich.
fol. 174. 148. The sentence, as it stands, is ungrammatical, but this is clearly the
meaning; there is the same difficulty in Mich. 149. 2 Cor. ix. 15. 150. Gen. xxi. 33. 151.
This is an awkward construction, and we should perhaps insert a word, rendering
"resembling us in our passions."

152. I Cor. xv. 3. 153. i Cor. xv. 21, 22. 154. Heb. ii. 14-17. 155. Probably some words
have dropped out in this sentence. 156. Eccles. iii. 14. I owe this reference and the
translation of the difficult sentence which follows to Dr. Hamilton. I can scarcely think
that this sentence represents what Severus wrote, but, as Mich. has practically the same,
any corruption must be older than our author. See p. 277, note 2. 157. Mich. fol. 175.
158. The reference is probably to I Cor. xiv. 2, as Dr. Hamilton suggests. 159. A fragment
of the letter not contained in our author is found in Add. MS. 12,155, fol. 110, and the
whole intervening portion, including this fragment, is given in Mich. 160. Sir. xxvii. 1.
161. Hab. ii. 1. 162. Ps. cix. 28. 163. Heb. xii. 22, 23. 164. Sir. xxvii. 25. 165. Eph.
iv. 2.

166. Isa. xxvi. 1. 167. Mich. fol, 175 ff. 168. Judg. i. 3. 169. Severus must have written
"their open attacks"; but, as Mich. also has the singular possessive, we must not emend.
See p. 277, note 2. 170. Job xxvii. 6. 171. Josh. xxii. 31, iv. 24. 172. Mich. "beyond the
other evangelists." 173. John xx. 19. 174. MS. Theopomptus. 175. Mich. " with us." 176. I
Sam. xi. 1, 2. 177. Ps. lxxix. 4. 178. Mich. fol. 176, 177 r. 179. Rom. viii. 35. 180.
Jer. i. 9, 10. 181. Acts ix. 15. 182. Lit. "shot at with arrows." 183. Isa. xlv. 8. 184.
Given in Mich. 185. Mich. fol. 177. 186. I Cor. i. 27, 28. 187. Ezek. iii. 17, 18. 188.
Sir. ii. 10, 11. 189. John x. 29. 190. Or, "wind." 191. Greg. Naz., Or. xl. 45. 192. Mich.
fol. 177 v. 193. Jer. xvii. 16.

194. Gal. ii. 20. 195. Heb. xi. 25, 26. 196. 2 Cor. i. 5. 197. I Thess. iii. 9. 198. Matt.
x. 28. 199. Rom. viii. 18. 200. What follows in our text is omitted by Mich. 201. Not in
the letter given above (ch. 24), but in the letter of Theodosius to Severus upon his
election to the see (Brit. Mus. Add. MS. 14,602, fol. 2-4). 202. I Pet. ii. 22. 203. Heb.
ii. 14, 15. 204. Mich. fol. 177 v, 178 r. 205. The sentence, as it stands in the text, is
unintelligible, and from a comparison with the letter to Severus in Add. 14,602 it is
clear that the bracketed words have fallen out. 206. I do not know the source of this
quotation.


THE SYRIAC CHRONICLE
====================

THE SYRIAC CHRONICLE continued

BOOK X

IN this tenth Book also and in the sixteen chapters contained in it, which are set forth
below, are included the events which successively happened from the year fifteen, the year
eight hundred and forty-eight according to the era of the Greeks,down to the end of the
year thirteen, the year eight hundred and fifty-nine of the Greeks, still in the time
which is concerned with this serene king of our day, Justinian. The first chapter,
concerning Ephraim, who went down to the East. The second, concerning the doings of Bar
Khili at Amida in the years fifteen and two. The third, concerning Cyrus, a presbyter of
the town of L'gino, who was burned in the tetrapylon of Amida. The fourth, concerning the
epistle of Rabbulo of Edessa to Gemellinus of Perrhe about those who eat the sacrament
like ordinary bread. The fifth, concerning the dedication of the church at Antioch, and
also the Synod which was assembled by Ephraim.

The sixth, concerning Khosru, king of Persia, who went up and took Sura and Berrhoea and
Antioch. The seventh, concerning Belisarius, who went down and took Sisaurana, a fortress
in Persian territory. The eighth, concerning Khosru, who went up and took Callinicus and
the other camps on the frontier of the Euphrates and the Chaboras. The ninth, concerning
the plague of tumours. The tenth, concerning Martin and Justus, who entered Persian
Armenia and returned. The eleventh, concerning Khosru, who went up to Edessa and did not
take it, and returned. The twelfth, concerning James and Theodore, the pious believing
bishops, who were consecrated and sent to the East and intrusted with the leadership. The
thirteenth, concerning the country of Lazica, which was conquered by Khosru. The
fourteenth, concerning the lack of corn and the scarcity of vegetables which occurred in
the years nine and ten. The fifteenth, concerning Rome, which the barbarians took and
sacked.

The sixteenth, concerning the decorations and buildings of Rome.

Chapter 1

When Severus and Anthimus, the believing chief priests, had been driven out by the king,
as mentioned in the ninth Book above, and had withdrawn from the royal city on the arrival
of Agapetus of Rome, who soon after died at the end of the month of March in the year
fourteen, as also did Sergius the archiatros, who brought him, then Ephraim, who held the
see of Antioch in the East, was strengthened and invigorated, and upon his sending a
message [to the king] (? there was sent [a force of Romans] (? and Clement[inus the
tribune (?): and] he received orders in the year fifteen to traverse the Eastern
jurisdiction and to go all round it, and himself to give admonition in words, while
Clementinus was to use force to make the inhabitants of the cities in the East accept the
Synod, as had been done by the natives of Italy, the land of Rome. And this same Ephraim,
accompanied by Clementinus, went [to] Berrhoea and Chalcis and Hierapolis and Batnae and
Edessa, and to Sura and to Callinicus and the rest of the frontier, and to Rhesaina and to
Amida and to Constantia; and he induced many persons to submit, some by words and by
promising them the friendship of the king, and some by fear of threats and also exile and
spoliation of goods and degradation from their ranks and exclusion from all trades;

and others they hunted and drove from country to country, among them the monks, who were
found approved in the faith and true believers in time of trial. And, as the winter was a
severe one, so much so that from the large and unwonted quantity of snow the birds
perished and . . . , there was distress . . . among men . . . from the evil things. And
... in various countries . . . From the hill of Singara [in the land] of the Persians they
took (?)... John, the believing [bishop] of Constantia, [by means of] a man named
Cons[tantius (?)], and he was imprisoned in A[n]t[i]o[ch] and afflicted and ... he would
not change but continued . . . until the beginning of the year one [in] prison [and there]
ended [his life] . . . and they were expelled . . . and lived in [various] countries ...
[until] the year three. . . . Khos[r]u . . . and went up [to] S[ura] and Berrhoea and
Anti[o]ch. Now Theodosius of Alexandria was summoned by the king to come to him, and went
up with a few bishops from his jurisdiction; and he would in no wise accept the Synod of
Chalcedon, until in the year one Paul was appointed to the see. And, when Theodosius and
the bishops who were with him came before the king, their [arrival] was announced by
letterto Ephraim . . . thence . . .

But The[odosius and those who were] with him [appeared] before the king and . . . , and
without . . . , and they were removed . . . , and there they lived, and the queen was
studious in showing them honour, and no one [of] their acquaintances or other discreet men
was prevented from seeing them [or] ministering to them. . . . Now there went up ... in
[the year fif]teen, and also (?) . . . the king . . . much . . . he told him about [a ...
man] named But . . . , [who plotted] a rising in Dara in the summer of the year, who was
put to death. And he freed the king from distress of mind, but in what way I have not sure
enough information to state, and therefore keep silence. And, because Paul who succeeded
Th[eo]d[osius] (?) in the see . . . , he shut up ... on account of zeal for the faith [in]
a bath and suffocated him; and this man's son he arrested and put in the guard-house, that
he might not make his father's death known. But it so happened that he escaped and made
his way to the queen, and through the believers who knew his father he told the news of
his fearful death. And on this account Ephraim of Antioch was sent to Alexandria, and
Abraham Bar Khili [accompanied him]; and, as they passed through Palestine, they took with
them a monk named Zoilus. And they went to Alexandria and] investigated the action of
Paul; and they drove him from his see and enthroned Zoilus, a Synodite, in the city: and
in order to protect this man from the violence [of] the people of the city they appointed
Acacius Bar Eshkhofo of Amidatribune of the Romans there.

Chapter 2

THE SECOND CHAPTER OF THE TENTH BOOK, CONCERNING THE DOINGS OF ABRAHAM [BAR KHILI AT
AMIDA] (Here the MS. breaks off. The words in brackets I supply from the headings in the
introduction to this Book. The whole of this chapter and the following are missing.)

Chapter 4. From the Epistle Written by Rabbulo to Gemellinus, Bishop of Perrhe, About
those who Insult the Mysteries and Support Themselves upon Them Like Common Bread

"I have heard that in your country of Perrhe certain of the brethren, whose cloisters are
not known, and others of the distinguished archimandrites of the place, have falsely given
out concerning themselves the vain report that they do not eat bread, and have lyingly
uttered of themselves the empty boast that they do not drink water, and have asserted of
themselves that they abstain from wine. Accordingly I am afraid to mention that I have
heard that they insult the body and blood of Jesus, the Son of God; but, since necessity
constrains me, I will, as is right, be bold to say things which are what these men are not
afraid to do, who madly and without discrimination offer the body and blood of Jesus
Christ our Lord, that is, the holy and hallowing body which they have received and the
living and life-giving blood which they have drunk. These men, whom I do not know how to
name, are said impiously to satisfy the constant wants of their natural hunger and thirst
upon it, and it is impossible for them of their own will to go even one day without the
oblation, which is their sustenance; but continually every day a large quantity of food is
supplied by the sacrament. And for this reason also they richlyleaven the particle which
they prepare, and diligently dressit, and carefully seethe it, that it may serve them for
food, and it is not treated as the mystery of the body of Christ, symbolised in unleavened
bread.

And for the rest it is said that, whenever hard pressed, they even offer common
unconsecrated bread over one another's hands and eat it. And it is said to be their
practice, when walking from one place to another or going on a long journey, to satisfy
their natural hunger and thirst on the same body of our Lord two or three times in one
day, and, as soon as they have reachedtheir destination, in the evening they are said
again to offer the oblation and partake of it as if fasting; nay, even in the holy days of
the fast of Lent they presume to act in this manner without fear of God and without shame
before men. And men who, as they say, refrain from bread and water every day are found to
eat the holy bread and drink the blessed wine on such glorious days, on which even the
vile themselves abstain.

"Now the Spirit that is in me, holy brother ours, bears witness for me that I tremble to
write to your reverence all that I have heard about them, because my heart could not
really believe it: and I would it had been possible for you to have known what I wish to
learn without an epistle or a word from me, and for these same men to have received
correction from your uprightness, because neither did I wish that either you, my lord, or
they should know what is rumoured about them. Do not then think yourself or let them
suppose that it is because I believe the evil report about them that I write these same
things to you concerning them; but, being still in doubt, I say to others also that it is
impossible that such a great sin should be committed by men who have ever been baptized in
Christ. For they say that, as soon as they have performed the sacrament in the paten, they
lightly (?) eatas much as they want of it, while the cup of the blood each of them tempers
with hot water, whenever they can, like mixed wine and drinks it, and again fills it and
gives it to his neighbour; so that owing to the quantity of wine which they drink under
the name of the sacrament they are often obliged actually to spit it out of their mouth.

"O what transcendent impiety, if it is the fact that these men, despising their life, have
converted the revered vessels of the sacrament, which on account of the mysteries
contained in them even for spiritual heavenly purposes men fear to approach boldly, into
vessels of service for their belly, and did not even so much as remember the punishment
which Belt'shatstsar, the heathen king, received and was reproved! For, because in the
vessels of the service of God he purposed to insult God like a rebel by using them in a
carnal fashion, the likeness of a palm of a hand that wrote was sent from on high to write
on the wall of his house the righteous sentence of condemnation for his presumption:
though how indeed can the vessels of service of the temple in Jerusalem be compared to the
glorious vessels of service of the body and blood of the Son of God? For neither is the
showbread of the priests of Israel in any way worthy to be compared to the glory of the
transcendent mystery; and, if so be any man likens the bread of the table, which David ate
when he was hungry, to the life-giving body of God the Word, we ought to look upon him as
a foolish man who does not distinguish the body and blood of the Lord from showbread:
wherefore he is an offender against the body and blood of our Lord.

For the showbread scarcely cleansed a bodily pollution, even when baptisms of various
kinds were combined with it and observance of this and that: but this life-giving body and
blood of our Lord Jesus not only purged and hallowed the sin of the soul and of the body
in those who received it with faith, but also caused God to be in us, and that by His
Spirit, as we are in Him by our body; for, 'Whoso eateth My body and drinketh My blood,'
says the Son of God, 'he is in Me and I in him, and I will raise him up at the last day.'
In another way again we may understand the greatness of this service, which is a new one,
delivered to us by God the Word, from the hard and severe punishment which Paul pronounced
against those who have enjoyed it, beyond that received by those who offend against the
old service introduced by Moses;

for he said, 'If so be he who transgressed against Moses' law died without mercy at the
mouth of two or three witnesses, of how much sorer punishment will he be worthy who hath
trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of His covenant as that of
an ordinary man, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of His grace, wherewith we were
sanctified.' Who is there, therefore, who is so mad as to compare this bread of life,
which came down from heaven by virtue of its union with God the Word and gives life to the
world, to the showbread with its earthly seasoning? But the opinion of anyone who thinks
or acts in this manner is manifest and is, moreover, clearly apparent, for he who thus
madly receives it reckons it to be in fact common bread, as he sees it, and does not
believe the Son who says, 'The bread which I will give is My body, which is given for the
life of the world;' for it follows that not only is the bread in the body of Christ, as is
seen by them, but in the bread is the body of the invisible God, as we believe and receive
the body not to satisfy our bellies but to heal our souls.

For those who eat the holy bread in faith do in it and with it eat the living body of God
the Sanctifier, and those who eat it without faith receive sustenance, as with other
things necessary for the body. For, if the bread is carried off and eaten by enemies by
violence, they eat common bread, because those that eat it have not faith, which perceives
its sweetness: for the bread is tasted by the palate, but the virtue which is hidden in
the bread is tasted by faith. For that which is eaten is not only the body of our Saviour,
as we said a little before, but whatever is mingled with it, as we believe: for the virtue
which is not eaten is mingled with the edible bread, and to those that partake of it
becomes one with it, even as the hidden heavens mingle with the visible water, and from
them a new birth is born. For the Spirit secretly hovers over the visible water, so that
from it a likeness of the heavenly Adam is born anew. And, just as in the visible water,
in order that it may impart to all who are outwardly baptized in it, there is invisible
life, so also in the external bread food is hidden and concealed, of which everyone who
rightly partakes obtains immortal life; and we believe the saying of Paul, that those who
receive it slightingly obtain from it injury to soul and body and are not profited, even
if they are reckoned among the believers.

And would that they obeyed the saying of the apostle, who says, 'And let a man examine
himself, and then let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup; and he that eateth of
it when he is not fit for it eateth and drinketh condemnation to himself! And the same
proclaims by his words that it is on account of our enmity against the body and blood that
the various infirmities and unexpectedly sudden death have befallen us by a righteous
judgment. "By reason of this happen most of the diseases and sicknesses, and the fate of
those who fall asleep suddenly. But, if we judged ourselves, we should not be judged. But,
when our Lord judges us, He gives us a discipline, that we may not be condemned with the
world. And, if those who were in the fixed days of service were now to partake, they would
receive one substance only of the body of life. If it be done without the sorrow of
repentance, and men do not receive it in faith with reverent fear, even if they do not
also commit a deed contrary to their faith, then they are guilty of the body and blood of
the Lord, as Paul said, because they do not discern the Lord's body. What punishment can
be too severe for this, too great even to be applied to the judgment of those who approach
it without fear and do not receive an aliment of faith, but a thing necessitated by their
hunger?

O, what insolence is this, to which the divine retribution is not equal, if it slays the
man! Who does not fear even heaven, when men satisfy the needs of their bodies on a coal
of devouring fire, as if it were common bread? Who is not frightened at this statement,
that of the coal on which our life depends, that which the seraph revealed to us, grasping
it with a fiery forceps in his hand, to signify the sublimity of our mystery, and, while
meditating upon it with reverence, approached to take hold of it, of this these men eat to
satiety and without fear? And before the body which is given for the life of the world
their heart does not quake and they are not afraid, and their hands do not tremble or
shake, and their knees do not slip that they should fall, when they eat it for the support
of bodily life. And perhaps we ought to say that our Lord also in His full knowledge of
all times knew the deed of these men; and for this reason, after they had eaten of the
legal passover and were satisfied, then blessed the bread and gave it to His disciples, in
order that these men might not say that, after He had blessed, they were satisfied (but,
after they were satisfied, He blessed, when the Master and His disciples took a small
particle of it);

and over the cup He said, 'Take, drink ye all of it,' that they might understand by this
that it was of this small cup of which twelve persons drank. "And it must needs be said
that they thought of themselves that they would attract the admiration of simple persons
(?)by their abstinence from bread and wine, and did not understand that the laughter of
the intelligent would defeat and overcome them, and would fall upon their heads,
prevailing over the praise of ignorant persons like them. Those who are like them have in
all this unpardonable sin accepted for themselves glory from perishing men, even though it
did not result to them. It is not fit that they should be named men, but, in justice, they
should be named rabid dogs: for the sign of rabid dogs is this, that they suddenly attack
the body of their master to eat it.

"And a man who has forbidden himself bread ought to be empty and not taste anything until
the time appointed for him. And this is well known that, when Saul enacted that no one
should taste anything on the day of battle until the evening, then Jonathan, because he
tasted some honey on the end of his rod, incurred the penalty of death, if it had not been
for the violence of the people until he was safe. For 'the foundation of the life of man
is bread and water,' says Jesus Bar Asira, the son of Simeon. (Under the name of bread he
extended his saying to all food. And they say of these men that, after they have received
the oblation in the morning, and partaken of it yet again in the evening, then they
lightly (? eat other food and lightly (? feed on dressed beet and pulse. They are said to
fill themselves on cheese instead of bread; they are, moreover, in the habit of eating
fish with all their pleasant taste; they sate themselves largely on delicious fruit, and
they delight in it particularly when dry, besides honey-combs and egg-cakes.

And, because the heat of the wine which they drink under the name of the Sacrament
inflames them more with thirst, all through the summer season they are said regularly to
drink the milk of sheep and goats;and this again they have done of set purpose, for they
have also discovered that the moisture and coolness of milk are found to temper the
perpetual burning which results from the wine in their excess. Now, because of these
things, and by reason of them, there is in due season uttered, as it shall be spoken,
against them also the righteous reproof of God which He pronounced to Eli because of his
sons: 'Behold! I have given you all the good things of the earth, that ye might use them
without sin; even as for them I set apart all the offerings of the children of Israel,
that they might enjoy them without guilt. Wherefore have ye also offended against My body
and My blood, like those who wrought wickedness against My sacrifices and against My
offerings?' And, since the impiety of these men against God has far surpassed the impiety
of those others, which was committed against the people, there has been fear and great
trembling in case they should suffer, lest also a punishment like that which went forth
against those should be pronounced against them. " 'Wherefore,' thus said the Lord, the
God of Israel, 'I said indeed that thy house and the house of thy father should minister
before Me for ever';

but now the Lord saith, 'Be it far from Me! for them that honour Me I will honour, and
they that despise Me shall be lightly esteemed.' " You see how He rejected them for ever
from the priesthood, and made them outcasts and aliens from His house. "Now, what shall I
say of men who are not in unison with the prophets of the Old Testament, nor yet resemble
the apostles of the New? For they ought at least to have learned from the chief of the
apostles, Peter, what his food was; since he has plainly stated in what his bodily life
consisted. For, when his chosen disciple, Clement, asked him to allow him to be his only
minister, he spoke thus to him, praising his zeal and jesting at his sustenance: 'Why! Who
is strong enough for all this ministry? Are we not continually eating bread and olives? or
perhaps it may be that sometimes there may also be a cabbage.' Moreover, have they not
also received a good tradition from Paul, the preacher of truth? For, behold! he also out
of the greatness of his need sent and sold his tunic, and with the price of it it is
written that they bought bread only and brought it to him with a cabbage, that by his
action he might lay down a law for us also, as in his saying, 'If we have food and
raiment, that is enough for us.' And, if it is a small thing for them to liken themselves
to the apostles, the baptizers of the world, let them imitate even the Lord of the
apostles, the Maker of the worlds, and of all that is in them; unless, perhaps, even the
human dispensation of our God is contemptible and vile in their eyes. For, behold!

as to our Lord, He has everywhere shown us that He ate bread; and the bread too was not of
wheat, but it was of barley, and so were the seven other loaves, which were fruitful and
multiplied at His word, and 4000 men ate of them and left seven baskets actually (? full
of bread. And, when He ate the passover with His disciples, unleavened bread was set
before Him. And also after His resurrection from the dead He ate bread with His disciples
for forty days, that the dispensation of our Lord and His fleshly assumption of a
bodymight be believed by them, as they themselves wrote: 'Jesus went in and out among
them.' And the house of Cleopas, because He did not wish them to recognise Him while
walking with them in the way, He blessed over bread and brake it for them within the
house, and then they knew Him.

"But these men, as I hear, do not follow in their deeds those that err, nor yet are they
in concord with the truth in their actions; for they are not circumcised like the
Marcionists, neither are they ascetic after the manner of Christians. For, behold! they
are not like those deniers of the truth who eat only pulse or bread, but do not presume to
commit a lie at their oblations, neither yet do they resemble us believers who eat common
bread in moderation and receive the support of our true life separately. "Why have these
gluttons not trained themselves, so that cheap things only might be enough for them? And
why have these guzzlers not accustomed themselves to repel the hunger of their belly with
something mean and vile? And wherefore do they not eat ordinary, simple, common bread
only? But it is plain that it is in order that they may not afflict themselves. But, if
they really wish to afflict their bodies, let them not sate themselves, but eat bread
only. And, behold! they are wasted and shrunk and reduced to weakness. But it is plain and
manifest that these men do not struggle with their bodies, nor yet do they wrestle with
Satan; but for the sake of vain glory they exercise themselves in the tricks of their evil
devices, and not in the afflictions of asceticism."

And further the rest of the epistle with proofs from the Scriptures.

Chapter 5

THE FIFTH CHAPTER, CONCERNING THE DEDICATION OF THE CHURCH WHICH EPHRAIM OF ANTIOCH
PERFORMED, AND THE SYNOD OF THE BISHOPS OF HIS JURISDICTION Ephraim, who was chief priest
in Antioch, rebuilt from its foundations the round-shaped church in Antioch and the four
triklinia adjoining it. And, when he performed the consecration of it, he assembled one
hundred and thirty-two bishops from his jurisdiction in the year one; and on the occasion
of the dedication of the church he received a contribution from each one of them, such as
he pleased, on a lavish scale. And he confirmed the Synod of Chalcedon in a document which
the bishops whom he had assembled were required to sign; and they anathematised the holy
Severus, the believing patriarch, and everyone who agrees with him and does not accept the
Synod. But God, who makes judgment for the. oppressed, after a short time roused up the
Assyrian against him and against the city, according to the words of the prophet, who
said, "The Assyrian is the rod of Mine anger and the whip wherewith I scourge: against a
profane people will I send him, and against a peevish people will I give him a charge, to
lead away captives and to take the prey." And two years afterwards, in the year three,
Khosru went up against Antioch, as described in the following chapter.

The rest of the tenth Book is wanting in Add. 17,202. The sixteenth chapter and a fragment
of the fifteenth are, however, contained in Cod. Rom., and the former exists also in a
shortened form in Brit. Mus. Add. MS. 12,154 (fol. 158), from which it is published by
Land. Part of the contents of chapters 6-15 may also be recovered from the fragments of
James of Edessa (Brit. Mus. Add. MS. 14,685, fol. 22), and from Michael and Gregory.
FRAGMENTS OF CHS. 6-8 FROM MICH. FOL. 173 R; GREG. P. 79, AND JAC. EDESS. L.C . In the
eleventh year of Justinian, which is the year eight hundred and fifty of the Greeks, in
the month of December (?) a great and terrible comet appeared in the sky at evening-time
for one hundred days. And that year the peace between the kingdoms was broken, and Khosru,
king of the Persians, went up and carried off captives from the cities of Sura and Antioch
and Berrhoea and Apamea and the districts belonging to them, a bitter captivity. And the
Romans also went down to Persia and carried off captives from the countries of Kurdistan
and Arzanene and Arabia.

Then Khosru went up against Callinicus with a great army, and carried off captives from it
and from the whole of the southern part of the land between the Rivers. [Moreover
Zachariah the Rhetor also writes concerning this scourge as follows.] In the Greek version
of the prophecy of Ezekiel is a passage referring to the plague of tumours; and instead of
what is stated in the Syriac language, "All knees shall flow with water," he says, "All
thighs shall be befouled with pus." And this plague, which is the rising of a swelling on
the groins and in the arm-pits of men, began in Egypt and Ethiopia and Alexandria and
Nubia and Palestine and Phoenicia and Arabia and Byzantium (?) and Italy and Africa and
Sicily and Gaul, and it penetrated to Galatia and Cappadocia and Armenia and Antioch and
Arzanene and Mesopotamia, and gradually to the land of the Persians and to the peoples of
the North-East, and it slew. And those who were afflicted (?) with the scourge and
happened to recover and not die trembled and shook: and it was known that it was a scourge
from Satan, who was ordered by God to destroy men.

In the city of Emesa was the head of John the Baptist, and many sought refuge with it and
escaped: and the demons were disturbed before men, being scattered (?) by the saint.
FRAGMENTS OF CHS. 10, 11 FROM JAC. EDESS. L.C., MICH. FOL. 173 R; GREG. P. 79 The Romans
went down and did much destruction in the country of Armenia. And again Khosru went up and
made an attack upon Edessa, and, not being able to take it, he carried off captives from
Batna; and departed. FRAGMENT OF CH. 12 FROM MICH. FOL. 186 V, AND GREG. HIST. ECCL. PP.
215, 217. And on account of the distress and scanty numbers of the pastors among the
Persians there was a man named Cyrus, a believing bishop, who consecrated and ordained
priests, and that from the year one down to this year eight. And, lest the heads of the
communities of believers should be blamed, or because the priests who were among the
Persians belonged to the opposite party (?), and they were assailed by affliction and
trouble, they procured provisions (?); and then after due deliberation they consecrated
and appointed chief priests in Arabia; and these were Theodore the monk, a strenuous man,
and James, the laborious and industrious, the very strenuous, who was then in the royal
city. And he was to be found everywhere, visiting and exhorting with readiness. And he was
a practiser of poverty and an ascetic, and swift on his feet, and travelled like 'Asahel.
And he was a presbyter in the monastery of the Quarry in the village of Gamuwa, which is
on the mountain of Izlo. And by the treaty which he concluded he rescued many from among
the Persians.

FRAGMENTS OF CHS. 13, 14 FROM JAC. EDESS. L.C.; MICH. FOL. 185 V; GREG. P. 81 Khosru, king
of the Persians, again went up and carried off captives from Petra, a city in Lazica, and
placed a garrison there. And from that time the Romans continued making attacks upon it
for seven years, and then the Persians were defeated and the Romans took it from them. And
at that time there was a scarcity of produce and a lack of the fruit of trees, in the year
nine, and there was a famine which destroyed soul and body, and it was followed by
emaciation such that a man ate 10 lbs. of bread at one time and whatever other kinds of
food he could get with it through greediness and hunger. And he became swollen and
inflated from the food, but was not satisfied, but was hungry and greedy for food, and
asked for bread to fill his belly, and so he died.

After this there was a plague among oxen in all countries, especially in the East, and it
lasted two years, until the lands remained untilled for lack of oxen.

Chapter 15

ABOUT THE SACK OF ROME, WHICH IN THE DAYS OF JUSTINIAN THE BARBARIANS TOOK AND SACKED [In
the eighteenth year of Justinian, which is the year eight hundred and fifty-seven of the
Greeks, the barbarians took Rome, the chief city of Italy; and since they could not guard
it, they established themselves in the camp by the side of it, while they left the city
deserted and empty.] In the third year after the sack of the city of Ilium, which was
sacked in the days of Samson and Eli the priest in Jerusalem, kings began to be set up in
the city of Rome, which was at first called Italy, and the kings who reigned in it were
called kings of the Latins. And in the days of Yotham and Ahaz, kings of Judah, Romulus
became king there, and he built up the city with great and noble buildings, and it was
called Rome after his name; and the kingdom of its inhabitants was called the kingdom of
the Romans from the time of Hezekiah the king.

Chapter 16

[FROM THE ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY OF ZACHARIAH, FROM THE SIXTEENTH CHAPTER OF THE TENTH
BOOK], ABOUT THE OBJECTS AND BUILDINGS IN THE CITY OF ROME Now the description of the
decorations of the city, given shortly, is as follows, with respect to the wealth of its
inhabitants, and their great and pre-eminent prosperity, and their grand and glorious
objects of luxury and pleasure, as in a great city of wonderful beauty. Now its pre-
eminent decorations are as follows, not to speak of the splendour inside the houses and
the beautiful formation of the columns in their halls and of their colonnades (?)and of
their staircases, and their lofty height, as in the city of wonderful beauty. It contains
24 churches of the blessed apostles, Catholic churches. It contains 2 great basilica,
where the king sits and the senators are assembled before him every day. It contains 3 24
great spacious streets. It contains 2 great capitols. It contains 80 golden gods. It
contains 64 ivory gods. It contains 46,603 dwelling-houses. It contains 1797 houses of
magnates. It contains 1352 reservoirs pouring forth water. It contains 274 bakers, who are
constantly making and distributing annonae to the inhabitants of the city, besides those
who make and sell in the city. It contains 5000 cemeteries, where they lay out and bury.
It contains 31 great marble pedestals. It contains 3785 bronze statues of kings and
magistrates. It contains, moreover, 25 bronze statues of Abraham, Sarah, and Hagar, and of
the kings of the house of David, which Vespasian the king brought up when he sacked
Jerusalem, and the gates of Jerusalem and other bronze objects. It contains 2 colossal
statues. It contains 2 columns of shells. It contains 2 circuses. It contains 2 theatres
and one. It contains 2 amphitheatres. It contains 4 beth ulde. It contains 11 imfiya. It
contains 22 great and mighty bronze horses. It contains 926 baths. It contains 4
orbilikon. It contains 14 tinon enkofitoriyon. It contains 2 parenamabole of special
bronze horses. It contains 45 sistre. It contains 2300 public oil-warehouses. It contains
291 prisons or aspoke. It contains in the regions 254 public places or privies. It
contains 673 emparkhe, who guard the city, and the men who command them all are 7. The
gates of the city are 37. Now the circumference of the whole city is 216,036 feet, which
is 40 miles; the diameter of the city from east to west is 12 miles, and from north to
south 12 miles.

But God is faithful, who will make its second prosperity greater than its first, because
great is the glory of all the might of the dominion of the Romans. The eleventh Book, the
first three chapters of the twelfth Book, and the beginning of the fourth chapter are
missing. [Note to the online edition: footnotes have been moved to the end. Footnotes
concerned only with bits of Syriac and Greek have been omitted because of the time it
would take to transcribe it.] 2. One of these numbers must be erroneous, for the
thirteenth year of the indiction ends with Aug. 31, 550, while the year 859 of the
Seleucids ends with Sept. 30, 548. The latter is probably right, as the fall of Rome, with
which the Book ends, was on Dec. 17, 546. 3. 537 and 539. 4. Text " L'gin." 5. 546 and
547. 6. Mich. fol. 173 v.

8. In this chapter the MS. is very much torn and obliterated. The words in brackets are
conjectural supplements. 9. This supplement is made probable by the account in Elijah's
life of John of Constantia (ed. Kleyn, p. 47). 11. The MS. is here very indistinct, and,
as Land's text is very incomplete, I give the text which I follow, conjectural supplements
being enclosed in square brackets: 15. 537- A year ending with—... can hardly in this
place be other than fifteen. 16. Or possibly Kut . . . 17. Mich.: "he suffocated his
archdeacon"; but I cannot get this from the letters remaining in our text. 18. I.e. son of
a cobbler. 19. Here the MS. breaks off. The words in brackets I supply from the headings
in the introduction to this Book. The whole of this chapter and the following are missing.
20. This letter is also published by Overbeck in his edition of Ephraim (p. 231 ff.) from
our MS. The beginning of it is quoted by Assemani (B. O. vol. i. p. 409), as from John of
Ephesus ap. "Dion." This extract bears no indication that it is part of a letter, and
varies considerably from our author.

21. Jo. Eph. ap. "Dion." (Assem., B. 0. i. p. 409); Mich. fol. 179ff. 22. We rather
require " to state." 23. Mich. "his body." 24. John vi. 54, 56. 25. Heb. x. 28, 29. 26.
John vi. 52. 27. Mich. "Son of God." 28. A comparison with Mich. shows that at this point
a leaf has been lost in our MS., which I supply from Mich. An extract from this portion is
also contained in Add. MS. 14,532, fol. 67, from which it has been edited by Overbeck (op.
cit. p. 230). The translation of the part which exists only in Arabic I submit with great
diffidence, having but a very superficial knowledge of that language. 29. Here the extract
in 14,532 begins. 30. Mich. "the body." 31. Here the extract in 14,532 ends. 32. I Cor.
xi. 28, 29. 33. i Cor. ii. 30-32. 34. ... Here the Syriac text again begins.

35. I insert "beet and" from Mich. 36. I Sam. ii. 30. 37. Mich. "listen to.' 38. Clem.
Hom. xii. 5, 6; id. Recog. vii. 5, 6. 39. Act. Paul. et Thecl. xxiii. (Syriac, Wright, pp.
147, 148; translation, pp. 129, 130). 40. i Tim. vi. 8. 41. Acts i. 21. 42. Mich. fol. 173
v. 44. There follow in the MS. the words [Syriac], "the sixth chapter," 45. The order and
contents of these passages agree so well with the headings at the beginning of this Book,
that I make no doubt that they are taken from our author. In general I follow Michael,
whose account is the longest. 47. Or January, it not being stated whether it was the 1st
or the 2nd Khonun. The month is only in Jac. Edess. 48. "In the sky" is only in Jac.
Edess. 49. So Jac. Edess. Mich. has "several days."

50. "The southern part" is only in Jac. Edess. 51. Mich. and Greg. afterwards relate the
capture of Antioch and Callinicus over again. As this second account occurs in similar
words in "Dionysius" (Cod. Syr. Vat. 162, fol. 71), who writes out John of Ephesus, and is
absent in Jac. Edess., it is almost certainly derived from John, a fact which strongly
confirms the previous conclusion that the account in the text is derived from our author.
52. Greg. (p. 80) also quotes a passage relating to the plague as from Zachariah; but only
the last sentence of this is identical with Mich.'s quotation, the rest being identical
with a passage quoted by Mich. from Jo. Eph. It is clear, therefore, that either Gregory
has erred or his text is corrupted. 53. Ezek. vii. 17. 54. This passage is written in the
margin of 9. 13 in Cod. Rom., where it is printed by Mai (p. 358) as part of the text (see
p. 242, note l).

55. Greg. "Libya." 56. The close correspondence of this account of the expedition against
Edessa with the heading of ch. 9 seems to show that it is derived from our author. Jac.
Edess., indeed, inserts the capture of Petra between the Armenian campaign and the
expedition to Edessa, but only by a slip, for the following sentence, " and from that time
the Romans were attacking it" etc. (see ch. 13), must refer to Petra, not to Edessa, as is
proved by the sense and by a comparison with Mich. 57. In Jac. Edess. only. 58. "And made
an attack" is in Jac. Edess. only. 59. That this passage is derived from our author is
shown by the use of the indictional years, which is not found in Jo. Eph. Moreover,
according to our author's own peculiar fashion the numerals are given in Greek. 60. "Of
Singara " is added by Greg.

62. This sentence (not in Greg.) is extremely obscure and probably corrupt. The real
meaning seems to be that many Monophysites had been carried off by the Persians. 63. Greg.
adds "a simple man." 64. In Mich. this clause is applied to Theodore, but is followed by
the words "This is my lord James Burd''oyo," which seem to be a gloss intended to point
out that they really belong to James. After this Greg. inserts "and they ordained him
oecumenical metropolitan." 65. Mich. "Active in his journeying, and travelled like a
courier." 66. Greg. adds, "and he began to go round the countries of the East and to give
ordination to the orthodox, showing himself in the dress of a beggar, and chiefly on the
roads from fear of the persecution." 67. That this passage comes from our author appears
from the juxtaposition of these two events, the campaign in Lazica and the famine, as in
the headings above, and from the use of the indictional reckoning with the numeral in
Greek; see note below.

68. So Mich. Jac. Edess. has "took." 69. Here Jac. Edess. interpolates the attack on
Edessa (see ch. 11, note). 70. 546. The translator of Mich., who alone records the date,
has ..., ''in the district of Hanata"; but no such place is known, and I have no doubt
that it is a misunderstanding of ..., which our author transliterates as ... at p. 249, 1.
7, 12; p. 258, 1. 9, 1. 71. The heading and the latter portion of the chapter are in Cod.
Rom. The first paragraph, which seems to be derived from the same source, I supply from
Mich. and Greg. (pp. So, 81). A portion of the Syriac Michael containing this paragraph
and the description of Rome in the next chapter has been edited by Prof. Guidi (Bull.
della Commiss. Arch. di Roma, xix. p. 61 ff.). 72. 546. This was the twentieth of
Justinian, and the fact that the same misreckoning is found twice in 12. 4 and once in 12.
5 tends to show that this sentence is derived from our author.

73. Mich. "the Romans." 74. Mich. adds, "of its people. And that you may know what loss to
the empire of the Romans was wrought at its capture, behold! I will write out an account,
though only in a summary, composed by one that knew and saw its buildings." 75. Mich. fol.
185 r. 76. This is the heading in 12,154 (see p. 311). Cod. Rom. has "a description of the
decoration of Rome." The chapter has been edited with an introduction, notes, and
translation by Prof. Guidi (Bull. della Commiss. Arch. ai Roma, xii. p. 218 ff.; cf. xix.
p. 61 ff.), from whose work I have derived much assistance. 77. Mich. (ed. Guidi); Notitia
ap. Jordan Top. der Stadt Rom, 2. 571. 78. ... Notit. "lacos". 79. .... Notit. "arci
marmorei XXXVI." 80. Mich. " and took the bronze gates and other objects." 81. A
misunderstanding of "columnae coclides."

82. ... 12,154 has [Syriac] " 3," and so Mich. Notit. " theatra III." 83. ... Notit.
"amphitheatra II." 84. .... Notit. "ludi IIII." Mich. Arab, adds [Syriac], "granaries."
85. ... (Guidi). Notit. "nymfea XV" (MS. B "XI). Mich. Syr. ..., Arab. ..., "places of
amusement." . 86. The MS. has ... "feeble," not ..., "bronze," as Mai; but we must read
..., and so Mich. 87. Mich. Syr. 56, Arab. "956," and so MS. B of Notitia: cet. "856." 88.
.... Notit. " Cohortes vigilum VII." 89. ... = Notit. "quorum excubitoria XIII," "quorum"
having been translated ..., and ... omitted by the Syrian (Guidi). 90. .... Notit.
"castra" (Guidi). 91. A mistranslation of "equitum singularium" (Guidi). 92. .... Notit.
"lupanaria XLV." MS. "46." Read "45" with Mich. 93. Notit. "horrea CCXC " (MS. B "
CCXCI"), so that ... is probably a corruption of ... (Duval in Guidi); but, as Mich. also
has "prisons," the corruption may have existed in our author's original text, and I
therefore do not emend. ...

94. This word (...) generally means "public baths"; but the translation in the text
accords with Notit. "latrinas publicae" (the Curiosum printed opposite adds "quod est
sicessos") "CCXLIIII." 95. ... (Guidi). Mich. Arab. ..., "custodians"; Notit.
"vicomagistri DCLXXII" (MS. B DCLXXIII). 96. Here 12,154 adds, "These are exclusive of
many things which we have not set down here. And these things the author set down while
weeping for the city, because in his time the barbarians entered it and sacked it." This
MS. omits the sentences containing corrupt or difficult words, as well as the introductory
and concluding sentences. Mich. (Arab. fol. 185 r) has, in place of the concluding
sentence, "Verily for the sack of this great city, which was completely burnt at this time
by a barbarian people, Justinian the king sorrowed exceedingly, and all the magnates of
the kingdom clothed themselves in mourning. And in those days the king's sorrow was
increased by the death of the queen, the blessed Theodora, who departed in the twentieth
year of the reign of Justinian, which is the year eight hundred and fifty-nine of the
Greeks, and he gave a large quantity of gold on behalf of her soul." Greg. (p. 81) has the
same in a shorter form.

BOOK XII

Chapter 4

[Note to the online text: book 11 and the first 3 chapters of book 12 are lost from the
manuscript.] . . . earnestly [admonished] her not to do this in a vile manner and injure
her spirit on account of the futurerighteous judgment. And she said to him, "How can I
worship Him, when He is not visible and I do not know Him?" And after this one day, while
she was in her park (and these things were in her mind), in a fountain of water which was
in the park she saw a picture of Jesus our Lord, painted on a linen cloth, and it was in
the water; and on taking it out she was surprised that it was not wet. And, to show her
veneration for it, she concealed it in the head-dress which she was wearing, and brought
it and showed it to the man who was instructing her; and on the head-dress also was
imprinted an exact copy of the picture which came out of the water. And one picture came
to Caesarea some time after our Lord's passion, and the other picture was kept in the
village of Camulia, and a temple was built in honour of it by Hypatia, who became a
Christian. But some time afterwards another woman from the village of Dibudin, mentioned
above, in the jurisdiction of Amasia, when she learned these things, was moved with
enthusiasm, and somehow or other brought one copy of the picture from Camulia to her own
village; and in that country men call it "a0xeiropoi/htoj," that is, "not made with
hands"; and, moreover, she also built a temple in honour of it. So much for these things.

In the twenty-seventh year of the reign of Justinian, the year three, a marauding band of
barbarians came to the village of Dibudin and burned it and the temple, and carried the
people into captivity. And certain earnest men, natives of the country, informed the
serene king of these things, and begged him to give a contribution and to have the temple
and the village restored (?) and the people ransomed. And he gave what he pleased. But one
of the men attached to the king's person in the palace advised him to have the picture of
our Lord carried on a circular progress through the cities by these priests, and a sum of
money sufficient for the building of the temple and the village collected. And behold!
from the year three until the year nine they have been conveying it about. And I believe
that these things happened under the direction of Providence, because there are two
comings of Christ according to the purport of the Scriptures, one in humility, which also
took place five hundred and sixty-two years before this year nine, which is also the
thirty-third of the reign of Justinian, and a future one in glory, which we are awaiting;
and this same thing is a type of the progress of the mystery and picture and wreathed
image of the King and Lord of those above and those below, which shall be quickly
revealed. And, indeed, I admonish my own self and my brethren, since there is fear of
falling into the hands of God, that every man devote himself to affliction and penitence,
for he shall be requited for his deeds; for the coming of our God, the righteous Judge, is
already near; to whom with His Father and the Holy Spirit be glory. Amen.

Chapter 5

THE FIFTH CHAPTER TREATS OF THE POWDER, CONSISTING OF ASHES, WHICH FELL FROM HEAVEN In
addition to all the evil and fearful things described above and recorded below, the
earthquakes and famines and wars in divers places, and the abundance of iniquity and the
deficiency of love and faith, which have happened and are happening, there has also been
fulfilled against us and against this last generation the curse of Moses in Deuteronomy,
when he admonished the people who had come out of Egypt, when they were just about to
enter the land of promise, and said to them, "If thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of
the Lord thy God, and wilt not observe and do all His statutes and His commandments, which
I command thee this day, all these curses shall come upon thee and overtake thee"; and a
little further on he speaks thus: "The Lord shall give for the rain of thy land powder;
and dust from heaven shall He send down upon thee, until He destroy thee. And He shall
smite thee before thine enemies; and thy carcase shall be meat unto the fowls of heaven
and unto the beasts of the earth, and there shall be no man to fray them away."

Such fearful things and more fearful things are coming; for in the year four, on the first
Sabbath, which is the Sabbath before the feast of unleavened bread, the heavens above us
were covered with stormy (?) clouds, brought by the east winds, and instead of the usual
rain and moistening water dropped upon the earth a powder composed of ashes and dust by
the commandment of God. And it showed itself upon stones and fell upon walls; and
discerning men were in fear and trepidation and anxiety, and instead of the joy of the
Passover they were in sorrow, because all the things that are written had been fulfilled
against us on account of our sins. Now it was the twenty-eighth year of this king. Now, as
regards the scope and sequence of the work, the book has brought us down in chronological
order as far as the year four; but as to one chapter, concerning an event which happened
here at the end of the year one, which before this year four we omitted, we have retraced
our steps like men on the sea through the violence of the waves and record it briefly, it
being as follows:—

Chapter 6. The Twelfth Book, Concerning Basiliscus, a Presbyter of Antioch, who Went to
Amida with Audono (?) the Duke

In the summer of the year one, when the year was now just drawing to an end, and a council
of bishops was being held in the royal city, certain men, their representatives in the
cities here, whose names I forbear to record, some of them, as I think, acting out of
jealousy (? of spite, wrote to their bishops, who were sojourning in the West, in order to
please them and also to gratify their ears, saying, "There are certain Schismatics, that
is, dividers, in the district, and especially in the land between the Rivers, who are
holding councils and are, as it were, attracting the whole people from one end to the
other to join them, and are in separation from our Church. And the bishops there brought
the communication which they had received before the king, and he ordered Audono (? the
duke, who was at Hamimtho, to investigate the matter in conjunction with Basiliscus, a
presbyter of Antioch; and they were to reconcile them, if willing, to the Church. And,
while the matter so stood, Bar Korgis, a presbyter of Amida, joined them at Hamimtho; and
he assembled the priests and the inhabitants of the villages in the district of the trench
and put constraint on them, as well as from the property, so to speak, of Dith, a
believing man, who had lately died, and from Ingilene and Tzophanene.

And, when these men reached the city of Amida, then they put pressure on the five chaste
cloisters of monks there with the intention of ejecting them; and they spoke with them and
listened to them. And they readily met them, and especially the gentle John the
archimandrite, of whom we have mentioned that he was providentially present, a Greek and a
grammarian, and the earnest Sergius, their visitor; which men stood at their head,
supported by the learned and believing men, John and Sobbo, and Stephen, an archiatros of
the city. And they did not expel the cloister societies of monks, but they retired to
Izlo. And, since Peter, the master of. the offices, arrived in the year two, and heard
from the monks about the threats made against them, he withdrew them. The duke he
restrained from again expelling the monks, and censured him.

Chapter 7

THE SEVENTH CHAPTER TREATS OF THE MAP OF THE WORLD WHICH WAS MADE BY THE DILIGENCE OF
PTOLEMY PHILOMETOR, KING OF EGYPT Now Ptolemy Philadelphus, king of Egypt, as the
Chronicle of Eusebius of Caesarea declares, two hundred and eighty years and more before
the birth of our Lord, at the beginning of his reign, set the Jewish captives in Egypt
free and sent offerings to Jerusalem to Izra'el, who was priest at that time; and he
assembled seventy men learned in the law and had the Holy Scriptures translated from the
Hebrew tongue into Greek; and he stored them up and kept them with him; for in this matter
he was indeed moved by God, in order to prepare for the calling of the nations who should
attain to knowledge, that they might be true worshippers of the glorious Trinity through
the ministration of the Spirit. Yet again about the space of one hundred and thirty years
after him Ptolemy Philometor also was honourably moved and exerted himself, and by means
of ambassadors and letters and presents, which he sent and dispatched to the rulers of the
countries of the nations, he urged them to write down and send to him the limits of the
lands under their sway and of the neighbouring peoples, and also a description of their
habitations and their customs. And they wrote and sent them to him except the northern
region extending to the East and to the West. And we have thought it necessary to write it
out here at the end for the understanding of the discerning. And the account is as
follows:—

[At this point follows an epitome of the geography of Claudius Ptolemaeus, whom our author
has taken for an Egyptian king. As no good purpose would be served by publishing a
translation of this section, I omit it. A portion of it is also contained under
Zachariah's name in Add. MS. 14,620, fol. 28, with considerable variations from our MS.
After the description of the province of Africa this MS. has the curious addition, "and
they speak Syriac and Latin. There is another addition to Ptolemy in the notice of the
Scenitae of Arabia Felix, where our author adds, "who are called Sabaeans," to which
17,202 further adds, "the same is Sh'ba," while in place of the Sabaeans, whom Ptolemy
mentions lower down, our author has "the Ofirians, the same is Ofir. These additions are
of course due to our author himself or some earlier Christian translator; but there are
others which point to a difference of reading. Thus in place of " 'Aqa&kai, Ai0qi/opej" he
has "others who live in the water, who eat fruit," and to the notice of the Sachalites he
adds, "from whence come pearls, and they sail on the water on bladders," an addition which
in Nobbe's text of Ptolemy is printed as the note of a Scholiast. Again to the notice of
the frankincense country in Ethiopia he adds, "thence comes beet. There are a few other
places where our author throws some light on Ptolemy's text.

Thus in place of the Pexi=noi of Ethiopia he has "cubit-men," and, therefore, perhaps read
Phxi=noi, while among the tribes of Arabia Felix in the place where Nobbe's text has
Dwrhnoi/ our author's reading [Syriac] (14,620, [Syriac]) shows that he read "Dwsarhnoi/,"
as in the text of Montanus. Other variations from Ptolemy's text are probably due to
carelessness or misunderstanding. There is, however, one peculiar variation, of which it
is hard to see the origin, in the account of Taprobane, where our author has "and their
women are deaf," the corresponding statement in Ptolemy being "[Greek]. I continue the
translation at p. 336, 1. 13, of Land's text.] This description of the peoples of the
world was made, as recorded above, by the exertions of Ptolemy Philometor and in the
thirtieth year of his reign, one hundred and fifty years before the birth of our Saviour,
so that the space of time from that day to the present, which is the twenty-eighth year of
the reign of Justinian, the serene king of our days, the eight hundred and sixty-sixth
year of Alexander, and the three hundred and thirty-third Olympiad, will be found to be a
space of seven hundred and eleven years. In such a space of time, therefore, how many
cities have been built and added among all peoples in the world from the time of Ptolemy
down to the present day, and especially since the birth of our Saviour! And peace has
reigned among nations and kindreds and tongues, and they have not observed their former
custom, nor has nation stood up to make war or to use their swords against nation, nor
have they contended in battle, in that the prophecy has been fulfilled in them which says,
"They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning-hooks."

And besides these there are also in this northern region five believing peoples, and their
bishops are twenty-four, and their Catholic lives at D'win, the chief city of Persian
Armenia. The name of their Catholic was Gregory, a righteous and a distinguished man.
Further Gurzan, a country in Armenia, and its language is like Greek; and they have a
Christian prince, who is subject to the king of Persia. Further the country of Arran in
the country of Armenia, with a language of its own, a believing and baptized people; and
it has a prince subject to the king of Persia. Further the country of Sisagan, with a
language of its own, a believing people, and there are also heathens living in it. The
country of Bazgun, with a language of its own, which adjoins and extends to the Caspian
Gates and sea, the Gates in the land of the Huns. And beyond the Gates are the Bulgarians
with their own language, a heathen and barbarous people, and they have cities; and the
Alans, and they have five cities; and the men of the race of Dadu (?), and they live on
the mountains' and have strongholds; the Unnogur, a people living in tents, the Ogor, the
Sabir, the Bulgarian, the Khorthrigor, the Avar, the Khasar, the Dirmar (?), the Sarurgur
(?), the Bagarsik (?), the Khulas (?), the Abdel, the Ephthalite, these thirteen peoples
dwelling in tents; and they live on the flesh of cattle and fish and wild beasts and by
arms; and beyond them the tribe of the pigmies and of the dog-men, and north-west of them
the Amazons, women with one breast each, who live entirely by themselves and fight in arms
and on horseback; and there is no male among them, but, when they wish to pair, they go in
peaceful fashion to a tribe near their country and hold intercourse with them for a month
of days and return to their country; and, when they bear a child, if it is a male, they
kill it, and, if it is a female, they preserve it alive; and in this way they keep up
their Tanks. And the tribe which lives near them is the Harus (?), tall, big-limbed (?)
men, who have no weapons of war, and horses cannot carry them because of the bigness of
their limbs (?). And to the east again verging on the north are three other black tribes.

Now in the land of the Huns about twenty years and more ago some men translated some books
into the native tongue; and the origin of it, which the Lord brought about, I will relate
as I heard it from certain truthful men, John of Rhesaina, who was in the monastery
founded by Ishokuni close to Amida, and Thomas the tanner, who were carried into captivity
when Kawad carried away captives fifty years and more ago. And, when they reached the
land. of. the Persians, they were again sold to the Huns and went beyond the gates and
were in their country more than thirty years; and they took wives and begot children
there. But after about this space of time they returned and told us the story with their
own mouths as follows:— After the coming of the captives from the land of the Romans, whom
the Huns had taken away with them, and after they had been in their country for thirty-
four years, then an angel appeared to a man named Kardutsat, bishop of the country of
Arran, as the bishop related, and said to him, "Take three pious priests and go out into
the plain and receive from me a message sent to thee by the Lord of spirits, because I am
guardian of the captives who have gone from the land of the Romans to the land of the
nations and have offered up their prayer to God. And he told me what to say to thee." And,
when this same Kardutsat, which, when translated into Greek, is Theokletos, had gone
zealously out into the plain and had . . , called upon God, he and the threepresbyters,
then the angel said to them, "Come, go into the land of the nations and warn the children
of the dead, arid ordain priests for them, and give them the mysteries, and strengthen
them; and behold! I am with you and will deal graciously with you there, and signs shall
ye do there among the nations, and all that is needed for your service ye shall find." And
four others went with them; and in a country in which no peace is to be found these seven
priests from evening to evening found a lodging and seven loaves of bread and a jar of
water. And they did not enter by way of the Gates, but were guided over the mountains.
And, when they reached the place, they told these things to the captives, and many were
baptized, and they made converts among the Huns also. They were there for a week of years,
and there they translated books into the Hunnic tongue.

Now at that time Probus happened to be sent on an embassy to those parts by the king, in
order to hire some of them to meet the nations in war. And, when he heard from the Huns
about these holy men and understood their story also from the captives, he was very eager
and desirous to see them. And he saw them, and received a blessing from them, and showed
them much honour before the eyes of those nations. And our king, when he heard from them
the facts recorded above, which the Lord so brought about, loaded thirty mules from the
territories of the neighbouring Roman cities and sent them to them, and also flour and
wine and oil and linen cloths and other commodities and sacramental vessels. And the
animals he gave as a present to them, because Probus was a believing and a kindly man. Now
another Armenian bishop also, whose name was Maku (?), was stirred to emulation by such
noble deeds and went out after two more weeks of years; and he was honourably moved and
went to the country of his own accord and some of his priests with him. And he built a
brick church and planted plants and sowed various kinds of seeds and did signs and
baptized many. When the rulers of these nations saw something new happening, they admired
the men and were greatly pleased with them and honoured them, each one among them inviting
them to his own district and his own people, and beseeching them to be his instructors:
and behold! they are there to this day. And this same thing is a token of the mercies of
God, Who cares for everyone that is His in every place. And henceforth it is the time
which is placed in His own power, that the fulness of the peoples may come in, as the
apostle said.

For for one week of years the king of Persia also, as those who know relate, has separated
himself from the eating of things strangled and blood, and from the flesh of unclean
beasts and birds, from the time when Tribonian the archiatros came down to him, who was
taken captive at that time, and from our serene king came Birowi, a perfect man, and after
him Kashowi, and now Gabriel, a Christian of Nisibis. From that time he has understood his
food, and his food is not polluted (?) according to the former practice, but rather it is
blessed, and then he eats. And Joseph also, the Catholic of the Christians, is high in his
confidence, and is closely attached to him, because he is a physician, and he sits before
him on the first seat after the chief of the Magians, and whatever he asks of him he
receives.

Out of kindness towards the captives and the holy men he has now by the advice of the
Christian physicians attached to him made a hospital, a thing not previously known, and
has given 100 mules and 50 camels laden with goods (?) from the royal stores, and 12
physicians, and whatever is required is given; and in the king's retinue (?) ... [Note to
the online edition: an index of names and things and an index of Greek words followed. I
have omitted these] [Note to the online edition: footnotes have been moved to the end.
Footnotes concerned only with bits of Syriac and Greek have been omitted because of the
time it would take to transcribe it.] 1. In the lost beginning of the chapter (?). 2. The
word ... generally expresses metropolitan jurisdiction, so that the expression is
equivalent to "in the province of Helenopontus." 5. There is perhaps a gap here, as Land
marks, though it is not certain that there ever was anything written there. So also in the
next line.

6. Deut. xxviii. 15. 7. Deut. xxviii. 24-26. 9. Summer 553. 11. This perhaps represents
the Teutonic Audwin or Aldwin; or we might make the easy correction... for ..., and
translate "Evodian." 12. It is probable that something has here dropped out. 13. In the
lost portion. After this it is probable that something has been lost, since the following
statements can hardly apply to John. In this case we may render "of whom we have mentioned
that [. . . , and X.,] who was providentially present." 15. El'azar is meant. 16. Ptol.
Geog. vi. 7. 21. 17. Ibid. vi. 7. 23. 18. Similarly in place of ... (vi. 7. 24) he has
"the mountains of Ofir." 19. Ptol. Geog, iv. 9. 3. 20. Ibid. vi. 7. 11. Montanus prints it
as part of the text, and so it is in the Athos MS. reproduced by Langlois. Wilberg
brackets it.

21. Ibid. iv. 7. 31. 22. Ibid. 23. Ibid. vi. 7. 23. ... is the reading of nearly all the
MSS. 24. Ibid. vii. 4. i. 26. Isa. ii. 4. 27. Probably the word " first " has dropped out.
28. I.e. Georgia or Iberia. 29. I.e. Abasgia. 30. This is probably a corruption or
confusion, as the Bulgarians are said above to .have had cities. The people here meant are
perhaps the "Bourou&goundoi" of Agath. v. 11. 31. Cf. Strabo, xi. 5. 1. 32. From Armenian
kardal, to call, and Astuats, God. 33. Rom. xi. 25. 34. ... At this point the MS. breaks
off, which makes it hard to tell the meaning of this word. ... Across the last page of the
MS. some illegible words are written in another hand.


ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY, THIRD PART
==================================

ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY, THIRD PART John of Ephesus

c. AD 507–588

John of Ephesus wrote his history of the Church in three parts. The first two are lost,
and the third part is a history of his own times, from about AD 571 to 585. The English is
R. Payne Smith’s translation of 1860. This volume prints his preface and the translation
of Books II and V.

TRANSLATOR’S PREFACE

THE Ecclesiastical History of John, Bishop of Ephesus, was discovered by Dr. Cureton among
the Manuscripts obtained by the British Museum from the convent of St. Mary Deipara, in
the desert of Scete, and published in the original Syriac at the Oxford University Press
in 1853. It was then his intention, as he mentions in the Preface, to have also undertaken
the task of making its contents generally available by means of an English translation;
but as more important labours have hitherto prevented the fulfilment of this duty, it has
now, with his consent, been undertaken by myself, and I am alone responsible for the
correctness with which it has been accomplished. The chief value of this history will be
found in its being contemporaneous with the events which it records; and as the author was
resident at Constantinople, and a busy actor in the scenes which he describes, he had the
best opportunity of obtaining accurate information : but, on the other hand, it refers to
a comparatively late period of the Church, and one to which no special importance has been
attached. Still, as a picture of the manners and feelings of the latter half of the sixth
century, it will not be without interest to the ecclesiastical student; especially as the
Eastern Church shortly afterwards was brought into collision with Mahometanism, and much
new information is given us respecting the Christian Arabs of Ghassan, who would naturally
be the representatives of Christianity to their countrymen.

The history, as originally composed, consisted of three parts, of which the first, as our
author tells us, commenced with the reign of Julius Caesar; but as it was probably nothing
more than an abridgment of Eusebius, its loss is not much to be regretted. The second part
must have contained many interesting particulars of the later emperors, and especially of
Justinian, but the extracts from it preserved in the Chronicle of the Jacobite Patriarch,
Dionysius, are principally concerned with a record of earthquakes and pestilences. From
one or two of them, however, we learn almost the sole facts respecting our author upon
which we can depend. The third, of which the present work is a translation, was written
under the pressure of great difficulties, owing to the persecution to which John of
Ephesus and the sect to which he belonged were exposed, and is consequently of a
fragmentary character; for the leaves, he tells us, on which from time to time he
inscribed a short narrative of passing events, had to be entrusted to various friends for
concealment, and he never found time afterwards to reconstruct his work.

The extracts above referred to, and which will be found in Asseman's Bibl. Or. ii. 83-90,
inform us that John of Ephesus was born at Amid, a city in the north of Mesopotamia,
probably about A. D. 516; and as Syriac was the language spoken by his countrymen, it was
employed by him in writing this history for their use. We subsequently find him at
Constantinople, where for thirty years he enjoyed the friendship of the Emperor Justinian,
and was employed by him in various important offices. Especially we are informed that he
was sent on a mission in A.D. 542 to the heathens in the provinces of Asia, Lydia, Caria,
and Phrygia; and so energetically did he labour among them, that in the space of four
years he baptized no less than seventy thousand persons. To this mission he also refers in
the 230th and following pages of the present volume; and from Ephesus, the capital of the
district, he took his title of Bishop.

On his return to Constantinople in A. D. 546, the Emperor confided to him the still more
serious duty of making search there for such persons as, while professing to be
Christians, practised in secret heathen rites: and so many men holding high offices in the
state were detected by him, that the Byzantine historians, though they have not preserved
his name, yet record the general consternation occasioned by these discoveries. Among the
guilty were many even of patrician rank, as well as grammarians, sophists, scholastics,
and physicians; but, above all, Phocas, the prefect of the city, was informed against,
and, hopeless of escape, destroyed himself by poison; and his corpse, by the emperor's
command, was thrown into a ditch, without the rites of burial. The rest were commanded to
assemble in a church, where our author was appointed to instruct them in the doctrines of
the Christian religion; and his lessons were enforced by an edict, which, besides other
penalties, fixed the period of three months as the limit, beyond which their conversion
must not be delayed.

In the present volume we have some further information given us respecting the heathen,
and especially an account of some remarkable events which occurred in the reign of
Tiberius. A short notice of our author is also found in Gregory Bar-Hebraeus (apud Ass. B.
O. ii. 329), who says that 'after S. Anthimus, John was made bishop of the Orthodox at
Constantinople:' but this statement must be received with caution. We learn indeed from
his description of himself in page 53, that he had the entire administration of their
revenues both at Constantinople and the districts adjacent to it, and consequently he must
have exercised great influence among his party, and may even have been regarded as their
chief. But the whole tenor of his narrative is inconsistent with the supposition of his
being in any sense their patriarch, and if any one can be said to have succeeded S.
Anthimus, it was Theodosius, the exiled patriarch of Alexandria.

As the name of John is borne by many writers of this period, it has been a subject of
inquiry whether some one of them may not have been identical with our author. But after
going over much the same ground as Dr. Land, in his work entitled, 'John of Ephesus, the
first Syrian Church-historian,' I have come to the same negative conclusion. Should any be
sufficiently interested in the subject to wish for the particulars, I cannot do better
than refer them to his interesting volume. For the easier understanding of our author's
pages, it may be necessary to add, that he was a Monophysite: and though his party are not
to be confounded with the followers of Eutyches, whom they anathematized by name, yet they
refused to receive the council of Chalcedon, at which he was condemned, on the ground of
its being tainted with Nestorianism. As men's minds were greatly embittered at this period
by the disputes which had arisen respecting our Lord's nature, it was found impossible to
enforce general obedience in the East to the council's decrees : and thus John's party
held a sort of intermediate position, not being condemned by their opponents as heretics,
and yet being separated from their communion. As they professed themselves ready to obey
the teaching of the Fathers generally, and especially, as Renaudot testifies in his
History of the Alexandrian Patriarchs (p. 143) 'to accept every thing which John
Chrysostome and Cyril had taught,' they claimed as their peculiar right the appellation of
'Orthodox,' and by this name are distinguished in the following pages.

As regards the translation, it seemed scarcely possible, from the fragmentary character of
the original, and the frequent loss of leaves, to give merely a verbatim rendering, and I
have therefore endeavoured to connect the various facts by inserting a few lines here and
there, so as to carry the reader over the breaks in the narrative, and occasionally I have
brought together scattered chapters relating to the same event. In all cases I have marked
where the author's own words begin, by placing the reference to book and chapter in the
margin: but in comparing the translation with the original, it must be kept in mind, that
if the heading was more full than the opening words of the chapter, I have inserted the
additional matter. These headings, which occur twice in the original, occasionally with
some slight discrepancies, I have confined to the commencement of the volume. As the style
of our author is heavy and cumbrous, I have also frequently been compelled to break up his
sentences into periods of moderate length, and also to retrench many synonymous words, and
even sentences; but in so doing, I have been careful to omit nothing which had not been
said before. In a book, abounding in words not to be found in any lexicon, and which
requires almost as great a knowledge of the Greek of the Byzantine historians as of the
language in which it is written, errors and mistakes may naturally be expected, and will
readily be excused : but I have done my best to give the exact sense of the author, as far
as possible, in his own words, and yet in such a form as to prevent the perusal of him
occasioning unnecessary weariness to the reader.

OXFORD, March, 1860. [Note to the online text: It is incredible, but true, that the
translator has taken no pains to mark accurately which passages are his own, and which are
those of John of Ephesus. His statement above that he marks the start of each passage --
but he doesn't mention the end of each passage! -- means only that he places in the margin
a numeral. The reader is left to imagine for himself where on the line the words of John
begin. Sometimes a reader can work it out -- in many cases the reader is left to wonder.
The obvious remedies are two-fold. Firstly, one could go through the text placing all
obviously editorial matter in a smaller type-face, as should have been done. This I have
not attempted, because it would involve guesswork. The second alternative is to seek out
some more careful edition in French or German, and use this as a guide when doing the
same. I hope that at some time someone will do this. The German edition of Schonfelder I
have seen, and seems to be more carefully laid out, and so could be used as a guide.

As stated above, it seems frankly incredible that such a basic failure in the duty of a
translator should be permitted to reach the public, even in 1860, and even on the feeble
excuse of a damaged manuscript. One wonders what the reviewers said. Roger Pearse, 2002]
For the convenience of those who may wish to read the original Syriac, I append a Table,
1. of Errata, and 2. of Emendations. ERRATA. [Note to the online text: omitted] IN THE
TRANSLATION. P. 148. 1.15, for ii. 48. read ii. 51. P. 160. 1.16, read: The next chapter
(ii. 45.) treated of the Condobaudites, and will be found in page 65 : and the next (ii.
46.) of the apostasy of the Cappadocian monks. P. 170. 1.12, for mitre read orarium: which
was a sort of tippet worn over the shoulders by priests and deacons when officiating at
the communion, and by bishops at all times. See Du Cange, under ὠράριον, and Morini Comm.
de Sacris Ecclesiae Ordin. p. 174.


ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY, THIRD PART
==================================

ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY, THIRD PART continued

BOOK II

AT the commencement of the Second Book, John returns to his main subject, and, by way of
introduction, repeats his account of the great grief of the bishops, when they found they
had been deceived, and the determination to which they came of immediately breaking off
all further communion with the patriarch. His words are as follows: [II. 1.] To return
then to the narrative of the bishops, and the many trials and three separate
imprisonments, and other things which they had to endure, and of which we have given a
short account in the First Book, as was fitting there according to the order of the
arrangement; directly they saw that they had been deceived, and that the many promises and
repeated oaths made to them, to the effect that unity should be fully established, had
been broken, having been thus induced by fraud twice to communicate, they were in sorrow
and mourning and trouble without end, and in lamentation and bitter sighs, and finally
determined and made up their minds, that never again should there be communion with them
and the followers of the two natures for ever, even though they dragged them to death by
the sword or fire. And on this account violent anger and great wrath was felt against
them, and they were all sent into exile for the third time, each one of them separately;
so that now quickly they were removed far away from one another, and severe and bitter
sentences passed upon them, and great was their distress in being thus separated and
banished far away from their friends and relatives, and that, as the sentence ran, even
until their deaths.

[II. 2. Upon the bishops coming to this firm and mutual resolve, and determining and
deciding, that never again would they communicate with the synodites for ever; and when
further they resisted and stood up manfully against those in power, and much beyond
recounting had been done and spoken on both sides, in great conflict and struggle,
sentence of exile was finally in bitter gall decreed against them, each individually,
without mercy. And first of all, Paul the patriarch was removed to the monastery of
Abraham, and confined there. But while shut up he found a place where a scanty light
entered his prison, and began in secret to write an account of what had been done in the
church by John of Sirmin: but being watched, he was caught in the act of writing, and the
book taken from him before it was finished. And they carried it to John, who took it in
bitter wrath, and went and read it before the king; and when on hearing it he found that
his own acts against the orthodox were regarded with disapproval, as well as those of the
patriarch, he too was greatly enraged and embittered against Paul, and commanded that they
should take the book and lay it before Paul, and require him to confess whether he were
the author: and should he do so, they were to make him write an acknowledgment with his
own hand to that effect.

On the other hand, should he refuse, they were to scourge him to the point of death, until
he confessed, and then commit him again to his prison. The officers accordingly took the
book to the monastery, and with great anger showed it him, and required him to confess in
writing that he was its author. And he, as falsehood was useless, confessed that he wrote
it, and upon their requisition made with his own hand the following acknowledgement, 'I
Paul confess that with my own hand I wrote all these things which are in this book.' Upon
which, leaving him in prison, they carried the book back to the king and the patriarch.
And so great was their indignation, that they threatened Paul with death; and the more so,
upon finding that he had embodied in it accusations also against Rome. And both Paul
himself, and all men, were alarmed for his life, and expected that he would die a painful
death, and perish from this present life.

[II. 3. Stephan 1, however, bishop of Cyprus, was then in great honour with the king, and
boldly ventured to offer a petition in Paul's behalf, praying that he might be pardoned
for his sake, and set free from the terrible misery in which he was confined. And the king
accepted his intercession, and promised that if he would come to the capital, and take the
communion in his company, all his offences should be forgiven him. Stephan therefore went
to him, and after conversing with him, induced him by the terrors of death to yield
himself up, and accordingly he came and communicated, and was taken into the patriarch's
palace. And John, wishing to make sport of him before all men, assembled a large number of
the senators, and certain also of the inhabitants of Alexandria, to which city Paul
belonged 2, and made him receive the sacrament from his hands afresh, in the presence of
them all, that even though he should wish afterwards to return, it might be, as he
supposed, impossible. From this time the king every day received him, and talked with him
on many subjects, because he was a wise and intelligent man, and well read in books, and
even often asked his advice on business of state, and repeatedly conversed and talked with
him confidentially, until John was not a little alarmed, lest the king should deprive him
of his office, and substitute Paul in his place.

And as John was now in much trouble and solicitude, he began to sound the king, saying,
'If you, my lord, command, we will send father Paul as bishop to Jerusalem or to
Thessalonica;' for both these thrones were vacant. But the king easily perceived his
cunning, and, to frighten him the more, replied, 'Leave father Paul alone; for we want him
here.' And this so alarmed him, that he was now thoroughly taken possession of and
troubled by the idea: and therefore he gradually relaxed the vigilance with which Paul had
been hitherto guarded, to prevent his escape, and left him without a keeper, and gave his
friends full liberty of access to him, that he might have the opportunity of running away:
and Paul, nothing loath, fled away, and John once again breathed freely. The manner of his
flight is narrated some few chapters further on as follows: [II. 8. As it was now supposed
that Paul of Antioch was sufficiently embued in the doctrine of the two natures, and John
the patriarch was in great alarm at him, he joyfully took the opportunity of suggesting to
him the idea of making his escape. And as he was no longer guarded, after having spent so
long a time in the bishop's palace, he mixed one evening with the people as they came
down, and escaping among them unobserved, went for refuge to a place prepared for him
among some ruins. And in time he was sought for, and could not be found: and John now
being afraid of the king, went immediately and informed him of Paul's flight. And when he
heard of it he was astonished, and filled with anger, and commanded that all the ferries
should be occupied, and all ships searched, and all the houses in the outskirts of the
whole city, and the suburbs, and monasteries: even the very tombs were opened, and they
searched between the rows of corpses there: and, finally, urgent orders were sent to every
town and city to the bishops and governors, with a description of his person that he might
be recognised and seized: but still he remained undiscovered. Even his brother, who was
admiral of the fleet, was arrested, and fell into much trouble.

Meanwhile Paul during the whole of this time was hid, as they say, in the city, in a small
chamber fixed in the wall, in which he found safety for nine months: and the vigilance of
the watch having finally relaxed, he escaped with the privity of the household of Mondir,
son of Hareth, into Arabia, where he met with a hospitable refuge until the time when the
terrible retribution of Heaven fell upon the patriarch John. As the patriarch had been
thus successful separately with two of, the four bishops, whose constancy collectively he
had been unable to break, namely, Stephan, bishop of Cyprus, and Paul, patriarch of
Antioch, he determined next to force John of Ephesus to submission by equally decided
measures, the account of which our author gives as follows : [II. 4. When, therefore, Paul
had been induced by Stephan to go to the capital, and had been received there, and the
synodites now felt quite sure of him, Stephan was next sent to John, surnamed,
Superintendant of the heathen and Idol-breaker, as ambassador from the king and patriarch,
accompanied by senators and a numerous retinue, to the hospital of Eubulus 3, an which,
after his two former imprisonments in the patriarch's palace, and the separation of the
bishops from one another, he had been confined in the house of afflictions, (or
penitentiary,) and none of his acquaintance on any pretext permitted to visit him. Hither,
then, the embassy came, and addressed the prisoner as follows:— 'Our lords, the victorious
king and patriarch 4, very lovingly ask thy health, and advise thee to free thyself from
this misery, and come and join thy brethren, my lord Paul the patriarch, and my lord
Elisha, and rejoice them, as also our merciful king himself, and the holy patriarch; and
ye shall again discuss the best means for restoring unity.' But he, on hearing these
things, was stirred up with great zeal to answer those who had come to him fiercely and
sternly, with anathemas and reproaches and insults too many to record in writing: and so
Stephan and his companions retired, embittered and indignant at him.

After the lapse of a day they were again sent unto him, beseeching him in the merciful
person of the king and patriarch, and saying, 'For the sake of the unity of the church,
yield thyself up, and come and let us converse, and do not thus persist in opposition to
union.' But they had for answer from him things even sterner than before; for he said:
'Even that former unity I reject before God and man; for it has proved only an
overthrowing and an uprooting and a downfall:' and much more too he added of a similar
kind. And after they had often visited him, but he would neither submit nor yield to their
persuasions, finally they said, 'Inasmuch as we know what you will have to suffer, and
have heard the threats of death denounced against you, and that you will not be put to
death merely, but in a most painful way, feeling sincere sorrow for you, we wish to say,
that we are innocent of the miseries which you will have to bear.' But upon hearing this,
he burnt with zeal, and expressed his detestation of them, saying, 'Even though you eat me
roasted, if I be but quit of the sight of you, I am ready on these terms to be delivered
to a painful death.' And so, to be brief, they departed from him.

But Stephanus secretly paid him a solitary visit, to tell him of the threats of death
determined upon against him, and said, 'See, I have come to thee, that I may not witness
the evils that will fall upon thee; look to thyself.' But though much was said, he could
not bend his determined spirit, and finally left him, and departed for Cyprus. [II. 5. The
first addition, however, to the bitter misery of his imprisonment arose from a painful
attack of the gout, which affected both his hands and feet, so that he lay like one dead,
unable to stir himself, or move either hand or foot: and in this state he was cut off from
all human solicitude, and especially from the care which his relatives would gladly have
shown him. But besides this he was tormented night and day with the numerrous vermin with
which his prison swarmed. For, first of all he was eaten up with innumerable lice, and the
cell, moreover, in which he was imprisoned was full of fleas, which day and night;
tormented him out of his life; nor was this all, for the fetid smell of the hospital
attracted infinite numbers of flies and gnats, which settled upon him, and neither could
he move a hand to chase them away, nor was there any one to drive them from him. And the
fourth and bitterest trial of all was occasioned by the bugs at night, which then left
their hidingplaces, and covered both him and the mattress on which he lay till his face
and eyes were inflamed and swollen, nor could he brush them away. And another, and that
his fifth trial, arose from gnats, which, in company with the vermin last mentioned, all
night long stung him like fire, especially upon the face, and every part of his body not
covered with the bedclothes.

And so great was his distress, and the inflammation caused by the five plagues, which
encompassed his body within and without, that he wept and lamented, but there was no man
to come to his cry, either by night or by day, though he burnt like fire from the stings
of all these vermin. And, moreover, Satan brought upon him yet a sixth trial, in some mice
which climbed up and made their nest under the pillow which supported his head, and all
night long they were scratching and squeaking there. All these distresses were added to
the pain of imprisonment and sickness, with no one to help him: and it may be that the
record of these things will excite the laughter and ridicule of those who have never been
tried, nor fallen, into misery, and who, in the words of our Lord, should rather watch and
pray that they enter not into trial.

[II. 6. From the exhaustion caused by these tortures, and the inflamed state of his body
from the stings of these manifold and bitter vermin, the aforesaid John came almost to his
last breath: for besides the bitter pains which tormented him, there was the hopelessness
of his neglected state, while he looked for some one to pity him, and there was no man,
and for a comforter, and one was not found; and that such was his state, from the severity
of his trials, he himself afterwards repeatedly declared, both in numerous letters, and in
his defence addressed to the synod of the east, and to all classes of the believers, in
which he described all these things, and the vision which he saw, protesting before God
that he did not exceed the bounds of truth, nor add a single word either to the narrative
of his sufferings or to the facts of the vision which appeared unto him openly.

And the account which he gave, as in the sight of all men, was as follows:—'When I was
scourged by all these trials, and was sick in spirit, and despaired of my life, there came
one day a youth of beautiful aspect, clad in a white tunic with fringes of spotless
purity, and as he gently approached me, I imagined that he was one of the attendants upon
the sick, who after the midday meal, when all were sleeping, and the doors closed, and
silence everywhere prevailed, had visited me because I was inflamed and feverish, both
from the annoyance of the vermin and my grievous pains. Approaching me quietly, he said,
'Peace be to thee, father! What is thy cry? How art thou? Fear not.' And I, indeed in the
deep affliction of my spirit caused by my great misery, said unto him, 'Why askest thou,
my son, when thou thyself seest me in such great torture?' But the young man said unto me,
'Cheer up, father, and let not thy spirit be sad, but give thanks unto God, who hath not
left thee:

for thy affliction is not forgotten by Him.' And I replied, 'What cheer or what
consolation can there be for me, who die miserably, not merely from the violence of these
cruel pains, which, as my sins deserve, are laid upon me, but also from all these vermin
which encompass me, and eat me up, and I have none to bear me in their mind, that I might
at least be comforted by the sight of them?' And he said, 'We know that thou art
afflicted; and that there is no man to take care of thee: and, moreover, that thou art
tormented with pain, and with the vermin, and therefore have I come unto thee, to visit
and encourage thee. For I know also that thou art thirsty, and that; there is no one to
give thee water, and therefore have I brought thee a cooling draught: God will help thee;
cheer up; and know, that as great as is thy present affliction, so will God multiply thy
recompense. Be not sad, nor faint in spirit.' And when he had so spoken, and much to this
effect, he went out and returned, bearing a cup, in which were wondrous mixtures which
sparkled: like fire; and he gave it me, and I drank it with joy and delight, and my spirit
was refreshed, and I gave thanks unto God.

And to the youth, I told my gratitude, and said, 'God have mercy upon thee, my son, in
that thou hast done unto me this kindness, and hast visited and comforted and cheered me.'
And after he had consoled me with many words, and said, 'To-morrow I will visit thee again
at this time,' he went away: and I was so cheered by the sight and speech of the young
man, that all my pains and miseries grew light. And again on the morrow he came at the
same time, and asked me of my state, saying, 'Cheer up, and be not sad; for great shall be
thy reward which thou shall receive from God for thy heavy affliction : and thou shalt be
delivered from thy distress, and thy people shall assemble themselves to thee: for God is
with thee. Let not thy spirit be sad.' And after thus talking with me for some time, he
departed. And on the third day, when my eyes were straining in hope of his coming, he came
not: and I was greatly distressed, and in deep affliction. But on the fourth day he came
again at the same hour, and said, 'I know that thou art distressed, because I came not to
thee yesterday: but be not grieved, for I will not forsake thee.' And again he spake much
to comfort me, and so departed.

And thus for eight days he came to and fro to me, and I was in wonder at his comeliness,
and the beauty of his features, and at the speech and knowledge of the young man so lovely
of aspect. And after he had come in unto me and gone out eight times, the syncellus of the
patriarch visited me to sound me, and after he had used to me many arguments, I finally
replied, 'Your treatment of me is on a par with your schismatic faith; for you act to me
like heathens, and do a heathen deed, in that when you see me in this extreme misery, you
fear not God enough to grant me even one of my servants, whom you have shut up in prison,
to wait upon me.' And after he had replied, and much had passed between us, and I had
sharply handled him, and rebuked him, he went out from me in hot anger, and brought me one
of my servants, and said, 'See, here is a servant to wait upon you, and curse us no more:'
and so saying, he angrily departed. And from the time I had a servant, the young man came
not again, nor did I ever see him more. And when I was astonished and vexed at this, still
supposing,that he was one of the attendants, I said to the officer who guarded me, 'A
young man of your attendants used to come to me, and comfort me, and visit me:

but for some days from the time that I have had a servant to wait upon me, he has come to
me no more. Tell me, who is he? and is he ill?' And the guard enquired, 'What was the
young man like?' And he answered, 'He was of a beautiful aspect, and very handsome in
person, and bright and fair in countenance, and clad in a tunic of spotless white, with
rows of embroidery above and below.' And the keeper said, 'None of our attendants
resembles what you describe.' But he answered, 'I assure you that for eight days he came
in unto me and went out, and comforted and cheered me, and talked with me wisely and
sensibly:' but the keeper said, 'We have no such person as you describe.' And then he went
and collected all the servants, and set them before him, and said, 'See, here are all the
attendants, nor have we any besides: look if any of them is he.' And when he had
attentively considered them all, he acknowledged that it was not any one of them. Upon
which the keeper said, 'A vision of . God has appeared unto thee, and visited thee, my
father: and one of the angels or of the saints has been sent unto thee, to strengthen and
encourage thee:

for we have no such person as you describe.' And thereupon John was in astonishment, and
being full of wonder and amazement, he carefully considered the words and the wisdom and
the answers of that youth of wonderful aspect, and said, 'I verily looked upon him as one
of the attendants, but God knows who and what he is: but me he hath greatly helped; for he
brought me a cup of mixtures, at which I wondered, so bright were they and admirable; and
all my pains were lightened. And I myself was astonished at the wise and edifying words
which came out of his mouth, and wondered whether one so excellent attended merely upon
the sick in your hospital. Henceforward, therefore, in admiration of the goodness of God
which has been shown us, we will praise, as in duty bound, the God Who doeth all in His
love, and Who alone knoweth the vision of this young man, and who it was that visited us,
and alleviated our misery.'

[II. 7.] In this prison John passed twelve months and nine days, in addition to his two
confinements in the patriarch's palace: but as even this did not appease the malice of
John of Sirmin, orders came for his removal from the hospice, and transportation to an
island in the sea, where he was again imprisoned, and treated with great rigour, strict
orders being given that none of his friends should on any account be permitted to speak to
him. But when he had spent upon the island a period of eighteen months, the chastisement
of God overtook the patriarch in so marked a manner as to cause fear and astonishment and
terror to both sides alike. And so, finally, upon the command of the Caesar Tiberius,
orders were sent to free John from his prison, and bring him to the capital, where he
dwelt under the surveillance of keepers' rather more than three years, until the death of
the persecutor, John of Sirmin.

All these things will be found also in the numerous letters written by him to various
persons as soon as he obtained his freedom, together with the vision of the young man who
came to him. And let no one who falls in with both the former narrative and also this
present account be surprised if he find that they differ from one another in some points
being added and others left out: since the utmost he professes is to give a succinct
account of what took place for the glory of God. He has omitted, therefore, and passed by
much in his former narrative on account of its too great length, while other particulars
he has more fully recorded, and especially some of the details of the vision, and other
points, it may be, as well, though even in them he has used the greatest possible brevity,
in order that they might simply be short memorials, and lest, should he relate them too
fully, they should be regarded as wearisome by such as afterwards fall in with them.

The determination of the king and patriarch to compel all parties to accept the council of
Chalcedon not only brought ecclesiastics into trouble, but also many of the chief laity at
court. For as Sophia had originally been brought up in Theodora's tenets, most of the
officers of her household belonged to the Monophysite party, and apparently had not
hitherto been interfered with. But now determined measures were taken to bring them to
obedience, and John details the resistance made by many of them, and even by ladies, in
the following succession of narratives. [II. 9. At this time, when every body was
possessed by great fear at the stern and terrible threats of the king, many grew alarmed,
and submitted themselves to communion. For he even gave orders that no one should attend
his levee to salute him on Easterday unless he had previously partaken of the sacrament in
his company. As disobedience to this command entailed loss of office as well as the king's
displeasure, most of them were terrified, and went over to his communion. A few, however,
stayed away, though convinced that by so doing they passed sentence of death upon
themselves, so taken were most of them by abject terror. Among these was Andrew, the
queen's chamberlain and purse-bearer, a man of active and fervent zeal, and earnest in the
ways of virtue from his youth up, and constant in fasting and prayer. At the commencement
of the persecution most of the chamberlains, and ladies of the court, and the queen's
chief officer of the household, whose name was Stephan, were members of the orthodox
community, and had been so from the days of Theodora; but they were prevailed upon by
fear, and submitted to take the communion with the king from the hands of the synodites;
but Andrew alone was firm, and stood up manfully with mind fully prepared to struggle even
unto death. Their majesties therefore, and the chamberlains on both sides, with the view
of obtaining favour, attacked him with strife and argument:

but he was not in the least frightened at them all, nor ceased from contending with them,
nor gave way: and this made the king repeatedly utter the most fearful threats of death
itself against him. And as he still would not yield a single point, nor humble himself,
nor shew fear of him, the king once grew so angry that he even struck him with his hands
in a fury, because he so boldly and firmly resisted him, answering in his turn when he
required him to communicate with those who acknowledged the synod, and arguing, and
manfully resisting him in words such as the following: 'I confess that you are my lord,
and I am your slave: and my body is in your hands, to do with it whatsoever you will: but
over my soul you have no power, for it is in the hands of God, and my faith is for ever,
and neither shall ye nor any other change it, because I believe in God.' And in this way
constantly every day they argued one with the other. And as both their majesties loved him
for his nobleness and virtue, and valued his good sense and knowledge, they were the more
anxious to obtain his submission, that he might still remain in their service: and the
king even said in the presence of several of his courtiers, 'What shall we do with this
audacious fellow who resists and disobeys us?

for such a mind and brain as he possesses is not in all our court besides, so that we do
not wish to send him away, nor can we possibly let him stay if he refuse us his
obedience.' Accordingly they long bore with him in the hope that finally they would
convert him, but when he gave no signs of yielding, the king at length briefly said to
him, 'Either submit to us, and take the communion with us, or get out of our palace.' Upon
which Andrew immediately divested himself of his robe of office 5, and joyfully laying it
at the king's feet, said, 'Never hast thou shown me a greater kindness than this, in
separating me from the service of men, and making me give myself to His ministry and
service, Who created me and brought me into the world; for henceforth I will serve Him
alone.' So saying, he left the king's court, and was confined in a miserable prison in the
building called "the palace of Hormisdas 6: and there, after some time, he received a
visit from the king's curator, who was sent partly to coax and partly to terrify him, and
see whether he would give way, and communicate with them, and not lose his post. The
conference lasted for a long time, and at first the curator had recourse only to
admonitions and flatteries and persecutions:

but when he saw that he would not give way, he began to threaten and terrify him, saying,
'Look to thy life, lest I be compelled to execute upon thee, what I have been commanded.'
Upon which Andrew bent down his neck, and stretching out his head before him, said, 'Thou
art not a living man, and may God shew thee no mercy if thou dost not bring thy sword and
take off my head. But do not mistake, either thou or those that sent thee, and suppose
that I ever have on any account held communion with those who divide into two our Lord
Jesus Christ, or ever will—the Lord forbid. And may God shew thee no mercy, if thou dost
not at once take off my head, and rid me of the burden of this life.' Upon hearing this,
the curator departed, and carried his report to the king and queen, who greatly wondered,
but also were vexed at his conduct: and in hope still of making him give way, they gave
orders for his removal and imprisonment in the monastery of Dalmatus 7, which was the
highest in rank of all the religious houses both in the capital and its suburbs. They
brought him out, therefore, and removed him in the most public manner by day, in the hope
of frightening him:

but Andrew, as they led him through the city amidst crowds of people, was full of joy and
eagerness, and gave praise to God that he was accounted worthy to suffer imprisonment for
the true faith, while the mob ran together to see the queen's purse-bearer stripped of
worldly office, and conducted to prison for the true faith's sake. And all men wondered at
him, and many glorified God who had given him the strength thus to despise the world; and
many too were confirmed in the faith when thus they saw him cheerful and joyous, and gave
praise to God on his account. But the monks and others who had charge of him tried to pull
up the hood of his cloak to cover his head: but he uncovered it, saying, 'It is a great
glory to me to die for Christ's truth: and no man may make my glorying vain.' His
imprisonment lasted three years, at the end of which came the chastisement of his
persecutors, and he was set free, but not restored to his office at court.

[II. 10. From this history of her pursebearer, our historian proceeds to give a sketch of
the empress Sophia, who, he says, during the lifetime of her aunt, the late queen
Theodora, from her youth up to within three years before she ascended the throne, used to
take the communion with the orthodox, and entirely rejected the communion of the
synodites, that is, of those who held that there were two natures in our Lord. And this
was a thing known publicly to everybody, and that also a presbyter named Andrew regularly
went, and consecrated the communion in her house, and administered it to her, and to all
the members of her household: and when he was reserving the consecrated elements, she used
to tell him to put by one pearl,—for so they called the pieces of bread,—and place it upon
the patten under the cloth; and no one knew who received the pearl so put by except the
patrician Sophia, though it was supposed by every one that it was the merciful Justin
himself who took it in secret, as he also had an aversion to the communion of those who
held the two natures. Whether or not this was true, we cannot vouch, but have recorded it
on hearsay, as being the opinion generally entertained by every body. The conversion of
Sophia to the communion of the two natures was brought about in the following way:

His late majesty Justinian had long been solicited by many influential members of his
court to appoint Justin, his sister's son, to the office of Caesar; but he kept putting it
off, and refusing them. At length a certain Theodore, upon his consecration to the
bishopric of Caesarea, and whose doom God alone knows for his many evil deeds, had an
interview with Sophia, and said to her, 'Be well assured, both of you, that the reason why
your uncle has listened to no one, nor consented to appoint his sister's son as Caesar, is
his indignation at you for opposing him in communicating with those of whom he
disapproves, and not communicating with him. For how can he appoint you to share the royal
rank with him, if you are manifestly opposed to him? Listen therefore to me, and go and
communicate at Church, and content the king, and then he will content you.' And Sophia
being persuaded by his representations gave way, but her union with the synod took place
only three years before she became queen.

[II. 11. From this account of the empress Sophia, which naturally followed the mention of
Andrew, her pursebearer, our historian returns to the fortunes of the other chief members
of the orthodox party at Constantinople. Among these were three men of consular rank,
named John, Peter, and Eudaemon, who counted their lives in the body as nothing compared
with the spiritual life by a true faith in Christ; and firmly refused therefore to hold
communion with those who divided Him. On this account there was anger against them even
unto death, and the turning away of faces; but when every moment they were expecting
trial, and the ruin of their estates and families, and of all that they possessed, and
everybody felt certain of their utter destruction, God, who saw that they were contending
unto death for His name's sake, and for a true faith in Him, saved them. For inasmuch as
many members of the senate, and chamberlains, and other nobles, had been prevailed upon by
terror to enter into communion with the Chalcedonians, the murmuring occasioned by the
violence and compulsion generally used, at length reached the king's ears, and led him to
say in the presence of many senators, with the view of making it appear that he prevailed
upon no one by violence, as though any one was prevailed upon except by a violence too
strong for him to bear:

however, be this as it may, God put it into his mind to say words such as these, 'We
neither have, nor will we force any one of those who have not submitted to us to
communicate with us: we leave them to their own will.' And this declaration of the king's
determination rescued them, and they were no longer exposed to trials on account of their
faith: but, on the contrary, they finally reached the highest dignities, and enjoyed the
fullest freedom; so that the illustrious Eudaemon, who became Comes Privati 8, an office
which gave him the charge of the king's privy purse; and the illustrious John, who was
descended from king Anastasius, and the son moreover of queen Theodora's daughter 9; and,
lastly, Peter, who was of the family of Peter the Patrician, the queen's curator, were
sent to make a treaty of peace with the Persians, in behalf of the whole Roman state. And
this great embassy was entrusted to them in spite of their continuing to hold the truth,
as they had ever done, in full assurance. The patriarch John, however, erased their names
from the diptych 10 — an act which caused them great joy: for they said, 'Now we know that
God hath pleasure in us, and hath looked upon us, seeing that we are no longer mentioned
at the communion of those who divide Christ into two, after the true indivisible union.'

[II. 12. Less fortunate were two ladies of equally high birth, who with others of
patrician rank were fiercely attacked on all sides, breathing out terrible threats of
fire, and menaces of death. And the rest, from the overwhelming misery of the persecution,
fainted in the conflict, and for their wealth's sake, and houses and children and
substance, submitted to communion, as far as form alone went. But these two boldly
resisted unto death, and counted as nothing their possessions, and children and
households. Of these the elder, whose name was Antipatra, was the mother-in-law of the
consul John mentioned in the preceding narrative, and her daughter Georgia, who was also
of consular rank, and a zealous believer, was John's wife. The other lady, whose name was
Juliana, was the daughter of the consul Magnes, who himself was on one occasion banished
with all his family, and Juliana among them, though he also was descended from king
Anastasius: and subsequently Juliana herself became sister-in-law of king Justin, having
married his brother. After much contention, therefore, and a manly contest, they placed
both these ladies in nunneries, upon the straits of Chalcedon, and strict injunctions were
given, and orders sent to the convents, in which they were severally confined, that unless
they would consent to communion, their hair was to be shorn in monastic fashion, and they
were to wear the black dress used by the nuns, and be further compelled to perform the
most menial labours.

And these orders were strictly carried out, and they were made to sweep the convent, and
carry away the dirt, and scrub and wash out the latrinse, and serve in the kitchen, and
wash the candlesticks and dishes, and perform other similar duties. And as they could not
endure and bear with patience such annoyances as these, they also, as far as appearance
went, submitted to the Chalcedonian communion, to be set free, and escape from their
miserable imprisonment in these convents, if convents they may be called. Upon their
submission, they were allowed to return home, and restored to their former rank: but soon
the time of chastisement from God came upon both king and patriarch, and they and all men
breathed freely once again after their troubles. [II.13. There were also two presbyters
who underwent a great conflict for the faith's sake, and who both bore the same name of
Sergius; of whom one had been the writer's own syncellus 11, and the other his disciple.
While then John was imprisoned in the penitentiary of the hospital of Eubulus, the two
Sergiuses were seized, after having long refused to conform, and thrown into prison. Their
arrest was effected through the treachery of a relative, who professed to be of their
party, but who, after thus playing the part of another Judas, was himself apprehended, and
hurried off to the bishop's palace, and imprisoned there. Upon their arrest the two
priests resisted those sent to seize them, and argued and disputed sharply with them,
until they grew angry, and before a vast crowd they stripped them of their clothing, and
tying them up scourged them publicly with the utmost severity, but were not able to break
their constancy. And so manfully and with such spirit did they endure and persist in their
resistance, that their persecutors wondered at them, and finally imprisoned them in a
diaconate 12. Already they had repeatedly endured the horrors of imprisonment twice both
together in the patriarch's palace, and Sergius, the syncellus, once by himself in a
monastery called Beth-Rabula 13; and their present confinement, which began in February,
and lasted forty days, was aggravated by a severe frost.

For Sergius the syncellus, the patriarch had a great regard, and sent for him, and advised
and coaxed and persuaded him to dwell with him in his palace, and be his cellarius 14;
even offering him his solemn promise, that if he would consent, he should not be compelled
to take the communion with him: he also added, that 'as I hear of you, that you are a
pious man and a monk, abide with us, and be whatever you wish: but if you will consent to
take the communion with us, I will immediately make you bishop of whatever city you
please.' But Sergius manfully refused, and as he could bow his conviction of the truth
neither by promises nor flattering words, and saw his firmness and immoveable constancy,
he sent him to the monastery of Beth-Rabula, where however he was treated with
considerable kindness, the monks not being ill-inclined to the faith as the rest were, and
having no love for the council of Chalcedon, nor even proclaiming it in their worship.

There was also a presbyter named Andrew, who had shut himself up in one of the towers of
the city wall; whence he was torn at the patriarch's orders by a band of clergy and
Romans, who broke open his place of concealment, and pulled him out. But as they dragged
and tore him along, they arrived at length in the middle of the city; and on seeing a
large crowd assembled there, he began to cry out, 'Help! help! men: I am a Christian, and
an orthodox: and if these who drag me along are not heathens, but Christians, as they say,
why do they persecute and murder Christians? And why do they drag me through the midst of
you, and ye rest quiet, and shew no zeal for Christ's sake?' As he repeated these and
similar cries, a large crowd rapidly ran together, and their eyes flashed with wrath
against those who had him in charge, as if they would slay them. And when they saw the
anger and zeal of all the multitude against them, they ran away, and hid themselves; and
so the people delivered the blessed Andrew from their violence. Subsequently, however, he
was again arrested, and imprisoned in the monastery of "the sleepless;" whence also, after
a protracted imprisonment, and much suffering, he escaped: but having set people to watch
for him, they again seized and imprisoned him in the patriarch's palace; but even from
thence, after taking part in several disputations, he again managed to make his escape.

Among the various charitable institutions at Constantinople which had sprung from
Christianity, no mean place was held by the diaconates 15, which were institutions for the
care of the sick and persons in distress. The utility of them was the greater, because,
while the hospitals were attended only by clergy, monks and nuns, the diaconates gave an
opportunity to pious laymen also to devote themselves to works of active benevolence:
while in those specially set apart for women, numerous ladies, who might otherwise have
found no fitting field for their energies, piously tended the suffering members of
Christ's [II. 15.] flock. Among those at the capital, two especially were famous for their
size and reputation, and both belonged to the orthodox communion. Of these, the first and
largest was founded by the divine Paul of Antioch, who, filled with zeal, visited the
chief and most famous cities of both East and West, and founded in them diaconates, in
which the word of our Lord was visibly fulfilled, that 'this is my rest:' for their object
was to give rest to those whom trouble had distressed. On no account, however, would he
accept the services of any in the diaconates which he founded who agreed with the synod of
Chalcedon.

At the period when the persecution broke out, the head of this diaconate was a great and
famous and notable man named Thallus, who had largely increased and multiplied its
ministrations by his many spiritual and divine qualities, upon which alone much might be
written; and the diaconate continued to flourish under his care, until, by the envy of the
devil, an information was laid before the king and bishop, that all the members were
opposed to the council of Chalcedon, and had admitted into their fraternity many monks and
clergymen, and that meetings for worship, and communions and love-feasts were held there.
Upon this the blessed Thallus was compelled to send away the clergy and monks, that he
might give no occasion to those who were ready to find fault, but he resolutely continued
his care of the sick with the aid of laymen only. And when this reached the ears of those
in power, because they honoured and admired the man and his ways, they let him alone, and
interfered no more all the days of his life. His death took place in the year eight
hundred and eighty-eight, (A. D. 577,) and a silversmith named Romanus was appointed
principal in his stead.

[II. 16.] At the head of the other diaconate at this time was a clergyman named Cometes,
who also was an active and virtuous man. Originally he had been one of the clergy of the
house of my lady Mary of Blachernae 16, but was expelled for the faith sake with many
others, whom, however, he prevailed upon to keep together, and live with all the
strictness of the monastic rule, while he took charge of them in every thing. Soon
afterwards some one who admired his virtues bequeathed him a large hall, capable of being
turned into a diaconate, to which use he put it, and actively employed himself in
ministering in it to all the wants of the poor. At the time, however, of the persecution,
an accusation was brought against him of holding assemblies for the administration of the
holy communion, and the hall was confiscated, and formally closed by an imperial brief
suspended on the door. Cometes was himself banished to an island, and all his fraternity,
except a few, dispersed: but his fate did not deter these few from continuing their
labours; for retiring to another place, they still devoted themselves, according to their
rule, to ministering and tending the poor.

[II. 17.] Nor was it merely at the capital that the orthodox communities thus suffered,
but the persecution carried on there so determinately and despotically, and unremittingly,
was the cause of the same violent measures being stirred up against them in every province
of the Roman empire, wherever any orthodox communities were to be found. And this
persecution was excited by the letters written by John the patriarch, and others: for he
was swollen with rage like the waves of the sea, and, like some blazing Babylonian
furnace, inflamed not with twigs and brushwood, and other such materials, but with wrath
and heat of temper, and eagerness for ruin and slaughter, he burnt and blazed fearfully
and terribly, adding to his violence to men's persons those evil deeds which generally go
therewith, such as the plundering of their goods and spoiling of their property, on the
pretext of their faith; as also painful imprisonments, and heavy chains, and tortures, and
the scourge and exile, and the like, in every land and city and village of the realm.

[II. 18.] Thus far then we profess that we have written that only of which we were
eyewitnesses, and near spectators of the chief trials recorded, or actual sufferers
ourselves during the whole period to which our narrative extends: but we have thought it
right now to chronicle events, which we neither saw, nor learnt of our own knowledge, nor
can testify to their truth ourselves, inasmuch as we were far away from the countries in
which they occurred; but which nevertheless we had, not from private individuals, or men
of inferior rank, but from the chief Catholicus of Dovin, the capital of Persarmenia, and
the bishops who accompanied him, and who narrated these events in the presence of
multitudes in this the royal city of us Romans; for having escaped from the dominions of
the Persians, they came for refuge to a Christian realm, and were received with great
honour by their victorious majesties; and their narrative scrupulously given as upon oath,
and in the presence of a numerous auditory, was as follows:

Revolt of Armenia from the Persians. When the Magians and princes of the Persians learnt
that by the commandment and will of the king of the Romans, all persons, in every land and
city of his dominions, were required to conform themselves. and come over to his faith;
and that such as refused and were disobedient to his will and commandment, were by his
orders persecuted and imprisoned, and their goods spoiled, and finally delivered up even
to death; lo! said they, in all the dominions of the Romans these things are now being
done, and it is but just for us also to do the same in all our dominions, and convert to
our own religion all other religions within our realm. [II. 19.] They therefore assembled
together, and begged an audience with Khosrun 17 their king, and said, 'O king, live for
ever! Behold we have learnt that the Roman Caesar requireth, and forceth, and compelleth
all persons within his realm to conform themselves to his faith, and obligeth many
throughout all his dominions to worship according to his religion. And all those who will
not. submit, he driveth away, and persecuteth from all his realm. Let thy godship
therefore in like manner command, that so it shall also be throughout thy realm: that all
religions shall conform to thy religion, and all persons in thy dominions worship
according to thy worship; and that such as insolently dare to resist thy commandment shall
no longer live.' And when Khosrun the king heard these words of the Magians, he consented
thereto, and accepted their counsel: and immediately he began with the Christians first,
and sent and seized three bishops and many of the clergy, and commanded them to deny their
faith, and worship with him fire and the sun and the other objects of his reverence.

But they argued with him, and manfully resisted, and confessed, saying; 'We are of
Christian sentiments, and worship and honour the God Who made the heavens and the earth
and the seas, and all that therein is: and we cannot leave Him Who is the Creator of all
to worship His creatures. Let not the king mistake: for over our bodies thou hast power to
do with them whatsoever thou wilt: but our souls are His, and in His hands, and over them
thou hast absolutely no power at all.' And when the king heard the bishops testify these
things, and much besides of a similar nature, he commanded that they should be that
instant flayed, and die. And many evils besides he inflicted upon the Christians, and
their monasteries and churches were everywhere levelled to the ground, and multitudes
bound and thrown into prison: and the heart of the king was lifted up, and he blasphemed
Christ, and said, 'Let us see what Christ the God of the Christians will do unto me: for I
do not know who or what He is.' And this then, and much more, was related by these bishops
as having been said and done at this time by the king of the Persians previously to the
revolt of Armenia to the Romans, and which was occasioned by his command that fire-temples
should be erected throughout all that part of Armenia which was subject to his rule.

[II. 20. His next measure, as the Catholicus and his companions proceeded to relate, was
to send a Marzban 18 to our territories, attended by an armed force of two thousand
cavalry, who came first of all to our city, and commanded us to erect a fire-temple, for
the celebration of the rites of the king's religion. But when, said he, he showed it to me
and the people of the city, I burnt with zeal, and stood up against him, I and all the
people of the city, and we said, 'We are indeed servants of the king of kings, and to him
we pay tribute; but we are Christians, and in matters of faith we can yield him no
obedience, even though we have to die for our faith's sake. For this same thing was
attempted in the days of Sapor, king of kings, who also wanted to build here a temple for
his worship, but the people of the land gathered themselves together, and a war ensued,
which lasted seven years, and at the end he made terms, and published an edict, commanding
that no one should meddle or interfere with us as regards our being Christians for ever.'
And we further shewed him the original copy of king Sapor's edict: but he refused to obey
it, and in obedience to Khosrun's commands, began by main force to mark out a site, and to
dig and lay the foundations, and to build the walls; while at the same time he made
determined preparations for battle.

And I besought him again and again, but availed nothing, nor would he attend to me, or
even deign me a single look; and finally I sent everywhere to all the people of the land,
and when they heard the news, they burnt with zeal for the faith's sake in Christ, and
assembled all as one man, to the number of ten thousand, armed for battle either to live
or die for Christ, and firmly determined not to permit a Magian and heathen temple to be
built in their land. And when there were assembled all the princes and chieftains of the
land, we went to the Marzban, to the place where he was building the fire-temple, and had
a long conference with him, and boldly resisted him, saying, 'We are Christians, and
subjects of the king of kings: but in matters of faith we neither can nor will yield
submission to any one, and even though the king come in person, yet as long as any one of
us lives to resist it, there shall no heathen temple be built to all eternity in our land.
Depart therefore without war or devastation from our country, and tell the king of the
firm determination of our minds to defend our faith; and let him take such steps as he
thinks right;

for though it cost us all our lives, we will never permit a temple for the Magian worship
to be erected in our land?' A long conference followed, in which the Marzban protested to
the people assembled that he must build the temple according to his orders, and argued
with them, and testified against them, saying, 'You are resisting the commandment of the
king of kings, and setting him at nought, though it is in his power to command you to be
put to an evil death: beware therefore what you do.' But when he saw their readiness and
their preparations to resist him, and perceived moreover that they were stronger than
himself, he retired, with threats nevertheless and protests against their conduct: and
returning in great anger to the king, informed him of all that had taken place. And he, on
learning it, was roused to anger, and burnt with indignation; and vowing death against all
the people of the land, he sent against them the Marzban with a body of fifteen thousand
men ready for war, with instructions to exterminate any who ventured to resist his
commandment, and erect there a shrine for a temple of fire. But the people of the land,
when they heard thereof, assembled together to the number of twenty thousand men, and made
ready for battle, prepared to struggle even unto death in defence of their Christianity.
And on the arrival of the Persians, they drew themselves up in order of battle against
them; and shouting, 'In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,' they moved onward to the
attack. And Christ broke the foe before the children of the land, and they utterly
destroyed them as one man, and slew the Marzban, and took off his head, and sent it to the
patrician Justinian, who was encamped at that time at Theodosiopolis 19 in the marches.
Such then were these events, and they were followed by others, the full recital of which
would occupy greater space than we can spare.

[II. 21.] And when these things had taken place, and the whole people of the Greater
Armenia saw that a fierce war was stirred up against them from the wicked kingdom of the
Persians, they all gathered themselves together from one end of it to the other, and ran
for refuge to the kingdom of the Christians, saying, 'Henceforward we are the servants of
the kingdom of the Christians, and have run to take refuge in the Roman realm, that it may
deliver us from the savage violence of the Magians.' And all this, and much more, the
Catholicus of Dovin, and the other bishops who were with him, related in the presence of
our merciful king and queen, and of the whole senate: but we have admitted only a small
portion of it into our history; for they recounted also the details of the repeated
conflicts and devastations which followed, and in which the Persian hosts had more than
once been vanquished, and their elephants captured; but which we at present must omit for
want of space.

[II. 22.] Such then is a short abstract of the account of the Catholicus of Dovin, the
capital of Persarmenia, related in the royal city of us Romans, by him, and the other
bishops and the numerous noblemen who accompanied him, in the presence of many witnesses:
and all on their arrival were received with distinguished respect, and large presents and
regal honours paid them, and high dignities granted them, and some of the royal residences
and chief monasteries were set apart for their abode, and an income assigned sufficient
for their proper maintenance; and titles of high rank were also sent to the leading men in
the land, as also a large subsidy of gold, and orders that no tax should be levied for
three years for the king of the Romans, but that they should do their best to assist those
who, having accepted the sovereignty of the land, were warring in their defence, and that
of the whole of Armenia against the Persians. And this they did for a long time, and the
Magian people fell before the Christians on numerous occasions in the first six years of
the time during which the war lasted. Of these events we will subsequently give some brief
particulars in their proper place. As for the Catholicus, at the end of two years he died
at Constantinople, and never returned to his own land.

[II. 23.] Upon the first arrival at the capital of the Catholicus of Armenia, and the
bishops and nobles in his suite, as men who had fled from the wicked and heathenish
kingdom of the Magians, and had come for refuge to the kingdom of the Christians, meeting
immediately upon their arrival with so honourable a reception, they went, without making
inquiries, and through inattention communicated in full confidence with the patriarch of
the city, as not being aware of the schism and quarrel which had arisen in all the
churches of the Roman dominions, from the corruption of the faith by the council of
Chalcedon. But when intelligence of this reached the bishops and leading men of Armenia,
they were angry with them, and wrote sharply to them such things as may now be well passed
over in silence; and therefore they withdrew, and separated themselves, and having fitted
up a large hall, in a building granted to one of their nobles for a residence, into a
church, they there formed a distinct congregation, and celebrated the communion after
their own manner; and continued so to do even after the death of the Catholicus.

[II. 24. We are well aware that the events which happened in our time are numerous,
especially now at last, and that they exceed the limits of history: and more particularly
after the defection of Armenia to the Romans, which took place in the year eight hundred
and eighty 20, of the era of Alexander, (A. D. 569. For this act was the cause of constant
and numerous battles on all sides, and of dreadful devastations, and the shedding of much
blood. For the Magian, after his defeats, was again lifted up in his wickedness, and fell
upon the Roman armies in Armenia, expecting to route and annihilate them utterly. But when
he found himself unequal to this, he turned aside and entered the Lesser or Roman Armenia,
in the hope of being able to capture and pillage the city of Caesarea, in Cappadocia: but
the Roman armies hemmed him in, and drove him back from thence, and gave him battle, and
deprived him utterly of his baggage, and made him return ashamed; and had it not been for
a disagreement between the Roman commanders, he would scarcely have escaped with his life.
And again the Roman king sent presents and subsidies, and despatched fresh troops to
Armenia to ensure his victories;

but nevertheless, after it had been completely taken possession of and occupied by the
Romans, and they had gained numerous victories, and had reduced several powerful tribes to
obedience, finally, either by the unskilful measures of their generals, or because in many
things they had brought upon them the anger of God, when they were not fewer in number
than a hundred thousand men, they were stricken with a panic at the presence of a single
paltry Marzban, with but thirty thousand troops, and all the Roman hosts fled, with the
loss of their arms and horses, and were put to shame. And the Persian was lifted up, and
increased in strength, and overran and conquered the whole of Armenia, and all the land
asked for terms of peace from him, and he granted them; whereupon it returned to its
allegiance, excepting those only who had betaken themselves to Constantinople, when seven
years before they rebelled against him, and the struggle began 21.

After this, men of high rank in both kingdoms were sent as ambassadors to examine the
matters in dispute between the two realms, and to confer about peace; and for more than a
year they were occupied at the borders talking and discussing, and disputing with one
another, but without effecting any thing. And at first the Persian required a sum of
money, before he would make peace; but at this the king of the Romans was stirred up
manfully, and said, 'This man demands of us gold, as if we were afraid of him, or subject
to him; but let him know that as he never yet has received of us a single mina, so neither
shall he as long as we live. And if he treats not with us on equal terms, kingdom with
kingdom, we will not make peace with him.' And so, finally, the Persian gave way on this
point; but nothing came of it. But of all this, it is not possible for us to give the
particulars: many books would scarce hold a full account of it, and of the other contests
in the church and the world, which happened in our days, and which therefore, from their
too great length, we must omit 22.

[II. 25. Contemporaneously with the disgrace which befell the Roman arms in Armenia, there
was seen in very deed the meaning and accomplishment of the apostolic lesson, [Rom. i. 18]
'that the wrath of God is revealed from heaven upon all iniquity and wickedness of men,
who hold the truth in unrighteousness.' For because Christians, on slight and insufficient
reasons, had risen up as stern and violent persecutors of Christians, mercilessly and
without fear of God, yea, savagely, barbarously, and unchristianly, 'like unto a lion
roaring that he may break in pieces, and as a lion's whelp that sitteth in secret,'
therefore did the Lord arise before their faces, and lay them low, so manifestly that it
was known and observed of all men. For they had intemperately practised every cruelty
against the members of their own body, even against the whole people of the orthodox, in
vehement wrath, not treating them in that orderly and gentle manner which becomes just and
Christian men, but stirring themselves up to be violent and merciless persecutors. For
they sentenced the servants of God to cruel imprisonments in dark and narrow dungeons,
though they were aged men, infirm and frail in body, and venerable for their years; yea,
they condemned them to merciless banishment, without fear of God; ordering them in bonds
and strict confinement, to be left exposed to hunger and thirst, and no friend permitted
to visit them:

and when they banished them, they gave directions that the exiles should have no mercy
shown them, but be ill treated in every possible way, in the expectation that the
greatness of their sufferings and trials would compel them to submit themselves to the
will of their tormentors. And when, by force and compulsion, they had made any submit,
they then, in violation of all law and canonical order, pronounced the ordination invalid,
which they had received long before at the hands of orthodox bishops, and ordained them
afresh, both priests and bishops. And so many were their deeds of this kind, that the time
is too short to relate them, nor, as the event plainly proved, could the justice of God
either tolerate or endure them. For quick and speedy was the wrathful sentence sent down
from heaven upon this cruelty and savageness, or rather upon those who, unrestrained by
the fear of God, had practised it, even upon John the patriarch, and upon the king, who
was led by him astray, and who did these things under his influence. For both were
scourged by the same angry rod, and received the same sentence, that they should be given
over to evil spirits. And they had much meanwhile to suffer, which was terrible and
alarming, but which shall now be veiled by us in silence, because of the honour due to the
priesthood and the royal dignity;

but which being wrought in them during a lengthened period of time by the devils, to whom
they were severally given up, became matters of common report and conversation, and to the
truth of which, and their terrible and fearful reality, we have the testimony of all the
people of those times. [II. 26. Upon this alarming chastisement falling upon the king and
patriarch, the bishop John was at first rather stimulated to increased persecution of the
believers by the operation and incitement of the evil spirit which wrought within him, so
that every day, without knowing what he was doing, or settled purpose, he gave utterance
to savage and cruel threats, unwarned by the chastisement which, from time to time, he
received from the evil spirit; and thus he still more irritated the righteous Judge, Who
sent yet again upon him a disease of the bowels, and internal pains, and the bitter
agonies of gout: so that, being now tormented beyond hope of cure, and pain following upon
pain, and blow upon blow more intensely every day; and all the care of his many physicians
being in vain, and no respite or aid appearing, at length, as the magicians confessed
before Pharaoh, saying, 'This is the finger of God,' so also was he now forced to
understand that his chastisement came from Heaven; and he began with sighs and tears to
say to his physicians, 'Why weary ye yourselves, my children, about me, a miserable
wretch? for my maladies are past the power of healing. For all these tortures have been
inflicted upon me by the just sentence of Heaven because of my cruelty, and men cannot
heal them.

For now I know and understand that as I, without mercy, smote many, so am I now singly
scourged without mercy by the One.' And in process of time the physicians ceased to attend
him, for he himself refused their services; and he became unable to take food, and even
when he swallowed any thing liquid, he quickly threw it off his stomach, and finally his
bowels came away piecemeal. And his torment was not only thus bitter and severe, but also
protracted, so that he often said with tears before many people, 'I know, O Lord, that I
have done evil in Thy sight, and that the curses of Thy aged and honoured servants have
overtaken me, and stirred up Thy wrath against me, because I treated them without mercy.'
His punishment began about a year after he commenced the persecution, and never abated:
and as he did not even then desist from the cruelty of his measures, there finally fell
upon him this severe and most painful torment, under which he lingered two years, and at
length departed from this present life in the thirteenth year of the reign of king Justin.
The latter still lingered under his maladies, finding occasional relief, but never being
entirely delivered from his sufferings until the day of his decease. [II. 27. His death
was followed by the immediate recall of Eutychius 23 to the patriarchal throne:

and as we have mentioned briefly before the purport of this chapter, so now we will shew
at length the just judgment of God, which not only at the day of future trial, but also
here, visits men with retribution according to their deeds. For John the bishop of the
capital, of whom we are now speaking, being urged onwards by savage violence, and hurried
along by pride and arrogance like a boy, and intoxicated and drunken with power, took down
and erased all the pictures of the orthodox fathers, and fixed up his own everywhere in
their place. And while he thought not that he should die, suddenly the time of his
departure overtook him, and Eutychius his predecessor, who had been deposed, was summoned
to fill his place. And though by the persuasion of their majesties he consented upon his
return to let all that had previously passed between him and John rest in silence, yet his
pictures he everywhere obliterated, and expelled them, not merely from the episcopal
palace and the churches, but even had a search made for them, lest any one should here and
there escape notice. And the inhabitants of both towns and villages, when they learnt his
will, that they might not be informed against, obliterated all John's pictures, whether
painted on the walls or on tablets, and took them down, and fixed up those of Eutychius in
their place, so that at most only one or two remained here and there:

[Jud.ix.56.] 'and God requited the wickedness of Abimelech, which he had done, in slaying
his brethren, fifty men, upon one stone.' And this became a wonder and an astonishment to
all men, that God so quickly had recompensed John even here, and that as he had done, so
it was done unto him, [1 Sam.xxv.39] 'and the Lord returned the requital of Nabal upon his
own head.' And thus the pictures of John were obliterated as soon as he was dead, just as
he had boldly taken down the pictures of the saints and set up his own. The time during
which John 24 occupied the patriarchal throne was thirteen years, more or less. [II. 28.]
Among the satellites of the patriarch was a certain deacon, named Theodulus, who
distinguished himself by the activity he displayed in the persecution, and who also was
overtaken by the Divine vengeance. From his youth this man had been remarkable for his
demureness, and humility, and quietness, and had thereby earned with many the reputation
of extraordinary virtue. These qualities had moreover gained him an introduction to the
king Justinian, who, on seeing his humility and sedateness, employed him as his almoner,
and intrusted him with large sums of money to distribute to the poor, and prisoners, and
to the monasteries in the suburbs and outskirts of the city. The money thus given him
amounted to many talents; and his services were not confined to the capital, but he was
often sent on similar errands even to distant countries: and finally, by little and
little, he amassed for himself out of the sums given him to distribute great riches. After
Justinian's death, he was employed by Justin in the same confidential post; and when the
persecution broke out, being anxious to obtain the favour of men, he was the means, as one
who held a confidential position, of bringing, in company with John and the rest, many
evils upon the whole body of the believers. His business was to go in advance to the
monasteries, and there, by his false oaths, he deceived many: but finally, he was detected
in his wickedness.

His zeal and vehemence in defence of the synod, and the whole heresy of the two natures,
was even greater than that of John himself; and as he was perpetually slandering the
believers both to the king and patriarch, and exciting cruel anger against them, he was
himself invested with power to seize and imprison and torture whom he would, besides being
often intrusted with special commands, in the execution of which he treated the believers
in the most wilful manner. Even the patriarch himself was in no little alarm and fright at
his rising power, and the more so when the Arians everywhere were put under his authority.
But when he was thus lifted up, and still busied with persecution, God severely scourged
him, so that he could no longer walk erect. For while he was still in his strength, and
angrily urging on the persecution, it so happened that his own and his wife's cousins and
his secretary embarked in a carvin 25, or small vessel, to cross the sea: but it
foundered, and all on board, two or three only excepted, were drowned. Nor was this the
only calamity which befell him: for, soon after, his wife died, and a severe illness
stretched him also upon his bed, where he lay in much pain for three years. And now, in
the misery brought upon him by these severe chastisements, he confessed with bitter tears,
saying, 'Woe is me!

for the curses of those whom I persecuted have overtaken me, and the cry of those whom I
oppressed has gone up before God, and therefore is this my humiliation sent upon me from
Heaven.' For it had so happened, a little time before, that somehow or other he offended
his vestryman, who had the charge of all which he possessed; and for revenge he went in
secret and informed the king of the talents which his master Theodulus had secreted, and
which it is said—for we have no means of knowing exactly —were from twenty-four to thirty.
These the king had secretly removed, and then sending for Theodulus, he said; 'We are in
great need, O deacon, of money for the wars; and if thou wilt lend us two or three
talents, we will requite thee.' And he replied, 'Me, my lord, whence could I have
talents?' ' By my life and my salvation,' exclaimed the king, ' say you that you have
none?' 'None, certainly,' was the answer; and he took his oath that he was not worth a
talent. Upon this, the king ordered the talents to be produced, and with them the
vestryman, and sternly said, 'Knowest thou these? and how didst thou swear, and perjure
thyself unto us and unto God? Thy shame suffice thee: depart hence.' And so he departed,
ashamed like the shame of a thief when he is caught, and hid himself for shame; and became
the scorn and ridicule of all men.

Thus then disgrace was added to his other afflictions, and he was further dismissed from
his office, and continues so to the present day. [II 29.]Another of the chief persecutors
was the king's quaestor, Anastasius, who by birth was a Samaritan; and when his countrymen
in Palestine were being brought to judgment by Photius, they accused him also of
practising their idolatrous customs, and an indictment against him was drawn up, and laid
before the king. And upon this the alarm of Anastasius was extreme, and he ran hither and
thither, and. gave bribes on all sides, and so the indictment disappeared, and no inquiry
was made into his conduct. This man was the foe and stern enemy of the believers, and used
to threaten them severely; and whenever in the patriarch's absence he acted as his
commissary, he used the opportunity for stirring up the king against them by his
calumnies: and on John's return, the two persisted, whenever they had an audience, in
these representations, and so abused the king's confidence, that, being roused to anger,
he published decrees of alarming severity against the whole body of the believers. And, as
was known to every one, Anastasius was constantly in the habit of receiving sums of money
from John, and was his adviser and inciter to every thing that was abominable, like his
accursed teacher Aetherius 26, who prided himself upon Anastasius having been from the
first a labourer in the same cause as himself, and eager to walk in all his footsteps.

But justice could no longer endure this man's cruelty, who, while professing himself a
Christian, used the opportunity of his office secretly in every way, and on every pretext,
to smite the Christians, as only a heathen and a Samaritan would do, and conspired with
the other secret heathens to prevent the unity of the church. But God saw his crafty
purposes, and while he supposed that he was deceiving both God and men, He brought his
falsehood to light before the whole church, when it was crowded with people, on the day of
the adoration of the holy cross of our Saviour. On this festival the cross is brought out,
and set up in the great church, and the whole senate and all the people of the city
assemble to adore it: and with the senate came also the quaestor, to show forsooth in
pretence that he also was an adorer. And as they formed themselves in rows, and drew near
in order, he too approached the holy cross; but before he could adore it, a demon entered
into him, and lifted him up, and threw him on the ground before the holy cross,—yes, this
man, I say, who falsely and deceitfully, in mockery of the Christian religion, had drawn
near to worship —and he began to foam, and was torn by the devil, and deprived of his
senses, and screamed so long, that at length the patriarch gave orders for them to lift
him up, and carry him through the throng, and place him in an inner apartment of the
church: while the whole multitude who filled the church long continued crying Kyrie
eleison, being in wonder at the revelation of his fraud, and at the chastisement which the
Lord of the cross had inflicted upon him, before the eyes of so many people. And terror
fell on many deceivers and hypocrites.

As for Anastasius, he never again raised his head, but being thus tormented by the devil,
he lived about a year and a half, more or less, and so departed from this life. [II. 30.]
Nor did vengeance fall only upon individuals, but as the synodites had rooted up the
churches of the orthodox during the persecution, so after a short time, by a righteous
sentence, the altars of their churches throughout Thrace, and up to the very walls of the
city, were rased to the ground by the barbarians. For it seemed good to the rulers in
church and state, to overthrow the meeting-houses of the believers, and level their altars
with the ground: but when a short time only had elapsed, a barbarous people, who from
their unshorn hair are called Avars, invaded the country and marched up to the outer walls
of Constantinople: and all the churches in Thrace were plundered by them and desolated
with the whole land, and the altars were stripped and overthrown, and the ciboria 27
destroyed and plucked down, even to the very walls of the city. And many of them
understood this just judgment, and said, 'Lo, that which was unjustly done by men of our
own party unto those who do not agree with us, in uprooting their churches, this has God
done unto us in anger, and our churches also are rooted up and ruined.' —And all men
wondered thereat and praised God, Who requiteth every man according to his works.

[II. 31.] Upon the death of the patriarch John, Eutychius was once again summoned to fill
the archiepiscopal throne, from a monastery at Amasea 28 in the north. And on his arrival
at the capital, he was received by their majesties and the whole city with the utmost
pomp: for wonderful rumours were spread abroad concerning him, to the effect that he
wrought miracles and did mighty works. The whole city therefore rejoiced at his arrival,
and congratulated themselves upon their deliverance from the perfidy and falseness and
usurpation 29 of John, who had been appointed in violation of canonical order; and
moreover originally he held a menial position, and subsequently was a jurist; nor was it
until a very short time before that he received the tonsure and became a clergyman, and
then unexpectedly bishop of the royal city; but this in no way broke him of his habits as
a layman and jurist. Eutychius, on the contrary, was a sober monk: and already at his
deposition he had occupied the throne of the capital for twelve years; and on his
expulsion John had held the episcopate also for twelve years, and just entered upon the
thirteenth: and so Eutychius returned, feeling as though he could not sit upon his throne
until he had excommunicated John, and cast, his memory out of the church of God.

[II.32.] His return brought with it a practical difficulty as to who had been the real
bishop of Constantinople during the twelve years of John's occupancy: and therefore the
archdeacon of Rome, after the death of John of Sirmin and the restoration of Eutychius,
spake with much freedom before the king, as follows: 'Be it known unto your clemency, that
according to the canons and rules of the church, if John was patriarch,—and he certainly
acted in that capacity all the days of his life,—then Eutychius was not patriarch, and it
is utterly impossible for him to be admitted into the church, and occupy the throne. If
however Eutychius is received, and admitted as patriarch, and occupies the throne, then
John and all that he did cannot be acknowledged by the church, but must be rejected,
whether it be the consecration of bishops, or ordinations, or any baptism which he
performed, or the consecration of a church, or an altar, it is all null and void, and his
name must be erased, and proclamation made of his expulsion from the church of God, and
the order of the priesthood. And this is the more necessary, because the two have mutually
deposed and excommunicated each other, and all who severally communicate with them: so
that it plainly follows from the canons, that one or other is deposed and ejected from the
church.' And when the archdeacon had said these things in the presence of the king, and
declared that the pope of Rome held the same view, he was sharply rebuked, and told to
hold his peace, and not trouble himself about the exact letter of the canons. And so he
held his peace, and passed the matter by; and the rule of the canons was trampled under
foot and broken.

[II.33.] The archdeacon of Rome had however only expressed the general opinion: for all
men had expected that Eutychius, upon his recall, would refuse to occupy the patriarchal
throne, until a synod had been assembled, and full enquiry made. But on arriving at the
city, he mounted and sat upon his throne without opposition: and both parties drank and
swallowed down the turbid dregs of the mutual excommunications, which John and Eutychius
had pronounced against each other and their respective adherents; so that astonishment
took possession of all men. [II.34.] But though Eutychius abstained from a ca nonical
enquiry into the validity of John's patriarchate, fearing lest he should stir up some
opponent against himself, and lose his manger, he showed his hatred and fierceness against
him by giving orders that all his pictures should immediately be extirpated and removed
from the palace; which John had himself rebuilt in a magnificent manner, after it had been
destroyed by fire. His pictures also elsewhere were obliterated, and his name no longer
heard at the recitation from the diptychs of the former patriarchs of Constantinople,
until the king expressed his displeasure at the omission. He moreover drove away and
deprived all his relatives of their offices, and heaped upon his predecessor's memory
every possible contumely. And every one who wished to please him, when they saw his
infatuation, spoke ill of John, and he listened to it with pleasure: and finally, his
folly reached such a height, that he used openly to say, 'John never was bishop of
Constantinople, but was simply keeping my place, having himself nothing to do with it.'
But these absurdities deceived no one but himself: for all knew that he had been deposed,
and that John was appointed in his stead, and had occupied the see, and formally
pronounced his deprivation.

[II. 35.] The restoration of Eutychius did not promise much peace to the orthodox party:
for in his exile he had occupied himself in his monastery in tearing up and arranging
books of lacerations 30, as a proof from the fathers of the doctrine of a quaternity
instead of the Holy Trinity, as it had been set forth at the synod of Chalcedon in the
wicked tome of Leo. For he in like manner taught that there are two natures in Christ even
after the union, and said that all the fathers also acknowledged this. Immediately then
that he had been reinstated in his see, he busied himself in eagerly sending copies of
these books to the leading men, and ladies of note, requesting them to read and
understand, and so be led themselves to acknowledge the two natures: and especially he
sent them to such persons as were offended at the doctrine of the two natures, and held,
in accordance with all. the fathers, that there was but one nature in Christ as He existed
corporeally. But the contrary effect to what he had expected followed upon the perusal of
his books: for even his own suffragans and people generally ridiculed his absurdity, and
the whole city began to be excited, and those especially, who had not drunk of the turbid
dregs of Nestorius' gall, expressed freely and in severe terms their indignation,
including some of his own bishops. And at length so much excitement and debate was stirred
up against him, that they assembled at the palace, and frankly said, 'Know that if thou
dost not gather in thy books, and say nothing more upon this matter, thou wilt cause a
schism in the church of God, even among our own party.' And so he gathered in his books,
upon which the excitement died away, though he continued to hold the same views as before.

[II.36] After these things, the haughty Eutychius, who belonged originally in the main to
the heresy of Paul of Samosata, was not long in precipitating himself into a fresh snare,
by adopting the views of those who denied the resurrection of the body: nor did he merely
assent to their opinions, but set himself industriously and zealously to confess and
publicly teach their doctrine, saying, 'These bodies of men do not attain to the
resurrection, but others are created anew, which arise in their stead.' And this view he
not merely taught by word of mouth, but even drew up written treatises in its defence, and
distributed them publicly, and constantly spoke of nothing else. And again, on this
account the whole city was excited against him, and murmurs were every where heard, and
expressions of scorn and ridicule. And those especially were scandalized who were of his
party, and finally they said to him, 'If thou dost not hold thy tongue about this
doctrine, we will in a body excommunicate thee.' And even this threat did not divert him
from his opinion, but he attempted no longer to teach it, especially as all men had come
to regard him as a heretic and a simpleton.

A few chapters further on, John repeats this narrative as follows: [II. 42. The vanity of
his heart often led the patriarch Eutychius astray; and whereas originally he belonged to
the heresy of the Samosatenians, on being made bishop, he sought to conceal this fact; and
to please those who had appointed him, and who held the Chalcedonian tenets, he stood up
and played the man in the heresy of the two natures, and began to persecute severely. And
when he was driven from his throne into exile, he composed a large work of instruction,
divided into heads, concerning the two natures, which upon his restoration after John's
death, as we have previously narrated, he began to distribute among the houses of the
leading senators, both to men and women, especially to such as held back from the
confession of the two natures. And with his book he sent this message, 'Read and learn
that the church confesses two natures in Christ after the union.' And laughing at his
absurdity, they sent him his books back again. Next, after a short interval, he heard of
the heresy of Athanasius, who after having been head and founder of the heresy of those
who number the substances, that is, the essences and natures in the Holy Trinity, having
been led astray by the error of John Grammaticus, of Alexandria, he further said that
these bodies of ours do not rise again at the resurrection of the dead, but that others
are made 31, which come to the resurrection in their stead.

And from this madness, worthy of heathenism or the Manichees, there arose a schism among
them, and they anathematized one another in their writings. When then Eutychius heard of
these people, he immediately joined himself unto them, and was imbued with their
sentiments, and became one of them, and began composing a work in their defence, and drew
up and published books, until his bishops and clergy were alarmed, and resisted him; and
after much discussion, he was ashamed, and held his peace, and gathered in his writings,
though he still continued of the same opinion. [II. 37.] Eutychius, however, himself
ascribed the ill success of his books to the machinations of the orthodox: and though the
supposition was unfounded, it led him to entertain an implacable animosity against them,
and to set his face to exterminate and destroy them. He let loose therefore upon them, on
the occasion of the celebration of their love feasts, the more violent members of his
party, such as the officials of the ecclesiastical courts, and soldiers and civilians and
clergymen and guardsmen 32, who attacking them, not like Christians, but like murderers
and barbarians, dragged them with open violence to prison, overturned their altars, threw
down their oblations, and poured, out the consecrated wine, while the sacred vessels, and
every thing else of any worth, which they could find, with the service books, they
plundered and stole: they even robbed the worshippers of their clothing and their shoes,
and any thing else they found of value they took, without despising even trifles. And when
they had stolen all they could, they dragged them away, and all whom they found in their
company, to prison, and confined them, rich and poor together, and only let them out to
make room for a fresh crowd, as similar scenes were repeated every day. But these
proceedings brought general disgrace upon Eutychius and his party, because, like heathens,
they had thrown down and trampled under foot the bread consecrated on Christian altars,
and even cast it into the fire and burnt it. And all these evils were done without
restraint, until no congregation openly ventured to celebrate public worship throughout
the whole city.

[II.38.] The cause of all these wrong doings was a certain Fravian, or Flavian 33,
originally a slave of Andrew, the queen's pursebearer, who at the commencement of the
persecution left the palace and his office, and went forth for the truth's sake, and was
plundered, and imprisoned in the monastery of Dalmatus, but retained his constancy
unbroken. In his household was a slave of barbarian parentage, whom he had carefully
brought up, and trained to be his scribe; and he was a believer and all his house. In
process, however, of time he apostatized and conformed to the tenets of Eutychius, by whom
he was employed as an informer, and troubler of the believing clergy and their
congregations. Taking therefore with him a troop of officials and guardsmen and civilians
and clergy, he went about laying hands on every body, and dragging them to prison, after
plundering them barbarously, and spoiling them and taking from them all they had. To
escape from him, many gave him large bribes; for though a man crept and hid himself in a
needle's eye, as the proverb is, he was sure to creep in after him by some stratagem or
other, and seize him, and plunder and imprison him. And thus he became the tempter and
Satan of all the priests and congregations, and of all the believers in the capital, and
of us too with the rest; and, in short, it would be impossible to enumerate the evils
wrought by this man against the whole orthodox church.

[II. 39. Among those who endured this persecution with exemplary firmness was a young nun.
She was one of two sisters whose mother died while they were infants, and their father
placed them in a convent; and dying soon after, he left them, that is, their convent,
whatever he possessed. And in process of time they grew up, and had just arrived at
womanhood, when John's persecution broke out, and subsequently that of Eutychius: and as
they obliged every religious house to receive the sacrament at their hands; they took the
sisters, upon their refusal, and placed them in separate convents: but they both stood
firm as adamant, and especially the elder; upon which they inflicted upon her every kind
of torture and pain, and close confinement, and hunger and thirst, as being the elder of
the two, and glorying and fervent in the faith. But she rebuked and reproached those in
whose convent she was confined, and said, 'Ye and your priests, and all your party, are
aliens to the Holy Trinity, and hold instead of it a quaternity of persons, like the synod
of Chalcedon, which makes a pretence of excommunicating Nestorius, but really and truly
holds his view, and acknowledges two natures, just as he did, and as you also do, and all
who agree with it.' And as they could not refute her arguments, they went and accused her
to the bishop, and said to him plainly, 'Unless you give orders for the immediate removal
of this tempter, know for certain that we must all quit our nunnery; for it is impossible
to endure her scoffs and contumelies, or answer her arguments.' He therefore sent to the
exarch, or officer who had the general oversight of the monastic institutions, commanding
him to go and examine her, and severely chastise her; and then eject her, and send her to
a convent where their discipline was more severe, with directions to torture her until
they made her submit. The exarch accordingly deputed his visitor to try the case, and on
his arrival they began to accuse and threaten her; but she of her own accord laughed at
them, openly expressing her contempt, and saying, 'Why do ye heathens and murderers
threaten a poor weak girl like me?

If ye go no further than threats, and do not at once murder me, according to your custom
and that of him who sent yon, I do not count you as men, or even as living creatures.'
Upon this, they beat her in anger with a staff until they were tired: but she only derided
them the more, and anathematized them, saying, 'O you heathen persecutors and murderers of
Christians!' and urging them to kill her, she said, 'You are heathens and not Christians;
for Christians do not persecute Christians: but you shew yourselves to be heathens, and
that you do the work of heathens.' And as they could not answer her, they dragged her away
and imprisoned her in another nunnery, leaving orders that they should torture her
severely. But when but a few days had passed, they also began to cry out, and try to get
rid of her. And so she was removed to one convent after another; and when none could break
her spirit, Eutychius gave orders that she should be brought to him in the church. But
when the exarch's people heard of the patriarch's intention, they went to him, and said,
'Know, my lord, that if you let her enter your presence, and do not first cut out her
tongue, or strike off her head, there is no reproach or ridicule that she will not freely
utter to your face:

for even when flogged and scourged, she only grows the more vehement, being ready and
eager to suffer death.' Finally, however, she was brought to the church, and many attacked
her one after another, and multiplied their threats and denunciations; but she regarded
them no more than as if they had been so many dead persons, and reproved them at great
length. And so they were all everywhere vanquished by her, and finally let her return to
her own nunnery. And thus she was the cause of the whole convent being unmolested: for
they never ventured again to attack them, being unwilling to encounter her, and saying,
'If this one sister of that convent has endured without flinching all these trials, since
they are all alike, who will ever be able to overpower them?' [II.40.] Not satisfied with
these attacks upon their persons and their property, Eutychius endeavoured also to weaken
the argumentative position of the orthodox by making a change in those parts of the
Liturgy which favoured their views. Carrying himself then proudly, in this as in every
thing else, and wishing to prove himself a theologian, he formed the purpose of doing away
with and abolishing the immemorial custom of the ministrations in the churches, and
establishing a corruption of his own composing: he therefore drew up an antiphon for the
Thursday in Passion week, and had it copied on tablets, and sent it to all the churches,
with orders that the ordinary antiphon should no longer be used, but his own substituted
in its place, adding threats and menaces against such as should still venture to use the
former one in preference to his own.

But not only the clergy of all the churches and convents and monasteries, and monks and
nuns, were in alarm and commotion, but also the whole city and senate: and a general riot
was on the point of breaking out, not only on the part of the churches and monasteries,
but also of the people of the city. And at length the matter reached the king's ears, to
whom it was told by one of the senate: and when the bishop came in haste and hot anger, to
complain to the king of these things, he rebuked him very sharply, and said, 'How long
will it be before you can moderate yourself, and live in quiet? For see, you have agitated
and disturbed the whole city. For how could you imagine that you had authority to change
our ancient customs? Look to yourself, that they do not stone you.' To this he replied: 'I
assure you, my lord, that what I have composed is far fitter for the occasion than the old
one.' But the king said, 'Know that if you had brought your antiphon down from heaven, we
would not admit it. Go, and keep to your church: and follow in it what has been
established by the ancient fathers.' And so his vehemence was checked, and his menaces
gave place to a discreet silence.

[II.52.] Of a similar change attempted in the Trishagion34 our author gives some more
particulars in the last chapter of this book, wherein he says, that as we have mentioned
above the excellent Eutychius was a very eager opponent of the phrase, 'That wast
crucified for us,' and wrote strict injunctions to the bishops everywhere to omit this
confession from the churches of the cities over which they presided: and at the
consecration of all new bishops he exacted a promise that they would cause its entire
suppression in their dioceses. But upon their endeavouring to obey this command, the
people everywhere, both in the cities and villages, were offended and scandalized,
especially in Syria, Asia, and Cappadocia, inasmuch as they had used this phrase from the
first. And in many places they resisted, and rose up, saying, 'Though we be hacked to
pieces, and burnt, yet will we not deny the God Who was crucified and suffered for us.'
And this strife and quarrel continued in every province of the empire even after the death
of Eutychius.

[II.41. In this persecution our author suffered chiefly in the unjust legal proceedings
taken against him respecting some property. For this, John, generally known as
Superintendent of the heathen, and who was bishop of Ephesus, after all the trials and
imprisonments and persecutions and banishments which he had endured, was required to give
up the writings of an endowment which had been granted him by Callinicus, chief officer of
the king's household, and a patrician. But John, upon receiving it, had expended upon it
considerable sums, having both restored the buildings, and built a church, and erected
three cisterns; and finally, had dedicated it as a monastery. But when the persecution
broke out, in the time of John of Sirmin, he took from him the monastery, and put into it
monks in communion with Chalcedon, and sent its founder into exile to an island in the
sea. And when upon John's death he returned from exile, Eutychius demanded of him the deed
of gift and all the other writings by which he held the property; and not only so, but
also the furniture, and service books, and every thing else belonging to it. And when John
resisted, after a lengthened persecution, he finally arrested him, and cast him into
prison, and took from him by force all the papers upon which he could lay hands. And while
he still lay in prison, he assembled a troop of officials and laymen to try him for
refusing to deliver up the furniture.

But John was strengthened by the grace of,God, and said to them, 'What furniture and what
things demand ye? Is it aught that ye gave, or that some one else gave? He who gave me the
furniture would be the fitting person to demand it back. For lo! all the deeds of the
endowment that were in my possession ye have already taken away by fraud and violence,
without fear of God. Read then, and see for yourselves: is there so much as the name of
monastery there, or. any mention of furniture as received by me? If there be, then let it
be required of me. For I it was who, to my misfortune, made it a monastery. But if the
name do not occur, then was it no monastery when first it came into my hands.' And so, by
the grace of God, he made them ashamed of themselves, and they said nothing more to him
upon this point; but they took away from him the right of having five loaves at each
public distribution of corn , which had cost him three hundred darics, saying, 'These at
all events you bought in the name of the monastery.' And even then they did not restore
him to liberty, but kept him in prison, until he formally resigned the endowment, and so
he was set free.

The two succeeding chapters contain the information respecting Paul, metropolitan of
Aphrodi-sias, which we have given above in its proper place: and then follows an account
of Deuterius, John's fellow labourer, and subsequently the successor of Paul as bishop of
the orthodox communion in Asia. He is spoken of by his former coadjutor in terms of
sincere affection, as follows: [II.44.] 'This Deuterius was a man of industrious and
upright habits, who from his youth to old age uninterruptedly, through a period of five-
and-thirty years, was fellow-labourer with John in instructing the heathen in the
provinces of Asia, Caria, Phrygia, and Lydia, where together they built ninety-nine new
churches and twelve monasteries: and throughout this time John confided in him, and
trusted in him more than in all besides. When therefore he grew old, and became the victim
also of persecution, he appointed Deuterius in his place as bishop of the orthodox in
Caria, and intrusted to his charge the churches and monasteries there, among which he
laboured, visiting and strengthening them all, until his death, which happened at
Constantinople. For he was greatly assisted by Divine grace, which enabled him to
discharge efficiently and zealously and manfully the painful duties of his office: and
when the synodites pursued him in hopes of getting him into their power, that they might
treat him as they had done Paul of Aphrodisias, and substitute him in the place of the
other Paul of Antioch, the Lord did not deliver him into their power: and so he fought
unto the end the good fight, and arrived at a prosperous old age.

The next chapter treated of the apostasy of the Cappadocian monks, whom Narses had
received temporarily into his convent in Bithynia (l. i. c. 39), and we have therefore
arranged it with the rest of their history: and possibly the next chapter should have
accompanied it, as it is a lament over the confusion and uncertain creed which was
occasioned in the monasteries by the persecution, and of which they were an example. As,
however, it belongs chronologically to the present time, it has been allowed to retain its
original position; and is as follows: [II. 47.] Upon the visitation of the nunneries,
great and small, the inmates were compelled to receive the communion at the hands of their
persecutors,; and such of them as submitted, continued to reside as inmates; but some of
those who refused, subsequently returned, and again commenced residence. There were
therefore now two parties in the nunneries; those who had submitted, and those who had
not; and both joined in the whole service, except the actual partaking of the Eucharist.
And even when the elements were consecrated by the clergy, and during the actual
participation, all had to stand and join in the services, and perform the whole office in
common, without venturing to separate one from the other. Such, however, as did not
actually partake were allowed to have a special service for themselves, and receive the
Lord's supper at the hands of orthodox presbyters. And because of the urgency of the
times, they were compelled to submit to these regulations, or they would have been
summarily expelled and dispersed; and the chiefs of the orthodox were obliged to keep
quiet, and overlook these things, or orthodoxy would have come to a speedy and utter end.

[II.48.] There were at that time at Constantinople some elephants, whose conduct excited
wonder and astonishment. Now it may easily happen that those who are given to ridicule
will find only an occasion for derision in lighting upon a narrative of the acts of
irrational animals in our histories: but we do not record it without reason, or, so to
say, foolishly, but first of all for the glory of God, and secondly for the refutation and
conviction of heathens and Jews, and of all other mistaken persons, who deny the cross,
and reject the dispensation of our Saviour, the sign of which is the cross upon which it
was wrought. These elephants then were part of the spoil captured after a victory, which
God gave the Christians over the accursed people of the Magians; and being sent to
Constantinople, continued there a long time; and whenever they passed a church, the
foremost elephant, who was marching in their front, turned round towards the east, and
bowed down his head and trunk, and made obeisance; and then, raising up his trunk, he
waved it round, and made the sign of the cross, and signed himself, and so passed on. And
next, the second would raise his trunk, and act in the same manner; and the rest in order
unto the last. And this we have often seen with our own eyes, while we wondered and
praised God, Who had given the knowledge of Christianity even to dumb animals, for the
rebuke of those who have the gift of reason, and yet neglect Christianity, and despise the
grace of Him Who has saved our sinful race.

And there was another similar practice of these animals equally wonderful and astonishing,
and which they never failed to perform whenever the customary horseraces were held in the
Hippodrome. For these elephants were always brought in, each with his conductor on his
neck; and standing in the Hippodrome opposite the king, they bowed down, and made their
obeisance to him to the best of their ability, and as far as their nature would permit.
And then each one of them made the sign of the cross with his trunk, and signed himself
before the king: while the crowds assembled there were amazed and astonished to see them
use the sign of the cross exactly like men. And finally, the king made them presents, and
they retired. [II.49.] Another extraneous subject is an account of a great fire, which,
towards the close of Tiberius' reign, and the commencement of that of Maurice, broke out
in the very centre of Constantinople, and devastated a great portion of it; so that many
estates, some large and some moderate and some small, were simultaneously destroyed, and
their owners, even if they escaped with their lives, were stripped and beggared of all
they possessed, and with their own eyes saw it fall in one day a prey to the flaming fire.

[II.50.] Now when men of practised learning fall in with these narratives, they will
possibly blame the writer, because it may so happen that the same fact is recorded in a
confused and disorderly way in several different chapters; be it known, then, in our
defence to such as are inclined to find fault, that most of these histories were written
at the very time when the persecution was going on, and under the difficulties caused by
its pressure: and it was even necessary that friends should remove the leaves on which
these chapters were inscribed, and every other particle of writing, and conceal them in
various places, where they sometimes remained for two or three years. When therefore
matters occurred which the writer wished to record, it was possible that he might have
partly spoken of them before, but he had no papers or notes by which to read and know
whether they had been described or not. If therefore he did not remember that he had
recorded them, at some subsequent time he probably again proceeded to their detail; and
therefore occasionally the same subject is recorded in more chapters than one: nor
afterwards did he ever find a fitting time for plainly and clearly arranging them in an
orderly narrative.

Of this we have an instance in the two next chapters, one giving an account of the lapse
of Eutychius into the heresy of the Athanasians, and the other of his attack upon the
Trishagion, both of which belong to previous portions of the history. End of the Second
Book of the Narratives of the Church, in which are contained fifty-two chapters.


ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY, THIRD PART
==================================

ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY, THIRD PART continued

BOOK V

THE first twelve chapters of the fifth hook refer to the Tritheites, and will be found in
the earlier part of the translation, where we have collected the scattered references to
Conon, the Condobaudites, and other minor Monophysite sects. For so Timothy classes them,
because however strongly opposed by Theodosius and the heads of the party, they
nevertheless had sprung out from them, and agreed in holding their central doctrine of the
complete union of the two natures in Christ. The rest of the book treats of the emperor
Maurice, and in rearranging these chapters, we have done no more than our author
recommends; for in his naive heading he says, 'After the first twelve chapters it treats
of the reign of the victorious Maurice, who ought indeed to have stood at the head of the
book, but it did not occur to us.' And this same apology he repeats in his title to the
thirteenth chapter.

[V.13] His account of Maurice he commences ab ovo, with the death of Justinian, in the
fourteenth day of the month of November, 876 (A. D. 565), after a reign of thirty-nine
years. His successor, Justin, his sister's son, reigned thirteen years all but forty days,
during part of which, from the severe malady which visited him, Tiberius acted by his
appointment as Caesar, made on the seventh day of December, in the year 886 (A. D. 575);
and subsequently, during his lifetime, he bestowed upon him the royal crown: for he saw
that he was himself dying, and therefore raised him to the throne, for though he still
survived, it was in the weakness and humiliation of death. The time he lived after making
Tiberius king was nine days. Tiberius occupied the throne as Cesar for four years, and
reigned afterwards as emperor for a period of four years more all but thirty-one days; and
when he found himself sick unto death, he too was compelled to appoint as Caesar the count
Maurice, the Cappadocian, on the fifth day of August in the year 893 (A. D. 582); for it
had so happened, that Maurice had arrived at the capital but a few days before from the
East, where he had been made Commander-in-chief over all the Roman generals, as we have
mentioned in the previous chapters upon this subject. He further gave him the name of
Tiberius, and joined with him in the government his younger daughter, Augusta, to whom he
also gave the name of Constantina, and, made Maurice immediately take her as wife. The
time he survived this appointment was only eight days, and when he saw himself sinking, on
the day before his death, he further gave him the royal crown, and departed from this
world in his suburban palace in the Hebdomum ; whence they brought him to the palace in
the city, and buried him after the manner of kings.

[V. 14. Meanwhile, the God-loving king Maurice sat upon the royal throne, and showed
himself, and was proclaimed as emperor, and began to manage and administer such matters as
belong to the kingdom; and after the time of mourning for king Tiberius was passed, he
made great preparations, and arranged the affairs of the kingdom, with much pomp and
magnificence, such as suits the majesty of kings. But these things it would not be easy
for any one to detail without much labour, nor does our subject permit us to occupy
ourselves with them, further than by an occasional allusion to such of them as are
connected with the history of the church, which is our proper business. After the royal
banquet, therefore, which was very splendid with magnificent presents and royal shows, the
queen proved with child, and in due time a son was born to them in the purple, on the
fourth day of August, 894 (A. D. 583), and they named him Theodosius, in allusion to
Theodosius the Second, who was the only one besides from the time of Constantine downwards
who was born in the purple. For neither did Constantine beget a son after attaining to the
empire, nor any one of those who succeeded him, neither Marcinus nor Leo, nor Zeno, nor
Anastasius, nor Justin, nor Justinian, nor Justin the Second, nor Tiberius, down to the
time of Maurice.

Upon the birth, therefore, of the child, general rejoicing was made, especially because
there were persons entirely unfit for so high an office, looking forward to and making
preparations for seizing the kingdom by force: but on the day of this infant's birth,
their projects were extinguished and brought to an end, so that even in the Hippodrome the
people of the city, with loud shouts in his honour, said, 'God grant thee well; for thou
hast freed us from subjection to many.' Forthwith, too, there were offered to the infant
presents and gifts in abundance, by all the nobles and ladies of rank, and senators and
others besides, each one trying his best to outdo his neighbour in the costliness of the
offerings which were presented to him with great respect. [V.15] The commencement of a new
reign is naturally favourable to designing men, and those therefore whose practice it is
to make a pretext of men's religion in order to rob and plunder them, did not cease their
endeavours to stir up Maurice against the orthodox, laying to their charge many wicked and
unfounded accusations, while he neither knew what they held, nor what was the cause of
their mutual divisions. As then they were constantly irritating him against them, he
finally became angry, and summoned the patriarch, and commanded him to send and arrest and
imprison such as would not communicate with him. But John the patriarch, being already in
grief and sorrow because of the heathen, since even after they had been detected and
discovered by the providence of God, and convicted by the testimony of one another, and
the legal depositions had been taken, and that not only in the capital, but in every
region and city, as we have fully narrated above, and many members of the senate had been
proved to be guilty, he then had let the matter rest, and thrown a veil over it, and but
few of them had been put to death, and a few others sent into exile, while the rest of
them continued as they were, and still held their rank and office.

On this account the patriarch mourned inconsolably, so that when he was ordered to arrest
and persecute the orthodox, he answered with indignation, 'Think you that God will be
pleased that when we let heathens escape, and set them free, and acquit them, after their
heathenism has been discovered and made known to every one, that now, after we have given
them impunity, we persecute and condemn and slay Christians in their stead? Are these the
laws of justice? What do the distinguishers say or do that we ought to persecute them? Be
it known then to your majesty, that as long as heathens are unpunished, and go at large,
and not one of them is even deposed from his office, I know not how I can persecute
Christians, with whose faith no fault can be found, and who consider themselves to he
believers even more fully than ourselves.' And so for the present he put a stop to the
persecution.

[V 15] A short time after these turbulent persons found some victims in the Arians: for as
leave had always been refused to their repeated requests for permission to fall upon the
congregations of the believers, they invented pretexts, and made numerous complaints
against the Arians, and having assembled their whole troop, they fell upon an Arian
church, the members of which met outside the city in the queen's monastery. The time
chosen for the attack was when they were celebrating the communion, and having entered,
they overturned their altar, and threw their oblations to the ground, and carried off all
their vessels and books, and every thing else on which they could lay hands: and the
people they dragged by force and imprisoned in the chancel of the church. And every one
imprisoned there experienced the truth of the word of the Lord, where he says, 'Verily I
say unto thee, Thou shalt not come out thence, until thou hast paid the uttermost
farthing.' [Matt.v.26] For not one of them was allowed to get out, until he had paid the
very last farthing which he possessed in the world.

[V.17] How much better those fared who were accused of heathenism, our author shews in the
adventures of Gregory of Antioch, which we have detailed before. In the next chapter he
tells us of the wealth and dignities conferred by Maurice upon his relatives, as follows:
[V.18] At the beginning of his reign, the king sent for his father, an old man named Paul,
and his mother, and his brother, whose name was Peter, and his two sisters, one of whom
was a widow, and the other the wife of Philippicus. The latter he first of all appointed
comes excubitorum: and subsequently elevated him to the rank which he had himself
previously held, of commander-in-chief over all the Roman armies in the East, in which
capacity he sent him to levy fresh forces to carry on the war against the Persians. And
next he made his father head of the senate, and chief of all the patricians, and gave him
and his son Peter, the king's brother, the entire property of the great patrician
Marcellus, brother of the late king Justin, which was not much less than the royal
demesnes themselves, with his houses and landed estates, and gold and silver, and his
wardrobe, and every thing that he had everywhere without exception. And next he gave his
father and mother another house near the church (of S. Sophia) and his own palace. Soon
after he gave his sister and her husband Philippicus a large and strong-built house, on
the western side of the city, in the suburb called Zeugma ; while his other sister, the
widow, received a new and well-built mansion, lately erected by the patrician Peter, and
which is almost as large as a city. He also gave to his other relatives large and noble
houses belonging to the crown, and studiously enriched them in wealth and rank and honour,
and gave them high offices near to the royal person, and in every way sought to increase
their power: but as it is not the object of our book to treat of these things, we must
omit their further detail.

[V.19.] One relative, however, needs more particular mention, namely, Domitian,
metropolitan of Melitene. Already Maurice, when sent by Tiberius to the East with the
title of count, had shewn his devotion to the interests of his family by making him bishop
of Melitene in Cappadocia: and when, after spending a period of two years more or less in
the East, he had returned to the capital, and been made king, immediately Domitian
hastened to him, and became his counsellor and most intimate adviser, and the person who
thought for him, and encouraged him in all the severe and painful difficulties with which
he had to contend in the wars which pressed upon him on all sides, with the heathen and
Magian people of the Persians, and the barbarous and savage tribes who came from the ends
of the world, and are called Avars, and also with the Slavonians. And in all these
difficulties the bishop of Melitene was the king's comforter and counsellor, although he
was still but a young man. He was however thoroughly imbued with the opinions of the
council of Chalcedon and of Leo. The great and important matters then, which pressed upon
the empire on all sides, he laid before the king, together with his advice; and he let him
settle them as he chose, and so he continues to do to this day .

[V.20] On Maurice's elevation to the crown, his chief difficulty arose from finding that
the lavishness of Tiberius had exhausted the treasures which Justin had stored up in the
palace. For upon his becoming king, he found large sums of gold secretly hoarded there,
which his predecessor had gathered by unjust means: and at the sight of it, as though some
zealous spirit had entered into him, he began spending and scattering and dispersing it on
all sides, sometimes fittingly and compassionately, or in the usual largesses to the army;
and sometimes without thought or reason, as if he were throwing it about with a fan, until
all Justin's treasures were expended, a large portion being consumed in his largesses at
his accession. For as he himself said, he gave away then no less than seventy-five talents
of gold, besides silver, and other royal matters, such as is the custom of kings to give;
and finally, he was obliged to open the treasures of king Anastasius, and take money from
thence.

But when he departed from this world, and Maurice became king in his stead, he found the
palace swept as clean as if it had been emptied with a broom, and was compelled therefore
to take possession of any money that was discovered, or came in from the taxes, and
withhold his hand, and effect savings in the expenses of the army, and hoard it up,
saying, 'I must not disperse and scatter the money, but collect and store it up, that I
may have the means of purchasing peace for the state.' And with this object he withheld
his hand, and refrained from many of the customary observances, until he was much
ridiculed and scoffed at by many, and called a close-fisted and miserly fellow, who could
benefit and enrich none but his own relatives: and much more of the same sort was said,
which, without some special reason, would not have been fit to record in a history of the
church.

[V. 21] Returning to ecclesiastical matters, our historian informs us, that the rebuke of
the patriarch, though ineffectual in preventing attempts at persecution, was not lost upon
the king. For, in the midst of his difficulties and anxieties, from the wars which
surrounded him on all sides, turbulent men, having no zeal for the faith, and using it
only as a pretext for greedily plotting after the spoil of the house's and property of
their neighbours, craftily endeavoured to get permission and authority to carry out their
purpose, and never ceased wearying the ears of the king and patriarch with their constant
calumnies, which, though not confined to them, were especially directed against those who
found a stumblingblock in the council of Chalcedon. They complained therefore, saying,
'These men gather in large meetings, and celebrate the communion and baptism in greater
numbers than the catholic church, even if you add to it all the heresies of Arians, and
Samosatenians, and Tetradites , and Manichaeans , and Marcionites, and the like: and they
disturb and upset the whole church. Give us therefore authority to arrest and imprison
them, and put them to the torture, and root out all their meeting houses.' But the
patriarch, being a gentle and merciful man, and who knew their cunning, and that their
zeal was only for rapine and plunder, rebuked them, saying, 'If your zeal were upright in
these things which you so press upon us, or if your purpose were the correction of these
people, we should commend it:

but as we know that your real object is to plunder and steal the goods of others, go and
be quiet: for we will not permit any persecution to take place in our days, but to the
best of our power will teach and admonish them.' And as these persons consisted not merely
of clergymen, but also of laymen, some of whom were unsound in their Christianity
—physicians, for instance, and heathens—who, besides their greediness for plunder, wished
to make a demonstration also of their Christianity by professing zeal for the Christian
faith, when they saw that the bishop would not submit to their cunning, they did not
hesitate to din the ears of the merciful king himself, as some of them had access to him
by being the royal physicians. But the king, as one whose whole conversation and all his
thoughts were wrapped in the wars with the barbarians, would not even so much as listen to
them, saying, 'Because we have not enough to do with the wars with the barbarians on all
our confines, you want to bring upon us intestine wars also!' And thus their violence was
restrained, and their projects were rebuffed and brought to nought.

Of the subsequent tragical fortunes of Maurice and his family our historian of course
knows nothing: for his own death, at a good old age, apparently happened in the third or
fourth year of Maurice's reign. His last notice of him is an account of his rebuilding the
desolate city of Arabissus, in Cappadocia, a town remarkable on no other account than as
being the emperor's birthplace, and the original seat of his family: and this new instance
of devotion to his relatives naturally served to increase the ill-will entertained against
him at the capital, on seeing all matters of state administered with so niggard a hand,
while he loaded them with the highest offices and the most extravagant gifts. [V.22] The
narrative is introduced by a statement, confirmed by coins still extant, that Maurice did
not consent to the change of name commanded by Tiberius, who, on giving him the crown in
his dying moments, had called him after himself, but persisted in using that only which
had been given him by his parents, and would permit no other name than Maurice to be
inscribed on his gold coins. From this he proceeds to mention, that a point on which he
had greatly set his heart was the rebuilding and restoration of his native town of
Arabissus.

For this purpose he sent officers into all quarters to collect skilful artificers in the
working and chiselling of stones, and builders, and carpenters, and masons, and smiths,
and mechanicians, and all other kinds of craftsmen, and stationed there a troop of
soldiers, to keep them constantly engaged in the building, each occupied with his own
branch of labour. His first command was, that the church should be taken down, and rebuilt
on a larger and more magnificent scale: and he sent himself a large and splendid set of
church-furniture of silver and gold, with beautiful vessels for the altar, and for the
adornment of the whole building, and gave orders also for a large ciborium, such as is
customary in all the churches of the capital, to be made here in pieces, and sent thither
to be fixed up on the spot. After the church, his next order was for the erection of an
extensive hospice, with lofty buildings: and next, for the public service of the city, a
large townhall, and long and handsome porticoes followed, and magnificent basilicas, and a
palace, and a strong wall. And much conversation and murmuring was made thereat; for
people said, 'Every day he complains about the Roman armies, which labour and fight in
behalf of the state, and says, I have no gold to distribute among them:

and while there are numerous strong cities, both in the East and West, captured and laid
in ruins by the barbarians, to which all he has to say is, I have no money to give, how is
it that he now expends such and such a number of talents—and they mentioned a definite
number, but as we cannot answer for its exactness, we do not record it in our history:
they said, however,—How is it that he expends all these talents in rebuilding a town,
which never was of consequence, nor of any value to the Roman state?' [V.23] But Maurice
had soon a worse enemy to contend with than the murmurs of his citizens: for two years
after he had undertaken the restoration of his native town, and while the works were being
rapidly pushed onwards to completion, suddenly a great and terrible earthquake happened,
being the third which in succession have overthrown place after place in the East, and, as
it were, in wrath, threw down the whole of Arabissus, and levelled all the buildings in
it, new and old, to the ground. And all men wondered: but though the king Maurice was
greatly vexed and troubled, and feared lest the overthrow of the city was by the secret
indication of God, yet will he not desist from rebuilding it a second time: for all the
artificers whom he had collected still remain there, apparently to renew their former
attempt at restoring and rebuilding it again.

End of the Fifth Book of Church Histories, in which are contained twenty-three chapters.


ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY
======================

ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY Evagrius Scholasticus

c. AD 536–594

Evagrius wrote this history in six books to carry the story of the Church from the Council
of Ephesus in AD 431 down to AD 594. He drew on Socrates, Sozomen and Theodoret for the
early years and on Zachariah Rhetor and John of Epiphania for the later. He describes the
plague at Antioch, the earthquakes, the wars with Persia, and the reigns of Justinian and
Maurice. The English is Edward Walford’s of 1846.

BOOK I

Chapter 1. Artifice by which the Devil Attempts to Subvert the Purity of the Faith

SCARCE had the impiety of Julian been flooded over by the blood of the martyrs, and the
frenzy of Arius been bound fast in the fetters forged at Nicaea, and, moreover, Eunomius
and Macedonius, by the agency of the Holy Spirit, had been swept as by a blast to the
Bosphorus, and wrecked against the sacred city of Constantine; scarce had the holy church
cast off her recent defilement, and was being restored to her ancient beauty, robed in a
vesture inwrought with gold, and in varied array, and becoming meet for the bridegroom,
when the demon enemy of good, unable to endure it, commences against us a new mode of
warfare, disdaining idolatry, now laid in the dust, nor deigning to employ the servile
madness of Arius. He fears to assault the faith in open war, embattled by so many holy
fathers, and he had been already shorn of nearly all his power in battling against it: but
he pursues his purpose with a robber's stealth, by raising certain questions and answers;
his new device being to turn the course of error towards Judaism, little foreseeing the
overthrow that hence would befall the miserable designer. For the faith which formerly was
alone arrayed against him, this he now affects:

and, no longer exulting in the thought of forcing us to abandon the whole, but of
succeeding in corrupting a single term, while he wound himself with many a malignant wile,
he devised the change of merely a letter, tending indeed to the same sense, but still with
the intention of severing the thought and the tongue, that both might no longer with one
accord offer the same confession and glorification to God. The manner and result of these
transactions I will set forth, each at its proper juncture; giving at the same time a
place in my narrative to other matters that may occur to me, which, though not belonging
to my immediate subject, are worthy of mention, laying up the record of them wherever it
shall please our compassionate God.

Chapter 2. Heresy of Nestorius Discovered and Condemned

SINCE, then, Nestorius, that God-assaulting tongue, that second conclave of Caiaphas, that
workshop of blasphemy, in whose case Christ is again made a subject of bargain and sale,
by having His natures divided and torn asunder—He of whom not a single bone was broken
even on the cross, according to Scripture, and whose seamless vest suffered no rending at
the hands of God-slaying men — since, then, he thrust aside and rejected the term, Mother
of God, which had been already wrought by the Holy Spirit through the instrumentality of
many chosen fathers, and substituted a spurious one of his own coining—Mother of Christ;
and further filled the Church with innumerable wars, deluging it with kindred blood, I
think that I shall not be at a loss for a well-judged arrangement of my history, nor miss
its end, if, with the aid of Christ, who is God over all, I preface it with the impious
blasphemy of Nestorius. The war of the churches took its rise from the following
circumstances. A certain presbyter named Anastasius, a man of corrupt opinions, and a warm
admirer of Nestorius and his Jewish sentiments, who also accompanied him when setting out
from his country to take possession of his bishoprick; at which time Nestorius, having met
with Theodore at Mop-suestia, was perverted by his teaching from godly doctrine, as
Theodulus writes in an epistle upon this subject—this Anastasius, in discoursing to the
Christ-loving people in the church of Constantinople, dared to say, without any reserve,
"Let no one style Mary the Mother of God;

for Mary was human, and it is impossible for God to be born of a human being. When the
Christ-loving people were disgusted, and with reason regarded his discourse as
blasphemous, Nestorius, the real teacher of the blasphemy, so far from restraining him and
upholding the true doctrine, on the contrary, imparted to the teaching of Anastasius the
impulse it acquired, by urging on the question with more than ordinary pugnacity. And
further, by mingling with it notions of his own, and thus vomiting forth the venom of his
soul, he endeavoured to inculcate opinions still more blasphemous, proceeding so far as
thus to avouch, upon his own peril, "I could never be induced to call that God which
admitted of being two months old or three months old. These circumstances rest on the
distinct authority of Socrates, and the former synod at Ephesus.

Chapter 3. Letter from Cyril to Nestorius.—council of Ephesus

WHEN Cyril, the renowned bishop of the church of the Alexandrians, had communicated to
Nestorius his reprobation of these transactions, and he, in rejoinder, paid no regard to
what was addressed to him by Cyril, and by Celestine, bishop of the elder Rome, but was
irreverently pouring forth his own vomit over the whole church, there was just occasion
for the convening of the first synod of Ephesus, at the injunction of the younger
Theodosius, sovereign of the Eastern empire, by the issuing of imperial letters to Cyril
and the presidents of the holy churches in every quarter, naming, at the same time, as the
day of meeting, the sacred Pentecost, on which the life-giving Spirit descended upon us.
Nestorius, on account of the short distance of Ephesus from Constantinople, arrives early;
and Cyril too, with his company, came before the appointed day; but John, the president of
the church of Antioch, with his associate bishops, was behind the appointed time; not
intentionally, as his defence has been thought by many to have sufficiently proved, but
because he could not muster his associates with sufficient despatch, who were at a
distance of what would be a twelve days' journey to an expeditious traveller from the city
formerly named from Antiochus, but now the City of God, and in some cases more; and
Ephesus was then just thirty days' journey from Antioch. He stoutly defended himself on
the ground that the observance of what is called the New Lord's Day by his bishops in
their respective sees, was an insuperable impediment to his arriving before the stated
day.

Chapter 4. Deposition of Nestorius

WHEN fifteen days had elapsed from the prescribed period, the bishops who had assembled
for this business, considering that the Orientals would not join them at all, or, at
least, after a considerable delay, hold a conclave, under the presidency of the divine
Cyril, occupying the post of Celestine, who, as has been before mentioned, was bishop of
the elder Rome. They accordingly summon Nestorius, with an exhortation that he would
defend himself against the allegations. When, however, notwithstanding a promise given on
the preceding day, that he would present himself if there were occasion, he did not
appear, though thrice summoned, the assembly proceeded to the investigation of the matter.
Memnon, the president of the Ephesian church, recounted the days which had elapsed,
fifteen in number: then were read the letters addressed to Nestorius by the divine Cyril,
and his rejoinders; there being also inserted the sacred epistle of the illustrious
Celestine to Nestorius himself. Theodotus, bishop of Ancyra, and Acacius, of Melitene,
also detailed the blasphemous language to which Nestorius had unreservedly given utterance
at Ephesus. With these were combined many statements in which holy fathers had purely set
forth the true faith, having side by side with them various blasphemies which the frenzy
of the impious Nestorius had vented. When all this had been done, the holy synod declared
its judgment precisely in the following terms:

"Since, in addition to the other matters, the most reverend Nestorius has refused to
submit to our summons, or yet to admit the most holy and godly bishops who were sent by
us, we have of necessity proceeded to the investigation of his impieties: and having
convicted him of entertaining and avowing impious sentiments, on the evidence both of his
letters and writings which have been read, and also of words uttered by him lately in this
metropolitan city, and established by sufficient testimony, at length, compelled by the
canons, and in accordance with the epistle of our most holy father and fellow-minister,
Celestine, bishop of the church of Rome, we have, with many tears, proceeded to this sad
sentence. The Lord Jesus Christ, who has been blasphemed by him, has, through the agency
of this holy synod, decreed, that the same Nestorius is alien from the episcopal dignity,
and from every sacerdotal assembly."

Chapter 5. Deposition of Cyril and of John.—their Reconciliation

AFTER the delivery of this most legitimate and just sentence, John, the bishop of Antioch,
arrives with his associate priests, five days after the act of deposition; and having
convened all his company, he deposes Cyril and Memnon. On account, however, of libels put
forth by Cyril and Memnon to the synod which had been assembled in company with themselves
(although Socrates, in ignorance, has given a different account), John is summoned to
justify the deposition which he had pronounced; and, on his not appearing after a thrice
repeated summons, Cyril and Memnon are released from their sentence, and John and his
associate priests are cut off from the holy communion and all sacerdotal authority. When,
however, Theodosius, notwithstanding his refusal at first to sanction the deposition of
Nestorius, had subsequently, on being fully informed of his blasphemy, addressed pious
letters both to Cyril and John, they are reconciled to each other, and ratify the act of
deposition.

Chapter 6. Cyril's Eulogy of a Letter from John of Antioch

ON occasion of the arrival of Paul, bishop of Emesa, at Alexandria, and his delivery
before the church of that discourse which is extant on this subject, Cyril also, after
highly commending the epistle of John, wrote to him in these words: "Let the heavens
rejoice and the earth be glad, for the middle wall of partition is broken down,
exasperation is stilled, and all occasion for dissension utterly removed through the
bestowal of peace upon his churches by Christ, the Saviour of us all; at the call, too, of
our most religious and divinely favoured sovereigns, who, in excellent imitation of
ancestral piety, preserve in their own souls a well-founded and unshaken maintenance of
the true faith, and a singular care for the holy churches, that they may acquire an
everlasting renown, and render their reign most glorious. On them the Lord of Hosts
himself bestows blessings with a bountiful hand, and grants them victory over their
adversaries. Victory He does bestow: for never can he lie who says, As I live, saith the
Lord, those that glorify me, I glorify. On the arrival, then, of my most pious brother and
fellow minister, my lord Paul, at Alexandria, I was filled with delight, and with great
reason, at the mediation of such a man, and his voluntary engagement in labours beyond his
strength, in order that he might subdue the malice of the devil, close our breaches, and,
by the removal of the stumbling-blocks that lay between us, might crown both our churches
and yours with unanimity and peace.

And presently he proceeds thus: "That the dissension of the church has been altogether
unnecessary and without sufficient ground, I am fully convinced, now that my lord the most
pious bishop Paul has brought a paper presenting an unexceptionable confession of the
faith, and has assured me that it was drawn up by your holiness and the most pious bishops
of your country. And such is the writing thus drawn up, and inserted verbatim in the
epistle; which, with reference to the Mother of God, speaks as follows: "When we read
these your sacred words, and were conscious that our own sentiments were correspondent—for
there is one Lord, one faith, one baptism—we glorified God, the Preserver of all things,
with a feeling of mutual joy, that both your churches and ours maintain a faith in
agreement with the divinely inspired Scriptures and the tradition of our holy fathers. Of
these matters any one may be assured, who is disposed to investigate diligently the
transactions of those times.

Chapter 7. Death of Nestorius

HISTORIANS have not detailed either the banishment of Nestorius, his subsequent fortunes,
or the manner in which his life was closed, and the retribution with which he was visited
for his blasphemy; matters which would have been allowed to slip into oblivion, and have
been altogether swallowed up by time, so as not to be current even in hearsay, if I had
not met with a book written by himself, which supplied an account of them. Nestorius,
then, himself, the father of the blasphemy, who raised his structure not on the foundation
already laid, but built upon the sand one which, in accordance with the Lord's parable,
quickly fell to ruin, here, in addition to other matters of his choice, puts forth a
defence of his own blasphemy, in reply to those who had charged him with unnecessary
innovation and an unseemly demand for the convening of the synod at Ephesus. He asserts
that he was driven to assume this position by absolute necessity, on account of the
division of the church into two parties, one maintaining that Mary ought to be styled
Mother of Man; the other, Mother of God; and he devised the title, Mother of Christ, in
order, as he says, that error might not be incurred by adopting either extreme, either a
term which too closely united immortal essence with humanity, or one which, while
admitting one of the two natures, involved no mention of the other. He also intimates that
Theodosius, from feelings of friendship, withheld his ratification of the sentence of
deposition;

and, afterwards, that, on occasion of the mission of several bishops of both parties from
Ephesus to the emperor, and, moreover, at his own request, he was allowed to retire to his
own monastery, situated without the gates of the city now called Theopolis. It is not,
indeed, expressly named by Nestorius, but is said to be that which is now styled the
monastery of Euprepius; which we know to be, in fact, not more than two stadia from that
city. Nestorius, then, himself says, that during a residence there of four years, he
received every mark of respect and distinction; and that, by a second edict of Theodosius,
he is banished to the place called Oasis. But the pith of the matter he has suppressed.
For in his retirement he did not cease from his peculiar blasphemy; so that John, the
president of the church of Antioch, was led to report the circumstance, and Nestorius was,
in consequence, condemned to perpetual banishment. He has addressed also a formal
discourse to a certain Egyptian, on the subject of his banishment to Oasis, where he
treats of these circumstances more fully. But the retribution with which, unable to escape
the all-seeing eye, he was visited for his blasphemous imaginations, may be gathered from
other writings addressed by him to the governor of the Thebaid : in which one may see how
that, since he had not yet reached the full measure of his deserts, the vengeance of God
visited him, in pursuance, with the most terrible of all calamities, captivity.

Being, then, still deserving of greater penalties, he was liberated by the Blemmyes, into
whose hands he had fallen; and, after Theodosius had decreed his return to his place of
exile, wandering from place to place on the verge of the Thebaid, and severely injured by
a fall, he closed his life in a manner worthy of his deeds: whose fate, like that of
Arius, was a judicial declaration, what are the appointed wages of blasphemy against
Christ: for both committed similar blasphemy against him; the one by calling him a
creature; the other, regarding him as human. When Nestorius impugns the integrity of the
acts of the council of Ephesus, and refers them to subtle designs and lawless innovation
on the part of Cyril, I should be most ready thus to reply:—How came it to pass, that he
was banished even by Theodosius, notwithstanding his friendly feelings towards him, and
was condemned by repeated sentences of extermination, and closed this life under those
unhappy circumstances ? If Cyril and his associate priests were not guided by heaven in
their judgment, how came it to pass that, when both parties were no longer numbered with
the living, in which case a heathen sage has observed, "A frank and kindly meed is yielded
to departed worth," the one is reprobated as a blasphemer and enemy of God, the other is
lauded and proclaimed to the world as the sonorous herald and mighty champion of true
doctrine?

In order that I may not incur a charge of slander, let me bring Nestorius himself into
court as an evidence on these points. Read me then, word for word, some passages of thy
epistle, addressed to the governor of the Thebaid:—"On account of the matters which have
been lately mooted at Ephesus concerning our holy religion, Oasis, further called Ibis,
has been appointed as the place of my residence by an imperial decree. And presently he
proceeds thus: "Inasmuch as the beforementioned place has fallen into the hands of the
barbarians, and been reduced to utter desolation by fire and sword, and I, by a most
unexpected act of compassion, have been liberated by them, with a menacing injunction
instantly to fly from the spot, since the Mazices were upon the point of succeeding them
in their occupation of it; I have, accordingly, reached the Thebaid, together with the
captive survivors whom they had joined with me, by an act of pity for which I am unable to
account. They, accordingly, have been allowed to disperse themselves to the places whither
their individual inclinations led them, and I, proceeding to Panopolis, have shewed myself
in public, for fear lest any one, making the circumstance of my seizure an occasion of
criminal proceeding, should raise a charge against me, either of escaping from my place of
exile, or some other imagined delinquency: for malice never wants occasion for slander.

Therefore I entreat your highness to take that just view of my seizure which the laws
would enjoin, and not sacrifice a prisoner of war to the malice and evil designs of men:
lest there should hence arise this melancholy story with all posterity, that it is better
to be made captive by barbarians, than to fly for refuge to the protection of the Roman
sovereignty. He then prefers, with solemn adjuration, the following request: "I request
you to lay before the emperor the circumstance, that my arrival hither from Oasis arose
from my liberation by the barbarians; so that my final disposal, according to God's good
pleasure, may now be determined. The second epistle, from the same to the same, contains
as follows: "Whether you are disposed to regard this present letter as a friendly
communication from me to your highness, or as an admonition from a father to a son, I
beseech you bear with its detail, embracing, indeed, many matters, but as briefly as the
case would allow. When Ibis had been devastated by a numerous body of Nomades," and so
forth. "Under these circumstances, by what motive or pretext on the part of your highness
I know not, I was conducted by barbarous soldiers from Panopolis to Elephantine, a place
on the verge of the province of the Thebaid, being dragged thither by the aforesaid
military force; and when, sorely shattered, I had accomplished the greater part of the
journey, I am encountered by an unwritten order from your valour to return to Panopolis.

Thus, miserably worn with the casualties of the road, with a body afflicted by disease and
age, and a mangled hand and side, I arrived at Panopolis in extreme exhaustion, and
further tormented with cruel pains: whence a second written injunction from your valour,
speedily overtaking me, transported me to its adjacent territory. While I was supposing
that this treatment would now cease, and was awaiting the determination of our glorious
sovereigns respecting me, another merciless order was suddenly issued for a fourth
deportation. And presently he proceeds: "But I pray you to rest satisfied with what has
been done, and with having inflicted so many banishments on one individual. And I call
upon you kindly to leave to our glorious sovereigns the inquisition, for which reports
laid before them by your highness, and by myself too, by whom it was proper that
information should be given, would furnish materials. If, however, this should excite your
indignation, continue to deal with me as before, according to your pleasure; since no
words ca,n prevail over your will. Thus does this man, who had not learned moderation even
by his sufferings, in his writings strike and trample with fist and heel, even reviling
both the supreme and provincial governments. I learn from one who wrote an account of his
demise, that, when his tongue had been eaten through with worms, he departed to the
greater and everlasting judgment which awaited him.

Chapter 8. Succession of Bishops at Constantinople

NEXT in succession to that malignant spirit Nestorius, Maximianus is invested with the
bishopric of the city of the renowned Constantine, in whose time the church of God enjoyed
perfect peace: and when he was departed from among men, Proclus holds the helm of the see,
who had some time before been ordained bishop of Cyzicus. When he too had gone the way of
all mankind, Flavian succeeds to the see.

Chapter 9. Heresy of Eutyches

IN his time arose the stir about the impious Eutyches, when a partial synod was assembled
at Constantinople, and a written charge was preferred by Eusebius, bishop of Dorylaeum,
who, while still practising as a rhetorician, was the first to expose the blasphemy of
Nestorius. Since Eutyches, when summoned, did not appear, and afterwards, even on his
appearance, was convicted on certain points ; for he had said, "I allow that our Lord was
produced from two natures before their union, but I confess only one nature after their
union;" and he even maintained that our Lord's body was not of the same substance with
ourselves—on these grounds he is sentenced to deprivation: but on his presenting a
petition to Theodosius, on the plea that the acts, as set forth, had been concocted in the
hands of Flavian, the synod of the neighbouring region is assembled at Constantinople, and
Flavian is tried by it and some of the magistrates; and when the truth of the acts had
been confirmed, the second synod at Ephesus is summoned.

Chapter 10. Proceedings of the Second Council of Ephesus

OF this council, Dioscorus, the successor of Cyril in the see of Alexandria, was appointed
president, by an intrigue, in enmity to Flavian, of Chrysaphius, who at that time swayed
the imperial court. There hasten to Ephesus Juvenalis, bishop of Jerusalem, who was
present at the former council, with a great number of associate priests, and with him also
Domnus, the successor of John at Antioch: and besides them, Julius, a bishop, who was the
representative of Leo, bishop of the elder Rome. Flavian also was present with his
associate bishops, an edict having been addressed by Theodosius to Elpidius, in these
precise terms. "Provided that those who had on the former occasion passed judgment on the
most religious Archimandrite Eutyches, be present, but take no part in the proceedings, by
abstaining from the functions of judges, and awaiting the resolution of all the most holy
fathers; inasmuch as their own previous decision is now a subject of inquisition." In this
council, the deposition of Eutyches is revoked by Dioscorus and his associates—as is
contained in the acts—and that sentence is passed upon Flavian, and Eusebius, president of
the church of Dorylaeum. At the same time, Ibas, bishop of Edessa, is excommunicated; and
Daniel, bishop of Carrhae, Irenaeus of Tyre, and Aquilinus of Byblus, are deposed. Some
measures were also taken on account of Sophronius, bishop of Constantina: and they depose
Theodoret, bishop of Cyrus, and even Domnus of Antioch. What afterwards befel the last
mentioned, I am not able to discover. After these proceedings the second council of
Ephesus was dissolved.

Chapter 11. An Apology for Differences of Opinion Among Christians

AND here let not any one of the deluded worshippers of idols presume to sneer, as if it
were the business of succeeding councils to depose their predecessors, and to be ever
devising some addition to the faith. For while we are endeavouring to trace the
unutterable and unsearchable scheme of God's mercy to man, and to revere and exalt it to
the utmost, our opinions are swayed in this or that direction: and with none of those who
have been the authors of heresies among Christians, was blasphemy the first intention; nor
did they fall from the truth in a desire to dishonour the Deity, but rather from an idea
which each entertained, that he should improve upon his predecessors by upholding such and
such doctrines. Besides, all parties agree in a confession which embraces the essential
points; for a Trinity is the single object of our worship, and unity the complex one of
our glorification, and the Word, who is God begotten before the worlds, and became flesh
by a second birth in mercy to the creature: and if new opinions have been broached on
other points, these also have arisen from the freedom granted to our will by our Saviour
God, even on these subjects, in order that the holy catholic and apostolic church might be
the more exercised in bringing opposing opinions into captivity to truth and piety, and
arrive, at length, at one smooth and straight path. Accordingly the apostle says most
distinctly:

"There is need of heresies among you, that the approved ones may be manifested. And here
also, we have occasion to admire the unutterable wisdom of God, who said to the divine
Paul, "My strength is made perfect in weakness. For by the very causes by which the
members of the church have been broken off, the true and pure doctrine has been more
accurately established, and the catholic and apostolic church of God has attained
amplification and exaltation to heaven. But those who have been nurtured in Grecian error,
having no desire to extol God or his tender care of men, were continually endeavouring to
shake the opinions of their predecessors, and of each other, rather devising gods upon
gods, and assigning to them by express titles the tutelage of their own passions, in order
that they might find an excuse for their own debaucheries by associating such deities with
them. Thus, their supreme Father of Gods and men, under the form of a bird, shamelessly
carried off the Phrygian boy; and as a reward of his vile service, bestowed the cup, with
leave to pledge him in an amorous draught, that they might with the nectar drink in their
common shame. Besides innumerable other villanies, reprobated by the meanest of mankind,
and transformations into every form of brutes, himself the most brutish of all, he becomes
bi-sexual, pregnant, if not in his belly yet in his thigh, that even this violation of
nature might be fulfilled in his person: whence springing, the bi-sexual dithyrambic birth
outraged either sex;

author of drunkenness, surfeit, and mad debauch, and all their fearful consequences. To
this Aegis-wearer, this Thunderer, they attach, in spite of these majestic titles, the
crime of parricide, universally regarded as the extremity of guilt; inasmuch as he
dethroned Saturn who unhappily had begotten him. Why need I also mention their
consecration of fornication, over which they made Venus to preside, the shell-born
Cyprian, who abhorred chastity as an unhallowed and monstrous thing, but delighted in
fornication and all filthiness, and willed to be propitiated by them: in whose company
Mars also suffers unseemly exposure, being, by the contrivance of Vulcan, made a spectacle
and laughing-stock to the Gods? Justly would one ridicule their phalli and ithyphalli, and
phallagogia; their Priapus, and Pan, and the Eleusinian mysteries, which in one respect
deserve praise, namely, that the sun was not allowed to see them, but they were condemned
to dwell with darkness. Leaving, then, the worshippers and the worshipped in their shame,
let us urge our steed to the goal, and set forth, in compendious survey, the remaining
transactions of the reign of Theodosius.

Chapter 12. Condemnation Op the Nestorian Doctrine by Theodosius

THEODOSIUS, then, issued a most pious constitution, which is included in the first book of
what is termed the Code of Justinian, and is the third under the first title; in which,
moved by heaven, he condemned, by all the votes, as the saying is, him to whom he had been
long attached, as Nestorius himself writes, and placed him under anathema. The precise
terms are as follow: "Further we ordain, that those who favour the impious creed of
Nestorius, or follow his unlawful doctrine, be ejected from the holy churches, if they be
bishops or clerks; and if laics, be anathematised." Other enactments were also promulgated
by him relating to our religion, which shew his burning zeal.

Chapter 13. Simeon the Stylite

IN these times flourished and became illustrious Simeon, of holy and famous memory, who
originated the contrivance of stationing himself on the top of a column, thereby occupying
a spot of scarce two cubits in circumference. Domnus was then bishop of Antioch; and he,
having visited Simeon, and being struck with the singularity of his position and mode of
life, was desirous of more mystic intercourse. They met accordingly, and having
consecrated the immaculate body, imparted to each other the life-giving communion. This
man, endeavouring to realise in the flesh the existence of the heavenly hosts, lifts
himself above the concerns of earth, and, overpowering the downward tendency of man's
nature, is intent upon things above: placed between earth and heaven, he holds communion
with God, and unites with the angels in praising him; from earth, offering his
intercessions on behalf of men, and from heaven, drawing down upon them the divine favour.
An account of his miracles has been written by one of those who were eye-witnesses, and an
eloquent record by Theodoret, bishop of Cyrus: though they have omitted a circumstance in
particular, the memory of which I found to be still retained by the inhabitants of the
holy desert, and which I learnt from them as follows.

When Simeon, that angel upon earth, that citizen in the flesh of the heavenly Jerusalem,
had devised this strange and hitherto unknown walk, the inhabitants of the holy desert
send a person to him, charged with an injunction to render a reason of this singular
habitude, namely, why, abandoning the beaten path which the saints had trodden, he is
pursuing another altogether unknown to mankind; and, further, that he should come down and
travel the road of the elect fathers. They, at the same time, gave orders, that, if he
should manifest a perfect readiness to come down, liberty should be given him to follow
out the course he had chosen, inasmuch as his compliance would be sufficient proof that
under God's guidance he persevered in this his endurance: but that he should be dragged
down by force, in case he should manifest repugnance, or be swayed by self-will, and
refuse to be guided implicitly by the injunction. When the person, thus deputed, came and
announced the command of the fathers, and Simeon, in pursuance of the injunction,
immediately put one foot forward, then he declared him free to fulfil his own course,
saying, 'Be stout, and play the man: the post which thou hast chosen is from God.' This
circumstance, which is omitted by those who have written about him, I have thus thought
worthy of record.

In so great a measure had the power of divine grace taken possession of him, that, when
Theodosius had issued a mandate, that the synagogues of which they had been previously
deprived by the Christians, should be restored to the Jews of Antioch, he wrote to the
emperor with so much freedom and vehement rebuke, as standing in awe of none but his own
immediate sovereign, that Theodosius re-called his commands, and in every respect favoured
the Christians, even superseding the prefect who had suggested the measure. He further
proceeded to prefer a request to this effect, to the holy and aerial martyr, that he would
entreat and pray for him, and impart a share of his own peculiar benediction. Simeon
prolonged his endurance of this mode of life through fifty-six years, nine of which he
spent in the first monastery, where he was instructed in divine knowledge, and forty-seven
in the Mandra, as it is termed; namely, ten in a certain nook; on shorter columns, seven;
and thirty upon one of forty cubits. After his departure, his holy body was conveyed to
Antioch, during the episcopate of Martyrius, and the reign of the emperor Leo, when
Ardabyrius was in command of the forces of the East, on which occasion the troops, with a
concourse of their followers and others, proceeded to the Mandra, and escorted the
venerable body of the blessed Simeon, lest the inhabitants of the neighbouring cities
should muster and carry it off.

In this manner, it was conveyed to Antioch, and attended during its progress by
extraordinary prodigies. The emperor also demanded possession of the body; and the people
of Antioch addressed to him a petition in deprecation of his purpose, in these terms:
"Forasmuch as our city is without walls, for we have been visited in wrath by their fall,
we brought hither the sacred body to be our wall and bulwark. Moved by these
considerations, the emperor yielded to their prayer, and left them in possession of the
venerable body. It has been preserved nearly entire to my time: and, in company with many
priests, I enjoyed the sight of his sacred head, in the episcopate of the famous Gregory,
when Philippicus had requested that precious relics of saints might be sent to him for the
protection of the Eastern armies. And, strange as is the circumstance, the hair of his
head had not perished, but is in the same state of preservation as when he was alive and
sojourning with mankind. The skin of his forehead, too, was wrinkled and indurated, but is
nevertheless preserved, as well as the greater part of his teeth, except such as had been
violently removed by the hands of faithful men, affording by their appearance an
indication of the personal appearance and years of the man of God. Beside the head lies
the iron collar, to which, as the companion of its endurance, the famous body has imparted
a share of its own divinely-bestowed honours;

for not even in death has Simeon been deserted by the loving iron. In this manner would I
have detailed every particular, thereby benefiting both myself and my readers, had not
Theodoret, as I said before, already performed the task more fully.

Chapter 14. Description of the Appearance of a Star Near the Column of Simeon

LET me, however, add a record of another circumstance which I witnessed. I was desirous of
visiting the precinct of this saint, distant nearly thirty stadia from Theopolis, and
situated near the very summit of the mountain. The people of the country give it the title
of Mandra, a name bequeathed to the spot, as I suppose, by the holy Simeon, in respect of
the discipline which he there had practised. The ascent of the mountain is as much as
twenty stadia. The temple is constructed in the form of a cross, adorned with colonnades
on the four sides. Beside the colonnades are arranged handsome columns of polished stone,
sustaining a roof of considerable elevation; while the centre is occupied by an unroofed
court of the most excellent workmanship, where stands the pillar, of forty-cubits, on
which the incarnate angel upon earth spent his heavenly life. Adjoining the roof of the
colonnades is a balustrade, termed by some persons windows, forming a fence towards both
the before-mentioned court and the colonnades. At the balustrade, on the left of the
pillar, I saw, in company with all the people who were there assembled, while the rustics
were performing dances round it, a very large and brilliant star, shooting along the whole
balustrade, not merely once, twice, or thrice, but repeatedly; vanishing, moreover,
frequently, and again suddenly appearing: and this occurs only at the commemorations of
the saint.

There are also persons who affirm—and there is no reason to doubt the prodigy, considering
the credibility of the vouchers, and the other circumstances which I actually
witnessed—that they have seen a resemblance of the saint's face flitting about here and
there, with a long beard, and wearing a tiara, as was his habit. Free ingress is allowed
to men, who repeatedly compass the pillar with their beasts of burden: but the most
scrupulous precaution is taken, for what reason I am unable to say, that no woman should
enter the sacred building: but they obtain a view of the prodigy from the threshold
without, since one of the doors is opposite to the star's rays.

Chapter 15. Isidore of Pelusium and Synesius of Cyrene

IN the same reign Isidore was also conspicuous: "wide whose renown," according to the
language of poetry; having become universally celebrated by deed and word. To such a
degree did he waste his flesh by severe discipline, and feed his soul by elevating
doctrine, as to pursue upon earth the life of angels, and be ever a living monument of
monastic life and contemplation of God. Besides his numerous other writings, well stored
with various profit, there are some addressed to the renowned Cyril; from which it appears
that he flourished contemporary with the divine bishop. And now, while endeavouring to
give every attraction to my work, let me also bring upon the scene Synesius of Cyrene,
whose memory will add an embellishment to my narrative. This Synesius, while possessed of
every other kind of learning, carried the study of philosophy, in particular, to its
highest pitch; so as to gain the admiration even of those Christians whose decision upon
things which fall under their observation is not guided by favouring or adverse prejudice.
They, accordingly, persuade him to resolve on partaking of the saving regeneration, and to
take upon himself the yoke of the priesthood, while as yet he did not admit the doctrine
of the resurrection, nor was inclined to hold that tenet; anticipating, with well-aimed
conjecture, that this belief would be added to his other excellencies, since divine grace
is never content to leave its work unfinished. Nor were they disappointed in their
expectation: for his epistles, written after his accession to the priesthood, and composed
with elegance and learning, as well as his discourse addressed to Theodosius himself, and
whatever is extant of his valuable writings, sufficiently show how excellent and great a
man he was.

Chapter 16. Translation of the Remains of Ignatius

AT the same period also took place the translation of the divine Ignatius, as is recorded,
with other matters, by John the rhetorician: who, having found a tomb, as he himself
desired, in the bowels of the wild beasts, in the amphitheatre of Rome, had, nevertheless,
through the preservation of the more solid bones, which were conveyed to Antioch, long
reposed in what is called the cemetery: the good God having moved Theodosius to dignify
the bearer of the name Theophorus with increased honours, and to dedicate a temple, long
ago devoted to the demons, and called by the inhabitants Tychaeum, to the victorious
martyr. Thus, what was formerly the shrine of Fortune, became a sanctuary and holy
precinct for Ignatius, by depositing there his sacred remains, which were conveyed on a
car through the city, attended by a solemn procession. From this event arose the
celebration of a public festival, accompanied with rejoicings of the whole population;
which has continued to our times, and received increased magnificence at the hands of the
prelate Gregory. Such results were brought about by the conspiring agency of friends and
foes, while God was decreeing honour to the holy memories of the saints. For the impious
Julian, that heaven-detested power, when the Daphnaean Apollo, whose prophetic voice
proceeded from the Castalian fount, could give no response to the emperor's consultation,
since the holy Babylas, from his neighbouring resting-place, restrained his utterance; was
goaded on to be an unwilling instrument in honouring that saint by a translation;

on which occasion was also erected to him, outside the city, a spacious temple, which has
remained entire to the present day: the object of the removal being that the demons might
no longer be overawed in the pursuit of their own practices, the performance of which, as
is said, they had previously promised to Julian. Thus were events disposed by the
providence of God, in his design that both the power of those who were dignified by
martyrdom should be clearly manifested, and the sacred relics of the holy martyr should be
transferred to sacred ground, and be honoured with a noble precinct.

Chapter 17. Attila King of the Huns. Earthquakes

DURING those times arose the celebrated war of Attila, king of the Scythians: the history
of which has been written with great care and distinguished ability by Priscus the
rhetorician, who details, in a very elegant narrative, his attacks on the eastern and
western parts of the empire, how many and important cities he reduced, and the series of
his achievements until he was removed from the world. It was also in the reign of
Theodosius that an extraordinary earthquake occurred, which threw all former ones into the
shade, and extended, so to speak, over the whole world. Such was its violence, that many
of the towers in different parts of the imperial city were overthrown, and the long wall,
as it is termed, of the Chersonese, was laid in ruins; the earth opened and swallowed up
many villages; and innumerable other calamities happened both by land and sea. Several
fountains became dry, and, on the other hand, large bodies of water were formed on the
surface, where none existed before: entire trees were torn up by the roots and hurled
aloft, and mountains were suddenly formed by the accumulation of masses thrown up. The sea
also cast up dead fish; many islands were submerged; and, again, ships were seen stranded
by the retreat of the waters. At the same time Bithynia, the Hellespont, and cither
Phrygia, suffered severely. This calamity prevailed for a considerable time, though the
violence with which it commenced, did not continue, but abated by degrees until it
entirely ceased.

Chapter 18. Antioch Embellished by Different Governors

IN the course of the same period, Memnonius, Zoilus, and Callistus, were sent out by
Theodosius to the government of Antioch, men who made our religion an object of marked
honour. Memnonius also rebuilt from the foundation, in a beautiful and elaborate style,
the edifice which we name Psephium, leaving an unroofed court in the centre. Zoilus built
the basilica, which is situated on the south side of that of Rufinus, and which has
continued to bear his name to our times, although the structure itself has undergone
changes from various casualties. Callistus, too, erected a noble and striking edifice,
called both in former and present times the Basilica of Callistus, in front of the seats
of justice, and opposite the forum where stand the splendid buildings which are the
quarters of the military commanders. Subsequently, Anatolius, having been sent out as
commander of the forces of the East, erects the basilica which bears his name, and
embellishes it with every variety of material. The introduction of these matters, though
beside my more immediate purpose, will not offend the taste of the curious reader.

Chapter 19. Wars During the Reign of Theodosius

IN the times of Theodosius, repeated revolts took place in Europe, during the reign of
Valentinian at Rome. These were crushed by Theodosius, who sent out for that purpose large
land and naval forces. He also so far quelled the insolence of the Persians, whose
sovereign at that time was Isdigerdes, the father of Vararanes, or, as Socrates thinks,
Vararanes himself, as to reduce them to solicit peace; which was granted, and lasted till
the twelfth year of the reign of Anastasius. These transactions have been recorded by
other writers, and have also been very elegantly epitomised by Eustathius of Epiphania,
the Syrian, who wrote, besides, an account of the capture of Amida. In that age, too, it
is said that the poets Claudian and Cyrus flourished; and that Cyrus was elevated to the
seat of highest dignity among the prefects, styled by our ancestors the prefect of the
palace, and was also invested with the command of the forces of the West, when the Vandals
under Genseric had made themselves masters of Carthage.

Chapter 20. The Empress Eudocia

THEODOSIUS also espoused Eudocia, who had previously participated in the saving baptism;
an Athenian by birth, and distinguished by poetic skill and beauty of person; through the
offices of his sister, the princess Pulcheria. By her he had a daughter Eudoxia, whom,
when she had reached a marriageable age, the emperor Valentinian afterwards espoused; for
which purpose he made a voyage from the elder Rome to the city of Constantine. At a
subsequent period, when Eudocia was pursuing a journey to the holy city of Christ our God,
she also visits this place; and concluded an address to our people with the following
verse, 'Tis from your blood I proudly trace my line: in allusion to the colonies which
were sent hither from Greece. Of these, if any one is curious to know the particulars, an
elaborate account has been given by Strabo, the geographer, Phlegon, and Diodorus Siculus,
as well as by Arrian and Pisander the poet, and, besides, by the distinguished sophists,
Ulpian, Libanius, and Julian. On this occasion, the sons of the Antiochenes honoured her
with a skilfully executed statue in brass, which has been preserved even to our times. At
her suggestion, Theodosius considerably enlarges the bounds of the city, by extending the
circuit of the wall as far as the gate which leads to the suburb of Daphne: of which those
who are disposed, may assure themselves by visible proof; for the whole wall may still be
traced, since the remains afford a sufficient guidance to the eye. Some, however, say that
the elder Theodosius extended the wall. He gave, besides, two hundred pounds' weight of
gold for the restoration of the baths of Valens, which had been partially burnt.

Chapter 21. Visits of Eudocia to Jerusalem. Ascetics

FROM this city Eudocia proceeds on two occasions to Jerusalem; but on account of what
circumstances, or with what object in the first instance, must be gathered through those
writers who have treated the subject, although they do not appear to me to give true
accounts. At all events, when visiting the holy city of Christ, she did many things for
the honour of our Saviour God, even so far as to erect holy monasteries, and what are
termed laurae. In these places the mode of life is different, but the discipline of each
terminates in the same devout object. For those who live together in companies are still
not under the influence of any of those things which weigh down to the earth, since they
possess no gold: but why should I say gold ? when no article of even dress or food is the
sole property of any one among them, but the gown or vest which one is now wearing,
another presently puts on, so that the clothing of all appears to belong to one, and that
of one to all. A common table also is set before them, not delicately furnished with meats
or any other dainties, but supplied with fare of herbs and pulse, and that only in
sufficient quantity to sustain life. They maintain common supplications to God throughout
the day and night, to such a degree distressing themselves, so galling themselves by their
severe service, as to seem, in a manner, tombless corpses.

They also frequently practice superadditions, as they are called, namely, by maintaining
their fastings for two or three days; and some on the fifth day, or even later, scarcely
allow themselves a portion of necessary food. On the other hand, there is a class who
pursue a contrary course, and individually seclude themselves in chambers of so limited a
height and width, that they can neither stand upright nor lie down at ease, confining
their existence to "dens and caves of the earth," as says the apostle. Some, too, take up
their dwelling with the wild beasts, and in untracked recesses of the ground; and thus
offer their supplications to God. Another mode has also been devised, one which reaches to
the utmost extent of resolution and endurance: for transporting themselves to a scorched
wilderness, and covering only those parts which nature requires to be concealed, both men
and women leave the rest of their persons exposed both to excessive frosts and scorching
blasts, regardless alike of heat and cold. They, moreover, cast off the ordinary food of
mankind, and feed upon the produce of the ground, whence they are termed Grazers; allowing
themselves no more than is barely sufficient to sustain life. In consequence, they at
length became assimilated to wild beasts, with their outward form altogether disfigured,
and their mind in a state no longer fitted for intercourse with their species, whom they
even shun when they see them;

and, on being pursued, contrive to escape, favoured either by their swiftness of foot, or
by places difficult of access. I will mention still another class, which had almost
escaped recollection, though it bears away the preeminence from all others. Its numbers
are very small; but still there are persons, who, when by virtue they have attained to a
condition exempt from passion, return to the world. In the midst of the stir, by plainly
intimating that they are indifferent to those who view them with amazement, they thus
trample under foot vain-glory, the last garment, according to the wise Plato, which it is
the nature of the soul to cast off. By similar means they study the art of apathy in
eating, practising it even, if need be, with the petty retailers of victuals. They also
constantly frequent the public baths, mostly mingling and bathing with women, since they
have attained to such an ascendancy over their passions, as to possess dominion over
nature, and neither by sight, touch, or even embracing of the female, to relapse into
their natural condition; it being their desire to be men among men, and women among women,
and to participate in both sexes. In short, by a life thus all excellent and divine,
virtue exercises a sovereignty in opposition to nature, establishing her own laws, so as
not to allow them to partake to satiety in any necessary. Indeed, their own rule enjoins
them to hunger and thirst, and to clothe the body only so far as necessity requires:

and their mode of life is balanced by opposite scales, so accurately poised, that they are
unconscious of any tendency to motion, though arising from strongly antagonist forces; for
opposing principles are, in their case, mingled to such a degree, by the power of divine
grace combining and again severing things that are incongruous, that life and death dwell
together in them, things opposed to each other in nature and in circumstances: for where
passion enters, they must be dead and entombed; where prayer to God is required, they must
display vigour of body and energy of spirit, though the flower of life be past. Thus with
them are the two modes of life combined, so as to be constantly living with a total
renunciation of the flesh, and at the same time mingling with the living; both applying
remedies to their bodies, and presenting to God the cries of suppliants, and in all other
respects fully maintaining a practice in accordance with their former mode of life, except
as regards restriction in intercourse and place: on the contrary, they listen to all, and
associate with all. They also practise a long and continuous series of kneelings and
risings, their earnestness alone serving to reinvigorate their years and self-inflicted
weakness; being, as it were, fleshless athletes, bloodless wrestlers, esteeming fasting as
a varied and luxurious feast, and the utmost abstinence from food a completely furnished
table.

On the other hand, whenever a stranger visits them, even at early dawn, they welcome him
with generous entertainment, devising another form of fasting in eating against their
will. Hence the marvel, how far the pittance on which they subsist falls short of a
sufficient allowance of food; foes of their own desires and of nature, but devoted to the
wills of those around them, in order that fleshly enjoyment may be constantly expelled,
and the soul, diligently selecting and maintaining whatever is most seemly and pleasing to
God, may alone bear sway: happy in their mode of existence here, happier in their
departure hence, on which they are ever intent, impatient to behold Him whom they desire.

Chapter 22. Buildings Erected by Eudocia. Accession of Marcian

AFTER having conversed with many persons of this description, and founded, as I have
already said, many such seats of contemplation, and, besides, restored the walls of
Jerusalem, the consort of Theodosius also erected a very large sanctuary, conspicuous for
elevation and beauty, in honour of Stephen, the first of deacons and martyrs, distant less
than a stadium from Jerusalem. Here her own remains were deposited, when she had departed
to the unfading life. When Theodosius had subsequently, or, as some think, before Eudocia,
departed the sovereignty which he had administered for eight and thirty years, the most
excellent Marcian is invested with the empire of the Romans. The sequel of my history
shall very clearly set forth the transactions of his reign over the East, while the
heavenly impulse bestows its own kindly aid. THE END OF THE FIRST BOOK. are taken from the
running titles, not the bottom of the page]


ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY
======================

ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY continued

BOOK II

Chapter 1. Fortunes and Character of Marcian

THE transactions of the time of Theodosius have been embraced in the preceding book. Let
me now introduce upon the scene Marcian, the renowned emperor of the Romans, and in so
doing, first recount who and whence he was, and by what means he won the imperial power:
and having done this, let me record the occurrences of his reign in the order of time.
Marcian, as has been recorded by many other writers, and in particular by Priscus, the
rhetorician, was by birth a Thracian, and the son of a military man. In his desire to
follow his father's mode of life, he had set out for Philippopolis, where he could be
enrolled in the legions, and on the road sees the body of a person recently slain, lying
exposed upon the ground. On going up to it—for, besides the excellence of his other
virtues, he was singularly compassionate—he commiserated the occurrence, and suspended his
journey for some time, from a desire to discharge the due offices to the dead. Some
persons, observing the circumstance, reported it to the authorities at Philippopolis, and
they proceeded to apprehend Marcian, and interrogated him respecting the murder: and when,
through the prevalence of conjecture and mere probability over truth and asseveration of
innocence, he was upon the point of suffering the punishment of guilt, a providential
interposition suddenly brings into their hands the real criminal, who, by forfeiting his
own head as the penalty of the deed, procures an acquittance of the head of Marcian.

After this unexpected escape, he presents himself to one of the military bodies stationed
in the place, with the intention of enlistment. Struck with the singularity of his
fortunes, and with reason concluding that he would arrive at power and preeminent
distinction, they gladly admitted him, and that too without placing him, according to
military rule, lowest on the roll; but they assigned to him the grade of a lately deceased
soldier, named Augustus, by inscribing in the list, Marcian, called also Augustus. Thus
did his name anticipate the style of our sovereigns, who assume the title of Augustus on
attaining the purple. It was as if the name refused to abide on him without its
appropriate rank, and, on the other hand, the rank was not ambitious of another name for
the augmentation of its style: and thus arose an identity of his personal and titular
appellations, since his dignity and his name found an expression in the same term. Another
circumstance also occurred, which might serve as a prognostic of the imperial power being
destined to Marcian. When serving under Aspar against the Vandals, he was one of many who
fell into their hands on the total defeat of that general; and, on the demand of. Genseric
to see the prisoners, was dragged with the rest along the plain. When the whole body was
collected, Genseric sat in an upper chamber, surveying with delight the numbers that had
been taken.

As the time wore on, they pursued each his own inclination, for the guard had, at the
order of Genseric, released them from their bonds; and while they accordingly disposed of
themselves each in his several way, Marcian laid himself down upon the ground to sleep in
the sun, which was shining with unusual heat for the season of the year. An eagle,
however, poising his flight above him, and directly intercepting the sun as with a cloud,
thus produced a shade and its consequent refreshment, to the amazement of Genseric, who,
rightly presaging the future, sent for Marcian, and liberated him, having previously bound
him by solemn oaths, that on attaining the imperial power he would maintain faithfully the
rights of treaty towards the Vandals, and not commence hostilities against them; and
Procopius records, that Marcian observed these conditions. But let us leave this
digression, and return to my subject. Marcian was pious towards God, and just towards
those under his rule; regarding as wealth neither treasured stores nor the revenue of
imposts, but only the means of providing relief to the needy, and to the wealthy the
security of their possessions. He was dreaded, not in the infliction of punishment, but
only by its anticipation.

On this account he received the sovereignty not as an inheritance, but as the prize of
virtue, conferred by the unanimous voice both of the senate and men of all ranks, at the
suggestion of Pulcheria, whom he also espoused as his partner in the imperial dignity,
though she still remained a virgin to old age. These transactions took place without a
previous ratification of the choice by Valentinian, the emperor of Rome, who, however,
accorded his approval to the virtues of the person elected. It was further the desire of
Marcian, that an undivided service should be offered up by all to God, by uniting in pious
concord the tongues which the arts of impiety had confounded, and that the Deity should be
honoured by one and the same doxology.

Chapter 2. Council of Chalcedon Summoned by Marcian

WHILE entertaining these intentions, the emperor is addressed both by the legates of Leo,
bishop of the elder Rome, who alleged that Dioscorus had, during the second council of
Ephesus, refused to receive the epistle of Leo, containing a formula of the true doctrine
; and also by those who had been contumeliously treated by Dioscorus, intreating that
their case might be submitted to the decision of a synod. But Eusebius, who had been
president of the church of Dorylaeum, was especially urgent, and affirmed that both
himself and Flavian had been deposed by the intrigues of Chrysaphius, the minister of
Theodosius, because, in reply to his demand of an offering in gold, Flavian had, in
acknowledgment of his own appointment, sent the sacred vessels to shame him; and also that
Chrysaphius made a near approach to Eutyches in erroneous doctrine. He also said, that
Flavian had even been brought to a miserable end by being thrust and trampled on by
Dioscorus himself. These circumstances caused the synod at Chalcedon to be assembled; for
which purpose the bearers of missives were despatched, and the prelates in all quarters
were summoned by pious letters. The place named was, in the first instance, Nicaea; and,
accordingly, Leo, the president of Rome, on writing an epistle respecting Paschasianus,
Lucentius, and others, whom he had sent as his representatives, inscribed it to the
council assembled at Nicaea. It was, however, subsequently convened at Chalcedon in
Bithynia. Zacharias, the rhetorician, influenced by partiality, says that Nestorius was
also fetched from his place of exile:

but this is disproved by the circumstance, that Nestorius was generally anathematised by
the members of the synod. And Eustathius, bishop of Berytus, clearly establishes the
point, when writing in the following terms to John, a bishop, and another John, a
presbyter, respecting the matters agitated in the assembly. "Those who were in quest of
the remains of Nestorius, again presenting themselves, clamorously demanded of the synod,
why the saints are anathematised: so that the emperor indignantly ordered the guards to
drive them far from the place. How then Nestorius was summoned, when he had departed from
the world, I am unable to say.

Chapter 3. Description of the Church of St. Euphemia

THE place of meeting was the sacred precinct of Euphemia, the martyr, situated in the
district of Chalcedon in Bithynia, and distant not more than two stadia from the
Bosphorus. The site is a beautiful spot, of so gentle an ascent, that those who are on
their way to the temple, are not aware of their immediate approach, but suddenly find
themselves within the sanctuary on elevated ground; so that, extending their gaze from a
commanding position, they can survey the level surface of the plain spread out beneath
them, green with herbage, waving with corn, and beautified with every kind of tree; at the
same time including within their range woody mountains, towering gracefully or boldly
swelling, as well as parts of the sea under various aspects: here, where the winds do not
reach them, the still waters, with their dark blue tint, sweetly playing with gentle
ripple on the beach; there wildly surging, and sweeping back the sea-weeds and the lighter
shell-fish with the recoil of its waves. Directly opposite is Constantinople: and thus the
beauty of the site is enhanced by the view of so vast a city. The holy place consists of
three immense buildings. One is open to the sky, including a court of great extent, and
embellished on all sides with columns; and next to it another, nearly resembling it in its
length, breadth, and columns, and differing from it only in being roofed.

On the north side of this, facing the East, is a round building, skilfully terminated in a
dome, and surrounded in the interior with columns of uniform materials and size. These
support a gallery under the same roof, so contrived, that those who are disposed, may
thence both supplicate the martyr and be present at the mysteries. Within the domed
building, towards the Eastern part, is a splendid enclosure, where are preserved the
sacred remains of the martyr in a long coffin (it is distinguished by some persons by the
term "long") of silver, skilfully worked. The wonders which have at certain times been
wrought by the holy martyr, are manifest to all Christians. For frequently she has
appeared in a dream to the bishops of the city from time to time, and even to certain
persons whose lives have been otherwise distinguished, and has bid them visit her and
gather a vintage at her sanctuary. When such an occurrence has been ascertained by the
sovereigns, the patriarch, and the city, they visit the temple, both those who sway the
sceptre, and those who are invested with sacred and civil offices, as well as the whole
multitude, desirous to partake in the mysteries. Accordingly, the president of the church
of Constantinople, with his attendant priests, enters, in sight of the public, the
sanctuary where the already-mentioned sacred body is deposited.

There is an aperture in the left side of the coffin, secured with small doors, through
which they introduce a sponge attached to an iron rod, so as to reach the sacred relics,
and after turning it round, they draw it out, covered with stains and clots of blood. On
witnessing this, all the people bend in worship, giving glory to God. So great has been
the quantity of blood thus extracted, that both the pious sovereigns and the assembled
priests, as well as the congregated people, all share in a liberal distribution, and
portions are sent to those of the faithful who desire them, in every place under the sun.
The clots also are permanent, neither does the appearance of the sacred blood undergo any
change. These divine manifestations occur not at the recurrence of any definite period,
but according as the life of the prelate or gravity of manners calls for them. Accordingly
it is said, that when the governor of the church is a person reverend and remarkable for
virtues, the marvel occurs with peculiar frequency; but when such is not his character,
such divine operations are rarely displayed. I will, however, mention a circumstance which
suffers no interruption depending on lapse of time or seasonable occasion, nor yet is
vouchsafed with a distinction between the faithful and infidels, but to all
indiscriminately.

Whenever any person approaches the spot where is deposited the precious coffin in which
are the holy relics, he is filled with an odour surpassing in sweetness every perfume with
which mankind are acquainted, for it resembles neither the mingled fragrance of the
meadows, nor that which is exhaled from the sweetest substances, nor is it such as any
perfumer could prepare: but it is of a peculiar and surpassing kind, of itself
sufficiently indicating the virtue of its source.

Chapter 4. Council of Chalcedon

THIS was, then, the place of meeting of the before-mentioned synod; at which the bishops
Paschasinus and Lucentius, and the presbyter Boniface, were the representatives of Leo,
archpriest of the elder Rome; there being present Anatolius president of Constantinople,
Dioscorus, bishop of Alexandria, Maximus of Antioch, and Juvenalis of Jerusalem: on whom
attended both their associate priests, and those who held the places of highest rank in
the most excellent senate. To the latter the representatives of Leo alleged, that
Dioscorus ought not to be seated with themselves; for such, they said, were their
instructions from their bishop: as also that they would withdraw from the church, if they
should be unable to maintain this point. In reply to the question of the senators, what
were the charges against Dioscorus, they stated, that he ought himself to render an
account of his own decision, since he had unduly assumed the character of a judge. After
this statement had been made, and Dioscorus, according to a resolution of the senate, had
taken his seat in the centre, Eusebius demanded, in the following words, that the petition
should be read which he had presented to the sovereign power: "I have been wronged by
Dioscorus; the faith has been wronged: the bishop Flavian was murdered, and, together with
myself, unjustly deposed by him. Give directions that my petition be read. When the matter
had been discussed, the petition was allowed to be read: it was couched in the following
terms.

"To our Christ-loving and most religious and pious sovereigns, Flavius Valentinianus, and
Flavius Marcianus, the petition of Eusebius, the very humble bishop of Dorylaeum, who now
pleads on behalf of himself and the orthodox faith, and the sainted Flavian, formerly
bishop of Constantinople. It is the aim of your majesty to exercise a providential care of
all your subjects, and stretch forth a protecting hand to all who are suffering wrong, and
to those especially who are invested with the priesthood; for by this means service is
rendered to God, from whom you have received the bestowal of supremacy and power over all
regions under the sun. Inasmuch, then, as the Christian faith and we have suffered many
outrages at the hands of Dioscorus, the most reverent bishop of the great city of the
Alexandrians, we address ourselves to your piety in pursuance of our rights. The
circumstances of the case are as follow:— At the synod lately held at the metropolitan
city of the Ephesians—would that it had never met, nor the world been thereby filled with
mischiefs and tumult— the excellent Dioscorus, regarding neither the principle of justice
nor the fear of God, sharing also in the opinions and feelings of the visionary and
heretical Eutyches, though unsuspected by the multitude of being such as he afterwards
shewed himself, took occasion of the charge advanced by me against his fellow in doctrine,
Eutyches, and the decision given by the sainted bishop Flavian, and having gathered a
disorderly rabble, and procured an overbearing influence by bribes, made havoc, as far as
lay in his power, of the pious religion of the orthodox, and established the erroneous
doctrine of Eutyches the monk, which had from the first been repudiated by the holy
fathers. Since, then, his aggressions against the Christian faith and us are of no
trifling magnitude, we beseech and supplicate your majesty to issue your commands to the
same most reverent bishop Dioscorus, to defend himself against our allegations; namely,
when the record of the acts which Dioscorus procured against us, shall be read before the
holy synod; on the ground of which we are able to shew, that he is estranged from the
orthodox faith, that he strengthened a heresy utterly impious, that he wrongfully deposed
and has cruelly outraged us.

And this we will do on the issuing of your divine and revered mandates to the holy and
universal synod of the bishops, highly beloved of God, to the effect, that they should
give a formal hearing to the matters which concern both us and the before-mentioned
Dioscorus, and refer all the transactions to the decision of your piety, as shall seem fit
to your immortal supremacy. If we obtain this our request, we shall ever pray for your
everlasting rule, most divine sovereigns." In the next place, at the joint request of
Dioscorus and Eusebius, the acts of the second council of Ephesus were publicly read, the
particulars of which, as being lengthy, and at the same time embraced by the detail of the
proceedings at Chalcedon, I have subjoined to the present book of the history, that I
might not seem prolix to those who are eager to be brought to the end of the transactions;
thereby leaving to such as are desirous of minute acquaintance with every particular, the
means of leisurely consultation and an accurate conception of the whole. By way of a
cursory statement of the more important points, I mention, that Dioscorus was convicted of
having suppressed the epistle of Leo, bishop of the elder Rome; and farther, of having
enacted the deposition of Flavian, bishop of new Rome, in the space of a single day, and
procured the subscriptions of the assembled prelates to a blank paper, represented as
containing the form of the deposition. Upon these grounds, the senators decreed as
follows: "Of points relating to the orthodox and catholic faith, we are agreed that a more
exact inquiry should take place before a fuller assembly of the council, at its next
meeting.

But inasmuch as it has been shewn, from examination of the acts and decrees, and from the
oral testimony of the presidents of that synod, who admit that themselves were in error,
and the deposition was void, that Flavian, of pious memory, and the most reverent bishop
Eusebius, were convicted of no error concerning the faith, and were wrongfully deposed, it
seems to us, according to God's good pleasure, to be a just proceeding, if approved by our
most divine and pious sovereign, that Dioscorus, the most reverent bishop of Alexandria;
Juvenalis, the most reverent bishop of Jerusalem; Thalassius, the most reverent bishop of
Caesarea, in Cappadocia; Eusebius, the most reverent bishop of Ancyra; Eustathius, the
most reverent bishop of Berytus; and Basilius, the most reverent bishop of Seleucia, in
Isauria; who exercised sway and precedency in that synod; should be subjected to the
selfsame penalty, by suffering at the hands of the holy synod deprivation of their
episcopal dignity, according to the canons; whatever is consequent hereupon, being
submitted to the cognizance of the emperor's sacred supremacy."

On the presentation of libels against Dioscorus at the next meeting of the council,
containing charges of slander and extortion, and his refusal, for certain alleged reasons,
to appear, after a twice and thrice repeated summons, the representatives of Leo, bishop
of the elder Rome, made the following declaration:—"The aggressions committed by
Dioscorus, lately bishop of the great city Alexandria, in violation of canonical order and
the constitution of the church, have been clearly proved by the investigations at the
former meeting, and the proceedings of to-day. For, not to mention the mass of his
offences, he did, on his own authority, uncanonically admit to communion his partisan
Eutyches, after having been canonically deprived by his own bishop, namely, our sainted
father and archbishop Flavian; and this before he sat in council with the other bishops at
Ephesus. To them, indeed, the holy see granted pardon for the transactions of which they
were not the deliberate authors, and they have hitherto continued obedient to the most
holy archbishop Leo, and the body of the holy and universal synod; on which account he
also admitted them into communion with him, as being his fellows in faith. Whereas
Dioscorus has continued to maintain a haughty carriage, on account of those very
circumstances over which he ought to have bewailed and humbled himself to the earth.
Moreover, he did not even allow the epistle to be read which the blessed pope Leo had
addressed to Flavian, of holy memory;

and that too, notwithstanding he was repeatedly exhorted thereto by the bearers, and had
promised with an oath to that effect. The result of the epistle not being read, has been
to fill the most holy churches throughout the world with scandals and mischief.
Notwithstanding, however, such presumption, it was our purpose to deal mercifully with him
as regards his past impiety, as we had done to the other bishops, although they had not
held an equal judicial authority with him. But inasmuch as he has, by his subsequent
conduct, overshot his former iniquity, and has presumed to pronounce excommunication
against Leo, the most holy and religious archbishop of great Rome; since, moreover, on the
presentation of a paper full of grievous charges against him to the holy and great synod,
he refused to appear, though once, twice, and thrice canonically summoned by the bishops,
pricked no doubt by his own conscience; and since he has unlawfully given reception to
those who had been duly deposed by different synods; he has thus, by variously trampling
upon the laws of the church, given his own verdict against himself. Wherefore Leo, the
most blessed and holy archbishop of the great and elder Rome, has, by the agency of
ourselves and the present synod, in conjunction with the thrice-blessed and all honoured
Peter, who is the rock and basis of the Catholic church, and the foundation of the
orthodox faith, deprived him of the episcopal dignity, and severed him from every priestly
function.

Accordingly, this holy and great synod decrees the provisions of the canons on the
aforesaid Dioscorus." After the ratification of these measures by the synod, and the
transaction of some other matters, those who had been deposed together with Dioscorus,
were reinstated, at the request of the synod and the assent of the imperial government;
and, after some further transactions, a definition of faith was enounced in these precise
words: "Our Lord Jesus Christ, while confirming the knowledge of the faith in his
disciples said, 'My peace I give to you; my peace I leave to you;' to the purpose, that no
one should differ from his neighbour in the doctrines of piety, but should accord in
publishing the declaration of the truth. After the reading of the holy Nicene creed, and
also that of the hundred and fifty holy fathers, they subjoined as follows: "This wise and
salutary symbol of divine grace is indeed sufficient for the perfect knowledge and
confirmation of godliness; for, concerning the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
its teaching is plain and complete, and it sufficiently suggests the incarnation of the
Lord to those who receive it faithfully. But since the enemies of the truth are
endeavouring to subvert its doctrine by heresies of their own, and have given birth to
certain empty speeches, some daring to pervert the mystery of the economy which the Lord
bore for our sakes, and rejecting the term 'Mother of God,' in the case of the Virgin;

others introducing a confusion and commixture of substance, and inconsiderately moulding
into one the natures of the flesh and of the Godhead, and by such confusion producing the
monstrous notion of passibility in the divine nature of the Only-begotten; for this reason
the present great and universal holy synod, from a desire to preclude every device of
theirs against the truth, and to maintain the hitherto unshaken declaration of doctrine,
has determined primarily that the creed of the three hundred and eighteen holy fathers
shall be indefeasible; and, on account of those who impugn the Holy Spirit, it ratifies
the doctrine delivered subsequently concerning the substance of the Spirit by the hundred
and fifty fathers, who assembled in the imperial city, and by them promulgated
universally, not as though they were supplying some defect on the part of their
predecessors, but were more clearly setting forth, by expressly recorded testimony, their
notion respecting the Holy Spirit, in opposition to those who endeavoured to annul His
prerogative. In respect to those who have dared to corrupt the mystery of the economy, and
with shameless wantonness to represent Him who was born of the holy Virgin as a mere man,
the, council has adopted the synodic epistles of the blessed Cyril, pastor of the church
of the Alexandrians, addressed to Nestorius and the prelates of the East, in refutation of
the madness of Nestorius, and for the instruction of those who with pious zeal are
desirous of being impressed with a due conception of the saving symbol.

To these the council has not without reason appended, in order to the confirmation of the
true doctrines, the epistle of the president of the great and elder Rome, which the most
blessed and holy archbishop Leo addressed to the sainted archbishop Flavian, for the
overthrow of the evil design of Eutyches; as being in agreement with the confession of the
mighty Peter, and forming with it a monument of concurrent testimony against the
maintainers of pernicious opinions; for it boldly confronts those who endeavour to
dissever the mystery of the economy into a duality of sons; it expels from the
congregation of the holy rites those who presume to affirm that the Godhead of the Only-
begotten is passible; and opposes those who imagine a mixture or confusion in respect of
the two natures of Christ. It also ejects such as fondly fancy that the form of a servant
which He assumed from our own nature, was of a heavenly or any other substance ; and it
anathematises those who fable a resolution into one, at their union, of two previous
natures of the Lord.

Following, accordingly, the holy fathers, we confess one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus
Christ, and we all with one voice declare him to be at the same time perfect in Godhead,
and perfect in manhood, very God, and at the same time very man, consisting of a
reasonable soul and a body, being consubstantial with the Father as respects his Godhead,
and at the same time con substantial with ourselves as respects his manhood; resembling us
in all things, independently of sin; begotten, before the ages, of the Father, according
to his Godhead, but born, in the last of the days, of Mary, the virgin and mother of God,
for our sakes and for our salvation; being one and the same Jesus Christ, Son, Lord, Only-
begotten, made known in two natures without confusion, without conversion, without
severance, without separation, inasmuch as the difference of the natures is in no way
annulled by their union, but the peculiar essence of each nature is rather preserved, and
conspires in one person and one subsistence, not as though he were parted or severed into
two persons, but is one and the same Son, Only-begotten, Divine Word, Lord Jesus Christ,
as the prophets declared concerning Him, and Christ himself has fully instructed us, and
the symbol of the fathers has conveyed to us.

Since, then, these matters have been defined by us with all accuracy and diligence, the
holy and universal synod has determined that no one shall be at liberty to put forth
another faith, whether in writing, or by framing, or devising, or teaching it to others.
And that those who shall presume to frame, or publish, or teach another faith, or to
communicate another symbol to those who are disposed to turn to the knowledge of the truth
from heathenism or Judaism, or any other sect—that they, if they be bishops or clerks,
shall suffer deprivation, the bishops of their episcopal, the clerks of their clerical
office; and if monks or laics, shall be anathematised. After the reading of the formula,
the emperor Marcian visited Chalcedon, and attended the synod, and, having delivered an
harangue, again took his departure. Juvenalis also and Maximus arranged on mutual terms
the matters relating to their own provinces, and Theodoret and Ibas were reinstated. Other
matters were also mooted; an account of which, as I have already said, is subjoined to
this history. It was also determined that the see of New Rome, while ranking second to
that of Old Rome, should take precedence of all others.

Chapter 5. Tumult at Alexandria—and at Jerusalem

IN addition to these transactions, Dioscorus is sentenced to reside at Gangra in
Paphlagonia, and Proterius is appointed to the see of Alexandria by a general vote of the
synod. On his taking possession of his see, a very great and intolerable tumult arose
among the people, who were roused into a storm against conflicting opinions; for some, as
is likely in such cases, desired the restoration of Dioscorus, while others resolutely
upheld Proterius, so as to give rise to many irremediable mischiefs. Thus Priscus, the
rhetorician, recounts, that he arrived at Alexandria from the Thebaid, and that he saw the
populace advancing in a mass against the magistrates: that when the troops attempted to
repress the tumult, they proceeded to assail them with stones, and put them to flight, and
on their taking refuge in the old temple of Serapis, carried the place by assault, and
committed them alive to the flames: that the emperor, when informed of these events,
despatched two thousand newly levied troops, who made so favourable a passage, as to reach
Alexandria on the sixth day; and that thence resulted still more alarming consequences,
from the license of the soldiery towards the wives and daughters of the Alexandrians:

that, subsequently, the people, being assembled in the hippodrome, entreated Floras, who
was the military commandant, as well as the civil governor, with such urgency as to
procure terms for themselves, in the distribution of provisions, of which he had deprived
them, as well as the privileges of the baths and spectacles, and all others from which, on
account of their turbulence, they had been debarred: that, at his suggestion, Floras
presented himself to the people, and pledged himself to that effect, and by this means
stopped the sedition for a time. Nor did even the wilderness in the neighbourhood of
Jerusalem preserve its tranquillity, unvisited by this commotion. For there arrived in
Palestine some of the monks who had been present at the council, but were disposed to
harbour designs in opposition to it; and by lamenting the betrayal of the faith, exerted
themselves to fan into a flame the monastic body.

And when Juvenalis, after obtaining restitution to his see, had been compelled to return
to the imperial city, by the violence of the party who claimed the right to supersede and
anathematise in their own province, those who, as we have already mentioned, were opposed
to the acts of the council of Chalcedon, assembled in the church of the Resurrection, and
appointed Theodosius, who had especially caused confusion in the council, and been the
first to bring a report of its proceedings, and respecting whom, at a subsequent period,
the monks of Palestine alleged, in letters to Alcison, that having been convicted of
malpractices in relation to his own bishop, he had been expelled from his monastery: and
that at Alexandria he had impugned the conduct of Dioscorus, and, after having been
severely scourged as a seditious person, had been conveyed round the city on a camel, as
is usual with malefactors. To him many of the cities of Palestine made application, with a
view to the ordination of bishops. Among these was Peter the Iberian ; to whom was
committed the episcopal helm of the city called Majumas, in the neighbourhood of Gaza. On
being informed of these proceedings, Marcian, in the first place, commands Theodosius to
be conveyed near his own person, and sends Juvenalis to rectify the past, with an
injunction that all who had been ordained by Theodosius should be ejected. Many sad
occurrences followed the arrival of Juvenalis, while either party indulged in whatever
proceedings their anger suggested.

Such was the device of the envious and God-hating demon in the change of a single letter,
that, while in reality the one expression was completely inductive of the notion of the
other, still with the generality the discrepancy between them was held to be considerable,
and the ideas conveyed by them to be clearly in diametric opposition, and exclusive of
each other: whereas he who confesses Christ in two natures, clearly affirms Him to be from
two; inasmuch as by confessing Christ at once in Godhead and manhood, he asserts His
consistence from Godhead and manhood; and, on the other hand, the position of one who
affirms His origin from two natures, is completely inclusive of His existence in two,
inasmuch as he who affirms Christ to be from Godhead and manhood, confesses His existence
in Godhead and manhood, since there is no conversion of the flesh into Godhead, nor a
transition of the Godhead into flesh, from which substances arises the ineffable union. So
that in this case by the expression, "from two natures," is aptly suggested the thought of
the expression, "in two," and conversely; nor can there be a severance of the terms, this
being an instance where a representation of the whole is afforded, not merely by its
origin from component parts, but, as a further and distinct means, by its existence in
them.

Yet, nevertheless, persons have so taken up the idea of the marked distinction of the
terms, either from a habit of thought respecting the glory of God, or by the inclination
forestalling the judgment, as to be reckless of death in any shape, rather than
acknowledge the real state of the case; and hence arose the occurrences which I have
described. Such then was the state of these matters.

Chapter 6. Drought, Famine, and Pestilence in Asia Minor

ABOUT the same time there was also a drought in Phrygia, Galatia, Cappadocia, and Cilicia:
and, from want of ordinary necessaries, the inhabitants had recourse to unwholesome food,
which further gave rise to pestilence. The change of food caused disease; excessive
inflammation produced a swelling of the body, followed by loss of sight, and attended with
a cough, and death took place on the third day. For a time no relief could be devised for
the pestilence; but all-preserving Providence vouchsafed to the survivors a remedy for the
famine, by raining down food in the unproductive year, in the same way as what was termed
manna upon the Israelites; and, during the succeeding year, by willing that the fruits of
the earth should be matured spontaneously. The spread of these calamities included also
Palestine and innumerable other districts, making, as it were, a circuit of the earth.

Chapter 7. Death of the Emperor Valentinian.—rome Taken.— Successors of Valentinian

DURING the progress of these events in the East, Aetius meets with a miserable end at Old
Rome, and Valentinian, the emperor of the West, is slain, together with Heraclius, by some
of the guards of Aetius, at the instigation of Maximus, who afterwards assumed the
sovereignty, and who conspired against them because Valentinian had violated his wife.
This Maximus forces Eudoxia, the wife of Valentinian, into a marriage with himself; and
she, justly regarding the transaction as an outrage and altogether monstrous, determined
to set, as the saying is, all upon a cast, on account of the wrong she had suffered both
in the person of her husband and the infringement of her liberty: for a woman, jealous of
her chastity, is unscrupulous and implacable if she has suffered defilement, especially by
one through whose means she has been deprived of her husband. Accordingly, she sends to
Genseric, in Africa, and by considerable presents, as well as by holding out confident
expectations of the future, induces him to make a sudden descent upon the Roman empire,
with a promise of betraying every thing into his hands. This was accordingly done, and
Rome captured. But Genseric, barbarian-like and fickle, did not maintain his fidelity even
to her; but, after firing the city and making an indiscriminate pillage, he retired,
taking with him Eudoxia and her two daughters, and returned to Africa. The elder daughter,
Eudocia, he espouses to his own son, Huneric;

but the younger, Placidia, he subsequently sends, together with her mother Eudoxia, with a
royal escort to Byzantium, with the view of pacifying Marcian, who was exasperated both by
the burning of Rome and the outrage upon the royal ladies. Placidia, in obedience to
Marcian, consents to marry Olybrius, a distinguished member of the senate, who had come to
Constantinople on the capture of Rome. After Maximus, Avitus was emperor of the Romans for
eight months; and on his decease by starvation, Majorian for more than a year: and after
he had been treacherously murdered by Ricimer, master of the Roman armies, Severus for
three years.

Chapter 8. Death of the Emperor Marcian. — Murder of Proterius, Bishop of Alexandria. —
Election of Timothy, Surnamed Aelurus (the Cat)

DURING the reign of Severus at Rome, Marcian exchanges his earthly sovereignty by a
removal to a happier state, having reigned only seven years, but leaving behind him a
truly royal monument in the memories of mankind. On learning this event, the people of
Alexandria renewed their feud against Proterius with still greater exasperation and
excessive heat: for the populace in general are an inflammable material, and allow very
trivial pretexts to foment the flame of commotion, and not in the least degree that of
Alexandria, which presumes on its numbers, chiefly an obscure and promiscuous rabble, and
vaunts forth its impulses with excessive audacity. Accordingly, it is said that every one
who is so disposed may, by employing any casual circumstance as a means of excitement,
inspire the city with a frenzy of sedition, and hurry the populace in whatever direction
and against whomsoever he chooses. Their general humour, however, is even of a sportive
kind, as Herodotus records to have been the case with Amasis. Such, then, is the character
of this people; who were, however, in all other respects by no means contemptible. The
people of Alexandria, accordingly, taking advantage of the prolonged absence of Dionysius,
commander of the legions, in Upper .Egypt, decree the elevation to the highest priestly
grade, of Timotheus, surnamed Aelurus, who had formerly followed the monastic life, but
had subsequently been admitted among the presbyters of the church of Alexandria;

and, conducting him to the great church, styled that of Caesar, elect him their bishop,
though Proterius was still alive and discharged the functions of his office. There were
present at the election, Eusebius, president of the church of Pelusium, and Peter the
Iberian, bishop of the town of Majumas, according to the account given of the transaction
by the writer of the life of Peter, who also says that Proterius was not killed by the
populace, but by one of the soldiers. When Dionysius, on account of the urgency of these
disorders, had occupied the city with the utmost dispatch, and was taking prompt measures
to quench the towering conflagration of the sedition, some of the Alexandrians, at the
instigation of Timotheus, according to the written report made to Leo, despatch Proterius
when he appeared, by thrusting a sword through his bowels, after he had fled for refuge to
the holy baptistery. Suspending the body by a cord, they displayed it to the public in the
quarter called Tetrapylum, jeering and vociferating that the victim was Proterius; and,
after dragging it through the whole city, committed it to the flames; not even refraining
themselves from tasting his intestines, like beasts of prey, according to the account of
the entire transaction contained in the petition addressed by the Egyptian bishops and the
whole clergy of Alexandria to Leo, who, as has been said, was invested with the imperial
power on the death of Marcian.

It was couched in the following terms:—"To the pious, Christ-loving, and divinely-
appointed, the victorious and triumphant Augustus Leo, the petition of all the bishops of
your Egyptian diocese, and the clergy of your most dignified and holy church of
Alexandria. Having been granted, by divine grace, a boon to mankind, as such you cease not
to exercise, next to God, a daily providence of the common weal, Augustus, most sacred of
all emperors. After some other matters, the petition proceeds: "And while undisturbed
peace was prevailing among the orthodox people of our country and Alexandria, Timotheus,
immediately after the holy synod at Chalcedon, being at that time a presbyter, severed
himself from the Catholic church and faith, together with only four or five bishops and a
few monks, of those who, as well as himself, were infected with the heretical errors of
Apollinaris and his followers; on account of which opinions they were then deposed by
Proterius, of divine memory, and the general synod of Egypt, and duly experienced the
motion of the imperial will, in the sentence of banishment. And afterwards it proceeds:

"And having watched the opportunity afforded by the departure from this world to God of
the emperor Marcian, of sacred memory, assuming then in blasphemous terms a bold tone of
independence, and shamelessly anathematising the holy and general synod at Chalcedon,
while he drew after him a mercenary and disorderly multitude, and assailed the divine
canons and ecclesiastical order, the commonwealth and the laws, he intruded himself upon
the holy church of God, which at that time was possessed of a pastor and teacher in the
person of our most holy father and archbishop, Proterius, duly performing the ordinary
rites, and offering up to Christ, the Saviour of us all, supplications in behalf of your
pious sovereignty and your Christ-loving court. And presently it proceeds: "And after the
interval of only one day, while Proterius, beloved of God, was occupying, as usual, the
episcopal residence, Timotheus, taking with him the two bishops who had been justly
deposed, and the clergy who, as we have said, were condemned to banishment with them, as
if he had received rightful ordination at the hands of the two, though not one of the
orthodox bishops of the whole Egyptian diocese was present, as is customary on occasion of
the ordinations of the bishop of the church of Alexandria—he possesses himself, as he
presumed, of the archiepiscopal see, though manifestly guilty of an adulterous outrage on
the church, as already having her rightful spouse in one who was performing the divine
offices in her, and canonically occupied his proper throne. And further on:

"The blessed man could do nothing else than give place to wrath, according to what is
written, and take refuge in the venerable baptistery from the assault of those who were
pursuing him to death, a place which especially inspires awe even into barbarians and
savages, though ignorant of its dignity, and the grace which flows from it.
Notwithstanding, however, those who were eager to carry into execution the design which
Timotheus had from the first conceived, and who could not endure that his life should be
protected by those undefiled precincts, neither reverenced the dignity of the place, nor
yet the season (for it was the solemnity of the saving paschal feast), nor were awe-struck
at the priestly office which mediates between God and man; but put the blameless man to
death, cruelly butchering him with six others. They then drew forth his body, covered with
wounds, and having dragged it in horrid procession with unfeeling mockery through almost
every part of the city, ruthlessly loaded the senseless corpse with indignity, so far as
to tear it limb from limb, and not even abstain from tasting, like beasts of prey, the
ilesh of him whom but just before they were supposed to have as a mediator between God and
man. They then committed what remained of the body to the flames, and scattered the ashes
to the winds, exceeding the utmost ferocity of wild beasts. Of all these transactions
Timotheus was the guilty cause, and the skilful builder of the scheme of mischief.

Zacharias, however, while treating at length of these events, is of opinion that the
greater part of the circumstances thus detailed actually occurred, but through the fault
of Proterius, by his instigation of serious disturbances in the city, and that these
outrages were committed, not by the populace, but by some of the soldiery; grounding his
opinion on a letter addressed by Timotheus to Leo. In consequence, however, of these
proceedings, Stilas is sent out by the emperor to chastise them.

Chapter 9. Letter from the Emperor Leo

LEO also addresses circular letters of inquiry to the bishops throughout the empire and
the most distinguished monastics, relating to the synod at Chalcedon and the ordination of
Timotheus, surnamed Aelurus, accompanying them with copies of the petitions which had been
presented to him on the part both of Proterius and Timotheus. The circular letters were
couched in the following terms:— A copy of the sacred epistle of the most pious emperor
Leo to Anatolius, bishop of Constantinople, to the metropolitans throughout the whole
world, and the other bishops. "The emperor Caesar Leo, pious, victorious, triumphant,
supreme, ever-worshipful Augustus, to the bishop Anatolius. It has ever been a subject of
prayer to my piety, that all the orthodox and most holy churches, and, indeed, the cities
throughout the Roman dominion, should enjoy perfect tranquillity, and that nothing should
befall them to disturb their settled serenity. The events, however, which have lately
happened at Alexandria, we are assured, are known to your holiness: but that you may be
more fully informed respecting the entire transaction, and the cause of so much tumult and
confusion, we have forwarded to your sanctity copies of the petitions which the most
reverent bishops and clergy of the before-mentioned city, and of the Egyptian diocese,
presented to our piety against Timotheus, at the imperial city of Constantine; and, in
addition, copies of the petitions presented to our serenity, at our sacred court, by
persons from Alexandria on behalf of Timotheus; so that your holiness will be able
distinctly to learn what have been the proceedings of the before-mentioned Timotheus, whom
the people of Alexandria and their dignitaries, senators, and ship-masters request for
their bishop, and what relates to the other transactions, as intimated by the tenor of the
petitions, as well as regarding the synod at Chalcedon, to which these parties by no means
assent, according as the matters are set forth by the petitions appended. Your reverence
will accordingly forthwith cause to assemble to you all the orthodox holy bishops who are
now resident in the imperial city, as also the most reverent clergy;

and, after carefully investigating and testing every circumstance, considering that
Alexandria is at present disturbed, and that we are most solicitous for its settlement and
tranquillity, declare your opinion respecting the before-mentioned Timotheus and the synod
at Chalcedon, without any fear of man, and apart from all favour or dislike; setting
before your eyes only the fear of the Almighty, inasmuch as ye know that ye shall give
account of this matter to His pure Godhead. This we enjoin, in order that, being perfectly
informed by your letters, we may be able to frame the fitting issue on the entire matter.
The emperor wrote also in similar terms to the other bishops, and, as I have said, to the
most distinguished among those who at that period were practising the endurance of the
bare and immaterial mode of life. Among these was Simeon, who first conceived the station
on the pillar, and of whom I have made mention in the former part of the history; as well
as Baradatus and Jacob, the Syrians.

Chapter 10. Replies of the Bishops.—and of Simeon

ACCORDINGLY, in the first instance, Leo, bishop of the elder Rome, both wrote in defence
of the synod at Chalcedon, and declared the ordination of Timotheus to be null, as having
been irregularly performed. This epistle the emperor Leo dispatches to Timotheus,
president of the church of Alexandria; Diomedes, the silentiary, executing the imperial
commission: and Timotheus wrote in rejoinder, excepting to the synod at Chalcedon and the
epistle of Leo. Of these documents copies are preserved in the collection called the
Circulars: but I have omitted them, to avoid encumbering the matter on hand with too great
a number. The bishops, too, of the other cities, expressed their adherence to the
determinations framed at Chalcedon, and unanimously condemned the ordination of Timotheus.
Amphilochius alone, bishop of Side, wrote an epistle, loudly reprobating the ordination of
Timotheus, but also rejecting the synod at Chalcedon. Zacharias the rhetorician has also
treated of these transactions, and has inserted the epistle itself of Amphilochius in his
work. Simeon, too, of holy memory, wrote two epistles on the occasion; namely, to the
emperor Leo, and to Basilius, bishop of Antioch. The latter, as being brief, I insert in
this my history, as follows: "To my lord, the most religious and holy servant of God, the
archbishop Basilius, the sinful and humble Simeon wishes health in the Lord. Well may we
now say, my lord: Blessed be God, who has not rejected our prayer, nor withdrawn his mercy
from us sinners.

For, on the receipt of the letters of your worthiness, I admired the zeal and piety of our
sovereign, beloved of God, which he manifested and still manifests towards the holy
fathers and their unshaken faith. And this gift is not from ourselves, as says the holy
apostle, but from God, who, through your prayers, bestowed on him this readiness of mind.
And presently he proceeds: "On this account, I also, though mean and worthless, the refuse
of the monks, have conveyed to his majesty my judgment respecting the creed of the six
hundred and thirty holy fathers assembled at Chalcedon, firmly resolving to abide by the
faith then revealed by the Holy Spirit: for if, in the midst of two or three who are
gathered in His name, the Saviour is present, how could it be otherwise, than that the
Holy Spirit should be throughout in the midst of so many and so distinguished holy
fathers? And afterwards he proceeds: "Wherefore be stout and courageous in the cause of
true piety, as was also Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, in behalf of the
children of Israel. I beg you to salute from me all the reverent clergy who are under your
holiness, and the blessed and most faithful laity."

Chapter 11. Punishment of Timothy

ON these grounds Timotheus is sentenced to banishment, and Gangra is in his case also
named as the place of exile. The Alexandrians then elect another Timotheus, variously
surnamed Basilicus and Salofacialus. Anatolius dies, and Gennadius succeeds him in the see
of the imperial city. His successor is Acacius, who had been master of the Orphan Hospital
in that city.

Chapter 12. Earthquake at Antioch

DURING the second year of the reign of Leo, an extraordinary shock and concussion of the
earth took place at Antioch, preceded by certain excesses of the populace, which reached
the extreme of frenzy, and surpassed the ferocity of beasts, forming, as it were, a
prelude to such a calamity. This grievous visitation occurred in the five hundred and
sixth year of the free prerogatives of the city, about the fourth hour of the night, on
the fourteenth day of the month Gorpiaeus, which the Romans call September, on the eve of
the Lord's day, in the eleventh cycle of the indiction; and was the sixth on record after
a lapse of three hundred and forty-seven years, since the earthquake under Trajan; for
that occurred when the city was in the hundred and fifty-ninth year of its independence;
but this, which happened in the time of Leo, in the five hundred and sixth, according to
the most diligent authorities. This earthquake threw down nearly all the houses of the New
City, which was very populous, and contained not a single vacant or altogether unoccupied
spot, but had been highly embellished by the rival liberality of the emperors. Of the
structures composing the palace, the first and second were thrown down: the rest, however,
remained standing, together with the adjoining baths, which, having been previously
useless, were now rendered serviceable to the necessities of the city, arising from the
damage of the others.

It also levelled the porticoes in front of the palace and the adjacent Tetrapylum, as well
as the towers of the Hippodrome, which flanked the entrances, and some of the porticoes
adjoining them. In the Old City, the porticoes and dwellings entirely escaped the
overthrow; but it shattered a small portion of the baths of Trajan, Severus, and Hadrian,
and also laid in ruins some parts of the quarter of houses named Ostracine, together with
the porticoes, and levelled what was called the Nymphaeum. All these circumstances have
been minutely detailed by John the rhetorician. He says, that a thousand talents of gold
were remitted to the city from the tributes by the emperor; and, besides, to individual
citizens, the imposts of the houses destroyed : and that he also took measures for the
restoration both of them and of the public buildings.

Chapter 13. Conflagration at Constantinople

A SIMILAR, or even more terrible calamity, befell Constantinople, which took its rise from
the quarter of the city bordering on the sea, and named Bosporium. The account is, that
about dusk-hour, a demon of destruction in the form of a woman, or in reality a poor woman
incited by a demon, for the story is told in both ways, carried a light into the market
for the purpose of buying pickled victuals, and then, having set down the light, stole
away. Catching some tow, it raised a great flame, and in a moment set the apartment on
fire. The conflagration, thus begun, soon consumed every thing within its reach, and
afterwards continuing to spread for four days, not only over the more combustible
materials, but buildings of stone, notwithstanding every effort to check it, at last
destroyed the whole heart of the city from north to south, a space of five stadia in
width, and fourteen in length; throughout which it left no building standing, either
public or private, nor pillars nor arches of stone; but the hardest substances were as
completely consumed as if they had been combustible. The ruin, at its northern extremity,
which is where the docks are situated, extended from the Bosporium to the old temple of
Apollo; at the southern, from the harbour of Julian as far as the houses near the oratory
of the church of Unanimity; and in the centre of the city, from the forum of Constantine
to the Forum Tauri, as it is called: a pitiable and loathsome spectacle; for all the most
conspicuous ornaments of the city, and whatever had been embellished with unrivalled
magnificence, or adapted to public or private utility, had been swept together into huge
heaps and impassable mounds, formed of various substances, whose former features were now
so blended in one confused mass, that not even those who lived on the spot could recognise
the different portions, and the place to which each had belonged.

Chapter 14. Other Public Calamities

ABOUT the same time, when the Scythian war was gathering against the Eastern Romans, an
earthquake visited Thrace, the Hellespont, Ionia, and the islands called Cyclades; so
severe as to cause a universal overthrow in Cnidus and Cos. Priscus also records the
occurrence of excessive rains about Constantinople and Bithynia, which descended like
torrents for three or four days; when hills were swept down to the plains, and villages
carried away by the deluge: islands also were formed in the lake Boane, not far from
Nicomedia, by the masses of rubbish brought down by the waters. This evil, however, was
subsequent to the former.

Chapter 15. Marriage of Zeno and Ariadne

LEO bestows his daughter Ariadne on Zeno, who from his infancy had been called Aricmesius,
but on his marriage assumed the former name, derived from an individual who had attained
great distinction among the Isaurians. The origin of the advancement of this Zeno, and the
reason why he was preferred by Leo before all others, have been set forth by Eustathius
the Syrian.

Chapter 16. Reign of Anthemius—of Olybrius—and Other Western Princes

IN compliance with an embassy from the Western Romans, Anthemius is sent out as emperor of
Rome; to whom the late emperor Marcian had betrothed his own daughter. Basiliscus, brother
to the emperor's wife Verina, is also sent out against Genseric, in command of a body of
chosen troops: which transactions have been treated of with great exactness by Priscus the
rhetorician; and how Leo, in repayment, as it were, for his own advancement, treacherously
procures the death of Aspar, who had been the means of investing him with the sovereignty,
and also of his sons, Ardaburius and Patricius; on the latter of whom he had previously
bestowed the title of Caesar, in order to conciliate Aspar. After the slaughter of
Anthemius, in the fifth year of his reign, Olybrius is declared emperor by Ricimer; and
after him appointment is made of Glycerius. Nepos possesses himself of the supreme power
for five years, by the expulsion of Glycerius, whom he appoints to the bishopric of
Salona, a city of Dalmatia. He is himself driven from power by Orestes, as was
subsequently Romulus, surnamed Augustulus, the son of the latter, who was the last emperor
of Rome, at an interval of thirteen hundred and three years from the reign of Romulus.
Odoacer next sways the affairs of the Romans, declining the imperial title, but assuming
that of king.

Chapter 17. Death of the Emperor Leo

ABOUT the same time the emperor Leo, at Byzantium, departs his sovereignty, after having
swayed it for seventeen years, and appointed to the empire Leo, the infant son of his
daughter Ariadne and Zeno. Zeno then assumes the purple, being aided by the favour of
Verina, the wife of Leo, towards her son-in-law. On the death of the child, which shortly
followed, Zeno continued in sole possession of the sovereignty. The transactions which
originated with him, or were directed against him, and whatever else befell him, the
sequel shall detail, with the aid of the Superior Power. The proceedings of the synod at
Chalcedon are here given in a compendious form.

Chapter 18. Epitome of the Acts of the Council of Chalcedon

PASCHASINUS and Lucentius, bishops, and Boniface, a presbyter, filled the place of Leo,
archpriest of the elder Rome; there being present Anatolius president of the church of
Constantinople, Dioscorus bishop of Alexandria, Maximus of Antioch, and Juvenalis of
Jerusalem, and with them their associate bishops; on whom attended also those who held the
highest rank in the most excellent senate. To the latter the representatives of Leo
alleged, that Dioscorus ought not to be seated with themselves, for such were their
instructions from Leo; and that if this should be allowed, they would retire from the
church. In reply to the question of the senators, what were the charges against Dioscorus,
they stated, that he ought himself to render an account of his own decision, since he had
unduly assumed the character of a judge, without being authorised by the bishop of Rome.
After this statement had been made, and Dioscorus stood in the midst, according to a
decision of the senate, Eusebius, bishop of Dorylaeum, demanded, in the following words,
that the petition should be read which he had presented to the sovereign power : "I have
been wronged by Dioscorus; the faith has been wronged; Flavian the bishop was murdered,
and together with myself unjustly deposed by him. Give directions that my petition be
read. On its being so ruled, the petition was read, couched in the following terms: "The
petition of Eusebius, the very humble bishop of Dorylaeum, in behalf of himself and the
sainted Flavian, formerly bishop of Constantinople.

It is the aim of your majesty to exercise a providential care of all your subjects, and
stretch forth a protecting hand to all who are suffering wrong, and to those especially
who are invested with the priesthood; for by this means service is rendered to God, from
whom you have re ceived the bestowal of supremacy and power over all regions under the
sun. Inasmuch, then, as the Christian faith and we have suffered many outrages at the
hands of Dioscorus, the most reverent bishop of the great city of the Alexandrians, we
address ourselves to your piety in pursuance of our rights. The circumstances of the case
are as follow:—At the synod lately held at the metropolitan city of the Ephesians— would
that it had never met, nor the world been thereby filled with mischiefs and tumult—the
excellent Dioscorus, regarding neither the principle of justice nor the fear of God,
sharing also in the opinions and feelings of the visionary and heretical Eutyches, though
unsuspected by the multitude of being such as he afterwards shewed himself, took occasion
of the charge advanced by me against his fellow in doctrine, Eutyches, and the decision
given by the sainted bishop Flavian, and having gathered a disorderly rabble, and procured
an overbearing influence by bribes, made havoc as far as lay in his power, of the pious
religion of the orthodox, and established the erroneous doctrine of Eutyches the monk,
which had from the first been repudiated by the holy fathers.

Since, then, his aggressions against the Christian faith and us are of no trifling
magnitude, we beseech and supplicate your majesty to issue your commands to the same most
reverent bishop Dioscorus, to defend himself against our allegations; namely, when the
record of the acts which Dioscorus procured against us, shall be read before the holy
synod; on the ground of which we are able to shew, that he is estranged from the orthodox
faith, that he strengthened a heresy utterly impious, that he wrongfully deposed and has
cruelly outraged us. And this we will do on the issuing of your divine and revered
mandates to the holy and universal synod of the bishops, highly beloved of God, to the
effect, that they should give a formal hearing to the matters which concern both us and
the before-mentioned Dioscorus, and refer all the transactions to the decision of your
piety, as shall seem fit to your immortal supremacy. If we obtain this our request, we
shall ever pray for your everlasting rule, most divine sovereigns."

At the joint request of Dioscorus and Eusebius, the transactions of the second synod of
Ephesus were publicly read; from which it appeared that the epistle of Leo had not
obtained a reading, and that, too, when mention of the subject had been twice started.
Dioscorus, being called upon to state the reason of this, said expressly that he had twice
proposed that it should be done; and he then required that Juvenalis, bishop of Jerusalem,
and Thalassius, bishop of Caesarea, metropolis of Cappadocia Prima, should explain the
circumstances, since they shared the presidency with himself. Juvenalis accordingly said,
that the reading of a sacred rescript, having precedency, had, at his decision, been
interposed, and that no one had subsequently mentioned the epistle. Thalassius said that
he had not opposed the reading, nor had he sufficient authority to enable him singly to
signify that it should proceed. The reading of the transactions was then proceeded with;
and on some of the bishops excepting to certain passages as forgeries, Stephen, bishop of
Ephesus, being asked which of his notaries were copyists in this place, named Julian,
afterwards bishop of Lebedus, and Crispinus; but said that the notaries of Dioscorus would
not allow them to act, but seized their fingers, so that they were in danger of most
grievous treatment. He also affirmed, that on one and the same day he subscribed to the
deposition of Flavian. To this statement, Acacius, bishop of Ariarathia, added, that they
had all subscribed a blank paper by force and compulsion, being beset with innumerable
evils, and surrounded by soldiers with deadly weapons.

Again, on the reading of another expression, Theodore, bishop of Claudiopolis, said that
no one had uttered the words. And as the reading was thus proceeding, on the occurrence of
a passage to the effect that Eutyches expressed his disapproval of those who affirmed that
the flesh of our God and Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ had descended from heaven, the acts
testify that Eusebius, upon this, asserted that Eutyches had discarded indeed the term
"from heaven," but had not proceeded to say from whence; and that Diogenes, bishop of
Cyzicus, then urged him with the demand, "Tell us from whence;" but that further than this
they were not allowed to press the question. The acts then shew:—that Basil, bishop of
Seleucia, in Isauria, said, "I worship our one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the only
Divine Word, manifested after the incarnation and union in two natures;"—that the
Egyptians clamoured against this, "Let no one part the indivisible One; it is not proper
to call the one Son two;" and that the Orientals exclaimed, "Anathema to him that parts!
anathema to him that divides!"—that Eutyches was asked, whether he affirmed two natures in
Christ; to which he replied, that he held Christ to have been from two natures before the
union, but that after the union there was only one;—that Basil said, that unless he
maintained two natures without severance and without confusion after the union, he
maintained a confusion and commixture; but, notwithstanding, if he would add the terms
"incarnate," and "invested with humanity," and should understand the incarnation and the
assumption of humanity in the same sense as Cyril, he affirmed the same thing as
themselves; for the Godhead derived from the Father was one thing, and humanity from His
mother was another.

On the parties being asked why they had subscribed the deposition of Flavian, the acts
shew that the Orientals exclaimed, "We have all erred; we all intreat pardon." Again, as
the reading proceeded, they shew that the bishops were asked why, when Eusebius wished to
enter the council, they did not allow him. To this Dioscorus replied, that Elpidius
presented a commonitorium, and solemnly affirmed that the emperor Theodosius had given
command that Eusebius should not be admitted. The acts shew that Juvenalis also gave the
same answer. Thalassius, however, said that authority in the matter did not rest with
himself. These replies were disallowed by the magistrates, on the ground that such excuses
were insufficient when the faith was at issue: upon which Dioscorus recriminated; "In what
respect does the presence of Theodoret at this time accord with the observance of the
canons?'' The senators rejoined, that Theodoret had been admitted in the character of an
accuser; but Dioscorus signified, that he was sitting in the position of a bishop. The
senators again said, that Eusebius and Theodoret occupied the position of accusers, as
Dioscorus himself that of an accused person.

The entire transactions of the second synod at Ephesus having been accordingly read, and,
in like manner, the sentence against Flavian and Eusebius, as far as the place where
Hilary had declared a protest, the Oriental bishops and their party exclaimed, "Anathema
to Dioscorus: Christ has at this moment deposed Dioscorus. Flavian was deposed by
Dioscorus. Holy Lord, do thou avenge him! Orthodox sovereign, do thou avenge him! Many be
the years of Leo! Many be the years of the patriarch! When the sequel of the document had
been read, shewing that all the assembled bishops had assented to the deposition of
Flavian, the most illustrious magistrates ruled as follows: "Concerning the orthodox and
catholic faith, we are clearly of opinion that a more accurate investigation should be
made in a more complete assemblage of the synod to-morrow. But since it appears that
Flavian, of pious memory, and Eusebius, the most reverent bishop of Dorylaeum, were not in
error concerning the faith, but were unjustly deposed, both from the examination of the
acts and decrees, and from the present confession of those who presided in the synod, that
themselves were in error, and the deposition was null; it seems to us, according to the
good pleasure of God, to be just, with the approval of our most divine and pious lord,
that Dioscorus, the most reverent bishop of Alexandria; Juvenalis, the most reverent
bishop of Jerusalem; Thalassius, the most reverent bishop of Caesarea; Eusebius, the most
reverent bishop of Ancyra; Eustathius, the most reverent bishop of Berytus;

and Basil, the most reverent bishop of Seleucia, in Isauria, should be subjected to the
same penalty, by being deprived, through this holy synod, in accordance; with the canons,
of the episcopal dignity; with a reference of whatever is consequent, to the imperial
supremacy. On this the Orientals exclaimed, "This is a just decision; and the Illyrian
bishops, "We were all in error; let us all be deemed deserving of pardon. When the
Orientals had again exclaimed, "This is a just verdict: Christ has deposed the murderer:
Christ has avenged the martyrs! the senators ruled to the effect, that each of the
assembled bishops should severally put forth his own formulary of faith, under the
assurance that the belief of the most divine emperor was in accordance with the exposition
of the three hundred fathers at Nicaea, and of the hundred and fifty at Constantinople;
and with the epistles of the holy fathers, Gregory, Basil, Hilary, Athanasius, and
Ambrose, as well as the two of Cyril, which were made public in the first synod at
Ephesus; inasmuch as upon these grounds Leo, the most reverent bishop of the Elder Rome,
had deposed Eutyches. In this manner was closed the present meeting of the council.

At the next, composed of the most holy bishops alone, Eusebius presented libels in behalf
of himself and Flavian, in which he objected to Dioscorus, that he held the same opinions
as Eutyches, and had deprived themselves of the priesthood. He further charged him with
inserting in the transactions expressions which were not uttered in the synod, and having
procured their subscription to a blank paper. He petitioned that the entire acts of the
second synod at Ephesus should be annulled by vote of those who were now assembled; that
themselves should retain their priesthood; and that foul tenet be anathematised. After the
reading of this document, he also required that his adversary should be present. When this
had been ruled in the affirmative, Aetius, archdeacon and primicerius of the notaries,
stated that he had proceeded to Dioscorus, as also to the others; but that he said he was
not permitted by the persons on guard to appear. It was then decided that Dioscorus should
be sought in front of the place of meeting; and, on his not being found, Anatolius, bishop
of Constantinople, ruled that he ought to be summoned, and be present before the synod.
This course having been adopted, the delegates, on their return, said that he had replied
: "I am under restraint. Let these say whether they leave me free to proceed thither; and
to their intimation that they were deputed to himself, and not to the civil powers, his
answer was stated to be: "I am ready to proceed to the holy and universal synod, but I am
prevented. To this statement Himerius added, that the Assistant of the Master of the
Sacred Offices had met them on their return, in company with whom the bishops had again
visited Dioscorus, and that he had taken some notes of what then passed. These were then
read, and set forth the precise words of Dioscorus, as follows: "Upon calm reflection, and
due consideration of my interest, I thus reply.

Whereas, at the former meeting of the synod, the most illustrious magistrates ruled upon
many several points, and I am now summoned to a second, having for its object a
modification of the preceding matters; I pray that the most illustrious magistrates who
attended on the former occasion, and the sacred senate, should do so on the present also,
in order that the same points may be again debated. The acts shew that Acacius then
replied in the following words: "The great and holy synod, in requiring the presence of
your holiness, has not in view a modification of what was transacted in the presence of
the most illustrious magistrates and the sacred senate; but it has deputed us merely that
you should have a place in the meeting, and that your holiness should not be wanting to
it. Dioscorus replied, according to the acts, "You have just told me that Eusebius had
presented libels. I pray that the matters touching myself may be again sifted in the
presence of the magistrates and the senate."

Then follow other similar matters. Afterwards, persons were again sent with a commission
to urge Dioscorus to appear; who, on their return, said that they had taken notes of his
words. From these it appears that he said : "I have already signified to your piety, both
that I am suffering from sickness, and that I demand that the most illustrious magistrates
and the sacred senate should also on the present occasion attend the investigation of the
matters at issue. Since, however, my sickness has increased, on this ground I am
withholding my attendance." Cecropius, then, as appears from the acts, intimated to
Dioscorus, that but a short time before he had made no mention of sickness, and,
accordingly, he ought to satisfy the requisitions of the canons. To whom Dioscorus
rejoined: "I have said once for all, that the magistrates ought to be present." Then
Rufinus, bishop of Samosata, told him that the matters mooted were under canonical
regulation, and that on his appearance he would be at liberty to make whatever statements
he chose. To the enquiry of Dioscorus, whether Juvenalis, Thalassius, and Eustathius were
present, he replied that this was nothing to the purpose. The acts shew that Dioscorus
said in answer, that he prayed the Christ-loving emperor to the effect that the
magistrates should be present, and also those who had acted as judges in conjunction with
himself. To this the deputies rejoined, that Eusebius accused him only, and there was
accordingly no occasion that all should be present. Dioscorus replied, that the others who
had acted with him ought to be present, for the suit of Eusebius did not affect himself
individually, but rested in fact upon a judgment in which they had all united. When the
deputies still insisted upon this point, Dioscorus summarily replied: "What I have said, I
have said once for all; and I have now nothing further to say."

Upon this report, Eusebius stated that his charge was against Dioscorus only, and against
no other person; and he required that he should be summoned a third time. Aetius then, in
continuance, informed them that certain persons from Alexandria, professing to be clerks,
together with several laymen, had lately presented libels against Dioscorus, and, standing
outside, were now invoking the synod. When, accordingly, in the first place Theodoras, a
deacon of the holy church at Alexandria, had presented libels, and afterwards Ischyrion, a
deacon, Athanasius, a presbyter, and nephew of Cyril, and also Sophronius, in which they
charged Dioscorus with blasphemies, offences against the person, and violent seizures of
money; a third summons was issued urging him to attend. Those who were accordingly
selected for this service, on their return, reported Dioscorus to have said: "I have
already sufficiently informed your piety on this point, and cannot add any thing further.
Since Dioscorus had persisted in the same reply, while the delegates continued to press
him, the bishop Paschasinus said: "At length, after being summoned a third time, Dioscorus
has not appeared: and he then asked what treatment he deserved. To this, when the bishops
had replied that he had rendered himself obnoxious to the canons, and Proterius, bishop of
Smyrna, had observed, that when Flavian had been murdered, no suitable measures had been
taken with respect to him;

the representatives of Leo, bishop of the elder Rome, made a declaration as follows: —
—"The aggressions committed by Dioscorus, lately bishop of the great city Alexandria, in
violation of canonical order and the constitution of the church, have been clearly proved
by the investigations at the former meeting, and the proceedings of to-day. For, not to
mention the mass of his offences, he did, on his own authority, uncanonically admit to
communion his partisan Eutyches, after having been canonically deprived by his own bishop,
namely, our sainted father and archbishop Flavian; and this before he sat in council with
the other bishops at Ephesus. To them, indeed, the holy see granted pardon for the
transactions of which they were not the deliberate authors, and they have hitherto
continued obedient to the most holy archbishop Leo, and the body of the holy and universal
synod; on which account he also admitted them into communion with him, as being his
fellows in faith. Whereas Dioscorus has continued to maintain a haughty carriage, on
account of those very circumstances over which he ought to have bewailed, and humbled
himself to the earth. Moreover, he did not even allow the epistle to be read which the
blessed pope Leo had addressed to Flavian, of holy memory; and that too, notwithstanding
he was repeatedly exhorted thereto by the bearers, and had promised with an oath to that
effect. The result of the epistle not being rend, has been to fill the most holy churches
throughout the world with scandals and mischief.

Notwithstanding, however, such presumption, it was our purpose to deal mercifully with him
as regards his past impiety, as we had done with the other bishops, although they had not
held an equal judicial authority with him. But inasmuch as he has, by his subsequent
conduct, overshot his former iniquity, and has presumed to pronounce excommunication
against Leo, the most holy and religious archbishop of great Rome; since, moreover, on the
presentation of a paper full of grievous charges against him to the holy and great synod,
he refused to appear, though once, twice, and thrice canonically summoned by the bishops,
pricked no doubt by his own conscience; and since he has unlawfully given reception to
those who had been duly deposed by different synods; he has thus, by variously trampling
upon the laws of the church, given his own verdict against himself. Wherefore Leo, the
most blessed and holy archbishop of the great and elder Rome, has, by the agency of
ourselves and the present synod, in conjunction with the thrice-blessed and all honoured
Peter, who is the rock and basis of the Catholic church, and the foundation of the
orthodox faith, deprived him of the episcopal dignity, and severed him from every priestly
function. Accordingly, this holy and great synod decrees the provisions of the canons on
the aforesaid Dioscorus."

After the ratification of this proceeding by Anatolius and Maximus, and by the other
bishops, with the exception of those who had been deposed together with Dioscorus by the
senate, a relation of the matter was addressed to Marcian by the synod, and the instrument
of deposition was transmitted to Dioscorus, to the following effect: "On account of
contempt of the sacred canons, and thy contumacy regarding this holy and universal synod,
inasmuch as, in addition to the other offences of which thou hast been convicted, thou
didst not appear, even when summoned the third time by this great and holy synod,
according to the sacred canons, in order to reply to the charges made against thee; know
then that thou hast been deposed from thy bishoprick, on the thirteenth day of this
present month, October, by the holy and universal synod, and deprived of all
ecclesiastical rank." After a letter had been written to the bishops of the most holy
church at Alexandria on this subject, and an edict had been framed against Dioscorus, the
proceedings of this meeting were closed.

After the business of the preceding meeting had terminated in this manner, the members of
the synod, again assembling, replied to the inquiry of the magistrates, who desired to be
informed respecting the orthodox doctrine, that there was no need that any further
formulary should be framed, now that the matter relating to Eutyches had been brought to a
close, and had received a conclusive determination at the hands of the Roman bishop, with
the further accordance of all parties. After the bishops had with one voice exclaimed,
that they all held the same language, and the magistrates had ruled that each patriarch,
selecting one or two persons of his own diocese, should come forward into the midst of the
council in order to a declaration of their several opinions ; Florentius, bishop of
Sardis, prayed a respite, so that they might approach the truth with due deliberation :
and Cecropius, bishop of Sebastopolis, spoke as follows. "The faith has been well set
forth by the three hundred and eighteen holy fathers, and has been confirmed by the holy
fathers, Athanasius, Cyril, Celestine, Hilary, Basil, Gregory, and again, on the present
occasion, by the most holy Leo. We accordingly require that the words both of the three
hundred and eighteen holy fathers and of the most holy Leo be now read." At the conclusion
of the reading the whole synod exclaimed, "This is the faith of the orthodox; thus we all
believe; thus does the Pope Leo believe; thus did Cyril believe; thus has the Pope
expounded."

Another interlocution was then issued, that the form set forth by the hundred and fifty
fathers should also be read : which was accordingly done ; and the members of the synod
exclaimed, "This is the faith of all; this is the faith of the orthodox ; thus do we all
believe!" Then Aetius, the archdeacon, said that he held in his hand the epistle of the
divine Cyril to Nestorius, which all who were assembled at Ephesus had ratified by their
individual subscriptions; as also another epistle of the same Cyril addressed to John of
Antioch, which had itself also been confirmed. These he earnestly prayed might be read.
Agreeably with an interlocution on the point, both were then read; a portion of the former
being precisely as follows. "Cyril to our most reverent fellow minister Nestorius. Certain
persons, as I am informed, treat my rebuke with levity in the presence of your holiness,
and that, too, repeatedly, taking especial occasion for that purpose of the meetings of
the authorities; perhaps also with the idea of gratifying your own ears. Afterwards it
proceeds. "The declaration, then, of the holy and great synod was this : that the only
begotten Son, begotten naturally of God the Father, very God of very God, light of light,
by whose agency the Father made all things, descended, was incarnate, assumed humanity,
suffered, rose again on the third day, ascended into heaven. This declaration we, too,
ought to follow, carefully considering what is signified by the expression, that the
Divine Word was incarnate and assumed humanity. For we do not affirm that the nature of
the Word by undergoing a change became flesh, nor yet was even converted into a complete
human being, consisting of soul and body ;

but this we rather maintain, that the Word, by uniting personally with himself flesh,
animated by a rational soul, became man in an ineffable and incomprehensible manner, and
bore the title of the Son of Man, not in respect of mere will or pleasure, nor even, as it
were, in an assumption of person merely; and, further, that the natures which conspired to
the true unity, were different, but from both is one Christ and Son ; not as though the
difference of the natures had been done away for the sake of the union, but they had
rather consummated for us the one Lord and Christ and Son, from both the Godhead and the
manhood, by their ineffable and mysterious coalition for unity. And presently the epistle
proceeds. "But since, for our sakes and for our salvation, having personally united
humanity with himself, he came forth from a woman ; in this respect he is said also to
have been born carnally. For he was not born in the first instance an ordinary man of the
holy Virgin, and then the Word descended upon him : but the Word, having been united from
the very womb, is said to have undergone a carnal nativity, as it were, by an assumption
of the nativity of his own flesh. In this manner we say that He suffered and rose again ;

not as though the Word of God had endured, as regards his own nature, stripes or piercings
of nails, or the other wounds, for the Deity is impassible, as being incorporeal. Since,
however, his own body underwent these circumstances, Himself is said, on the other hand,
to have suffered them on our behalf, inasmuch as the impassible being was in the suffering
body." The greater part of the other epistle has been inserted in the preceding portion of
this history. It contains, however, a passage to the following effect, which John, bishop
of Antioch wrote, and Cyril entirely approved. "We confess the holy Virgin to be the
Mother of God, because from her the Divine Word was incarnate and assumed humanity, and
from the very conception united with himself the temple which was derived from her. With
respect, however, to the evangelical and apostolical language concerning our Lord, we know
that the expressions of the divinely inspired men are sometimes comprehensive, as in
respect of a single person; sometimes distinctive, as in respect of two natures ; and that
they deliver such as are of divine import, in reference to the Godhead of Christ, and
those which are humble, in reference to His manhood." Cyril then subjoins the following
words:—"On reading these your sacred expressions, we find that we ourselves hold the same
opinion : for there is one Lord, one faith, one baptism. We accordingly glorify God, the
Saviour of all, rejoicing mutually, because both our churches and yours hold a faith which
is in accordance with the inspired scriptures, and the tradition of our holy fathers."

After the reading of these epistles, the members of the synod exclaimed in these words :
"Thus do we all believe ; thus does the Pope Leo believe. Anathema to him that divides and
to him that confounds! This is the faith of Leo the archbishop. Thus does Leo believe.
Thus do Leo and Anatolius believe. Thus do we all believe. As Cyril believed, so do we.
Eternal be the memory of Cyril! Agreeably with the epistles of Cyril do we also think.
Thus did we believe; thus do we now believe. Leo the archbishop thus thinks, thus
believes, thus has written." An interlocution having been given to that effect, the
epistle of Leo was also read, in a translation, and is inserted in the acts ; the bishops
at its conclusion exclaiming, "This is the faith of the fathers : this is the faith of the
Apostles. Thus do we all believe : thus do the orthodox believe. Anathema to him who does
not thus believe ! Peter has uttered these words through Leo. Thus have the Apostles
taught. Leo has taught truly and piously : thus has Cyril taught. The teaching of Leo and
Cyril is the same. Anathema to him who does not thus believe ! This is the true faith.
Thus do the orthodox think. This is the faith of the fathers. Why was not this read at
Ephesus ? This did Dioscorus withhold."

It is contained in the acts that, when the bishops of Illyria and Palestine had expressed
some hesitation, after the following passage of the epistle had been read : "In order to
the discharge of the debt of our natural state, the divine nature was united to the
passible, that one and the same person, the man Christ Jesus, being the mediator between
God and man, might be enabled from the one part to die, but incapable of decease from the
other, such being the process adapted to our cure;"—that upon this Aetius, archdeacon of
the most holy church of Constantinople, produced a passage from Cyril to the following
purport: "Since, however, His own body by the grace of God, as says the Apostle Paul,
tasted death for every man, Himself is said to have suffered the death on our behalf; not
that he experienced death to the extent of his own nature, for it would be madness to say
or think this, but because, as I said before, his flesh tasted death. Again, when the
bishops of Illyria and Palestine had expressed their hesitation at the following passage
of the epistle of Leo:—"For there operates in each form its peculiar property, in union
with what belongs to the other; the Word working that which pertains to the Word, and the
body discharging that which pertains to the body; and the one shines forth by the
miracles, the other was subjected to the insults;

upon this the said Aetius read a passage of Cyril as follows :—"The rest of the
expressions are especially appropriate to deity; others, again, are equally suited to
manhood; and some hold, as it were, an intermediate place, presenting the Son of God as
being God and man at the same time. Afterwards, when the same bishops hesitated at another
part of the epistle of Leo, which is as follows:—"Although in our Lord Jesus Christ there
is altogether one person, of God and man, yet the one part from which was derived to the
other a community of ignominy, is distinct from that from which proceeded a community of
glory; for from us was derived the manhood, which is inferior to the Father, and from the
Father the Godhead, which partakes equality with the Father; Theodoret said, to adjust the
point, that the blessed Cyril had also expressed himself thus:—"That He both became man,
and at the same time did not lay aside His proper nature; for the latter continued as
before, though dwelling in what was different from it; namely, the divine nature in
conjunction with humanity. Afterwards, when the illustrious magistrates asked whether any
one still hesitated, all replied that they no longer entertained any doubt.

Atticus, bishop of Nicopolis, then begged a respite of a few days, in order that a
formulary might be framed of the matters which were approved by God and the holy fathers.
He also prayed that they might have the epistle which was addressed by Cyril to Nestorius,
in which he exhorts him to assent to his twelve chapters. All expressed their concurrence
in these requests; and when the magistrates had ruled that a respite of five days should
be allowed, in order to their assembling with Anatolius, president of Constantinople, all
the bishops signified their approval, saying, "Thus do we believe, thus do we all believe.
Not one of us hesitates. We have all subscribed. Upon this it was ruled as follows:—"There
is no necessity that you should all assemble; since, however, it is reasonable that the
minds of those who have hesitated should be confirmed, let the most reverent bishop
Anatolius select from among the subscribers whomsoever he may deem proper for the
information of those who have doubted. Upon this the members of the synod proceeded to
exclaim, "We intreat for the fathers. The fathers to the synod. Those who accord with Leo
to the synod. Our words to the emperor. Our prayers to the orthodox sovereign. Our prayers
to Augusta. We have all erred. Let indulgence be granted to all. Upon this, those who
belonged to the church of Constantinople cried out, "But few are exclaiming. The synod is
not speaking. Then the Orientals shouted, "The Egyptian to exile!

And the Illyrians, "We entreat compassion upon all; and again the Orientals, "The Egyptian
to exile! While the Illyrians persisted in their prayer, the Constantinopolitan clergy
shouted, "Dioscorus to exile! The Egyptian to exile! The heretic to exile! and again the
Illyrians and their party, "We have all erred. Grant indulgence to all. Dioscorus to the
synod! Dioscorus to the churches! After further proceedings of the same kind, the business
of this meeting was brought to a close. At the next meeting, when the senators had ruled
that the forms which had been already enacted should be read, Constantine, the secretary,
read from a paper, as follows: "Concerning the orthodox and catholic faith, we are agreed
that a more exact inquiry should take place before a fuller assembly of the council, at
its next meeting. But inasmuch as it has been shewn, from examination of the acts and
decrees, and from the oral testimony of the presidents of that synod, who admit that
themselves were in error, and the deposition was void, that Flavian, of pious memory, and
the most reverent bishop Eusebius, were convicted of no error concerning the faith, and
were wrongfully deposed, it seems to us, according to God's good pleasure, to be a just
proceeding, if approved by our most divine and pious sovereign, that Dioscorus, the most
reverent bishop of Alexandria; Juvenalis, the most reverent bishop of Jerusalem;
Thalassius, the most reverent bishop of Caesarea, in Cappadocia; Eusebius, the most
reverent bishop of Ancyra; Eustathius, the most reverent bishop of Berytus; and Basilius,
the most reverent bishop of Seleucia, in Isauria ; who exercised sway and precedency in
that synod; should be subjected to the selfsame penalty, by suffering at the hands of the
holy synod deprivation of their episcopal dignity, according to the canons ; whatever is
consequent hereupon, being submitted to the cognizance of the emperor's sacred supremacy."

After several other readings, the assembled bishops, being asked whether the letters of
Leo accorded with the faith of the three hundred and eighteen holy fathers who met at
Nicaea, and that of the hundred and fifty in the imperial city, Anatolius, president of
Constantinople, and all who were present, replied, that the epistle of Leo accorded with
the before-mentioned fathers ; and he further subscribed the epistle. At this stage of the
proceedings the members of the synod exclaimed : "We all concur : we all approve : we all
believe alike: we all hold the same sentiments: thus do we all believe. The fathers to the
synod ! the subscribers to the synod ! Many be the years of the emperor ! Many be the
years of Augusta! The fathers to the synod : those who agree with us in faith, to the
synod! Many be the years of the emperor! Those who agree with us in opinion, to the synod!
Many be the years of the emperor ! We have all subscribed. As Leo thinks, so do we. An
interlocution was then pronounced to the following effect. "We have referred these matters
to our most sacred and pious lord, and are now waiting the answer of his piety. But your
reverence will give account to God concerning Dioscorus, who has been deposed by you
without the knowledge of our most sacred sovereign and ourselves, and concerning the five
for whom you are now making entreaty, and concerning all the acts of the synod.

They then expressed their approval, saying, "God has deposed Dioscorus; Dioscorus has been
justly deposed. Christ has deposed Dioscorus. Afterwards, on the presentation of a
response from Marcian, leaving the case of those who had been deposed to the decision of
the bishops, as the interlocution of the magistrates had set forth ; they made entreaty in
the following words. "We pray that they may be admitted:—our fellows in doctrine, to the
synod: our fellows in opinion, to the synod : the subscribers to the epistle of Leo, to
the synod. They were accordingly, by an interlocution to that effect, numbered with the
members of the synod. Then were read the petitions presented from the Egyptian diocese to
the emperor Marcian; which, in addition to other matters, contain the following. "We agree
in opinion with what the three hundred and eighteen fathers at Nicaea, and the blessed
Athanasius, and the sainted Cyril have set forth anathematising every heresy, both those
of Arius, of Eunomius, of Manes, of Nestorius, and that of those who say, that the flesh
of our Lord was derived from heaven and not from the holy Mother of God and ever-virgin
Mary, in like manner with ourselves, with the exception of sin." Upon this, the whole
synod exclaimed : "Why have they not anathematised the doctrine of Eutyches ? Let them
subscribe the epistle of Leo, anathematising Eutyches and his doctrines. Let them concur
with the epistle of Leo. They intend to jeer us, and be gone." In reply, the bishops from
Egypt stated, that the Egyptian bishops were numerous, and that they themselves could not
assume to represent those who were absent: and they prayed the synod to await their
archbishop, that they might be guided by his judgment, as usage required : for if they
should do any thing before the appointment of their head, the whole diocese would assail
them. After many intreaties on this subject, which were stoutly resisted by the synod, it
was ruled, that a respite should be granted to the bishops from Egypt, until their
archbishop should be ordained.

Then petitions were presented from certain monks ; the purport of which was, that they
should not be compelled to subscribe certain papers, before the synod which the emperor
hud summoned should have assembled, and its determinations be made known. After these had
been read, Diogenes, bishop of Cyzicus, stated that Barsumas, one of the persons present,
had been the murderer of Flavian, for he had exclaimed "Slay him! and, though not a party
to the petition, had improperly obtained admission. Upon this all the bishops exclaimed:
"Barsumas has desolated all Syria; he has let loose upon us a thousand monks. After an
interlocution, to the effect that the assembled monks should await the determination of
the synod, they demanded that the libels which they had drawn up, should be read ; one
requisition therein contained being, that Dioscorus and the bishops of his party should be
present in the synod. In reply to which all the bishops exclaimed : "Anathema to
Dioscorus. Christ has deposed Dioscorus! Cast out such persons. Away with outrage ; away
with violence from the synod! Our words to the emperor! Away with outrage ; away with
infamy from the synod! After a repetition of these exclamations, it was ruled that the
remainder of the libels should be read: wherein it was affirmed, that the deposition of
Dioscorus was improper;

that, when a matter of faith was before the council, he ought to share in its
deliberations, and that, if this were not granted, they would shake their garments from
the communion of the assembled bishops. In reference to these expressions, Aetius, the
archdeacon, read a canon against those who separate themselves. Again, when, at the
questions of the most holy bishops, the monks manifested disagreement, and afterwards at
an interrogation put by Aetius in the name of the synod, some anathematised Nestorius and
Eutyches, while others declined; it was ruled by the magistrates, that the petitions of
Faustus and the other monks should be read : which prayed the emperor no longer to
sanction the monks who had lately opposed the orthodox doctrines. Whereupon Dorotheus, a
monk, termed Eutyches orthodox : in reply to whom various doctrinal points were started by
the magistrates. At the fifth meeting, the magistrates ruled that the determinations
relating to the faith should be published; and Asclepiades, a deacon of Constantinople,
read a formulary, which it was resolved should not be inserted in the acts. Some dissented
from it, but the majority approved it: and on the utterance of counter exclamations, the
magistrates said, that Dioscorus affirmed that he had deposed Flavian on his asserting two
natures, whereas the formulary contained the expression "from two natures. To this
Anatolius replied, that Dioscorus had not been deposed on a point of faith, but because he
had excommunicated Leo, and, after having been thrice summoned, did not appear. The
magistrates then required that the substance of the epistle of Leo should be inserted in
the formulary ; but since the bishops objected, and maintained that no other formulary
could be framed, inasmuch as a complete one already existed, a relation was made to the
emperor ; who commanded that six of the Oriental bishops, three from Pontus, three from
Asia, three from Thrace, and three from Illyria, should, together with Anatolius and the
vicars of Rome, assemble in the sanctuary of the martyr, and rightly frame the rule of
faith, or put forth each his several declaration of faith ; or be assured that the synod
must be held in the West. On this, being required to state whether they followed Dioscorus
when affirming that Christ was from two natures ; or Leo, that there were two natures in
Christ;

they exclaimed that they agreed with Leo, and that those who contradicted, were
Eutychians. The magistrates then said, that, in accordance with the language of Leo, a
clause should be added, to the effect that there were two natures united in Christ,
without change, or severance, or confusion ; and they entered the sanctuary of the holy
martyr Euphemia, in company with Anatolius and the vicars of Leo, as well as Maximus of
Antioch, Juvenalis of Jerusalem, Thalassius of Caesarea in Cappadocia, and others; and on
their return, the formulary of faith was read, as follows. "Our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ," and so forth, as it has been inserted in a previous part of the history. When all
had exclaimed, "This is the faith of the fathers : let the metropolitans at once
subscribe! This is the faith of the Apostles : by this are we all guided : thus do we all
think ! the magistrates ruled, that the formulary, thus framed by the fathers and approved
by all, should be referred to the imperial supremacy.

At the sixth meeting Marcian was present, and harangued the bishops on the subject of
unanimity. At the command of the emperor, the formulary was read by Aetius, archdeacon of
Constantinople, and all subscribed it. The emperor then asked, whether the formulary had
been composed with the approbation of all: upon which all declared their confirmation of
it by expressions of approval. Again the emperor twice addressed them, and all applauded.
At the emperor's suggestion certain canons were enacted, and metropolitan rank was
conferred upon Chalcedon. The emperor further commanded the bishops to remain three or
four days; that each one should move the synod on whatever matters he might choose, in the
presence of the magistrates; and such as were judged proper, should take effect. The
meeting was then closed. Another was held, at which canons were enacted ; and at the next,
Juvenalis and Maximus came to an agreement that Antioch should have for its province the
two Phoenicias and Arabia; and Jerusalem, the three Palestines ; which was ratified by an
interlocution of the magistrates and bishops.

At the ninth meeting, the case of Theodoret was mooted. He anathematised Nestorius,
saying, "Anathema to Nestorius, and to him who does not affirm the holy Virgin Mary to be
Mother of God, and to him who divides into two Sons the one Son, the only begotten ! I
have also subscribed the formulary of faith and the epistle of Leo." Upon this he was
restored to his see, by an interlocution of all parties. At another meeting, the case of
Ibas was discussed; and the judgment was read which had been passed upon him by Photius,
bishop of Tyre, and Eustathius of Berytus; but the vote was deferred to the next meeting.
At the eleventh meeting, when the majority of the bishops had voted that Ibas should be
restored to his episcopal rank, others, in rejoinder, said that his accusers were waiting
outside, and required that they should be admitted. The proceedings in his case were then
read ; but when the magistrates ruled, that the transactions at Ephesus respecting Ibas
should also be read, the bishops replied, that all the proceedings in the second synod at
Ephesus were null, with the exception of the ordination of Maximus of Antioch. On this
point, they further requested the emperor to decree that nothing should be valid which had
been transacted at Ephesus subsequently to the first synod, over which the sainted Cyril,
president of Alexandria, had presided. It was judged right that Ibas should retain his
bishopric.

At the next meeting, the case of Bassianus was inquired into, and it was judged fit that
he should be removed and Stephen substituted : which measures were formally voted at the
following meeting. At the thirteenth, the case was investigated of Eunomius of Nicomedia
and Anastasius of Nicaea, who had a dispute about their respective cities. A fourteenth
was also held, at which the case of Sabinianus was investigated. Finally, it was decided
that the see of Constantinople should rank next after that of Rome. THE END OF THE SECOND
BOOK. are taken from the running titles, not the bottom of the page]


ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY
======================

ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY continued

BOOK III

Chapter 1. Character of the Emperor Zeno

ZENO, on becoming, by the death of his son, sole emperor, as if entertaining an idea that
his power was incomplete without an unrestrained pursuit of every pleasure that presented
itself, so far abandoned himself from the first to the solicitations of desire, as to
hesitate at nothing of ail that is unseemly and illicit; but so thorough was his habitude
in such things, that he esteemed it grovelling to practise them in concealment and privacy
; but to do it openly, and as it were, in a conspicuous spot, truly royal and suited to
none but an emperor : a notion base and servile ; for the emperor is known, not by the
circumstances of ordinary sway over others, but by those wherein he rules and sways
himself, in guarding against the admission in his own person of whatever is indecorous;
and being thus unconquered by loose indulgence, so as to be a living image of virtue for
imitation and the instruction of his subjects. But he who lays himself open to the
pleasures of sense, is unwittingly becoming a base slave, an unransomed captive,
continually passing, like worthless slaves, from the hands of one master to another;
inasmuch as pleasures are an unnumbered train of mistresses, linked in endless succession;
while the present enjoyment, so far from being lasting, is only the kindler and prelude to
another, until a man either banishes the rabble rule of pleasures, becoming thus a
sovereign instead of a victim of tyranny ; or, continuing a slave to the last, receives
the portion of the infernal world.

Chapter 2. Incursions of the Barbarians

IN such a manner, then, had Zeno, from the commencement of his reign, depraved his course
of life : while, however, his subjects, both in the East and the West, were greatly
distressed; in the one quarter, by the general devastations of the Scenite barbarians; and
in Thrace, by the inroads of the Huns, formerly known by the name of Massagetae, who
crossed the Ister without opposition : while Zeno himself, in barbarian fashion, was
making violent seizure on whatever escaped them.

Chapter 3. Insurrection of Basiliscus. Flight of Zeno

BUT on the insurrection of Basiliscus, the brother of Verina----for the disposition of his
nearest connexions was hostile, from the universal disgust at his most disgraceful life
----he was utterly wanting in courage : for vice is craven and desponding, sufficiently
indicating its unmanly spirit by submission to pleasures. Zeno fled with precipitation,
and surrendered so great a sovereignty to Basiliscus without a struggle. He was also
blockaded in his native district, Isauria, having with him his wife Ariadne, who had
subsequently fled from her mother, and those parties who still continued loyal to him.
Basiliscus, having thus acquired the Roman diadem, and bestowed on his son Marcus the
title of Caesar, adopted measures opposed to those of Zeno and his predecessors.

Chapter 4. Circular of Basiliscus

AT the instigation of an embassy of certain Alexandrians, Basiliscus summons Timotheus
Aelurus from his exile, in the eighteenth year of his banishment; at which time Acacius
held the episcopate of Constantinople. On his arrival at the imperial city, Timotheus
persuades Basiliscus to address circular letters to the bishops in every quarter, and to
anathematise the transactions at Chalcedon and the tome of Leo. They were to this effect.
THE CIRCULAR LETTER OF BASILISCUS. "The emperor Caesar Basiliscus, pious, victorious,
triumphant, supreme, ever-worshipful Augustus, and Marcus, the most illustrious Caesar, to
Timotheus, archbishop of the great city of the Alexandrians, most reverent and beloved of
God. It has ever been our pleasure, that whatever laws have been decreed in behalf of the
true and apostolic faith, by those our pious predecessors who have maintained the true
service of the blessed and undecaying and life-giving Trinity, should never be
inoperative; but we are rather disposed to enounce them as of our own enactment. We,
preferring piety and zeal in the cause of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ who created and
has made us glorious, before all diligence in human affairs, and being further convinced
that unity among the flocks of Christ is the preservation of ourselves and our subjects,
the stout foundation and unshaken bulwark of our empire; being by these considerations
moved with godly zeal, and offering to our God and Saviour Jesus Christ the unity of the
Holy Church as the first fruits of our reign, ordain that the basis and settlement of
human felicity, namely, the symbol of the three hundred and eighteen holy fathers who were
assembled, in concert with the Holy Spirit, at Nicaea, into which both ourselves and all
our believing predecessors were baptised;

that this alone should have reception and authority with the orthodox people in all the
most holy churches of God, as the only formulary of the right faith, and sufficient for
the utter destruction of every heresy, and for the complete unity of the holy churches of
God ; without prejudice, notwithstanding, to the force of the acts of the hundred and
fifty holy fathers assembled in this imperial city, in confirmation of the sacred symbol
itself, and in condemnation of those who blasphemed against the Holy Ghost; as well as of
all that were passed in the metropolitan city of the Ephesians against the impious
Nestorius and those who subsequently favoured his opinions. But the proceedings which have
disturbed the unity and order of the holy churches of God, and the peace of the whole
world, that is to say, the so-called tome of Leo, and all things said and done at
Chalcedon in innovation upon the before-mentioned holy symbol of the three hundred and
eighteen holy fathers, whether by way of definition of faith, or setting forth of symbols,
or of interpretation, or instruction, or discourse; we ordain that these shall be
anathematised both here and every where by the most holy bishops in every church, and
shall be committed to the flames whenever they shall be found, inasmuch as it was so
enjoined respecting all heretical doctrines by our predecessors, of pious and blessed
memory, Constantine, and Theodosius the younger;

and that, having thus been rendered null, they shall be utterly expelled from the one and
only catholic and apostolic orthodox church, as superseding the everlasting and saving
definitions of the three hundred and eighteen fathers, and those of the blessed fathers
who, by the Holy Spirit, made their decision at Ephesus; that no one, in short, either of
the priesthood or laity, shall be allowed to deviate from that most sacred constitution of
the holy symbol; and that, together with all the innovations upon the sacred symbol which
were enacted at Chalcedon, there be also anathematised the heresy of those who do not
confess, that the only begotten Son of God was truly incarnate, and made man of the Holy
Spirit and of the holy and ever-virgin Mary, Mother of God, but, according to their
strange conceit, either from heaven, or in mere phantasy and seeming: and, in short, every
heresy, and whatever other innovation, in respect either of thought or language, has been
devised in violation of the sacred symbol in any manner or at any time or place.

And, inasmuch as it is the special task of kingly providence to furnish to their subjects,
with forecasting deliberation, abundant means of security, not only for the present but
for future time, we ordain that the most holy bishops in every place shall subscribe to
this our sacred circular epistle when exhibited to them, as a distinct declaration that
they are indeed ruled by the sacred symbol of the three hundred and eighteen holy fathers
alone----which the hundred and fifty holy fathers confirmed; as it was also defined by the
most holy fathers, who, subsequently, assembled in the metropolitan city of the Ephesians,
that the sacred symbol of the three hundred and eighteen holy fathers ought to be the only
rule---- while they anathematise every stumbling-block enacted at Chalcedon to the faith
of the orthodox people, and utterly eject them from the churches, as an impediment to the
general happiness and our own. Those, moreover, who, after the issuing of these our sacred
letters, which we trust to have been uttered in accordance with the will of God, in an
endeavour to accomplish that unity which all desire for the holy churches of God, shall
attempt to bring forward or so much as to name the innovation upon the faith which was
enacted at Chalcedon, either in discourse or instruction or writing, in whatever manner,
place, or time ;

with respect to those persons, as being the cause of confusion and tumult in the churches
of God and among the whole of our subjects, and enemies to God and our safety, we command
(in accordance with the laws ordained by our predecessor, Theodosius, of blessed and
sacred memory, against such sort of evil designs, which laws are subjoined to this our
sacred circular) that, if bishops or clergy, they be deposed ; if monks or laics, that
they be subjected to banishment and every mode of confiscation, and the severest
penalties: for so the holy and homoousian Trinity, the Creator and Vivifier of the
universe, which has ever been adored by our piety, receiving at the present time service
at our hands in the destruction of the before-mentioned tares and the confirmation of the
true and apostolic traditions of the holy symbol, find being thereby rendered favourable
and gracious to our souls and to all our subjects, shall ever aid us in the exercise of
our sway, and preserve the peace of the world."

Chapter 5. Deception of the Circular

ACCORDING to Zacharias, the rhetorician, Timotheus, who, as I said, was just returned from
banishment, agrees to these circular letters ; as does also Peter, president of the church
of Antioch, surnamed the Fuller, who also attended Timotheus at the imperial city. After
these proceedings, they also determined that Paul should occupy the archiepiscopal throne
of the church of Ephesus. This author also says, that Anastasius, the successor of
Juvenalis as president of Jerusalem, subscribes the circular, and very many others ; so
that those who repudiated the tome of Leo and the synod of Chalcedon, amounted to about
five hundred: and also that a written petition was addressed to Basiliscus by the Asiatic
bishops, assembled at Ephesus, a part of which is couched in the following terms : "To our
entirely pious and Christ-loving lords, Basiliscus and Marcus, ever victorious emperors.
Presently it proceeds : "Whenever the faith has been hated and assailed, you, all pious
and Christ-loving sovereigns, have made it manifest throughout that you were equally
assailed. And further on: "A certain fearful retribution of judgment and fury of divine
fire and the just wrath of your serenity shall suddenly involve the adversaries, those who
endeavour with vauntful assault to battle down the mighty God and your sovereignty
fortified by the faith ; who also in various ways have not spared our humble selves, but
have continually slandered and belied us, as having subscribed to your sacred and
apostolic circular letters by compulsion and violence, which we, in fact, subscribed with
all joy and readiness.

And further on : "Let it therefore be your pleasure, that nothing be put forward otherwise
than as accords with your sacred circular, being assured that, as we have before said, the
whole world will be turned upside down, and the evils which have proceeded from the synod
at Chalcedon will be found trifling in comparison, notwithstanding the innumerable
slaughters which they have caused, and the blood of the orthodox which they have unjustly
and lawlessly shed. And further on: "We conjure your piety, in the presence of our Lord
Jesus Christ, to maintain the just and canonical and ecclesiastical condemnation and
deposition which has been inflicted on them, and especially on him who has been on many
points convicted of having unduly exercised the episcopate of the imperial city. The same
Zacharias also writes as follows: "On the issuing of the imperial circulars, those in the
capital who were infected with the phantasy of Eutyches, and followed the monastic rule,
believing themselves to have chanced on a prize in the person of Timotheus, and hoping by
the circulars to catch their own profit, flock to him with all speed, and again retire, as
if convinced by Timotheus that the "Word of God is consubstantial with ourselves as to
flesh, and consubstantial with the Father as respects the Godhead."

Chapter 6. Proceedings of Timothy Aelurus

THE same author says, that Timotheus, setting out from the imperial city, visited Ephesus,
and there enthroned Paul as archpriest; who had already been ordained, according to the
more ancient custom, by the bishops of the province, but had been ejected from his see :
and he also restored to Ephesus the dignity of the patriarchate, of which the synod at
Chalcedon had deprived it, as I have already mentioned. Proceeding thence, he arrives at
Alexandria, and uniformly required all who approached him to anathematise the synod at
Chalcedon. Accordingly, there abandon him, as has been recorded by the same Zacharius,
many of his party, and among them Theodotus, one of the bishops ordained at Joppa by
Theodosius, who had, by means of certain persons, become bishop of Jerusalem, at the time
when Juvenalis betook himself to Byzantium.

Chapter 7. Counter Circular of Basiliscus

THIS author also says, that Acacius, president of the church of Constantinople, in
consequence of these proceedings, stirred up the monastic body and the populace of the
imperial city, on the plea that Basiliscus was a heretic : and that the latter repudiated
the circular, and issued a constitution to the effect, that transactions precipitated by
overbearing influence were utterly null; and also sent forth a counter circular in
recommendation of the synod at Chalcedon. This counter circular, as he terms it, he has,
however, omitted, having written the whole work under passionate feelings. It is as
follows: ---- THE COUNTER CIRCULAR OF BASILISCUS. "We, the emperors, Caesars, Basiliscus
and Marcus, thus ordain: that the apostolic and orthodox faith, which has held sway in the
catholic churches from the very first, both until the beginning and during the continuance
of our reign, and ought to sway in all coming time, into which also we were baptised, and
in which we believe; that this alone continue to sway uninjured and unshaken, and ever
prevail throughout the catholic and apostolic churches of the orthodox; and that no
question tending otherwise be a subject of debate. On this account we also enjoin, that
all acts during our reign, whether circular letters or others, or any thing whatever
relating to faith or ecclesiastical constitution, be null; while we at the same time
anathematise Nestorius, Eutyches, and every other heresy, with all who hold like
sentiments; and that no synod or other debate be held on this subject, but that the
present form remain unimpaired and unshaken. Also, that the provinces, the ordination to
which was possessed by the see of this imperial and glorious city, be restored to the most
reverent and holy patriarch and archbishop Acacius, the present bishops, highly beloved of
God, retaining their respective sees; provided that no prejudice thence arise after their
demise to the right of ordination belonging to the illustrious see of this imperial and
glorious city. That this our sacred ordinance has the force of a sacred constitution is a
matter of doubt to none."

Such was the course of these transactions.

Chapter 8. Restoration of Zeno

BUT Zeno, having seen in a vision the holy and much tried proto-martyr Thecla encouraging
him and promising him restoration to power, after winning over the besiegers by bribes,
marches on Byzantium and expels Basiliscus, who had now held the supreme power for two
years, and, on his taking refuge in a holy precinct, surrenders him to his enemies. Zeno,
in consequence, dedicated to the proto-martyr Thecla a very extensive sanctuary, of
singular stateliness and beauty, at Seleucia, which is situated near the borders of
Isauria, and embellished it with very many and royal offerings, which have been preserved
to our times. Basiliscus is, accordingly, conveyed to Cappadocia, in order to his death,
and is slain with his wife and children at the station named Acusus. Zeno enacts a law in
abrogation of what Basiliscus the tyrant had constituted by his circulars, and Peter,
surnamed the Fuller, is ejected from the church of the Antiochenes, and Paul from that of
the Ephesians.

Chapter 9. Epistle of the Asiatic Bishops to Acacius

THE bishops of Asia, to sooth Acacius, address to him a deprecatory plea, and implore his
pardon in a repentant memorial, wherein they alleged, that they had subscribed the
circular by compulsion and not voluntarily; and they affirmed with an oath that the case
was really thus, and that they had settled their faith, and still maintained it in
accordance with the synod at Chalcedon. The purport of the document is as follows. An
epistle or petition sent from the bishops of Asia, to Acacius, bishop of Constantinople.
"To Acacius, the most holy and pious patriarch of the church in the imperial city of
Constantine, the New Rome." And it afterwards proceeds: "We have been duly visited by the
person who will also act as our representative." And shortly after: "By these letters we
acquaint you that we subscribed, not designedly but of necessity, having agreed to these
matters with letters and words, not with the heart. For, by your acceptable prayers and
the will of the higher Power, we hold the faith as we have received it from the three
hundred and eighteen lights of the world, and the hundred and fifty holy fathers; and,
moreover, we assent to the terms which were piously and rightly framed at Chalcedon by the
holy fathers there assembled."

Whether Zacharias has slandered these persons, or they themselves lied in asserting that
they were unwilling to subscribe, I am not able to say.

Chapter 10. Succession of Bishops at Antioch

NEXT to Peter, Stephen succeeds to the see of Antioch, whom the sons of the Antiochenes
dispatched with reeds sharpened like lances, as is recorded by John the Rhetorician. After
Stephen, Calandion is entrusted with the helm of that see, and he wrought upon those who
approached him, to anathematise Timotheus, and, at the same time, the circular of
Basiliscus.

Chapter 11. Succession of Bishops at Alexandria

IT was the intention of Zeno to eject Timotheus from the church of Alexandria ; but, on
being informed by certain persons that he was already aged, and had almost reached the
common resting-place of all men, he abandoned his purpose. And, in fact, Timotheus shortly
after paid the debt of nature. Upon this the Alexandrian bishops elect, on their own
authority, Peter, surnamed Mongus; the announcement of which proceeding exasperated Zeno,
who judged him to have incurred the penalty of death, and he recalls Timotheus, the
successor of Proterius, while residing, on account of a popular tumult, at Canopus. Thus
Timotheus obtained, by the commands of the emperor, possession of his rightful see.

Chapter 12. Ecclesiastical Measures of Zeno

BY the advice of certain persons, John, a presbyter, who held the office of steward of the
venerable temple of the holy forerunner and baptist John, visits the imperial city, in
order to negotiate permission for the inhabitants of Alexandria to elect as president of
their church a person of their own choice, if it should happen that their bishop should
depart out of the world. According to Zacharias, he was detected by the emperor in the
endeavour to compass his own appointment to the bishopric, and was allowed to return home,
under an oath that he would never aspire to the see of Alexandria. The emperor too issues
a precept, to the effect that, after the death of Timotheus, that person should be bishop
whom the clergy and people might elect. On the death of Timotheus, which took place
shortly after, John, by the employment of money, as the same Zacharias writes, and in
disregard of his sworn pledge to the emperor, procures his own nomination as bishop of the
Alexandrians. The emperor, on being informed of these circumstances, commands his
expulsion, and, at the suggestion of certain persons, addresses an allocution to the
Alexandrians, which he named Henoticon, directing, at the same time, that the see of
Alexandria should be restored to Peter, with a stipulation, that he should subscribe this
document and admit to communion the party of Proterius.

Chapter 13. Publication of the Henoticon of Zeno

OF this measure of arrangement, framed according to the advice of Acacius, bishop of the
imperial city, Pergainius is the bearer, who had been appointed procurator of Egypt.
Finding, on his arrival at Alexandria, that John had fled, he addresses himself to Peter,
and urges him to receive the allocution of Zeno, and also to admit the separatists. He,
accordingly, receives and subscribes the before-mentioned allocution, with a promise also
to admit to communion the members of the opposite party. Accordingly, on occasion of a
general festival at Alexandria and the universal acceptance of the so-called Henoticon of
Zeno, Peter admits the partizans of Proterius; and, on delivering in the church an address
to the people, he reads the allocution of Zeno, as follows.

Chapter 14. The Henoticon (Instrument of Union)

"THE emperor Caesar Zeno, pious, victorious, triumphant, supreme, ever worshipful
Augustus, to the most reverent bishops and clergy, and to the monks and laity throughout
Alexandria, Egypt, Libya, and Pentapolis. Being assured that the origin and constitution,
the might and invincible defence of our sovereignty is the only right and true faith,
which, through divine inspiration, the three hundred holy fathers assembled at Nicaea set
forth, and the hundred and fifty holy fathers, who in like manner met at Constantinople,
confirmed; we night and day employ every means of prayer, of zealous pains and of laws,
that the holy Catholic and apostolic church in every place may be multiplied, the
uncorruptible and immortal mother of our sceptre; and that the pious laity, continuing in
peace and unanimity with respect to God, may, together with the bishops, highly beloved of
God, the most pious clergy, the archimandrites and monks, offer up acceptably their
supplications in behalf of our sovereignty. So long as our great God and Saviour Jesus
Christ, who was incarnate and born of Mary, the Holy Virgin, and Mother of God, approves
and readily accepts our concordant glorification and service, the power of our enemies
will be crushed and swept away, and peace with its blessings, kindly temperature, abundant
produce, and whatever is beneficial to man, will be liberally bestowed.

Since, then, the irreprehensible faith is the preserver both of ourselves and the Roman
weal, petitions have been offered to us from pious archimandrites and hermits, and other
venerable persons, imploring us with tears that unity should be procured for the churches,
and the limbs should be knit together, which the enemy of all good has of old time been
eagerly bent upon severing, under a consciousness that defeat will befall him whenever he
assails the body while in an entire condition. For since it happens, that of the
unnumbered generations which during the lapse of so many years time has withdrawn from
life, some have departed, deprived of the laver of regeneration, and others have been
borne away on the inevitable journey of man, without having partaken in the divine
communion; and innumerable murders have also been perpetrated; and not only the earth, but
the very air has been defiled by a multitude of blood-sheddings; that this state of things
might be transformed into good, who would not pray? For this reason, we were anxious that
you should be informed, that we and the churches in every quarter neither have held, nor
do we or shall we hold, nor are we aware of persons who hold, any other symbol or lesson
or definition of faith or creed than the before-mentioned holy symbol of the three hundred
and eighteen holy fathers, which the aforesaid hundred and fifty holy fathers confirmed;
and if any person does hold such, we deem him an alien:

for we are confident that this symbol alone is, as we said, the preserver of our
sovereignty, and on their reception of this alone are all the people baptised when
desirous of the saving illumination: which symbol all the holy fathers assembled at
Ephesus also followed; who further passed sentence of deposition on the impious Nestorius
and those who subsequently held his sentiments: which Nestorius we also anathematise,
together with Eutyches and all who entertain opinions contrary to those above-mentioned,
receiving at the same time the twelve chapters of Cyril, of holy memory, formerly
archbishop of the holy Catholic church of the Alexandrians. We moreover confess, that the
only begotten Son of God, himself God, who truly assumed manhood, namely, our Lord Jesus
Christ, who is con-substantial with the Father in respect of the Godhead, and con-
substantial with ourselves as respects the manhood; that He, having descended, and become
incarnate of the Holy Spirit and Mary, the Virgin and Mother of God, is one and not two;
for we affirm that both his miracles, and the sufferings which he voluntarily endured in
the flesh, are those of a single person: for we do in no degree admit those who either
make a division or a confusion, or introduce a phantom; inasmuch as his truly sinless
incarnation from the Mother of God did not produce an addition of a son, because the
Trinity continued a Trinity even when one member of the Trinity, the God Word, became
incarnate.

Knowing, then, that neither the holy orthodox churches of God in all parts, nor the
priests, highly beloved of God, who are at their head, nor our own sovereignty, have
allowed or do allow any other symbol or definition of faith than the before-mentioned holy
lesson, we have united ourselves thereto without hesitation. And these things we write not
as setting forth a new form of faith, but for your assurance : and every one who has held
or holds any other opinion, either at the present or another time, whether at Chalcedon or
in any synod whatever, we anathematise; and specially the before-mentioned Nestorius and
Eutyches, and those who maintain their doctrines. Link yourselves, therefore, to the
spiritual mother, the church, and in her enjoy the same communion with us, according to
the aforesaid one and only definition of the faith, namely, that of the three hundred and
eighteen holy fathers. For your all holy mother, the church, waits to embrace you as true
children, and longs to hear your loved voice, so long withheld. Speed yourselves,
therefore, for by so doing you will both draw towards yourselves the favor of our Master
and Saviour and God, Jesus Christ, and be commended by our sovereignty."

When this had been read, all the Alexandrians united themselves to the holy catholic and
apostolic church.

Chapter 15. Correspondence Between Simplicius and Zeno

JOHN, however, of whom we have made mention before, having fled from Alexandria, arrives
at the ancient Rome, and there causes great stir, by saying that he had been banished from
his rightful see for upholding the doctrines of Leo and the council at Chalcedon, and had
been superseded by another person, who was their opponent. Upon this Simplicius, bishop of
the elder Rome, writes in alarm to Zeno; who in reply charges John with perjury, and
alleges that for this reason and no other he had been ejected from his bishopric.

Chapter 16. Deposition of Calandion and Restoration of Petee the Fuller

CALANDION, president of Antioch, writing to the emperor Zeno, and to Acacius, president of
Constantinople, terms Peter an adulterer, saying that, when he was at Alexandria, he had
anathematised the council at Chalcedon. He is afterwards condemned to exile at Oasis, on a
supposition of having supported Illus, Leontius, and Pamprepius, in their usurpation
against Zeno; and Peter the Fuller, the predecessor of Calandion and Stephen, as I have
mentioned, recovered his own see. The latter also subscribed the Henoticon of Zeno, and
addressed synodical letters to Peter, bishop of Alexandria. Acacius, president of
Constantinople, also entered into communion with him. Martyrius, too, bishop of Jerusalem,
addressed synodical letters to Peter. Subsequently, certain persons withdrew from
communion with Peter, who, in consequence, thenceforward openly anathematised the synod at
Chalcedon. The news of this circumstance greatly troubled Acacius, and induced him to send
persons to gain information on the subject; when Peter, to convince them that he had not
so acted, drew up memorials, in which certain persons said, from their own knowledge, that
Peter had not done any thing of the kind.

Chapter 17. Letter from Peter to Acacius

THIS Peter never abided by one opinion, being a double dealer, a waverer, and a time-
server, now anathematising the synod at Chalcedon, at another time recanting, and
admitting it with entire assent. Accordingly, the same Peter wrote an epistle to Acacius,
president of Constantinople, in the following words: "The most high God will repay your
holiness for the many labours and toils wherewith, during the lapse of time, you have
guarded the form of faith of the holy fathers, which you have confirmed by unceasingly
proclaiming it; in which form when we found the symbol of the three hundred and eighteen
holy fathers to be embraced, we were disposed to accord with it; that symbol in which we
believed at baptism, and still believe ; which also the hundred and fifty holy fathers,
who assembled at Constantinople, confirmed. Accordingly, while increasing in your
endeavours to guide all aright, you have united the holy church of God, by convincing us
by the most powerful proofs that nothing at variance with this was enacted in the holy and
general synod held at Chalcedon, but that it accorded with the acts of the holy fathers at
Nicaea, and confirmed them. Thus, having discovered no novelty therein, we have of our own
free motion accorded our assent and belief. But we are informed that certain monks,
envying our brotherly union, have conveyed certain slanders to your holy ears, which have
with some difficulty succeeded in embittering the feelings of your holiness.

And, in the first place, it is alleged that we have removed to another place the remains
of our sainted father, the blessed archbishop Timotheus, a thing abhorrent to religion and
law: and they have further shifted their ground to another charge, in itself incoherent
and worse than the former; for how could we possibly have anathematised the synod at
Chalcedon, which we had previously confirmed by according to it our belief? But the
malignant temper and fickleness of our people are notorious, and cannot but be known to
your piety, as well as of those monks who are disposed to innovation ; who, in conspiracy
with certain ill-designing persons that have broken loose from the church, are
endeavouring to draw away the people. Through your prayers we have also devised a
discourse of a directly healing tendency, and in no way impugning the synod at Chalcedon,
well knowing that its transactions contain no novelty; and, further, for the satisfaction
of guileless persons, we have procured those who had united themselves to us, to affirm
this point. This mischief, then, by much exertion, I have readily checked: but I make
known to your holiness, that even still the monks who are ever sowing the tares, are not
at rest, associating also with themselves, as instruments, persons who were never the
inmates of monasteries;

but they travel about disseminating various rumours to our disadvantage, and, while they
do not allow that we act canonically and in a manner suitable to the holy catholic church
of God, but are habituating our people to govern rather than obey us, they are bent on
doing whatever is unbecoming the service of God. We doubt not, however, that your holiness
will inform the most sacred master of the world of all these circumstances, and provide
that a formulary shall be put forth by his serenity, embracing the necessary matters
relating to such a peace of the church as becomes both God and the emperor; so as to lead
all to repose on its provisions."

Chapter 18. Felix Issues a Sentence of Deposition against Acacius

JOHN, who had fled to Rome, was urgent on Felix, the successor of Simplicius in that see,
respecting the proceedings of Peter, and recommends, according to Zacharias, that an
instrument of deposition should be sent to Acacius from Felix, on the ground of his
communion with Peter: which, however, as being un-canonical, Acacius did not admit, as the
same Zacharias writes, on its presentation by certain members of the monastery of the
Acoemets, as they are called. Such is the account given by Zacharias; but he appears to me
to have been altogether ignorant of the real transactions, and to have reported merely an
imperfect hearsay. I now proceed to give a precise account of the proceedings. On the
presentation of libels to Felix by John against Acacius, on the score of irregular
communion with Peter, and other uncanonical proceedings, the bishops Vitalis and Misenus
are sent by Felix to the emperor Zeno, with a requisition that the authority of the synod
at Chalcedon should be maintained, that Peter should be ejected as a heretic, and that
Acacius should be sent to Felix to answer for himself to the charges brought against him
by John, of whom we have made frequent mention.

Chapter 19. Interference of Cyril the Monk

BEFORE, however, they reached the imperial city, Cyril, the superior of the Acoemets,
writes to Felix, blaming his tardiness, when so grievous offences were being committed
against the right faith; and Felix writes to Misenus and his associates, that they should
take no measures until they had conferred with Cyril, and learnt from him what was best to
be done.

Chapter 20. Correspondence Between Felix and Zeno

FURTHER commonitories were also addressed to them by Felix; as also letters to Zeno,
concerning both the synod at Chalcedon, and the persecution which Huneric was carrying on
in Africa. He also wrote an epistle to Acacius. Zeno wrote in answer, that the concern
with which John had filled him, was groundless; because, having sworn that he would in no
way endeavour to insinuate himself into the see of Alexandria, and having subsequently
violated these terms and disregarded his oath, he had been guilty of the extreme of
sacrilege: that Peter had not been appointed without being tested, but had with his own
hand subscribed his reception of the faith of the three hundred and eighteen holy fathers
who met at Nicaea, which the holy synod at Chalcedon also followed. Part of the epistle is
in these precise words: "You ought to be assured that our piety, and the before-mentioned
most holy Peter, and all the most holy churches, receive and revere the most holy synod at
Chalcedon, which agreed with the faith of the Nicene synod."

In the transactions are also contained epistles from the before-mentioned Cyril, and other
archimandrites of the imperial city, and from bishops and clergy of the Egyptian province,
addressed to Felix against Peter, as being a heretic, and against those who communicated
with him. The members of the monastery of the Acoemets who came to Felix, further averred
against Misenus and his party, that before their arrival at Byzantium, the; name of Peter
had been read secretly in the sacred diptychs, and since that time without any
concealment, and that they had in this way communicated with him. The epistle also of the
Egyptians affirmed the same things respecting Peter; and that John, being orthodox, had
been rightfully ordained: that Peter was ordained by two bishops only, maintainers of
similar errors with himself: that since the flight of John every species of severity had
been inflicted on the orthodox: that all these circumstances had been made known to
Acacius by persons who had visited the imperial city; and that they were convinced that he
was in all things acting in union with Peter.

Chapter 21. Accusation of the Legates by Simeon the Monk, and their Consequent Deprivation

THIS stir was further increased by Simeon, an Acoemet, who had been dispatched to Rome by
Cyril. He expressly charged Misenus and Vitalis with holding communion with the heretics,
by distinctly uttering the name of Peter in the reading of the sacred diptychs; and
affirmed that many simple persons had, on this ground, been beguiled by the heretics, who
said that Peter was admitted to the communion even of the Roman see: and, further, in
reply to various interrogatories, Simeon said that Misenus and his party had declined to
have communication with any orthodox person, either in person or by letter, or to sift any
of the presumptuous attempts upon the right faith. There was also brought forward
Silvanus, a presbyter, who had been in company with Misenus and Vitalis at Constantinople,
and he confirmed the statement of the monks. There was read, too, a letter from Acacius to
Simplicius, to the effect that Peter had been long ago deposed and had become a child of
night. On these grounds Misenus and Vitalis were removed from the priesthood and severed
from the holy communion, when a unanimous vote was passed by the synod, in the following
terms: "The church of the Romans does not admit Peter, the heretic, who has also been long
ago condemned by the holy see, excommunicated, and anathematised. To whom, if there were
no other objection, this is sufficient, namely, that having been ordained by heretics, he
could not have authority over the orthodox." The decree also contains what follows: "The
mere circumstance shews Acacius, bishop of Constantinople, to have incurred very great
responsibility, because, writing to Simplicius and having termed Peter a heretic, he has
nevertheless made no such declaration to the emperor: which was his duty, if he were loyal
to him. He is, however, more partial to the emperor than to the faith."

Let me now return to the order of events. There is extant an epistle from Acacius to the
Egyptian bishops, the clergy, monks, and the people in general, by which he endeavours to
heal the existing schism: on which subject he also wrote to Peter, bishop of Alexandria.

Chapter 22. Commotion at Alexandria on Account of the Council of Chalcedon

WHILE the schism at Alexandria was thus at its height, Peter, having again anathematised
the tome of Leo, the transactions at Chalcedon, and those who refused to admit the
writings of Dioscorus and Timotheus, induced some of the bishops and archimandrites to
communicate with him, and failing to prevail upon the others, ejected most of them from
their monasteries. On account of these proceedings, Nephalius visited the imperial city,
and reported them to Zeno; who, in great vexation, despatches Cosmas, one of his officers,
charged to load Peter with menaces, for the enforcement of unity, on the score of his
having caused a serious dissension by his harshness. Cosmas returns to the imperial city
without accomplishing the object of his mission, having merely restored those who had been
ejected, to their monasteries. Subsequently, Arsenius is sent out by the emperor as
governor of Egypt and commander of the forces. Arriving at Alexandria in company with
Nephalius, he negociated with a view to unity; but failing to induce persons to acquiesce
in his measures, he sends some of them to the imperial city, where, accordingly, many
discussions took place in the presence of Zeno: but with no practical result, because the
emperor altogether declined agreement with the synod at Chalcedon.

Chapter 23. Succession of Bishops at Constantinople, Alexandria, and Antioch

AT this juncture Acacius departed on the common journey of all men, and is succeeded by
Fravitas. On his addressing synodical letters to Peter of Alexandria, the latter replies
with a repetition of the former matters respecting the synod at Chalcedon. On the demise
of Fravitas, after an episcopate of only four months, Euphemius was ordained as his
successor, and is the recipient of the letters of Peter addressed to Fravitas. On
discovering the anathema against the transactions at Chalcedon, his feelings were greatly
roused, and he broke off from communion with Peter. Both epistles are extant, namely, from
Fravitas to Peter, and from Peter to Fravitas; but I pass them over on account of their
length. When, in consequence, Euphemius and Peter were upon the point of coming to open
hostility, and summoning synods against each other, these proceedings were prevented by
the death of the latter. He is succeeded by Athanasius, who attempted to unite the
dissidents; but without success, since the parties were ranged under differences of
opinion. Subsequently, when dispatching synodical letters to Palladius, the successor of
Peter in the bishopric of Antioch, he took a similar course respecting the synod at
Chalcedon; as did also John, his successor in the see of Alexandria. On the death of
Palladius, and the succession of Flavian to the see of Antioch, Solomon, a presbyter of
that church, is sent to Alexandria, as the bearer of synodical letters, with the request
of an answer from John to Flavian. John is succeeded in the see of Alexandria by another
of the same name. Such was the progress of these events down to a certain period of the
reign of Anastasius: who had himself ejected Euphemius. I have been compelled thus to
detail them continuously, for the sake of perspicuity and a ready comprehension of the
whole.

Chapter 24. Death of Armatus

ZENO, at the instigation of Illus, puts to death Armatus, a kinsman of the empress Verina.
When Armatus had been sent against him by Basiliscus, Zeno had succeeded, by bribes, in
converting him from a foe into an ally, and had bestowed on his son Basiliscus the rank of
Caesar at Nicaea: but on his return to Constantinople, he procures the assassination of
Armatus, and makes his son a priest instead of Caesar. The latter was afterwards raised to
the episcopal dignity.

Chapter 25. Insurrection and Death of Theodoric

THEODORIC also, a Scythian, raised an insurrection, and having collected his forces in
Thrace, marched against Zeno. After ravaging every place in his march as far as the mouth
of the Pontus, he was near taking the imperial city, when some of his most intimate
companions were secretly induced to enter into a plot against his life. When, however, he
had learnt the disaffection of his followers, he commenced a retreat, and was very soon
afterwards numbered with the departed, by a kind of death which I will mention, and which
happened thus. A spear, with its thong prepared for immediate use, had been suspended
before his tent in barbaric fashion. He had ordered a horse to be brought to him for the
purpose of exercise, and being in the habit of not having any one to assist him in
mounting, vaulted into his seat. The horse, a mettlesome and ungovernable animal, reared
before Theodoric was fairly mounted, so that, in the contest, neither daring to rein back
the horse, lest it should come down upon him, nor yet having gained a firm seat, he was
whirled round in all directions, and dashed against the point of the spear, which thus
struck him obliquely, and wounded his side. He was then conveyed to his couch, and after
surviving a few days, died of the wound.

Chapter 26. Insurrection of Marcian

SUBSEQUENTLY Marcian had a rupture with Zeno, and attempted to dispute the empire with
him. He was the son of Anthemius who had formerly reigned at Rome, and was allied to Leo,
the preceding emperor, having married his younger daughter Leontia. After a severe battle
around the palace, in which many fell on both sides, Marcian repulsed his opponents, and
would have become master of the palace, had he not let slip the critical moment, by
putting off the operation to the morrow. For the critical season is swift of flight: when
it is close upon one, it may be secured; but should it once have escaped the grasp, it
soars aloft and laughs at its pursuers, not deigning to place itself again within their
reach. And hence no doubt it is, that statuaries and painters, while they figure it with a
lock hanging down in front, represent the head as closely shaven behind; thus skilfully
symbolising, that when it comes up from behind one, it may perhaps be held fast by the
flowing forelock, but fairly escapes when it has once got the start, from the absence of
any thing by which the pursuer might grasp it.

And this was what befel Marcian, when he had lost the moment favourable to his success,
and was unable to find it afterwards. For the next day he was betrayed by his own
followers, and being completely deserted, fled to the sacred precinct of the divine
Apostles; whence he was dragged away by force, and transported to Caesarea in Cappadocia.
Having there joined the society of certain monks, he was afterwards detected in meditating
an escape; and being removed by the emperor to Tarsus in Cilicia, he was shorn, and
ordained a presbyter: of all which particulars an elegant narrative has been given by
Eustathius the Syrian.

Chapter 27. Insurrection of Illus and Leontius

THE same writer states that Zeno also devised innumerable machinations against his mother-
in-law Verina, and afterwards sent her away to Cilicia; and that subsequently, on the
assumption of sovereign power by Illus, she removed to what is called the castle of
Papirius; where she died. Eustathius also narrates with great ability the story of Illus:
how he escaped Zeno's plots against him, and how Zeno gave up to capital punishment the
man who had been commissioned to murder Illus, rewarding him with the loss of his head for
his failure in the attempt. He also appointed Illus commander of the forces of the East,
thinking thus to conceal his real designs: but he, having gained over as partizans
Leontius, Marstis, a man of reputaion, and Pamprepius, proceeded to the east. The same
Eustathius then mentions the proclamation of Leontius as emperor, which took place at
Tarsus in Cilicia; and how these persons reaped the fruits of their assumption of power,
when Theodoric, a man of Gothic extraction, but illustrious among the Romans, had been
sent out against them, with a force composed both of native and foreign troops.

The same author ably depicts the fate of those who were miserably put to death by Zeno in
return for their loyalty to him; and how Theodoric, becoming aware of the evil designs of
Zeno, withdrew to the elder Rome. Some, however, say that this was done at the suggestion
of Zeno. Having there defeated Odoacer, he made himself master of Rome, and assumed the
title of king.

Chapter 28. Account of Mammianus and his Structures

JOHN the rhetorician writes, that in the time of Zeno, Mammianus from an artizan became a
person of note and a member of the senate; and that he built in the suburb of Daphne what
is called the Antiphorus, on a site previously planted with vines and suitable for
cultivation, directly opposite the public baths; where there is also the brazen statue
inscribed, "Mammianus the friend of the city." He also states that he built within the
city, two basilicas, singularly beautiful in their design, and embellished with brilliant
stone-work; and that, as an intervening structure to the two, he raised a Tetrapylum,
exquisitely finished both in its columns and its brazen work. The basilicas I have
identified, retaining, together with their name, some trace of their former beauty, in the
stones from Procomiesus, which form the pavement, but nothing remarkable in their
architecture: for, in consequence of the calamities which had befallen them, they had
lately been rebuilt, without receiving any thing in the way of ornament. Of the Tetrapylum
I was not able to detect the slightest vestige.

Chapter 29. Death of Zeno.----succession of Anastasius

ON the decease of Zeno, by epilepsy, without issue, after a reign of seventeen years,
Longinus his brother, having raised himself to considerable power, hoped to secure the
sovereignty, but was, notwithstanding, disappointed of his expectation. For Ariadne
bestows the diadem on Anastasius, a person who had not yet attained senatorian rank, but
belonged to the corps of the Silentiaries. Eustathius writes, that two hundred and seven
years elapsed from the beginning of the reign of Diocletian to the death of Zeno and the
nomination of Anastasius: five hundred and fifty-two years and seven months from the time
that Augustus obtained the supreme power; eight hundred and thirty-two years and seven
months from the reign of Alexander the Macedonian; one thousand and fifty-two years and
seven months from the reign of Romulus; one thousand six hundred and eighty-six years and
seven months from the taking of Troy. This Anastasius, being a native of Epidamnus, now
called Dyrrachium, both succeeds to the sovereignty of Zeno and espouses his wife Ariadne.
In the first place, he dismisses to his native country Longinus, the brother of Zeno, who
held the post of Master of the Offices, formerly termed commander of the household troops;
and afterwards, many other Isaurians at their own request.

Chapter 30. Divisions in the Church

THIS Anastasius, being of a peaceful disposition, was altogether averse to the
introduction of changes, especially in the state of the church, but endeavoured by every
means, that the most holy churches should continue undisturbed, and the whole body of his
subjects enjoy profound tranquillity, by the removal of all strife and contention from
matters both ecclesiastical and civil. During these times, accordingly, the synod of
Chalcedon was neither openly proclaimed in the most holy churches, nor yet was repudiated
by all: but the bishops acted each according to his individual opinion. Thus, some very
resolutely maintained what had been put forth by that synod, and would not yield to the
extent of one word of its determinations, nor admit even the change of a single letter,
but firmly declined all contact and communion with those who refused to admit the matters
there set forth. Others, again, not only did not submit to the synod of Chalcedon and its
determinations, but even anathematised both it and the tome of Leo. Others, however,
firmly adhered to the Henoticon of Zeno, and that too although mutually at variance on the
point of the single and double nature; some being caught by the artful composition of that
document; and others influenced by an inclination for peace. Thus the churches in general
were divided into distinct factions, and their presidents did not even admit each other to
communion.

Numerous divisions, hence arising, existed in the East, in the West, and in Africa; while
the eastern bishops had no friendly intercourse with those of the West and Africa, nor the
latter with those of the East. The evil too became still more monstrous, for neither did
the presidents of the eastern churches allow communion among themselves, nor yet those who
held the sees of Europe and Africa, much less with those of remote parts. In consideration
of these circumstances, the Emperor Anastasius removed those bishops who were promoters of
change, wherever he detected any one either proclaiming or anathematising the synod of
Chalcedon in opposition to the practice of the neighbourhood. Accordingly, he rejected
from the see of the imperial city, first, Euphemius, as has been already mentioned, and
afterwards Macedonius, who was succeeded by Timotheus; and Flavian from the see of
Antioch.

Chapter 31. Letter to Alcison from the Monks of Palestine

THE monastic body in Palestine, writing to Alcison concerning Macedonius and Flavian,
express themselves thus: "On the death of Peter, they were again separated, but
Alexandria, Egypt, and Africa remained at unity among themselves; as, on the other hand,
did the rest of the East; while the churches of the West refused to communicate with them
on any other terms than the anathematising of Nestorius, Eutyches, and Dioscorus,
including also Peter, surnamed Mongus, and Acacius. Such, then, being the situation of the
churches throughout the world, the genuine followers of Dioscorus and Eutyches were
reduced to a very small number; and when they were upon the point of disappearing
altogether from the earth, Xenaias, who was truly a stranger to God, with what object we
know not, or pursuing what enmity towards Flavian, but under colour of defending the
faith, as is generally said, begins to raise a stir against him, and to calumniate him as
being a Nestorian. When, however, he had anathematised Nestorius and his notion, Xenaias
transferred his attacks from him to Dioscorus and Theodore, Theodoret, Ibas, Cyrus,
Eleutherius, and John; and we know not whom, besides and whence he mustered them:

some of whom really maintained the opinions of Nestorius, but others, having been
suspected, anathematised him, and departed in the communion of the church. 'Unless,' said
he, 'thou shalt anathematise all these, as holding the opinions of Nestorius, thou art
thyself a Nestorian, though thou shouldest ten thousand times anathematise him and his
notion.' He also endeavoured by letters to induce the advocates of Dioscorus and Eutyches
to take arms with him against Flavian, not however with a view of exacting from him an
anathema upon the synod, but merely on the before-mentioned persons. But when the bishop
Flavian had maintained a prolonged resistance to them, and other persons had united with
Xenaias against him, namely, Eleusinus, a bishop of Cappadocia Secunda, Nicias, of
Laodicea in Syria, and others from other quarters, the motive of whose spite against
Flavian it is the province of others, not of ourselves, to detail; at last, in hope of
peace, he yielded to their contentious spirit, and having in writing anathematised the
before-mentioned persons, he despatched the instrument to the emperor, for they had
stirred up him also against Flavian as a maintainer of the opinions of Nestorius. Xenaias,
not contented with this, again demands of Flavian that he should anathematise the synod
itself, and those who maintained two natures in the person of the Lord, namely, the flesh
and the Godhead; and on his refusal, again accused him of being a Nestorian.

After much stir upon this subject, and after the patriarch had put forth an exposition of
faith, in which he confessed that he admitted the synod as far as regards the deposition
of Nestorius and Eutyches, not however as defining and teaching the faith; they again
impugn him as secretly holding the opinions of Nestorius, unless he would further
anathematise the synod itself, and those who maintained two natures in the person of the
Lord, the flesh and the Godhead. They also win over to their side the Isaurians, by
various deceitful expressions, and having drawn up a formulary of faith, in which they
anathematise the synod together with those who maintained the two natures or persons, they
separate themselves from Flavian and Macedonius, but unite with others on their
subscribing the formulary. At the same time they also demanded of the bishop of Jerusalem
a written statement of faith; which he put forth, and sent to the emperor by the hands of
the party of Dioscorus. This they present, containing ari anathema upon those who
maintained the two natures. But the bishop of Jerusalem himself, affirming that it had
been forged by them, puts forth another without such anathema. And no wonder. For they
have often forged discourses of the fathers, and to many writings of Apollinaris they have
attached titles assigning them to Athanasius, Gregory Thaumaturgus, and Julius; their
principal object in so doing being to draw over the multitude to their own impieties. They
also demanded of Macedonius a written statement of faith;

who put one forth, affirming that he recognised only the creed of the three hundred and
eighteen, and of the one hundred and fifty fathers, anathematising at the same time
Nestorius, Eutyches, and those who held the doctrine of two sons or two Christs, or
divided the natures; making, however, no mention of the synod of Ephesus, which deposed
Nestorius, nor that of Chalcedon, which deposed Eutyches. Indignant at this, the monastic
bodies about Constantinople separate from their bishop Macedonius. In the mean time
Xenaias and Dioscorus, associating with them many of the bishops, became insufferable,
from the stir which they raised against those who refused to anathematise; and, by various
devices, they endeavoured to procure the banishment of those who persisted in their
refusal. In this way, accordingly, they banish both Macedonius, find John, bishop of
Paltus, and Flavian. Such are the contents of the letter.

Chapter 32. Ejection of Macedonius and Flavian from their Sees

THERE were other things which caused secret vexation to Anastasius. For when Ariadne was
desirous of investing him with the purple, Euphemius, who held the archiepiscopal see,
withheld his approval, until Anastasius had presented to him an agreement, written with
his own hand, and secured with fearful oaths, that he would maintain the faith inviolate,
and introduce no innovation into the holy church of God, in case he should obtain the
sceptre: which document he also deposited with Macedonius, the keeper of the sacred
treasures. This measure he adopted, because Anastasius had generally the reputation of
holding the Manichaean doctrine. When, however, Macedonius ascended the episcopal throne,
Anastasius was desirous that the agreement should be returned to him, affirming it to be
an insult to the imperial dignity, if the before-mentioned document, in his own hand-
writing, should be preserved : and when Macedonius resolutely opposed the demand, and
firmly protested that he would not betray the faith, the emperor pursued every insidious
device for the purpose of ejecting him from his see. Accordingly, even boys were brought
forward as informers, who falsely accused both themselves and Macedonius of infamous
practices. But when Macedonius was found to be emasculate, they had recourse to other
contrivances; until, by the advice of Celer, commander of the household troops, he
secretly retired from his see.

With the ejection of Flavian, other circumstances are associated. For we have met with
some very aged men who remembered all the events of this time. These say, that the monks
of the district called Cynegica, and of the whole of Syria Prima, having been wrought upon
by Xenaias, who was bishop of the neighbouring city of Hierapolis, and who was named in
Greek Philoxenus, rushed into the city in a body with great noise and tumult, endeavouring
to compel Flavian to anathematise the synod of Chalcedon and the tome of Leo. Roused at
the indignation manifested by Flavian, and the violent urgency of the monks, the people of
the city made a great slaughter of them, so that a very large number found a grave in the
Orontes, where the waves performed their only funeral rites. There happened also another
circumstance of scarcely less magnitude than the former. For the monks of Caele Syria, now
called Syria Secunda, from sympathy with Flavian, since he had led a monastic life in a
monastery of the district called Tilmognon, advanced to Antioch, with the intention of
defending him. From which circumstance, also, no inconsiderable mischief arose.
Accordingly, on the ground either of the former or latter occurrence, or both, Flavian is
ejected, and condemned to reside at Petra, on the extreme verge of Palestine.

Chapter 33. Severus Bishop of Antioch

FLAVIAN having been thus ejected, Severus ascends the episcopal throne of Antioch, in the
five hundred and sixty-first year of the era of that city, in the month Dius, the sixth
year of the Indiction; the year in which I am now writing being the six hundred and forty-
first of that era. He was a native of Sozopolis, a city of Pisidia, and had applied
himself to the profession of a pleader at Berytus; but immediately on his abandoning the
practice of the law, having participated in holy baptism in the sacred precinct of the
divine martyr Leontius, who is revered at Tripolis, a city of Phoenicia Maritima, he
assumed the monastic life in a certain monastery situated between the city of Gaza and the
town called Majumas; in which latter place Peter the Iberian, who had been bishop of the
same Gaza, and had been banished with Timotheus Aelurus, passed through the same
discipline, and left behind him a famous memory. Severus there engages in a discussion
with Nephalius, who had formerly sided with him on the question of the single nature, but
had subsequently been one of the synod at Chalcedon and among those who held the opinion
of two natures in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ; and he is, in consequence, expelled
from his own monastery by Nephalius and his party, together with many others who held
similar doctrines. Thence he proceeds to the imperial city, to plead the cause of himself
and those who had been expelled with him, and thus obtains the notice of the emperor
Anastasius, as is narrated by the author of the life of Severus.

Accordingly, Severus, in issuing synodical letters, expressly anathematised the synod at
Chalcedon; on which point the letters addressed to Alcison speak as follows. "The
synodical letters of Timotheus of Constantinople were admitted here in Palestine, but the
deposition of Macedonius and Flavian was not admitted, nor yet the synodical letters of
Severus; but the bearers were put to flight, with the ignominy and insult which they
deserved, by the people and monks of the city, who rose upon them. Such was the situation
of matters in Palestine. But of the bishops subject to Antioch, some were carried away
into compliance, among whom was Marinus, bishop of Berytus; others by force and compulsion
concurred in the synodical letters of Severus, which included an anathema, both on the
synod and all others who affirmed two natures or persons in the Lord, namely, the flesh
and the Godhead; and others, after having concurred by compulsion, recalled their assent,
and among them the bishops subject to Apamea; others, again, altogether refused
concurrence, among whom were Julian, bishop of Bostra, Epiphanius of Tyre, and some
others, as is said. But the Isaurian bishops, having returned to their sober senses, are
now condemning themselves for the error into which they had been beguiled, and are
anathematising Severus and his party. Others of the bishops and clergy subject to Severus
have abandoned their churches, and among them Julian of Bostra, and Peter of Damascus, who
are now living in these parts, as also Manias.

This latter is one of those two who seemed to be the chiefs of the followers of Dioscorus,
by whose means also Severus obtained his dignity: but he now condemns the arrogance of
that party. And presently the letter proceeds. "The monasteries in these parts and
Jerusalem itself are, with the aid of God, unanimous respecting the right faith, and very
many cities besides, together with their bishops, for all of whom, and for ourselves, pray
thou that we may not enter into temptation, our most holy lord and honoured father."

Chapter 34. Act of Deposition against Severus

SINCE, then, these letters state, that the priests subject to Apamea had separated from
Severus, let me now add a circumstance transmitted to us from our fathers, although it has
not hitherto found a place in history. Cosmas, bishop of my native place, Epiphanea, which
stands on the Orontes, and Severian, bishop of the neighbouring city of Arethusa, being
troubled at the synodical letters of Severus, and having withdrawn from his communion,
despatched an instrument of deposition to him, while still bishop of Antioch. They entrust
the document to Aurelian, chief of the deacons at Epiphanea, and he, through dread of
Severus and the majesty of so great a bishopric, on his arrival at Antioch puts on a
female dress, and approaches Severus with delicate carriage and the entire assumption of a
woman's appearance. Letting his vail fall down to his breast, with wailing and deep drawn
lamentation he presents to Severus, as he advanced, the instruments of deposition in the
guise of a petition : he then passes unobserved from among the attendant crowd and
purchased safety by flight, before Severus had learned the purport of the document.
Severus, having received the document and learned its contents, continued, nevertheless,
in his see, until the death of Anastasius.

On being informed of these transactions, for I must record the benevolent measure of
Anastasius, he directs Asiaticus, who was commander in Phoenicia Libanensis, to eject
Cosmas and Severian from their sees, because they had sent the instrument of deposition to
Severus. Finding, on his arrival in the East, that many adhered to the opinions of those
bishops, and that their cities resolutely upheld them, he reported to Anastasius that he
could not eject them without bloodshed. So great then was the humanity of Anastasius, that
he wrote in express terms to Asiaticus, that he did not desire the accomplishment of any
object, however important and illustrious, if one drop of blood was to be shed. Such,
then, was the situation of the churches throughout the world down to the reign of
Anastasius; whom some, treating him as an enemy to the synod at Chalcedon, erased from the
sacred diptychs; and he was also anathematised at Jerusalem even during his life-time.

Chapter 35. Suppression of the Isaurian Insurrection

IT will not be inconsistent, if, in accordance with the promise which I originally made, I
insert in my narrative the other circumstances worthy of mention which occurred in the
time of Anastasius. Longinus, the kinsman of Zeno, on his arrival at his native country,
as has been already detailed, openly commences war against the emperor: and after a
numerous army had been raised from different quarters, in which Conon, formerly bishop of
Apamea in Syria, was also present, who, as being an Isaurian, aided the Isaurians, an end
was put to the war by the utter destruction of the Isaurian troops of Longinus. The heads
of Longinus and Theodore were sent to the imperial city by John the Scythian; which the
emperor displayed on poles at the place called Sycae, opposite Constantinople, an
agreeable spectacle to the Byzantines, who had been hardly treated by Zeno and the
Isaurians. The other Longinus, surnamed of Selinus, the main stay of the insurgent
faction, and Indes, are sent alive to Anastasius by John, surnamed Hunchback ; a
circumstance which especially gladdened the emperor and the Byzantines, by the display of
the prisoners led in triumph along the streets and the hippodrome, with iron chains about
their necks and hands. Thenceforward, also, the payment called Isaurica accrued to the
imperial treasury, being gold previously paid to the Barbarians annually, to the amount of
five thousand pounds.

Chapter 36. Invasion of the Arabs

THE Scenite barbarians also insulted the Roman empire; not, however, to their own
advantage; by plundering Mesopotamia, either Phoenicia, and Palestine. After having been
everywhere chastised by the commanders, they subsequently continued quiet, and universally
made peace with the Romans.

Chapter 37. Capture of Amida. Founding of Daras

THE Persians too, having, in violation of treaties, marched beyond their own territories
under their king Cabades, first attacked Armenia, and having captured a town named
Theodosiopolis, reached Amida, a strong city of Mesopotamia, which they took by storm; and
which the Roman emperor subsequently restored by great exertions. If any one is inclined
to learn the particulars of these transactions, and to trace the whole minutely, a very
able narrative, a work of great labour and elegance, has been composed by Eustathius; who,
after having brought down his history to this point, was numbered with the departed;
closing with the twelfth year of the reign of Anastasius. After the close of this war,
Anastasius founds a city on the spot called Daras, in Mesopotamia, situated near the
limits of the Roman dominion, and, as it were, a border-point of the two empires. He
surrounds it with strong fortifications, and embellishes it with various stately
erections, both of churches and other sacred buildings, basilicas, public baths, and other
ornaments of distinguished cities. The place is said by some to have obtained the name of
Daras, because there Alexander the Macedonian, the son of Philip, utterly defeated Darius.

Chapter 38. The Long Wall

BY the same emperor was raised a vast and memorable work called the Long Wall, in a
favourable situation in Thrace, distant from Constantinople two hundred and eighty stadia.
It reaches from one sea to the other, like a strait, to the extent of four hundred and
twenty stadia; making the city an island, in a manner, instead of a peninsula, and
affording a very safe transit, to such as choose, from the Pontus to the Euxine Sea. It is
a check upon the inroads of the Barbarians from the Euxine, and of the Colchians from the
Palus Maeotis, and from beyond the Caucasus, as well as of those who have made irruptions
from Europe.

Chapter 39. Abolition of the Chrysargyrum

THE same emperor completed an extraordinary and divine achievement, namely, the entire
abolition of the tax called chrysargyrum: which transaction I must now detail, though the
task needs the eloquence of Thucydides, or something still more lofty and graceful. I
will, however, myself describe it, not in reliance upon powers of language, but encouraged
by the nature of the action. There was imposed upon the Roman commonwealth, so singular in
its magnitude and duration, a tax vile and hateful to God, and unworthy even of
Barbarians, much more of the most Christian empire of the Romans: which, having been
overlooked, from what cause I am unable to say, until the time of Anastasius, he most
royally abolished. It was imposed, both on many other classes of persons who procured
their livelihood by an accumulation of petty gains, and also upon women who made a sale of
their charms, and surrendered themselves in brothels to promiscuous fornication in the
obscure parts of the city; and besides, upon those who were devoted to a prostitution
which outraged not only nature but the common weal: so that this mode of revenue
proclaimed, as distinctly as a direct enactment, that all who chose, might practise such
wickedness in security. The impious and accursed revenue raised from this source, the
collectors paid at the end of every five years into the hands of the first and most
dignified of the prefects: so that it formed no unimportant part of the functions of that
office, and had its separate exchequer, and accountants, men who regarded the business as
a military service, suited, like the rest, to persons of some distinction.

Anastasius, being informed of the circumstance, laid the matter before the senate, and
justly declaring it to be an abomination and unparallelled defilement, decreed that it
should be utterly abolished; and committed to the flames the papers which were vouchers
for its collection. With the desire also of making this measure a complete sacrifice to
God, and of preventing any of his successors from reviving the ancient shame, he puts on
the appearance of vexation, and accuses himself of inconsiderateness and excessive folly,
saying, that in the too eager pursuit of novelty he had neglected the interests of the
commonwealth, and had rashly and thoughtlessly abolished so important a revenue, which had
been established in former times and confirmed by so long a continuance, without duly
weighing the impending dangers, or the expenses necessary for the maintenance of the army,
that living bulwark of the empire, nor yet for the service of God. Accordingly, without
betraying his secret thoughts, he proclaims his desire to restore the before-mentioned
revenue; and having summoned those who had been in charge of the levy, he told them that
he repented of the step, but knew not what course to take, or how to rectify his error,
now that the papers had been burnt which could be vouchers for the particulars of its
exaction.

And while they, on their part, lamented the abolition of the levy, not in semblance but in
reality, on account of the unrighteous gain which had thence accrued to them, and were
professing the same perplexity as the emperor, he urged and exhorted them to employ every
mode of search, in the endeavour to procure from among documents preserved in various
quarters, a statement of the entire levy. Supplying each individual with money, he
despatched him to collect materials, enjoining him to bring every paper which threw light
upon this matter wherever it might be found; that by means of the utmost circumspection
and minute attention, a statement of the business might be again put together.
Accordingly, on the return of those who were engaged in the execution of these orders,
Anastasius put on a pleased and gladsome appearance, and was in reality rejoiced in having
compassed the object on which he was bent. He also made particular enquiries, both how
they were discovered and in whose possession, and whether any thing of the same kind was
still remaining: and on their affirming that they had expended great pains upon the
collection, and swearing by the emperor himself, that no other paper which could be a
voucher was preserved throughout the whole empire, Anastasius again lighted up a great
pile with the papers thus produced, and drenched the ashes with water, with the intention
of removing every trace of this levy; so that there might appear neither dust, nor ashes,
nor any remnant whatever of the business, through imperfect combustion.

In order, however, that, while we are thus extolling the abolition of this impost, we may
not seem to be ignorant how much has been written under passionate feelings on the subject
by former authors, let me produce these matters, and shew their falsehood, and that more
especially from their own statements.

Chapter 40. Falsehoods of the Historian Zosimus

ZOSIMUS, a follower of the accursed and foul religion of the Greeks, in his anger against
Constantine, because he was the first emperor that had adopted Christianity, abandoning
the abominable superstition of the Greeks, says, that he was the person who devised the
tax called Chrysargyrum, and enacted that it should be levied every five years. He has on
many other grounds also reviled that pious and magnificent monarch; for he affirms that he
contrived many other intolerable proceedings against every class of persons; that he
miserably destroyed his son Crispus, and made away with his wife Fausta by inclosing her
in an overheated bath; and that, after having in vain endeavoured to to procure
purification from murders so detestable at the hands of the priests of his own religion
(for they plainly declared its impossibility), he met with an Egyptian who had come from
Iberia; and, having been assured by him that the faith of the Christians had the power of
blotting out every sin, he embraced what the Egyptian had imparted to him, and
thenceforward abandoning the faith of his fathers, he made the commencement of his
impiety. The falsehood of these assertions I will forthwith shew, and in the first place
treat of the matter of the Chrysargyrum.

Chapter 41. Refutation of Zosimus

THOU sayest, O evil and malignant demon, that Constantine, wishing to raise a city equal
to Rome, first made a commencement of so vast a place by laying strong foundations and
erecting a lofty wall between Troas and Ilium; but when he had discovered in Byzantium a
more suitable site, he in such fashion encircled the place with walls, so far extended the
former city, and embellished it with buildings so splendid, as hardly to be surpassed by
Rome itself, which had received gradual increase through so long a course of years. Thou
sayest also that he made a distribution of provisions at the public cost to the people of
Byzantium, and bestowed a very large sum of gold upon those who had accompanied him
thither, for the erection of private houses. Again, thou writest to the following effect:
that on the decease of Constantine, the imperial power came into the hands of Constantius,
his only surviving son after the death of his two brothers; and that when Magnentius and
Vetranio had assumed the sovereignty, he wrought upon the latter by persuasives: and when
both armies had been mustered, Constantius, addressing them first, reminded the soldiers
of the generosity of his father, with whom they had served through many wars, and by whom
they had been distinguished with the most liberal gifts; and that the soldiers, on hearing
this, stripped Vetranio of his imperial robe, and made him descend from the tribunal into
a private station; and tha,t he suffered no unkindness at the hands of Constantius : who
has shared with his father in so much of thy calumny. How thou canst then maintain that
the same person could be so liberal, so munificent, and at the same time so paltry and
sordid as to impose so accursed a tax, I am utterly unable to comprehend.

In proof that Constantine did not destroy Fausta or Crispus, nor was on that account
initiated by an Egyptian into our mysteries, listen to the history of Eusebius Pamphili,
who was contemporary with Constantine and Crispus, and had intercourse with them. For what
thou writest, so far from being truth, was not even contemporary hearsay, since thou
livedst long after, in the time of Arcadius and Honorius----to which period thou hast
brought down thy history----or even after their time. Eusebius, in the eighth book of his
ecclesiastical history, has the following words: "After no very long interval, the emperor
Constantine, having maintained a disposition remarkable for gentleness in respect to his
whole life, kindliness towards his subjects, and favour towards the divine word, closes
his life by the common laws of nature, leaving behind him, as emperor and Augustus in his
own room, a, legitimate son, Constantius." And farther on he says: "His son Constantius,
having at the very commencement of his reign been proclaimed supreme emperor and Augustus
by the armies, and long before by God himself, the universal Sovereign, shewed himself an
imitator of his father's piety as respects our faith." And at the end of the history he
expresses himself in the following terms: "The mighty, victorious Constantine,
distinguished by every religious excellence, in conjunction with his son Crispus, a
sovereign highly beloved of God, and resembling his father in all things, obtained his
rightful possession of the East." Eusebius, who survived Constantine, would never have
praised Crispus in these terms, if he had been destroyed by his father. Theodoret, in his
history, says that Constantine partook in the saving baptism at Nicomedia, near the close
of his life, and that he had deferred the rite till this period, from a desire that it
should be performed in the river Jordan.

Thou sayest, O most detestable and polluted one, that the Roman empire from the time of
the appearance of Christianity, fell away and was altogether ruined: either because thou
hast not read any of the older writings, or because thou art a traitor to the truth. For,
on the contrary, it clearly appears that the Roman power increased together with the
spread of our faith. Consider, for instance, how, at the very time of the sojourn of
Christ our God among mankind, the greater part of the Macedonians were crushed by the
Romans, and Albania, Iberia, the Colchians, and Arabians were subjugated. Caius Caesar
also, in the hundred and eighty-first Olympiad, subdued in great battles the Gauls,
Germans, and Britons, and thereby added to the Roman empire the inhabitants of five
hundred cities; as has been recorded by historians. He also was the first who attained to
sole sovereignty since the establishment of consuls, thereby preparing a way for the
previous introduction of a reverence for monarchy, after the prevalence of polytheism and
popular rule, on account of the monarchy of Christ which was immediately to appear. A
further acquisition was also forthwith made of the whole of Judaea and the neighbouring
territories: so that it was at this time that the first registration took place; in which
Christ also was enrolled, in order that Bethlehem might fulfil the prophecy relating to
it; for thus had the prophet Micah spoken respecting that place:

"And thou, Bethlehem, territory of Judah, art by no means least among the princes of
Judah, for from thee shall come forth a governor who shall feed my people Israel. Also
after the nativity of Christ our God, Egypt was added to the Roman dominion; Augustus
Caesar, in whose time Christ was born, having completely overthrown Antony and Cleopatra;
who also killed themselves. Upon which Cornelius Gallus is appointed by Augustus governor
of Egypt, being the first who ruled that country after the Ptolemies: as has been recorded
by historians. To what extent the territories of the Persians were curtailed by Ventidius,
Corbulo the general of Nero, Severus, Trajan, Carus, Cassius, Odenatus of Palmyra,
Apollonius, and others; and how often Seleucia and Ctesiphon were taken, and Nisibis
changed sides; and how Armenia and the neighbouring countries were added to the Roman
empire; these matters have been narrated by thyself, as well as by others.

I had, however, nearly forgotten to notice what thou thyself writest respecting the
achievements of Constantine, how nobly and courageously he swayed the Roman empire, while
professing our religion, and what befell Julian, thy hero and the votary of thy orgies,
who bequeathed to the commonwealth injuries so serious. Whether, however, he has either
already received a foretaste of the things which have been foretold concerning the end of
the world, or will even receive their full measure, is a question relating to an economy
too high for thy comprehension. Let us, at all events, consider under what circumstances
heathen and Christian emperors have respectively closed their reigns. Did not Caius Julius
Caesar, the first sole sovereign, close his life by assassination? In the next place, did
not some of his own officers despatch with their swords Caius, the grandson of Tiberius ?
Was not Nero slain by one of his domestics ? Did not Galba, Otho, and Vitellius, who
reigned in all only sixteen months, suffer a similar fate? Was not Titus, on his attaining
the empire, taken off by poison by his own brother Domitian? Was not Domitian himself
miserably despatched by Stephanus? What too dost thou say about Commodus ? Was not he
killed by Narcissus? Pertinax and Julian, did they not meet with the same treatment?
Antoninus, the son of Severus, did he not murder his brother Geta, and was himself
murdered by Martial ? Macrinus too, was he not dragged about Byzantium, like a captive,
and then butchered by his own soldiers? And Aurelius Antoninus, the Emesene, was he not
slaughtered together with his mother? And his successor Alexander, was he not, together
with his mother, involved in a similar catastrophe? What should I say, too, concerning
Maximin, who was slain by his own troops? or Gordian, brought to a similar end by the
designs of Philip? Tell me whether Philip and his successor Decius did not perish by the
hands of their enemies? And Gallus and Volusian by their own armies? Aemilian, was he not
involved in the same fate?

And Valerian, was he not made prisoner and carried about as a show by the Persians ? After
the assassination of Gallienus and the murder of Carinus, the sovereignty came into the
hands of Diocletian and those whom he chose as his partners in the empire. Of these,
Herculius, Maximian, and Maxentius his son, and Licinius utterly perished. But from the
time that the renowned Constantine succeeded to the empire, and had dedicated to Christ
the city which bears his name, mark me, whether any of those who have reigned there,
except Julian thy hierophant and monarch, have perished by the hands of either domestic or
foreign foes, and whether a rival has overthrown any of them; except that Basiliscus
expelled Zeno, by whom, however, he was afterwards overthrown and killed. I also agree
with thee in what thou sayest about Valens, who had inflicted so many evils upon the
Christians: for of any other case not even thou thyself makest mention.

Let no one think that these matters are foreign to an ecclesiastical history; since they
are, in fact, altogether useful, and essential, on account of wilful desertion of the
cause of truth on the part of heathen writers. Let me now proceed to the rest of the acts
of Anastasius.

Chapter 42. The Gold-rate

THE before-mentioned measures Anastasius successfully carried out in a truly royal spirit;
but he adopted others by no means worthy of them: both by devising what is called the
gold-rate, and farming out the supplies for the army on terms most burdensome to the
provincials. He also took the levying of imposts out of the hands of the councils of the
respective cities, and appointed what are called Vindices, at the suggestion, as is said,
of Marinus the Syrian, who held the highest prefecture, termed in former times the Prefect
of the Praetorium. The result was that the revenue fell off to a great extent, and the
local dignitaries sunk into abeyance: for persons of high families formerly had their
names inscribed in the album of each city; which regarded those who were members of its
council, as a kind of senate.

Chapter 43. Insurrection of Vitalian

VITALIAN, a Thracian by birth, disputes the empire with Anastasius, and having devastated
Thrace and Mysia as far as Odessus and Anchialus, was advancing rapidly upon the imperial
city, at the head of an innumerable force of Huns. The emperor despatched Hypatius to
encounter this force; and, after he had been captured through the treachery of his own
troops, and liberated at a large ransom, the conduct of the war was entrusted to Cyril.
The battle which followed, was at first indecisive, with several subsequent alternations
of success; but, notwithstanding the advantage was on the side of Cyril, the enemy
rallied, and he was ultimately routed through the wilful desertion of his own soldiers. In
consequence, Vitalian captured Cyril in Odessus, and advanced as far as the place called
Sycae, laying the whole country waste with fire and sword; meditating nothing less than
the capture of the city itself and the seizure of the sovereignty. When he had encamped at
Sycae, Marinus the Syrian, whom we have mentioned before, is despatched by the emperor to
attack him by sea. The two armaments, accordingly, encountered, the one having Sycae
astern, the other Constantinople. For a time the fleets remained inactive: but, after the
skirmishings and discharge of missiles had been followed by a fierce conflict in the place
called Bytharia, Vitalian withdraws from the line of battle and takes to flight, with the
loss of the greater portion of his fleet. The remainder then fly with such precipitation,
that the next day not a single enemy was found in the channel or in the neighbourhood of
the city. It is said that Vitalian then continued inactive for some time at Anchialus.
There was also another inroad of Huns, who had passed the defiles of Cappadocia.

About the same time Rhodes suffered by a violent earthquake at the dead of night: this
being the third time it had been visited by that calamity.

Chapter 44. Sedition at Constantinople

A VERY great sedition occurred at Byzantium, arising from a wish of the emperor to add to
the Trisagion the clause, "Who was crucified for our sakes:" which was regarded as
subversive of the Christian religion. Its prime mover and chief was Macedonius, aided by
his subject clergy, as Severus says in a letter to Sotericus, which he wrote before his
elevation to the episcopal throne, while residing at the imperial city, at the time when,
with several others, he had been expelled from his monastery, as I have already mentioned.
It was on account of this imputation, in addition to the causes before mentioned, that, in
my opinion, Macedonius was ejected from his see. Amid the uncontrollable excitement of the
populace which followed, persons of rank and station were brought into extreme danger, and
many principal parts of the city were set on fire. The populace, having found in the house
of Marinus the Syrian, a monk from the country, cut off his head, saying that the clause
had been added at his instigation; and having fixed it upon a pole, jeeringly exclaimed:
"See the plotter against the Trinity!"

Such was the violence of the tumult, filling every quarter with devastation, and
surpassing every means of control, that the emperor was driven to appear at the Hippodrome
in pitiable guise, without his crown, and despatched heralds to proclaim to the assembled
people, that he was most ready to resign his sovereignty; at the same time reminding them,
that it was impossible that all should be elevated to that dignity, which admitted not of
a plurality of occupants, and that one individual only could be his successor. At this the
temper of the people was suddenly changed, as by some divine impulse; and they begged
Anastasius to resume his crown; with a promise of peaceable conduct in future. Anastasius
survived this event a very short time, and departed to the other world after a reign of
twenty-seven years, three months, and three days. THE END OF THE THIRD BOOK. are taken
from the running titles, not the bottom of the page]


ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY
======================

ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY continued

BOOK IV

Chapter 1. Accession of Justin

AFTER Anastasius had, as I have said, departed for the better lot, Justin, a Thracian by
birth, assumes the purple, in the five hundred and sixty-sixth year of the Era of Antioch,
on the ninth day of the month Panemus, which the Romans call July. He was proclaimed
emperor by the imperial body-guards, of which he was also the commander, having been
appointed-prefect of the household troops. His elevation was, however, contrary to all
expectation, since there were many most distinguished and flourishing members of the
family of Anastasius, possessed also of sufficient influence to have secured for
themselves the supreme power.

Chapter 2. Designs and Death of Amantius and Theocritus

AMANTIUS was the imperial chamberlain, and a man of very great influence; but as it was
not lawful for any emasculated person to attain the sovereignty of the Romans, he was
desirous that the imperial crown should be given to Theocritus, one of his creatures. He,
therefore, sends for Justin, and gives him a large sum of money, with orders to distribute
it amongst the persons most fit for this purpose, and able to invest Theocritus with the
purple. But with the money he either bought over the people, or purchased the goodwill of
what are termed the Excubitores--for both accounts are given--and so attained the empire.
Soon afterwards he took off Amantius and Theocritus, with some others.

Chapter 3. Assassination of Vitalian

JUSTIN sends for Vitalian, who was living in Thrace and who had entertained designs of
dethroning Anastasius, to Constantinople: for he dreaded his power, his military
experience, his universal renown, and his great desire to possess the sovereignty: and
rightly conjecturing that he should not be able to overcome him otherwise than by
pretending to be a friend ; by way of concealing his guile under a plausible mask, he
appoints him commander of one of the bodies called Praesentes, and, as a more effectual
persuasive, with a view to a still greater deception, he raises him to the consulship. He,
being consul elect, was assassinated on visiting the palace, at an inner door, and thus
met with a punishment for his insolence towards the Roman sovereignty. But these events
happened subsequently.

Chapter 4. Deposition of Severus, Bishop of Antioch. Succession of Paul and Euphrasius

SEVERUS, who had been ordained president of Antioch, as stated above, ceased not daily to
anathematise the synod at Chalcedon, and chiefly by means of those epistles called
Enthronistic, and in the responses which he sent to all the patriarchs, though they were
received only at Alexandria, by John, the successor of the former John, and by Dioscorus
and Timotheus: which epistles have come down to our time. Many contentions having thus
arisen in the church, whereby the. most faithful people were split into factions, Justin,
in the first year of his reign, ordered him to be arrested, and to be punished, as some
say, by having his tongue cut out; the execution of which sentence was committed to
Irenaeus, who, at Antioch, held the government of the Eastern provinces. Severus himself
confirms the account of Irenaeus being appointed to arrest him, in a letter to some of the
Antiochenes, describing the manner of his escape; wherein he casts the strongest
invectives on Irenaeus, and states that he is under the strictest surveillance lest he
should escape from Antioch. Some say that Vitalian, who still appeared to be in the
highest favour with Justin, demanded the tongue of Severus, because he had reproached him
in his discourses. Accordingly, he flies from his see, in the month Gorpiaeus, which in
the Latin language is called September, in the five hundred and sixty-seventh year of the
Era of Antioch. Paul succeeds to the see, with orders to proclaim openly the synod at
Chalcedon. Afterwards, retiring voluntarily from Antioch, he went the way of all flesh by
a natural death. He is succeeded in his see by Euphrasius from Jerusalem.

Chapter 5. Fires and Earthquakes at Antioch. Death of Euphrasius

ABOUT the same period of Justin's reign there happened at Antioch numerous and dreadful
fires, as if harbingers of the terrible shocks which afterwards took place, and serving as
a prelude for the coming calamities. For, a short time after, in the tenth month of the
seventh year of Justin's reign, being Artemisius or May, on the twenty-ninth day of the
month, precisely at noon, on the sixth day of the week, the city was visited with the
shock of an earthquake, which very nearly destroyed the whole of it. This was followed by
a fire, to share, as it were, in the calamity: for what escaped the earthquake, the fire
in its spread reduced to ashes. The damage that the city sustained, how many persons
according to probable estimate became the victims of the fire and earthquake, what strange
occurrences surpassing the power of words took place, have been feelingly related by John
the Rhetorician, who concludes his history with the relation.

Euphrasius also perished in the ruins, to add another misfortune to the city, by leaving
no one to provide for its exigencies.

Chapter 6. Elevation of Ephraemius, Count of the East, to the Patriarchate of Antioch

BUT the saving care of God for man, which prepares the remedy before the stroke, and the
compassion which, while sharpening the sword of wrath, at the moment of the deepest
despair displays its sympathy, raised up Ephraemius, at that time governor of the Eastern
provinces, to take upon himself all the care of the city; so that it lacked not any thing
that its exigency required. On this account, the sons of the Antiochenes so admired him,
that they elected him their priest: and he thus attains the apostolic see as a reward and
prize of his singular care for the place. Thirty months after, the city suffered again
from an earthquake. At this time also, what had been hitherto called the city of Antiochus
was entitled the City of God, and received additional care at the hands of the emperor.

Chapter 7. Miracles of Zosimas and John

Now that I have recorded the above-mentioned calamities, let me also add to the present
narrative some other circumstances worthy of record, and which have been transmitted to us
from those who have made them a subject of notice. Zosimas was a native of Sinde, a
village of Phoenicia Maritima, distant from Tyre about twenty stadia, and pursued the
monastic discipline. He, by means both of abstinence and use of food, having attained to
such a union with God as not only to discern forthcoming events, but also to possess the
grace of perfect freedom from passion, was in company with a distinguished person from
Caesarea, the capital of one of the Palestines. This was Arcesilaus, a man of good family,
accomplished, and high in dignities and whatever gives lustre to life. Zosimas, at the
very moment of the overthrow of Antioch, suddenly became troubled, uttered lamentations
and deep sighs, and then shedding such a profusion of tears as to bedew the ground, called
for a censer, and having fumed the whole place where they were standing, throws himself
upon the ground, propitiating God with prayers and supplications. Upon Arcesilaus asking
the reason of all this trouble, he distinctly replied, that the sound of the overthrow of
Antioch was at that instant ringing in his ears. This led Arcesilaus and the rest of the
astonished company to note down the hour; and they afterwards found that it was as Zosimas
had said.

By his hand many other miracles were performed: but omitting the greater part of them,
since they are too numerous to detail, I shall mention a few. Contemporary with Zosimas,
and endued with equal virtues, was a man named John, who had practised the endurance of
the solitary and immaterial life in the cloister called Chuzibas, situated at the
extremity of the glen at the northern part of the highway leading from Jerusalem to
Jericho, and was now bishop of the before-named Caesarea. This John, the Chuzibite, having
heard that the wife of Arcesilaus had lost one of her eyes by a stroke of a spindle, runs
immediately to her to see the accident; and when he finds that the pupil is gone and the
eye altogether lacerated, he commands one of the physicians in attendance to bring a
sponge, and, having replaced as well as he could the lacerated parts, to apply and secure
the sponge with bandages. Arcesilaus was absent, for he happened to be with Zosimas in his
monastery at Sinde, distant from Caesarea full five hundred stadia. Accordingly,
messengers proceeded with all haste to Arcesilaus, whom they found sitting in conversation
with Zosimas. When informed of the circumstance, he uttered a piercing cry, tore his hair
and cast it towards heaven. Upon Zosimas asking him the reason, he told him what had
happened, interrupting his account with frequent wailings and tears. Whereupon Zosimas,
leaving him alone, goes to his chamber, where he used to make his addresses to God
according to the rule of such persons, and after some interval he approaches Arcesilaus
with a solemnly joyous countenance, and gently pressing his hand, said : "Depart with joy,
depart. Grace is given to the Chuzibite. Your wife is cured, and is in possession of both
her eyes ; for the accident has had no power to deprive her of them, since such was the
desire of the Chuzibite." This was brought about by the united wonder-working of both the
just men.

Again, as the same Zosimas was going to Caesarea, and leading an ass laden with certain
necessaries, a lion encountered him and carried off the ass. Zosimas follows into the
wood, reaches the place where the lion was, satiated with his meal upon the beast, and
smiling says, "Come, my friend; my journey is interrupted, since I am heavy and far
advanced in years, and not able to carry on my back the ass's load. You must therefore
carry it, though contrary to your nature, if you wish Zosimas to get out of this place and
yourself to be a wild beast again." All at once the lion, forgetting his ferocity, fawned
on him, and by his gestures plainly manifested obedience. Zosimas then put the ass's load
upon him, and led him to the gates of Caesarea, showing the power of God, and how all
things are subservient to man if we live to Him and do not pervert the grace given to us.
But that I may not render my history prolix by more circumstances of the kind, I will
return to the point whence 1 digressed.

Chapter 8. General Calamities

DURING the reign of Justin, Dyrrachium, formerly called Epidamnus, suffered from an
earthquake; as did also Corinth in Greece, and afterwards, for the fourth time, Anazarbus,
the capital of Cilicia Minor. These cities Justin restored at great expence. About the
same time Edessa, a large and flourishing city of Osroene, was inundated by the waters of
the Skirtus, which runs close by it; so that most of the buildings were swept away, and
countless multitudes that were carried down by the stream, perished. Accordingly, the
names of Edessa and Anazarbus were changed by Justin, and each of them was called, after
himself, Justinopolis.

Chapter 9. Appointment of Justinian to a Share in the Empire

WHEN Justin had reigned eight years, nine months, and three days, he associated in the
government Justinian, his nephew, who was proclaimed on the first of the month Xanthicus,
or April, in the five hundred and seventy-fifth year of the era of Antioch. After these
transactions, Justin departs his earthly sovereignty, closing his life on the first of the
month Lous, or August, having had Justin for his associate in the empire four months, and
reigned in all nine years and three days. Now that Justinian was sole sovereign of the
Roman empire, and the synod at Chalcedon was being proclaimed in the most holy churches by
the commands of Justin, as stated before; the state of the church was disturbed in some of
the provinces, but chiefly at Constantinople and Alexandria, Anthimus being bishop of the
former, and Theodosius of the latter: for both held the doctrine of the single nature of
Christ.

Chapter 10. The Council of Chalcedon Upheld by Justinian

JUSTINIAN very resolutely upheld the synod at Chalcedon and what was put forth by it; and
Theodora, his consort, those who maintained the single nature: either because such were
their real sentiments--for when the faith is a matter of dispute, fathers are divided
against their children, children against the authors of their birth, a wife against her
own husband, and again a husband against his own wife--or by mutual understanding, that he
should uphold those who maintained the two natures in Christ our God after the union; and
she those who alleged the single nature. Neither conceded to the other: but he strenuously
supported the acts at Chalcedon, and she, ranging with the opposite party, exercised the
greatest care towards those who maintained the single nature. Our people she treated with
the warmest kindness, and others too with great munificence. She also persuades Justinian
to send for Severus.

Chapter 11. Deposition of Anthimus and Theodosius from their Sees

THERE are letters extant from Severus to Justinian and Theodora, from which we may gather
that at first he put off his journey to the imperial city on leaving his see of Antioch.
Nevertheless he afterwards arrived there; and has written to the effect that when he came
thither and had conversed with Anthimus, and found him holding the same sentiments with
himself, and the same opinions with respect to the Godhead, he persuaded him to withdraw
from his see. He wrote concerning these matters to Theodosius, bishop of Alexandria, and
greatly gloried in having persuaded Anthimus, as stated before, to prefer such doctrines
to earthly glory and the possession of his see. Letters are also extant on this subject
from Anthimus to Theodosius, and from Theodosius to Severus and Anthimus; which I pass
over, leaving them to those who choose to consult them, that I may not include in the
present work too great a mass of materials. Nevertheless, both were ejected from their
sees, as opposing the imperial mandates and the decrees of Chalcedon. Zoilus succeeded to
that of Alexandria, and Epiphanius to that of the imperial city: so that from that time
forward the synod at Chalcedon was openly proclaimed in all the churches; and no one dared
to anathematise it; while those who dissented, were urged by innumerable methods to assent
to it. Accordingly, a constitution was drawn up by Justinian in which he anathematised
Severus, Anthimus, and others, and subjected those who held their doctrines, to the
highest penalties:

the effect of which was, that thenceforward no schism remained in any of the churches, but
the patriarchs of the several dioceses agreed with each other, and the bishops of the
cities followed their respective primates. Four synods were thus proclaimed throughout the
churches; first, that held at Nicaea; secondly, that at Constantinople; thirdly, the
former one at Ephesus; and fourthly, that at Chalcedon. A fifth also took place by order
of Justinian, concerning which I shall say what is suitable in its proper place, while I
weave into my present narrative the several events of the same period which are worthy of
notice.

Chapter 12. Cabades and Chosroes, Kings of Persia

THE history of Belisarius has been written by Procopius the Rhetorician. He says that
Cabades, king of the Persians, wishing to invest his youngest son Chosroes with the
sovereignty, was desirous to have him adopted by the Roman emperor, so that by that means
his succession might be secured. But when this was refused, at the suggestion of Proclus,
who advised Justinian as his quaestor, they conceived a still greater hatred against the
Romans. This same Procopius has, with diligence, elegance, and ability, set forth the
events of the war between the Romans and Persians while Belisarius was commander of the
forces of the East. The first victory on the side of the Romans which he records, was in
the neighbourhood of Daras and Nisibis, under the command of Belisarius and Hemogenes. He
subjoins an account of the occurrences in Armenia, and the mischief inflicted on the
Romans by Alamundarus, the chieftain of the Scenite barbarians, who captured Timostratus,
the brother of Rufinus, together with his troops, and afterwards liberated him for a
considerable ransom.

Chapter 13. Incursion of the Arabs. Sedition at Constantinople

HE also feelingly details the incursion of the before-named Alamundarus and Azarethus into
the Roman territory; and how Belisarius, compelled by his own troops, engaged them in
their retreat by the Euphrates, on the eve of Easter day; and how the Roman army was
destroyed through their repugnance to the measures of Belisarius; and how Rufinus and
Hermogenes made with the Persians the peace called the perpetual peace. He subjoins an
account of the insurrection of the people at Byzantium, which derived its name from the
watchword of the populace: for they entitled it "Nica", because on their assembling they
chose this term as the watchword, to know each other. On this occasion Hypatius and
Pompeius were compelled by the people to assume the sovereignty. But on the defeat of the
populace, both were beheaded by the soldiers at the command of Justinian, and the
insurrection was quelled. Procopius states that thirty thousand persons were killed in
this disturbance.

Chapter 14. Persecution by Huneric

THE same writer, when treating of the affairs of the Vandals, has recorded most important
occurrences and worthy of perpetual memory, which I now proceed to mention. Himeric, the
successor of Genseric, and a professor of the creed of Arius, entertained most cruel
intentions against the African Christians, in the endeavour to convert by force the
maintainers of the orthodox doctrines to the opinions of the Arians. Those who refused
compliance, he destroyed both by fire and various modes of death, and some he deprived of
their tongues. The latter, Procopius says that he himself saw, when they had taken refuge
at the imperial city, and that he maintained a conversation with them in the same manner
as with unmutilated persons: that their tongues were cut out from the root; nevertheless
their speech was articulate, and they conversed distinctly; a new and strange marvel, of
which also a constitution of Justinian makes mention. Two of these persons lapsed, as
Procopius himself writes. For on their desiring commerce with women, they were deprived of
their speech, since the grace of their martyrdom had abandoned them.

Chapter 15. Cabaones the Moor

HE also relates another wonderful occurrence, wrought by our Saviour God in the case of
men, aliens indeed to our religion, who, however, acted with religious reverence. He
states that Cabaones was chieftain of the Moors in the neighbourhood of Tripolis. This
Cabaones, he says--for it is worth while to use his own words during his able narration of
this matter also--this Cabaones, as soon as he learned that the Vandals were marching
against him, acted in the following manner. First, he commanded all his subjects to
refrain from injustice and all luxurious food, but particularly from commerce with women;
and having raised two fortified enclosures, he encamped himself with all the men in one,
and enclosed the women in the other, threatening death to any man who should approach the
women. Afterwards, he sent scouts to Carthage with these instructions: that when the
Vandals on their march outraged any temple reverenced by the Christians, they should note
what was being done, and when the Vandals left the place, should, immediately on their
departure, treat the sanctuary in a manner directly the reverse. It is mentioned that he
further said, that he was ignorant of the God worshipped by the Christians, but it was
likely, if he were powerful, as was affirmed, that he would chastise those who outraged
him, and defend such as rendered him service. The scouts, therefore, coming to Carthage,
continued to watch the preparations of the Vandals, and when the army set forward for
Tripolis, they followed it, disguised in a sorry dress.

The Vandals, encamping at the close of the first day, introduced their horses and other
beasts into the temples of the Christians, and abstained from no species of outrage, but
gave way to their usual license; and beating and severely scourging the priests whom they
happened to seize, bid them wait upon them. But as soon as the Vandals had left the place,
the scouts of Cabaones did all that had been enjoined them, and immediately cleansed the
sanctuaries, sedulously removing the dung and every other defilement: they lighted all the
tapers, paid reverent obeisance to the priests, and saluted them with every kindness; and
when they had bestowed money on the beggars who sat round the shrine, they followed the
army of the Vandals, who, from this point along the whole line of march, committed the
same outrages, while the scouts remedied them. When, however, they were at no great
distance, the scouts, proceeding in advance, announced to Cabaones all that had been done
by the Vandals and themselves to the temples of the Christians, and that the enemy were
now near. On hearing this, he prepared to engage. By far the greater part of the Vandals,
as our author states, were destroyed: some were captured by the enemy, and very few
returned home. Such was the misfortune that Thrasamund sustained at the hands of the
Moors. He died some time after, having ruled the Vandals for seven and twenty years.

Chapter 16. Expedition of Belisarius against the Vandals

THE same author writes that Justinian, having, in pity to the Christians in that quarter,
professed his intention of undertaking an expedition for their relief, was being diverted
from his purpose by the suggestion of John, prefect of the palace, when a dream appeared
to him, bidding him not to shrink from the execution of his design; for, by assisting the
Christian she would overthrow the power of the Vandals. Being determined by this
circumstance, in the seventh year of his reign, he despatches Belisarius, about the summer
solstice, to attack Carthage; on which occasion, when the general's ship touched at the
shore of the palace, Epiphanius, bishop of the city, offered up appropriate prayers,
having previously baptized some of the soldiers and embarked them on board the vessel. He
also narrates some circumstances, worthy of record, relating to the martyr Cyprian, in the
following words: "All the Carthaginians especially reverence Cyprian, a holy man, and
having erected on the shore, in front of their city, a noble shrine, besides other
reverential observances, they celebrate an annual festival, and call it Cypriana; and the
sailors are accustomed to call the tempestuous weather which I have before mentioned by
the same name as the festival, since it is wont to happen at the time of the year at which
the Africans have fixed its perpetual celebration. This temple the Vandals, in the reign
of Huneric, took by force from the Christians, and ignominiously expelling the priests,
refitted it, as henceforward belonging to the Arians. They say that Cyprian, frequently
appearing in a dream to the Africans who were indignant and distressed on this account,
told them that there was no occasion for the Christians to be solicitous about him, for in
time he would avenge himself: which prediction attained its accomplishment in the time of
Belisarius, when Carthage, ninety-five years after its loss, was reduced by him under the
Roman power, by the utter overthrow of the Vandals: at which time the doctrine of the
Arians was entirely extirpated from Africa, and the Christians recovered their own
temples, according to the prediction of the martyr Cyprian."

Chapter 17. Triumph of Belisarius

THE same author writes as follows. "When Belisarius had subdued the Vandals, he returned
to Byzantium, bringing the spoils and prisoners, and among them Gelimer, king of the
Vandals. A triumph was granted him, and he carried in procession through the Hippodrome
whatever would be an object of wonder. Among these were considerable treasures obtained by
Genseric from the plunder of the palace at Rome, as I have already narrated; when Eudoxia,
the wife of Valentinian, emperor of the West, having been both deprived of her husband and
subjected to an outrage on her chastity by Maximus, invited Genseric, with a promise of
surrendering the city to him: on which occasion, after burning Rome, he conveyed Eudoxia
and her daughters to the country of the Vandals. Together with the other treasures, he
then carried off all that Titus, the son of Vespasian, had brought to Rome on the capture
of Jerusalem; offerings which Solomon had dedicated to God. These Justinian, in honour of
Christ our God, sent back to Jerusalem; an act of becoming reverence to the Deity, to whom
they had in the first instance been dedicated. On this occasion, Procopius says that
Gelimer, prostrating himself on the ground in the hippodrome, before the imperial throne
on which Justinian was sitting to witness the proceedings, made application, in his own
language, of the divine oracle: "Vanity of vanities; all is vanity."

Chapter 18. Origin of the Moors. Munificence of Justinian in Africa

PROCOPIUS mentions another circumstance, unnoticed before his time, but one that can
scarcely be regarded with sufficient wonder. He states that the Moors of Lybia settled in
that country after being dislodged from Palestine, and that they are those whom the divine
oracles mention as the Girgashites and Jebusites, and the other nations subdued by Joshua
the son of Nun. He concludes the entire truth of the story from an inscription in
Phoenician characters, which he says that he himself had read, and that it was near a
fountain, where were two pillars of white stone on which were engraved these words: "We
are those who fled from the face of Joshua the robber, the son of Nun." Such was the end
of these transactions, in Africa becoming again subject to the Romans, and paying, as
before, an annual tribute. Justinian is said to have restored one hundred and fifty cities
in Africa, some of which had been altogether, and others extensively ruined; and this he
did with surpassing magnificence, in private and public works and embellishments, in
fortifications, and other vast structures by which cities are adorned and the Deity
propitiated: also in aqueducts for use and ornament, the supply of water having been in
some cases conveyed to the cities for the first time, in others restored to its former
state.

Chapter 19. Events Following the Death of Theodoric

I NOW proceed to relate what occurred in Italy; events which have also been treated very
distinctly by Procopius, the Rhetorician, down to his own times. After Theodoric, as I
have already detailed, had captured Rome and utterly destroyed its king Odoacer, and had
closed his life in possession of the Roman sovereignty, his wife Amalasuntha held the
reins of government, as guardian of their common son Athalaric; a woman rather of a
masculine temperament, and administering affairs accordingly. She was the first person who
led Justinian to entertain a desire for the Gothic war, by sending an embassy to him on
the formation of a conspiracy against herself. On the death, however, of Athalaric at a
very early age, Theodatus, a kinsman of Theodoric, was invested with the sovereignty of
the West, but abdicated when Justinian had despatched Belisarius to that quarter; being a
person addicted rather to literature, and altogether wanting in military experience; while
Vitiges, an able soldier, was in command of his forces. From the materials which the same
Procopius has collected, one may gather that Vitiges abandoned Rome on the arrival of
Belisarius in Italy; who at once marched upon the city. The Romans readily opened their
gates to him; a result mainly brought about by Silverius, their bishop, who, with this
view, had sent to him Fidelis, formerly assessor to Athalaric. They accordingly
surrendered their city to him without resistance: and thus Rome, after an interval of
sixty years, again fell into Roman hands on the ninth day of the month Apellaeus, called
by the Latins December. The same Procopius writes, that, when the Goths were besieging
Rome, Belisarius, suspecting Silverius of a design to betray the city, transports him to
Greece and appoints Vigilius in his room.

Chapter 20. Conversion of the Heruli

ABOUT the same time, as Procopius also writes, when the Heruli, who had already crossed
the river Danube in the reign of Anastasius, had experienced generous treatment at the
hands of Justinian, in large presents of money, the whole nation embraced Christianity and
adopted a more civilised mode of life.

Chapter 21. Loss and Recovery of Rome

JN the next place he records the return of Belisarius to Byzantium, and how he brought
thither Vitiges, together with the spoils of Rome; also the seizure of the sovereignty of
Rome by Totila, and how the city again fell under the dominion of a Goth ; how Belisarius,
having twice entered Italy, again recovered the city, and how, on the breaking out of the
Median war, he was recalled to Byzantium by the emperor.

Chapter 22. Conversion of the Abasgi

PROCOPIUS also records, that the Abasgi, having become more civilised, embraced the
Christian doctrine about the same time, and that Justinian sent to them one of the eunuchs
of the palace, their countryman, by name Euphratas, with an interdict, that henceforward
no one in that nation should undergo emasculation in violation of nature; for from among
them the imperial chamberlains were principally appointed, whom usage styles eunuchs. At
this time, Justinian, having erected among the Abasgi a temple in honour of the Mother of
God, appointed priests for them; by which means they were accurately instructed in the
Christian doctrine.

Chapter 23. Conversion of Tile People on the Tanais. Earthquakes

THE same author narrates, that the people on the Tanais (the natives give the name of
Tanais to the channel extending from the Palus Maeotis to the Euxine Sea) urged Justinian
to send a bishop to them; which request he granted, and gladly sent them a priest. The
same writer describes, with great ability, the irruptions of the Goths of the Maeotis into
the Roman territory in the time of Justinian, and the violent earthquakes which took place
in Greece; how Boeotia, Achaia, and the neighbourhood of the Crisssean bay suifered
shocks; how innumerable towns and cities were levelled, and chasms were formed, many of
which closed again, while others remained open.

Chapter 24. Achievements and Piety of Narses

PROCOPIUS also describes the expedition of Narses, who was sent by Justinian into Italy;
how he overthrew Totila and afterwards Teia; and how Rome was taken for the fifth time.
Those about the person of Narses affirm that he used to propitiate the Deity with prayers
and other acts of piety, paying due honour also to the Virgin and mother of God, so that
she distinctly announced to him the proper season for action; and that Narses never
engaged until he had received the signal from her. He recounts also other distinguished
exploits of Narses in the overthrow of Buselinus and Syndualdus, and the acquisition of
nearly the whole country as far as the ocean. These transactions have been recounted by
Agathias the Rhetorician, but his history has not reached our hands.

Chapter 25. Invasion of the Persians. Capture of Antioch

THE same Procopius has also written the following account. When Chosroes had learned what
had occurred in Africa and Italy favourable to the Roman dominion, he was moved to
excessive jealousy, and advanced certain charges against the Roman government, that terms
had been violated and the existing peace broken. In the first place, Justinian sent
ambassadors to Chosroes to induce him not to break the peace which was intended to be
perpetual, nor to trespass on the existing conditions; proposing that the points in
dispute should be discussed and settled in an amicable manner. But Chosroes, maddened by
the ferment of jealousy, would not listen to any proposals, and invaded the Roman
territory with a large army, in the thirteenth year of the reign of Justinian. The
historian also writes, that Chosroes captured and destroyed Sura, a city on the banks of
the Euphrates, after having professed to make terms, but dealing with it in defiance of
all justice, by paying no regard to the conditions, and becoming master of it rather by
stratagem than by open war. He also narrates the burning of Beraea, and then the advance
upon Antioch; at which time Ephraemius was bishop of the city, but had abandoned it on the
failure of all his plans. This person is said to have rescued the Church and its
precincts, by arraying it with the sacred offerings, in order that they might serve as a
ransom for it. The historian also feelingly describes the capture of Antioch by Chosroes,
and its promiscuous devastation by fire and sword:

his visit to the neighbouring city of Seleucia, and to the suburb Daphne, and his advance
towards Apamea, during the episcopate of Thomas, a man most powerful in word and deed. He
had the prudence to yield to Chosroes in becoming a spectator of the horse-races in the
hippodrome, though an act of irregularity ; employing every means to court and pacify the
conqueror. Chosroes also asked him whether he was desirous to see him in his own city: and
it is said that he frankly replied that it was no pleasure to see him in his
neighbourhood: at which answer Chosroes was struck with wonder, justly admiring the
truthfulness of the man.

Chapter 26. Display of the Wood of the Cross at Apamea

Now that I have arrived at this point of my narrative, I will relate a prodigy, which
occurred at Apamea, and is worthy of a place in the present history. When the sons of the
Apameans were informed that Antioch had been burnt, they besought the before-mentioned
Thomas to bring forth and display the saving and life-giving wood of the cross, in
deviation from established rule ; that they might behold and kiss for the last time the
sole salvation of man, and obtain a provision for the passage to another life, in having
the precious cross as their means of transport to the better lot. In performance of which
request, Thomas brings forth the life-giving wood, announcing stated days for its display,
that all the neighbouring people might have an opportunity to assemble and enjoy the
salvation thence proceeding. Accordingly, my parents visited it together with the rest,
accompanied by myself, at that time a school-boy. When, therefore, we requested permission
to adore and kiss the precious cross, Thomas, lifting up both his hands, displayed the
wood which blotted out the ancient curse, making an entire circuit of the sanctuary, as
was customary on the ordinary days of adoration. As Thomas moved from place to place,
there followed him a large body of fire, blazing but not consuming; so that the whole spot
where he stood to display the precious cross seemed to be in flames: and this took place
not once or twice but often, as the priest was making the circuit of the place, and the
assembled people were entreating him that it might be done. This circumstance foreshewed
the preservation which was granted to the Apameans. Accordingly, a representation of it
was suspended on the roof of the sanctuary, explaining it by its delineation to those who
were uninformed: which was preserved until the irruption of Adaarmanes and the Persians,
when it was burnt together with the holy church in the conflagration of the entire city.
Such were these events. But Chosroes, in his retreat, acted in direct violation of
conditions--for even on this occasion terms had been made--in a manner suited to his
restless and inconstant disposition, but utterly unbecoming a rational man, much more a
king professing a regard for treaties.

Chapter 27. Siege of Edessa by Chosroes

THE same Procopius narrates what the ancients had recorded concerning Edessa and Abgarus,
and how Christ wrote a letter to him. He then relates how Chosroes made a fresh movement
to lay siege to the city, thinking to falsify the assertion prevalent among the faithful,
that Edessa would never fall into the power of an enemy: which assertion, however, is not
contained in what was written to Abgarus by Christ our God; as the studious may gather
from the history of Eusebius Pamphili, who cites the epistle verbatim. Such, however, is
the averment and belief of the faithful; which was then realised, faith bringing about the
accomplishment of the prediction. For after Chosroes had made many assaults on the city,
had raised a mound of sufficient size to overtop the walls of the town, and had devised
innumerable expedients beside, he raised the siege and retreated. I will, however, detail
the particulars. Chosroes ordered his troops to collect a great quantity of wood for the
siege from whatever timber fell in their way; and when this had been done before the order
could well be issued, arranging it in a circular form, he threw a mound inside with its
face advancing against the city. In this way elevating it gradually with the timber and
earth, and pushing it forward towards the town, he raised it to a height sufficient to
overtop the wall, so that the besiegers could hurl their missiles from vantage ground
against the defenders.

When the besiegers saw the mound approaching the walls like a moving mountain, and the
enemy in expectation of stepping into the town at day-break, they devised to run a mine
under the mound--which the Latins term "aggestus"--and by that means apply fire, so that
the combustion of the timber might cause the downfall of the mound. The mine was
completed; but they failed in attempting to fire the wood, because the fire, having no
exit whence it could obtain a supply of air, was unable to take hold of it. In this state
of utter perplexity, they bring the divinely wrought image, which the hands of men did not
form, but Christ our God sent to Abgarus on his desiring to see Him. Accordingly, having
introduced this holy image into the mine, and washed it over with water, they sprinkled
some upon the timber; and the divine power forthwith being present to the faith of those
who had so done, the result was accomplished which had previously been impossible: for the
timber immediately caught the flame, and being in an instant reduced to cinders,
communicated with that above, and the fire spread in all directions. When the besieged saw
the smoke rising, they adopted the following contrivance. Having filled small jars with
sulphur, tow, and other combustibles, they threw them upon the aggestus ; and these,
sending forth srnoke as the fire was increased by the force of their flight, prevented
that which was rising from the mound from being observed ;

so that all who were not in the secret, supposed that the smoke proceeded solely from the
jars. On the third day the flames were seen issuing from the earth, and then the Persians
on the mound became aware of their unfortunate situation. But Chosroes, as if in
opposition to the power of heaven, endeavoured to extinguish the pile, by turning all the
water-courses which were outside the city upon it. The fire, however, receiving the water
as if it had been oil or sulphur, or some other combustible, continually increased, until
it had completely levelled the entire mound and reduced the aggestus to ashes. Then
Chosroes, in utter despair, impressed by the circumstances with a sense of his disgraceful
folly in having entertained an idea of prevailing over the God whom we worship, retreated
ingloriously into his own territories.

Chapter 28. Miracle at Sergiopolis

WHAT occurred at Sergiopolis through the proceedings of Chosroes shall also be described,
as being a notable event and worthy of perpetual remembrance. Chosroes advanced against
this city too, eager for its capture; and on his proceeding to assault the walls,
negociations took place with a view to spare the city: and it was agreed that the sacred
treasures should be a ransom for the place, among which was also a cross presented by
Justinian and Theodora. When they had been duly conveyed, Chosroes asked the priest and
the Persians who had been sent with him, whether there was not any thing besides. Upon
this one of them, being persons unaccustomed to speak the truth, told Chosroes that there
were some other treasures concealed by the townsmen, who were but few. In fact, there had
been left behind not any treasure of gold or silver, but one of more valuable material,
and irrevocably devoted to God, namely, the holy relics of the victorious martyr Sergius,
lying in a coffin of the oblong sort, plated over with silver. Chosroes, influenced by
these persons, advanced his whole army against the city; when suddenly there appeared
along the circuit of the walls, in defence of the place, innumerable shields; on seeing
which the persons sent by Chosroes returned, describing, with wonder, the number and
fashion of the arms. And when, on further enquiry, he learned that very few persons
remained in the city, and these consisted of aged people and children, from the absence of
the flower of the population, he perceived that the prodigy proceeded from the martyr,
and, influenced by fear and wonder at the faith of the Christians, he withdrew into his
own country. They also say that in his latter days he partook in the holy regeneration.

Chapter 29. Pestilence

I WILL also describe the circumstances of the pestilence which commenced at that period,
and has now prevailed and extended over the whole world for fifty-two years; a
circumstance such as has never before been recorded. Two years after the capture of
Antioch by the Persians, a pestilence broke out, in some respects similar to that
described by Thucydides, in others widely different. It took its rise from Aethiopia, as
is now reported, and made a circuit of the whole world in succession, leaving, as I
suppose, no part of the human race unvisited by the disease. Some cities were so severely
afflicted as to be altogether depopulated, though in other places the visitation was less
violent. It neither commenced according to any fixed period, nor was the time of its
cessation uniform; but it seized upon some places at the commencement of winter, others in
the course of the spring, others during the summer, and in some cases, when the autumn was
advanced. In some instances, having infected a part of a city, it left the remainder
untouched; and frequently in an uninfected city one might remark a few households
excessively wasted; and in several places, while one or two households utterly perished,
the rest of the city remained unvisited: but, as we have learned from careful observation,
the uninfected households alone suffered the succeeding year. But the most singular
circumstance of all was this;

that if it happened that any inhabitants of an infected city were living in a place which
the calamity had not visited, these alone were seized with the disorder. This visitation
also befell cities and other places in many instances according to the periods called
Indictions; and the disease occurred, with the almost utter destruction of human beings,
in the second year of each indiction. Thus it happened in my own case--for I deem it
fitting, in due adaptation of circumstances, to insert also in this history matters
relating to myself--that at the commencement of this calamity I was seized with what are
termed buboes, while still a school-boy, and lost by its recurrence at different times
several of my children, my wife, and many of my kin, as well as of my domestic and country
servants; the several indictions making, as it were, a distribution of my misfortunes.
Thus, not quite two years before my writing this, being now in the fifty-eighth year of my
age, on its fourth visit to Antioch, at the expiration of the fourth indiction from its
commencement, I lost a daughter and her son, besides those who had died previously. The
plague was a complication of diseases: for, in some cases, commencing in the head, and
rendering the eyes bloody and the face swollen, it descended into the throat, and then
destroyed the patient. In others, there was a flux of the bowels: in others buboes were
formed, followed by violent fever;

and the sufferers died at the end of two or three days, equally in possession, with the
healthy, of their mental and bodily powers. Others died in a state of delirium, and some
by the breaking out of carbuncles. Cases occurred where persons, who had been attacked
once and twice and had recovered, died by a subsequent seizure. The ways in which the
disease; was communicated, were various and unaccountable: for some perished by merely
living with the infected, others by only touching them, others by having entered their
chamber, others by frequenting public places. Some, having fled from the infected cities,
escaped themselves, but imparted the disease to the healthy. Some were altogether free
from contagion, though they had associated with many who were afflicted, and had touched
many not only in their sickness but also when dead. Some, too, who were desirous of death,
on account of the utter loss of their children and friends, and with this view placed
themselves as much as possible in contact with the diseased, were nevertheless not
infected; as if the pestilence struggled against their purpose. This calamity has
prevailed, as I have already said, to the present time, for two and fifty years, exceeding
all that have preceded it. For Philostratus expresses wonder that the pestilence which
happened in his time, lasted for fifteen years. The sequel is uncertain, since its course
will be guided by the good pleasure of God, who knows both the causes of things, and their
tendencies. I shall now return to the point from which I digressed, and relate the
remainder of Justinian's history.

Chapter 30. Avarice of Justinian

JUSTINIAN was insatiable in the acquisition of wealth, and so excessively covetous of the
property of others, that he sold for money the whole body of his subjects to those who
were entrusted with offices or who were collectors of tributes, and to whatever persons
were disposed to entrap others by groundless charges. He stripped of their entire property
innumerable wealthy persons, under colour of the emptiest pretexts. If even a prostitute,
marking out an individual as a victim, raised a charge of criminal intercourse against
him, all law was at once rendered vain, and by making Justinian her associate in dishonest
gain, she transferred to herself the whole wealth of the accused person. At the same time
he was liberal in expenditure; so far as to raise in every quarter many sacred and
magnificent temples, and other religious edifices devoted to the care of infants and aged
persons of either sex, and of such as were afflicted with various diseases. He also
appropriated considerable revenues for carrying out these objects; and performed many such
actions as are pious and acceptable to God, provided that those who perform them do so
from their own means, and the offering of their deeds be pure.

Chapter 31. Description of the Church of St. Sophia at Constantinople

HE also raised at Constantinople many sacred buildings of elaborate beauty, in honour of
God and the saints, and erected a vast and incomparable work, such as has never been
before recorded, namely the largest edifice of the Church, a noble and surpassing
structure, beyond the power of words to describe. Nevertheless I will endeavour to the
best of my ability to detail the plan of the sacred precinct. The nave of the sanctuary is
a dome, supported by four arches, and raised to so great a height that the sight of
persons surveying it from below can scarcely reach the vertex of the hemisphere, and no
one from above, however daring, ventures to bend over and look down to the floor. The
arches are raised clear from the pavement to the roof : but within those on the right and
left are ranged columns of Thessalian stone, which, together with other corresponding
pillars, support galleries, so as to allow those who wish, to look down upon the
performance of the rites below. From these the empress also, when attending at the
festivals, witnesses the ceremony of the sacred mysteries. But the eastern and western
arches are left vacant, without any thing to interrupt the imposing aspect of so vast
dimensions. There are also colonnades under the before-mentioned galleries, forming, with
pillars and small arches, a termination to so vast a structure.

But in order to convey a more distinct idea of this wonderful fabric, I have thought
proper to set down in feet, its length, breadth, and height, as well as the span and
height of the arches, as follows:--The length from the door facing the sacred apse where
are performed the rites of the bloodless sacrifice, to the apse, is one hundred and ninety
feet: the breadth from north to south is one hundred and fifteen feet: the depth from the
centre of the hemisphere to the floor is one hundred and eighty feet: the span of each of
the arches is * * * feet: the length, however, from east to west is two hundred and sixty
feet; and the range of the lights seventy-five feet. There are also to the west two other
noble colonnades, and on all sides unroofed courts of elaborate beauty. Justinian also
erected the church of the holy Apostles, which may dispute the first place with any other.
In this the emperors and the bishops are usually interred. I have thought fit thus to take
some notice of these and similar matters.

Chapter 32. Partiality of Justinian for the Blue Faction

JUSTINIAN was possessed by another propensity, of unequalled ferocity; whether
attributable to an innate defect of his disposition, or to cowardice and apprehensions, I
am not able to say. It took its rise from the existence of the faction among the populace
distinguished by the name "Nica." He appeared to favour one party, namely the Blues, to
such an excess, that they slaughtered their opponents at mid-day and in the middle of the
city, and, so far from dreading punishment, were even rewarded; so that many persons
became murderers from this cause. They were allowed to assault houses, to plunder the
valuables they contained, and to compel persons to purchase their own lives; and if any of
the authorities endeavoured to check them, he was in danger of his very life: and it
actually happened that a person holding the government of the East, having chastised some
of the rioters with lashes, was himself scourged in the very centre of the city, and
carried about in triumph. Callinicus also, the governor of Cilicia, having subjected to
legal punishment two Cilician murderers, Paul and Faustinus, who had assaulted and
endeavoured to despatch him, suffered impalement, as the penalty for right feeling and
maintenance of the laws. The members of the other faction having, in consequence, fled
from their homes, and meeting with a welcome nowhere, but being universally scouted as a
pollution, betook themselves to waylaying travellers, and committed thefts and murders to
such an extent, that every place was filled with untimely deaths, robberies, and every
other crime. Sometimes also, siding with the other faction, Justinian put to death in turn
their opponents, by surrendering to the vengeance of the laws those whom he had allowed to
commit in the cities equal outrages with barbarians. Neither words nor time would suffice
for a minute detail of these transactions. Thus much will, however, serve for a conception
of the remainder.

Chapter 33. Barsanuphius the Ascetic

THERE lived at that season men divinely inspired and workers of distinguished miracles in
various parts of the world, but whose glory has shone forth every where. First,
Barsanuphius, an Egyptian. He maintained in the flesh the exercise of the fleshless life,
in a certain seat of contemplation near the town of Gaza, and succeeded in working wonders
too numerous to be recorded. He is also believed to be still alive, enclosed in a chamber,
although for fifty years and more from this time he has not been seen by any one, nor has
he partaken of any earthly thing. When Eustochius, the president of the church of
Jerusalem, in disbelief of this account, had determined to dig into the chamber where the
man of God was enclosed, fire burst forth and nearly consumed all those who were on the
spot.

Chapter 34. Simeon the Monk

THERE lived also at Emesa, Simeon, a man who had so completely unclothed himself of vain-
glory as to appear insane to those who did not know him, although filled with all wisdom
and divine grace. This Simeon lived principally in solitude, affording to none the means
of knowing how and when he propitiated the Deity, nor his time of abstinence or eating.
Frequently, too, on the public roads, he seemed to be deprived of self-possession, and to
become utterly void of sense and intelligence, and entering at times into a tavern, he
would eat, when he happened to be hungry, whatever food was within his reach. But if any
one saluted him with an inclination of the head, he would leave the place angrily and
hastily, through reluctance that his peculiar virtues should be detected by many persons.
Such was the conduct of Simeon in public. But there were some of his acquaintances, with
whom he associated without any assumed appearances. One of his friends had a female
domestic, who, having been debauched and become pregnant by some person, when she was
urged by her owners to name the individual, said that Simeon had secretly cohabited with
her and that she was pregnant by him ; that she was ready to swear to the truth of this
statement, and, if necessary, to convict him. On hearing this, Simeon assented, saying
that he bore the flesh with its frailties; and when the story was universally spread, and
Simeon, as it seemed, was deeply disgraced, he withdrew into retirement, as if from
feelings of shame. When the woman's time had arrived, and she had been placed in the usual
position, her throes, causing great and intolerable sufferings, brought her into imminent
peril, but the birth made no progress. When, accordingly, they besought Simeon, who had
come thither designedly, to pray for her, he openly declared that the woman would not be
delivered before she had said who was the father of the child: and when she had done this,
and named the real father, the delivery was instantaneous, as though by the midwifery of
truth.

He once was seen to enter the chamber of a courtezan, and having closed the door, he
remained alone with her a considerable time; and when, again opening it, he went away
looking round on all sides lest any one should see him, suspicion rose to so high a pitch,
that those who witnessed it, brought out the woman, and inquired what was the nature of
Simeon's visit to her and continuance with her for so long a time. She swore that, from
want of necessaries, she had tasted nothing but water for three days past, and that Simeon
had brought her victuals and a vessel of wine; that, having closed the door, he set a
table before her and bid her make a meal, and satisfy her hunger, after her sufferings
from want of food. She then produced the remains of what had been set before her. Also at
the approach of the earthquake which visited Phoenicia Maritima, and by which Berytus,
Byblus, and Tripolis especially suffered, raising a whip in his hand, he struck the
greater part of the columns in the forum, exclaiming, "Stand still, if there shall be
occasion to dance." Inasmuch as none of his actions were unmeaning, those who were present
carefully marked which were the columns he passed by without striking them. These were
soon afterwards thrown down by the effects of the earthquake. Many other things he also
did which require a separate treatise.

Chapter 35. Thomas the Monk

AT that time lived also Thomas, who pursued the same mode of life in Coele-Syria. On
occasion of his visiting Antioch, for the purpose of receiving the yearly stipend for the
support of his monastery, which had been assigned from the revenues of the church in that
place, Anastasius, the steward of the church, struck him on the head with his hand,
because he frequently troubled him. When the bystanders manifested indignation, he said
that neither himself should again receive nor Anastasius pay the money. Both which things
came to pass, by the death of Anastasius after an interval of one day, and by the
departure of Thomas to the unfading life, on his way back, in the sick hospital at the
suburb of Daphne. They deposited his body in the tomb appropriated to strangers: but,
after the subsequent interment of two others, his body was found above them, an
extraordinary wonder, proceeding from God, who bore testimony to him even after his death;
for the other bodies were thrown to a considerable distance. They report the circumstance
to Ephraemius, in admiration of the saint. In consequence, his holy body is transported to
Antioch, with a public festival and procession, and is honoured with a place in the
cemetery, having, by its translation, stopped the plague which was then visiting the
place. The yearly festival in honour of whom the sons of the Antiochenes continue to
celebrate to our time with great magnificence. Let me now, however, return to my subject.

Chapter 36. Account of a Miracle in the Patriarchate of Menas

WHEN Anthimus, as has been already mentioned, was removed from the see. of the imperial
city, Epiphanius succeeds to the bishopric; and after Epiphanius, Menas, in whose time
also occurred a remarkable prodigy. It is an old custom in the imperial city, that, when
there remains over a considerable quantity of the holy fragments of the immaculate body of
Christ our God, boys of tender age should be fetched from among those who attend the
schools, to eat them. On one occasion of this kind, there was included among them the son
of a glass-worker, a Jew by faith; who, in reply to the inquiries of his parents
respecting the cause of his delay, told them what had taken place, and what he had eaten
in company with the other boys. The father, in his indignation and fury, places the boy in
the furnace where he used to mould the glass. The mother, unable to find her child,
wandered over the city with lamentations and wailings; and on the third day, standing by
the door of her husband's workshop, was calling upon the boy by name, tearing herself in
her sorrow. He, recognising his mother's voice, answered her from within the furnace, and
she, bursting open the doors, saw, on her entrance, the boy standing in the midst of the
coals, and untouched by the fire. On being asked how he had continued unhurt, he said that
a woman in a purple robe had frequently visited him that; she had offered him water, and
with it had quenched that part of the coals which was nearest to him; and that she had
supplied him with food as often as he was hungry.

Justinian, on the report of this occurrence, placed the boy and his mother in the orders
of the church, after they had been enlightened by the laver of regeneration. But the
father, on his refusal to be numbered among the Christians, he ordered to be impaled in
the suburb of Sycae, as being the murderer of his child. Such was the course of these
occurrences.

Chapter 37. Succession of Bishops

AFTER Menas, Eutychius is elevated to the see. At Jerusalem, Sallustius succeeds
Martyrius, who is himself succeeded by Helias. The next in succession was Peter; and after
him came Macarius, without the emperor's confirmation. He was ejected from his see, on the
charge of maintaining the opinions of Origen, and was succeeded by Eustochius. After the
removal of Theodosius, as has been already mentioned, Zoilus is appointed bishop of
Alexandria, and when he had been gathered to his predecessors, Apollinaris obtains the
chair. After Ephraemius, Domninus is entrusted with the see of Antioch.

Chapter 38. The Fifth General Council

DURING the time that Vigilius was bishop of the Elder Rome, and first Menas, then
Eutychius of New Rome, Apollinaris of Alexandria, Domninus of Antioch, and Eustochius of
Jerusalem, Justinian summons the fifth synod, for the following reason:--On account of the
increasing influence of those who held the opinions of Origen, especially in what is
called the New Laura, Eustochius used every effort for their removal, and, visiting the
place itself, he ejected the whole party, driving them to a distance, as general pests.
These persons, in their dispersion, associated with themselves many others. They found a
champion in Theodore, surnamed Ascidas, bishop of Caesarea, the metropolis of Cappadocia,
who was constantly about the person of Justinian, as being trusty and highly serviceable
to him. Whereas he was creating much confusion in the imperial court, and declared the
proceeding of Eustochius to be utterly impious and lawless, the latter despatches to
Constantinople Rufus, superior of the monastery of Theodosius, and Conon, of that of Saba,
persons of the first distinction among the solitaries, both on account of their personal
worth and the religious houses of which they were the heads; and with them were associated
others scarcely their inferiors in dignity. These, in the first instance, mooted the
questions relating to Origen, Evagrius, and Didymus. But Theodore of Cappadocia, with a
view to divert them from this point, introduces the subject of Theodore of Mopsuestia,
Theodoret, and Ibas; the good God providentially disposing the whole proceeding, in order
that the profanities of both parties should be ejected.

On the first question being started, namely, whether it were proper to anathematise the
dead, Eutychius, a man of consummate skill in the divine Scriptures, being as yet an
undistinguished person--for Menas was still living, and he was himself at that time
apocrisiarius to the bishop of Amasea--casting a look on the assembly, not merely of
commanding intelligence but of contempt, plainly declared that the question needed no
debate, since King Josiah in former time not only slew the living priests of the demons,
but also broke up the sepulchres of those who had long been dead. This was considered by
all to have been spoken to the purpose. Justinian also, having been made acquainted with
the circumstance, elevated him to the see of the imperial city on the death of Menas,
which happened immediately after. Vigilius gave his assent in writing to the assembling of
the synod but declined attendance.

Justinian addressed an inquiry to the synod on its assembling, as to what was their
opinion concerning Theodore, and the expressions of Theodoret against Cyril and his twelve
chapters, as well as the epistle of Ibas, as it is termed, addressed to Maris, the
Persian. After the reading of many passages of Theodore and Theodoret, and proof given
that Theodore had been long ago condemned and erased from the sacred diptychs, as also
that it was fitting that heretics should be condemned after their death, they unanimously
anathematise Theodore, and what had been advanced by Theodoret against the twelve chapters
of Cyril and the right faith; as also the epistle of Ibas to Maris, the Persian ; in the
following words:-- "Our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ, according to the parable in
the gospels," and so forth. "In addition to all other heretics, who have been condemned
and anathematised by the before-mentioned four holy synods and by the holy catholic and
apostolic church, we condemn and anathematise Theodore, styled bishop of Mopsuestia, and
his impious writings; also whatever has been impiously written by Theodoret against the
right faith, against the twelve chapters of the sainted Cyril, and against the first holy
synod at Ephesus, and all that he has written in defence of Theodore and Nestorius. We
further anathematise the impious epistle said to have been written by Ibas to Maris the
Persian."

After some other matter, they proceed to set forth fourteen chapters concerning the right
and unimpeachable faith. In this manner had the transactions proceeded : but on the
presentation of libels against the doctrine of Origen, named also Adamantius, and the
followers of his impious error, by the monks Eulogius, Conon, Cyriacus, and Pancratius,
Justinian addresses a question to the synod concerning these points, appending to it a
copy of the libel, as well as the epistle of Vigilius upon the subject: from the whole of
which may be gathered the attempts of Origen to fill the simplicity of the apostolic
doctrine with philosophic and Manichaean tares. Accordingly, a relation was addressed to
Justinian by the synod, after they had uttered exclamations against Origen and the
maintainers of similar errors. A portion of it is expressed in the following terms: "O
most Christian emperor, gifted with heavenly generosity of soul," and so forth. "We have
shunned, accordingly, we have shunned this error; for we knew not the voice of the alien;
and having bound such a one, as a thief and a robber, in the cords of our anathema, we
have ejected him from the sacred precincts. And presently they proceed: "By perusal you
will learn the vigour of our acts. To this they appended a statement of the heads of the
matters which the followers of Origen were taught to maintain, shewing their agreements,
as well as their disagreements, and their manifold errors.

The fifth head contains the blasphemous expressions uttered by private individuals
belonging to what is called the New Laura, as follows. Theodore, surnamed Ascidas, the
Cappadocian, said "If the Apostles and Martyrs at the present time work miracles, and are
already so highly honoured, unless they shall be equal with Christ in the restitution of
things, in what respect is there a restitution for them ? They also reported many other
blasphemies of Didymus, Evagrius, and Theodore; having with great diligence extracted
whatever bore upon these points. At an interval of some time after the meeting of the
synod, Eutychius is ejected, and there is appointed in his place to the see of
Constantinople John a native of Seremis, which is a village of the district of Cynegica,
belonging to Antioch.

Chapter 39. Departure of Justinian from Orthodoxy

AT that time Justinian, abandoning the right road of doctrine, and following a path
untrodden by the apostles and fathers, became entangled among thorns and briers; with
which wishing to fill the Church also, he failed in his purpose, and thereby fulfilled the
prediction of prophecy ; the Lord having secured the royal road with an unfailing fence,
that murderers might not leap, as it were, upon a tottering wall or a broken hedge. Thus,
at the time when John, named also Catelinus, was bishop of the elder Rome, after Vigilius;
John from Seremis, of New Rome; Apollinaris, of Alexandria; Anastasius, of Theopolis,
after Domninus; and Macarius, of Jerusalem, had been restored to his see; Justinian, after
he had anathematized Origen, Didymus, and Evagrius, issued what the Latins call an Edict,
after the deposition of Eustochius, in which he termed the body of the Lord incorruptible
and incapable of the natural and blameless passions; affirming that the Lord ate before
his passion in the same manner as after his resurrection, his holy body having undergone
no conversion or change from the time of its actual formation in the womb, not even in
respect of the voluntary and natural passions, nor yet after the resurrection. To this, he
proceeded to compel the bishops in all quarters to give their assent. However, they all
professed to look to Anastasius, the bishop of Antioch, and thus avoided the first attack.

Chapter 40. Anastasius, Patriarch of Antioch

ANASTASIUS was a man most accomplished in divine learning, and so strict in his manners
and mode of life, as to insist upon very minute matters, and on no occasion to deviate
from a staid and settled frame, much less in things of moment and having relation to the
Deity himself. So well tempered was his character, that neither, by being accessible and
affable, was he exposed to the intrusion of things unsuitable; nor by being austere and
unindulgent, did he become difficult of approach for proper purposes. Accordingly, in
serious concerns he was ready in ear and fluent in tongue, promptly resolving the
questions proposed to him; but in trifling matters, his ears were altogether closed, and a
bridle restrained his tongue, so that speech was enthralled by thought, and silence
resulted, more valuable than speech. Justinian assaults him, like some impregnable tower,
with every kind of device, considering that if he could only succeed in shaking this
bulwark, all difficulty would be removed in capturing the city, enslaving the right
doctrine, and taking captive the sheep of Christ. In such a manner was Anastasius raised
above the assailing force by heavenly greatness of mind, for he stood upon the immoveable
rock of faith, that he unreservedly contradicted Justinian by a formal declaration, in
which he showed very clearly and forcibly that the body of the Lord was corruptible in
respect of the natural and blameless passions, and that the divine apostles and the
inspired fathers both held and delivered this opinion.

In the same terms he replied to a question of the monastic body of Syria Prima and
Secunda, confirming the minds of all, preparing them for the struggle, and daily reading
in the Church those words of the "chosen vessel: "If any one is preaching to you a gospel
different from that which ye have received, even though it be an angel from heaven, let
him be accursed. To this all, with few exceptions, paid a steady regard and zealous
adherence. He also addressed to the Antiochenes a valedictory discourse, on hearing that
Justinian intended to banish him; a discourse deserving admiration for its elegance, its
flow of thought, the abundance of sacred texts, and the appropriateness of its historical
matters.

Chapter 41. Death of Justinian

BUT this discourse was not published, "God having provided some better thing for us:" for
Justinian, while dictating the banishment of Anastasius and his associate priests,
departed this life by an invisible stroke, having reigned in all eight and thirty years
and eight months. THE END OF THE FOURTH BOOK. are taken from the running titles, not the
bottom of the page]


ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY
======================

ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY continued

BOOK V

Chapter 1. Accession of Justin the Second

IN this manner did Justinian depart to the lowest region of retribution, after having
filled every place with confusion and tumults, and having received at the close of his
life the reward of his actions. His nephew Justin succeeds to the purple; having
previously held the office of guardian of the palace, styled in the Latin language
Curopalata. No one, except those who were immediately about his person, was aware of the
demise of Justinian or the declaration of Justin, until the latter made his appearance in
the hippodrome, by way of formally assuming the stated functions of royalty. Confining
himself to this simple proceeding, he then returned to the palace. His first edict was one
dismissing the bishops to their respective sees, wherever they might be assembled, with a
provision that they should maintain what was already established in religion, and abstain
from novelties in matters of faith. This proceeding was to his honour. In his mode of
life, however, he was dissolute, utterly abandoned to luxury and inordinate pleasures: and
to such a degree was he inflamed with desire for the property of others, as to convert
every thing into a means of unlawful gain; standing in no awe of the Deity even in the
case of bishoprics, but making them a matter of public sale to any purchasers that
offered. Possessed, as he was, alike by the vices of audacity and cowardice, he in the
first place sends for his kinsman Justin, a man universally famous for military skill and
his other distinctions, who was at that time stationed upon the Danube, and engaged in
preventing the Avars from crossing that river.

These were one of those Scythian tribes who live in wagons, and inhabit the plains beyond
the Caucasus. Having been worsted by their neighbours, the Turks, they had migrated in a
mass to the Bosphorus; and, having subsequently left the shores of the Euxine---- where
were many barbarian tribes, and where also cities, castles, and some harbours had been
located by the Romans, being either settlements of veterans, or colonies sent out by the
emperors----they were pursuing their march, in continual conflict with the barbarians whom
they encountered, until they reached the bank of the Danube; and thence they sent an
embassy to Justinian. From this quarter Justin was summoned, as having a claim to the
fulfilment of the terms of the agreement between himself and the emperor. For, since both
of them had been possessed of equal dignity, and the succession to the empire was in
suspense between both, they had agreed, after much dispute, that whichever of the two
should become possessed of the sovereignty, should confer the second place on the other;
so that while ranking beneath the emperor, he should still take precedence of all others.

Chapter 2. Murder of Justin, Kinsman of the Emperor

THE emperor accordingly received him, in the first instance, with an abundant display of
kindness. Afterwards, he proceeded to fix certain charges upon him, and to withdraw the
various guards of his person, forbidding him at the same time access to his presence; for
he himself lived in the retirement of his palace: and ultimately he ordered his removal to
Alexandria. There he is miserably murdered in the dead of night, when he had just retired
to rest; such being the reward of his fidelity to the commonwealth and his achievements in
war. Nor did the emperor and his consort Sophia abate their rage, nor had they
sufficiently indulged their boiling spite, before they had gazed upon his head and spurned
it with their feet.

Chapter 3. Execution of Aetherius and Addaeus

NOT long after, the emperor brought to trial for treason Aetherius and Addaeus, members of
the senate, who had occupied the very highest position at the court of Justinian.
Aetherius confessed to a design of poisoning the emperor, saying that he had in Addaeus an
accomplice in the plot and an abettor throughout. The latter, however, asseverated, with
fearful imprecations, that he was utterly ignorant of the transaction. Both were
accordingly beheaded, Addaeus affirming, at the instant of execution, that he had been
falsely accused on this point, but admitting that he received his due at the hands of all-
seeing Justice, for that he had taken off Theodotus, prefect of the palace, by sorcery.
How far these statements are true, I am not able to say; but both were men of bad
character; Addaeus being addicted to unnatural lust, and Aetherius pursuing to the utmost
a system of false accusation, and plundering the property both of the living and the dead,
in the name of the imperial household, of which he had been comptroller in the time of
Justinian. Such was the termination of these matters.

Chapter 4. Edict of Justin Concerning the Faith

JUSTIN issues an edict to the Christians in every quarter, in the following terms. "In the
name of the Lord Jesus Christ, our God, the Emperor Caesar Flavian Justin, faithful in
Christ, clement, supreme, beneficent, Alemannicus, Gothicus, Germanicus, Anticus,
Francicus, Herulicus, Gepidicus, pious, fortunate, glorious, victorious, triumphant, ever-
worshipful Augustus. "'My peace I give to you,' says the Lord Christ, our very God. 'My
peace I leave to you,' he also proclaims to all mankind. Now this is nothing else than
that those who believe on him should gather into one and the same church, being unanimous
concerning the true belief of Christians, and withdrawing from such as affirm or entertain
contrary opinions: for the prime means of salvation for all men is the confession of the
right faith. Wherefore we also, following the evangelical precepts and the holy symbol or
doctrine of the holy fathers, exhort all persons to unite in one and the same church and
sentiment; and this we do, believing in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, holding the
doctrine of a consubstantial Trinity, one Godhead or nature and substance, both in terms
and reality; one power, influence, and operation in three subsistences or persons; into
which doctrine we were baptized, in which we believe, and to which we have united
ourselves. For we worship a Unity in trinity and a Trinity in unity, peculiar both in its
division and in its union, being Unity in respect of substance or Godhead, and Trinity
with regard to its proprieties or subsistences or persons; for it is divided indivisibly,
so to speak, and is united divisibly: for there is one thing in three, namely, the
Godhead; and the three things are one, namely, those in which is the Godhead, or, to speak
more accurately, which are the Godhead:

and we acknowledge the Father to be God, the Son God, and the Holy Spirit God, whenever
each person is regarded by itself----the thought in that case separating the things that
are inseparable----and the three when viewed in conjunction to be God by sameness of
motion and of nature; inasmuch as it is proper both to confess the one God, and at the
same time to proclaim the three subsistences or proprieties. We also confess the only
begotten Son of God, the God-Word, who, before the ages and without time, was begotten of
the Father, not made, and who, in the last of the days, for our sakes and for our
salvation, descended from heaven, and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and of our Lady,
the holy glorious Mother of God and ever virgin Mary, and was born of her; who is our Lord
Jesus Christ, one of the Holy Trinity, united in glorification with the Father and the
Holy Spirit: for the Holy Trinity did not admit the addition of a fourth person, even when
one of the Trinity, the God-Word, had become incarnate; but our Lord Jesus Christ is one
and the same, being consubstantial with God the Father, as respects the Godhead, and at
the same time consubstantial with ourselves as respects the manhood; passible in the
flesh, and at the same time impassible in the Godhead: for we do not admit that the divine
Word who wrought the miracles was one, and he who underwent the sufferings was another ;

but we confess our Lord Jesus Christ to be one and the same, namely, the Word of God
become incarnate and made perfectly man, and that both the miracles and the sufferings
which he voluntarily underwent for our salvation belong to one and the same; inasmuch as
it was not a human being that gave himself on our behalf; but the God-Word himself,
becoming man without undergoing change, submitted in the flesh to the voluntary passion
and death on our behalf. Accordingly, while confessing him to be God, we do not contravene
the circumstance of his being man; and while confessing him to be man, we do not deny the
fact of his being God: whence, while confessing our Lord Jesus Christ to be one and the
same, composed of both natures, namely, the Godhead and the manhood, we do not superinduce
confusion upon the union; for he will not lose the circumstance of being God on becoming
man like ourselves ; nor yet, in being by nature God, and in that respect incapable of
likeness to us, will he also decline the circumstance of being man. But as he continued
God in manhood; in like manner, though possessed of divine supremacy, he is no less man;
being both in one, God and man at the same time, one Emmanuel. Further, while confessing
him to be at the same time perfect in Godhead and perfect in manhood, of which two he was
also composed, we do not attach to his one complex subsistence a division by parts or
severance ;

but we signify that the difference of the natures is not annulled by the union: for
neither was the divine nature changed into the human, nor the human nature converted into
the divine; but, each being the more distinctly understood and existent in the limit and
relation of its own nature, we say that the union took place according to subsistence. The
union according to subsistence signifies, that the God-Word, that is to say one
subsistence of the three subsistences of the Godhead, was not united with a previously
existing human being, but in the womb of our Lady, the holy glorious Mother of God and
ever virgin Mary, formed for himself of her, in his own subsistence, flesh consubstantial
with ourselves, having the same passions in all respects except sin, and animated with a
reasonable and intelligent soul; for he retained his subsistence in himself, and became
man, and is one and the same, our Lord Jesus Christ, united in glorification with the
Father and the Holy Spirit. Further, while considering his ineffable union, we rightly
confess one nature, that of the Divine Word, to have become incarnate, by flesh animated
with a reasonable and intelligent soul; and, on the other hand, while contemplating the
difference of the natures, we affirm that they are two, without, however, introducing any
division, for either nature is in him; whence we confess one and the same Christ, one Son,
one person, one subsistence, both God and man together:

and all who have held or do hold opinions at variance with these, we anathematize, judging
them to be alien from the Holy and Apostolic Church of God. Accordingly, while the right
doctrines which have been delivered to us by the holy fathers are being thus proclaimed,
we exhort you all to gather into one and the same Catholic and Apostolic Church, or rather
we even entreat you; for though possessed of imperial supremacy, we do not decline the use
of such a term, in behalf of the unanimity and union of all Christians, in the universal
offering of one doxology to our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ, and in abstinence for
the future on the part of all from unnecessary disputes about persons and words----since
the words lead to one true belief and understanding----while the usage and form which has
hitherto prevailed in the holy Catholic and Apostolic Church of God, remains for ever
unshaken and unchanged."

To this edict all assented, saying that it was expressed in orthodox language. None,
however, of the severed portions of the Church were entirely reunited, because the edict
distinctly declared that what had hitherto been unshaken and unchanged, should continue so
in all coming time.

Chapter 5. Deposition of Anastasius, Patriarch of Antioch

JUSTIN also ejected Anastasius from the episcopate of Theopolis, on the charge of a
profuse and improper expenditure of the funds of the see, and also for scandalous language
against himself; inasmuch as Anastasius, on being asked why he was so lavishly squandering
the property of the see, frankly replied, that it was done to prevent its being carried
off by that universal pest, Justin. He is also said to have entertained a grudge against
Anastasius, because he had refused to pay a sum of money, when demanded of him in
consideration of his appointment to the bishopric. Other charges were also brought against
him by persons, who, as I suppose, wished to second the emperor's bent.

Chapter 6. Gregory, the Successor of Anastasius

NEXT in succession, Gregory is elevated to the episcopal see: "wide whose renown,"
according to the language of poetry; a person who had devoted himself from the earliest
period of life to the monastic discipline, and had wrestled therein so manfully and
stoutly, that he arrived at the highest elevation when scarcely past his boyhood, and
became superior of the monastery of the Byzantines, in which he had assumed the bare mode
of life, and subsequently, by the orders of Justin, of the monastery of Mount Sinai. Here
he encountered extreme danger, having sustained a siege by the Scenite Arabs. Having,
nevertheless, secured the complete tranquillity of the spot, he was thence summoned to the
archiepiscopal dignity. He was unrivalled in every excellence of intellect and virtue, and
most energetic in accomplishing whatever he resolved upon, uninfluenced by fear, and
incapable of shrinking before secular power. So noble was his expenditure of money, in a
general system of liberality and munificence, that whenever he appeared in public, crowds,
besides his ordinary attendants, followed him; and all gathered round him who saw or heard
of his approach. The respect shewn to so high a dignity, was but second to the honour
bestowed upon the individual, in the generous desire of persons to obtain a near view of
him and to hear his words; for he was possessed of singular power to inspire with
attachment towards himself all who held converse with him, being a person of most imposing
aspect and sweet address, especially quick of perception and prompt in execution, a most
able counsellor and judge, both in his own matters and in those of others. On this account
it was that he accomplished so much, never deferring any thing till to-morrow. By dealing
with matters with unfailing promptitude, according as either necessity required or
opportunity favoured, he tilled with admiration not only the Roman but the Persian
sovereigns, as I shall set forth the particulars in their proper place. His character was
strongly marked by vehemence, and at times by indications of anger; while, on the other
hand, his meekness and gentleness were not confined, but were exceedingly abundant; so
that to him was admirably fitted the excellent expression of Gregory Theologus, "austerity
tempered with modesty," while neither quality was impaired, but each rendered more
striking by the other.

Chapter 7. Submission of the Inhabitants of Persarmenia

IN the first year of the episcopate of Gregory, the inhabitants of what was formerly
called the greater Armenia, but afterwards Persarmenia----this country was formerly
subject to the Romans, but when Philip, the successor of Gordian, had betrayed it to
Sapor, what is called the lesser Armenia alone was possessed by the Romans, but the
remainder by the Persians ---- this people, being Christians and cruelly treated by the
Persians, especially on the score of their faith, sent a secret embassy to Justin,
imploring to be allowed to place themselves under the dominion of the Romans, in order to
a safe and unrestrained observance of their religion. When the emperor had admitted their
overtures, and certain written conditions had been settled on his part and guaranteed by
the most solemn oaths, the Armenians massacre their governors; and the whole nation,
together with their allied neighbours, both of kindred and foreign race, unite themselves
to the Roman empire, Vardanes having a precedence among his countrymen by birth, dignity,
and military skill. In reply to the complaints of Chosroes on account of these
transactions, Justin alleged that the peace had expired, and that it was impossible to
reject the advances of Christians, when desirous of uniting themselves with fellow
Christians in time of war.

Such was his reply. Notwithstanding, he made no preparation for war, but was involved in
his habitual luxury, regarding every thing as secondary to his personal enjoyments.

Chapter 8. Siege of Nisibis by Marcian

THE emperor sends out his kinsman Marcian, as commander of the forces of the East,
without, however, sufficiently supplying him with troops, or the other material of war. He
occupies Mesopotamia, at the imminent risk of utter ruin, followed by very few troops, and
these imperfectly armed, and by a few rustic labourers and herdsmen, whom he had pressed
into his service from among the provincials. After gaining the advantage in some
skirmishes near Nisibis with the Persians, who were themselves not yet completely
prepared, he sits down before that city, though the enemy did not think it necessary to
close the gates, and insolently jeered the Roman troops. Besides many other prodigies
presaging the approaching calamities, I also saw, at the beginning of the war, a newly
born calf with two heads.

Chapter 9. Invasion of the Persians

CHOSROES, when his preparations for war were completed, having accompanied Adaarmanes for
some distance, sent him across the Euphrates from his own bank of the river into the Roman
territory, by Circesium, a city most important to the Romans, situated at the limit of the
empire, and rendered strong not only by its walls, which are carried to an immense height,
but by the rivers Euphrates and Aboras, which, as it were, insulate the place. Chosroes
himself, having crossed the Tigris with his own division of the army, advanced upon
Nisibis. Of these operations the Romans were for a long time ignorant, so far that Justin,
relying on a rumour to the effect that Chosroes was either dead or approaching his last
breath, was indignant at the tardiness of the siege of Nisibis, and sent persons for the
purpose of stimulating the efforts of Marcian, and bringing to him the keys of the gates
as quickly as possible. Information, however, that the siege was making no progress, but
that the commander was bringing great discredit upon himself by attempting impossibilities
in the case of so important a city with so contemptible a force, is conveyed in the first
instance to Gregory, bishop of Theopolis: for the bishop of Nisibis, being strongly
attached to Gregory, as having received munificent presents from him, and especially being
indignant at the insolence which the Persians were continually displaying towards the
Christians, and desirous that his city should be subject to the Roman power, supplied
information to Gregory of all things that were going on in the enemy's territory, at each
several juncture. This the latter immediately forwarded to Jus tin, informing him as
quickly as possible of the advance of Chosroes: but he, being immersed in his habitual
pleasures, paid no regard to the letters of Gregory; nor was he indeed inclined to believe
them, indulging rather the thoughts suggested by his wishes: for the ordinary mark of
dissolute persons is a meanness of spirit combined with confidence with regard to results;

as well as incredulity, if any thing occurs which runs counter to their desires.
Accordingly he writes to Gregory, altogether repudiating the information as being utterly
false, and, even supposing it were true, saying that the Persians would not come up before
the siege was concluded, and that, if they did, they would be beaten off with loss. He
further sends Acacius, a wicked and insolent man, to Marcian with orders to supersede him
in the command, even supposing he had already set one foot within the town. This command
he strictly executed, carrying out the emperor's orders without any regard to the public
good: for, on his arrival at the camp, he deprives Marcian of his command while on the
enemy's territory, and without informing the army of the transaction. The various
officers, on learning at the break of the next clay that their commander was superseded,
no longer appeared at the head of their troops, but stole away in various directions, and
thus raised that ridiculous siege.

Adaarmanes, on the other hand, in command of a considerable force of Persians and Scenite
barbarians, having marched by Circesium, inflicted every possible injury with fire and
sword upon the Roman territory, setting no limits to his intentions or actions. He also
captures many fortresses and towns, without encountering any resistance; in the first
place, because there was no one in command, and secondly, because, since the Roman troops
were shut up in Daras by Chosroes, his foragings and incursions were made in perfect
security. He also directed an advance upon Theopolis, without proceeding thither in
person. These troops were compelled to draw off most unexpectedly; for scarcely any one,
or indeed very few persons, remained in the city; and the bishop had fled, taking with him
the sacred treasures, because both the greater part of the walls had fallen to ruins, and
the populace had made insurrection with the hope of gaining ascendancy by change: a thing
of frequent occurrence, and especially at junctures like this. The insurgents themselves
also abandoned the city, without any attempt to meet the emergency or take active measures
against the enemy.

Chapter 10. Capture of Apamea and Daras

FAILING thus in this attempt, Adaarmanes, having burnt the city formerly called Heraclea
but subsequently Gagalica, made himself master of Apamea; which, having been founded by
Seleucus Nicator, was once flourishing and populous, but had fallen to a great extent into
ruin through lapse of time. On the capitulation of the city from the inability of the
inhabitants to offer any resistance, since the wall had fallen down through age, he fired
and pillaged the whole place, in violation of the terms, and drew off, carrying away
captive the inhabitants of the town and the adjoining country, and among them the bishop
and the governor. He also exercised every kind of atrocity during his march, without
meeting with any resistance or indeed attempt at opposition, except a very small force
sent out by Justin under the command of Magnus, who had formerly been a banker at
Constantinople, and subsequently appointed steward of one of the imperial residences.
These troops however fled with precipitation, and narrowly escaped being made prisoners.

After these operations, Adaarmanes joins Chosroes, who had not yet captured the city he
was besieging. By the junction, he threw an important weight into the scale, in raising
the spirits of his countrymen, while he disheartened their opponents. He found the city
cut off by lines, and a huge mound carried forward within a short distance of the walls,
with engines mounted, and especially catapults, shooting from vantage ground. By these
means, Chosroes took the city by storm. John, the son of Timostratus, was governor, who
paid little regard to the defence of the place, or perhaps betrayed it; for both accounts
are reported. Chosroes had besieged the city for five months or more without any effort
being made for its relief. Having brought forth all the inhabitants in immense numbers,
some of whom he miserably slaughtered but retained the greater part as captives, he
garrisoned the city, on account of its important situation, and then retired into his own
territories.

Chapter 11. Insanity of Justin

ON being informed of these events, Justin, in whose mind no sober and considerate thoughts
found place after so much inflation and pride, and who did not bear what had befallen him
with resignation suited to a human being, falls into a state of frenzy, and becomes
unconscious of all subsequent transactions. Tiberius assumes the direction of affairs, a
Thracian by birth, but holding the first place in the court of Justin. He had previously
been sent out against the Avars by the emperor, who had raised a very large army for the
purpose; and he would inevitably have been made prisoner, since his troops would not even
face the barbarians, had not divine Providence unexpectedly delivered him, and preserved
him for succession to the Roman 'sovereignty; which, through the inconsiderate measures of
Justin, was in danger of falling to ruin, together with the entire commonwealth, and of
passing from such a height of power into the hands of barbarians.

Chapter 12. Embassy of Trajan to Chosroes

ACCORDINGLY, Tiberius adopts a measure opportune and well suited to the state of affairs,
which altogether repaired the calamity. He despatches to Chosroes, Trajan, a senator and
an accomplished man, universally esteemed for his years and intelligence; not, however, as
representative of the sovereign power, nor yet as ambassador for the commonwealth, but
merely to treat on behalf of the empress Sophia; who herself also wrote to Chosroes,
bewailing the calamities which had befallen her husband, and the loss of its head which
the commonwealth sustained, and urging the unseemliness of trampling upon a widowed
female, a prostrate monarch, and a desolate empire: at the same time reminding him that,
when afflicted with sickness, he had himself not only been treated with similar
forbearance, but that the very best physicians had been sent to him by the Roman
government, and had cured him of his disease. Chosroes is, accordingly, moved by the
appeal, and when upon the very point of attacking the empire, makes a truce for three
years, embracing the eastern parts; with a condition that Armenia should be excepted, so
as to allow of hostilities being maintained there, provided the East were not molested.

During these proceedings in the East, Sirmium is taken by the barbarians, which had some
time before fallen into the hands of the Gepidae, and been afterwards restored by them to
Justin.

Chapter 10. Proclamation of Tiberius. His Character

ABOUT this time Justin, by the advice of Sophia, bestows on Tiberius the rank of Caesar,
giving utterance, in the act of declaration, to such expressions as surpass all that has
been recorded in ancient or recent history; our compassionate God having vouchsafed to him
an opportunity for an avowal of his own errors, and a suggestion of what was for the
benefit of the state. For when there were assembled in the open court, where ancient usage
enjoins that such proceedings should take place, both the archbishop, John, whom we have
already mentioned, and his clergy, as well as the state dignitaries, and the household
troops, the emperor, on investing Tiberius with the imperial tunic and robe, gave
utterance with a loud voice to the following words: "Let not the grandeur of thy
investiture deceive thee, nor the pomp of the present spectacle; beguiled by which, I have
unwittingly rendered myself obnoxious to the most severe penalties. Do thou make
reparation for my errors, by administering the commonwealth with all gentleness." Then
pointing to the magistrates, he recommended him by no means to put confidence in them,
adding: "These are the very persons who have brought me into the condition which thou now
witnessest:" together with other similar expressions, which filled all with utter
amazement, and drew forth an abundance of tears.

Tiberius was very tall, and by far the most noble in person not only of sovereigns but all
mankind; so that, in the first place, his beauty was deserving of sovereignty. In
disposition, he was mild and compassionate, and gave cordial reception to all persons at
their very first approach. He deemed wealth to consist in aiding all with largesses, not
merely so far as to meet their wants, but even to superfluity: for he did not consider
what the needy ought to receive, but what it became a Roman emperor to bestow. He esteemed
that gold to be adulterated which was exacted with tears: on which account he entirely
remitted the taxation for one year, and released from their imposts the properties which
Adaarmanes had devastated, not merely to the extent of the damage but even far beyond it.
The magistrates were also excused from the necessity of making the unlawful presents, by
means of which the emperors formerly made a sale of their subjects. On these points he
also issued constitutions, as a security for coining time.

Chapter 14. Successes of the Roman Commander Justinian against the Persians

TIBERIUS, accordingly, applying to a rightful purpose the wealth which had been amassed by
improper means, made the necessary preparations for war. So numerous was the army of brave
men, raised among the Transalpine nations, the Massagetae, and other Scythian tribes, by a
choice levy in the countries on the Rhine, and on this side of the Alps, as well as in
Paeonia, Mysia, Illyria, and Isauria, that he completed squadrons of excellent cavalry, to
the amount of nearly one hundred and fifty thousand men, and repulsed Chosroes, who,
immediately after the capture of Daras, had advanced in the course of the summer against
Armenia, and was thence directing his movements upon Caesarea, which was the seat of
government of Cappadocia and the capital of the cities in that quarter. In such contempt
did Chosroes hold the Roman power, that, when the Caesar had sent an embassy to him, he
did not deign to admit the ambassadors to an audience, but bid them follow him to
Caesarea; at which place he said he would take the embassy into his consideration.

When, however, he saw the Roman army in the front of him, under the command of Justinian,
the brother of that Justin who had been miserably put to death by the Emperor Justin, in
complete equipment, with the trumpets sending forth martial sounds, the standards uplifted
for conflict, and the soldiery eager for slaughter, breathing forth fury, and at the same
time maintaining perfect order, and, besides, so numerous and noble a body of cavalry as
no monarch had ever imagined, he drew a deep groan, with many adjurations, at the
unforeseen and unexpected sight, and was reluctant to begin the engagement. But while he
is lingering and whiling away the time, and making a mere feint of fighting, Kurs, the
Scythian, who was in command of the right wing, advances upon him; and since the Persians
were unable to stand his charge, and were in a very signal manner abandoning their ground,
he made an extensive slaughter of his opponents. He also attacks the rear, where both
Chosroes and the whole army had placed their baggage, and captures all the royal stores
and the entire baggage, under the very eyes of Chosroes; who endured the sight, deeming
self-imposed constraint more tolerable than the onset of Kurs.

The latter, having together with his troops made himself master of a great amount of money
and spoil, and carrying off the beasts of burden with their loads, among which was the
sacred fire of Chosroes to which divine honours were paid, makes a circuit of the Persian
camp, singing songs of victory, and rejoins, about nightfall, his own army, who had
already broken up from their position, without a commencement of battle on the part of
either Chosroes or themselves, beyond a few slight skirmishes or single combats, such as
usually take place. Chosroes, having lighted many fires, made preparations for a night
assault; and since the Romans had formed two camps, he attacks the division which lay
northward, at the dead of night. On their giving way under this sudden and unexpected
onset, he advances upon the neighbouring town of Melitene, which was undefended and
deserted by its inhabitants, and having fired the whole place, prepared to cross the
Euphrates. At the approach, however, of the united forces of the Romans, in alarm for his
own safety, he mounted an elephant, and crossed alone; while great numbers of his army
found a grave in the waters of the river : on learning whose fate he retreated. Having
paid this extreme penalty for his insolence towards the Roman power, Chosroes retires with
the survivors to the eastern parts, in which quarter the terms of the truce had provided
that no one should attack him. Nevertheless Justinian made an irruption into the Persian
territory with his entire force, and passed the whole winter there, without any
molestation. He withdrew about the summer solstice, without having sustained any loss
whatever, and passed the summer near the border, surrounded by prosperity and glory.

Chapter 15. Death of Chosroes. Succession of Hormisdas

CIIOSROES, lost in frenzy and despair, and submerged in the surgings of sorrow, is brought
to a miserable end by overwhelming anguish, after leaving behind him a lasting monument of
his flight, in the law which he enacted, that no king of the Persians should henceforward
lead an army against the Romans. He is succeeded by his son Hormisdas. These matters I
must now pass over, since the events which follow in direct succession are inviting my
attention and awaiting the regular progress of my narrative.

Chapter 16. Succession of Bishops

ON the decease of John, named also Catelinus, Bonosus is intrusted with the helm of the
Roman see, and he is succeeded by another John, and he, again, by Pelagius. In the
imperial city John is succeeded by Eutychius, who had already held the see before him.
Apollinaris is succeeded in the see of Alexandria by John, and he by Eulogius, After
Macarius, John is elevated to the bishopric of Jerusalem, who had pursued the monastic
discipline in what is called the monastery of the Acoemets. This period passed without any
changes being attempted in the state of the Church.

Chapter 17. Earthquake at Antioch

IN the third year of the administration of the empire by Tiberius, a violent earthquake
befell Theopolis and its suburb of Daphne, precisely at noon; on which occasion the whole
of that suburb was laid in utter ruin by the shocks, while the public and private
buildings in Theopolis, though rent to the ground, were still not entirely levelled.
Several other events occurred both in Theopolis, and also in the imperial city, deserving
especial notice, which threw both places into confusion, and broke out into excessive
disturbances: events which took their rise from zeal for God, and terminated in a manner
worthy of divine agency. These I now proceed to notice.

Chapter 18. Commotion on Account of Anatolius

THERE was residing at Theopolis a certain Anatolius, who was originally one of the vulgar
and an artisan, but had subsequently, by some means or other, obtained admission into
public offices and other posts of importance. In this city he was pursuing his
engagements, from which resulted an intimacy with Gregory, president of that Church, and
frequent visits to him, partly for the purpose of conversing on matters of business, and
partly with a view to obtain greater influence on the ground of his intercourse with the
prelate. This person was detected in the practice of sacrificial rites, and being called
to account was proved to be a miscreant and a sorcerer, and implicated in innumerable
enormities. He gains over, however, by bribery, the governor of the East, and would have
obtained an acquittal, together with his accomplices, for he was associated with others of
a similar stamp who were involved in the detection, had not the people risen, and, by
exciting a universal stir, frustrated the design.

They also clamoured against the bishop, saying that he was a party to the scheme; and some
turbulent and malignant demon induced persons to believe that he had also taken part with
Anatolius in the sacrificial rites. By this means Gregory was brought into extreme danger,
from the vehement efforts of the populace against him; and the suspicion was so far
prevalent, that even the emperor Tiberius was desirous of learning the truth from the
mouth of Anatolius. Accordingly, he orders Anatolius and his associates to be conveyed
forthwith to the imperial city. On learning this, Anatolius rushed to a certain image of
the Mother of God, which was suspended by a cord in the prison, and folding his hands
behind his back, announced himself as a suppliant: but she, in detestation and conviction
of the guilty and God-hated man, turned herself quite round, presenting a prodigy awful
and worthy of perpetual remembrance; which, having been witnessed by all the prisoners as
well as by those who had the charge of Anatolius and his associates, was thus published to
the world. She also appeared in a vision to some of the faithful, exhorting them against
the wretch, and saying that Anatolius was guilty of insult against her Son.

When he had been conveyed to the imperial city, and, on being subjected to the extreme of
torture, was unable to allege anything against the bishop, he and his associates were the
cause of still greater disturbances and a general rising of the populace: for, when some
of the party had received sentence of banishment instead of death, the populace, inflamed
with a sort of divine zeal, caused a general commotion, in their fury and indignation, and
having seized the persons condemned to banishment and put them into a skiff, they
committed them alive to the flames; such being the people's verdict. They also clamoured
against the emperor and their own bishop Eutychius as betrayers of the faith; and they
would have inevitably despatched Eutychius, and those who had been charged with the
investigation, making search for them in every quarter, had not all-preserving Providence
rescued them from their pursuers, and gradually lulled the anger of so numerous a
population; so that no outrage was perpetrated at their hands. Anatolius himself, after
being first exposed to the wild beasts in the amphitheatre and mangled by them, was then
impaled, without terminating even then his punishment in this world; for the wolves,
tearing down his polluted body, divided it as a feast among themselves; a circumstance
never before noticed. There was also one of my fellow-citizens, who, before these events
took place, affirmed that he had been informed by a dream, that the judgment upon
Anatolius and his associates was in the hands of the populace. A person too of high
distinction, being the curator of the palace, who had resolutely protected Anatolius, said
that he had seen the Mother of God, demanding of him how long he intended to defend
Anatolius, who had so grievously outraged herself and her Son. Such was the termination of
this business.

Chapter 19. Character and Achievements of Maurice

TIBERIUS, being by this time in possession of the crown on the death of Justin, supersedes
Justinian, since he had not been equally successful against the barbarians, and appoints
Maurice to the command of the forces of the East; a person who derived his descent and
name from the elder Rome, but, as regards his more immediate origin, was a native of
Arabissus in Cappadocia; a man of sense and ability, and of unvarying accuracy and
firmness. Being staid and precise in his mode of living and manners, he was temperate in
his food, using only such as was necessary and simple, and was superior to all other
indulgences of a luxurious life. He was not easily accessible to the solicitations of the
vulgar, nor a too easy listener in general; well knowing that the one tends to produce
contempt, and the other leads to flattery. Accordingly, he granted audiences sparingly,
and those only to persons on serious business, and closed his ears against idle talk, not
with wax, as poets say, but rather with reason; so that this latter was an excellent key
to them, appropriately both opening and closing them during conversation. So completely
had he banished both ignorance, the mother of audacity, and also cowardice, which is at
the same time a foreigner and a neighbour to the former, that with him to face danger was
an act of prudence, and to decline it was a measure of safety; while both courage and
discretion were the charioteers of opportunity, and guided the reins to whatever quarter
necessity directed: so that his efforts were both restrained and put forth, as it were, by
measure and rule. Concerning this person I shall speak more fully in the sequel; since the
detail of his greatness and excellence I must reserve for the history of his reign ; which
displayed the man in a clearer light, as unfolding, through freedom of action, even the
more inward parts of his character.

This Maurice, advancing beyond the limits of the empire, captures both cities and
fortresses, of the greatest importance to the Persians, and carried off so much plunder,
that the captives were sufficiently numerous to occupy at length whole islands, towns, and
districts which had been deserted : and thus the land which had been previously untilled,
was every where restored to cultivation. Numerous armies also were raised from among them,
that fought resolutely and courageously against the other nations. At the same time every
household was completely furnished with domestics, on account of the easy rate at which
slaves were procured.

Chapter 20. Overthrow of the Persians

HE also engaged Tamchosroes and Adaarmanes, the principal Persian commanders, who had
advanced against him with a considerable force: but the nature, manner, and place of these
transactions I leave others to record, or shall perhaps myself make them the subject of a
distinct work, since my present one professes to treat of matters of a very different
kind. Tamchosroes, however, falls in battle, not by the bravery of the Roman soldiery, but
merely through the piety and faith of their commander: and Adaarmanes, being worsted in
the fight and having lost many of his men, flies with precipitation, and this too,
although Alamundarus, the commander of the Scenite barbarians, played the traitor in
declining to cross the Euphrates and support Maurice against the Scenites of the opposite
party. For this people are invincible by any other than themselves, on account of the
fleetness of their horses : when hemmed in, they cannot be captured; and they outstrip
their enemies in retreat. Theodoric too, commander of the Scythian troops, did not so much
as venture within range of the missiles, but fled with all his people.

Chapter 21. Prodigies Foreshewing the Elevation of Maurice to the Empire

PRODIGIES also occurred, which indicated that the imperial power was destined to Maurice.
As he was offering incense, at the dead of night, within the sanctuary of Mary, the holy
and immaculate virgin and Mother of God, which is called by the Antiochenes the church of
Justinian, the veil which surrounds the holy table became wrapt in flames; so that Maurice
was seized with amazement and awe, and was terrified at the sight. Gregory, the archbishop
of the city, who was standing by, said that it was a divine manifestation, betokening to
him the highest fortune. Christ our God also appeared to him, when in the East, calling
upon him to avenge Him: which circumstance distinctly intimated the possession of
sovereign power; for of what other person would He have made the demand than of an
emperor, and one who manifested so much piety towards Him? His parents also detailed to me
circumstance's remarkable and worthy of being recorded, when I was making inquiries on
this point: for his father said that, about the time of his conception, he had seen in a
dream a very large vine growing from his bed, on which hung great numbers of beautiful
clusters of grapes : and his mother told me that, at the time of her delivery, the earth
sent forth a strange odour of peculiar sweetness; and that Empusa, as she is called, had
often carried off the child for the purpose of devouring him, but had been unable to
injure him. Simeon, too, who practised the station upon the pillar in the neighbourhood of
Theopolis, a most energetic man, and distinguished by every divine virtue, both said and
did many things which betokened his succession to the empire. The sequel of the history
will relate respecting him whatever circumstances are suitable.

Chapter 22. Accession of Maurice

MAURICE assumes the sovereignty, when Tiberius was at the point of death, and had bestowed
upon him his daughter Augusta, and the empire as her dowry. Notwithstanding the shortness
of his reign, Tiberius left behind him an immortal memorial in the remembrance of his good
deeds; for he bequeathed to the commonwealth, in the appointment of Maurice, an
inheritance, not admitting of specification in terms, but most precious. He also
distributed his own appellations, giving to Maurice the name of Tiberius, and to Augusta
that of Constantina. The transactions of their reign the sequel of the history will set
forth, with the aid of the divine impulse.

Chapter 23. Chronological Statement

IN order also to an accurate account of the various periods of time, be it known that
Justin the younger, reigned alone twelve years, ten months and a half, and in conjunction
with Tiberius, three years and eleven months: so that the whole period is sixteen years,
nine months and a half. Tiberius also reigned four years alone : so that the whole time
from Romulus to the proclamation of Maurice Tiberius, amounts to * * * years; as appears
from the previous and present dates.

Chapter 24. Succession of Writers on Sacred and Profane History

BY the aid of God, an account of the affairs of the Church, presenting a fair survey of
the whole, has been preserved for us in what has been recorded by Eusebius Pamphili down
to the time of Constantine, and thence forward as far as Theodosius the younger, by
Theodoret, Sozomen, and Socrates, and in the matters which have been selected for my
present work. Primitive and profane history has been also preserved in a continuous
narrative by those who have been zealous at the task; Moses being the first to compose
history, as has been clearly shewn by those who have collected whatever bears upon the
subject, in writing a true account of events from the beginning of the world, derived from
what he learned in converse with God on Mount Sinai. Then follow the accounts which those
who after him prepared the way for our religion have stored up in sacred scriptures.
Josephus also composed an extensive history, in every way valuable. All the stories,
whether fabulous or true, relating to the contests of the Greeks and ancient barbarians,
both among themselves and against each other, and whatever else had been achieved since
the period at which they record the first existence of mankind, have been written by
Charax, Theopompus, Ephorus, and others too numerous to mention. The transactions of the
Romans, embracing the history of the whole world and whatever else took place either with
respect to their intestine divisions or their proceedings towards other nations, have been
treated of by Dionysius of Halicarnassus, who has brought down his account from the times
of what are called the Aborigines, to those of Pyrrhus of Epirus. The history is then
taken up by Polybius of Megalopolis, who brings it down to the capture of Carthage. All
these materials Appian has portioned out by a clear arrangement, separately grouping each
series of transactions, though occurring at intervals of time.

What events occurred subsequent to the before-mentioned periods, have been treated by
Diodorus Siculus, as far as the time of Julius Caesar, and by Dion Cassius, who continued
his account as far as Antoninus of Emesa. In a similar work of Herodian, the account
extends as far as the death of Maximus; and in that of Nicostratus, the sophist of
Trapezus, from Philip, the successor of Gordian, to Odenatus of Palmyra, and the
ignominious expedition of Valerian against the Persians. Dexippus has also written at
great length on the same subject, commencing with the Scythian wars, and terminating with
the reign of Claudius, the successor of Gallierius: and he also included the military
transactions of the Carpi and other barbarian tribes, in Greece, Thrace, and Ionia.
Eusebius too, commencing from Octavian, Trajan, and Marcus, brought his account down to
the death of Carus. The history of the same times has been partially written both by
Arrian and Asinius Quadratus: that of the succeeding period by Zosimus, as far as Honorius
and Arcadius: and events subsequent to their reign by Priscus the Rhetorician, and others.
The whole of this range of history has been excellently epitomised by Eustathius of
Epiphania, in two volumes, one extending to the capture of Troy, the other to the twelfth
year of the reign of Anastasius. The occurrences subsequent to that period have been
written by Procopius the rhetorician as far as the time of Justinian ;

and the account has been thenceforward continued by Agathias the rhetorician, and John, my
fellow-citizen and kinsman, as far as the flight of Chosroes the younger to the Romans,
and his restoration to his kingdom: on which occasion Maurice was by no means tardy in his
operations, but royally entertained the fugitive, and with the utmost speed restored him
to his kingdom, at great cost and with numerous forces. These writers, however, have not
yet published their history. With respect to these events, I also will detail in the
sequel such matters as are suitable, with the favour of the higher power. THE END OF THE
FIFTH BOOK. are taken from the running titles, not the bottom of the page]

BOOK VI

Chapter 1. Nuptials of Maurice and Augusta

MAURICE, on succeeding to the empire, in the first place made the necessary arrangements
for his nuptials, and, in accordance with the imperial ordinance, marries Augusta, named
also Constantina, with magnificent ceremony, and with public banquetings and festivity in
every part of the city. In attendance on the nuptials were Religion and Royalty, offering
an escort most distinguished and gifts most precious. For the one supplied a father and
mother, to hallow the rite with honoured locks of grey and venerable wrinkles— a
circumstance strange in the story of sovereigns— as also brethren noble and blooming, to
give dignity to the nuptial procession: the other, a gold embroidered robe, adorned with
purple and Indian gems, and crowns most costly, with abundance of gold and the varied
emblazonment of jewels; together with the attendance of all who were distinguished in
courtly rank or military service, lighting the nuptial flambeaux in splendid costumes and
investitures, and hymning the bridal cavalcade: so that no human display was ever more
majestic and happy. Damophilus, when writing on the subject of Rome, says that Plutarch
the Chaeronean has well remarked, that in order to her greatness alone did Virtue and
Fortune unite in friendly truce: but, for myself, I would say, that in respect of Maurice
alone did Piety and Good Fortune so conspire; by Piety laying compulsion upon Fortune, and
not permitting her to shift at all. It was henceforward the settled aim of the emperor to
wear the purple and the diadem not merely on his person but also on his soul:

for he alone of recent sovereigns was sovereign of himself; and, with authority most truly
centred in himself, he banished from his own soul the mob-rule of the passions, and having
established an aristocracy in his own reasonings, he shewed himself a living image of
virtue, training his subjects to imitation. Nor have I said this by way of flattery: for
how could such be my motive, since he is not acquainted with what is being written? That
such was, however, the case with Maurice, will be evidenced by the gifts bestowed upon him
by God, and the circumstances of various kinds that must unquestionably be referred to
divine favour.

Chapter 2. Alamundarus the Arab and his Son Naamanes

BESIDES his other noble purposes, this was an especial object with the emperor, to avoid
in every case the shedding of the blood of persons guilty of treason. Accordingly, he did
not put to death Alamundarus, chieftain of the Scenite Arabs, who had betrayed both the
commonwealth and Maurice himself, as I have already detailed; but sentenced him to
deportation to an island with his wife and some of his children, and appointed Sicily as
the place of his banishment. Naamanes his son, notwithstanding a unanimous sentence of
death, he detained as a prisoner at large, without any further infliction; although he had
filled the empire with endless mischiefs, and, by the hands of his followers, had
plundered either Phoenicia and Palestine, and enslaved the inhabitants, at the time when
Alamundarus was captured. He pursued the same course in innumerable other cases, which
shall be severally noticed in their places.

Chapter 3. Military Operations of John and Philippicus

MAURICE sent out as commander of the forces of the East, first, John, a Scythian, who,
after experiencing some reverses, with some alternations of success, achieved nothing
worthy of mention; afterwards, Philippicus, who was allied to him by having married one of
his two sisters. Having crossed the border and laid waste all before him, he amassed great
booty, and killed many of the nobles of Nisibis and the other cities situated within the
Tigris. He also gave battle to the Persians, and, after a severe conflict, attended with
the loss of many distinguished men on the side of the enemy, he made numerous prisoners,
and dismissed unharmed a battalion, which had retreated to an eminence and was fairly in
his power, under a promise that they would urge their sovereign to send immediate
proposals for peace. He also completed other measures during the continuance of his
command, namely, in withdrawing his troops from superfluities and things tending to
luxury, and in reducing them to discipline and subordination: the representation of which
transactions must be fixed by writers, past or present, according as they may be or have
been circumstanced with respect to hearsay or opinion— writers whose narrative, stumbling
and limping through ignorance, or rendered affected by partiality, or blinded by
antipathy, misses the mark of truth.

Chapter 4. Mutiny of the Troops against Priscus

HE is succeeded in the command by Priscus, a person difficult of access, and not readily
approached without necessary occasion, who expected the successful accomplishment of all
his measures if he should maintain an almost entire seclusion; from a notion, that,
through the awe thence resulting, the soldiery also would be more obedient to orders.
Accordingly, on his arrival at the camp with stern and haughty look and in imposing
costume, he issued certain orders, relating to the hardihood of the soldiery in the field,
to strictness in respect of their arms and to their allowances. Having received previous
intimation of the proceeding, they then gave unrestrained vent to their rage; and
advancing in a body to the general's quarters, they pillage, in barbarian fashion, all his
magnificence and the most valuable of his treasures, and would inevitably have despatched
Priscus himself, had he not mounted one of the led horses, and escaped to Edessa : to
which place they laid siege, demanding his surrender.

Chapter 5. Compulsory Elevation of Germanus

ON the refusal of their demands by the citizens, they leave Priscus there, and seizing
Germanus, who at that time held the command in Phoenicia Libanensis, they elect him their
own general and emperor, while he resisted and they were the more urgent; and a struggle
thus arose, on the part of the one to escape compulsion, of the others to enforce their
object. After they had menaced him with death unless he would embrace the offered charge,
and he, on his part, eagerly embraced the alternative, disclaiming all fear and
consternation, they proceeded to certain severities and methods of cruelty, which they
thought he would not be able to bear; for they did not suppose that he would manifest
greater endurance than the strength of nature and his time of life would warrant. By
putting him to the trial at first cautiously and sparingly, they succeed in forcing him to
accede to their demands, and solemnly to swear that he would be true to them. Thus they
compelled him to be their ruler under rule, their subject sovereign, their master in
thraldom. Then chasing from them the officers of every grade, they elect others in their
place, openly reviling the imperial government. They treated provincials on the whole less
harshly than the barbarians did, but in a manner very unlike allies or servants of the
commonwealth: for they levied their provisions not according to stated measures or weight,
and were not contented with the quarters assigned to them: but the will of each individual
was a rule, and his caprice an established measure.

Chapter 6. Mission of Philippicus

THE emperor despatches Philippicus to settle this ferment: they, however, not only denied
him reception, but perilled the lives of all whom they supposed to be connected with him.

Chapter 7. Accusations against Gregory, Patriarch of Antioch

WHILE matters were in this situation, Gregory, bishop of Theopolis, returns from the
imperial city, after having been victorious in the struggle which I now proceed to detail.
At the time when Asterius held the government of the East, a quarrel had arisen between
him and Gregory : the higher ranks of the city sided entirely with the former, and were
supported by the populace, and by those who were engaged in trades; for each class
declared that they had been injured by Gregory; until at last license was given to the
rabble to vent their abuse against him. Thus both the other classes accorded with the
populace, and they clamoured forth their insults against the prelate in the streets and
the theatre; and even the actors indulged in them. Asterius is removed from his
government, and John is invested with it, with orders from the emperor to make inquiry
into the stir; a man incompetent to the management of the most trifling matters, much less
a business so important. Having, in consequence, filled the city with confusion and
uproar, and given public license to any one that chose, to accuse the bishop, he receives
a formal charge against him from a certain banker, to the effect that he had had criminal
intercourse with his own sister, married to another man. He also receives accusations from
other persons of the same stamp against Gregory, as having repeatedly disturbed the peace
of the city. On the latter charge he declared his readiness to make his defence: with
respect to the others, he appealed to the emperor and a synod.

Accordingly, he repaired to the imperial city, to make answer to these charges,
accompanied by myself as his adviser, and is victorious after a prolonged struggle during
an investigation of the matter before the patriarchs from every quarter, who appeared
either in person or by deputy, as well as the sacred senate, and many most religious
metropolitans: and the result was that the accuser, after having been scourged and paraded
round the city, was sent into exile. Gregory thence returns to his see, at the time when
the troops were in a state of mutiny, and Philippicus was remaining in the neighbourhood
of Beroea and Chalcis.

Chapter 8. Recurrence of Earthquakes at Antioch

AT an interval of four months from the return of Gregory, in the six hundred and thirty-
seventh year of the era of Theopolis, sixty-one years after the former earthquake, a crash
and concussion shook the entire city, about the third hour of the night, on the last day
of the month Hyperberetaeus, at the time when I was celebrating my marriage with a young
maiden, and the whole city was making rejoicings and holding a festival at the public
cost, in honour of the nuptial ceremony. This convulsion levelled by far the greater part
of the buildings, their very foundations being cast up by it, and all the portions of the
most holy church were thrown to the ground, with the exception of the hemisphere, which,
after its injury by the earthquake in the time of Justin, had been secured by Ephraemius
with timbers from Daphne. By the subsequent shocks, it received an inclination in a
northerly direction; so that the timbers were thrown by it into a leaning position, and
fell, when the hemisphere had returned, by the force of the shock, exactly into its
original situation, as if it had been adjusted by a rule. Nearly the entire quarter named
Ostracine was ruined, and Psephium, of which I have made previous mention, as well as all
the parts called Brysia, and the buildings of the venerable sanctuary of the Mother of
God, with the sole exception of the central colonnade, which was singularly preserved.

All the towers of the plain were also damaged, though the other buildings in that quarter
escaped, with the exception of the battlements, of which some stones were thrown
backwards, though they did not fall. Other churches also suffered injury, and one of the
public baths, namely, that which had separate divisions according to the seasons. An
incalculable number of persons were involved in the destruction, and, according to an
estimate which some persons drew from the supply of bread, about sixty thousand perished.
The bishop experienced a most unexpected preservation in the midst of the fall of the
entire habitation where he then was, and the destruction of every individual except those
who were near his person. These took up the bishop in their arms, and lowered him by a
cord, after a second shock had rent an opening, and thus they removed him beyond the reach
of danger. Another preservation was also granted to the city, our compassionate God having
mitigated the keenness of His threatened vengeance, and corrected our sin with the branch
of pity and mercy: for no conflagration followed, though so many fires were spread about
the place, in hearths, public and private lamps, kitchens, furnaces, baths, and
innumerable other forms. Very many persons of distinction, and among them Asterius
himself, became the victims of the calamity. The emperor endeavoured to alleviate this
visitation by grants of money.

Chapter 9. Inroad and Destruction of the Barbarians

IN the army, matters continued in the same state; and, in consequence, the barbarians made
an inroad, in the expectation that there would be no one to check them in the exercise of
barbarian practices. Germanus, however, encounters them with his forces, and inflicted a
defeat so destructive, that not a man was left to convey to the Persians tidings of the
misfortune.

Chapter 10. Clemency of the Emperor Towards the Rebels. Invasion of the Avars

ACCORDINGLY, the emperor remunerates the troops with largesses of money; and, withdrawing
Germanus and others, brings them to trial. They were all condemned to death: but the
emperor would not permit any infliction whatever; on the contrary, he bestowed rewards on
them. During the course of these transactions, the Avars twice made an inroad as far as
the Long Wall, and captured Anchialus, Singidunum, and many towns and fortresses
throughout the whole of Greece, enslaving the inhabitants, and laying every thing waste
with fire and sword; in consequence of the greater part of the forces being engaged in the
East. Accordingly, the emperor sends Andrew, the first of the imperial guards, on an
attempt to induce the troops to receive their former officers.

Chapter 11. Mission of the Patriarch Gregory to the Troops

SINCE, however, the troops would not endure the bare mention of the proposal, the business
is transferred to Gregory, not only as being a person competent to the execution of the
most important measures, but because he had earned the highest regard from the soldiery;
since some of them had received presents from him in money, others in clothing,
provisions, and other things, when they were passing his neighbourhood at the time of
their enlistment. Accordingly, he assembles, by summons despatched to every quarter, the
principal persons of the army at Litarba, a place distant from Theopolis about three
hundred stadia; and, though confined to his couch, addressed them in person, in the
following words.

Chapter 12. Oration of Gregory to the Troops

"I HAVE been expecting, O Romans—Romans both in name and deeds—that your visit to me would
have been made long ago, for the purpose of communicating to me your present
circumstances, and of receiving that friendly counsel of which you have an assurance in my
kindliness towards you, so unequivocally evinced by past occurrences, at the time when I
relieved, by a supply of necessaries, your tempest-struck and wave-tost plight. Since,
however, this course has not hitherto been taken—it may be that Providence has not
permitted it, in order that the Persians, having been utterly defeated by men without a
leader, might be thereby thoroughly taught the prowess of the Romans, and that your pure
loyalty might be completely proved, in having been tested by the juncture and testified by
your deeds; for you shewed that, notwithstanding your quarrel with your officers, you do
not regard any thing as more important than the good of the commonwealth—let us
accordingly now deliberate what ought to be your conduct. Your sovereign invites you with
a promise of an amnesty of all past transactions, receiving the display of your loyalty to
the commonwealth and your prowess in the field as emblems of supplication. While bestowing
upon you these most certain pledges of pardon the emperor thus speaks: 'Since God has
given victory to their loyalty, and, on the abandonment of their errors, a signal display
has been granted to their prowess as a clear intimation of forgiveness, how can I do
otherwise than follow the judgment of heaven?

A king's heart is in the hand of God, and He sways it whithersoever He will.' Yield,
therefore, to me at once, O Romans. Let us not wilfully forfeit the present opportunity,
nor allow it to elude our grasp: for opportunity, when it has once slipped from us, is
most unwilling to be seized, and, as if it were indignant at having been neglected, is
ever after intolerant of capture. Shew yourselves the heirs of the obedience of your
fathers, as ye are of their courage; in order that ye may appear altogether Romans, and no
taunt may touch you or point at you as degenerate. Your fathers, under the command of
consuls and emperors, by obedience and courage became masters of the whole world. Manlius
Torquatus, though he crowned, yet also put to death his son, who had placed a valiant part
but in disobedience of orders. For by skill on the part of the leaders, combined with
obedience in those whom they lead, great successes are ordinarily achieved; but either,
when bereaved of the other, is lame and unsteady, and is utterly overthrown by the
separation of the excellent pair. Be not, therefore, tardy, but at once obey my call,
while the priestly office mediates between the emperor and the army; and shew that your
proceedings were not the establishment of a rival sovereign, but a transient display of
just indignation against commanders who had wronged you:

for unless you immediately embrace the offer, I shall at once consider myself as quit of
the service laid upon me in this matter by my duty to the commonwealth and my regard for
you. Consider too yourselves, what has been the fate of pretenders to the sovereignty.
What too will be the termination of your present position? To continue concentrated is
impossible: for whence will you derive your provision of ordinary fruits, or those
supplies which the sea furnishes to the land, except by war between Christians, and the
mutual infliction of the most disgraceful treatment? What too will be the final result?
You will live in dispersion, and haunted by Justice, who will henceforward disdain to
bestow forgiveness. Let us therefore give pledges of amity, and consider what course will
be for the benefit of ourselves and the state, at a time too when we shall have the days
of the saving Passion and of the most holy Resurrection conspiring with the deed."

Chapter 13. Submission of the Troops

HAVING thus addressed them, accompanying his speech with many tears, he wrought an
instantaneous change in the minds of all, as it had been by some divine impulse. They
immediately requested permission to retire from the meeting, and to deliberate among
themselves respecting the course to be pursued. After a short interval they returned, and
placed themselves at the disposal of the bishop. However, on his naming Philippicus to
them, in order that they might themselves request him for a commander, they declared that
the whole army had on this point bound themselves with fearful oaths: but the bishop,
undeterred by this, without the least delay said, that he was a bishop by divine
permission, and had authority to loose and bind both upon earth and in heaven, and at the
same time he quoted the sacred oracle. On their yielding upon this point also, he
propitiated the Deity with supplication and prayers, at the same time administering to
them, the communion of the immaculate body; for it happened to be the second day of the
holy passion week. After he had feasted them all, to the number of two thousand, upon
couches hastily constructed on the turf, he returned home the following day. It was also
agreed that the soldiers should assemble wherever they might choose. Gregory in
consequence sends for Philippicus, who at that time was at Tarsus in Cilicia, intending to
proceed immediately to the imperial city; and he also reports these proceedings to the
government, communicating at the same time the prayer of the soldiery respecting
Philippicus. Accordingly, they meet Philippicus at Theopolis, and employing those who had
been admitted to partake in the divine regeneration, to entreat for them, they bend in
supplication before him, and, on receiving a solemn promise of amnesty, they return to
their duty with him. Such was the progress of these events.

Chapter 14. Loss of Martyropolis

A CERTAIN Sittas, one of the petty officers stationed at Martyropolis, considering himself
aggrieved by the commanders in that place, betrays the city, by watching the withdrawal of
the troops which occupied it, and introducing a Persian battalion under colour of being
Romans. He thus obtained possession of a place which was most important to the Romans;
and, retaining most of the younger females, expelled all the other inhabitants, except a
few domestic slaves. Philippicus in consequence marched thither, and beleaguered the city,
without being provided with things necessary for the siege. Nevertheless, he maintained
his operations with such means as he possessed, and, having run several mines, threw down
one of the towers. He was unable, however, to make himself master of the place, because
the Persians continued their exertions through the night, and secured the breach. When the
Romans, repeatedly assaulting, were as often repulsed, for the missiles were hurled upon
them from vantage ground with unerring aim, and since they were suffering greater loss
than they inflicted, they at last raised the siege, and encamped at a short distance, with
the sole object of preventing the Persians from reinforcing the garrison. By the order of
Maurice, Gregory visits the camp, and induces them to resume the siege. They were,
however, unable to accomplish any thing, from their utter want of engines for sieges. In
consequence, the army breaks up for winter quarters, and numerous garrisons are left in
the neighbouring forts, to prevent the Persians from secretly introducing succours into
the place.

In the succeeding summer, on the re-assembling of the army, and the advance of the
Persians, a severely contested battle is fought before Martyropolis. Though the advantage
was on the side of Philippicus, and many Persians had fallen, with the loss of one
distinguished chieftain, a considerable body of the enemy made their way into the city:
which was in fact their main object. Thenceforward the Romans gave up the siege in
despair, as being unable to encounter this force, and they erect a rival city at the
distance of seven stadia, in a stronger situation on the mountains, in order to the
carrying on of counter operations. Such were the proceedings of the army during the
summer; it broke up on the approach of winter.

Chapter 15. Capture of Ocbas

COMENTIOLUS, a Thracian by birth, is sent out as a successor in the command to
Philippicus. He engaged the Persians with great spirit, and would have lost his life by
being thrown to the ground together with his horse, had not one of the guards mounted him
upon a led horse, and conveyed him out of the battle. In consequence, the enemy fly with
precipitation, with the loss of all their commanders, and retire to Nisibis; and, fearing
to return to their king, since he had threatened them with death unless they should bring
off their commanders in safety, they there enter into the insurrection against Hormisdas,
now that Varamus, the Persian general, had already entertained that design with his party
on his return from his encounter with the Turks. In the meantime, Comentiolus, having
commenced the siege of Martyropolls, leaves there the greater part of his army, and
himself makes an excursion with a chosen body of troops to Ocbas, a very strong fortress,
situated on a precipice on the bank opposite to Martyropolis, and commanding a view of the
whole of that city. Having employed every effort in the siege, and thrown down some
portion of the wall by catapults, he takes the place by storming the breach. In
consequence, the Persians thenceforward despaired of keeping possession of Martyropolis.

Chapter 16. Murder of Hormisdas

WHILE such was the course of these events, the Persians despatched Hormisdas, the most
unjust of all monarchs, in as far as he inflicted upon his subjects not only pecuniary
exactions, but also various modes of death.

Chapter 17. Flight of Chosroes the Younger

THEY establish as his successor his son Chosroes, against whom Varamus advanced with his
troops. Chosroes encounters him with an inconsiderable force, and takes to flight on
seeing his own men deserting him. He arrives at Circesium, having, according to his own
account, vowed to the God of the Christians, that he would allow his horse to take its
course wherever it should be guided by Him. He was accompanied by his wives and two newly-
born children, and certain Persian nobles who voluntarily followed him. Thence he sends an
embassy to the emperor Maurice; who, manifesting on this occasion too the soundest
judgment, and deriving from the very circumstances an estimate of the instability and
mutability of life, and the sudden fluctuations of human affairs, admits his suit, and
treats him as a guest instead of an exile, and as a son instead of a fugitive, welcoming
him with royal gifts, which were sent not only by the emperor himself, but, in similar
style, by the empress to the consorts of Chosroes, and also by their children to the
children.

Chapter 18. Mission of Gregory and Domitian to Meet Chosroes

THE emperor also despatches the whole of his body guards and the entire Roman army with
their commander, with orders to attend Chosroes wherever he might choose to proceed: and
by way of still greater distinction, he also sends Domitian, bishop of Melitene, his own
kinsman, a man of sense and ability, most capable both in word and deed, and most
efficient for the despatch of the highest transactions. He sends Gregory too: who on all
points filled Chosroes with amazement, by his conversation, by his munificence, and by his
suggestion of seasonable measures.

Chapter 19. Restoration of Chosroes

CHOSROES, having proceeded as far as Hierapolis, the capital of Euphratensis, immediately
returned: and this was done with the consent of Maurice, who favoured the interest of his
suppliant more than his own glory. He also presents Chosroes with a large sum of money, a
circumstance never before recorded; and having raised a body of Persians, and supplied the
cost from his own means, he sends him across the border with a combined force of Romans
and Persians, after Martyropolis had been previously surrendered, together with the
traitor Sittas; whom the inhabitants stoned and impaled. Daras was also recovered on its
evacuation by the Persian garrison, and Chosroes was restored to his kingdom in
consequence of the utter overthrow of Varamus, in a single engagement with the Roman
troops only, and his inglorious and solitary flight.

Chapter 20. Golanduch the Martyr

AT that time there was living in our country Golanduch, a female martyr, who maintained
her testimony through a course of severe sufferings when tortured by the Persian Magi, and
was a worker of extraordinary miracles. Her life was written by Stephen, the former bishop
of Hierapolis.

Chapter 21. Offerings of Chosroes

CHOSROES, on his restoration to his kingdom, sends to Gregory a cross, embellished with
much gold and precious stones, in honour of the victorious martyr Sergius; which cross
Theodora, the wife of Justinian, had dedicated, and Chosroes had carried off, with the
other treasures, as I have already related. He also sends another golden cross, on which
was engraven the following inscription in Greek:— "This cross I, Chosroes, king of kings,
son of Hormisdas, have sent. After I had been compelled to take refuge in the Roman
territory by the slanderous practices and villany of the unhappy Varamus and his cavalry,
and when, because the unhappy Zadespram had come to Nisibis with an army, with a view to
seduce the cavalry in that quarter to revolt and raise commotion, we also had sent a body
of cavalry with a commander to Charchas; at that time, by the fortune of the venerable and
renowned saint, Sergius, having heard that he granted the petitions addressed to him, we
vowed, in the first year of our reign, on the seventh day of January, that if our cavalry
should slay or capture Zadespram, we would send to his sanctuary a golden cross,
embellished with jewels for the sake of his venerable name: and on the seventh day of
February they brought to us the head of Zadespram. Having, accordingly, obtained our
petition, in order that each circumstance should be placed beyond all doubt, we have sent,
in honour of his venerable name, this cross, which we have caused to be made, and together
with it that which was sent to his sanctuary by Justinian, emperor of the Romans, and
which was conveyed hither by our father Chosroes, king of kings, son of Cabades, at the
time of the rupture between the two states, and has been found among our treasures."

Gregory, having received these crosses, with the approval of the emperor Maurice,
dedicated them with much ceremony in the sanctuary of the martyr. Shortly after, Chosroes
sent other offerings for the same temple, with a golden disc, bearing the following
inscription:— "I, Chosroes, king of kings, son of Hormisdas, have placed the inscription
upon this disc, not as an object for the gaze of mankind, nor that the greatness of thy
venerable name might be made known by words of mine, but on account of the truth of the
matters therein recorded, and the many benefits and favours which I have received at thy
hands: for, that my name should be inscribed on thy sacred vessels, is a happiness to me.
At the time when I was at Beramais, I begged of thee, O holy one, that thou wouldest come
to my aid, and that Sira might conceive: and inasmuch as Sira was a Christian and I a
heathen, and our law forbids us to have a Christian wife, nevertheless, on account of my
favourable feelings towards thee, I disregarded the law as respects her, and among my
wives I have constantly esteemed, and do still esteem her as peculiarly mine. Thus I
resolved to request of thy goodness, O Saint, that she might conceive: and I made the
request with a vow, that, if Sira should conceive, I would send the cross she wears to thy
venerable sanctuary. On this account both I and Sira purposed to retain this cross in
memory of thy name, O Saint, and in place of it to send five thousand staters, as its
value, which does not really exceed four thousand four hundred staters.

From the time that I conceived this request and these intentions, until I reached
Rhosochosron, not more than ten days elapsed, when thou, O Saint, not on account of my
worthiness but thy kindness, appearedst to me in a vision of the night and didst thrice
tell me that Sira should conceive, while, in the same vision, thrice I replied, It is
well. From that day forward Sira has not experienced the custom of women, because thou art
the granter of requests; though I, had I not believed thy words, and that thou art holy
and the granter of requests, should have doubted that she would not thenceforward
experience the custom of women. From this circumstance I was convinced of the power of the
vision and the truth of thy words, and accordingly forthwith sent the same cross and its
value to thy venerable sanctuary, with directions that out of that sum should be made a
disc, and a cup for the purposes of the divine mysteries, as also a cross to be fixed upon
the holy table, and a censer, all of gold: also a Hunnish veil adorned with gold. Let the
surplus of the sum belong to thy sanctuary, in order that by virtue of thy fortune, O
saint, thou mayest come to the aid of me and Sira in all matters, and especially with
respect to this petition; and that what has been already procured for us by thy
intercession, may be consummated according to the compassion of thy goodness, and the
desire of me and Sira;

so that both of us, and all persons in the world, may trust in thy power and continue to
believe in thee." Such is the language of the offerings sent by Chosroes: an instance
altogether resembling the prophecy of Balaam; since our compassionate God has wisely
disposed it, that the tongues of heathens should give utterance to saving words.

Chapter 22. Naamanes the Arab

AT the same time Naamanes, chieftain of the Scenites, after having been a detestable and
vile heathen, to such an extent as to sacrifice with his own hand human beings to his
gods, approached the sacred baptism. At which time he melted down a Venus of solid gold,
and divided it among the poor, and also brought over all his followers to the service of
God. Gregory too, after the presentation of the crosses of Chosroes, while making, with
the approbation of the government, a visitation of the solitudes on the borders, where the
doctrines of Severus extensively prevailed, brought into union with the Church of God many
garrisons, villages, monasteries, and entire tribes.

Chapter 23. Simeon the Stylite the Younger

AT this time, when the sainted Simeon was afflicted with a mortal disease, Gregory, on
being informed by me of the circumstance, hastens to salute him for the last time, but was
nevertheless disappointed. This Simeon far surpassed all his contemporaries in virtue, and
endured the discipline of a life on the top of a column from his earliest years, since he
even cast his teeth in that situation. The occasion on which he was first elevated on the
column, was the following. While still very young, he was roving about, sporting and
bounding along the eminences of the mountain, and meeting with a panther, he throws his
girdle round its neck, and with this kind of halter led the beast, beguiled of its
ferocity, to his monastery. His preceptor, who himself occupied a column, observing the
circumstance, enquired what he had got; to which he replied, that it was a cat.
Conjecturing from this occurrence how distinguished the child would be for virtue, he took
him up upon the column; and on this column, and on another, towering above the summit of
the mountain, he spent sixty-eight years; earning thereby the highest gifts of grace, in
respect of the ejection of demons, the healing of every disease and malady, and the
foresight of future things as if they were present.

He also foretold to Gregory that the latter would not witness his death, but said that he
was ignorant of the events which should follow it. On occasion also of my ponderings on
the loss of my children, when I was perplexed with the suggestion, why such things did not
befall heathens who had numerous offspring; although I had not disclosed, my thoughts to
any one, he wrote advising me to abandon such ideas as being displeasing to God. In the
case of the wife of one of my amanuenses, when the milk would not flow after child-birth,
and the child was in extreme danger, laying his hand upon the right hand of her husband,
he bid him place it upon the breasts of his wife. When this was done, immediately the milk
started, as if from a fountain, so as to saturate her dress. A child having been forgotten
at dead of night by its fellow-travellers, a lion took it on its back, and conveyed it to
the monastery; when, by orders of Simeon, the servants went out and brought in the child
under the protection of the lion.

Many other actions he performed, surpassing every thing that has been recorded; which
demand of an historian elegance of language, leisure, and a separate treatise, being
renowned by the tongues of mankind; for persons came to visit him from almost every part
of the earth, not only Romans but barbarians, and obtained the object of their prayers. In
his case, the place of food and drink was supplied by the branches of a shrub which grew
upon the mountain.

Chapter 24. Death of the Patriarch Gregory

SHORTLY after, Gregory also dies, after taking a draught of medicine composed of what is
called Hermodactylus, administered by one of the physicians during a fit of gout; a
disease with which he was much afflicted. At the time of his death, Gregory, the successor
of Pelagius, was bishop of Old Rome, and John of New Rome; Eulogius, one of those whom I
have already mentioned, of Alexandria; and Anastasius was restored, after three and twenty
years, to the see of Theopolis. John was bishop of Jerusalem; since whose decease, which
occurred shortly after, no one has hitherto been entrusted with that see. Here let me
close my history, in the twelfth year of the reign of Maurice Tiberius, leaving the task
of selecting and recording succeeding events to those who choose to undertake it. If any
matter has been overlooked by me or has been treated without sufficient accuracy, let no
one blame me, considering that I have brought together scattered materials in order to the
benefit of mankind; for whose sake I have submitted to so much toil.

I have also compiled another volume, containing memorials, epistles, decrees, orations,
and disputations, and some other matters. The memorials were principally composed in the
name of Gregory, bishop of Theopolis; and by means of them I obtained two dignities,
Tiberius Constantine having conferred upon me quaestorian rank, and Maurice Tiberius that
of prefecture, in consideration of what I composed at the time when he rid the empire of
reproach in becoming the father of Theodosius, an earnest of all prosperity both to
himself and the commonwealth. THE END. are taken from the running titles, not the bottom
of the page]


SOURCES AND CREDITS
===================

Where each text comes from, and the licence under which it may be reused.

PREFACE TO THE CHRONICLE OF JOSHUA English translation: an older public-domain translation
as collected in the Writings-Database (HistoricalChristianFaith), mostly from the Ante-
Nicene, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers and similar nineteenth-century editions.
SermonIndex has only divided it into chapters and short sections; the wording is the
translator’s own. No Greek or Latin text is shown beside it yet, and no modern English
version has been made. Licence: Public domain.

THE CHRONICLE OF JOSHUA THE STYLITE English translation: an out-of-copyright translation
as transcribed, or commissioned and given to the public domain, by Roger Pearse for his
collection Early Church Fathers – Additional Texts ( tertullian.org/fathers ). SermonIndex
has only divided it into chapters and short sections; the wording is the translator’s own.
No Greek or Latin text is shown beside it yet, and no modern English version has been
made. Licence. published 1882. Licence: Public domain.

THE CHRONICLE OF EDESSA English translation: an out-of-copyright translation as
transcribed, or commissioned and given to the public domain, by Roger Pearse for his
collection Early Church Fathers – Additional Texts ( tertullian.org/fathers ). SermonIndex
has only divided it into chapters and short sections; the wording is the translator’s own.
No Greek or Latin text is shown beside it yet, and no modern English version has been
made. Licence. published 1864. Licence: Public domain.

THE SYRIAC CHRONICLE English translation: an out-of-copyright translation as transcribed,
or commissioned and given to the public domain, by Roger Pearse for his collection Early
Church Fathers – Additional Texts ( tertullian.org/fathers ). SermonIndex has only divided
it into chapters and short sections; the wording is the translator’s own. No Greek or
Latin text is shown beside it yet, and no modern English version has been made. Licence.
published 1899. Licence: Public domain.

ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY, THIRD PART English translation: an older public-domain translation
as collected in the Writings-Database (HistoricalChristianFaith), mostly from the Ante-
Nicene, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers and similar nineteenth-century editions.
SermonIndex has only divided it into chapters and short sections; the wording is the
translator’s own. No Greek or Latin text is shown beside it yet, and no modern English
version has been made. Licence: Public domain.

ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY English translation: an older public-domain translation as
collected in the Writings-Database (HistoricalChristianFaith), mostly from the Ante-
Nicene, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers and similar nineteenth-century editions.
SermonIndex has only divided it into chapters and short sections; the wording is the
translator’s own. No Greek or Latin text is shown beside it yet, and no modern English
version has been made. Licence: Public domain.